your souls; flee to the Saviour, who invites, who intreats you to come to Him. This is the day of your merciful visitation! Let it not pass neglected, unimproved. Wakefield. R. C. DATE AND DABITUR.* "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and running over," &c. Luke vi. 38. DATE and Dabitur were brothers descended from Obedience and Charity. After having been well instructed by their parents, they determined to travel and seek the benefit of mankind, and to follow the maxim, "Do good unto all men." They sought admission into several houses without respect to the external appearance. Sometimes they crossed a spacious park, and directed their steps to the stately mansion; and at others they gently tapped at the door of the lowly cottage. Their reception was various, and taught them that similar dispositions exist in habitations, the exterior of which is totally opposite, that is, they were as roughly treated at the mansion of the lord as at the cottage of the laborer, and at times as kindly received by the one as by the other. It was their custom to assure the persons to whom they applied, that they had it in their power to do them essential service. Date was generally the chief speaker, and so persuasive was he, that he frequently succeeded. "Attend to my counsel," said he, "and your house shall be like the house of Obededom. I have a brother here, (pointing to Dabitur,)who will amply reward you for all your work and labor of love. To prove to you that we are no impostors, read this; it is signed by our King, for we are well known at court." He produced a roll on which was written, “ Give, and it shall be given to you," &c. When Date knocked at one door and sent in his name, a gruff voice said, "Go along, I have nothing to give, there are too many taxes to be paid, and too many poor rates collected." At the door of an old lady, her little grandson came out and said, "Grandmamma cannot see you, she says she must take care and provide for me." Mundanus had no room for Date, because his household expenses were so great. And old Mr. Gripe said, he had made a rule many years past, to give nothing * Give, and it shall be given to you. more, but to leave his money to hospitals and charitable institutions. I must however state, that in many houses Date was cordially received, and hospitably entertained, and his brother Dabitur most bountifully distributed his favors. "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth." Travelling on the continent, the two brothers came to the gate of a monastery, and earnestly begged for a lodging, "Be not unmindful to entertain strangers," said Date, "and we will not be ungrateful for your kindness," they were received instantly, and Date read to the monks the precepts which he carried with him, "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the mourner, aim at the salvation of the souls of your fellow mortals. If you attend to all this," said he, my brother Dabitur will furnish you with ample resources, and make your coffers overflow." In a short time the monastery became like the pool of Bethesda, garments were made for the poor, the ignorant were instructed, the vicious were reformed, and happiness was every where diffused. Dabitur was a silent, but not an unconcerned spectator. He summoned the inmates of the monastery together, expressed his approbation of their conduct, distributed to them rewards for their past benevolence, and gave them moreover certain sums, which he desired they would employ in the best manner, adding, “he that giveth let him do it with simplicity, and as of the ability which God giveth, for God loveth a cheerful giver." For some time all went on well. The inmates of the monastery found that their riches increased far beyond their expectation. The presents they received from Dabitur were so profuse, that, at length they began to discover a spirit of independence, and became so proud, as to treat Date first with indifference, and finally with contempt. Date whose feelings were exceedingly sensitive, soon perceived their altered conduct, and ventured to remonstrate, adding, "If you persevere in this disposition, my brother Dabitur will leave you, and you will return to your former state of want and privation." Regardless however of his prudent admonitions, they became insolent, and at last opening the gate, ordered him instantly to depart! Dabitur often enquired for his brother, but receiving nothing but evasive answers, left the monastery in disgust. Many months had not elapsed, when sickness first, and afterwards death, entered, and a great variety of circumstances united to lessen the wealth acquired by the bounty of Dabitur, till eventually the monastery was as remarkable for its poverty, as it had once been for its riches. Of this the following is an instance. A mendicant having presented himself at the gate, intreated most piteously some relief; but to his astonishment he was refused; knowing its former reputation for benevolence, he ventured to ask the reason. "Ah! said the porter, there is nothing but poverty now, we have nothing to give." "Well," said the poor man, "I think I can tell you the cause-you had formerly residing amongst you the two renowned brothers, Date and Dabitur, but I have heard that you very wickedly thrust the former out of doors, and the latter who gave you your wealth, was so offended, that he immediately left the place. This is the true cause of your present indigence, for there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty !'" Let us learn from this anecdote, that to preserve what we have we must beware of covetousness, and culitvate a liberal spirit. I have heard many individuals declare that giving had enriched them-let the young, especially, commence their course by laying apart something for the poor and needy, and for the Lord's cause. All that they do in this way will be returned manifold into their bosoms. The homely lines of John Bunyan contain a memorable truth, There was a man, though some did think him mad, R. C.. ON FIRE. In my last article on this subject, I stated the first of its numerous properties, namely, that of expanding bodies. There are, however, numerous other effects produced by this powerful agent in nature, which would require a volume to enumerate and explain; but this being totally impossible, in the very confined space to which I am necessarily restricted, I shall confine myself to some of its peculiar effects on bodies. 