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MASTER AND SERVANT.

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is not yours a family over which the words of the promise may be confidently uttered: "Race unto race shall praise thee, and show thy mighty acts?"

following heads: Judicious selection, fair remuneration, kind and respectful treatment, and conscientious regard for their religious interests. I. The first duty, then, that I would urge upon masters is, THE JUDICIOUS SELECTION OF THOSE WHO ARE TO SERVE THEM. I know that, strictly speaking, this may rather be called a duty in reference to servants than a duty to servants, but it is so important and so intimately connected with our subject that it cannot be omitted, and in the order of remark, as well as of time, natur-certificates, so that the remark of Dr. Johnson, ally comes first.

Now, no selection on the part of a Christian householder is entitled to the name of judicious, which does not secure that the party chosen be if possible religious, and at all events of unquestionable moral character. Apart altogether from the obvious remark, that no family can reasonably expect good service to be given where the servant is not under the control of conscience, let us ask what is one of the great ends for which the domestic constitution has been appointed? Is not the family of the Christian intended to be a nursery for heaven and a type of it too? Is it not intended that the gentler virtues shall obtain their chief expansion around the domestic altar? Is it not meant that the whole economy and order of home shall point heavenward, and that all of us shall be Joshuas in that noble resolution of the captain of Israel's host, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

I am well aware that it is not always practicable to obtain servants of decided piety for our families; but where the character is unformed, we should take heed that it is never immoral. David determined that "no liar should dwell within his house." "Mine eyes should be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit, shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies, shall not tarry in my sight."-Ps. ci. 6, 7. And was not this a wise resolution? Imagine to yourselves the fearful hazard incurred by indifference in this matter. You have children for whom, if you feel like a Christian, you travail as it were in birth again until Christ is formed in them. But what if the lesson of truth which is taught at the parent's knee, be counteracted by the example of deception and falsehood in the nursery? Will not the harmony of religious influence and impression, which ought to exist in every household, be disturbed, and the same fountain be seen to send forth both sweet and bitter? On the other hand, let the influence of religion be seen pervading all departments of the household, from the highest to the lowest-let it be seen controlling alike the voice of authority and the arm of servitude, like the anointing oil upon the head of the high priest, descending even to the skirts of his garments; let there be a fragrant atmosphere of piety in your dwelling-and then

And if it be thus your duty to be select in the choice of your own domestics, it is equally your duty to be faithful in the certificate you give of a servant where another mistress is inquiring her character. There is often a shameful want of conscientiousness in the giving of

if applied to many individuals, still would not be too severe: “I would attach no more value to the testimonial of some persons, than to an acquittal at the Old Bailey." In this, as in every other department of relative duty, we should take counsel of the golden rule, and do to others as we would that they should do to us. In giving certificates, we should endeavour to convey our honest impression of the merits of the party. "Nothing extenuate, neither set down aught in malice." To make such a document a vehicle for vindictive feeling against a servant, is a degree of turpitude which even the current morality of the world would brand. But it is the certificate of high-flown superlatives that is the more common evil. Yet even this is severely to be condemned, and all parties are eventually injured by it. The servant herself is injured, who would probably have behaved better had she not been led to calculate on your easy good-nature, or rather, on your want of high conscientiousness; the family that has been misled by your laudations, and has found a plague in what you called a treasure; and you most of all, in the guilt incurred by such a violation of the laws of truth and all the charities of good-neighbourhood.

II. Passing from this introductory statement on the principles that should regulate us in the selection of household servants, I next remark, that the master owes to his servant A FAIR REMUNERATION FOR HER LABOURS. It may here be recommended, as a matter of no small practical importance, that when the intended remuneration is stated, this should be accompanied with a distinct and explicit statement of the nature and amount of the labour that is expected to be given in return for it. I know that this is not always possible, the duties being of much too miscellaneous a nature to admit of detailed enumeration; but even to state this, is to make a somewhat nearer approach to definiteness. The time of hiring or completing the engagement with the servant, is evidently the proper time for mentioning those particular regulations of the house, compliance with which is imperative. I may name, as examples, the hours of rising, of retiring, of shutting up the house, of family worship, preparation for and observance of the Sabbath, and many other regulations which arise out of the circumstances of a family that carries on its affairs by rule. There must be no appearance of entrapping into

a bargain. And it has been justly said, that when once the plan is laid down, the master and mistress should be firm in requiring conformity to it. The "kind, easy mistress," as she is sometimes called, who dispenses with conformity to family rules, and connives either at occasional transgressions of a more palpable kind, or at gradual encroachments, is, in reality, sapping the foundations of comfort in her family, and of virtue in her servants.*

I have said the remuneration given to the faithful domestic ought to be a fair one; and so says the Apostle Paul: "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal." Again, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, after describing the spirit in which servants ought to obey-"with singleness of heart, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers"— —we find him immediately adding, "And ye masters, do the same things unto them;" treat them in the same spirit as that in which I have enjoined them to treat you-in a conscientious manner, as in the sight of God, acting towards them as you would wish them to act towards you, if your situation and theirs were reversed.

