WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP?

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good princes; and, if your difficulties are great, you have great encouragements; for you that are great men have great opportunities to honour God and to do good to His church; poor men are denied these opportunities; we can only sit still and be patient under the weight of our sorrows and our poverty, and look for His blessing, which alone makes rich, and adds no sorrow to it.

Land. But tell me, William, what is the first step such a poor uneducated thing as I am should take? I see a beauty in religion which I cannot reach; I see the happiness which thou enjoyest, William, in an humble, religious, correct life; I would give all my estate to be in thy condition; I would labour at the hedge and the ditch, as thou dost, could I have the same peace within and be as thankful, and have such an entire confidence in God as thou hast; I see the happiness of it, but nothing of the way how to obtain it.

Wil. Alas! sir, an't please you, you do not know my condition. I am a poor disconsolate creature; I am sometimes so lost, so dark, so overwhelmed with my condition and with my distresses, that I am tempted to fear God has forgotten to be gracious; that I am cast off and left to sink under my own burden; I am so unworthy, so forgetful of my duty, so easily let go my hold and cast off my confidence, that I fear often I shall despair.

Land. And what do you do then, William ?

Wil. Alas! sir, I go mourning many a day, and waking many a night; but I bless the Lord I always mourn after Him, I always cleave to Him, I am not tempted to run from Him, I know I am undone if I seek comfort in any other. Alas! whither else shall I go? I cry night and day, Return, return, O Father! and resolve to lie at His feet; and that "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." And blessed be the God of my hope, He does send comfort and peace, though sometimes it is very long.

Land. Well, William, and is this a disconsolate condition? Would you change your condition with me, that am the rich glutton?

Wil. Oh, do not say so of yourself, an't please you; God has touched your worship's heart, I perceive, with an earnest desire after Him; you have a gracious promise, that would greatly encourage you, if you would but take it to yourself.

Land. Encourage me, William! that's impossible. What can encourage me? What promise is it you talk of that looks towards me?

Wil. Why, an't please you, I heard you say you would change your condition with such a poor wretch as I; you would labour at the hedge and the ditch to have the knowledge of God and religion, and to be able to be thankful to Him and have confidence in Him; this implies that you have a "longing, earnest desire after Him," and after the knowledge of this truth.

Land. Indeed, that is true, William.

Wil. Then there are many comforting Scriptures which speak directly to you, sir, viz., "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled;" "the longing soul shall be satisfied:" He will "satisfy the desires of all those that fear Him:" and the like.

Land. But what must I do? Which is the way an ignorant wretch must take?

Land. I told you, William, you hardly knew who you were talking to. You talk of my reading the Scripture. Why, I'll tell thee, William, I have not a Bible in the world, and never had one in my life. There's the manor-house yonder; I question whether God was ever prayed to in it, or His name ever mentioned there, except profanely, or perhaps to swear by it, since it was built. Why, you know, as well as I, what a family it was that lived in it when my father purchased it. They

were as much strangers to religion, William, as thou art to Greek and Hebrew; and ours were but little better that came after them.

Wil. I fear, indeed, an't please your worship, it was so. Poor gentlemen! they lived badly, indeed, very badly. Alas! gentlemen must not be told of it by us poor men: but they were a sad wicked family; I remember it well.

Land. But, William, thou canst lend me a Bible; canst thou not? and I'll read it all over while I live in the country.

Wil. Yes, an't please your worship, I'll lend you a Bible; I'll bring it in the morning.

Land. Do, William, and come and stay with me to-morrow; I'll make thee amends for thy day's work, and there's something for thy good advice and coming so far with me.

SAMUEL JOHNSON.

With the life-size fac-simile supplied by Boswell, and with the coloured stereoscope of Macaulay, so familiar to every reader, there is no need that we should attempt a sketch of the great literary dictator. Nor is it needful that we should vindicate his claim to a place among "Our Christian Classics." With all his practical shortcomings, for many of which an extenuation may be found in a physical constitution singularly cumbersome and unhappy, there can be no dispute as to the strength of Dr Johnson's religious convictions; and if his "Meditations and Prayers" reveal much of our human weakness, they also betoken the struggles of a nobler principle, which, it is pleasant to believe, has now obtained the victory.

SAMUEL JOHNSON was born at Lichfield, September 18, 1709, and died at London, December 13, 1784.

Prayers.

1st Jan. 1784. P.M., 11.

O Lord God, heavenly Father, by whose mercy I am now living another year, grant, I beseech Thee, that the time which Thou shalt yet allot me, may be spent in Thy fear and to Thy glory. Give me such ease of body as may enable me to be useful, and remove from me all such scruples and perplexities as encumber and obstruct my mind; and help me to pass, by the direction of Thy Holy Spirit, through the remaining part of life, that I may be finally received to everlasting joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ASHBOURN, 5th Sept. 1784.

Almighty Lord and merciful Father, to Thee be thanks and praise for all Thy mercies, for the awakening of my mind, for the continuance of my life, the amendment of my health, and the opportunity now granted of commemorating the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer. Enable me, O Lord, to repent truly of my sins. Enable me, by Thy Holy Spirit, to lead hereafter a better life. Strengthen my mind against useless perplexities. Teach me to form good resolutions; and assist me that I may bring them to effect. And when Thou shalt finally call me to another state, receive me to everlasting happiness, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

5th Dec. 1784.

Almighty and most merciful Father, I am now, as to human eyes it seems, about to commemorate, for the last time, the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. Grant, O Lord, that my whole hope and confidence may be in His merits and in Thy mercy. Forgive and accept my late conversion; enforce and accept my imperfect repentance; make

this commemoration available to the confirmation of my faith, the establishment of my hope, and the enlargement of my charity; and make the death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, effectual to my redemption. Have mercy upon me, and pardon the multitude of my offences. Bless my friends; have mercy upon all men. Support me by the grace of Thy Holy Spirit in the days of weakness, and at the hour of death; and receive me at my death to everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

DR JOHN RUTTY.

One of the most curious books of last century is "A Spiritual Diary, by JOHN RUTTY, M.D." Some specimens of it which fell under the eye of Dr Johnson, exceedingly amused him, "particularly his mentioning, with such serious regret, occasional instances of 'swinishness in eating, and doggedness of temper.' Yet, the great moralist must have felt a certain respect for the rigid self-accuser. He is the most faithful of autobiographers, and if there are entries in his diary at which it is impossible not to smile, the reader cannot help admiring the severity of the censor, and the honesty of the historian.

Dr Rutty was a native of Ireland. He was born December 26, 1698, and died at Dublin, April 27, 1775. He belonged to the Society of Friends, and, besides being a physician in large practice, obtained some distinction by his publications on Materia Medica, on Mineral Waters, and on other subjects connected with his own profession.

Diary.

1754. Third month, 29. Lord, deliver from living to eat, drink, sleep, smoke, and study.

Fourth month, 2. Snappish on hunger.

* Croker's "Boswell," vol. vi. p. 314.