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A SEASONABLE RECOLLECTION.

"Remember Jesus Christ."

MEMORY, like every other endowment, becomes | spondency, and inspire you with hope." In the valuable only as it is properly employed. In this time of affliction-" Remember my sympathy, world we are comparatively unable to appreciate it will heal the wounds of the heart." In the its worth. Here, at most, it has only the range season of duty-"Remember my example; like a of a few short years, a large proportion of the guiding column of light, it will direct your course, history of which does not deserve remembrance. and quicken your progress." In the prospect of It is a capacity which increases in importance as death-"Remember that your 'Redeemer liveth,' the history of our being advances. What a and it will convert the chamber of sickness into source of pleasure must memory be to a pure the gate of heaven." and happy being, who, by its aid, can call up the events which have given interest to ten thousand years! But it may be turned to the highest account even here. It is a casket; and if it contain " the pearl of great price," it is sacred, it is rich indeed. In the present state our memory is weak and incapacious, unable to contain but a small portion of the innumerable objects which claim a place in it. The part of wisdom, therefore, is to examine and select what should obtain the first admission, and occupy the most prominent place in it; that, as all cannot be remembered, trifles at least may not be received to the exclusion of important objects. Let such an examination be instituted, and, before and above all things, we shall remember Jesus Christ.

It is not easy for a man entirely to banish the Saviour from his recollections. Moving, as we are, in a world whose moral history is blended so intimately with the history of Christ, whose happiness depends on his mediation, and whose destiny will be determined at his tribunal, we are surrounded by intimations of his character and presence and lest we should forget him, he has written his name more or less legibly on every object in the moral world-has left us, in a variety of forms, and in every direction, memorials of his merciful relations to us. Be it understood, however, that to remember him aright involves the noblest efforts of the human mind. The exercise is at once so easy, that it invites compliance; so arduous, that it demands supreme attention; and so indispensable, that to neglect it is to perish. It originates in a scriptural ac

affection for him; it implies our deepest sympathy with all that is pure and lofty; it renders us conversant with the beings and pursuits of another world. To remember him aright is to remember his promises, and believe them-his commands, and obey them-his glory, and to make it the object of our life.

He deserves to be remembered for the moral splendour of his achievements, in vanquishing all the enemies of human happiness; for his un-quaintance with his character, and a devout merited kindness in remembering us in our low estate; for the strength and endurance of his love, in continuing his regard for us unabated, notwithstanding the slights he receives at our hands, and notwithstanding his own personal removal and exaltation and for the reward of grace which he promises to our remembrance of Him. They that remember Him, he will remember. And, oh! to be remembered by Him would amply compensate for being forgotten by all the universe besides! The dying malefactor only asked the Redeemer to remember him; and his humble request was answered with an assurance that, on that day he should be with Him in paradise.

Our remembrance of Christ must not be confined to the Sabbath, or the hour of prayer, or the day of death, when no aid but his can avail us. This would denote no great attachment to him; this would be remembering him only when we could scarcely forbear doing it when even they that hate him remember him.

Many would have us think about them, only when we ourselves are in prosperity. If we are in want, they would be pleased to find that we had forgotten them, lest we should importune or disgrace them. Not so Jesus Christ; he is pleased when our trials induce us to remember him: then it is that they answer their appointed end. In the hour of conscious guilt, his language is-" Remember my grace; it will prevent de

There must be an intenseness in our recollections of him, which will not merely place him on an equality in our thoughts with other endeared objects, but which must give him a superiority above them all;-a remembrance which will yield us pleasure, which we shall often be disposed to indulge in as our highest gratification, and which, instead of readily giving way to other recollections, will keep its place in the mind, notwithstanding all the importunate solicitations of earthly objects. If we are not aiming at such a remembrance of Christ, we are recollecting him only as a being who deserves to be forgotten; but thus to remember him will impart a Divine character to a human mind-will make a sinful man a partaker of the Divine nature.

