ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. Anecdotes and Selections. NOTHING LOST BY KEEPING THE SABBATH.-The steam-boat Helen M'Gregor burst her boiler when starting from Memphis. When the explosion took place, there were between four and five hundred passengers on board. The scene was indescribablenearly one hundred lives were lost. "I was on board that boat," said a sailor, "just before that event took place. It was wonderful how I was led to quit the boat, at almost the very time of the awful occurrence. I have thought of it a thousand times, with gratitude to my Maker. My captain ordered me to assist in landing freight on the sabbath. This, I told him, I could not conscientiously do; as I had never done unnecessary work on the Lord'sday. The captain replied, 'We have no sabbath here at the west in our business.' 'Very well,' I told him, 'as to myself, wherever I am, I endeavour to keep the sabbath.' 'Procure some one in your stead,' he then ordered. I said, 'That I can't do but pay me my wages, and I will leave the boat.' The captain did so, and I left his employ. However, I was soon after urged to come back again with a proffer of higher wages. I persisted in my refusal, and in a few days shipped at New Orleans for Europe. On my arrival, the first newspaper I took up contained an account of the dreadful destruction of life on board the Helen M'Gregor. I was truly thankful for my escape-it has taught me a lesson." It is recorded respecting a person who was saved from drowning, just as he was sinking the third time, that he said, every act of his past life appeared before him in rapid succession. How fearful the reflection, if the last act of your life should be a wilful violation of God's command to "Remember the sabbath-day to keep it holy." TEMPERANCE IN A KING.-Our total abstinence friends are not, perhaps, generally, aware that Charles XII., the mad "King of Sweden," as he was called by some of his contemporaries, was a pledged man, though not a member of a teetotal society. Charles, as everybody knows, in the commencement of his career, drank to great excess. In one of his drunken bouts he so far overstepped the limits of propriety as to treat the queen, his mother, with great disrespect. The next day, on being informed of his rudeness, he took a glass of wine in his hand, and repaired to the queen's room. Madam," said he to her, "I have learned that yesterday, in my cups, I forgot myself towards you. I come to ask your pardon; and to prevent recurrence of such a fault, I drink this glass to your health; it shall be the last during my life." He kept his word, and from that day never tasted wine. We may add, by way of recommendation of the habit, that no king was known to undergo greater hardships, or enjoy better health, than this cold water monarch. 66 ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. THE LATE POPE AND GASLIGHT.-When the chairman of a company formed for lighting Rome with gas waited on the Pope to obtain the required permission, Gregory indignantly asked, how he presumed to desire a thing so utterly subversive of religion? The astonished speculator humbly stated, that he could not see the most distant connexion between religion and carburetted hydrogen. "Yes, but there is, sir," shouted the Pope; "my pious subjects are in the habit of vowing candles to be burned before the shrines of saints. The glimmering candles would soon be rendered ridiculous by the contrast of the glaring gas-lights; and thus a custom so essential to everlasting salvation would fall into general contempt, if not total disuse." Aye, and the sooner the better! THOUGHTS ON ETERNITY.-Dr. Bates says "Suppose that the vast ocean were distilled drop by drop, but so slowly that a thousand years should pass between every drop, how many millions of years were required to empty it! Suppose that this great world in its full compass, from one pole to the other, and from the top of the firmament to the bottom, were to be filled with the smallest sand, but so slowly that every thousand years only a single grain should be added; how many millions would pass away before it were filled! If the immense surfaces of the heavens were filled with figures of numbers, without the least vacant space, and every figure signified a million, what created mind could tell their number, much less their value! Having these thoughts, I reply, the sea will be emptied drop by drop, the universe filled grain by grain, the numbers written on the heavens will come to an end, and how much of Eternity is spent? Nothing; for infinitely more remains." O, traveller to the grave, forget not that we are journeying to that joyful or dreadful Eternity. Its awful and infinite ages will roll for ever onward, while we exult in the blessings of salvation, or mourn their utter loss. O Eternity, whose countless years none but God comprehend! yet this Eternity is ours. "Eternity by all or wish'd or fear'd, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Pike's Sermons. WHAT IS YOUR SOUL WORTH?