As when some guard ship anchored far, Thus long has shone Old England's star Herself o'er many a quicksand been! Long may that signal light shine forth, The beacon of the stormy north, Our youthful Queen! long may she live! SABBATH MUSINGS. No. XVII. THE scriptures are full of stimulating precepts to do good, with encouraging promises annexed to their fulfilment. "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days." (Eccles. xi. 1.) "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." (Eccles. xi. 6.) "Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal. vi. 9.) "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." (Isaiah xxxii. 20.) And above all that most powerful and heart-stirring appeal from the lips of our divine Master himself, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. xxv. 40.) Those whose exertions are animated by these promises are not, however, always permitted to see their fulfilment: they have to "walk by faith and not by sight" in many instances. The "many days" after which the bread cast upon the waters is to be found, are often long in coming; and the "due season when we shall reap if we faint not is in some cases deferred, doubtless until that day when those that have done good shall rise to the life everlasting. It has been given to many faithful labourers in the Lord's vineyard to see the springing up of the good seed their hands have sown, in a way as delightful to themselves as it is cheering and encouraging to others similarly employed. Some very remarkable instances of this occur in the Memoirs of the Rev. H. Venn, with respect to the publication of “The Complete duty of Man." Though the facts are wellknown I cannot help briefly recalling them, it being pleasant as well as profitable to dwell on so animating and gratifying a subject. A year or two after the publication of the abovenamed work, Mr. Venn was travelling in the west of England. Sitting one morning at an inn window, he observed the waiter endeavouring to assist a poor man who was driving a set of unruly pigs along the road. The people of the inn and others looking on were highly diverted at the efforts of the perplexed driver to manage his troublesome and obstinate charge; but no one offered him the least assistance except the good-natured waiter. Mr. Venn was so pleased with the kind spirit shewn by this man that he called him in, and after observing how acceptable in the eyes of God was every act of benevolence done to a fellow-creature, proceeded to shew how great was His love to us in sending His Son to die for sinHe urged upon the man the necessity of seeking for an interest in the Saviour's sacrifice, and promised to send him, on his return to London, a book which he had written himself. This he accordingly did. ners. Many years after this occurrence, a friend of Mr. Venn's stopped at the same inn on a Saturday night. He remained until Monday, and great was his sur prise to find the devout reverence paid to the Sabbath, not only by the master and his family, but by every individual in the establishment. A deep sense of the importance of religion seemed to pervade the minds of all, and this in so unusual and striking a degree, that the traveller inquired of the landlord by what means it had been effected. The latter told him it was entirely owing to a work which had been sent him by a gentleman who had stopped at the inņ several years ago, when he was waiter in it, which together with what that gentlemen said at the time, had made a strong impression upon him. He produced the book, which proved to be "The Complete Duty of Man." On hearing that the traveller was a friend of Mr. Venn's, and actually on his way to visit him, the inn-keeper wrote a letter to his benefactor, thanking him with overflowing gratitude for the inestimable benefit he had been the means of conferring on himself, his wife, children and domestics. 'Another instance,' (here I quote the words of the memoir,) another instance occurred at Helvoetsluys, whilst he was waiting for a fair wind to convey the packet to England. Walking upon the sea-shore he saw a person who, from his dress and manner, he supposed to be an Englishman, and addressed him therefore in English as such. The gentlemen in formed him that he was a Swede, though he had lived many years in England, and was well acquainted with the language and manners of that country. This circumstance induced him to enter into conversation with him. The subject of religion was soon introduced, when to Mr. Venn's great pleasure, he found that his companion was decidedly a religious character. The stranger invited Mr. Venn to sup with him, and then, after much interesting conversation, took out of his portmanteau a book to which he said he owed all his impressions of religion, and presenting it to him, asked him if he had ever seen it. This was his own work, and it cost Mr. Venn no little effort to suppress those emotions of vanity which would have induced him at once to discover that he was himself the author of it.' The anecdote of Mr. Venn and the inn-keeper reminds me of a circumstance not very dissimilar, once related to me by a friend. It is interesting in a double point of view, exemplifying the value of " a word in season," and the efficacy of prayer. A gentleman was travelling through a beautiful part of England in the summer season; the weather during the day had been balmy and enchanting, and the scenery surpassingly lovely. Where an ardent admiration for the beauties of nature is brightened and elevated by renewed and spiritual affections, and the pleasures of the man of refined taste are united with the joys of the Christian, the enjoyment is great indeed. The mind of the traveller was full of the most delightful emotions, as towards evening he approached an inn romantically situated in the outskirts of a picturesque little town. Gratitude to God and love to man overflowed in his heart, when entering the court-yard; his holy and peaceful aspirations were on a sudden painfully checked by the clamour of noisy oaths, drunken songs, and blasphemous vociferations, that proceeded from a scene of uproarious revelry within. He hurried past the unhallowed carousal, só peculiarly discordant to his feelings at the moment. In the yard were ostlers and stable-men, and many idle hangers-on of a country inn |