learning to speak wisdom; with the holy without delighting in purity; or commune with God without desiring to retain and manifest his image. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."

4. Place before you some definite object of usefulness. The resolutions of many good people are lost in generalities. Ardent, sanguine, full of feeling and enterprise, it is the determination of a young conve to do much in the cause of Christ: but in the issue nothing is effected. His failure is not to be attributed to the want of either piety or zeal; but to the want of system, of definite arrangement and exclusive aim. Had he attempted less he would have accomplished more. To accomplish anything valuable in the church of God, there must be a particular field in which you feel it your duty and delight to labour, whether it be the conversion of your neighbours-the instruction of ignorant and neglected children-a determination to visit the abodes of poverty, sickness, and death;-or to supply the spiritual wants of some benighted village. And let young people remember that they may often prove useful auxiliaries when they are not called to sustain the character of principals.

5. Invariably "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." What we mean is, that, in all things, we must be governed by a supreme regard to what will promote the interests of religion. Did we do this, the sabbath would never be a day of idleness or mere worldly indulgence. We should also employ our money as in the sight of God. We are trustees what our heavenly Father has given, that we may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, support the ministry of the word, aid the extension of the gospel, and "do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

Never imagine the things you possess are your own, and that you are at liberty to do what you please with them. When you receive them, a voice says, "Occupy till I come;" and then the same voice will say, "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." Keep your minds alive to the certainty of this account, the extent of this account, the strictness of this account, the nearness of this account. " Behold, the Judge standeth at the door."

6. Let there be orderly arrangement in the disposition of your affairs. "The magic power of system in facilitating effort, has often been praised, but it has, if possible, a still greater power to promote happiness."* "Order is heaven's first law." "God is not the author of confusion." When the multitudes were fed by the miracles the Saviour wrought, he commanded them to "sit down in companies." Want of system in the ordinary affairs of life, hinders dispatch, and generates confusion and trouble, which invariably lead to fretfulness, disquietude, and complaint. "Let all things be done decently and in order."

7. Finally, "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." This is the highest end which God can propose even to himself. It was the first great object of Christ, in accomplish the work of human redemption. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." It is the object angels delight to promote; for they exclaim with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him." For this cause a good man desires to live. Make it, therefore, the spring of every action. Let it be manifest in the thanks you offer for the mercies you enjoy, and the end you propose in all the duties and employments of life.

Abbot.

7

A MOST UNWELCOME VISITOR.

In a letter lately sent by Mrs. Moffat to a friend she gives the following account of the dangers to which her daughter Ann had been exposed.

Ann Moffat had gone to visit her sister Mary, now Mrs. Livingstone, missionary among the Bakuane people, and after a fortnight's journey had safely reached Mabotsa. Nothing particular transpired on the road. She says, she did not see any lion, but only heard him roar, and now and then was favoured with a growl to let them know that he was not far off. After remaining some time with her sister, and helping to nurse the little baby, she returned home, of course in a waggon, and was accompanied by an elderly woman and three men. On the afternoon of the second day's journey, the woman discovered that her kaross, which served her for bedding, had fallen out of the waggon, though where and when she knew not. She insisted on some of the party going back to look for it. Accordingly two men

At

went for the purpose, taking with them the only gun there was, and there, says Mrs. M., "they were, in a waste howling wilderness, infested with lions, with only one man and no gun.' length they were benighted, they unyoked the oxen, but improperly neglected to fasten them. They prepared a meal, and drank a little tea, when all on a sudden down came the shaggy monster, an enormous lion, and levelled an ox in a moment, not ten yards from the wagon. They were soon

all buddled together in their vehicle, and sat with horrified feelings, watching the movements of the Lion. Having sufficiently regaled himself be came close up to the waggon and roared." A most unwelcome visitor indeed, we may all imagine. "The man in the waggon had a stick, which he lighted by the candle, and which he stretched out to scare the animal Whether it had this effect we cannot say, but he turned on his heels and marched off somewhere. He returned, however, before sunrise and made another meal—a hearty breakfast, after a full supper. The man then took his long whip, (for they use very long whips in driving their teams of oxen,) and tried to frighten the lien by cracking it as close to his ears as he could reach. At length, much to the satisfaction of the party, the unwelcome visitor turned to the right about and skulked away among the bushes.

But yet there they were, far from water during the hottest season of the year, the oxen had all scampered back from whence they came, they had no weapon of defence, and the two men had not yet returned with the kaross. What could they do? They resolved on setting off on foot, back again to Mabotsa, and to leave the waggen, a poor little cat being the only live creature in it, to the mercy of the lion. They started before sun-rise, and soon met the men. This was some comfort. Their number was now augmented, and they had got the gun. On they went, through the burning desert, and beneath a scorching sun, imagining every hush they saw had a lion behind

it. They sat down now and then and tasted a drop of the last bottle of water they had with them, and earnestly, no doubt, longed for more. At length they reached a native village, and a house was provided for Ann, and there on a single ox-hide for a bed, she and the woman stretched their weary limbs, far too excited, and too fatigued, and too hungry to obtain sleep. Next morning the march was resumed, and in the afternoon they reached Mabotsa. The family had left the day before. A man was left in charge of the premises. Very soon some coffee was roasted, and some bread baked. The chief of the village sent a fowl, and so a meal was obtained. Five days were spent in this solitude. The waggon was then brought back, and another commencement of the homeward journey made. This occupied eight days, travelling indeed almost incessantly night and day. They neither saw nor heard any lion this time. They reached home about one in the morning. There, aroused from their midnight slumbers, Mr. and Mrs. Moffat listened with no little agitation to the sound of a waggon stopping, and the voice of the driver. They eagerly asked the news of the Livingstones, and then tremblingly listened to the story of poor Ann's rencontre with the lion. At first they were bewildered in the thought of the dangers she had encountered, and more especially, as she had been all the time suffering from palpitation of the heart At length every other feeling was absorbed in that of devout gratitude to Him who had so mercifully watched