and exerted himself by every means, to apprehend him. The honest man, being fully aware of the intentions of the troopers, kept himself out of their way, and resorted to the hills. Claverhouse, however, was not to be baffled in his object, and being chagrined at his frequent disappointments, rode off with his troop at his back in quest of him. As they marched over the wastes, they came in sight of a man wandering on the heights between Moffat Water and Etterick. Biggar, for it was he, considered that, if he attempted to flee, the circumstance would betray him, and being fully aware that none of the soldiers knew him, he threw his plaid across his shoulders, and assuming an air of composure, walked slowly on, apparently heedless of the approach of the horsemen. Claverhouse rode hastily up to him, and striking him smartly on the head with his whip, pronounced him his prisoner. Biggar turned quickly round, and with an undaunted countenance exclaimed-"I think the devil is in the man-why does he strike me?" On this, the commander turned to his men, and said, "This is not the person we are in search of," and then marched on. The use of the name of the devil in this way, expressive of a truth, was the means, it would appear, of sometimes saving the life of an innocent man. It cannot be denied that the devil actuated these men of blood, so that, in sober truth and in sorrow, the wanderers might affirm that the devil was in'them, and if their persecutors should happen to take the affirmation in a profane sense, they who made it were not

answerable for that.

It is likely that the Biggar here mentioned was the ancestor, or perhaps the immediate father, of the Biggars of Etterick, James and William, who were so great a comfort to Mr. Boston, the latter of whom died at Penpont, to which place he had accompanied

his minister on a sacramental occasion. "He died," says Mr. Boston, "In hopes of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Among his last words were, Farewell sun, moon, and stars; farewell dear minister; and farewell the Bible." Of this worthy man Mr. Boston gives an admirable character in his memoirs. The generation of the upright shall be blessed.

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Mr. Boston mentions another worthy in Etterick, Thomas Linton in Chapelhope, respecting whom, on the occasion of his death, he says, "he had been a notable sufferer in the time of persecution, and spoiled of all his goods, but was become very wealthy; and, moreover, he had a heart given him to do good with his wealth, and was very useful in the country that way. On him I bestowed this epitaph, which I suppose is to be found on his tombstone in Mary Churchyard in Yarrow.

All lost for Christ, an hundred fold
Produced, and he became

A father, eyes, and feet unto

The poor, the blind, the lame."

MOUNT CARMEL.

In the cool of the evening, we ascended Mount Carmel by a deep and rocky ravine a little way to the south. We conversed together on Elijah's wonderful answer to prayer obtained on this mountain, and felt that we could well spend the evening of the holy day in such a place. Having soon reached the summit, a

considerable way above the Latin Convent, we sat down at a point commanding a full view of the sea been the spot where Elijah prayed when he went up to the west and to the north. Near this must have to the top of Carmel, and cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And Elijah said, Go again, seven times." There we united in praying for abundance of rain to our own souls, our friends, and our people, and for the progress of our mission, which seemed for a time impeded. It was awfully solemn to kneel on the lonely top of Carmel. The sun was going down beyond the sea, the air was cool, and delightfully pure; scarcely a breath of wind stirred the leaves, yet the fragrant shrubs diffused their pleasant odours on sea and on the hill. The sea washes the foot of the A true Sabbath stillness rested on the every side. hill on each side, and stretches out full in front till lost in the distance. To the east and north-east lies that extension of the splendid Plain of Esdraelon which reaches to the white walls of Acre, and through which "that ancient river-the River Kishon," was winding its way to the sea, not far from the foot of Carmel. These are the waters that swept away the enemies of Deborah and Barak, and that were made red by the blood of the prophets of Baal, after Elijah's miraculous sign of fire from heaven. To the south is seen the narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, which afterwards expands into the Plain of Sharon; and along the ridge of Mount Carmel itself is a range of eminences, extending many miles to the south-east, all of them presenting a surface of tableland on the top, sometimes bare and rocky, and some times covered with mountain shrubs. On some of these heights, the thousands of Israel assembled to meet Elijah, when he stood forth before them all, and said, "How long halt ye between two opinions?" and from this sea they carried up the water that drenched his altar; and here they fell on their faces and cried, "Jehovah he is the God! Jehovah he is

the God!"

