pressed herself as happy in God. On one occasion, when visited by Mr. Barlow, he asked her what he must pray for. Her answer was, that the Lord would make her entirely His.

As she suffered severely in her affliction, she frequently expressed a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which she said was far better. She was in the habit of taking in religious papers, which, when completed, she had bound. When she found there was but little hopes of her recovery she requested her mother to bring them all out, and, according to the best of her judgment, she gave them, with suitable advice, to her brothers and sister, called up stairs and around her for this purpose. What was said to them seve- ! rally has not transpired. It is to be desired that her words spoken may be as a nail in a sure place. May it be for their good.

In the course of the day on which she took her flight to heaven she wished to sleep, when her mother remarked that she would soon sleep in Jesus; for this she expressed a lively hope. He father often prayed that her sufferings might not be protracted, if it was the will of God to take her, and that the passage into another world might be easy. And so it was. Not expecting her departure was so near, the family sat at tea, and her sister by her bedside. She desired her father and mother to come upstairs. They did so, and her father inquiring into her wants, she wished to be raised up a little. Her father raised her up, and she, placing her arm around his neck, the mother looking on, without a struggle or a groan she fell asleep in Jesus. Thus departed Sarah Ann Roberts, in the full assurance that in the morning of the resurrection she will again awake to everlasting life.

JOHN ROBERTS.

VARIETIES.

PULPIT INEFFICIENCY.

For further illustration, we will state what we once heard from the pulpit. The preacher chose for his text a passage which involved the doctrine of the influences of the Holy Spirit in man's salvation. This was his subject. His design, he intimated, was to prove it. Accordingly he resorts to the works and objects of nature, from whence he drew analogies, to show that such a thing is possible. Three-fourths of the discourse is thus employed, and then he cites a few passages from Scripture, where it is clearly stated, closing with a few sentences, whose meaning was that it would be well to think of this. Now we confess to our being more fully convinced of the truth of the doctrine at the beginning of the discourse than at its end. In the opening, we heard the clear announcement of the apostle, and hoped that, with some quotations, apt, and to the point, showing it to rest firmly upon God's word, he would impress upon us the inestimable value and importance of those influences, their necessity, the means of securing and ! cherishing them, their blessed effects in enlightening, directing, comforting, and sanctifying us, the danger of losing them, and of giving away that Spirit by which we are sealed to the day of Redemption, and thus leave us coveting more and more of those gracious influences, and resolved to watch against everything that might quench them. Whereas, in his laboured attempts to prove what the Bible before him so distinctly asserted, and what ninetenths of his hearers admitted at the outset, he left us questioning only, whether a doctrine which required to be thus proved and supported by analogies of nature as something possible, were not, after all, exceedingly doubtful. Our, minds were therefore not in as religious a frame, on leaving the sanctuary, as on entering it. Truth had not as much power over us after the discourse, as before it. Surely, this is being very ineffective. Surely, this mode of treating Divine truth, whatever other quality it may possess, cannot be said to be distinguished for efficiency.

THE BIBLE.

How comes it that this volume, composed by able men, in a rude age, when Art and Science were but in their childhood, has exerted more influence on the human mind and on the social system, than all other books put together? Whence comes it that this book has achieved such marvellous changes in the opinions of mankind-has banished idol-worship has abolished infanticide-has put down polygamy and divorce-exalted the condition of woman— raised the standard of morality-created for families that blessed thing, a Christian home-and caused its other triumphs, by causing benevolent institutions, open and extensive, to spring up as with the wand of enchantment? What sort of a book is this, that even the winds and waves of human passions obey it? What other engine of social improvement has operated so long, and yet lost none of its virtue? Since it appeared, many boasted means of amelioration have been tried and failed, many codes of jurisprudence have arisen, and run their course and expired. Empire after empire has been launched upon the tide of time, and gone down, leaving no trace upon the waters. But this book is still going about doing good, leavening society with its holy principles-cheering the sorrowful with its consolation-strengthening the tempted-encouraging the penitent-calming the troubled spirit-and smoothing the brow of death. Can such a book be the offering of human genius? Does not the vastness of its effects demonstrate the excellency of the power to be of God?

POETRY.

A GLANCE AT THE ATHEIST'S CREED.

Awake my muse, and plume thy wing,
And nerve thee for a lofty flight,
Thou hast a wond'rous song to sing,
Full of philosophy and light.

Far in the depths of ages past

A most surprising dance took place,
Ere light a single ray had cast
Into the vast abyss of space.

Atoms of matter, that till then
Had all inert and useless been,
Now wandered each from his own den,
A very strange and curious scene.

Round, round, in airy dance they ran,
And then to form a ball begun,
Each atom understood the plan,
A countless number made a sun.

Thus suns and worlds from chaos rose,
And order from disorder sprung,

A grand effect without a cause,
And everthing on nothing hung.

Now life from lifeless earth proceeds,
And plants to deck the world appear,
That never grew from any seeds,
What deep philosophy is here!
And animals from plants arise,
The lesser give the greater birth,
Till beings now of various size
Inhabit all the spacious earth.

This was the origin of things

The Atheist sagely declares, He soars on absurdity's wings, His system all folly appears.

R. HALSTEAD.

Soon after the fire of London, which happened in September, 1666, Sir C. Wren submitted to the public a design for rebuilding the city in a manner which he considered worthy of the metropolis of England. His plans were rejected, as requiring too much time and money. His talents, however, were called into action in re-erecting churches and public buildings: among others, St. Paul's, St. Stephen's, St. Mary-le-Bow, and St. Bride's. To commemorate the fire, a Monument was erected on the spot where it began; it is considered one of Wren's finest structures. It is a Doric column, 202 feet high. At the top is seen to rise a huge mass of flames, strongly gilt, proceeding out of an urn. This is not part of Wren's design, which was to place at the top a colossal statue of the reigning monarch, Charles II. Within, is a staircase of black marble, of 354 steps; and on the exterior a roomy balcony within thirty-two feet of the summit. The view