topic, on an average you will not find three of each fifty able to spare so much money from their families ; and did the three that had it to spare publish, they could not find purchasers for their books; and some of our best preachers have become so from their not having paper to commit their discourses to, and consequently depending on the text alone for matter of instruction for their flocks.' 6 Ah,' said I, that is a reason that never entered my head; I hope days more fortunate await them; they are a faithful band in a wicked and perverse generation; and after the fire of persecution has burned out, they shall come forth seven times purified from the flame, and no longer will your M'Ghees, O'Sullivans, Greggs, Nangles, and Stevens appear to have laboured in vain, for the seed sown in the storm shall be gathered in the calm, and the sun of righteousness shall arise on your native land to set no more; for the unfading promise is, "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea: "and the angel of the Lord hath cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen: rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her."' I have the honour, Madam, to remain, AN ADMIRER OF FEW BOOKS BUT MUCH SABBATH MUSINGS. No. XVIII. "He IN my morning's reading were these words: that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." (Matt. x. 37, 38.) What awful words they are-how few, if indeed any, can read them without a pang of self-reproach! But I will not record the reflections that occupied my mind as I stopped to ponder over them-commonplace, such as had suggested themselves a hundred times before, and such as would probably occur to the mind of any reader of the same passage. 'One fact,' says the proverb, is worth a hundred arguments.' Let me turn from trite reflections to the instance of one who did leave all to follow Christ, who took up his cross, and proved by his conduct that he loved his Saviour better than father, mother, or friends. David M-- was a Polish Jew. His countenance is before me now; pale and intelligent-looking, full of peace, notwithstanding an habitual touch of sadness, which shewed there was some secret sorrow, some 'cross' to be borne with patient submission. His thoughful blue eyes seemed hardly to belong to a foreign land; but there was the peculiar expression about the mouth not to be mistaken by observers of physiognomy, who can distinguish in a moment by their form and movement, lips used to give utterance to a foreign tongue. M- was a trader in jewellery and other wares; his family were wealthy, and he himself, in his frequent visits to England, was acquiring means, which he looked forward to spending among his friends in his own dear country, Poland. During one of his journies through our land of light and liberty, he found the true riches, the pearl of great price; and, like the merchantman in the gospel, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. The price was high-home, country, friends, domestic happiness, earthly prospects-all were to be given up. But he had deliberately counted the cost, and was resolved to leave all and follow Christ. He spoke in animated language of the peace and happiness he had enjoyed since he had found the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour; but when he mentioned the friends whom he was never to see more, his voice faltered, his lips quivered, and the colour forsook his face. Yes,' he said, 'I was very dear to my family once, but now I am dead to them; worse than dead, disgraced. In my country, when they hear of a man becoming a Christian, his friends and relations gather together, and perform the same rites as for the dead. A large wax taper is lighted, and kept constantly burning for ten days: the company sit on the ground, without shoes, uttering lamentations, and cutting their garments. The females of the house wear a black mantle for a year, and the name of the dis graced person is never afterwards mentioned. If by accident it escape any of the family, all who happen to be within hearing are bound to pronounce a solemn curse. This is the way with mine now in the place where I hoped to end my days; where I used always to find love and welcome after my long journies in distant lands.' He turned away as he spoke, to hide the rising tear which betrayed but too well the depth and acuteness of his feelings. A passing emotion will call up the tears that seem to swell so naturally into a woman's eye; but when these 'waters of the heart' are wrung from the sterner nature of man, how bitter must be the pang that forced them there! You have no idea,' continued M--, ' of the horror with which Christianity is regarded among my Jewish countrymen. They know nothing of the religion of the New Testament, as it is practised in these countries; they judge of it only by seeing the idolatrous rites of Popery, the image-worship and mummery of every kind that goes on around them. In their opinion, heathenism is far preferable.' This feeling against Christianity, mentioned by David M——, is not to be wondered at, for the customs of some of the members of the church of Rome on the Continent, are such as one would hardly expect to meet with among the most ignorant and darkened Hindoos. For instance, there are the Hungarian sellers of wooden ware, who go every season to Vienna to dispose of their goods. Each of these men carries about with him a little carved image of the Virgin, as his peculiar saint and patroness; and it is the commonest thing possible to see one of them, on a day when he has been unsuccessful in his sales, a foreign land; but there was the peculiar expression about the mouth not to be mistaken by observers of physiognomy, who can distinguish in a moment by their form and movement, lips used to give utterance to a foreign tongue. M was a trader in jewellery and other wares; his family were wealthy, and he himself, in his frequent visits to England, was acquiring means, which he looked forward to spending among his friends in his own dear country, Poland. During one of his journies through our land of light and liberty, he found the true riches, the pearl of great price; and, like the merchantman in the gospel, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. The price was high-home, country, friends, domestic happiness, earthly prospects-all were to be given up. But he had deliberately counted the cost, and was resolved to leave all and follow Christ. He spoke in animated language of the peace and happiness he had enjoyed since he had found the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour; but when he mentioned the friends whom he was never to see more, his voice faltered, his lips quivered, and the colour forsook his face. 'Yes,' he said, 'I was very dear to my family once, but now I am dead to them; worse than dead, disgraced. In my country, when they hear of a man becoming a Christian, his friends and relations gather together, and perform the same rites as for the dead. A large wax taper is lighted, and kept constantly burning for ten days: the company sit on the ground, without shoes, uttering lamentations, and cutting their garments. The females of the house wear a black mantle for a year, and the name of the dis |