In one case, this useful phrase softened a fit of asperity which was arising in the mind of a poor woman, and influenced her to receive a tract which she was on the point of rejecting. I had taken the opportunity of my companions being engaged elsewhere, to visit a beautiful but modern church, when we were at Caen. There was some difficulty in finding the house of the sacristan ; a needful proceeding, for, unlike most Norman churches, this was a closed one. I knocked at the door of this good woman, in order to make the inquiry; but she, guessing from sundry foreign symptoms, that his church and not himself was in request, pointed to some houses beyond, saying significantly, Mais, vous désirez voir l'église, n'est-ce pas ?' On being answered in the affirmative, 6 6 Eh donc ! said she, moi, je vous la ferai ouvrir;' and we went through her house into the vestry and other clericalities, where I have never penetrated before nor since, and thence by the priests' door into the church. 'Amusez-vous lâ,' she said, 'moi, je suis occupée, mais je revendrai toute-suite;' and there she left me, to ramble at pleasure among the gilded altars and flowered images, which my greatest delight would have been utterly to demolish. In due time, she returned; and as we left the church, she dipped her hand in the holy water, and sprinkled herself, then offered the same benefit to me. I received it, but shook my head and smiled, saying that it would not wash away my sins. She drew back, perhaps in horror at having brought in a heretic by so holy an entrance, and said, in her broad Norman dialect,- Ah! vous n'êtes pas Catholique!' 'Mais oui,' said I, Catholique, mais pas Catho " lique Romaine;' adding that there were many good Catholics who were not of Rome. She was pacified, and resumed her former civility; and thinking this too good an opportunity to be lost, I offered her a tract with her fee. She declined taking the book; I asked if she could read; she said she could, but still refused the tract. No sooner, however, did she hear the magic sound of 'un petit livre religieux,' then she very willingly received it, and promised to read it too. It was 'le bon chemin,' and when I said that it would teach her the right way, she cordially acquiesced; having apparently made up her mind that, although I had acted rather oddly about the holy water, I was a pretty good Christian after all. Let no traveller, anxious to do good, visit France without a supply of tracts; he will find the people very ready to receive them. LIGHT be the turf of thy tomb! A. F. "PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD." IF a messenger is sent to tell us of the arrival of some dear and valued friend, how welcome he is! We feel no dismay, no surprise at the news. How gladly we put on our best attire, and make all due preparation to meet our friend. Yet there is a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother; a Friend who gave his life to ransom ours; the Friend of sinners, who bore our sorrows, and carried the intolerable burden of our iniquities. Shall we grieve, shall we be unwilling to go, when such a Friend sends his messenger, to call us home to himself, where we are assured we shall have rest for evermore? How gra cious the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28. Where he is, his people shall be. He has prepared a place for them, and shall they not prepare themselves to enter in and dwell there? It is a place of unutterable enjoyment. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. ii. 9. But with what preparation shall we prepare ourselves? Where shall we find an undefiled garment, wherein we may appear before the Lord? Of our own we have no such garment; even our righteousnesses are no better than filthy rags." We must cast them all aside, before we can hope for admission; our robes must be washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; we must be unclothed and clothed upon; we must put on Christ who is our righteousness. "This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jer. xxiii. 5. If not covered with this robe, we may not dare to appear before that God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. But to the believing soul that most comfortable assurance is given : "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine." And again: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Isaiah xliii. 1, 25. "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Rom. iv. 7. Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. Death is the penalty of sin, therefore we naturally shrink from it. We do not like to remember that we are but dust, and that unto dust we must return, until frequent warnings reconcile us to the will and ways of God. By his grace he bends our will to his will, and we are content that the issues of life are in his hands, and that by him all our days are numbered. He points the arrow which cannot be turned aside. We see the strong bowed down, the healthy in a moment diseased. The young, the gay, the vigorous, cut down like a flower. Every day brings details of such striking warnings, yet how few seem to lay it to heart! A few words of surprise, and the impression goes off, like the morning cloud or early dew. A short time ago we heard of the celebration of a wedding, which caused general content to the parties concerned. The happy morning came. The bells rang merrily, and the joyous group assembled round JULY, 1839. D the breakfast table, when suddenly the scene changed, and lamentation and woe succeeded the transient gaiety. The Lord was at hand-He did it-He struck the blow, which taught the bystanders that while we are in life we are in death. The impressive and useful lesson was doubtless necessary, to teach his people the instability of all human enjoyment. The bridesmaid, the sister of the bridegroom, received the solemn summons in that moment when none were aware, that she must lay her mortal covering down, and go forth to meet her Lord. She groaned, she fell, she died, without the power of uttering a single sentence. The bursting of a blood-vessel. caused instant suffocation; and the contrast produced may be easily imagined. The countenance, but a few moments before flushed with expectation and pleasure, now pale and stiffened. The white dress all stained with blood. The gay ribbons, the plumed hat, and all the attire of bridal decoration, must now give place to the death-shroud and funeral trappings ! This young girl was thus suddenly called; yet the consolation was given to her surviving friends of knowing that she was not unprepared, and though her dying testimony was not permitted in words, yet that very morning, in a tablet which was found about her person, she had recorded her faith and full trust in the Saviour of sinners. Her former life also had evidenced a work of grace in her. Seriousness, piety, and duteous attention to a widowed mother, marked her character, and there is a good hope that she passed by sudden death to sudden glory.' M. S. |