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mel can never be forgotten. No scene we had witThe view we obtained that evening on Mount Car nessed surpassed its magnificence, and the features of it are still as fresh in our memory as if we gazed on it but yesterday. It was, moreover, a most instructive scene; we saw at once the solution of all our difficulties in regard to the scriptural references to this hill. Carmel is not remarkable for height; and is nowhere in Scripture celebrated for its loftiness. At the point overhanging the sea, we have seen that it is less than 900 feet high. To the south-east it altitude. But then the range of hills runs nearly eight rises to the height of 1200 feet, which is its greatest miles into the country, and was in former days fruitful to a proverb. Indeed, the name Carmel, signifying "fruitful field," was given to it evidently for this reason. And when this vast extent of fruitful hills was covered over with vine-yards, olive-groves, and orchards of figs and almond-trees, not on the sides alone, but also along the table-land of its summitwould not Carmel, worthy of the name, appear ar immense hanging garden in the midst of the land? In the days of its pristine luxuriance, before the curse of God blasted its glory, "the excellency of Carmel," of which the prophet speaks, must have been truly wonderful! How easy at that time it would have been "to hide in the top of Carmel; " for embowering vines and deep shady fig-trees would afford a covert for many a mile along the summit. And would not the beholder in other days at once understand the meaning of the beautiful description of the Church given in the song: "Thine head upon thee is like Car

mel?" Would not the jewelry and ornaments, or perhaps the wreath of flowers around the head of an Eastern bride, resemble the varied luxuriance of the gardens of Carmel seen from afar? There are at present in the Convent garden on the hill a few vines that produce excellent grapes; but these are all that now remain to testify of the spot where Uzziah had his vine-dressers. With the exception of these, which are not properly on the summit of the hill, we could not descry a single fruit tree on the top of Carmel. A few verdant olive-trees grow at the northern roots of the hill, and some extend a short way up the side; but the extensive summit, which was once like a garden, was covered as far as our eye reached with wild mountain shrubs and briery plants, all of stunted growth, except where the rock lay bare and without verdure under the scorching sun. The same God who said, "Zion shall be ploughed like a field," and "I will pour the stones of Samaria down into the valley," said also, "The top of Carmel shall wither;" and that word we saw before our eyes fululled to the letter.-Narrative of a Mission to the Jews.

MISSIONARY JOURNEYS.

DURING the cold season, from November to February, we are in the habit of making excursions to the more distant parts of the country, and to preach the Gospel from village to village. The water, which during the rains covers the plains of Bengal, is then dried up, and we can without danger move about in the open air; the temperature is mild and pleasant, the climate healthy and bracing. I packed my store of books and provisions on a two-wheeled cart, drawn by a pair of bullocks, and to this were added a small tent, a camp-bed, table, and stool. Thus equipped, I travelled daily ten or fifteen miles. The journey is made on foot in the cool of the morning, or sometimes on horseback. When I was joined by fellow-labourers, the wealthy Rajah of Burdwan placed an elephant or two at my disposal, and one of them carried the tent while the other was employed for ourselves. The motion of this bulky animal is rather jolting, and somewhat trying to the chest; but we soon became accustomed to it, and never felt the least disadvantage arising from this mode of travelling. In this way I have made many a mission tour to the more remote parts of Bengal, disseminating the Word of God among the inhabitants of the country. On several occasions my coadjutor or myself preached to the assembled natives from the back of the elephant.

