On visiting A. S. I found her in bed; she said she had met with an accident, and burned herself: seeing she was quite unable to stir, I inquired who took care of her. She said the people over head came when she knocked, so I most diligently knocked and called, but in vain: therefore I groped my way upstairs, where I found a woman fast asleep in a corner. She apologized for herself by saying she was very tired, having been up all night with her boy, who was dreadfully burnt in consequence of his pinafore having caught fire. She told me the old woman below was in the habit of drinking. It was supposed that in putting out her candle, just before getting into bed, she had set her flannel gown on fire, but was not roused from her state of stupefaction till about three in the morning, when her flesh was burnt from a little above her knees nearly to her waist, but nothing was certainly known, for she laid for one if not for two days before any person went to her; and though when I called it was the third day, nothing had been done, nor any surgeon sent for. I instantly sent to a neighbouring medical man, who was kind and accustomed to the treatment of the poor. He said it was impossible to use any effectual means while she remained in that bed or room, he could not even judge of her state, but he thought if she would suffer herself to be removed, her life might be saved. Entreaty and every means were used to gain her consent to let us remove her either to a hospital or the workhouse. We felt it was not merely her poor perishing body which was concerned, but her neverdying soul: we dreaded lest this should prove the commencement of that burning which never shall be quenched. The rector of the parish came himself late at night to try his influence. Several gentlemen called on her, but she said she would not be moved; if she were to die, she would die there; as to her soul, she said, God was merciful, and she hoped He would have mercy upon her. I ascertained that her nephew, if not her son, resided in a respectable house, in the neighbourhood of one of the largest squares of the metropolis. She earnestly entreated me to conceal my informa tion, and I thought it better to do so, not considering it any duty of mine to unravel the mystery connected with her. I had her relations acquainted with her state, and took care that she was supplied with every requisite. It appeared to me she had been cast off by her family for her drunkenness, and

both parties were ashamed of their past conduct. She lingered for about a week. As to the poor boy in the room above, who was about five years old, I was told he might live if he could be persuaded to take nourishment sufficient to keep up his strength. I therefore said to him, "Now, my dear child, if there is anything you would like to eat, you shall have it; pie, pudding, cake, fruit, &c." To my horror he began crying for gin; he went on for two hours, and at intervals, till he died. The parents at first appeared quite unconscious of having done wrong in giving him gin. They, however, promised to attend the first temperance meeting held. I am convinced from what I have seen of them and others, that much of the drunkenness which exists has arisen from bad habits formed thoughtlessly, but without any intention of doing wrong. My heart sickens at the recollection of the horrible effects of drunkenness, as displayed in that old woman and little child.

SUICIDE PREVENTED.

A POOR pious neighbour of mine went to visit her father, who lived out of town, and was supposed to be dying. She gave him all the money she could; and, in consequence, instead of riding home as she intended, was compelled to walk. Though weary, her soul was refreshed by the thought of that blessed rest which awaited her when the journey of life should be ended. On reaching Blackfriars Bridge, she observed a woman earnestly gazing upon the water, and it occurred to her that perhaps she purposed throwing herself into it. Mrs. F. said to her, "Why do you look there? You will find no comfort in looking below; look above, and then

you will find consolation." The demeanour of the poor creature confirmed all Mrs. F.'s suspicions, and she resolved not to quit her. A gentleman who was passing said, in a low voice, to Mrs. F., "There is some money for you. I have overheard your conversation, and am persuaded you will take care of that poor thing, or I would myself stay; do not leave her." She tried in various ways to escape from her new friend, but happily in vain. She then said, "Distress had driven her to resolve on self-destruction; she had no food herself, and she could not bear to see her family starv

ing." Finding she had a baby, Mrs. F. availed herself of that circumstance as a powerful plea, and at last got her home, where she was most kindly received by her husband and children, who had become greatly alarmed at her lengthened absence. The poor woman became exceedingly ill. It seems her intellect was a little affected, probably owing to her distress and want of food. Mrs. F. made the circumstance known; temporal relief was afforded; her conversations, and those of other pious visitors, were so blessed to the man, that he became a decided Christian, and is a regular communicant. Though the poor woman is in a dreadfully suffering state of body, there is reason to hope well of her mind.

THE DUTY OF EVERY CHRISTIAN IN HIS
OWN SPHERE.

