ANECDOTES) AND SELECTIONS. He "SOLD TO THE DEVIL."-A young married man who had professed religion, was reproached by his old companions for being too religious, and they persuaded him to give them "a treat.” pawned his clothes, and feasted his companions with the money. He was now stricken with remorse, for his foolish and wicked conduct. "Tell him," said a Lady who proved to him a guardian angel, "tell him that I shall stay here till he comes," taking her seat in the room of the house where he lodged. A long time passed, and he did not come. At length a step was heard on the stair. He came in and sat down with a sullen and desponding countenance, and made no answer to anything. At last he said, in a low but determined voice, "It is no use at all; I have sold my soul to the devil." 66 But he shall not have it, William," said the lady, "it is not your's to sell, Jesus Christ has bought it with his own blood. Oh! William, I must and will have it for Jesus Christ." She could not say any more for her voice failed. Soon his whole countenance altered, like the face of a man from whom an evil spirit had gone out. The strong man bowed his head and wept. "What shall I do? what can I do ?" "You can pray; let us pray now." He laid his head on the table as he knelt, and cried like a child. He was recovered from the snare of the devil. God, for Christ's sake, forgave his great sin, healed his backsliding and loved him freely. BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES YOU.-Believe that Jesus Christ died for YOUR sins. Believe "that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." Go in deep humility to God, as the hearer and answerer of prayer; ask, that you may receive; seek, that you may find. This belief of God's true word, this view of your once crucified and now exalted Saviour, and this sense of God's love to you personally, under the teachings of the Holy Spirit, will bring you to deep repentance towards God for sin, and dependence upon Christ Jesus for present and everlasting salvation. THE NEXT YEAR.-We may consider the year before us as a desk containing three hundred and sixty-five letters addressed to us, one for every day, announcing its trials and prescribing its employments, with an order to open daily no letter but the letter for the day. Now we may be strongly tempted to unseal beforehand some of the remainder. This, however, would serve only to embarrass us, while we should violate the rule which our owner and master has laid down for us: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things for itself." A NEGRO PREACHER, of forty years standing, addressing his hearers on the grace of God, observed, “I will now tell you my bredren what dis grace is. It is just dis, giving something for nothing." He might have gone further and said, it is giving everything for worse than nothing. THE FIRESIDE. THE PENNY POST BOX. The Fireside. FRIGHTENING CHILDREN. A SCHOOLMISTRESS, for some trifling offence, most foolishly put a child into a dark cellar for an hour. The child was greatly terrified and cried bitterly. Upon returning to her parents in the evening, she burst into tears, and begged that she might not be put into the cellar. The parents thought this very strange, and assured her that there was no danger of their being guilty of so great an act of cruelty; but it was difficult to pacify her, and when put to bed she passed a restless night. On the following day she had fever, during which she frequently exclaimed, "Do not put me in the cellar." The fourth day after, she was in a high state of fever, with delirium, frequently muttering, "Pray don't put me in the cellar." When the surgeon inquired the reason, he found that the parents had just heard of the punishment to which she had been subjected. He ordered what was likely to relieve her; but she died in a week after. Another case is of a child, ten years of age, who wanting to scrape her slate-pencil, went into the school in the dark to fetch her knife, when one of her schoolfellows burst from behind the door to frighten her. She was much terrified, and her head ached. On the following day she became deaf, and continued so. A boy fifteen years of age was admitted an inmate of the Dundee Lunatic Asylum. When twelve years of age, he was apprenticed, and some trifling article being one day missing, he was, along with others, locked up in a dark cellar. The children were much alarmed; and all were let out, with the exception of this poor boy, who was detained until past midnight. He became from this time nervous and melancholy; and sunk into a state of insanity; from which he may never recover. The missing article was found on the following morning, clearing the boy from the crime he was charged with. The Penny Post Box. WE have only space at this time to say that we have received several communications, for which we have not yet been able to find room. It is our desire to let all our readers who are working men and working women say in our pages what they think will be for their own good, or for the good of others; and we hope that none of them will hold back from doing so because they feel incompetent. If they will only try to tell us their thoughts, we will take care that they are made fit to appear in print. So let none of them be discouraged. If they do their best, that will be enough for us. FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry. Facts. CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS AMONG WILLIAM CHAMBERS, of Edinburgh, from the paper of Dr. Watts, that there are now, either wholly at work, or in progress of erection in Lancashire, thirty-one manufacturing establishments got up by operatives. The least costly of these is set down at £5,000; the greater number vary from £20,000 to £40,000; several are £50,000; and two reach even to £100,000: the total outlay being one million and eighty-eight thousand pounds-a striking proof of what working men may do by their accumulated pence! Travelling out of the safe routine of store-keeping, and undertaking the risks of capitalists, the co-operators will need to exercise the skill and caution that ordinarily belong to manufacturing enterprise. Should they, in the long-run, weather this difficulty, it may almost be averred that a new phase of society has been successfully achieved." Hints. "It may be recollected that last year, on our return from Bradford, we