On the arrival of a missionary in a village, the inhabitants generally conduct themselves toward him in a friendly and obliging manner. The mundul, or chief man, usually comes forward, making a profound salam, to inquire if he can assist him in anything. This is owing, not so much to natural benevolence, as to an order of Government to this effect on behalf of Europeans at large. Fuel, milk, eggs, fowls, and other things, are, upon moderate payment, forthwith supplied; a watchman (chowkedar) is carrying water, and watching the tent and furniture; and I do not recollect to have lost anything in my travels from thieves. It is, however, more from fear than from honesty, that the Bengalee respects the property of the European. In the north-western provinces robbers are both numerous and daring.

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Mr. Smith, a missionary, was one evening preaching in a street of Benares; his conveyance stood near the place, a man came up to the driver, saying, "Your master is feeling rather cold, and wants me to bring him his cloak," the cloak was made over to him, and the thief walked off with it. Another missionary, on his way to Benares, had all his clothes taken out of his tent, without hearing the least noise. In the morning he went to complain to the police officer of the place, who succeeded, after a short and summary investigation, in recovering them. The method he took to lead to discovery was this: He ordered the watchman to be tied to a tree, who, having received some cuts with a cane, whispered something into the ear of one of the bystanders: this fellow immediately went away, and in a few minutes! returned with the stolen articles.

In the jungles, or wooded parts of Bengal, we are occasionally exposed to annoyance, and even to danger, from wild beasts. We pitched our tent one evening near a small village in the neighbourhood of the town of Bishenpore; the place was surrounded by a dense forest. Before going to rest we charged the chowkedar to be careful of our things. "They are quite safe," replied the man; "but in all probability we shall have a visit from tigers; you must not be afraid, however, for I know a muntro, or charm, by which I have driven away many a wild beast." We commended ourselves to the protection of God. but charged the watchman to call us as soon as a tiger made his appearance; and we kept two loded guns ready for his reception. We slept quietly, however, until day-break, when my friend Mr. Lacroix called out, "Watchman, have you seen the tiger?" "Yes," he replied, "but as soon as I repeated my muntro, he walked away." We could not help smiling incredulously at this answer, but to our surprise we soon found that, as far as the visit was concerned, he had spoken the truth, for on leaving the tent, we discovered the fresh foot marks of a tiger near it.

A greater annoyance still are snakes and other reptiles. At the time of an inundation I found a cobra de capella, or hooded-snake, in my study; it was coiled up between the lattices of a Venetian door, and just extending its head to bite me, when I cast my eye upon it, and killed the beast. On returning one evening from the bazaar in Burdwan, I trod upon a cobra de capella; I rushed forward, and the snake darted after me, but providentially I escaped being bitten, having put my foot near to the neck, which prevented its immediate attack.

When the little tent is pitched in the shade of a mangoe grove, on the outskirts of a Hindu village, the inhabitants soon crowd around, and the missionaries enter into friendly conversation with them, preparatory to the proclamation of the Gospel. The natives in the country are usually more accessible to the truth than those in towns, having a natural sim

plicity and sincerity about them, which are rarely found in large places. There are thousands who would readily embrace Christianity, but for the frowns and persecuting spirit of the Brahmans and Zemindars.-Weitbrecht's" Protestant Missions in Bengal."

"LIVING EPISTLES."

WALK with God in your callings. Be upright in your way; admit nothing into your particular callings that is inconsistent with the principles of your general calling, as you are Christians. So carry yourselves, every one of you, that all that deal with you may know you are a real Christian. Were there a greater savour of grace and of the power of godliness in your shops; did you buy and sell in the fear of God, doing all things in faith, as to the Lord, as in his sight, conversing with others in the fear of God-what a comely sight would this be! what a sermon would this be! You would be "living epistles" of that, seen and " read of all men."-2 Cor. iii. 1, 2. And such sermon-notes, gathered out of the lives of professors, may make deeper impressions than those that are gathered out of the mouths of preachers. Godliness, exemplified in practice, shows itself more clearly in the thing, than it is possible for us to do in words. Words convey notions of things to our ears; but a holy life holds forth the things themselves to our eyes. Nothing is so like a man as himself. Godliness in practice is godliness itself, extant in the thing, in its own substance and nature; it is visible grace; it is the very matter and subject of our sermons, standing forth in the lives of professors.

