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ronicle. [[double line]] [[curly bracket for next two lines]] THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM OR $2.50 STRICTLY IN ADVANCE. [[double line]] [[3 columns]] [[column one]] [[only the words on the far right side]] [[/column one]] [[column two]] in review before him. He will see his sins and shortcomings, and may shatter at the thought of standing before the bar of infinite justice to give an account of the deeds done in the body. Let him look up to the Great Intercessor – to the Lamb that was slain. So shall his peace be as a river, and his death and introduction to life. AZIL. [[Double line]] IN THE POOR-HOUSE. In the following spring Mr. Dunbar removed his family from one kind home to another, it being very evident that the Lord had appointed his labor in Nobleborough. Soon after his settlement here, he attended and Association at some distance, where the delegates were most hospitable he entertained by the thrifty farmers of the region. At the close of the session a resolution of thanks was passed for the generous entertainment, etc., when a good brother of the church rose and said: "it may not be known to the brethren not the widow of our faithful old pastor, who labored with us so long is still living. She is now an inmate of the poor-house, and I thought that if the friends would take up a little collection to supply her with such comforts as the town does not provide, it would gratify her very much, especially to know that she was not forgotten by you." There was a moment's pause, when Mr. Dunbar's voice was heard exclaiming, in a tone of great surprise, "Surely, dear brethren, my ears deceive me! Did the good brother say that the widow of the man who built up this church, who toiled for their good, who prayed at their sick beds and at their funerals, under whose ministry they were converted, and by whose hands they were baptized--did he say that, amid all this plenty and prosperity, this man's widow had been sent to wear out her few remaining days in the alms-house?" There was a deep silence, when he repeated the question, "Did I understand the brother?" The deacon then rose, with some embarrassment, and said, that as she had [[italics]]no friends[[/italics]], and the church were not able to support her, she had gone there is a last resort. This was too much for Mr. D's keen sensibilities, and he said, Well, dear brethren, I'm glad for one that our session is over, for I want to go home. I don't want to stay in the town where they put ministers' widows in the poorhouse. Surely, dear brethren, we ministers have anxieties and trials enough with labor and poverty, without adding the fear that after all this sacrifice for your sakes and Christ's you will, after we are worn out, make our wives town-paupers! Brethren, you will know that I am not rich but I am pastor of the flock that would not wink at such a thing as this; and let me say, that I shall not leave this town while that ministers widow is an inmate of the alms-house! If no one takes her out, I will do it myself. I will take her home to Damariscotta in my own chaise, and I will find plenty there will give this mother in Israel a seat at their fireside for a few days, till God comes to take her home. Am I right, deacon?" he asked, looking towards his associate from Nobleborough. The good deacon nodded assent, and Mr. Dunbar continued, "Well, then my dear brethren of this church, Sister ––––– goes with us to-morrow, unless she is at once provided with another home." Before the delegates left the town, the widow was provided with a comfortable home.--[[italics]]Memoir of Rev. Duncan Dunbar[[/italics]]. [[line]] A REMINISCENCE OF DR. WAYLAND. I was a freethinker. I read Rousseau and Lord Byron, and believed in them. Religion I judged of by the long stereotype prayers and ascetic looks of some ill-bred Christians. I hated orthodoxy as I saw and heard it from the stand-. I had, in my proud imagination, taken; and I came to consider every one professing it sold under the hard bondage of fanaticism. In this mental status I took my seat in the lecture room of Dr. Wayland. He was then discussing the powers and functions of the "moral sense." His course of argumentation was so keen and clear that I soon began to listen; I began to question, to argue, to present objections in order to drive him from his positions. It was like damming up the waters of the Nile with bulrushes. His logic, unfolded in his perspective is, yet laconic style, quite overwhelmed, confounded me. I saw that I was standing on the foundation made of shifting sand. I saw that I was a miserable sinner in the sight of an offended God. I went to my room to pray; my knees were stubborn; the load upon my heart was crushing me; what must I do to escape the wrath of the Almighty? Hope seemed to have taken its everlasting flight. I arose and ventured into the presence of Dr. Wayland. He was in his study, reading his old well-worn copy of the Sacred Word. He received me kindly, and I had once made known to him the anguish of my soul. I felt and said, "My sins are so many and so great that God [[italics]]cannot[[/italics]] pardon me." Fixing his keen black eyes, beaming with heavenly tenderness, full upon me, this good man said, and never till my dying day can I forget the earnest solemnity, the eloquence of the tone, "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion on him, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." I felt that the case was mine, and hope, reviving hope, came winging than her joyous flight to me, to Guild my pathway through this checkered, transitory state. Dr. Wayland then knelt down and prayed with me and for me, and on leaving him he lent me his well-thumbed copy of Bishop Wilson's "Sacra Privata," advising me to read that and Edwards' Life of Brainerd, instead of Byron, and [[quotation]] If I met with trials and troubles on the way, To cast myself on Jesus and not forget to pray. [[/Quotation]] I never knew till that never to be forgotten night the full meaning of that great English word, Friendliness. I never knew Jesus Christ till then!