-Have you ever tried to estimate its value? This is a great problem, and Christ himself has submitted it to you, that you may exercise your thoughts upon it for your own profit. How shall we compute the value of the soul? All our ordinary modes of valuation fail us. You cannot set it over against houses or lands, silver or gold. Like the wisdom spoken of in scripture, "it cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels or fine gold." No, all such methods of valuation are rude and superficial, and they fail to touch the real point at issue. The THE FIRESIDE. intrinsic worth of your soul to you as an individual, is to be estimated very much by its capacity on the one hand for happiness, and on the other for misery-by the blessedness to which it may attain, or the despair and gloom to which it may descend; and this, not for a moment, not for a passing day or year, but on the scale of an eternal existence. If you lose your soul it will not be by annihilation. It is in its very nature an eternal principle. If you lose your soul it will be by its inheriting for its portion for ever, despair instead of hope-sorrow instead of joy. What, then, is your soul worth? Will you not ponder this question, till the great realities it involves open upon your mind? Rest assured, that you can very safely drop some of the petty questions which now occupy your thoughts for calm and continued meditation upon this. One estimate, and one only, has been given of its value it cost the blood of the Son of God to redeem it! Your soul did. The Fireside. LOSSES BY RELIGION. 66 NEAR London there dwelt an old couple: in early life they had been poor; but God blessed their industry, and they were living in retirement; when one day a stranger called on them to ask their subscription to a charity. The old lady had less religion than her husband, so when the visitor asked their contribution she interposed, and said, “Why, sir, we have lost a dreat deal by religion since we first began; my husband knows that very well; have we not, Thomas ?" After a short pause, Thomas answered, Yes, Mary, we have; before I got religion, Mary, I had an old slouched hat, a tattered coat, and mended shoes and stockings; but I have lost them long ago. And, Mary, you know, that poor as I was, I had a habit of getting drunk and quarrelling with you; and that, you know, I have lost. And then I had a wicked heart, a burdened conscience, and a thousand guilty fears; but all are lost, completely lost, like a millstone cast into the deepest sea. And, Mary, you have been a loser too, though not so great a loser as myself. Before we got religion, Mary, you had a washing tray, in which you washed for hire; but since then you have lost your washing tray: and you had a gown and bonnet much the worse for wear, but you have lost them long ago: and you had many an aching heart concerning me at times; but these you happily have lost: and I could even wish that you had lost as much as I have lost, for what we lose by religion will be an everlasting gain." The inventory of losses by religion runs thus:-A bad character-a guilty conscience-a troublesome temper-sundry evil habits and a set of wicked companions. The inventory of blessings gained by religion includes all that is worth having in time and eternity. THE PENNY POST BOX. The Penny Post Box. CURSING AND SWEARING. YOUR Penny Post Box, by this time, perhaps, is full; yet, as it is a general receptacle, and always open, I haste to cast in a few lines. In our neighbourhood, as soon as the Pioneer arrives, the Penny Post Box is quickly opened, and its treasures got at. In the Penny Post Box for November we found a piece on Drunkenness, which is of a kindred class with cursing and swearing. The evil of which we now speak is practised to a most shameful extent, not only in this district, but other places. The father swears in the presence of his son, and then corrects him for doing the same. The mother, in the hearing of her daughter; and then, because she follows the sad example, she is severely corrected. The other day a young man, the son of a publican, (but not the publican of the gospel) used words which were too dreadful to repeat. This youth being prevented from engaging in some anticipated pleasure by a shower of rain, was much put out and very angry. In this excited state he "Cursed the rain and Him that