it with better habits in prayer; more systematic, frequent, continued importunity with God; more time taken from the world, and devoted to the sweet and holy business of communion with him. Begin the year with earnest prayer, with blessings, and with supplications. Ah, how much at such a season are they needed!

Be more syste

Begin the year with God's word. matic, and constant, and prayerful, in the consultation and perusal of the Scriptures. It were well, wherever you may now be reading, to begin the Bible on New Year's day. Wherever you may now be wandering in those green pastures, along the banks of the stream of the water of life, clear as crystal, begin at its source, and follow it again steadily onward, to where, amidst the golden gates of the city of God, it pours itself into the bosom of eternity. Begin with God and Adam, at Genesis; and go with Christ and the Bride, the Lamb's wife, to where the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come;" and to where the blessed Saviour saith, "Surely I come quickly!" Begin aright, and read aright, with earnest prayer for the teachings of God's Spirit; and then, when you come to these words, you will be ready and able by Divine grace to say, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' And if any man, be he now converted or unconverted, will begin the Bible in this manner, and continue in it in this manner, with earnest prayer for the grace of God, we will venture to predict, that before he gets to the close of it, he will be able to say from the heart, "Come, Lord Jesus."

Begin the year also with labouring for Christ; with some self-denying, humble effort, to win a soul to the Saviour. Begin by going forth and weeping, bearing precious seed. Begin with such sowing, and continue with such sowing; and by the end of the year you shall come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you; or if not in this world, you shall rejoice, and others with you, in eternity.

Begin the year with giving to the poor, and doing good as you have opportunity. Make it more your

business this year to succour the helpless and the needy. You think, perhaps, it is much to give a shilling or two now to some poor family that needs it, or to send a load of wood, or a covering for the bed, or garments for the children, or food for the day; but what, after all, is this little sum to you! And how many times you might do good in this way, by a little effort, which you do not feel at all, but which, as a gift, those who are helped will feel with comfort and gratitude! You may do much good by a little pains-taking, with very little money. See now that ye do it all for Christ. Do it as a precious offering of gratitude and love to him. Do it as an alabaster box of ointment broken on his head.

Begin the year with a deeper interest in the work of the world's conversion; with more fervent and frequent prayer for the heathen; with more of your substance given to God in their behalf.

Dear readers; we wish you all a happy new year! We wish you the favour of God, and the light of his countenance. We wish that he may comfort those of you who mourn; that he may set those of you who are solitary in families; that he may make you all Christian pilgrims, and bring you all to the heavenly Jerusalem above.

CONVERSATIONS WITH A SICK MAN.

I WAS called to see R. H., who was suddenly taken very ill. I found him in great pain: full of tossings to and fro on his bed. "Well, R.," I said, "how are you?" "O ma'm, bad; in racks of pain; I scarcely know what to do; how can I bear it?" He was much alarmed about himself, thinking it was a death-stroke; saying, "The worst of all is, I am afraid I shall die, and I am not prepared for it: what shall I do to appear before the great Judge of quick and dead? O! if I should die now, I must go to hell. O! what a great sinner I have been; what opportunities I have had, and made no use of them! O Lord! pardon me, an old sinner. O! let me not go down to hell. I thought I should have died upon the road, I was so bad, and you

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can't think what thoughts I had: it 'seemed as if I was in the arms of the devil, and that he was determined to have me with him: but (again in agonies) what can I do now? I can't pray, and I can't think about any thing but my pain. O! I wish I had not left preparing till now. O! I know I am not ready to die (wringing his hands, and turning himself in his bed, in great distress.) O my poor soul; O Lord, save it; pardon me; let me not go to hell. My pains are great here; nobody knows how great; but how much greater the torments of hell-fire! It will be a wished thing to stand speechless before my Judge; how wished it is to look all through my past life, and to see my state! O Lord, pardon me, an old sinner! If I could but be pardoned now, I would give any thing for it; but something seems to say, 'it is too late.' No, R.," I said, "while there is life there is hope; and Jesus Christ says, 'Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' It is very late; but, still, Jesus Christ says, 'Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." "Yes," he replied, "and Jesus always says the truth. He does not say he will do a thing, and not do it, like me." I read the 51st Psalm to him he joined in many parts. When we came to "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," he said, "I hope I shall be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. I wish I had attended to my soul in health: now, I can do nothing; for, if I begin to pray, my pain comes on, and I quite forget myself. I cannot keep myself still. If I recover from this, I hope I shall live a very different life; but I must give my heart to the Lord always. How often I have thought I would, and have many times begun to live more religiously, and then have fallen back again! We must not trifle over our souls; we must be serious about them." One day, he said, “What hard work it is to prepare for death! What great words these are,That I should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life'! Yes, all the days of my life I ought to have * A provincial word, meaning "dreadful.”

