am.

I am Cyrus, who brought the empire to the Persians; do not envy me, I beseech thee, this little piece of ground which covereth my body."

Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

A certain Italian having his enemy in his power, told him there was no possible way for to save his life, unless he would immediately deny and renounce his Savior. The timorous wretch, in hopes of mercy, did it, when the other forthwith stabbed him to the heart. saying, "That now he had a noble revenge, for he had at once killed both his soul and his body."

Dr. Milne, the late missionary in speaking of his conversion, says, "The book which God made use of more especially for convincing me of my sin and misery, was Boston's Fourfold State, which I read with the deepest attention It conducted me to my own heart, discovered the evils which before lay hid in the chambers of imagery; the monstrous ingratitude to God which had marked all my conduct; and the pollution of original and actual sin, with which my soul was contaminated. I saw that I was necessarily under the strongest and most righteous obligations to God, and had never for one hour of my life discharged these, but lived in rebellion against the author of my life; so I was justly under the curse of God's righteous law. and exposed to everlasting misery."-Under the tormenting fears of eternal wrath, he sometimes wished him

self transformed into a stone, or one of the fowls he saw flying over his head in the fields. He was frequent and fervent in prayer, and was in the mercy of God, led to those means by which he learned how even a vile and guilty creature, such as he was, might be for ever saved.

It is a very singular fact, says a country paper, that a hare which was opened a few days ago at Sheffield, was found to have two hearts. They were joined together by a thin membrane. An African heathen, after having heard the missionaries for some time, declared seriously to one, that he had now got two hearts within him. The one heart said, Do good! the other said, Do evil! Many besides this heathen, feel within them two opposing principles.

The beginning of Nero's reign was marked by acts of the greatest kindness and condescension: by affability, complaisance, and popularity. The object of his administration seemed to be the good of his people; and when he was desired to sign his name to a list of malefactors that were to be executed, he exclaimed, “I wish to heaven I could not write!" He was an enemy to flattery; and when the senate had liberally commended the wisdom of his government, Nero desired them to keep their praises till he deserved them. Yet this was the wretch who assassinated his mother, who set fire to Rome, and destroyed multitudes of men, women, and children, and threw the odium of that dreadful action on the Christians. The cruelties he exercised towards them were beyond description, while he seemed to be the only one who enjoyed the tragical

spectacle. things, and desperately wicked, who can know

"The heart is deceitful above all

it ?"

Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.

Some of the natives of South America, after listening a while to the instructions of the Catholic missionaries, gave them this cool answer: 66 You say that the God of the christians knows every thing, that nothing is hidden from him, that he is every where, and sees all that is done below. Now, we do not desire a God so sharpsighted; we choose to live with freedom in our woods, without having a perpetual observer of our actions over our heads."

"I am creditably informed," says Mr. Orton, in his sermon on Old Age, "that a person who had lately a large sum of money left him to distribute in charity, had application made to him for a share of it from no fewer than thirty persons who had rode in their own carriages.'

Some time ago, a gentleman in London, when on his death-bed, felt so strong an aversion to dying, and leaving behind him all his hard-earned wealth, that he hastily rose from his bed, went out and walked in his yard, calling out that he would not die. But the unhappy man's strength being soon exhausted, he was brought back to his bed by his affrighted friends, where he expired, for his hour was come. Love to Christ will make the greatest monarch willing to lay down

his crown and die, that he may be with Christ, which to him, as well as Paul, will be great gain.

"Ah! Mr. Hervey," said a dying man, "the day in which I ought to have worked is over, and now I see a horrible night approaching, bringing with it the blackness of darkness for ever. Wo is me! when God called, I refused. Now I am in sore anguish, and yet this is but the beginning of sorrows. I shall be destroyed

with an everlasting destruction."

A young girl, eighteen years of age, a native of New-York, was brought up by her parents, in all the gayeties and follies of youth; by them encouraged to ornament her person, and engage in every vain amusement. When she was taken ill, three physicians were sent for immediately, who pronounced her speedy dissolution. No sooner was their opinion made known to her than she requested as a favor that all her gay companions might be collected with haste. They were soon around her bed, when she told them she was going to die, described the awful manner in which they had spent their precious time, and exhorted them all to repentance before it was too late, in a very affecting manner. She then turning to her father and mother, addressed to them, in the presence of her acquaintance, these heart-rending words: "You have been the unhappy instruments of my being; you fostered me in pride, and led me in the paths of sin; you never once warned me of my danger, and now it is too late. In a few hours you will have to cover me with earth; but remember, while you are casting earth

upon my body, my soul will be in hell, and yourselves the miserable cause !"-she soon after expired.

Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

The late Lord Bolingbroke, the celebrated infidel, was one day reading in Calvin's Institutions, when a clergyman of his Lordship's acquaintance came on a visit to him. Lord B. said to him, "You have caught me reading John Calvin: he was indeed a man of great parts, profound sense, and vast learning. He handles the doctrines of grace in a very masterly manner." "Doctrines of grace!" replied the clergyman; "the doctrines of grace have set all mankind together by the ears. "I am surprised to hear you say so," replied Lord B.; you who profess to believe and to preach Christianity. Those doctrines are certainly the doctrines of the Bible, and if I believe the Bible, I must believe them; and let me tell you seriously, that the greatest miracle in the world is, the subsistence of Christianity, and its continued preservation as a religion, when the preaching of it is committed to the care of such unchristian wretches as you."