already run out its greatest portion; and I knew not how soon it might stop altogether. In the retrospect of my past days I found, in reference to the companions of my youth, and comrades of my riper years, that I was almost left alone-I had to look back on whole societies, and on ships' crews, and on military battalions which once existed and were known to me, but which had all been swept away; and I felt that in the very nature of things I must soon follow:-nay, that the place which saw me to-day, might probably see me no more a week hence. We read in the volume of inspiration that on many occasions, "one is taken and the other is left." On many a day has this been the case as concerned myself. And now, when I look over the list of all those I have through life associated with, I find ninety-nine out of every hundred gone, while I am still left; and shall I go down to the grave after all, without endeavouring to record the boundless mercies and unmerited goodness of the Lord to me, one of the most unworthy and sinful of the children of men? Shall I not now, even at the eleventh hour, make what feeble efforts I can to call on those within my reach, "to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold on eternal life? Little, indeed, is it that I can do, but this does not excuse me from attempting that little. Know, then, my reader, the course I have already mentioned, of daily reading the Holy Scriptures, and a few select devotional works—and of praying over them, and frequently committing portions of what I read to memory, has, through the divine blessing, proved of the greatest present advantage as I have gone on, and I trust will be conducive to my eternal happiness hereafter. This being the case, I would earnestly urge on you to adopt the same practice, to pursue the same course.

I was some time ago much struck with a passage in the life of that brave and pious Christian soldier, Colonel Gardiner, wherein he states, "that in riding he never was so happy as when his servant was at a distance from him, so that he could sing his psalms and hymns alone." This, I am aware, may produce a smile on some countenances, but I can assure the reader that such also has been my own experience. My custom of daily reading, and of frequently committing portions to memory, has furnished me with a store of divine and spiritual food for the mind to feed upon: so that I can truly say, whether at home or abroad, I am ofttimes thereby enabled to hold communion with the Father of Spiritsand that in such mental exercises I find far more happiness than I ever did in the vanities and pursuits of this restless, sinful world; while "a stranger intermeddleth not with my joy." Such being my own mercy, my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that my reader, may experience the same, and that the Holy Spirit may so bless the reading of these extracts, and store them up in your memory, and engrave them on your heart, that God may be glorified, and your soul instructed and built up in the faith and hope of the gospel of Christ.

you,

Feeling deeply interested in the present and eternal happiness of our naval and military countrymen, and especially for those among them who have not the means of reading many books, or time or abilities to read much of any book at one time (as is the case with many of the inmates of Greenwich Hospital and Chelsea College), I determined on printing and presenting this collection of extracts for their acceptance. But although I have chiefly had naval and military men in view, and particularly those at the Greenwich and Chelsea establishments, 1 cannot but hope and believe that the contents of this volume may prove useful to others in various ranks and conditions of society. Nor am I alone in this hope and expectation, as the following paragraph of a letter will show, which I received from a gentleman who himself was formerly an officer in the Royal Navy, but who is now a beneficed clergyman in the Established Church, and who from being long conversant with naval and military characters, and with their habits, their duties, trials, and dangers, knows how to feel for them: and who, like myself, is much interested in their present and future good.*

"I cannot," observes this gentleman, "see any reason for your hesitating to gratify your feelings, in printing these extracts, at your own expense, for gratuitous distribution among the brave defenders of our country, or, indeed, among any other class of society. Many of them are the pure unadulterated word of God-and those which are the production of uninspired men are such as cannot injure any reader. As to many of them, they are very pious, striking, and instructive; and all of them are more or less of an edifying nature. The seed therefore being good, you may confidently cast it into the field, and leave the result in His hands without whose especial blessing nothing is strong, wise, holy, or perfect.' Launch your little production then on the waters, in faith and prayer, that it will not be in vain in the Lord."

This, my reader, I have therefore done: and may that ever gracious GOD, whose mercies and forbearance seem to have been extended to me more abundantly than towards any other rebel sinner, accept this humble free-will offering, and render it effectual to His glory and to your good. And at whatsoever time your heart is lifted up to heaven, in prayer and praise, forget not to implore a continuance of every necessary mercy, grace, and blessing on

Your sincere Friend,

NESBIT JOSIAH WILLOUGHBY.

"His Majesty's Ship Phoebe, 66 Valparaiso, March 30, 1814.

"SIR, "On closing the Essex at 5h. 34m. P. M. the firing recommenced, "and before I gained my intended position, her cable was cut, and a "serious conflict ensued; the guns of His Majesty's ship gradually

* ALIQUIS, author of "The Retrospect," " Ocean," and other works, well known and extensively read by serious characters in the Navy and on shore---as the present seventeenth edition of the first-named work testifies,

"becoming more destructive, and her crew if possible more animated, "which lasted until 6h. 20m. when it pleased the Almighty Disposer "of events to bless the efforts of my gallant companions, and my 66 personal very humble one, with victory.

"John Wilson Croker, Esq. Admiralty.”

" &c. &c. &c.

"JAMES HILLYER."