kept God's holy will and commandments; instead of which, I have been living in sin-yes, I am an old sinner. O God! be merciful to me, an old sinner. What a cruel 'wished thing' it will be for me to be cast down with the devil and all the wicked spirits, when I might have gone up to everlasting glory! I have, it is true, never robbed nor murdered any person; but, then, I have robbed my own soul-yes, I have robbed it of those comforts and joys which I might have had on this bed of sickness, if I had not trifled over its concerns. I might have been happy in Christ now; but, alas! my distress is great, for I know, I feel, I am not prepared for my great change: whatever is said to me, it must be heart work-a thorough change, a complete change, such a change as would last if I were to get about again. My whole life has been nothing but sin; now, I can see as clear as I can see the window." To his son he said, "Look at your father, my dear, and learn not to put off the care of your soul; and pray for me, for it will be a terrible thing for you to hear that your poor old father is gone to that place where he will be miserable for ever.

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When something to this effect was said in prayer with him, "I fear he has lived without any concern about his soul," he exclaimed, "Yes, Lord, I am afraid so too; and I know I have: have mercy upon me."

Mr. called. After talking with him, he proposed reading the Bible to him. "Yes," he said, "do, sir, read some trying part to try me, whether I have a real work of grace in me or not.'

20th. He was better, and able to get down stairs. He said, he hoped he should spend the little time he might have here in a very different way from what he had; that he now felt time much more precious than he ever had before, and he desired to be very diligent in making his calling and election sure; that he felt determined to seek the Lord, with all his heart, till he found him. "It is bad," he said, "to leave our preparation till we come to our death-bed, when we can do nothing; and if ever I can go to work again, I will not neglect

prayer, but will pray on my way, and whilst I am working.

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Of the real nature of prayer, he seemed ignorant ; and when asked if he did not find it difficult to pray, he said, No, not the least, for he delighted in it; but when asked what he prayed for, he repeated the third answer in the Church Catechism. I said, "That is very good to try yourself by;" but repeating, "That is not praying; you must ask God the Holy Ghost to teach you; for you are very ignorant." Yes," he replied, "like a babe just born. I must go to the Lord, and sometimes I do, saying, 'Lord, teach me; Lord, I am a great sinner; please to give me a little time to repent;' and if I pray, I think Jesus Christ will hear and answer me, though I have been a Sabbath-breaker, a swearer, a drunkard-often staying out at nights, and many times trifling over eternal things-and all this is very bad, I know. He was advised to pray that he might hate sin, and see its exceeding sinfulness more; and it was added, "For I fear, R., you are afraid of the punishment of sin; but you do not hate it as committed against that Saviour who so loved poor sinners as to come down from heaven and die upon the cross for them." He appeared obliged for this hint; and, indeed, there was, throughout, a sincerity and teachableness in him which is not often to be met with, though, poor man, not a little self-righteousness, and cleaving to the law, mixed with strong convictions of sin, and a dread of its punishment.

The next day, when again talking to him about prayer, "Yes," he said, "I know it is a duty, a great duty, and I am praying all day long;" and then, with great artlessness," I suppose, ma'm, that though there are a great many scholars in this village, who can read and write, yet there is not one that can pray as I do." But when told that prayer was heart-work, between God and the soul, he seemed to see a little of the need of the Spirit's help to enable him to worship God acceptably.

He was, one day, much struck on hearing the bell toll, saying, it reminded him of death, which he thought