I wish we had more of this divinity walking about our streets-more of these "living epistles," seen and "read of all men." These are the books that will convince gainsayers, and provoke them to real holiness. You hear good sermons, and read good books; but doctrines without examples edify little. You do not see and read that in the men of this generation that agrees with Gospel principles. The truth is, saints are not so visible, so legible, as they should be: we can hardly spell out anything that savours of true Christianity. It would pose a discerning Christian, to pick out grace out of the lives of some professors: it is couched under such sinful mixtures, is in such a worldly dress, that it does not look like itself. Hence it is, that many real saints go for hypocrites in this world-are suspected by good men, and hated by bad men, upon this account. Let your light shine out more: away with the bushel that keeps in the light, and take the lantern of prudence, that only keeps out the wind. Christian prudence will direct us in the right performance of our duty; but true Christian prudence never takes us quite off from our present duty. That is hellish policy, not Christian prudence, that distinguishes a man quite out of his duty, and pretends to give sufficient reason for it, too. But God will catch that man in his own craftiness, and turn his wisdom into foolishness.-Cole.

"RUN FOR IT!"

THEY that will go to heaven must run for it; because, as the way is long, so the time in which they are to get to the end of it is very uncertain. The time present is the only time; thou hast no more time allotted thee than that thou now enjoyest: "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Do not say, I have time enough to get to heaven seven years hence; for I tell thee, the bell may toll for thee before seven days more be ended; and when death comes, away thou must go, whether thou art provided or not; and, therefore, look to it-make no delays: it is not good dallying with things of so great concernment as the salvation or damnation of thy soul. You know he that hath a great way to go in a little time, and less by half than he thinks of, he had need to run for it.

They that will have heaven must run for it; be

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cause the devil, the law, sin, death, and hell f them. There is never a poor soul that is goi heaven, but the devil, the law, sin, death, and make after that soul. "The devil, your adversary, as roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he ma vour." And I will assure you, the devil is nimb he can run apace, he is light of foot; he hath ove taken many, he hath turned up their heels, and ha given them an everlasting fall. Also the law, th can shoot a great way; have a care thou keep out the reach of those great guns, the Ten Comma ments. Hell also hath a wide mouth; it can stretth itself farther than you are aware of. And as t angel said to Lot, "Take heed, look not behind th neither tarry thou in all the plain (that is, anywhe between this and heaven), lest thou be consumer so say I to thee, Take heed, tarry not, lest either devil, hell, death, or the fearful curses of the law God do overtake thee, and throw thee down in t midst of thy sins, so as never to rise and recor again. If this were well considered, then thou well as I would say, They that will have heaven m run for it.

They that will go to heaven must run for it; b cause, perchance, the gates of heaven may shortly. Sometimes sinners have not heaven's gat open to them so long as they suppose; and if th be once shut against a man, they are so heavy t all the men in the world, or all the angels in heav are not able to open them. "I shut, and no me can open," saith Christ. And how if thou should come but one quarter of an hour too late? I te thee it will cost thee an eternity to bewail t misery in. Francis Spira can tell thee what it is stay till the gate of mercy be quite shut, or to run lazily that they be shut before thou get within them.

What! to be shut out?-what! out of heaven Sinner, rather than lose it, run for it; yea, and“ run that thou mayest obtain."-Bunyan.

gether about the various theories concerning the origin of sin, when one interrupted them by saying. "It seems to me that it would be far better for ministers, instead of puzzling themselves to know how sin ENTERED INTO the world, to unite their efforts and try how much of it, with God's blessing, they can drive out." "You remind me, madam," s one of the clergymen, "of my aged deacon, whe. after listening to a sermon in which I had endeavour being asked what he thought of my theory, shook his ed to explain why God suffered sin to enter the world. head, and replied, "Ah, sir, all I know about is, 1. am a sinner, and WISH I WASN'T."

