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and have never offered up thanks and praises in an especial manner for these mercies, it is time to offer them up now.

Who is there who would give up his peaceful slumbers to possess the wealth of the world? Alas! whatever a man may possess, though gold and silver fill up his chests, though he possess every earthly enjoyment, that man must still be wretched indeed who has not rest.

Let us think of these things, that we may be grateful together for the rest appointed to us on earth; and earnestly pray that our hearts may be made willing to accept the merciful and gracious invitation of our compassionate Saviour Jesus Christ, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. xi. 28.

BRINKBURN PRIORY.

BRINKBURN Priory, in Northumberland, dedicated to St. Peter, was founded in the reign of Henry 1., by William de Bertram, Baron of Mitform, who established there Black Canons, or Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine. The baron endowed the priory with lands out of his wastes. Now tradition tells us that, on a certain occasion, a Scottish army which had made an incursion or inroad into England, in returning homeward passed near to Brinkburn without observing the priory. The monks congratulating each other in having escaped that pillage with which the neighbourhood had been visited, in their excess of joy, set about ringing the bells. This imprudence proved to them an unfortunate affair; for the Scots, not being out of hearing, immediately turned back and plundered the place.

As the chemist extracts medicinal properties from the varied plants that flourish around him, so a wise man endeavours to gain profit from the varied events which become known to him.

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BRINKBURN PRIORY.

What think you of the conduct of the monks of Brinkburn Priory? Do not their infirmities remind you of your own? Have you never cried out too hastily, thinking that you had escaped a dangerous temptation, or overcome a besetting sin; bringing upon you by your unguarded security, and untimely and imprudent exultation, the very evil which had almost passed by?

Whether this is your case or not, with sorrow and shame I confess it to be mine. Again and again, like the Brinkburn monks, have I proudly rejoiced in deliverance from faults and infirmities, and again and again has the enemy come in like a flood, overwhelming me with confusion, and leaving me in the deep waters of trouble and despondency. Say what we may, do what we will, there is no safety but in dependence on God, and lowliness of mind. It would do us no harm to repeat every day in the year, and every hour in the day, that too neglected text, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble," James iv. 6.

ARE YOU READY?

THE gates of the burial-ground of Bunhill-fields were open; a hearse and four horses stood near, with a long line of mourning coaches, and a coffin, covered with a pall, was conveyed to the silent tomb. As the mournful procession moved slowly through the gateway, the passer-by was obliged either to cross the street, or to wait till the mourners had entered the burial-ground. At this moment, a working-man, with a paper cap on his head, in crossing the street, accosted a companion whom he met with the words, "Are you ready?" As he spoke, he turned a significant glance on the funeral procession, and gave a shrug with his shoulder, by which I understood he meant to inquire if his companion was ready to be carried to the grave. The question was put in a lighthearted, thoughtless spirit; and his companion replied, "Not yet!" The question and the reply occupied my reflections for some time after; and I thought to myself, How many there are among

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ARE YOU READY?

us, were the same inquiry to be made, who would answer, "Not yet!"

I well knew a minister, a man of unusual talents, and of great integrity, who, after preaching the gospel more than thirty years to a large congregation, met with a serious accident, which placed his life in danger. He thought that he was about to enter into an eternal world, but, alas! he was not ready! I heard him declare from the pulpit, with great humility, this fact. "Yes," said he, "often as I have urged you to prepare for death, I acknowledge with shame that I was not ready!"

Are you ready? is a heart-searching question; for no one can be ready to leave this world until he has a well-founded hope of a better, a hope that rests on Christ, and on Christ alone. you ready?

Are

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