HAPPY EFFECTS OF RELIGION IN THE COTTAGER EXEMPLIFIED.

'Our house, a dreary province once

Of Satan's dark domain,

Feels a new empire form'd within,

And owns a heavenly reign.'-Newton.

WHEN residing in one of our Universities I was in the habit of visiting a lowly cottage in its neighbourhood. It stood on the borders of a desolate heath, and in the midst of a barren and dirty country. And often, as I have approached it, I have thought of the striking contrast to the cheerless appearance of all that surrounded which it presented. It appeared to me as the sunny spot, (which travellers speak of) illuminating the sandy desert. For nature may dress herself green and gay, and charm with her verdure and fruitfulness, but this cottage was a spectacle with which heaven itself might be well pleased; and over which Angels, who are sent to minister to the heirs of salvation, might delight to hover, for "God was in the midst of her"-He was feared, loved, and worshipped

F

Now bless your honor, your honor is born and bred a gentleman every inch of you!'

Mr. M. sighed. 'I hope I am a Christian,' he said.

Yes! yes! we don't see the like of you, Sir, every day in the week; there are few such gentlemen going -to my mind.'

Mr. M. And what my good people would it profit me to be a Gentleman? Alas! I might still be an enemy of God, and the slave of Satan.

God forbid, Sir! the wicked like, enough are so, as your honor says.'

Mr. M. ، We are all wicked, both you and I; and if Christ answer not for us to God the Father, we must perish.'

Mary. ، The Lord is merciful !'

Mr. M. ، Yes, indeed, in sending Christ to us as “ the way " to that mercy of which you speak. And now what do you, my friends, know of Christ "the

و و ? way, the truth, and the life

In vain did Mr. M. wait for an answer to this enquiry all was silence; the woman looked at her husband, and he at his wife, and both sat before him confounded, as in the presence of their Judge! For at this time, as they are now so ready to acknowledge, they knew not Christ, and still less had they been led to enquire into the cause of his coming to visit us. It had never occurred to them to consider what interest they could possibly have in that wonderful event"God manifest in the flesh." All they cared or desired to know of God was-that God is merciful. And this, as they at that time thought, would make all right in the end. continue to live under

And had they been suffered to this fatal error, (as they now

gratefully acknowledge,) they must have perished. But now that the necessity of a knowledge of Christ was pressed upon their conscience-now that they were assured that they could never come at that mercy, which they so vainly trusted in, but by Christ the way, "the door" to the Father-now that they felt that they were altogether ignorant of the way, and had never passed through this "door" to the Mercy-seat of an offended God—their hope, in which they trusted, broke like a bubble before their eyes : the feelings which we have under some great disappointment were visible on their countenances. We are not perhaps far from the truth in fixing on this day as the most important one in their lives; as the birth-day of a new existence to their souls, in which God "was found of them who sought him not."

Mr. M. having read them a portion of Scripture, their vain confidence in the mercy of God passed away like a mist before their eyes, and like our great Ancestor Adam they saw themselves naked, and exposed to the wrath of a justly offended God. These interesting visits were continued, and Mr M. had the pleasing satisfaction of seeing them brought out of nature's darkness to flee to Christ; and brought at last to live upon him as their life, their hope, and on the fulness of his grace as their all in all. The writer of this memoir has often visited them and partaken of their homely meal. Instead of uncleanliness, and discomfort, and that deplorable forgetfulness of him whose bounty supplies the daily meal, the food was sweet, though homely, and sweeter far than the tables of the rich, unsanctified by even the outward acknowledgment of the great giver. For where, when bread

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there. But it had not been always so. A Student of Queen's College, happening to be overtaken one day in a storm, dropped in for shelter. To whatever corner of the room his eye turned all was uncleanliness, disorder, and wretchedness. The children dirty and neglected; the husband sullen; the mother betraying by her looks an evident dissatisfaction with her lot, and with all that was around her. To what must we attribute this? God was not known there. They were living without God, and without hope in the world." This will abundantly account for the wretched appearance of things. Did religion reign in our cottages we should no longer see such scenes as this. Poverty, indeed, we might witness, but it would be decent, respectable, and cheerful. For piety, when exercising its natural effects, is the mother of cleanliness, and good order, and bright and cheerful looks. The peace and contentment which is felt within, will soon shew itself in the placid honest brow, in the courteous eye, and open look of the peasant; in the mild and simple dignity of the respectable Christian wife and mother, and in the cleanly (though it may be neatly patched) dress of the children. Want, it is true, may be found there of much that is desirable in life; but where religion truly reigns and flourishes, there is an indescribable air of what I would term superiority (easily seen by a Christian) of a general improvement in the habits and comforts of its inmates, which silently proclaims-here peace dwells in the midst of us. How blessed is religion which can thus raise and adorn, lifting up the poor from the dunghill; and clothing a sanctified poverty in those garments of dignity and smiling peace which Nobles themselves might envy.

The truth of this will be abundantly manifested as we go forwards in our recital of this once degraded, but now happy family.

But to return to our friend's visit. All was squalid wretchedness. The wind drove through the broken panes, and the storm continued to beat in fury on their abode. But this was a faint emblem of the moral desolation within; of the darkened Christless state of their souls, destitute of the peace of God; and exposed to that more fearful storm which is speedily coming down upon all who are not found in Christ the city of refuge. Something was said to lead them to a consideration of their state of danger; and after he had partaken of their meal of potatoes, he left them, promising them an early visit. Their sad case of real heathenism, too common a one in a land where the light of Christianity has shone for so many centuries, hung heavy upon his spirit. It was, we are assured, immediately submitted to the Lord in prayer, and many little plans anxiously thought on. Without loss

of time he sallied out in quest of his new acquaintance, accompanied with a glazier, hoping to overcome their reluctance to hear of the "one thing needful," by an argument against which few are proof-the immediate relief of their worldly necessities. The glazier was set to work, and the windows well secured. The price of a few pounds of soap was put into the mother's hands, and a sum for clothing, that the little raggamuffins might enjoy the luxury of having their hands and faces washed before Saturday night came round, and have their little persons secured against the rude and shivering blast.