Another colporteur states, "I met with a poor blind man and his wife, who, if they could get no more wool to spin must have begged their bread. They at first told me of their bodily wants, but when I had opened to them the treasures of God's word, they were glad and rejoiced for such Divine consolations." Another says, "As I found no one in the village, I went into the fields, among the reapers of both sexes. After a few preparatory remarks, I read to them some passages from the Scriptures. They attended, and I accompanied my reading with a few passing remarks and explanations. This was not lost labour; as several inquired where I lodged, and came to converse with me, respecting the service of God. Their visits were not useless, for many purchased Bibles. Some of these walked five or six miles. At M-, many knew me, and remembered what I had said to them six years before. They were eager to ask me questions about the Scriptures, and full of anxiety to understand the blessed gospel. 'Oh that our pastor would preach thus!' was said more than once. In a neighbouring village, I met a man with whom I had conversed ten years ago. He said to me, 6 I have tried to get a Bible from the booksellers to no purpose; now you are here, give me one, that I may read it through, and regulate my life by it.' "I gave him De Sacy's translation, which seemed very acceptable to him, though it was a copy that had been much used. This was of no consequence to him, he wanted to possess the word of God. I stayed with him some hours, and gave him directions necessary for a profitable reading of the Holy Scriptures. I left him, in thankfulness to God, who will, by his Holy Spirit, lead him into all truth. "At M-, I also went to one person who had, for two years, offered me 2 francs, (or 1s. 8d.,) for a Bible, which I could not sell at that price. When I again offered the best of books, he was rejoiced to see me, and said, 'I will not lose this opportunity, is the price still the same?' and he paid the sum required without difficulty. He said, 'During your absence, I have read many little pieces, which have made me still more desirous to possess a Bible. I resolved to get one, at any price, and went to a bookseller at He showed me a little book of histories from the Bible. That was not what I wanted. Then he brought out a great Latin Bible. Thank God, you are come, and I now have the book, which will teach me what I must do to be saved.' 66 'Lastly, I went to a little family at They told me, they were so happy as to possess a Bible, which had been handed down from father to son for three generations. It was printed in 1572, and was in good condition though old. I did not leave them till I had read a chapter with them." TRACT ANECDOTES. THE TURNPIKE-GATE. Two gentlemen were travelling a short distance together in the West of England for the purpose of attending a meeting of a Tract Society, one of them being an officer of distinction in the navy, who had long been accustomed to distribute religious publications. During this short journey, the pious officer scattered plentifully the good seed of the word of God by the way side; in staying at a turnpike-gate to pay the toll, he offered the aged keeper of the gate one of the silent monitors of the Tract Society. The moment the old man saw the Tract, he came to the carriage, and seizing the hand of the pious officer, he feelingly exclaimed, "We are brethren." He presumed that the scatterers of the truth were lovers of it also. The old man's manner excited the deepest interest in the minds of the travellers, who were rejoiced to find in a lonely and beautiful spot one of "the hidden ones " of the Lord. On a subsequent occasion, one of the friends obtained further information about the good man, and discovered that he was a member of a Christian church, and also a distributor of religious tracts. 66 A minister once turned in for a short time at the turnpike, and conversed freely with the good man about his tract efforts. "What do you think of this?" said the old man, pointing to a neat walking-stick he held in his hand. "Oh!" replied the minister, "it is a very neat one indeed." 'Well, then, I will tell you how I got it. Some time since I and my wife went out for a day's pleasure, and we thought we could not do better than give away a few tracts. We gave one to a notorious cock-fighter, who was a profane and bad man. Here we left our work, returned home, and felt grateful for the comforts we had enjoyed, and were thankful that usefulness and pleasure had been combined. Some time afterwards, this cock-fighter called at the gate, and during his conversation I found that it had pleased God to bless the tract to his soul; that he had forsaken his former pursuits, and was then walking in the ways of God. He gave me this stick to keep as a small mark of his gratitude for the good he had received." We see then, that the poor as well as the rich may be useful in tract circulation, and thus in the language of the keeper of the turnpike-gate, they may be brethren. GEMS. GRACE. All our sufficiency for our spiritual work and warfare is from the grace of God; and if all be from him, let all be to him. HEARKENING.