It has been said that a thought is valuable in proportion to the number of other thoughts which it naturally suggests. Then how valuable is the scriptural recollection of Christ! connected as he is with the past, the present, and the future, with all that is pure and spiritual, benevolent and great. In the universe, the Christian possesses in him a memorial and representative of

all that is worth remembering; while, on the other hand, every thought suggested by the contemplation of those objects may, in its turn, become the means of recalling the Saviour to his mind; and thus there will be an established connexion maintained in the mind between Christ and all that deserves to be associated with him. There will be a system of holy thoughts and recollections, of which Christ will be the centre and the soul: thoughts which at one time might have passed through the mind without being detained or cherished, will now find a welcome and a home; and will find it, simply because they bear a relation to him.

We listen with pleasure to the man who can give us the least information concerning a dear and distant friend; and every incident relative to Christ will be welcome to the heart which enshrines him. Could we look into the memory thus consecrated, and survey the interior imagery, we might trace with ease innumerable associations sacred to him, mingled, indeed, with some of an unhallowed kind; for even the temple itself was not unvisited by idols,

"Who durst fix their seats next the seat of God,
Their altar by his altar; yea, often placed
Within his sanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations!"

But such sacrilegious thoughts will not find a welcome, or effect a lodgment, in a heart which is thus sacred to him. And this suggests the importance of vivid as well as frequent recollections of Christ. If they cease to be vivid, they cease to exert a practical influence. They mingle and pass through his mind with other thoughts; but, instead of controlling the man, they are controlled by him; instead of imparting a religious character to his mind, his mind imparts to them its own worldliness. This is the secret of the religious declension of many Christians from what the Scriptures designate their "first love." Instead of remembering him, they

come to be satisfied with merely remembering past recollections of him.

It is, no doubt, strange in the estimation of the world, to insist on the paramount importance of habitually remembering a Being so far removed beyond the range of our natural sympathies and associations. So, under the former economy, the heathens were at a loss to conceive what could be the object of the Jewish worship, since the temple contained no image of a god; and when at last, on the conquest of Jerusalem, they rushed into the "Holy of Holies," they exclaimed with amazement, that there was no God! We admit the difficulty of remembering an unseen Saviour, but affirm its practicability, and urge its inportance, and exult in the pleasure which its performance involves.

If we desire to cherish the recollection of a distant friend, in order to prevent the possibility of long forgetting him, how often do we carry about with us some memento to awaken recollections of him! Now, though the Christian does not stand in need of such assistance, yet whatever is calculated to bring the Saviour properly before us should not be despised. There should be such a sensitiveness of feeling cultivated towards him, that every thing we hear and see should have a tendency to remind us of him. Our sacred mental associations should be so multiplied, that nothing could claim our attention without directly or indirectly leading us to him; that no train of thought could be excited within us, without terminating in thoughts of him; that as the magnetic needle turns in the direction of the pole, so, whatever our situation, our hearts, being imbued with his love, might spontaneously and habitually turn to him.

Pointing to his sacramental ordinance, he enjoins, "Do this in remembrance of me." The Christian should do every thing in remembrance of Christ, and thus convert life into one sacra mental feast.

IDEAS AND IDOLS.

In their origin these two words are very closely related to each other. They are both formed from the Greek verb, which signifies "to see." There is, however, a distinction between them, to which it is of no small importance to attend ; and there is a latitude of meaning in the radical word "see," to which it is equally necessary to pay attention, if we wish to think and speak correctly upon some of those subjects which concern us the most.

"The idea" is not so much the thing seen, as the fact of seeing it. This seeing, must not, however, be confounded with the mere use of the eyes in beholding the visible objects. It has a far more extensive signification than this, and applies with equal propriety to every subject

which can engage the human thought, whether that subject be of such a nature as can be visible to the eyes or not. Thus, for instance, we have an idea of the sound of a trumpet, the scent of a rose, or the flavour of a peach; and yet it would be quite absurd to speak of seeing any one of these. So, also, we may have a perfect idea of that which is to be done, or should be done, not only before it is carried into execution, but even though the execution of it should never be undertaken: and, under proper circumstances, it is our power of forming such ideas which enables us to make advances in knowledge, in the arts, in the business of life, and, in short, in every thing in which an advance can be made.

