work a change in me I would be baptized, since, as I afterwards told my friend the clergyman, "I never ought to be blamed for improper baptism, since I had nothing to do with it; the error, if any, rested with my parents." I have, I hope, felt the power of Jesus' love; and by the means of a good baptist minister I was set right as to the mode, and was baptized in the river at I I am only nineteen, and have been for two years minister of a baptist church, whose baptisms you have had of late to report. I have a brother younger still, who has come out and has passed through the same ordinance. We were charged with making too much of baptism, and were told that we ought to wait and sit down at the Lord's table in hopes that our views might yet change. But we do not make too much of baptism; I count it as but dross if men trust in it-mere stubble to be consumed. Christ is all! Nothing bring I in my hands. Away with "putting into the covenant," "regenerating," christening," and all this popish merit-mongering! Let us have baptism in its place within the church; but not as a merely useful ordinance for all, or indeed, as to merit, for any. As to which has the best of the point, the man in the gown, or the sprinkler in plain black, I think I might illustrate their relative position by a fable. 66 "A certain king had a window in his palace, which being broken caused him much inconvenience. Having in his service two glaziers, he commanded them to repair the said window; the one flatly refused to obey his majesty, and the other hung a cobweb over it. Whereupon the monarch confined one for six months, and the other for half a dozen." I rejoice to have got clear of both, whilst yet I love and give the hand of fellowship to all who believe the doctrine: "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." N.B.-I am ready to give names for all the parties should any of my old friends see this; but it will be better for themselves if they will let me alone, as any tap on the vessel will only let more run The conversations are, as near as I can recollect, after five years have elapsed, as near correct as possible, and I have not, knowingly, altered a word. out. AN ANCIENT ROMAN. No ROME is a city of Italy, built on seven small bills, on the banks of the river Tiber, not far from the sea-shore. It is an ancient place; though not so ancient as Damascus or Jerusalem. There is a curious tale told about its.first founders-Romulus and Remus-being suckled by a wolf. doubt it is only a tale; but if they were, they and their descendants could not have manifested a more fierce and wolfish spirit. The history of the early Romans is the history of Italian banditti or robbers, who, in the array of armies, led on by some daring man, s by robbed and plundered their neighbours, putting to death all who resisted them. They went on in this way for hundreds of years, until they had subdued all the nations around the shores of the Mediterranean, or, as it is called in the bible, the Great Sea. They came to these islands, and subdued our rude forefathers. The Jews were subject to them at the birth of our Saviour, as you read in the gospel by Luke. At this time they had arrived at the height of their power-all the world, they said, was subject to them; and certainly there was no nation to be found that could or would encounter them-all were still, none peeped or muttered; and it was at this time of universal peace that the Son of God-the Prince of Peace, appeared in our world. But with all their power, and riches, and honours, they were a depraved and wicked people. Paul the apostle draws their picture in his epistle to the Romans. Read the first chapters of that epistle, and you will there find a full description of the Roman character. Hateful and hating one another, they were tyrants among men, and rebels against their Creator. Never was language more misapplied than when calling such men "noble Romans." Like all other men who pursue the same course, they soon became indolent, and exposed themselves to the attacks of the rough and hardy barbarians of the north of Europe, who came down upon them in swarms, and with a strong hand deprived them of their power, robbed them of their riches, and destroyed the monuments of their greatness. Rome is now only a shadow of what she once was, and her people have long been the down-trodden slaves of superstition and tyranny. We must tell you of the present state of the Romans in our next. THE LIONESS AND HER CUBS. FEROCIOUS ANIMALS, like bears and lions, are represented in the Bible as more ferocious when their young are in danger. Hushai reminded Absalom, when contemplating rebellion, that his father David and his men were mighty men, "chafed in their minds like a bear robbed of her whelps in the field." Hosea threatens the rebellious, "Therefore I will be unto them as : a lion as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them." Ezekiel was told to take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say, "What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men." Nahum asks, "Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lions whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin." Not only are these savage animals strongly attached to their own young and ready to defend them at every risk, but we find the lion and the lioness displaying the most tender affection for each other. Here is an instance. Both the lion and the antelope are natives of South Africa. The antelope is a beautiful creature, and like the deer it is very swift of foot. The lions are very fond of them, but as they cannot take them by speed they mostly lay in ambush for them. There are several kinds of antelopes, but those called the oryx are the finest, and are armed with two long sharp horns. Captain Reid tells the following tale of a trick played by a lion and a lioness to catch their prey, and what was the result. A party went out to try if they could shoot down an oryx for the sake of the venison. They saw two at a distance and crept towards them. Finding that the antelopes were approaching, they hid themselves until they came nearer. But now they found that A lion and lioness were on there were other hunters in the field. They had "The strategem of the lions was now perceived. evidently planned it before separating. The lion was to place himself in ambush upon the path, while the lioness swept round to the rear and forced the antelopes forward; or should the latter become alarmed and retreat, the lion would then show himself in pursuit, and run the frightened game back into the clutches of the lioness. The ambuscade was well planned, and in a few minutes its success was no longer doubtful. The antelopes advanced steadily towards the ant-hill, occasionally swinging about their black bushy tails; but that was to rid their flanks of the flies, and not from any apprehension of danger. The lioness had completed her task, and was now seen crouching after them, though still far in the rear. As the antelopes drew near the ant-hill, the lion was observed to draw back his head until it was nearly concealed in his black shaggy mane. The antelopes could not possibly see him where he lay, nor he them, and he now appeared to trust to his ears to inform him of their approach. He waited till both were opposite and broadside towards him, at the distance of less than twenty paces from the hill. Then his tail was seen to vibrate with one or two quick jerks, his head shot suddenly forth, his body spread out apparently to twice its natural size, and the next moment he rose like a bird into the air! With one bound he cleared the wide space that separated him from the nearest of the antelopes, alighting on the hind quarters of the terrified animal. A single blow of his powerful paw brought the antelope on its haunches; and another, struck almost at the same instant, stretched its body lifeless on the plain! Without looking after the other, or seeming to care further about it, the lion fastened upon the body of his victim, and clutching its throat between his jaws, commenced drinking its warm blood. It was the male oryx which the lion had pulled down, as this was the one that happened to be the nearest the hill. As the lion sprung upon her companion, the female of course started with affright, and all supposed they should see her the next moment scouring off over the plains. To their astonishment she did no such thing. Such is not the nature of the noble oryx. On the contrary, as soon as she recovered from the first moments of alarm, she wheeled round towards the enemy; and, lowering her head to the very ground, so that her long horns projected straight in front, she rushed with all her strength upon the lion. The latter, in full enjoyment of his red-blood draught, saw nothing of this. The first intimation he had of it was to feel a pair of spears right through his ribs, and it is not likely he felt much more. For some moments a confused struggling was observed, in which both lion and oryx seemed to take part; but the attitudes of both appeared so odd, and changed so rapidly, that the spectators could not tell in what manner they were combating. The roar of the lion, however, had ceased, and was now succeeded by the yell of the lioness, who, bounding forward upon the spot, mixed at once in the fray. A single stroke of her paws brought the female oryx to the earth, and ended the strife; and the lioness stood over her victims yelling her note of triumph. Was it a note of triumph? There was something odd in its tone-something singular in the movements of the creature that uttered it-something strange about the whole thing. Why was the lion silent? The lioness still growled and paced about, ever and anon stooping near the head of her partner, which was not visible to us, and placing her nose in contact with his, as if kissing him. Still there was no sign of any response; no motion on his part. The lioness was the only living thing left from that strange and sanguinary conflict." This is a stirring tale, and I dare say our young readers have read it almost out of breath to know what would be the end of it. But if they feel so on reading it, what would they have felt if they had been near enough to see the conflict? For our part we would rather read about such things than see them. |