church, and profit by a ministry whose office is of Christ's own appointment, and therefore entitled to the highest degree of attention and respect.

9. Because it has been the practice of the people of God in all ages to assemble themselves together for religious observances on the Sabbath-day. This being a very plain fact to all who read the Scriptures; and numerous examples of this being found in the case of David (see Psalms lxxxiv. and lxv. 1-4), as well as our blessed Lord and his Apostles (see Luke iv. 16, John viii. 2, Acts iii. 1), whose conduct gave the highest sanction and authority to the service of the temple and the synagogue, which were places consecrated to the public service of God, as our churches are in the present day.

10. Because under the Old Testament dispensation, God gave the remarkable promise to Moses, "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee and bless thee;" which promise refers to special blessings, and was renewed by Christ himself when He declared to his disciples, "Wherever two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them to bless them."

11. Because in the days of the Apostles the fear of danger and death from the malice of heathen persecution was not thought by St. Paul as any reason for Christians to absent themselves from the public assemblies; and this Apostle seems to speak of the conduct of those who did this as "a sinning wilfully," while at the same time he gave the caution, "not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together," with the additional reason, much the more as ye see the day approaching;" from which we may gather, that the frivolous excuses which so many make now to avoid this duty will bring upon them even a worse condemnation than that of the apostatizing Hebrews at the approaching day of judgment.

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12. Lastly, because this especial duty of the Sabbath is not inconsistent with the other holy duties of reading the Scriptures and praying at home on that day, though the latter cannot make up for the former; and that the duties of God's house well discharged are the best prepa

1 Heb. x. 26.

ration for the discharge of every other duty, and the surest means of fitting our hearts, by the grace of God, for that holy and happy state where the redeemed serve God day and night in his heavenly temple, and sing the song of salvation to Him who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever1.-Rev. H. A. Simcoe.

DEBT.

An old proverb says, "He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing." Thomas Sackville, the first Lord Buckhurst, and Earl of Dorset, a statesman and poet, having wasted his fortune, was so shocked at being detained for some time in a waiting-room, at the house of a citizen to whom he went for the purpose of borrowing money, that he resolved from that time to become economical; and thus he retrieved his estate, which might else have been kept out of his hands as long as he lived. In the interval during which he was expecting a summons to the rich man's presence, he had probably contrasted his own dependent condition with the comfort and influence enjoyed by one who was his inferior in rank and talents; and the busy scene around him had suggested some wholesome self-reproach on idleness and improvidence, and on those many needless wants of his, which his inherited wealth had been unable to satisfy. Having turned his sorrow and dejection of mind to a good account, he was afterwards received into the favour of Queen Elizabeth, and employed by her in many important affairs.

A wise man, seeing a young person of good family, who had plunged himself in debt, sitting at an inn door, feeding on scraps, made this remark, "If this man had dined temperately, he need not have supped so badly."

It is said that Augustus Cæsar, hearing of one who died greatly in debt, expressed a wish to buy the bed upon which a man so much embarrassed in his circumstances could sleep.

When Archbishop Cranmer perceived the storm coming on, which afterwards fell upon the Church and himself, in Queen Mary's days, he gave express orders for the

1 Rev. vii. 9-17.

payment of all his debts; and when this was done he felt a burden removed from him, and experienced in its place a comfort and satisfaction to which he would otherwise have been a stranger; and having arranged his affairs with men, he was enabled to devote himself more heartily to God. This instance should teach us all to remain as free as possible from the bonds of debt to men, that we without painful reservation and self-reproach, perform aright our several religious duties, which are liable to be interrupted, if not entirely suspended, by inordinate and anxious cares.

Our Lord compares the ground overrun with thorns, which brings forth no fruit to perfection', to the heart choked with worldly cares; and it is not too much to say, that, as thorns and briars choke the seed cast into the ground, the reflections constantly arising to the mind of a man immersed in debt naturally hinder the operation of the word of God. And this they do, not only by diverting the mind from religious contemplations, but by setting it against them; so contrary are all anxious cares about money to the eternal interests of the soul. The being thus careful and troubled about many things" is too apt to make us forget that "one thing is needful," and to prevent our choosing that "good part which shall not be taken away 2" from us.