sent it." So truly awful was the language, that persons standing by, though themselves swearers, were struck with fear and dread. One of them informing me of the circumstance, said, "I trembled for the young man." The mouth of the wicked, David saith, "is full of cursing, and deceit, and defraud." And the apostle Paul says, that the mouth of such "is full of cursing and bitterness." What a sad and sudden change that young man would have experienced had God visited him for his sinful language as some have been visited! If your Penny Post Box should reach the eyes of that swearer, may he with shame remember the past! Some young persons profess to think swearing a manly action, and, therefore, do so. Men are heard frequently making use of some great oath, or taking God's name in vain, or calling for the curse of God to rest upon them. These sins are committed by many-and what for? does it make them more happy? more prosperous in life? better neighbours? nobler characters? No, nonone of these things. But this it does; it exposes them to the wrath of God, and eternal death! Reader. Is swearing a practice of thine? If so, swear no more, but use your tongue in giving thanks to God your Maker and your Friend. Go and sin no more. J. T. We are obliged to our friend for these useful remarks; for really we are vexed every day to hear the filthy expressions of some young men in our streets. With them, now-a-days, everything is "bloody!" This is a new and most disgusting expression, which is scarcely ever out of their lips! If they knew what sober people thought of them they would be ashamed if they had any shame left in them. FACTS, HINTS, AND GEMS. Facts, Hints, and Gems. Facts. ABOUT THE UNITED STATES FROM 1840 TO 1850. Territory. Extended from 2,055,153 to 3,230,572 square miles, not including lakes and bays. Population. The census gives 23,263,488, being an increase in ten years of 6,194,035. Whites and Blacks.- Whites, 19,630,738. Black slaves, 3,204,089. Increase of whites 38 per cent., of blacks 28 per cent. The free coloured number 428,661. Hints. ON CHARACTER.-One wrong step may ruin your character. Did you ever reflect on the consequences of a single indulgence in vice? The best of men have fallen, through How the suggestion of another. careful should you be, while in the freshness of your days, lest a blight fall on your character and ruin you for ever. Abstain from the appearance of evil. If invited to places of resort, where it is difficult to decide, take the safe course; stay away, and save your reputation. This is a jewel of inestimable value Wis--too precious to be put in jeopardy. No man ever regrets that he kept aloof from temptation, and to the close of life he expresses his joy that he was saved from the path of shame, by giving a decided negative, when the voice of pleasure beckoned him on. Be decided, and you will be safe. Yield, and you may be lost. Watch with diligence, and guard every avenue through which In no other vice may reach you. way will you be sure to overcome the evil of the world. The Greatest Increase of population has been in the state of consin-the least in Vermont. The Immigrants and their descendants since 1790, now number 4,350,934. Of these 1,542,860 belong to the last ten years. The most populous States in proportion to territory are Massachusetts and Rhode Island-the least populous are Texas and Florida. The number of Slaves who escaped in ten years is 1,011; manumitted, that is liberated, 1,467. Slave States.-The slaves are most numerous in Virginia and South Carolina-and least numerous in Florida and Delaware. The Free Coloured People are most numerous in Maryland, and least numerous in Texas. The most Healthy States are Wisconsin, Vermont, and Iowa, according to reports of deaths. Diseases.-The most dangerous are yellow fever in the south, and consumption in the north. Climate. The coast of the Pacific is said to be more favourable to health than the coast of the Atlantic. N.B.-The above facts are gathered from the United States Census Report for 1850. ON BUSINESS.-In the first place make up your mind to accomplish whatever you undertake; decide upon some peculiar employment: persevere in it. All difficulties are overcome by diligence and assiduity.Be not afraid to work with your own "A cat hands, and diligently too. in gloves catches no mice."- Attend to your business, and never trust to another. "A pot that belongs to many is ill stirred and worse boiled." -Be frugal. "That which will not make a pot will make a pot-lid." "Save the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves."-Be "Who dainties love abstemious. shall beggars prove."-Rise early. "The sleeping foxes never catch |