How BETHLEHEM. nected with this little town of Bethlehem! It was many interesting recollections are conat Bethlehem where Rachel died and was buried; from whence Elimelech and Naomi fled to escape the famine; and which afterwards, through the kindness of Boaz, became indeed Bethlehem, or the House of Bread, to Naomi and Ruth. Bethlehem was the town of Jesse, and the birthplace of David. It was at Bethlehem that the infant Saviour was born, and in whose fields their flocks by night, instructed by the angel, hastened to worship Jesus as he was lying in the manger. The people who live in Bethlehem are called Bethlehemites. EDITOR'S ADDRESS TO HIS DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,-Instead of being seated upon a mossy bank as you might imagine, gazing with admiration upon and inhaling the Sweet odours of Jnne roses, I am sitting on the rounded pebbles of the sea-beach, and listening to the rising, rolling, splashing, rattling, and receding waves, and looking across the great and wide sea, observing a complete fieet of fishing boats lying at anchor, waiting for favourable circumstances to discharge the fruits of their night's toil, to satisfy the wants of men. Wherever the Gleaner may be, he is not out of his gleaningfield. He is upon the watch for ears of corn to his monthly bundle, and I hope you will all feel, as you go over our pages this month, that he has not watched in vain. fill up The Gleaner counts it a great privilege to be allowed to use means to influence the mind of so many thousands of the rising generation on the side of the truth of God, and feels, too, that his is a post of great responsibility. Early impressions are exceedingly important, because they are generally so lasting, and have such an important influence on the after-life. I shall count myself highly honoured and well repaid for all my pains and anxieties in conducting this little magazine, if I can any way contribute to the moulding the minds of the young, so that they shall grow up treading a path of integrity and honour in life, flying from all infidel and Popish influences, and clinging to the Scriptures and those who teach in accordance with the word of God. But the great thing I seek is souls for my hire. The soul is the jewel, while the body is but the casket; the soul is the babe, while the body is but its clothing. How sad to care for the casket and the jewel be lost, to be all attention to the baby's apparel, and the baby itself to perish. Your life, dear young friend, is only a short journey to an everlasting home. It is pleasent to be comfortably provided for on a journey; but what are the conveniences or inconveniences of a short journey compared with the happiness or misery of a long residence? The fire to which all go who die in their sins is not for a month, a year, or a million of years; but it is for ever! If some immortal creature could come to the beach where I am sitting, and once in a century fetch a pebble, then once in a century a grain of sand, every pebble would make a hundred years less to tell off; but oh, eternity! there is no lessening it! Consider, dear young friend, consider your latter end. You often picture your latter end as sixty years off, when it may not be sixty minutes. I wish you would go into some secret place and tell yourself the truth. Say to yourself, I have a soul; I must live for ever and ever. I have already sinned against God, therefore I must for ever perish upon the ground of my own works; but the Gospel tells me that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that He promises to cast out none who come to Him. O my sinful soul, thou must leave the path of sin; thou must give up all trust in thine own doings; thou must fly to Christ, be by faith cleansed in His blood, and clothed in His righteousness, or burn for ever in hell for thy sins. Oh, my soul, art thou not acting the madman all the while thou continuest thy thoughtless, prayerless, hellward course? Consider thy latter end; and oh, if the Spirit of God were to use this discourse to your awakening, and bring you down on your knees a sincere beggar for mercy through Jesus, and so set you seeking as that you should never be able to rest until you were helped to rest beneath the Cross of Calvary, this would be the most profitable sermon that ever your soul listened to. Do not forget, you must seek and find Jesus here, or hereafter perish. I must go on telling you this, because I am still Your anxious willing friend, THE DOG AND PORRIDGE-POT. ABOUT midway down the Blackfriars Road stands Surrey Chapel, an octagonal building, erected by the renowned Rowland Hill. At the opposite corner of the street is a wholesale ironmonger's shop, of the sign of the Dog and Porridge-pot. The sign is a veritable gilt dog feeding from a large gilt pot, and attracts the notice of the passers-by. Signs for shops have had their day, and are fast falling into disuse. This is one of the few retained in London at the present time, and constitutes an important link in a chain of circumstances which led to the conversion of a young man more than half a century ago. A young man had come to London to seek his fortune, but no sooner did he find himself beyond the immediate control of his parents than he was led into paths of sin by the new friendships he had formed. One cold winter's day he and some relatives had arranged to spend a Sunday with their friends at the west end of the town. After they had set out, they discovered they had left behind a bottle of rich old elder wine, which they had determined to take with them. The young man was sent back to the house for the missing bottle, and as he was absent rather longer than was expected, he missed his friends, who had gone on some distance ahead. Not knowing his way, he was annoyed at the treatment, and was sauntering along in the direction he supposed they had taken. As he came up Charlotte Street, at the corner of which Surrey Chapel stands, the gilded sign arrested his attention, and he involuntarily paused to look at it. It was a novelty to him. While he stood looking at the sign, the congregation in the chapel behind him commenced singing. He immediately turned round, and, finding the door open, he entered the chapel, and remained to hear the famous preacher deliver one of those earnest sermons for which he was renowned. As he listened to the burning words, he found the power of God bringing him to yield to the impression of the truth; and when he came away from the place he abandoned his evil associates. |