Philosophers, especially those who have endea

voured to investigate the mental powers of man, and the means of their improvement, have often entangled themselves in a most complicated cobweb of words upon the subject of ideas; and they have done so, chiefly because they have confounded ideas with idols. Hence it is of the greatest importance to understand clearly the distinction of meaning between the two words. We have already said that the idea is not the thing perceived, but the fact of perceiving it; and that it applies to the perceptions of all the senses equally, and also to those mental perceptions, answering to which there are no objects of

sense.

The word idol has a very different meaning, even when it has no allusion to those spurious religions in which idols are substituted in place of the true God. As the word idea comes from the active form of the verb to see, or rather from that of the more general word to perceive or have knowledge; so the word idol comes from the passive form of the same verb, and means the subject of the perception; which, however, may be either real or imaginary. Thus, for example, if we have with attention viewed a scene, a person, or any thing whatsoever, when we advert to it afterwards, it rises before us with the same clearness and truth as if it stood before our eyes in its natural reality. In this case we have both the idea and the idol. The idea is the power which we possess in our minds of calling it up; and the idol is that which answers to our call. Both may be either true to nature, or they may not; but if the one of them is true to nature, the other must be equally so. It is the idea, however, which controls and fashions the idol; and the idol is perfect or imperfect, just according as the idea is so.

This is a very important consideration; because the forming of a correct idea is that which distinguishes a person of intelligence from one of the opposite character; and, therefore, those who have the training of the minds of youth, which is a duty that devolves upon every parent, and, indeed, upon every one having more experience than those who are about them, whether they discharge it in a faithful manner or not, ought to be especially attentive to the right formation of those ideas. At the outset, they are chiefly acquired by observation, or through the medium of language; and the portion so acquired is the real materials out of which further experience and mental exercise may enable the party to arrive at something original-something which shall add to the real stock of knowledge.

The means by which this is to be done are exceedingly simple, probably too simple for the

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ordinary modes of teaching, in which nothing will go down unless there is an air of artificial wisdom about it. We have only to study one thing at a time, and to study it thoroughly. First, as it is in itself, as a whole, in all its particulars, and in all its qualities; and, secondly, as it stands in relation to other things. The consideration of this relation is double, applying both to contemporary existence and to succession in time. In the first of these, we have to consider the subject of which we are endeavouring to obtain a correct idea, as a part of some system or other. It may be the system of nature, the system of art, or the system of human conduct; but, whether it is one or another of these, or two, or all of them jointly, the knowledge of the individual thing, however minute, is really of little value, unless we see it in its proper connexion. The relation of succession is not less important; because it is here that our belief in the doctrine of cause and effect, when grounded upon true principles, is so very valuable to us. The grand use of this doctrine consists in its enabling us to connect the future with the present, from the experience which we have of the connexion of the present with the past; and as the plan which we form with regard to the future is only an idea, it is necessary that the ground of our judgment of it, which is drawn from the past, should be true to the events as they have really happened. No human caution, and no exercise of judgment, can reach perfection in those matters; but still a very close approximation may be made by those who carefully examine all the circumstances of every passing event, in the issue of which they are likely at any time to be concerned, and diligently treasure them up in their memory. It is this mental faculty of seeing the end and the purpose of every thing projected, which, constituting what is usually called common sense," "mother wit," is so far superior to mere acquired learning, that an ounce of it is said to be worth a pound of the latter.

or

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The formation of correct ideas, that is, mental apprehensions which reach the whole of any case, embraces the entire field of mental culture; and it is one which very strongly claims the attention of every rational being. But, even after this is done, there still remains a danger of error; namely, the misapprehension of idol or mental subject of the idea. It is distinctly to be understood that this idol is merely that which the mind perceives, and not any thing material; but we must defer the consideration of it to a future paper.

A CUP OF TEA.

