The Letter Box. A WORD TO PARENTS. A Father's Reply to a Friend who asked permission for his Daughter to go into the Amusements of the World. MY DEAR-We received your letter last evening, and perused it with no little attention, as it came from one for whom we have always cherished a tender regard, and one upon whose feelings it would be deeply painful to us rashly or needlessly to inflict a wound. Having maturely and prayerfully considered your urgent request, we hasten to return an answer by the first mail. We Serious and weighty objections stand in the way of our compliance. Our daughter is a member of the Church of Christ, sustaining a consecrated relation to God and his people. A solemn vow imposed in baptism rests upon her, to be and do what we know is infinitely reasonable and proper, as well as unspeakably to her own present and future well-being.. have taken the resolution that "as for us and our house, we will serve the Lord," and that, as far as in us lies, we will "virtuously bring her up to lead a godly and a Christian life;" and while we pray that she may "not be led into temptation," we shall be chargeable with flagrant inconsistency not to do what we can to keep her out of temptation. Mingling in the scenes of which you speak, we conscientiously believe, would be a violation of solemn vows, a trifling with high obligations, and putting her dearest interests in the greatest peril. Among other things specified in the baptismal vow, that of renouncing the vanities of the world is not the least important. Is there anything which so perfectly answers the designation of vanity, yea, vanity of vanities, as the fascinating and exciting scenes into which you would fain introduce our daughter? Believe me, my dear friend, when I say that these worldly amusements are a subtle device of our grand enemy, to render a course of neglect of God and heaven so attractive, to spread such a charm over it, and make the youthful mind so satisfied and contented, as to shut out all serious regard for infinitely better things. That this is their pernicious tendency, observation and experience confirm beyond all doubt. The ardent lover of these pleasures cannot be a lover of God and the joys of his salvation. They are called innocent; but can that be innocent which robs God our Maker of the supremacy in our affections, which tends to make its deluded votaries satisfied with dreams and shadows, and defrauds them of the unspeakable sweetness and blessedness of communion with Christ in spiritual devotion, and of the full fruition of heaven hereafter? You say, "There are some communicants who indulge in these things." That is true, but that does not make it right. It only affords sad evidence that they are pursuing a course which will no doubt plant their dying pillow with thorns. It also confirms the truth of what the great Redeemer taught, viz., "Many will say unto me in that day, Lord! Lord!" to whom he will reply, "Depart from me; I know you not." We can scarcely believe that our daughter really desires to mingle in the scenes of which you speak, as it would increase the obstacles to her becoming a joyful and happy Christian, and thus endanger more seriously her eternal interests; yet, if she does, (as you would fain believe,) we love her too tenderly to think for a moment of giving our consent. Permit me to assure you that on becoming a "new creature in Christ Jesus," you will participate in joys and pleasures infinitely preferable to all you have ever found in the gay party or the festive dance. With best wishes and fervent prayers that you may live to the honour and glory of Him who died to redeem and save you, and at last enter upon the eternal joys of the heavenly state, I subscribe myself, Yours affectionately and truly, ENCOURAGEMENT TO PIOUS YOUTH. true Christian despair of the mercy of God, or distrust his providence. Attend diligently to the duties of your particular stations in life; and in steadfast faith "cast all your care upon him," believing that "he careth for you." He who fed the multitude in the wilderness, and commanded that the widow's cruse of oil and barrel of meal should not fail, will, you may humbly trust, fully justify the Psalmist's declaration, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." And doubt not that the spiritual promises shall be still more abundantly fulfilled: "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst." Keep close to him in daily faith, prayer, diligence, and watchfulness, and daily food, both spiritual and temporal, shall be supplied to you; for he hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Whilst, then, earnestly desiring this spiritual sustenance, which can alone nourish our souls unto eternal life, let us join fervently in the prayer of the disciples, "Lord, evermore give us this MY YOUNG FRIENDS,-Never let the bread!" The Counsel Chamber. ADVICE AND CAUTION. MY DEAR NEPHEW,-I can no