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others that delight in war, call to mind your own. I would fain put these questions to your hearts and your souls. Have you ever reflected on the sin and the sorrows of war? Have you ever lifted up your voice on high among your friends, or whispered into the ears of your children, denouncing war as a curse to mankind? Have you ever put up a prayer to the High and Holy One, that the sword might be scabbarded for ever? Have you, in short, done any thing in thought, word, or deed, to extend on earth the blessings of peace, and to diminish the guilt and misery of war?

THE SETTING SUN.

DID our emotions at all correspond with the wonders around us, then would our hands, our eyes, and our hearts be continually lifted up towards heaven. What a goodly sight is that of the retiring orb of day! The sunset that I have just seen is not to be described; but as fair and glowing landscapes are sometimes tolerably depicted in Indian ink, so my poor expressions may shadow forth some faint resemblance of the glorious spectacle on which I have so recently gazed.

Blue was the wide firmament in the east, the north, and the south; it was in the west alone that the kindling beams of the retiring sun were visible, gradually increasing in intensity till the overpowered sight could no longer endure the brightness that in one point concentrated itself in an apparent blaze. A change came over the scene; and dark, gilt-edged clouds, in broken masses, assumed the appearance of rocks, through which floods of light found their way. Another change. The rocks became darker, and the glowing light

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brighter. It was a transition from loveliness to excessive beauty, from grandeur to magnificence unutterable. I could only give a rapid glance at the overpowering scene; but in that glance what glory was visible! the floods of light were as cascades of silvery streams, cataracts of molten gold, and tumbling torrents of liquid diamonds.

In this imperfect state of being, how much of rapture may be enjoyed! but in a more glorious existence a thousand new scenes may be given us, and ten thousand new sources of delight.

A

SABBATH PASSED IN A DITCH.

IN moving among mankind, we are very sure, every now and then, unexpectedly, to fall in with those who are grateful for the means of grace, and the hope of glory, who read the Bible, value the sabbath, and love the Saviour.

Not long ago I met with a stranger, who, in conversation with me, spoke thus on the subject of the Christian sabbath "" :Though there is doubtless much of ungodliness in England, yet, when compared with the sabbaths on the Continent, a sabbath here is a delightful season. No one can truly value that blessed day until he has been deprived of its enjoyment. When in the army, I felt this deprivation; we had misery in every shape; for, in the Peninsular war, toil, danger, disease, and death, were continually around us and among us. The nearer the troops appeared to be to eternity, the farther off their thoughts

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appeared to be from God. The thousands that had been slain were disregarded; neither the dead nor the dying seemed to excite a serious thought in the minds of the reckless soldiers. In such circumstances, how grateful would have been the peace, the refreshment, the consolation, the joy of a Christian sabbath!

"It was on the sabbath day that I received a letter from an affectionate daughter, then in England; it alluded to the uncertainty of life, especially to a military man. It pressed on me the consideration of eternal things, and pointed me to Him who, in peace and in war, in health and in sickness, in life and in death, is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Every word made a lodgment in my heart. Folding up the letter, and putting a prayer-book in my pocket, I walked out to a distance from the camp, until I came to a solitary ditch: in that ditch, on my knees, I poured out my soul before God, and there, in peace, I spent my sabbath day!"

Christian reader, this anecdote is worthy of attention; it shows that, with God's blessing, the faithful and affectionate remonstrance of a pious child will affect the heart of a parent, though he be a soldier in the camp, and surrounded with ungodliness; and also, that when the soul truly