more; he that neglects what he has, shall be deprived of what he refuses to improve:-a rule, the righteousness of which is apparent on the very face of it. Thus, while the parables contained truth, they partly concealed it: but yet not so much but that obedient faith, guided by principles laid down by Christ himself, might, though not without effort, yet without difficulty, attain to the clear understanding of the whole. Let the solemn texts which you have been considering, both admonish and encourage you. Never trifle with the truth of God; never neglect it. Whatever light you have, obey it: truth and holiness are designed to be inseparable. God shall then bless your endeavours to obtain more light. Read the Bible, and pray for heavenly guidance. Thus shall truth open before you with increasing brightness, and appear increasingly beautiful. And while you love and obey the truth of God, the blessing of the God of truth shall rest on you abundantly. THE INDIAN CHIEF. Letter from Kahkewāquonaby (the Rev. Peter Jones) to the Rev. MY DEAR BROTHER, I BEG your acceptance of the enclosed articles, as Indian curiosities. The black string of wampum, amongst the North American Indians, denotes wars, troubles, afflictions, death, evil tidings, &c. This then represents the state of the pagan world. The white string signifies peace, joy, prosperity, goodwill, and every thing that is good and lovely. To produce these happy effects amongst the wretched and degraded heathen nations of the earth, is the great object of the Missionary Societies in England; and I pray in my heart that the Great Spirit may continue to enlarge and lengthen the white wampum of the Gospel, until there shall be no end to it, but entwine round and round the whole world, and not a single black wampum found in all the earth! Amen and Amen. The sheath was intended for the scalping-knife; but I rejoice to say that the Gospel of peace and goodwill to men, has drawn out and broken the scalping-knife, and has left nothing but the empty sheath. The little Book will show for itself what it is. I will only say that the ordinances and wholesome rules therein translated, were unknown among our people previous to the introduction of Christianity amongst my countrymen. When I look at the signs and wonders that have followed the preaching of the Gospel, I am led to exclaim, “ What hath God wrought!" May Kezha-Munedoo, the Great Spirit, continue to show signs and wonders in the earth, through and by the hands of British Christians. Mrs. J. unites with me in best regards to yourself, Mrs. WINTER AND ITS ASSOCIATES. "THOU crownest the year with goodness," said the inspired Psalmist; a sentiment this which recognised the fact that each successive season brought its own evidences of the Creator's love and care. We say not but that winter in other latitudes may pass over more mildly and with less alteration in the face of nature than in our own; and we leave our talented friends Duncan and Mudie to detail the philosophy of these differences, as well as the varied appearances, zoological, botanical, and meteoric, which this season, in the different parts of the earth, exhibits. Our task lies in a different direction. Christianity with us gives the winter a peculiar charm, especially to religious society: our family circles are better comparted together when the daylight closes with, or before, the hour of tea, and the inducements to wander abroad no longer exist. The evening services in the house of God are in general better attended: persons whose occupation or profession required all their hours of daylight in the summer, now take their places in their much-loved chapel or church. The softened gas-light, the comparative stillness of the surrounding world, the consequent seclusion of the sacred place, and the connected and hushed attention of the congregation, are all circumstances to be looked forward to and welcomed; and so favourable are they to the spread of religion, at least in our home-society, that Christians are now in the habit of considering the early and the latter months of the year as seasons of especial grace, and in which we more confidently look for the conversion of sinners, and the establishment of believers in faith and holiness. We take the liberty of reminding our friends, the readers of the Youth's Instructer,-who are nearly all members of religious families, and we would fain hope religious, or seeking to be so, themselves,-that the winter is an interesting season of duty. The probable coldness of the weather, joined to the darkness of the morning hours, will make rising early a work of severe self-denial; but if selfdenial and redeeming time be Christian duties, it will be noble to assert practically the superiority of the expanding mind over the would-be indulged body; as well as pious to make a sacrifice for God. Christian females, on account of their natural delicacy, will often shrink from the keen and cutting atmosphere, when the appointed hour arrives for going their rounds to present their tracts, or to collect for Bible and Missionary Societies,—a department of toil which usually falls to their lot; but when their health is not likely to be endangered, a courageous promptitude and perseverance will have the happiest effect upon themselves and upon the cause which they serve. Mr. Wesley once said, in reference to a bitter journey he took into the north, in the month of February, 1745: "Many a journey have I had before, but one like this I never had, between wind, and hail, and rain, and ice, and snow, and driving sleet, and piercing cold. But it is past. Those days will return no more, and are therefore as though they had never been. 'Pain, disappointment, sickness, strife, And pain, like pleasure, is a dream.'" It is well for us to have high examples; and though we cannot call upon our young friends to emulate the toils of that great man, yet we may exhort them to imitate in their sphere the hallowed cheerfulness with which they were encountered. In winter the privations of the poor are generally great, out-door employment being scarce, and fuel dear; and although the poor of our country are greatly elevated in point of comfort over the corresponding class in other countries,-Russia, for instance,—yet compared with the flourishing tradesman, or even with the higher mechanic, the lower labouring classes have to struggle much with their indigence. Nor, as far as legislation is concerned, can it be otherwise in an empire whose very social existence depends upon the harmonious union of high and low, rich and poor so variously are the gifts of Providence distributed, whether of wealth, or influence, or wisdom, that equality among men can possibly have no existence but an ideal one, and that only in the dreams of infidel political theorists. It was high authority which said, "The poor ye always have with you." Here then we want the bland influence of our religious youth. Go, you who are beloved by your families, and esteemed by your Christian companions, and during the months of winter, go, with whatever influence and address God has given you, and form to yourselves a circle of attached and grateful friends in the cottages around you. It is not necessary that you should always, or even often, give money; for money may not always be at your disposal to give. You effect much when you take an affectionate interest in their sorrows, trials, and wants; when you speak encouraging words to their children; when you humbly and modestly remind them of the claims of their God and Saviour; and when occasionally you use your influence to obtain for them, from your respective homes, little comforts, however small or insignificant those comforts may be in themselves. O what floods of temptation from the minds of the poor would a general course like this remove! Too many of them are persuaded that benevolence and love are fled from the earth; but here this persuasion is refuted. You each will make the names of your families venerated in the circles where you reside, and will bind in the strongest social bonds the class to which they belong with that of which yourselves are members,—a result not brought about by enacting human laws, but by carrying those of Christianity into full effect. You each may, according to your piety or talent, become, without any temptation to ambition, the presiding spirit of a given locality, and may be the honoured instruments of peopling the Sunday-schools and the church of God, as well as contributing to an indefinite extent to the amount of domestic enjoyment. Much more might be said on the subject of duty; but we must not trench on the office of the Christian pulpit. Suffice it to say, that duty and enjoyment go hand in hand. The winter has its recreations, and especially those which are connected with social intercourse; and it is by no means to sadden or interrupt those recreations that the writer would quote the well-remembered saying of the Apostle, "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God;" for he is persuaded that a consciousness of our heavenly Father's complacency, combining itself with all our attempts to please, or desires to be pleased, will, on the other hand, make the cheerful more cheerful, and the amiable more amiable still. Evening parties, in the way that they are often managed, it must be acknowledged, are productive of anything but rational and pure enjoyment. Let us not give offence by saying so, and let us not be deemed cynical; for that is a character which we hold in perfect abhorrence, loving as we do every thing that belongs to young people: and if we give expression to, we will not say indulge in, a few strictures on this subject, let it be attributed to the desire we feel to see our social circles |