longer refrain from communicating to you a portion of the thoughts which have, for some time, been occupying my breast concerning you. I need not make any parade of my feelings and affection towards you; I am satisfied you will not question my love; I hope you will never have just occasion so to do. I assure you it is that very love which prompts me, on the present occasion, to write to you. With my views, indeed, if I could hold my peace, I should prove, not the strength of my affection, but its weakness. Neither have I done anything so expressive of 1 true love as that which I am now doing. Could I be silent, I should show myself your enemy, far beyond the man who should wound your reputation, injure your property, or even attempt your life. You have now reached a very important period of your history upon earth; the whole of your future character will most probably be determined by the result of the present dispensation. If you can resist the influence of this, you will probably resist anything! It is difficult to see how you can be overtaken by a heavier calamity of a relative character. By this awful stroke you have been deprived, at once, of both your father and your mother; and such a father, and such a mother! On that dreadful day, I lost the best of brothers, and the most excellent of sisters. They are both now with God, and you are left in their place. How momentous is the position you now occupy! Oh, my dear youth! there is a special promise available for you, and enough to support you under any circumstances: "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." The Lord knows perfectly the loss you have sustained, and the consequences which flow from it. This blessed promise applies to your little brothers and sisters as much as to yourself. But, my dear J, how it shall go with them will mainly depend upon the course you shall henceforth pursue; you are now both father and mother, with all the responsibilities attaching to those endeared relations. Their characters and prosperity are now very mainly in your hands; you will most materially contribute either to lead them to heaven or to destruction! How awful the alterna tive! You must prove to them, in the highest degree, either a blessing or a curse, such as can only be comprehended by those similarly situated, May it be the former, and not the latter! Your own soul, then, and its concerns, wholly apart, there is the strongest reasons imaginable existing for your decision. Now, my dearest J, what are you to become? What form is your course now to take? What is to be your choice? I deeply regret your prolonged indecision. That regret, indeed, is approaching fear, because I think I see marks of indifference rising in your general deportment. I am afraid lest those buddings, which appeared some months back, should come to nothing. I am afraid that you are losing your tenderness of heart, and your spiritual solicitude. The fear and trembling which were apparent about the beginning of the year, seem passing away. I am not the only one of your friends who entertains this opinion. Mr. tells me you are now very seldom seen at the prayer-meeting held in his house, where you were once so regular: he also tells me you are no longer so exemplary in your attendance at the house of God. He says that you are not only generally late-always a sign of something wrong-but often absent altogether. He further increases my fears, by informing me that he had repeatedly, of late, 3oen you in company with, who is anything but a fit companion for you. He is a giddy, godless youth, from whom you can get no good; and the fact that you can enjoy or endure the society of such a person, is, of itself, proof that there is something radically wrong in your tastes and feelings-that either you 66 are not renewed in the Spirit of your I am distressed for you, but I cannot give you up. I know you are a child of many prayers; and I cannot believe that they will be unanswered. I would not necessarily pain you, but let me call to your remembrance the last night of your dear mother's sojourn on earth, and the scene which then occurred. I am sure you cannot forget her dying words, given with so much sincerity and so many tears. It was a sad, solemn, and touching spectacle; and yet not wholly without pleasure. When she took and placed her own Bible in your hands, and charged you with such an overflow of love, to make it the guide of your youth in after life, and to love and serve the Saviour revealed in it, I felt what I never felt before the scene was one that can never be forgotten. My dearest J, I am a witness to this solemn transaction. When all but ready for the grave, in which your dear father had just been laid, and to which she was so soon herself to be borne, she poured cut her last prayer for you, and her last blessing on your head, in placing that book into your hands, with such feelings as only a mother could express