This is a noble rule, to which every heart and conscience loudly and instinctively responds. But in how many forms is it capable of being practically set at nought! It is violated by him who refuses to his servant sufficient food or comfortable accommodation; and its spirit is even disregarded by him who takes advantage of a dependant's necessities to reduce his wages to the lowest possible rate. And the violation of the Divine rule is quite as palpable when the servant is overwrought, as when he is underpaid. Does that master give unto his servant that which is just and equal, who imposes services that were never bargained for, and exacts an amount of toil that overtasks the strength and breaks the spirit? Does he do it, who so burdens the energies of his dependant as to leave him no time either for mental improvement or for secret devotion? Why, this is not industry, but slavery; and he who exacts it is not a Christian master, but an Egyptian oppressor. There are times in the history of the best regulated households when there will be an unusual strain upon the energies-such as seasons of sickness or of hospitality; but, as a general rule, the whole of a servant's working hours should not be demanded of her. She has a soul as precious as that of her master, and to her the fountain of life and the throne of grace are quite as free. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal." Let Conscience sit as a divine arbitress over all your actions; let Christian principle touch your conduct at every point, pervading every act in the family, as well as in the transactions of public intercourse, and, like the fabled touch of the ancient king, turning all into gold. "Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any "The Master and Mistress." London Tract Society.

virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

III. Masters owe to their servants KIND AND RESPECTFUL TREATMENT. They are servants, not slaves, and though occupying an humbler social status than ourselves, we should never forget that they possess the same human nature; that they are capable of the same sense of injury or of kindness-bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; and if they be Christians, are brethren of the same Divine Redeemer, and heirs of the same blessed immortality.

Yet there is some danger that, from their de pendent situation and our power over them, we shall overlook these solemn considerations, and make them the butt of our pride or the victims of our passionateness. The apostle saw this danger, and wisely placed the barrier where the temptation was likely to be strongest, in this warning addressed to Christian masters"Forbearing threatening." Avoid all unduly irritating language, nor let your words be more severe because you know that those to whom they are addressed are defenceless. It is an act of base and unmanly cowardice, for a man to utter the bitterest words in the bitterest tones, and expend the most furious gusts of passion upon an inferior, when the same conduct in an equal would have been passed over with the slightest hint of disapproval.

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But we overlook half the meaning of such injunctions as 'forbearing threatening," when we regard them as merely conveying a warning against over-severity. Thus, when servants are warned against "answering again," they are not merely required to avoid all insolence of language, but to cherish and manifest the opposite sentiment of cordial respect. And so when masters are enjoined to "forbear threatening," we have not exhausted the injunction until we have seen it requiring of us a respectful and kindly demeanour, even to the humblest domestic in our family-circle. Give to your Christianity its full and legitimate influence here, and it will not, indeed, make you stoop from your proper place of dignity and authority, but it will make you considerate of their case, tender of their feelings, prompt to advise, and ready to succour, rendering your domestic sway more easy, because more paternal, and their submission more willing, because more grateful. Remember the condescension of the Persian king to Nehemiah, his cup-bearer, when, observing his sorrowful countenance, he inquired of its cause: "Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart," and see in it a beautiful example of the spirit we commend. In short, our duty as masters is not over when we have sup plied those under us with their allotment of wages and their measure of sustenance, any! more than their duty as servants is over when they have meted out their appointed hours of toil, and "accomplished, as an hireling, their

WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS.

day." Over and above all this, the spirit that pervades our government as masters must be one of such kindness that our reproofs shall be felt to be "an excellent oil," and our dwelling found to be a home of cheerful industry, and not a house of bondage.