--[[italics]]Congregationalist[[/italics]]. [[line]] SPARE MOMENTS. A lean awkward boy came one morning to the door of the Principal of a celebrated school, and asked to see him. The servant eyed his mean clothing, and thinking he looked more like a beggar than anything else, told him to go around to the kitchen. The boy did as he was bidden, and soon appeared at the back door. "You want a breakfast, more like," said the servant girl, "and I can give you that without troubling him." "Thank you," said the boy; "I should have no objection to a bite, but I should like to see Mr. ---, if he can see me." "Some old clothes, may be you want," remarked the servant, again eyeing the boy's patched clothing. "I guess he has none to spare, he gives away a sight," and without minding the boy's request, she went away about her work. "Can I see Mr. ---?" again asked the boy, after finishing the bread and butter. "Well, he is in the library; if he must be disturbed, he must, but he does like to be alone some times." said the girl in a peevish tone. She thinks it very foolish to admit such an ill-looking fellow into her master's presence. However, she wiped her hands and bade him to follow. Opening the library door, she said: "Here's somebody, sir, who is dreadful anxious to see you, and so I let him in." I don't know how the boy introduced himself, or how he opened business, but I know that after talking a while, the Principal put aside the volume he was studying, and took up some Greek books and began to examine the new comer. The examination lasted some time. Every question which the Principal asked the boy was answered readily. "Upon my word," exclaimed the Principal, "you certainly do well," looking at the boy from head to foot over his spectacles. "Why, my boy, where did you pick up so much? "In my spare moments," answered the boy. Here he was poor, hard working, with but few opportunities for schooling, yet almost fitted for college by simply improving his "spare moments." Truly, are not spare moments the "gold dust of time?" How precious they should be. Look and see. This boy can tell you how very much can be laid up by improving them, and there are many other boys, I am afraid, in jail, in the house of correction, in the forecastle of a whale-ship, in the tippling shop, who, if you should ask them when they [[/column two]] [[column three]] began their sinful course, might answer: "In my spare moments." "In my spare moments I gambled for marbles. In my spare moments I began to smoke and drink. It was in my spare moments that I gathered wicked associates." Oh, be careful how you spend your spare moments. Temptation always hunts you out in seasons like these. When you are not busy he gets into your heart, if he possibly can, in such gaps. There he hides himself, planning all sorts of mischief. Take care of your "spare moments." [[line]] A SAD MISTAKE. Fifteen years ago there was a revival of religion in C---, and many were hopefully brought into the kingdom of Christ. Among those for whom Christians were earnestly laboring and praying, was Dr. F---. He was a man of skill and talent, very popular in his profession, but gay withal, and averse to religous duties and services. "Come, doctor, go to church with me this afternoon," said one of his Christian friends; "we're having extra meetings this week, and it will do you no harm to attend some of them." "I've no time to throw away," was the careless answer. "You have a soul to be cared for, my friend," pleaded the Christian, "and must take time for it at some period; better do it now." "It's as much as I can do to nurse up the sick [[italic]]bodies[[/italic]] about me. I must leave you and the parson to look after the [[italic]]souls[[/italic]]," the doctor gaily rejoined, and turned away. In the evening the pastor met him on the street, and renewed the invitation. "I have no time to spare," was still the doctor's plea; "every man must stick to his business. Yours is theology, and mine is pills and powders." "But you owe a duty to yourself in this matter of seeking salvation; and when will you ever have a better opportunity than now to attend to it?" "When I have mad a reputation and a fortune, parson; I cannot stop to seek anything else at present." And he went resolutely to his office to read and study the medical lore which should help him to success. Dr. F---'s popularity soon called him away from C--- to a distant city, and for many years his former friends lost sight of him; but last week the now aged pastor of C--- was startled with the information that the doctor was in rapid consumption, and had come back to the country to die. He hastened to his bedside, and found that he was still a stranger to the hopes of the gospel. Most tenderly did the minister of Jesus plead with him to seek the salvation so long neglected-so often slighted. "I have no time now," said the dying man. "Fifteen years ago I might have become a Christian; but I thought I couldn't afford the time then, I was so busy. That was [[italic]]a sad mistake;[[/italic]] I see it now, but too late. Death is coming, and I have only time to die." So indeed it proved; for that was his last day one earth. His sun set in utter darkness. Hopeless and speechless, he passed to his last account. "Seek [[italic]]first[[/italic]] the kingdom of God and his righteousness," is the voice of heavenly wisdom and love--[[italic]]Messenger.