but ere she recovered herself he exclaimed," Pity a wounded soldier!" and then fainted away on the bank. Gertrude did not hesitate to hasten to his relief; he was an enemy, but he was an enemy in distress, and Christ had said, Love your enemies.' She took some water from the brook, washed the blood from his face, and gave him some of the cooling beverage: at length he opened his eyes and thanked her. She then ran into the cottage, her mother warmed some milk, and Gertrude hastened to take a bowl of it to the wounded soldier. As he drank it he revived, and exclaimed, "God bless you, my child; I had died had it not been for your kindness."

Gertrude and her mother then led the soldier, into their cottage, dressed his wounds, and paid every attention to his wants. He was full of thankfulness, and made many apologies for the trouble he caused them; but they told him they were happy to relieve a fellow creature in distress, and entreated him to compose himself to sleep. As they retired to rest they did not forget the poor stranger in their prayers, and in the morning they were pleased to find their patient much recovered.

The old soldier remained at the cottage till his health was restored. The kind treatment he had received was so different from any thing he had before experienced, that he was puzzled to account for the generosity of this amiable family. He had been accustomed to infidel principles, and all was therefore unaccountable to him. At last he enquired how they had acquired such excellences as were exhibited in all their conduct. Gertrude went to her box and took thence a volume it was the Bible: this, said she, is the book from whence we have learned all that is good, and would you be happy this book must be your guide.

When the soldier became well enough to leave the hospitable cottage, he wished to leave with the family all the money he had about him; but his offer was declined, and the only recompence they would accept was a promise that he would read through a New Testament, which they put into his hands at parting. As the soldier left the peaceful valley he exclaimed, "Others talk about religion and virtue, but here I have found the reality, and that religion must be good from which such fruits proceed."

Let the reader remember, that while comparatively few can judge of our principles, every one can judge of our conduct. O that the young would ever seek by all the "fruits of the Spirit" to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things.

M.

THERE ARE BUT TWO CLASSES.

attend the preaching of the The place was fitted up for

SOME time ago I happened to gospel at a neighbouring village. á school-room, where a number of poor children receive gratuitous instruction. There was a neat garden before the door, which was ornamented with a veranda. On my entrance I found a goodly number of persons, of different ages, all of whom appeared deeply interested in every part of the service. The minister, as if anxious to win souls to Christ, exhibited a considerable degree of earnestness throughout the discourse, which was plain and simple, suited to the hearers whom he addressed. At the close of his sermon he said, "Whatever distinctions there may be in our assembly, although we may be composed of persons of different denominations, ranks, and sentiments, yet there are, strictly speaking, but two classes, and with the one or other of these we are all identified. One class is the righteous, the other is the wicked; the one converted, the other unconverted; the one followers of God, the other lovers of the world. Examine, my beloved hearers, to which class you belong. Are you for Christ, or are you against Him? It is not the name, the party, the denomination, that decides your character. It is not the adoption of a particular creed, nor alliance with a particular society, nor the good opinion of your friends and neighbours, nor the observance of religious ordinances, that will justify your claim to the privi leges of the righteous. You may, after all, be destitute of that spiritual life which enables those who possess it to live to God, and which is the origin of true repentance, faith unfeigned, and holiness of heart and life. Whether you are episcopalians or dissenters you must be born again, or you cannot see the kingdom of God. Go home, then, and reflect seriously on these things. Inquire into the true state of your heart: suffer not yourselves to be deceived by a fancied conversion, but see

whether you have the marks and evidences of the children of God, as faithfully and fully delineated in His holy word. Readthe sacred scriptures with serious meditation and a continued application to your own state as sinners in the sight of God, and pray that the divine Spirit may teach and guide you into the saving knowledge of the truth. Think of the invitations of the gospel, these will encourage you; think of the blessedness of salvation, this will interest you; think of the misery of a lost soul, this will alarm you; think of the happiness of the spirits around the throne of God, this will allure you; think of the possibility of being deceived, this will render your examination impartial; think of the danger of delay, and this will, under God, lead you to decide at once and determine henceforth to serve the Lord."

I returned home pensive and solemn. The words of the minister followed me closely. "There are but two classes," said I," and to which of them do I belong?"

