Do you call the sabbath a delight? or is it a weariness to you? Examine yourselves closely in this matter, as before God, for be assured that, if you have begun to disregard the sabbath in heart only, you are in danger of slipping, and perishing for ever. See what God's sunshine reveals-" Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy;" "Hallow my sabbaths, and it shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God;" "Hallow my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord." Let us take another view of your position. You have, as you said, been piously educated. The way of salvation has been clearly pointed out to you. The Holy Spirit has striven with you. Parents and friends have prayed for you. And how is it with you? Are you safe? Have you given your heart to God? Have you fled to Christ as a Saviour? If not, in what a dangerous position you are placed! This very night you may be lost, for God requires your heart. He is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth; and there is no salvation out of Christ, "for none other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, Christ Jesus." And again, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Thus does God's sunlight reveal your danger. Oh! despise it not. You are even now on the slippery ledge, and in a short time you may be lost, perishing in the full light of salvation. 66 But perhaps you say, "Religion is such a dull, gloomy thing; it allows us no pleasures. I must give my heart to the world for a little while at least." God's sunlight shows us that the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," and that "godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." And, in reply to your wish to put off giving your heart to God, the Bible says, "Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation." Your foot is well nigh slipping; and if you draw not back at the sight of danger revealed to you, you may be lost for ever. Take heed to the warning, then, which says— "Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?" Norwich. E. P. NEW YEAR'S HYMN. BY THE EDITOR. SWIFT as an eagle's flight, Our moments pass away; Yet not too swift their course shall be, If they but bear us, Lord, to Thee. As morning mists, that fly The footsteps of the light; As evening clouds, that die Beneath the touch of night;So fly our years-Lord, let them be As friends, to lead us home to Thee! Thy mercies past we sing, The praise is thine alone; What future days shall bring To none but Thee is known: Yet, whatsoe'er our portion be, Conduct us safe to heaven and Thee. On life's fast-rushing tide, What dangers hover near! Yet, if our Saviour guide, We shall no shipwreck fear; But joyful breast the stormy sea, Till landed safe in heaven with Thee. THE POTTER AND HIS VESSEL. "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels."-Jer. xviii. 3. I HAVE been out on the shore again, examining a native manufactory of pottery, and was delighted to find the whole biblical apparatus complete, and in full operation. There was the potter sitting at his "frame," and turning the "wheel" with his foot. He had a heap of the prepared clay near him, and a pan of water by his side. Taking a lump in his hand, he placed it on the top of the wheel (which revolves horizontally), and smoothed it into a low cone, like the upper end of a sugar-loaf; then thrusting his thumb into the top of it, he opened a hole down through the centre, and this he constantly widened by pressing the edges of the revolving cone between his hands. As it enlarged and became thinner, he gave it whatever shape he pleased with the utmost ease and expe 14 THE POTTER AND HIS VESSEL. dition. This, I suppose, is the exact point of those biblical comparisons between the human and the Divine Potter: "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, saith the Lord," Jer. xviii. 6. And the same idea is found in many other passages. When Jeremiah was watching the potter, the vessel was marred in his hand, and "so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it," Jer. xviii. 4. I had to wait a long time for that, but it happened at last. From some defect in the clay, or because he had taken too little, the potter suddenly changed his mind, crushed his growing jar instantly into a shapeless mass of mud, and beginning anew, fashioned it into a totally different vessel. It is evident, from numerous expressions in the Bible, that the potter's vessel was the synonym of utter fragility; and to say that the wicked should be broken to pieces as a potter's vessel, was to threaten the most ruinous destruction. In this day of glass and other fragile fabrics, and of strong stone pottery, we should hardly have adopted this language. Perhaps not; but for this country it is still as appropriate and forcible as ever. Arab jars are so thin and frail, that they are literally "dashed to shivers" by the slightest stroke. Water-jars are often broken by merely putting them down upon the floor; and nothing is more common than for the servant to return from the fountain empty handed, having had all his jars smashed to atoms by some irregular behaviour of his donkey. 