The first and most honourable way of avoiding debt is faithfulness and diligence in the works of our calling, to which God vouchsafes to give his blessing. "The hand of the diligent maketh rich," and "the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich." "It is the Lord that maketh poor and maketh rich." God is the first cause of every earthly good; for "except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it: except the Lord. keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Diligence is, however, absolutely necessary; for by God's ordinance the work supports the workman, the art the artist. According to the original sentence passed on man, a service of labour was assigned him, as fitter for his nature and condition than luxury and ease; a world of thorns as more suitable than a garden of sweets and 2 Luke x. 41, 42.

1 Matt. xiii. 22.

flowers: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." Thus would God have our best wishes and hopes revert to Him as an all-sufficient Creator and Redeemer. Thus would He keep us by labour, and suffering, and change, in a dependent, humble state of mind; and thus would He humble us, and prove us, to do us good at the last.

The

A second way of avoiding debt is frugality, with discretion. Economy is income. Voluptuousness and extravagance will make a rich man poor, and a poor man a pauper. "He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich." spendthrift continues in his tradesmen's books, for meat, drink, and clothing, as well as for furniture and other goods, and perhaps for building; and when the day of reckoning comes, as come it must, many claims pressing upon him from various quarters, soon overwhelm the surprised and anxious debtor.

We should beware, then, of thinking all we possess our own, and of living accordingly. It is a mistake into which many indiscreet people fall. To prevent this, an exact account of both our expenditure and receipts should be kept. If we take the pains to enter particulars into a book, it will have this good effect; it will discover how wonderfully several trifling expenses mount up to large sums; and we shall ascertain what might have been, and what may be for the future, easily saved. In order to learn this in time, and with good effect, it is important to observe, as far as possible, the system of ready-money payments, and to avoid borrowing. The person is wise, who takes no loan, even if it be volunteered, unless the prospect of re-payment by a day certain is pretty clear; and he is wiser still who admits no such condition as this, since the prospect is apt to seem much clearer than is ever realized. Extracted from " Debt; its peril, pains, and penalties."

LIFE OF LORD COBHAM.

IN a former number, we gave some account of the life of the celebrated Reformer Wickliffe, and of the persecutions

which he endured for the truth's sake. After his death, there were few who professed his doctrine, until, about a century and a half afterwards, the light of the Gospel again shone forth, in the reign of Henry VIII. During this dark interval, however, there were some who prized the truth of God more dearly than their lives, and actually "gave their bodies to be burned," in defence of it; amongst these, the most conspicuous is Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham. This nobleman was born in the reign of Henry IV. and brought up at his court. He was knighted, and for his service in the wars was honoured with a peerage. But though thus distinguished by the favour of an earthly monarch, his heart seems to have been set upon higher objects than worldly honour and prosperity. He became very zealous for the Gospel, openly reproved the idolatrous worship of the Church of Rome, and took the part of the ministers who taught Wickliffe's doctrine, maintaining a great number of them as itinerant preachers in many parts of the country; it was publicly known that he had been also at a great expense in collecting and publishing the writings of Wickliffe, which he had dispersed among the common people, without any reserve; these things made him more obnoxious to the clergy than any other person at that time in England, and they were resolved upon his destruction. Henry IV. though no friend to heretics, as they were called, yet continued his favour to Lord Cobham, and gave him the command of an army, to go to France, where he distinguished himself by his valour. The king soon after died, and was succeeded by his son Henry V., with whom the clergy determined to use their influence; they caused a prosecution to be commenced against Lord Cobham, accusing him of spreading heresy at Oxford; this they laid before the king, and begged his majesty would suffer them, for Christ's sake, to put him to death. Henry V. averse to the shedding of blood, enjoined the convocation to postpone the affair a few days, and in the mean time he would reason with the Lord Cobham, whose behaviour he by no means approved. He sent for him, and desired him to be obedient to the Roman Church, and confess his errors. He mildly