As I meditated on this solemn and interesting subject, a variety of scenes seemed to pass before me. I beheld the inhabitants of the old world; they were mingled together, but they formed but two classes. At length I saw the rain descend, the people in the greatest confusion, alarmed, distressed, distracted. The waters increase, the mountains no longer raise their lofty summits, the trees and shrubs no longer grace the vallies all resembles a vast extensive ocean, on whose perturbed surface a little bark is floating, the asylum of a few righteous souls, saved from destruction, while many millions of the ungodly are drowned! Next I beheld Sodom and Gomorrah, suffering the divine anger, from the flames of which a small but righteous remnant is preserved. I turn my eyes to another part, and there I see proud rebellious Pharaoh and his host punished for their transgressions, while Israel passes through the Red Sea as on dry ground.

Such is the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not. The prophet Ezekiel, in a vision, saw six men, each of whom had a slaughter-weapon in his hand, one clothed in linen with a writer's ink-horn by his side, was commanded to go through Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that

sighed and cried for all the abominations that were done therein. This was followed by an order to the rest, to slay utterly old and young, beginning at the sanctuary, and to spare those only upon whom was the mark! What a distinction between the two classes—the righteous saved, the wicked destroyed.

"There are but two classes." Unnumbered millions will be summoned to appear at the judgment of the great day. There will be emperors, kings, princes, nobles, magistrates, commoners, popes, bishops, ministers, tradesmen, mechanics, parents, children, masters, servants

'Tis here all meet, The shiv'ring Icelander, the sunburnt Moor;

Men of all climes, that never met before;

And of all creeds, the Jew, the Turk, the Christian.

The trumpet sounds; the great white throne appears; the Judge is seated; the books are opened. See how the crowd divides—the two classes are distinct. The righteous on the right hand, the wicked on the left. Reader! deceive not yourself. None but the righteous shall be admitted into life eternal. Haste, flee to the Saviour-THERE ARE BUT TWO CLASSES.

IGDALIA.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN SPEAKING OF OTHERS.

The following resolutions of Dr. Cotton Mather are recommended to follow up the hints already given in the Youths' Magazine on the subject of slander.

“He resolved he would never speak evil falsely of any man ; and if ever he spoke against any, it should be under the following restrictions and limitations, which he conscientiously observed: "He would consider whether it would not be proper to speak to the person himself, concerning the evil, before he spoke of it to any one else.

"He would ordinarily say nothing reflecting on any man, behind his back, which he would not readily say to his face. "He would aggravate no evil of another, which he had occasion to speak of, nor make it worse than it was.

"When he was properly called to speak against any man, if he knew any good of him, he would speak of that too.

"He would be sure to maintain charity towards the persons of all that he had occasion to speak against, and would heartily wish them all good."

ARGUMENT AGAINST A TRANSLATION OF THE

SCRIPTURES.

DR. BUCKENHAM, prior of the Blackfriars' monastery at Cambridge, undertook to prove to his audience the pernicious consequence of permitting a translation of the Bible, by the following mode of reasoning, the reading of which will cause our readers to smile. "If that heresy," said he, " should prevail, we should soon see an end of every thing useful among us. The ploughman, reading that if he put his hand to the plough, and should happen to look back, he was unfit for the kingdom of God, would soon lay aside his labour. The baker, likewise, reading that a little leaven will corrupt his lump, would give us very insipid bread. The simple man, likewise, finding himself commanded to pluck out his eyes, in a few years we should have the nation full of blind beggars." To this ridiculous harangue Bishop Latimer replied, that a figurative manner of speech was common to all languages, and that plain metaphors were easily understood. "Thus," said he, “when we see a fox painted in a friar's hood, nobody imagines that a fox is meant; but that craft and hypocrisy are described, which are so often discovered in that garb.”—Bowick. Rно.

HEARING THE WORD OF GOD.

"GOSPEL truths are medicina animæ, the medicine of the soul. Now of what use is it to get a store of medicines and cordials and never to take them? No more is it to collect, with whatever diligence, sermons and doctrines, if we apply them not. Some contract, as it were, a dropsy in hearing, the more they hear, the more they desire; but they are only pleased with it at present, and swelled for the future; are neither really refreshed nor strengthened. But every truth hath, as the Hebrews express it, meat in its mouth, something for our own nourishment."-Dr. Owen. P.K.

ILLUSTRATION OF EZRA ix. 8.

"To give us a nail in his holy place."

THIS is according to the marginal reading" a constant and sure abode."-The idea seems to be derived from the nails or pins with which the tabernacle was fastened to the ground. A similar allusion is contained in Psalm xxvii. 4. R. C.