of these flitting visitors, these trifling intruders into the temple of your heart; these unholy disturbers of the worship which should take place there: implore him, though it were even with a scourge, to drive them far away from these sacred places and sacred hours, which ought to be occupied with the great sacrifice, while devout prayer, as acceptable incense, arises towards heaven.

Insignificant as is the twittering sparrow, it is not deemed unworthy of divine regard: it cannot fall to the ground without our heavenly Father's knowledge. Let us improve the hint grounded upon it, of God's greater regard to the humblest of his children, which warrants them to claim for their souls the help and blessings that are needed in their spiritual journey, and the food which his altar alone can furnish, even that Lamb of God, whose flesh is meat indeed.

Improve the hint, devout parents, to bring all your nestlings to join you in humble worship: where the sparrow may

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lawfully come, there may your little ones be found, and be welcomed by him, who has said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'

'The sparrow hath made a nest where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts.' So, many families, brought through custom to the temple, and reared as it were round the altar, yet are never informed by their parents of the holy purposes for which it was reared. O! you who are chargeable with this most unnatural of all criminal neglects, wonder not if, when your nestlings are fledged and take the wing, they should speed their flight into the wilderness, make their lodgment in the dark foliage of the forest, and return to you again no more.

Rather, traveller, may you, and the children that God hath given you, unite with the multitude that keep a holy day, and surround these altars with the voice of joy and praise!

No. VII.

And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My Lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver: what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed unto Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

GENESIS, chap. xxiii, ver. 15, 16.

WELL Would it be for the peace. of mankind, did this current money with the merchant create no other contention than such as is recorded in this transaction, between Abraham and Ephron the Hittite: but the selfish principle, ever active and predominating, and ready for the occasion, renders such instances of disinterested friendship comparatively rare. The love of money is pronounced by the inspired penman to be the root of all evil; and the

experience of mankind, in every succeeding age, has but too well confirmed the assertion; proving that those who will be rich, not only pierce themselves through with many sorrows, but, as much as in them lies, those also whom they conceive to be obstacles, or who are at all opposed to their covetous pursuits.

Traveller, how stand you affected towards this current money? You need not be so encumbered with it, as that it shall impede your journey, while many around you have not a sufficiency to defray their expenses on the road: on the contrary, should your own supply be scanty and precarious, look up to him who loves to be trusted, and who will assuredly furnish a table for you in the wilderness, although it may not be entirely such a one as you would provide for yourself. He has promised that your bread shall be given, and your water shall be sure; though as yet the flinty rock frowns upon you, and the desert is parched and barren all around.

But who is this, with rueful face and tattered garb, that comes so deeply laden with the precious ore? It is not current money with the merchant; for it never circulates. Let us pass on, nor hope, either by example, persuasion, or reproof, to extirpate avarice from a miser's heart: unless arrested by a power divine, he will still accumulate as he goes, till the hand of death arrests him, and he is compelled to quit his grasp for ever.

In what different estimation is this precious metal held by the various classes of mankind! Some lavish it in all directions, according to their humours, their appetites, or caprices; imagining that 'to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant,' till their poverty cometh like an armed man;' while others affect to despise it, and would claim the praise of nobleness of spirit, by seeming regardless of what many seek so eagerly. But the man of wealth, when actuated by correct principles, sustains a rank and influence in society essentially beneficial to