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HYMN FOR A CHILD.

SINCE Jesus loves to hear his praise
Arise from infant tongues,

Let us not waste our youthful days

In vain and idle songs.

We can't too early serve the Lord,
Nor love his name too dear;

Nor prize too much his precious word,
Nor learn too soon his fear.

The pleasures that his children find,
Exceed the sinner's mirth;

Are food for the immortal mind,
And suit our humble birth.

ANOTHER.

LET little children learn
God's holy name to praise,

And with the eye of faith discern
The Guardian of their days.

Let morning, noon, and night,

With every act, proclaim

That God's their first, their chief delight,

And Christ their only aim.

Let love of peace and joy

The spring of life engage;

Nor let earth's vanities destroy
The hope of riper age.

A JEW.

A JEW went from Paris to Rome, in order to acquire a just idea of the Christian religion, as at the fountain head.

There he beheld simony, intrigue, and abominations of all sorts; and, after gratifying his curiosity in every particu lar, returned to France, where he gave a detail of his observations to a friend, by whom he had been long solicited to abjure Judaism. From such a recital, the Christian expected nothing but an obstinate perseverance in the old worship; and was struck with amazement when the Jew acquainted him with his resolution of requesting baptism upon the following grounds of conviction; that he had seen. at Rome every body from the pope down to the beggar, using all their efforts to subvert the Christian faith; which, nevertheless, daily took deeper and firmer root, and must therefore be of divine institution.

THE IRREGULAR TREE.

SEEING a tree grow somewhat irregular, in a very neat orchard, says Mr. Flavel, I told the owner, it was a pity that tree should stand there; and that, if it were mine, I would root it up, and thereby reduce the orchard to an exact uniformity. He replied, "that he rather regarded the fruit than the form; and that this light inconveniency was abundantly preponderated by a more considerable advantage." "This tree," said he, "which you would root up hath yielded me more fruit than many of those trees which have nothing else to commend them but their regular situ ation." I could not but yield to the reason of this answer; and could wish it had been spoken so loud, that all our uniformity men had heard it; who would not slick to root up many hundreds of the best bearers in the Lord's orchard, because they stand not in exact order with other more conformable, but less beneficial, trees, who do, per

dere substantiam propter accidentia, destroy the fruits to preserve the form.

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THE BEST ELECTION.

A FRAGMENT OF AN ELECTION CONVERSATION, BETWEEN A CANDIDATE AND HIS CHRISTIAN FRIEND.

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Candidate. My dear sir, can you inform me how I may secure my election?

Friend. Yes, sir; by diligence. You must give all diligence to make it sure.

Cand. That I have already done, sir; I have spared, I assure you, neither trouble nor expense. I have opened houses for entertainment; I have canvassed personally; I have employed agents to collect voters; I have set the printer to work on broadsides and handbills; and, to let you into a secret, I have got a clever fellow from London to draw them up; one who is used to write for the newspapers, and can draw up an advertisement with spirit, and a little smart abuse of my antagonists.

Fr. Alas! Sir, that a gentleman and a Christian, as you no doubt profess to be, should stoop to such arts, to influ. ence and corrupt the minds of the people. I heartily wish

you would bestow as much pains to secure your election for a better place!

Cand. A better place, sir! How do you mean? Is not this as respectable a borough as any in this part of the country?

Fr. True, sir; but I refer to a city, and even an heavenly one. The true Christian, sir, is "a citizen of no mean city." My advice is, to "give all diligence to make your election sure" in the New Jerusalem.

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Cand. O ho! I understand you now. But gentlemen of your sentiments, I believe, consider that business as already settled? Do not you, sir, consider your election already fixed and unalterable?

Fr. Not more, sir, than the business in which you are engaged.

Cand. How so? I wish my election were as sure as you represent.

Fr. And do you not think the event is known to God? Cand. Certainly.

Fr. Then the event is sure to him.

Cand. No doubt of it.

Fr. And must infallibly correspond with his foreknowledge.

Cand. That it is certainly foreknown to the Supreme Being I have no doubt; but that does not make it sure to me.

Fr. I admit that, and therefore your anxiety to make it sure to you. But why not employ the same diligence in a case of infinitely more importance?

Cand. O, sir, if I am to be saved, I shall be saved; and if not, you know I cannot help it.

Fr. And if you are to be elected for this borough, you will be elected; why then all this trouble and expense? Cand. Ah, sir! If I do not use the means, I know that I shall not be chosen.

Fr. And what reason have you to suppose you shall be saved without means?

Cand. That subject we will defer, if you please, to a "more convenient season." I must wait ou my electors. Fr. Alas! sir; so said Felix, the Roman governor, when Paul "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and

judgment to come;" but that season never came; and I much fear it may be so with you. The world will always find you an excuse for neglecting religion; and the enemy of souls will represent every thing as more important than the one thing needful. The Lord awaken you from the delusion.

ETERNITY.

ETERNITY, strictly taken, is the peculiar attribute of Deity. Creatures may be immortal, and exist for ever; but it is God alone who knows no beginning. In this view, however, it is in vain to attempt a distinct or accurate idea. "God is great, and we know him not." The most acute philosophers dispute in vain of his existence; nor can the genius of an Aristotle, or a Cicero; of a Bacon, a Newtou, or a Locke, penetrate the clouds of mystery which surround his throne; or even, as Watts expresses it,

"Stretch out a thought half way to God."

But, applying the term, in its more restricted sense, to creatures, we begin to comprehend it. We can conceive existence without end, because we cannot conceive an end to all existence. In this view, eternity gives perfection to happiness, and extremity to misery. With this attri. bute, the enjoyment of a worm would exceed the temporary pleasures of a man; and the sting of a fly become more intolerable, by its perpetuity, than the torture of the stone. Human ingenuity has been exhausted, as the wisdom of an angel might be, in attempting to delineate existence without end. The days of eternity have been com. pared to the leaves of the forest, and to the blades of the

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