Puslapio vaizdai
PDF
„ePub“
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

The Juvenile Magazine.

1875.

A NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.

BY J. BELL, WINGATE.

Y the goodness of God we have been spared to see another year, with its varied customs, welcome presents, and hearty greetings of "A Happy New Year!" To use an old figure, it is the turning of the hour-glass. We have often thought, could a glass be made large enough to hold the sards of a whole year, and could it be shown on each grain, as it descended, the way in which each minute had been occupied, and then, could there be shown below, in separate compartments, the varied modes in which, during the year, each portion of the mass that ran down had been employed, how startled should we be at the spectacle! What mountains would be found spent in sin! What hills of vain pleasures! What heaps of moments idly passed! What tiny portions in the real service of God, and in devotion to the things of eternity! Surely, New Year's-day should be a day of special self-reflection. The year Eighteen hundred and seventy-four is gone; the mysterious volume of God's providential dealings of Eighteen hundred and seventy-five opens before us to-day. We have stood on the threshold of other years thoughtfully trying to penetrate the possibilities of the coming year, but how seldom with success? The events of the year have generally turned out very different from those we anticipated, for

"Deep in unfathomable mines,

Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works his sovereign will."

And, surely, it is well for us, dear children, that “ we know not what an hour may bring forth." It is well for us that we cannot foresee the events of the year now before us; the foresight of heavy ribulations, without as yet the strength to endure them, would dis

able us for daily duty; by the intolerable burden of fear every comfort would be embittered, and every draught of pleasure poisoned; while, on the other hand, the prospect of much worldly prosperity might intoxicate us with unseemly joy. It is better, as God has ordered it, that we should be in ignorance of the future. But this very ignorance should add vigilance to our efforts to redeem the time. We cannot, my dear young friends, buy back the past, but we may redeem the time to come. Rich men redeem estates, which they lost by improvidence; the poor man redeems the pledge he had left with the pawnbroker; but how few, whether rich or poor, think of redeeming their time!

With many, the stock of the article on hand only seems too large. The question is, not how to buy more of it, but how to dispose of what lies already like a drug in the market. Dreadful words used in sport show how little the value of time is understood by men of the world. It is called "the enemy." To "kill it" is thought laudable. New modes of murdering it by dissipation and amusement are invented. Races, cards, theatres, novels, are but the instruments with which the assassination of it is effected. John Foster was not far wrong when he said to a lady, who had capacity for more useful employment, but who was engrossed with some worsted work in which there was a large proportion of scarlet, that her knitting was red with the blood of murdered time.

Time, then, you see, my young friends, must be redeemed during the ensuing year, because it presents opportunities of glorifying God and doing good to man which will never again present themselves. In heaven there will be no sin to strive against; no sick to visit; no mourners to comfort; no homes to mend; no ignorant to instruct; no heathen at home or abroad to convert. Now or never must the Christian occupy with his talent in these works. Oh! how should this consideration warm the zeal of those who bear the name of Christ during the year Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-five. May the reader and writer meet in heaven where parting shall be no more. Amen.

HELP! SAVE THE CHILDREN.

NOTWITHSTANDING all that has been written against intemperance, and the injurious action of alcoholic liquors upon the human body, the revenue returns still show an increase in the consumption of these

Help! Save the Children.

3

deleterious beverages. Such an increase must necessarily cause a decrease of home comforts, and all that tends to make home happy; and an increase of vice, immorality, and poverty, and everything that tends to make homes miserable, and of such misery the poor children have to bear their full share. It is now a common matter to see young children, sent by their mothers, coming from the liquor shops with the poisoned draught, sipping it as they go along and thus the foundations are rapidly and surely laid for a worthless life and a miserable death. Is it any wonder that a taste for intoxicating liquors is formed, that a habit of visiting the public-house or the beer-shop is engendered, and that the yearly total of young persons apprehended for drunkenness is annually increasing, so long as parents show themselves so criminally careless of their duty? It is said that, at least, two millions of children are prevented from attending Sunday-school through the drunken and profligate habits of their parents; and this compels us to ask, What are our Sunday-school teachers doing to remedy so awful a state of things? Many of them, thank God, are already up and at work; but, we are afraid, the great majority have not yet realized the fearful extent of the evil and the magnitude of the interests at stake. It is clear that the ordinary machinery of the Sunday-school will not accomplish the work; for, not to speak of the two millions of neglected children outside, who are tacitly given over to the devil, and allowed to grow up a danger to the commonwealth, how small a proportion of the children inside the school realise the fond expectation of their teachers, and join the Church! Is it not, also, an awful fact that of the three-and-a-half millions of children attending our Sunday-schools, notwithstanding all the efforts put forth by ministers, conductors, and teachers, only one in ten joins the Church? Where are the nine, and what is the cause of their fall? Let every Sunday-school teacher earnestly and prayerfully ask himself this question, and, in the vast majority of cases, he will be compelled to answer, Drink did it. For, while the teacher has been sowing good seed, an enemy has also been sowing tares. The legalized temptations carefully placed in the path of the young, week-day and Sunday alike-by a so-called Christian government-have borne their bitter fruits.

Drunkenness has more than kept pace with the increase of population; and the drinking customs of society-meeting as they do with the sanction of so many Christian people, and accompanied by such

fascinating temptations as gardens, music-halls, and singing saloons ever present-are constantly robbing the home and the Sunday-school of their brightest and most promising youths, and are, beyond question, the chief causes of their ruin. A movement is needed that will secure the co-operation, engage the sympathy, and, at the same time, throw a shield around our young people. They must be made to feel that they have a mission;-that they can lessen the amount of misery in the world, that the school is their school, and that its glory belongs to them. Such a movement, wisely directed, will prevent the loss of our elder scholars, will put new life into the teachers, will bring in the absentees, and will strengthen and invigorate the whole school. And the Band of Hope will do this-old and young, male and female, will all find employment suited to their age and disposition; the city arabs may be gathered in, and a reformation effected, the full value of which will never be known until the great day of account; and it is not too much to ask that those who have denied themselves so much already, will now go a little further, and help to throw down this great stumbling-block. And of all the months in the year, this is the best for commencing work: with dark nights the scholars will gladly avail themselves of the privilege of attending the Band of Hope meetings, and a much better attendance may be secured than during the summer. Oh! that we could induce each Sunday-school teacher to enter the field as a missionary of the temperance cause as subservient to the cause of Christ, and as tending to a speedier realization of his kingdom! If they would wish to save the children, to have the thanks of the wretched wife and the hapless mother, the approbation of all true men, the serene peace of a good conscience, and the smile of the Saviour, let them in this matter, also, deny themselves, and take up the cross for the sake of these little

ones.

Ilkeston.

"Brothers, sisters, firm and true,

We are England's hope and pride,
And our God's our Leader too,
Fear not while He is our guide;
Ever faithful may we prove,

And for truth still bravely stand;
We've a friend in heaven above,
He will bless our Temperance band.”

Sent by J. PARKER.

« AnkstesnisTęsti »