[We have to apologize to our fair friends for introducing them to a bachelor's téte-à-téte, instead of to an orderly and mixed party. The latter we hope to do in a few weeks, having received an invitation for Thursday fortnight, and, contrary to our usual practice, accepted it, solely for the benefit of our readers. The gentleman who figures in the following article is, as will be seen, a mere bungier in the scienes of scandal, making mischief through a love of chattering, rather than from malicious intention. He hacks character as an Esquimaux would carve a turkey. In our future sketch we trust we shall be able to give a specimen of the more civilized mode of proceeding, and to exhibit the studied art and adroitness with which reputations are cut up in our tea-sipping circles, as skilfully as subjects at St. Thomas's Hospital.]

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Gossip, will you take a cup of tea with me this evening? Perhaps you belong to a Temperance Society; if so, it shall be tea and turn out. I am a bachelor, you know, and will invite no one else, that we may have it snug and cozy by ourselves. Well, you'll come? Thank you. Eight o'clock precisely. Good morning."

"Well, Mr. Gossip, how do you do again? I am glad to see you. Sit down. Have the kindness to ring the bell near you, and Sally will bring up the tray. The muffins were toasted half an hour ago, just as the clock struck eight; I like punctuality, Gossip; I like punctuality. I dare say something interesting happened to detain you thus long; yes-never mind-these things will happen. Don't apologize, I beg. You take cream and sugar? I hope you'll tell me if I don't make it agreeable.

"Well, Gossip, although I take tea in moderation, I confess it is a dangerous thing. Ardent spirits are mischievous, very; but tea also has a multitude of sins to answer for. The authority of Scripture, and the not unimportant fact that the decoction of tea-leaves was unknown till long after, prevents my attributing the origin of evil in Paradise to tea; but I am inclined to charge this beverage with most of the evil deeds which have been done of late years. Who can calculate the number of characters destroyed, reputations tarnished, friendships exploded, evil passions fostered, and amiable tendencies eradicated, by a cup of tea? Bellingham killed Mr. Perceval after tea; it was after tea (gunpowder, of course,) that the Cato-street conspirators held their meetings; murders, burglaries, highway robberies, and most of the blacker enormities, are committed at night, or, in other words, after tea. Effect follows cause,-crime follows tea; I think, then, Mr. Gossip, we may very logically infer that tea is the cause of crime. And further "

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infinity of interesting topics are associated with the word 'tea.' Think, Mr. Gossip, of that leviathan of nations, China, with its three or four hundred millions of inhabitants. Think of Confucius; think of all the great and learned men who flourished there before the time of Adam ; think of its monstrous wall, its floating towns, its petrifying springs, its enormous lakes, with their beds, yielding crops and fruits to the cultivating hand of man; think of its wax-trees, tallow-trees, hashed rats, and puppy-pies. Think, too, of its pagan myriads,-Godless, Sabbathless! And contemplate, if your mind can grasp aught so magnificent, the scene which that mighty empire will present when the dense fogs of ignorance, superstition, and intolerance shall be rolled off like the morning mist, and the human desert shall blossom like the rose, beneath the fertilizing sun of Christianity. Think of ”

“Pray, do you know Mr. Tompkins ?"

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Then think, Gossip, of that beautiful and ingenious home manufacture which has furnished us with the cups from which we are drinking. Let us travel in imagination to the human hive in which they were formed. What pounding, and moulding, and baking, and painting, and gilding, and varnishing! Let us glance at the condition, moral and physical, of the seventy or eighty individuals through whose hands they passed before they were ready for our use. Let us follow their aching backs and limbs to their bare and smoky hovels, or to the dens of drunkenness in which the excitement of toil is succeeded by the destructive excitement of intemperance and profaneness; where the body is inoculated with disease and premature decrepitude, and the mind converted to the semblance of a fiend; where the "

"I heard the other day, Scribble, that Tomp

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"How exquisite the art, too, my dear Gossip, displayed in the production of this tray! To what perfection they have brought the manufacture of papier maché! how durable! how ornamental! The manufacturer now produces of this material almost all articles for household use, from the dining-table to the snuff-box. You may have your house furnished with paper, Gossip, from bottom to top, only excepting grates, pokers, and tooth-picks. Admire the elegant form and delicate tints of that ".