It is a frequent matter of regret with judicious observers, that, among so many symptoms of a favourable kind in modern society, the distance the social one I mean-between the parlour and the kitchen should in many instances be so great. This may add to the dignity of our domestic establishments, but it is more than questionable if it contributes to their happiness. We are as far as possible from wishing that the barriers of rank should be broken down. These are salutary, and nothing but evil could accrue from their removal; let them remain as before--as high as before, but do not let them sever the ties of mutual interest and sympathy. We have known of mistresses with whom it was a proud boast that they did not know the names of their domestics. This folly may be fashionable, but it is both short-sighted and inhumane. Treat your domestic as nothing better than a hireling, and by-and-by she will become a hireling. Far better was the spirit of the olden

time, when there was mutual interest without undue familiarity-less of fear, but more of true respect; and when the servant who had spent her strength in the service of the family-weeping when they wept, and rejoicing when they rejoiced-who had seen the children grow up to manhood, and womanhood, and followed their fortunes with her wishes and her prayers, came at length, in her advancing years and decaying energies, to be regarded as entitled to a local habitation and a name in the household ever afterwards. There are few lovelier pictures of moral interest in the Old Testament history, than that of Jacob standing over the grave of the aged Deborah, his mother's nurse, and the servant of three generations, and there shed¡ding tears. "She was buried beneath Beth-el, under an oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth"-that is, the oak of weeping. Noble-minded patriarch! "His tears became him, and his grief was just."

(To be continued.)

SIN.

SIN is the living worm, the lasting fire;
Hell soon would lose its heat could sin expire.
Better sinless in hell than to be where
Heaven is, and to be found a sinner there.
One, sinless, with infernals might do well;
But sin would make of heaven a very hell.
Look to thyself, then, keep it out of door,
Lest it get in and never leave thee more.
No match has sin but God in all the world—
Men, angels has it from their station hurled;
Holds them in chains as captives, in despite
Of all that here below is called might.

Release, help, freedom, from it none can give
But even He by whom we breathe and live.
Watch, therefore, keep this giant out of door,
Lest, if once in, thou get him out no more.
Fools make a mock at sin-will not believe
It carries such a dagger in its sleeve;
How can it be, say they, that such a thing,
So full of sweetness, e'er should wear a sting?
They know not that it is the very spell

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Of sin to make men laugh themselves to hell. Look to thyself, then, deal with sin no more, Lest He that saves against thee shuts the door. BUNYAN.

WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS.

BY THE LATE R. M. M'CHEYNE, Dundee.

all other battles we do not know how the 1. We conquer even before the battle is done. In victory is to turn, until the battle is won. In the battle of Waterloo, it was long thought that the French had gained; and Napoleon sent several despatches to Paris, declaring that he had won. But in the fight with the world, Satan, and the flesh, we know how the victory is to turn already. Christ has engaged to carry us through. He will guard us against the darts of the law, by hiding us in his blood. He defends us from the power of sin by his Holy Spirit, put within us. He will keep us, in the secret of his presence, from the strife of tongues. The thicker the battle, the closer will he keep to us; so that we can sing already: "I thank We God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." know that we shall overcome. Though the world were a million times more enragedthough the fires of persecution were again to be kindled-though my heart were a million times more wicked-though all the temptations of hell were let loose upon me--I know I shall overcome through Him that loved me. When Paul and Silas sang in the low dungeon, they were more than conquerors. When Paul sang, spite of his thorn, "I will glory in my infirmities," he was more than a conqueror.

2. We gain by our conflict. Often a victory is a loss. So it was in that battle in Israel, after the dark night in Gibeah. All Israel mourned, for a tribe was nearly cut off out of Israel; and so, in most victories, the song of triumph is mingled with the sobbings of the widow and orphan. Not so in the good fight of faith. We are more than conquerors. We gain by our enemies. (1.) We cling closer to Christ. Every wave of trouble for Christ's sake lifts the soul higher upon the Rock. Every arrow of bitterness shot after the believer makes him

hide more in the clefts of Jesus. Be content, dear friend, to bear these troubles, which make you cling closer to your Beloved. (2.) They shake us loose from sin, If ye were of the world, the world would love its own. If the world smiled and fawned upon you, you would lie on its lap. But when it frowns, then Jesus is our all. (3.) Great is your reward in heaven. We gain a brighter crown. Be not afraid; nothing shall ever separate you from the love of Christ. O that I could know that you were all in Christ's love-that the arms of Jesus were infolding you then I would know that all the hatred of men, and all the policy of hell, would never prevail against you! "If God be for you, who can be against you?" If God has chosen you-called you-washed you-justified you then he will glorify you. O yield to his loving hands, you that are not far from the kingdom of God! Let him wash you, for then he will carry you to glory.

NOTICES OF COVENANTING WORTHIES.

RY THE REV. ROBERT SIMPSON, SANQUHAR.