or manifest. My dear youth! why do I bring these things to mind? Is it to afflict you? Far from it: it is to benefit you, by reviving in you the emotions of that memorable night, and that you may be forthwith induced to revive the love of truth as it is in Christ. No time is now to be lost; delay will only bring indifference, hardness, sin, and misery. You must have help from heaven, or you are undone; but, to obtain such help, you must ask it, and ask it in a proper state of mind. I thought you once a penitent; I had even a small hope that you were in the faith of the Gospel, although but a babe. Return, then, my dearest J, to your first state, and build upon it. Turn from all known evil; believe the truth, the whole truth, and ask with your whole heart the gift of the Comforter, the Teacher, the Guide, the Purifier of the human soul! For your own sake, I press you to this. But I am not forgetful of your family. For the sake of your dear brothers and sisters, therefore, I beseech you to come at once to decision. Decide for God; become a man of faith and prayer; although a youth, your character will clothe you with the weight of age. You will then be at once the priest, the ruler, and the teacher of your household; and, supported by the influence and counsel of your excellent aunt, you will bring the family under the influence of true religion. Once more. On thus becoming decided, I entreat you to come forward, and confess the Lord Jesus. I am sure my excellent friend, the Rev. R. will be most glad to see and talk with you, and give you all the aid your state may require. I pray you, do not for a moment longer than is necessary, delay confessing with the mouth the salvation of the Son of God, if you be really conscious of it. It is on many grounds a matter of first importanee, both as to yourself and others. Commit yourself to it, to your own conscience, to your family, to the Church, and to the world. The advantages attending it are unspeakable. Follow the Lord fully; get mixed up! with the things of God, with the people of God, and get identified with the work of God; and, through these means, you will experience the preserving, supporting, and consoling powers of God. Again assuring you of my love, and that to hear of your decision will give unutterable joy to your uncle and friend, I remain, as ever, The Ladies' Corner. We have, at times, had kind complaints from female pens, that we did not place sufficient confidence in their disposition to exert themselves to further our projects for the public good, inasmuch as we always appealed exclusively to the other sex. If we have erred in this respect we regret it, for assuredly it is not for the want of confidence. We beg, then, by way of reparation, to invite our friends henceforth to help us; and as a guide and an encouragement, we present them with two paragraphs, showing what is done across the Atlantic. Much is said of the intelligence, spirit, and ability of the American Ladies; but sure we are that they are not superior to those of the Mother Country, either in these or in any other respect, and we hope we shall soon have more than one that will make a return of subscribers larger even than that subjoined in the succeeding paragraph.-EDITOR. AN EXAMPLE FOR CHRISTIAN FEMALES. while the precious truth they will read may, by the blessing of God, save their A lady in a neighbouring village has immortal souls. sent the names of one hundred and seventy-six subscribers to the American Messenger. The following extract from her letter shows the secret of her success. Will not ladies in other places be induced to imitate her example? "I set about the work, I trust, with faith, and the result has proved that I have not laboured in vain. Two of our ladies subscribed for eight copies each, intending to circulate these little sheets far and wide. I carried my book of subscribers' names with me wherever I went. I presented my little pocket pistol to everybody I met, and I did not present it in vain. I conquered wherever I attacked, and I am glad to say none needed urging. The extremely low price of the paper enables even the poorest to subscribe one shilling, which, at the end of the year, the most miserly will not miss, "I intend trying each month to obtain more and more subscribers. I am greatly pleased with the enlarged and improved appearance of this sheet. I shall do all in my power to promote its circulation, and pray God to bless this silent yet eloquent preacher to the conversion of multitudes to the knowledge of the truth, as it shines forth in the religion of our blessed Lord and Master." LEND THE MAGAZINE. A good instrument should not be lost, any more than a good opportunity. A religious Magazine, containing impressive paragraphs-admonitions, affecting narratives showing the power and excellence of religion, cautions against the snares of a wicked world, rousing exhibitions of the value of the |