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Pray, Scribble, do you know Mr. Tomp- you. kins?"

"I am not a talker, Gossip; but when my mind flings itself into the midst of a subject so sublime in itself, and awful in its results to mankind as tea, it revels and luxuriates like a hungry bull just turned into a field of clover. What an

Mr. Tompkins is said to have

"The sugar, if you please, Gossip. Thank Let us contemplate a while the present state of the West Indies, and compare it with the past. What an awful

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"I was going to tell you about Mr. Tomp. kins."

"The cream, my dear Gossip. Thank you. How wonderful is the process by which this is

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"Yes, very true; I forgot the spoons. Peru and Mexico are interesting, very interesting countries; but I think the silver mines there"

pression on the minds of those present that the accusation was not unfounded."

"But William is a common name, Gossip, and Smith not very uncommon."

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Ay, ay, Scribble; but I went to the office to make inquiries, and ascertained that the prisoner of that morning had nothing remarkable in Mr. Scribble, this is not conversation; surely his appearance, and was dressed in black, with you fancy you are compiling an Encyclopædia.crape on his hat, which proves his identity with I have been trying to introduce a subject for the last half hour; and since it is not agreeable to you to allow me to say any thing, I must wish you good evening, and

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"You know Mr. Tompkins?"

"What Mr. Tompkins?"

Mr. Tompkins of Gloucester-place." "No; but I know his brother."

"Ah! it's a sad thing for all the family! Tompkins, you know, held power of attorney for old Gubbins; and I am told that, through some accidental inquiry at the bank, it was found

but I don't like to state particulars; these are serious matters; suffice it to say, that Gubbins came to town, and Tompkins left London, the same day."

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What, for America?"

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our old crony, to whom the above description exactly applies, for Smith was in mourning when I met him."

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Well, I'll write to him, Gossip, and ascertain the fact, for your satisfaction."

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What has she done, Gossip? murdered a company of grenadiers?”

"Worse than that, I fear. You must know Perkins left home one morning, saying that he should not return until late; but having been detained a shorter time than was expected, he found on his arrival- But for his sake, poor fellow, I will not tell the sequel, especially as I was told the occurrence in confidence. You know, Scribble, I hate scandal, and cannot dwell with complacency on the vices and weaknesses of my fellow-creatures."

"O, your sensitiveness in that matter, Gossip, is proverbial. But do tell me how poor Perkins bears the shock."

"Strange to say, as if nothing had happened. I went there the other day just to take a cup of

"I met our old school-fellow Bill Smith the tea, make a few observations, and see if I could other day, Gossip."

"Did you speak to him?"

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Speak to him! to be sure I did, and laughed very heartily with him at the scrapes you used to get into by talking in school, and publishing tivú voce biographical sketches of old Thrashem and his family at the grocer's and at the tartshop."

"I think neither of us must speak to him again, Scribble."

Why? what's the matter?"

“I met him one morning coming into Regentstreet, in the direct line from Great Marlboroughstreet; and the next day I read in the Times' newspaper that on that very morning William Smith was placed at the bar on a charge of swindling, and discharged on account of proof being defective, although it was the general im

make peace and arrange matters between them;
and, to my astonishment, found her smiling as
sweetly, and him chatting as cheerfully, as usual.”
"Awful insensibility, Gossip, most awful!"
"Yes, indeed. You remember Halls?"
"Remember! I know him intimately, if any
one can know such a paradox as he is. A well-
meaning fellow enough, I believe, very versatile,
and somewhat eccentric; now gloomy as a bear
with a bruised paw, casting the shadows of his
constitutional melancholy over life and nature;
moralizing on the past, the present, and the
future, as if earth were but a huge burial-ground;
full of whims and fancies, intense attachments,
and vehement dislikes. With a mind now shrink-

ing, like the sensitive plant, from contact with
hostile intellect; yet, on occasion, wielding the
tomahawk and the scalping-knife against all op-

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