visited Rochdale, and gave an account of the marvellous systems of co-operation which have there been organised entirely by working men. At the Glasgow meeting, we heard with inexpressible satisfaction, from a paper by Dr. J. Watts, of Manchester, that the Rochdale associations continue to flourish, and that the plan of co operation was rapidly spreading throughout Yorkshire and Lancashire. No candid listener could hear the explanations given, without feeling that here, for the first time, is a solution of that mighty problemthe elevation of the working classes. Undeniably, there must be intelli gence with prudent self-denial to begin with; but these being assured, all the rest is easy. Nothing is wanted in the way of coddling and coaxing from the upper classes. Thinking as well as acting for themselves, the co-operatives enjoy the pleasure which naturally springs from self-respect and a conscious-cost, wait for the latter; but those ness of independence In our ac- who adopt the former, find, to their count of the Rochdale concerns, we surprise and joy, that they have rementioned that the principle of co- moved out of their way one of the operation had begun to be extended chief difficulties of dying. No one beyond the comparatively limited ever yet travelled with alacrity to sphere of store-keeping and flour- the kingdom of heaven with the grinding, and was about to embrace world lying heavily on his back or a cotton-factory at a cost of £50,000 his heart; this incumbrance once -a factory the property of the laid aside, the journey is performed workers, who consequently were to with comparative ease. This is a be their own employers. It appears, thought worth pondering by the SHAKE OFF THE WORLD. - If, in the season of health, we strive to shake the world off, it will most tenaciously cling to us; but when, in the hour of death, we would cling to the world, it will unfeelingly shake us off. Hence, as the separation must some time take place, unless we shake it off now it will shake us off hereafter. Most men, to their L FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, ANDPOETRY. pilgrims of earth. They need little baggage for their journey-the less of this kind they have, the better. "Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long." RICHES CANNOT BUY CONTENT.A man diseased in body can have little joy of his wealth, be it ever so much. A golden crown cannot cure the headache, nor a velvet slipper give ease from the gout, nor a purple robe fray away a burning fever. A sick man is alike sick wheresoever you lay him-on a bed of gold, or on a pad of straw; with a silk quilt, or a sorry rag on him. So no more can riches, gold and silver, land and livings, had a man much more than ever any man had, minister unto him much joy, yea, or any true or sound joy at all, where the mind is distracted and discontented. Without contentment there is no profit, no pleasure in any thing. Gems. SAYINGS OF AN OLD WRITER. From a Broad Sheet in the British Museum. WELL may those sins draw tears from our eyes which drew blood from Christ's body. We should always abhor sin, more in regard that it is hateful to God than because it is hurtful to us. Let, O Lord, the greater change be wrought in us before the great change comes upon us. If we cannot make others better, it should be cur special care that others should not make us worse. As we have, by our sins, taken away our beauty, so do thou, O Lord, take away our pride. O how shall we appear before God, who have so often appeared against God? More of these sayings soon. Poetic Selections. BE IN EARNEST. TIME is earnest, Passing by: Death is earnest, Drawing nigh Sinner! wilt thou trifling be? Time and Death appeal to thee. Life is earnest : Soon to meet Eternity, Heaven is earnest: Solemnly Float its voices Down to thee. O thou mortal, art thou gay, Sporting through thine earthly day? Hell is earnest : Near thy soul. Wce for thee! if thou abide Unredeem'd, unsanctified. God is earnest: Ere be set his judgment throne, Christ is earnest, Bids thee "come!" Paid thy spirit's Priceless sum. Wilt thou spurn thy Saviour's love, Pleading with thee from above? Thou refusest! Madness! dying sinner, turn! When thy pleasures Friendless, desolate, alone, Oh, be earnest ! Loitering Be no longer-rise and flee; THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. The Children's Corner. WHERE ARE THE FLOWERS ? "WHERE are the Flowers mother ?" said Jane Jones, as she looked out of the window on a frosty morning. "They seem all dead and gone! How beautiful they all seemed last Summer, when you took me and told me their names and pointed out their beauties. How sorry I am they are all dead and gone.” Thus did little Jane lament her absent flowers, and long to gaze on their unfolding beauties, and smell their sweet fragrance again. Mrs. Jones smiled as she heard her little daughter's remarks, and calling her to take a seat, thus wisely and kindly explained the matter to Jane. "I don't wonder, my dear, that you think the pretty flowers are all dead and gone, but I, who have lived longer than you, and have seen them come back many times, know they are not. The rose trees look dead, and you see nothing of the tulips, but they are only as if they were sleeping-they are not dead. In a few weeks, when you see the sun rising up higher in the heavens, they will begin to peep out, and in Summer they will again spread forth all their beauties. "And so, Jane, will our dear little Henry, who, last winter you know we put into the cold grave, spring up again at the morning of the resurrection. God Almighty teaches us by plants and flowers that our bodies shall not always lie in the cold grave. 'Thy brother shall rise again.' "Will he mother!" exclaimed Jane, "How can that be?" "How? why should he not. The Great Being who made all things from nothing, can surely gather up his sleeping dust and give it a new form and new life. Just as easy to him will this be, as to make all the sleeping beauties of flowers, which now lie hidden in the earth, come forth in their season. JESUS shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Yes, thy brother shall rise again. If we love Jesus we too shall follow him to that happy place. I shall see him again, and though he now moulders in the grave 'Those eyes shall speak in softer blue, Love in the Paradise of God."" WINKS AND SON, PRINTERS, LEICESTER. |