—If we would have God hear what we say to him by prayer, we must be ready to hear what he says to us by his word. LIFE.-Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do either by him or upon him? THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. THERE is a reaper, whose name is Death, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, "Shall I have nought that is fair," saith he, Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, He kiss'd their drooping leaves; It was for the Lord of Paradise He bound them in his sheaves. "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," "They shall all bloom in fields of light, And saints upon their garments white, And the mother gave, in tears and pain, Oh not in cruelty, not in wrath, The reaper came that day! < "Twas an angel visited the green earth, M. Henry. H. W. Longfellow. We SOME of our sweetest rural scenes are harvest scenes. have pleasure in seeing the hedger and ditcher in the fields, the shepherd tending his fold, the cowherd collecting his kine, the ploughman at work among the furrows, and the sower scattering his seed upon the ground. These are means toward the attainment of an end, and hope and faith ought to be in exercise; but when harvest comes, the end of rural labour is attained. Man has performed his part, and God in his abundant goodness has given the increase. The season of hope and faith are past, and the time of thankfulness and joy are arrived. The good seed has brought forth fifty, sixty, and a hundred fold. The barns are filled with plenty, the presses burst forth with new wine. "O come, let us sing unto the Lord! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits! O give thanks unto the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever!" The time of harvest should be a season of gratitude to God and of charity to man. 66 and Who is there among us who has not been a delighted gazer on the harvest field when the reaper was at work with his sickle, cutting and binding the sheaves; when the axles of the laden wagon groaned beneath their load, and when the gleaners were picking up the scattered ears, while the sun shone brightly, the lark warbled in the air, and the insect world was on the wing? And who, in such seasons, has not drawn his breath exultingly, and entered into the general jubilee around him? Nor are the harvest scenes of other countries less interesting SEPTEMBER, 1847, *K than our own, as may be gathered from the following sketch of harvest time in the east. "On emerging from this pleasant grove, the country opens out into a fine plain. In the field, all the operations of harvest seemed to be going on at the same time. Some were cutting down the barley, for it was the time of barley harvest, with a reaping-hook not unlike our own, but all of iron, and longer in the handle and smaller in the hook. Others were gathering what was cut down into sheaves. Many were gleaning; and some were employed in carrying home what had been cut and gathered. We met four camels heavily laden with ripe sheaves, each camel having bells of a different note suspended from its neck, which sounded cheerfully as they moved slowly on. Perhaps these bells may be a remnant of the joy of harvest,' though this is not the only time when they are used. The practice appears to have been very common in the days of Zechariah, for he makes use of the expression, On the bells of the horses shall be, Holiness to the Lord,' to indicate the holiness that shall pervade the land, descending to the minutest and most ordinary movements of life.” 6 6 The loaded wagons of England would, no doubt, appear as strange to Arabians, as camels laden with ripe sheaves would be to us; but the general sense of abundance, and the exultation of the heart at harvest time must be much the same in England and in Palestine. The golden fields and waving wood M. LOT'S WIFE. Remember Lot's wife.-LUKE xvii. 32. THESE are brief words, and soon spoken, but full of solemn import. May the Lord give us grace to lay them to heart! pro TO WHOM are they spoken? They are spoken to the fessed followers of Christ; and in reading Scripture it is always of importance to consider to whom the passage under consideration is addressed. Observe the same caution as to the context, and see how it bears out the 32nd verse. Here the context commences with the 20th verse, and ends with the 8th verse of the following chapter; the whole referring to the coming of the Son of man, and from the 22nd is addressed to "the disciples." As disciples, may we remember |