Owing to the stedfastness of the worthy ministers who occupied the pulpits in the surrounding parishes, the people generally were well instructed in the Reformation principles, and, perhaps, there was no district in Scotland that furnished a fairer average of covenanting worthies than the middle parts of Nithsdale. No fewer than seven contiguous parishes were blessed with the ministrations of their respective pastors, who all to a man renounced their livings rather than submit to attempted usurpation. The names of these men are preserved in the pages of the historian, and deserve to be more generally known in the parishes where they resided. Besides Mr. Austin of Penpont, there were James Brotherstanes of Glencairn, John Liddersdal of Tynron, Adam Sinclair of Morton, John Carmichael of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel. Thomas Shiels of Kirkbrodie, and Alexander Strang of Durisdeer-the spot where, about ninety years afterwards, the good Mr. M'Kill laboured with so All these worthy men.

much industry and success.

with one consent, refused to conform, and were
therefore, numbered among the ejected, and took,
joyfully the spoiling of their goods. The amount of
truly religious persons then within the district coul
not be small, if we may reason from the principles
piety, and activity of the men who laboured amon
them in the Gospel. This is, no doubt, one cause why
the witnesses in the hilly parts of Nithsdale are parti-
cularly mentioned in those times. Their numbers, i
from the lower parts, seeking shelter among the
is true, were greatly swelled by those who emigrated
mountainous recesses, where they found themselves
in comparative safety, and could flee from height to

THE parish of Penpont in Nithsdale contained, in the
times of persecution, many worthy families and indivi-
duals who firmly maintained that course which the
enemies of Zion were labouring so strenuously to sup-height in evading the ruthless foe.
press. Penpont, in the old British speech, signifies the
head of the valley-an appellation strikingly appro-
priate. It forms part of what is called the central basin
of Closeburn, one of the three remarkable openings for
which the strath of the winding Nith is so distinguished.
And truly there are few streams in Scotland the vale
of which is so delightfully picturesque, and whose di-
versified scenery appears so charming to the eye of
the passing stranger. Penpont and its contiguous
parishes form a locality not inferior in beauty to any
on the long line of this fair stream, from its source
in the moorlands of Ayrshire, to where it pours its
full flood into the ocean.

The descendants of a covenanting ancestry are still numerous in this district, and cherish, as may well be supposed, a warm regard for the memory of their suffering forefathers. It was in this same parish that the famous Mr. Murray, the friend of the venerable Boston of Etterick, laboured with so much success in the Gospel, and whose memorial has been transmitted to the present times with uncommon respect. But what is still more to the purpose, in speaking of the covenanting times, is the fact, that the good Samuel Austin was the minister of this parish at the time of the Restoration, and was one of those who were banished from their charge at the period of the ejection: this godly man, like the rest of his brethren in the same predicament, was subjected to manifold hardships for his consistency of principle and honest adherence to the good cause.

Daniel Carmichael is a specimen of the worthie who inhabited this part of Nithsdale. He lived i the parish of Morton, and enjoyed the ministry o foot, in the farm of Burn, near Morton Castle, : the good Adam Sinclair. His residence was at Blairfeudal stronghold erst occupied by the doughty saintly man were recently turned up by the plough Douglases. The foundations of the cottage of the of the agriculturist, and only two solitary trees re main to mark the spot where so much worth once found a place. His story has already been told ir another publication. He was shot at the mouth of the pass of Dalveen, and buried in the church-yar of the lonely Durisdeer, and his resting-place i covered with a rude thrugh stone, bearing the follow ing inscription:

"As Daniel cast was into lions' den,
For praying unto God, and no to men;
Thus lions cruelly devoured me
For bearing unto truth my testimony:
I rest in peace till Jesus rend the clouds,
And judge 'twixt me and those who shed my blood."

And there were not a few like Daniel, though their
names are not invested with the same notoriety.

It was in the parish of Penpont that the subject of the following anecdote lived. Thomas Dougla was, it is said, laird of Auckland, a pleasant residence on the south bank of the romantic Scar, a stream. clothed with thickets whose density afforded conceal

NOTICES OF COVENANTING WORTHIES.

297

the cards, applied himself with all diligence to the occupation of his good spouse, and in this situation he was found when the soldiers entered.