1. It alters the nature of all combustible bodies with which it comes in contact. To enter into a minute examination of this fact would lead us into a chemical theory foreign to our present: purpose; and we shall, therefore, only observe, that all bodies capable of being burnt by common fire, such as coal, wood, paper, &c. are not positively destroyed by this process, as is commonly supposed, but decomposed, or reduced to their elements, which thus assume new forms and possess new properties. Thus coal, when burnt in a common grate, yields up its component parts, and we have hydrogen gas, which burns with great brilliancy in the form of flame, the bituminous matter with which it is combined becoming inflamed at the same time. The earthy and mineral substance of the coal becomes strongly ignited of a red or white heat, and the expansive quality of the caloric, or matter of heat, as explained in the former article, divides it in time into small particles, which we call cinders, or ashes, according to their size, while other parts, particularly those of a slaty character, turn to a fine white ash. Besides these, various gases are generated, which escape in common grates with the smoke, and mix with the atmosphere. Berthollet, in his "Chemical Statics," vol. 1. p. 163, observes, "When bodies are burnt, none of their principles are destroyed; they had previously formed together one kind of compound, and they now separate from each other, at the high temperature to which they are exposed, in order to form others with the vital air in contact with them; and such of the principles as cannot unite with the vital air, namely, the earth, some salined and some metallic particles, compose the cinder. 2. Its effects on fluids. This is called ebullition, or the act of boiling; in which process the caloric enters into the water, and changes the water into steam. This process is called also evaporation, because if it were continued for a long period, the whole of the water would be converted into steam, and be dissipated in the atmosphere. Perhaps one of the best explanations of this part of the subject is the following note in p. 39 of Parkes's 'Chemical Catechism.' "That the waters on the face of the earth would be dissipated in vapour by a small degree of heat, if we had no atmosphere, may be shewn by the following easy experiment:Procure a common oil flask; let this be about one-third filled with water, and heat it over a lamp. When the water boils, remove the flask, cork it closely so as to exclude the air, and plunge it for a moment into cold water, nearly up to the mouth of the flask. This will not only cool the hot water in some measure, but it will entirely condense the vapour which occupied the upper part of the flask, and occasion so great a vacuum, that the water which had been thus partially cooled, will be seen to recommence its boiling with great violence. This effect can be attributed to nothing but the vacuum which has been formed in the upper part of the flask, and to the cork preserving the water from the pressure of the atmosphere. In like manner water, which has been cooled many degrees below boiling, will begin to boil again, if placed under the receiver of an air pump, so soon as we begin to exhaust the receiver of its air. Under the pressure of the atmosphere, water boils at 212 degrees; but in vacuo, it boils when heated only to 67 degrees. But if, on the contrary, additional pressure be given to water by a Papen's digester, it may be heated to 400 degrees without ebullition. Lead has been melted by water heated in these digesters. From this it appears, that heat or caloric is a solid body, composed of particles which visibly act in the medium of water, causing its particles to expand with great violence, first making them separate and repel each other in the act of ebullition, and next in the more elevated form of steam. Islington. E. G.B. A SUNDAY SCHOLAR. I WILL call the attention of the reader to a young person, about seventeen years of age, whom I visited at intervals for several months, in a state of deep bodily affliction, which brought her to the grave at an early period of life. She had been for some time in the sabbath school, and had sat under the sound of the gospel without evincing any wish for divine things, or manifesting the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus. She concluded that her life would not have been so hastily curtailed, for when her teacher reminded her on one occasion of the necessity of preparation for another world, she replied, "There is time enough for repentance.” Soon after this, however, disease began to shew itself, and increasingly to make progress without any prospect of ultimate recovery. God's gracious design now began to be manifested in leading her mind to the all-important subject of religion, and in enabling her to seek an interest in that Saviour whom she had |