light which, possessing only a twilight power, is cast upon his mind by the illuminations of Calvary, it is sufficient for his guidance. Our duty is to say to such a sinner-Do you see that light?-assured that if it come from the Word of God, it will eventually lead him close to the cross-that however indistinct his spiritual perceptions at present may be, they will gradually become clearer and brighter, till eventually they possess the full power and radiance of the perfect day.

IV. We suppose the awakened sinner, thus instructed, to make his Escape. He has many temptations to remain. The world has not quite lost its power to enchain his affections; the cares of life, the absorbing influence of worldly occupations, pleasure in various forms, combine to resist his endeavour to escape "the wrath to come"-combine in their attractive power to keep him here. His natural affections, the way in which his heart clings to his family, and attaches itself to his friends, may assist in making it more difficult for him to commence the Christian course. But one thought, one anxiety, overpowers all; Life, Eternal life, is his motive and his object. Turning a deaf ear, then, to the voices which bid him linger in the scenes of pleasure, which are scenes of danger, and thinking only of the interests of his soul, he starts off earnestly in the pursuit of Life.

And yet some have lingered-some have tarriedsome have allowed temptations to gain a present advantage over them-some have, notwithstanding their anxiety, postponed the endeavour to secure the salvation of their souls. Why have they done so? There are two reasons which account for this strange procrastination. They have not realized their danger, or they have not realized it as immediate. They have some strongly absorbing worldly interests, which seem to be almost religious duties. I have often met with parents, who acknowledged their need of salvation, who con

fessed much anxiety on spiritual subjects, and who were intending at some future time to take care of their souls, but who assigned the cares which their family created as reasons why they could not attend now to their eternal interests. Their time and their thoughts were so much occupied by those children growing up around them, that they thought God could scarcely be angry with them if they did not think now so much about their own souls. It seemed to them as if there were almost something selfish in giving up much time to religion, when their families had such strong and absorbing claims upon their hearts, their thoughts, and their time. When their children should be grown up, and when they should have therefore more leisure, they were intending to think, and to pray, and to repent, and to believe; but now they looked upon as almost as much a religious duty to be absorbed in family cares, as to be engaged in matters of a directly personal spiritual interest."

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I may suppose that some who read these remarks are in a state of anxiety. To you God's Word has come as a hammer, breaking your rocky heart in pieces -as a trumpet, proclaiming in your ears warnings of impending judgment. You are not now obdurateyou are not now careless; you are thinking about spiritual matters-you are realizing how momentous is the question, "What must I do to be saved?" You ought, then, to make this anxiety known; you perhaps lose the advantage of instruction which you might receive from some Christian friend, or from your minister, because at present those around you are ignorant of the state of your mind. I am quite aware that if you really are anxious, it will by-and-by show itself; but for some time others may be strangers to its true cause. They may impute to constitutional temperament, to the depressing influence of certain events in your life, that uneasiness and that melancholy the sources of which you too well know. If, then, you

would not lose the benefit of spiritual guidance-if you would have some Aquila and Priscilla take you by the hand, as they took Apollos of old, and teach you the way of the Lord, let me earnestly advise you to make known your present state of mind-not, of course, to parade your feelings in the presence of every one with whom you come in contact, but wisely and prudently to select some Christian friend, who may be entrusted with your confidence, and to whom you may look for spiritual counsel. Especially ought you for these purposes to apply to your minister. If it be the business of every Christian to be an evangelist, it is especially his business-to this he has been especially called, and for this he has been commissioned by God's Holy Spirit. I need not say how gladly the Editor of this Magazine will receive letters from those of you who are anxious-how gladly he will give you that counsel which you need in this your hour of spiritual distress with how much earnestness and affection he will point you to that light which streams down from the Cross of Calvary.

Again: are you anxious? Pray do not be ashamed of it; do not evade inquiries into your spiritual condition; do not assign other reasons than the true ones for the apparent gloom which your friends may notice. Why should you be ashamed of being thought in an anxious state of mind? Why should you be ashamed of being concerned about interests of the highest importance? When the welfare of the soul is concerned, is it a matter to be concealed, that you are striving after its everlasting bliss? It matters not what the world thinks, nor what the world says; think of the soul-think of its preciousness-think of its immortality-think of its capacity for eternal bliss or eternal misery-and then ask yourself the question, "Need I be ashamed of being considered anxious about this soul?"

W. M. W.

THE LITTLE EVANGELIST.

[The following interesting incidents are extracted from a Letter from Mrs. Porter, Cuddapah, India.-ED.]

"WE have mothers' meetings here with the native Christian women; between thirty and forty attend. Perhaps there is no class of women that more need instruction as to the training of their children than do these poor women. Many have but lately emerged out of the darkness of heathenism, and have no idea of maternal responsibility. 'What do I know?' is the reply to almost every remark relative to the training of their children; but the difference is most marked in those mothers who have been brought up in our mission schools; and I think there is not a more encouraging fact to the supporters of female education in the East, than the effect education has produced upon families. To hear a Hindoo Christian mother teaching her pretty little lisping one of two years old to repeat,

'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.'

'There is a happy land.'

&c.; and to know the dear little one will not sleep until she has prostrated herself upon her mat and said, ‘O my Father in heaven! take care of me, and make me good, for Jesus' sake-Amen,' would amply repay those who paid £3 per annum for the support of those mothers when in the mission school.

"We have among us bereaved mothers, but their sorrowing hearts are comforted by the bright hopes the Gospel affords that their darling little ones have been safely gathered into the Saviour's fold: not so the heathen mother.

"One of our Christian bereaved mothers went with her only child to visit a village at a distance, hoping her health, which had greatly suffered by the sudden

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removal of her last boy, might be benefited by the change. When she had been a day or two in the village, a woman who had previously known her asked, 'Why she looked so sad?' 'Ah!' she said, 'how can I look glad? I have lost my last boy.' 'Is it so?' said the woman; 'I can then feel for you. have lost all my children one after the other; they have all died. I have spent much money for medicine, consulted many priests, and given them much money; many, many tears I have shed, but they have all died. When the last was born I took him to the temple, according to the direction of the gooroo, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and had a brass charm made, and the idol's name engraved upon it, and took it to the idol-" O, Swamy," I said, "my children have all died but this one, and I have put your name upon this brass, and he shall wear it tied to a string around his neck. I will bring the first lock of his hair and sacrifice it to thee; but oh! let him live. Pity meI am a poor mother." 'Well, and did the child live? 'Oh! no. I took the first lock of his hair and gave it to the idol, but he died soon after. I will fetch the charm and show you. Here it is, just as I took it from his neck-poor baby!' and her tears flowed afresh.

"The little girl, the daughter of the Christian woman, who had been all this time listening to this tale of woe, taking up the charm, said, 'Anorik, why you must not keep this-it has done no good; why, put it away, and pray to the true God-He can hear you-that idol cannot; try, amah (or madam), perhaps He may answer you. Serve Jesus. I will read to you about Jesus. I have learned to read in the mission school at Cuddapah, and I can tell you how kind Jesus is.'

"This poor woman, astonished at so much sense, as she called it, in a little girl, listened to her, and the two mothers talked together about the true God, and