ON A SCOFFER.

THE other day I could not help stopping a moment while a boy was striking fire with flint and steel. 66 Ay," thought I, "that steel and flint are an apt emblem of the hasty heart of Old Humphrey." How often, instead of patiently making my observations on the things around me, am I put out of temper by passing events! Only an hour ago, my heart was set beating, and my pulse playing half as fast again, as they ought to move. It was a young man that vexed me.

There he sat, in a light-coloured coat, his comely black hair frizzed on each side of his temples, a ring on his finger, and his gold watchchain thrown across his breast, attempting to prove to his companions that the Bible had not a word of truth in it, from one end to the other.

"What!" thought I, "does he suppose, after prophets have prophesied, martyrs have bled, and reverend elders pondered, prayed, and wept over the Bible, that such a pigmy as he can pull down the high edifice of their hope, having for its everlasting foundations the Rock of Ages,' and

'Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone!"" Eph. ii. 20.

My heart grew angry, and the colour came into my cheeks, but when I thought what a penalty must, by and by, be paid by the unrepenting infidel, I grew sorrowful, my passion gave way to my pity, and my pity led me to pray for all unbelievers.

Oh, that in hating and reproving sin, we all showed more of the spirit of Him who wept over Jerusalem!

ON MONEY.

OH what mirth and what misery does money make in the world!

Look at the hubbub among the crowd! what bustling to and fro, what rising early, and late taking rest! what compassing of sea and land! What is the meaning of it? what is it all about? Nothing more than this, that mankind are all actuated by one prevailing desire, and that is, the desire to get money.

One person is mounting up into the air in a balloon, another is descending into the bowels of the earth; some are roaming abroad, others are remaining at home; hundreds are labouring hard with their heads, and thousands with their hands, but the object is the same with them all; they are all trying to get money.

There are those who profess to love money, and there are those who affect to despise it, but all strive to get it. He who has a little would have much, and he who has much is equally anxious to have more. Some use it with discre

tion, and it tends to their comfort; others abuse

it without restraint, and it renders them miserable. Oh what mirth and what misery does money make in the world!

Without money we could hardly preserve peace nor could war be carried on without its assistance. Fleets are built and armies organized by it. It keeps the bailiff from the cottage, and preserves the palace from danger. It enables the bad to do mischief, and the good to scatter blessings abroad; want is relieved; ignorance is enlightened; and good and glorious institutions are supported by money.

Its influence is felt at the same time in the east and the west, the north and the south, but in private life it mingles with the concerns of every day, and almost of every hour. The house we live in, the company we keep, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the time we labour, and the leisure we enjoy, all appear dependent on the

money we possess.

What comings and goings! what planning and contriving! what shuffling and cutting does money, and the want of it, occasion! Some lay out thousands, some expend money on a smaller scale, and others learn how to divide a shilling into a great many parts. Other subjects occasionally engage our attention, but to get money seems to be too often made the business of our lives.

G

The rich man is so accustomed to possess money, that he looks upon it as his own, forgetting that it is only lent him for a season by Him who has said, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," and who alone can render it a blessing.

The poor man, feeling the evils to which the want of money subjects him, foolishly concludes that the possession of money would render him happy. Fatal mistake! By some unexpected event, he is suddenly put in possession of wealth. Overjoyed by his unlooked-for possessions, he plunges into a giddy round of dissipation, his feeble brain is excited, delirium follows, his mirth is turned into madness, and that money which he had regarded as the chief means of obtaining happiness, becomes the source of his irremediable misery.

Regard the mercer drawing the cloth over his nail, and assuring his customer with a smile that it is what he can recommend; that it is of excellent quality. Observe the Jew examining those old clothes, shaking his head, and declaring that he has already bidden more than they are worth. Listen to the quarrel of yonder cab-drivers, who are disputing about a fare. Hearken to the blithe carol of that light-hearted cobbler, who, cooped up in his stall four feet long, and three