[[/italic]] [[line]] WATCHFULNESS. There is scarcely any duty more frequently or more urgently enjoined upon Christians than holy vigilance. How impressively did our Saviour enjoin this upon his disciples! What soldier who is in an enemy's country, where every tree, every hedge, every wall may conceal a foe who is at this moment taking aim, and about to send the fatal bullet to his heart, would not keep constant watch on every object? In one hour we may be brought into a trial of our faith and steadfastness, which may seem to imperil our whole salvation. An unwatchful security may be our ruin. This was the cause of all the scandals we read of in Scripture. Eve was unwatchful when she listened to the tempter's wiles, and Adam when he hearkened to the persuasions of his wife, and lost Paradise for themselves and their posterity. Noah was unwatchful when he drank the fruit of the vine and became intoxicated. David was unwatchful when he was walking on the house-top, saw Bathsheba, and fell into the crimes of adultery and murder. Peter was unwatchful when he denied his Master with oaths and curses. Yes, the failings of God's people, in every age since, are to be traced to the same negligence. Satan knows when we are off our watchtower or asleep upon it, and takes instant advantage of our want of vigilance.--[[italic]]John Angell James.[[/italic]] [[line]] LOSSES BY RELIGION. Near London there dwelt an old couple. In early life they had been poor; but the husband became a Christian, and God blessed their industry, and they were living in a comfortable retirement, when one day a stranger called on them to ask their subscription to a charity. The old lady had less religion than her husband, and still hankered after the Sabbath earnings and easy shillings which Thomas had forfeited from regard to the law of God. So, when the visitor asked their contribution, she interposed and said: "Why, sir, we have lost a deal by religion since we first began; my husband knows very well. Have we not, Thomas?" After a solemn pause, Thomas answered, "Yes, Mary, we have. Before I got religion, Mary, I had an old slouched hat, a tattered coat, and mended shoes and stockings; but I have lost them long ago. And, Mary, you know that, poor as I was, I had a habit of getting drunk and quarreling with you; and that, you know, I have lost. And then I had a hardened conscience and wicked heart, and ten thousand guilty fears; but all are lost, completely lost, and, like a millstone, cast in the deepest sea. And, Mary, you have been a loser too, though not so great a loser as myself. Before we got religion, Mary, you had a washing tray, in which you washed for hire; but since then you have lost your washing tray. And you had a gown and bonnet much the worse for wear; but you have lost them long ago. And you had many an aching heart concerning me at times; but these you happily have lost. And I could even wish that you had lost as much as I have lost; for what we lose for religion will be an everlasting gain." [[line]] A SINGLE WORM KILLED THAT TREE. During my sojourn at a place of resort for invalids, I was one day walking through the romantic grounds and park with some friends, when the proprietor of the establishment drew our attention to a large sycamore tree decayed to the core. "That fine tree," said he, "was killed by a single worm." In answer to our inquiries, we found that about two years previously the tree was as healthy as any in the park, when a wood worm, about three inches long, was observed to be forcing its way under the bark of the trunk. It caught the eye of a naturalist who was staying at the establishment, and he remarked: "Let that worm alone, doctor, and it will kill the tree." This seemed very improbable, but it was agreed that that the black-headed worm should not be disturbed. After a time, it was found that the worm had tunnelled its way a considerable distance under the bark. The next summer the leaves of the tree dropped very early, and in the succeeding year it was a dead, rotten thing, and the hole made by the worm might be seen in the very heart of the once noble trunk. "Ah," said one who was present, "let us learn a lesson from that dead tree, How many, who once promised fair for usefulness in the world and the church, have been ruined [[italic]]by a single in!"--Biblical Treasury.[[/italic]] [[line]] THOUGHTS FOR MINISTERS. Do not rest without success in your ministry. Success is the rule under a living ministry; want of it is the exception. We must have the taste of the manna in our mouth, "milk and honey" under our tongue, else we cannot tell of its sweetness. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin. Prayer is more powerful than preaching. It is prayer that gives preaching all its power. [[/column three]]