When this letter was first gazetted it was much commented upon, particularly as Captain Hillyer had always been numbered with the serious men of the profession, and amongst some of the young officers of the day, it was thought that the success of a frigate action was not of sufficient importance to justify or call forth such strong expressions of gratitude to the Almighty, as they had very seldom been made use of except after great victories. These officers did not reflect suf ficiently that the final result of the action was of as much consequence to Captain Hillyer and his gallant opponent Captain Porter, as those of greater importance to the officers who were engaged in them, and that the King of kings was as much present in their engagement as with Lord Rodney, or Nelson in Trafalgar. I heard the various opinions with great interest, and was pleased to find the old officers agreed with Captain Hillyer, and at once made up my mind that if I ever commanded in battle I would adopt the style of the above letter; and I feel confident, that if the Almighty ever chastises our country with another war it will be generally adopted: and if it is not presumption in me, I, with all humility of heart, strongly recommend young officers to follow the example of Captain H. As I have spoken of the above letter, I cannot resist mentioning the circumstances in which Captain Hillyer was placed, and the honourable privation he suffered in seeking the American frigate, which he heard was upon the coast capturing our vessels and destroying our commerce; indeed, she had three prizes in company when he fell in with her. He had been ordered on a specific service, and in a short time was to have returned to England with a freight of two millions of dollars, which would have given him twelve thousand pounds; but the moment he gained the above intelligence he avoided his specific orders, and perhaps endangered his commission by doing so, gave up the above freight, and with the Cherub, Captain Tucker, in company, made sail, found the Essex, fought her, and the Almighty was pleased to give him the victory. So much for religious men, and fighting, when the principle is loyalty, honour, and patriotism.-What must the feelings of Captain Hillyer have been had he not found the Essex; and what enhances the value of his conduct is, that at the above period he was a young officer, had a wife and family, and was far from being in independent circumstances. Captains Hillyer and Tucker each got £619. 17s. as their share of the prize.

I do not think I ever spoke to this officer but twice, and that by chance; and if I ever meet him a third time, I must expect a serious lecture for the liberty I have taken with his name; for he has not the most distant knowledge, directly or indirectly, of what I have been

saying, but I have inserted it as a beautiful trait, and one which reflects honour on religion, and on the profession, and ought to be known to every young officer in it.

Captain Tucker, in the Cherub, partook of the honour of the action, and was highly spoken of in Captain Hillyer's (now Admiral Sir James Hillyer) despatches.

THE SECOND ADVENT.

"THE great evil into which the modern Millenarians appear to have fallen, is the expectation of some new dispensation, different from that under which we now live. This necessarily leads men to undervalue the Gospel, and to forget that we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken."-Heb. xii. 28. RECORD.

ANSWER.

"Without considering minutely the expectation of some new dispensation," I will only enquire, what says the Scripture in the chapter from which the above quotation is taken, and what are the actual words in the 28th verse.

In the 11th chapter the Apostle gives an account of the nature of faith, and mentions several instances from Abel to David, of faith in the promises of future blessings to the people of God. In the 12th chapter he contrasts the circumstances connected with the giving of the Law, with the Gospel dispensation, comprehending (as I believe) the whole period from the first to the second Advent. It is therefore not so much the expectation of a new dispensation," as the perfecting of the present, which he holds out-an event to take place at the second Advent, and the commencement of the Millennium. It is the promise of this event, namely, the establishment of the future glorious kingdom of Christ, to which the Apostle alludes when he says-" Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire."-28, 29 v.

This will appear evident from the context. At the 18th v. the Apostle speaks of the giving of the Law to Moses, the circumstances attending which were "so terrible," that Moses said, "I exceedingly fear and quake;" but, says the Apostle, 22d to 29th v.ye are come (shall come) unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and unto an innumerable company of Angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of Macknight D, D.

things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire." Thus, so far from proving that we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, (according to the extract given at the head of this paper) the Bible doth here expressly say, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven," 26th v.-and this word, "yet once more," doth clearly signify the removing of those things that are shaken, "that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." 27th v. In other words we have a positive promise, in this and other parts of Scripture, of some great change-of the arrival of a period when the kingdom of Christ shall be triumphantly and firmly established-when the Jews as a nation shall be restored to their own land, and converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in; and these glorious events are immediately connected with the first resurrection, and the second Advent, Rev. xx and xxi.-when the saints shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years-when there will be new heavens and a new earth-when the holy city, new Jerusalem, shall come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, when the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

God forbid that we should "undervalue the Gospel." I have no other hope of salvation than that which arises from faith in the atonement of Christ; but without attempting to "be wise above that which is written," or to explain the exact manner in which the prophecies will be fulfilled, I do conceive it to be my Christian duty (all Scripture having been given by inspiration of God) to endeavour to understand what was "the mind of the Spirit," when inditing the passages which have been quoted.

We are surely living in "the last days;" and if so, it is now peculiarly the duty of Christians to observe the signs of the times." The drying up of the great river Euphrates (generally admitted to represent the Turkish power) is taking place under our eyes, and seems to prove that we are under the sixth vial,-if the seventh hath not actually commenced! "Behold I come quickly."-These words, when taken in connection with other parts of Scripture, clearly mean, that our Lord will "come quickly," after the signs intended to precede his coming shall have commenced.

"What I say unto you I say unto all-Watch!"

THOUGHTS FOR PARENTS AND INSTRUCTORS.

What an Instructor ought to be:

G.

ALAS! alas! that any person should undertake the responsible charge of the education of the young without a previous preparation for the important work. Many, very many we trust of the instructors of our land are well fitted for their useful and honourable office; but we cannot