66 To what does Isaiah refer in the 14th verse of the 30th chapter, where he says, He shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit"? Your inquiry refers, I suppose, to the sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit. This last you must have seen many times during our rambles. It is very common to find at the spring or "pit" pieces of broken jars, to be used as ladles either to drink from or fill with; and bits of fractured jars are preserved for this purpose. But the destruction mentioned by Isaiah was to be so complete, that there would not be a piece left large enough for that. The other allusion in this passage you may not have noticed, but I have a hundred times and more. Take vour stand near any of the public ovens in Sidon (or here in Jaffa, I presume) in the evening, and you will see the children of the poor coming with "sherds" of pottery in their hands, into which the baker pours a small quantity of hot embers and a few coals, with which to warm up their evening meal. Isaiah's vessels, however, were to be broken into such small bits, that there would not be a sherd of sufficient size to carry away a few embers from the hearth. These comparisons are exceedingly expressive where the actions referred to are of constant occurrence, as they are in all our cities to this present day.-The Land and the Book. SHADOWS AND SUNSHINE. Stories of the Olden Time. THE SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. AMONGST the many "household words" traditionally handed down from generation to generation, and often cursorily employed in speeches and in books, "To point a moral, or adorn a tale," C. E. our readers must frequently have heard mention made of "the 'prentice boys of Derry;" but few, perhaps, have been at the trouble to ascertain who these "'prentice boys" were, or the reason 16 THE SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. why their fame is thus preserved in our national traditions. The episode in which they figure is a sad one, and the page of history to which we are about to turn is deeply stained with blood, blotted with the record of horrors and calamities unique even in the annals of war; but on it is inscribed also many noble deeds of true courage, self-denial, and patient endurance of sufferings for conscience' sake; and as we read, we will devoutly thank God that more than 150 years have passed away, and our native land has not since been the scene of such a sanguinary conflict between contending armies, or subjected to the fearful evils inseparable from protracted war. In the revolution of 1688, when James II., as a last effort to recover possession of the throne from which he had just fled, endeavoured to secure the adherence of the people of Ireland, he became anxious to get possession of Derry (now called Londonderry), a fortified town in Ulster, and in April, 1689, sent an army of 12,000 men to in vest it. The news of their approach caused great consternation; large numbers of the inhabitants fled into the surrounding country, whilst those who remained were divided amongst themselves, some advising resistance, others recommending immediate capitulation. Meanwhile, the army drew near the walls, and a detachment of troops presenting themselves at one of the gates, demanded admission in the name of the king. At this juncture, thirteen young men, apprentices in the city, under a sudden impulse of patriotism, flew to the guard-room, seized such arms as were within reach, and taking possession of the city keys, rushed to the gate, closed it in the face of the king's officers, and let down the portcullis. This act of daring produced an immediate effect upon the citizens, who now unanimously decided upon resistance; the other gates were secured, sentinels stationed, arms distributed, and every necessary arrangement made for defence. The king's officers, notwithstanding their rude reception, manifested great reluctance to depart, and stood parleying before the gate, until, hearing an order given to "bring a great gun this way," they hastily retreated beyond the range of shot, and rejoined the army. The city was but ill prepared to withstand a siege. The fortifications scarcely deserved the name, consisting simply of a wall overgrown with grass and weeds, and not more than twenty guns could be brought to bear upon the enemy, whilst the stock of ammunition was very small. But worse even than this was the prospect of starvation, which, from the first, appeared imminent. A population of 27,000 persons were shut within the space of a few acres, and the siege being unexpected, no special preparation had been made, so that they must be supported upon whatever provisions chanced to be in the city at the time, as there was no possibility of procuring supplies from the neighbourhood. Deserted by the governor, Lundy, who traitorously fled to the enemy, the defenders placed the management of affairs in the hands of Major Baker, Captain Murray, and George Walker. The latter, an Episcopalian clergyman, whose character exhibited a strange, admixture of piety and pugnacity by no means uncommon in those days, exercised considerable influence over the people, and effectually roused and sus tained their spirits, by frequent ha |