Ir is the imperative duty of all Christians to promote the eternal salvation of men. Strictly speaking, no man can provide for his brother's eternal peace. But, in the very same sense, no man can provide for the present comfort of any human being. Without the immediate providence of God, the builder builds, and the watchman watches, the husbandman sows, the merchant traffics, in vain. The bread which perisheth, and that which endures unto everlasting life, both come equally down from heaven. The eternal God, of his great liberality, not merely makes the harvests come round in their abundance, and sends corn, and wine, and oil, that man in the midst of his sinfulness may be filled with joy, but hath, from all eternity, provided for the eternal happiness of those who shall be saved. Both these treasures have been put into earthen vessels, and, strictly speaking, it is not the providing of them, but the distribution, which is left to man. And what ought to be impressed upon our minds is, that the duty of spreading these eternal benefits abroad is binding not merely upon the ministers of the everlasting Gospel, or upon kings and rulers, although, in this work, they should stand forth prominent, but upon all Christians as such. The whole members of the Christian Church should be constantly at work, like the little leaven hid amidst the mighty mass until the whole is leavened.

The instant a man becomes a Christian he devotes him

self to the service of Christ in all that he is, and has, and hopes to possess. He is, in the strong language of Scripture, a living sacrifice; and whether he thinks of the eternal God coming down from heaven, and, in human nature, enduring such agonies, that he might be raised to glory-or reflects that Christ is now in heaven again, waiting till many souls be brought to glory, till all his enemies be made his footstoolor looks upon the countenances of the men that pass along the streets, and remembers that they must all live throughout a long eternity, and that for that eternity few of them are prepared or upon the changeless glories of heaven-or the dread solemnities of a judment-day-the endless torments of the regions of woe-upon waiting, expecting angels-upon the zeal of his fellow-Christians-upon the cold indifference of others-upon all the objects of the spiritual world around him, and all the hurrying objects of a quickly coming eternity he sees a thousand inducements to be up and doing whilst it is day; and his zeal will not expend itself in feeble efforts within his own little circle, but he will rejoice in every institution whose object it is to bring perishing men to see the King in his beauty and the land that is afar off :-he will love as his own soul the men by whom such institutions are promoted, he will regard all who oppose them as his own enemies.

This is no exaggerated description of genuine Christianity in its practical exhibitions, and if we have never been conscious of any such feelings, we have in the strongest possible way, before angels and men, denied the faith. God has positively commanded us all to do good and to communicate-to save the souls of our brethren from death, that thus we may cover a multitude of sins,-to walk in the steps of our great Redeemer, who was always pointing the views of men towards heaven. This is not left to our volition, but has all the authority of a positive command, and to refuse obedience to it is to turn our backs upon Christianity, and to break away from under the authority of God. It is as much to disobey the Almighty, in whom we profess to trust, as if we violated the second, or third, or any other of the commandments—as if we set up an idol in our dwelling-places to worship-or appropriated to ourselves our neighbour's wealth, or violated the Sabbath-day. To be convinced of the truth of these statements, let us only conceive how we ourselves

would regard such conduct in one of the high intelligences of heaven. If, when a mandate went forth from the eternal throne of God, commanding Gabriel to fly to the uttermost ends of the earth on some mysterious and lofty enterprise, instead of being off with the speed of lightning, he turned sullenly away and attempted to find his own pleasure amongst his companion spirits: this would be at once an open revolt against God, and it would be vain for such an angel to say, that he believed the right which God had to utter such a command-his conduct would condemn him, and would be a breaking up at once of all the harmonies of heaven. And if the earth is only a nursery for that glorious place above, and if Christians are to be trained here to the same implicit and rejoicing obedience which angels display, it is plain that if they turn away from obeying a commandment, as plainly revealed in Scripture as if a voice from the eternal Sanctuary had proclaimed it in their hearing, their conduct is exactly that of the rebellious spirits of God. And how can they hope to be suffered to mingle with angels, when they die, or how can they dare to go down on their knees when none but the eternal God is a witness, and pray that the Almighty's will may be done on earth as the angels in heaven perform it? how can they dare to do this when that Omniscient Being knows, and their own consciences tell them, that they are the very persons who stand in the way of the fulfilment of their prayer, and that they do what they can by their neglect to frustrate the great and holy purposes of Jehovah? They are worse than infidels who are in such a case for they are traitors within the camp-they profess to acknowledge their obligations to a Saviour, only to show how they can treat them with contempt to realize a great eternity only to prove to all men that they can despise its amazing vastness-to believe in the existence and authority of a God, only that they may prove with what daring hardihood they can trample that authority under their feet.

Upon whatever object a man's heart is fixed, that will he desire above all things to promote; and if we have faith at all in the great realities of an eternal world, and are, in any way, distinguished from hypocrites and unbelievers, we can never rest satisfied so long as men are perishing around us for lack of knowledge. And yet there is no delusion more common; maintained not merely in the market-place, but in