pierce your hearts, that they may lead

66 you to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is near!" May the Holy Spirit bring the subject home to your hearts, and may you all take warning from unhappy Esau !

Profane, sorrowful Esau stands as a monument to all trifling minds; and his bitter cries and tears seem to say, "Behold! ye despisers, and wonder, and perish."

We shall endeavour, my dear young friends, to continue this account in our next, and conclude the history of Esau and Jacob.

Death of Mary, Queen of Scots.

THERE is scarcely a character in history which has occasioned so much controversy and dispute as that of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Her admirers put forth as the reason of the disasters which happened during her reign, the youth, the inexperience, the religion, of the unfortunate princess. Her enemies draw her as if possessed of no virtues-her beauty! but as a goodly vestment thrown over a mass of vices !

It is neither our intention nor province to pass a verdict upon her character. Whatever may have been her crimes, the life she spent a life of toil, disaster, and imprisonment-amply atoned for. If innocent, hard indeed was her fate. Her subjects rebelled, defeated, and imprisoned her; and when she escaped their hands and sought an asylum in this country,-a land which boasts that it is the land of liberty,-in place of

being welcomed as a friend, she was first made captive, and then doomed to death, the account of which tragical event we are now about to relate.

On the 7th of February, the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent arrived at Fotheringay, and shewing Mary the warrant for her execution, commanded her to prepare for death by 8 o'clock the following morning.

As soon as they had left, she ordered supper to be hastened, that she might have as much time as possible to arrange her few remaining affairs. She supped sparingly, according to her custom, but her usual cheerfulness did not leave her. She comforted her weeping servants; alone remaining calm and unmoved.

It is a sacred curiosity which seeks to know how celebrated persons meet their end. The last actions of the dying frequently tell their characters better than a history of their lives. The cry, "They run!" throws a flush of joy over the dying warrior's countenance, and shews that conquest was the ruling passion of his life. The last words of the virtuous man are, "See with what peace a Christian can die !".

Care for her servants was the chief thing which remained to occupy Mary's attention. She reviewed her will, and perused the inventory of her effects; these she bequeathed to different individuals, according to their rank or merit. At her accustomed hour she