The uproarious troopers soon filled the floor of the apartment, asking aloud for the laird, and, receiving no satisfactory answer, they proceeded, with their accustomed license, to search the house, and to use all manner of freedom in prying into every place they thought fit. When they found themselves unsuccessful, they become irritated, and both acted and spoke in a very unseemly fashion. Aukland, who felt his honest indignation rise at the insolence of the unmannerly intruders, exclaimed, in a tone rather harsher than the grating sound of the cards he was plying on his knee," I think the devil seems to possess these men!" This remark at once convinced the soldiers that the irascible wool-carder was at least no douce Covenanter, as she could so easily mouth the name of their master, and consequently they made i no inquiries. After satisfying themselves with what mischief they could work, they left the worthy laird in his disguise, to return thanks to Him who had so strangely protected him in the presence of his enemies. After this Douglas was often sought for, but always contrived to elude his persecutors. He was, however, declared an outlaw, his property was confiscated, and his family driven from the place. But he was one of those who took joyfully the spoiling of his goods for the sake of Him in whose cause he suffered hardship.

ment to the fugitives whom the sword of persecution had driven from their homes. Douglas was a credit to the cause in behalf of which he bore witness, and his name is not unworthy of a place beside Daniel M'Michael, whose native cottage was Dalzien, on the same stream, and not far from Auckland. It is to be regretted that so little is retained of Thomas Douglas, the incidents of whose history in those trying times were probably possessed of no common interest, more especially as he was a laird, and therefore one on whom the heavy hand of persecution was likely to rest with a more than ordinary pressure. His dwelling had been frequently visited by the troopers, for the purpose of apprehending him. Auckland was a suitable place for the troopers, who rejoiced to invade a house where something was to be had to gratify their rapacity, either in the way of eating or pilfering. It was not the meaner abodes of the peasantry that altogether suited them, although even these were not to be passed by-it was chiefly the abodes of the wealthier farmers and lairds that they coveted, and where they often quartered themselves for weeks or months as it pleased them; and when they devoured all in one place, they forthwith retreated to another-there, like locusts, to effect the same consumption. Those were riotous times for lazy and hungry troopers, who fed on the industry and substance of the peasantry, while they insulted or shot those who had the hardihood to remonstrate. The good laird of Auckland, then, was exactly a subject for those men of restlessness and mischief, The mention of the incident in the preceding anecand hence frequent calls were to be expected from dote respecting the use of the devil's name being the them, so long as anything was to be had. On one means of lulling suspicion on the part of the troopers, occasion, these "boasted apostles" came suddenly in suggests a similar occurrence which befell in Etterick. sight of Douglas's mansion, when he happened to be The heights of Etterick and the wilds of Yarrow within. To issue from the door was just to advance in were, in those days, frequented by the wanderers, the face of the foe, who could not fail to notice him, and, consequently, infested also by the troopers, who, and to anticipate his flight. In those days, the pre-like beasts of prey, were found prowling in every diparing and carding of wool for spinning was perform-rection in quest of fugitives. The ministers of these ed in the houses of the peasantry, and even the wives of the farmers and lairds did not think it below them to engage in this occupation. It was then, indeed, their chief work in the long winter evenings, when the family was collected round the blazing hearth after the toils of the day in the fields. When the dragoons appeared, the virtuous guidwife of Auckland was busy smoothing on the bristly cards the snowwhite wool, and imparting to it a fine silky gloss, preparatory to her forming it into the lengthened rowans to be drawn out on the spindle into the sleek and soft yarn, to be woven into warm and downy blankets, or manufactured into comfortable clothing for the household. She was one of those industrious dames who "laid her hands to the spindle and applied her fingers to the distaff," thinking no service too mean that might contribute to the benefit of her family. When the laird was at his wit's end, not knowing where to hide himself, his wife suggested the hasty expedient of disguising himself in her clothes, if, peradventure, he might escape detection. The plan was instantly put in execution, as not a moment was to be lost, and in a few minutes, Douglas was arrayed from head to foot in female apparel. He then seated himself among the wool, and seizing

two parishes, Elliot of Yarrow, and Cunningham of Etterick, were both nonconformists, and were doubtless followed by many of their parishioners. These upland districts were at that time furnished with a sound Gospel ministry, which could not be without its effect on the rural and simple-hearted population, and who, attaching themselves to the cause of the covenants, must have been subjected, like others, to the harassings of the persecutors. The remotest solitudes, in the moorlands, and among the wildest mountains, were visited by the emissaries of an oppressive government, for the purpose of seeking out the poor people who adhered to their religious principles with such unshaken constancy. Hence the deserts of Yarrow and Etterick and wild Eskdale Moor, and the higher parts of Tweed and Moffat Water, were traversed in their breadth and length by troopers and informers, who brought terror into every hut and cottage in the solitudes. One of the worthies who inhabited this district was a man of the name of Biggar, who lived near the head of Etterick above Cossarhill. This good man refused to attend upon the curate in the parish church, and his nonconformity being well known, Claverhouse, in scouring that part of the country, was informed of him,

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