Two American divines were once conversing to

"Our idle days," says Bishop Hall, "are the devil's busy ones."

2. Be prayerful for everything. If one thing is more evident than another, it is that prayer is at once an imperative duty and a delightful privilege. Prayer is the Christian's vital breath -absolutely essential to his very spiritual being. This is generally admitted, but it is not so generally realized, even by Christians, that it is their duty and privilege to carry everything to a throne of grace. While many admit the propriety of mentioning great and important things to God, they object to the carrying of little things such as little cares, little crosses, little difficulties, little temptations, and little burdens-to a throne of grace. These things they think are too trifling, and unworthy of God's notice. And must, then, believers carry these little burdens and these little crosses themselves, and contend with little temptations and little difficulties in their own strength? If so, their prospects are sad indeed; for even the lightest burden is too heavy for them-the smallest care is too harassing the smallest temptation is too powerful for them. Indeed the littlest cares are often the worst, for they are the most frequent they are our weekly, daily, hourly cares; and it is by them our patience is most tested, our tempers most tried, and our weakness most exhibited. But, blessed be God, it is not so; for it is He himself who says, "Casting all your care on him, for he careth for you." Yes, all your cares—great cares and small cares, temporal cares and spiritual cares-cares for time and eternity-cast them all on him. In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, we are to make our requests known unto God.

Those who make the objection referred to forget the real greatness of God. It may be that great men may not be able to attend to great things and small things at once. But the greatness of our God is seen in this, that while he rules and guides the universe, he can and does attend to the minutest wants of the humblest of his people, wherever they may dwell, however widely apart, and however varied and numerous their wants may be.

They forget, too, that believers are not servants, but children. Were they servants only, there might be reserve-they might be afraid of coming too often, and asking too much. But surely children can do what servants dare not. They can rush at any time into their father's presence, sure of a welcome. And believers

are children; often it may be, sinring children, backsliding children, yet children still, whose blessed privilege it is to say, "Abba, Father." O that believers would but use this privilege more ! If they were ever casting their cares on God as they arose, what fretting would be allayed-what unbelief would be banished— what impatience would cease! Nothing would then disturb them. Their peace would flow like a river, and they would find Christ's yoke to be easy, and his burden to be light.

3. Be thankful for anything. We deserve nothing at God's hands, and should, therefore, be thankful for anything; yes, even for the very smallest mercies, for the least are undeserved. We cannot claim as much as a cup of cold water, or a breath of fresh air, as in any way due to us. The very commonest blessings of Providence are entirely the fruits of Divine mercy, and not the purchase of human merit. We should be thankful, too, even in the greates depths; for whatever be the depths into which we might have been cast, we might have beer in greater depths still-greater depths of sin,, of sorrow, of affliction. We might have bee in the very depths of hell; and, therefore, any! thing short of this demands our gratitude. Nay, not only should we be thankful in, but even før, these very depths. Often have believers there experienced the sweetest tokens of God's love. Their most fervent prayers have generally come from the depths; and it is by the depths of adversity, they are graciously prepared for the heights of prosperity and glory that yet await them.

But, especially, and above all, must they be thankful for Christ, the Lord's unspeakable gift, through whose suffering and death it is that now they can so sweetly sing, "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." Can they even show a gratitude too deep or abiding, or make a return too large and liberal, for such benefits as these? Impossible! They will find even eternity too short for their adoring praises. To be holy, happy, and useful, then, believers must be careful for nothing prayerful for everything, and thankful for anything.

ROBERT POLLOK, A.M. *

ROBERT POLLOK was born on Friday the 19th day of October 1798, at North Moorhouse, in the parish of Eaglesham, Renfrewshire. His father belonged to that respectable class of small farmers, among whom

From an admirable Biographical Sketch prefixed to new edition of the "Tales of the Covenanters," by the Rev. Andrew Thomson, Edinburgh.