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from human bondage, if we are still the slaves of Satan, and alienated from God, this misery which we have endured is but a faint type of that which awaits us. Even now it is not too late, if we resolve, through the grace of God, to regulate our lives by the principles of religion; but we must not delay, lest our hearts become hardened, and lest He should give us over to our sinful minds, and "swear in His wrath that we shall not enter into His rest."

I would advise you, my friends, as one who has been in the same condition with yourselves, not to allow the present time to pass away unimproved. Be assured, if we improve the time and talents God has given us-devote them to the good of ourselves and others, and to the glory of Him-happiness will attend our steps here, and everlasting happiness in the world to come. We shall be enabled to exclaim with the Psalmist, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted: for before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word."

J. A.

[The initials J. A., attached to the above piece, will be found frequently repeated in the following pages; they belong to a delicately formed young man, who was by trade a bonnet-maker, but, by practice, a thief or pickpocket. He had been sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing from the person, and had suffered two and a half years' imprisonment previously to his embarkation. Earning a precarious and scanty livelihood, reared amid scenes of misery and vice, without friends or education to guide his young steps, we cannot feel surprised that his associations and necessities dragged him into a course of crime. If his moral nature had been formed so innately

vigorous as to have resisted the forces arrayed against him, his virtue could only have appeared an immaculate emanation of the Deity, that no filth could tarnish. It was otherwise, however. Upon whom, then, is the responsibility of his guilt to be thrown? not surely upon this unhappy child of circumstances. Are the needy and wretched parents responsible for not performing a duty which was perhaps beyond their power? or has society, by criminal neglect, nourished a serpent that avenges the wrongs it has endured? Alas! for the sake of poor humanity, these questions are difficult ones, and may require years for their solution and adjustment, during which the stream of misery and vice rolls on.

What most men consider a serious evil-being convicted of a crime, and sentenced to transportation-was to this man probably the happiest event of his life. In jail the means of instruction were presented to him, and he successfully availed himself of them; in separate confinement he had leisure to commune with his own thoughts, which the necessities of his lot never before permitted him; in the ministrations of his religious instructors, he acquired that knowledge of the Christian faith, that humble and fervent piety, which breathes through every effort of his pen. His behaviour on board was perfectly in accordance with the faith he professed, being quiet and unobtrusive, unless urged by a generous anxiety to occupy a more prominent position in instructing his more ignorant fellow-prisoners.]

FRIENDLY ADVICE.

"The first step to wisdom is to be free from folly."

IT would have been well for us had we considered the above maxim, and proved its truth by our example. Had such been the case, how very different had been our lot to what it now is! How many long days and nights, nay, years of sorrow, might we not have warded off! Not only might we have been strangers to grief ourselves, but numbers of our dear relatives and affectionate friends would have been spared the poignant anguish consequent on our folly; they would also have been spared the opprobrium which the unthinking part of mankind cast upon the connections of a felon.

Man is prone to err, and more particularly where want of education exists. Let us then strive, one and all, to remove this stumbling-block-the ignorant by diligent attention, the educated by imparting their knowledge to others. These measures will soon establish the superiority of the spiritual over the merely animal part of our nature, and, by perseverance, we will become gradually assimilated to the nature of Him who is the fountain of all wisdom and felicity. W. J.

WEEKLY RECORD.

THE day of the publication of this Journal is the tenth since our departure from England. During that time, in spite of sea-sickness and the general prostration caused by that distressing malady, order has been established, the school is in full operation six hours daily, and nothing has occurred to disturb the harmonious movement of the

ordained routine. Much satisfaction is derived from witnessing the avidity with which the various classes receive instruction, and the earnestness which individuals display in applying themselves to allotted tasks. These constitute pleasing auguries for the future, and for the present reward the labours of the zealous instructors. We have to lament, however, that these pleasing results are not universal. A small number have evinced a decided reluctance to take advantage of the opportunities afforded them, while others have exhibited a stolid apathy that destroys all hope of improvement. By what process of reasoning these men justify their conduct, it is impossible to discover; but as attendance and attention are imperative, we hope soon to see very different feelings manifested.

Light and favourable winds, a warm sun, a blue sky, and a deeper blue sea, have combined to render our voyage for the last few days delightful. Two days ago, glancing like living amethyst, we first observed a few solitary individuals of that beautiful species of the Nautilus family, called by sailors ironically "the Portuguese man o' war," which have now become so frequent. In its bright tinted sail the imaginations of poets and painters have found the fit abode of pure and rosy love. Silent, solitary, and motionless, it appears absorbed in contemplation of the radiant beauty that surrounds it. removed from the cankering cares of the world, pillowed on the dancing waves, bathed in sunshine and amaranthine bloom, it seems an ocean hermit, a living flower, a blossom of the rainbow. The life of this frail thing, one cannot but suppose, must be one of unclouded enjoyment; for it is impossible to believe that the beneficent Creator has formed any living thing without bestowing

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on it the sensibilities and capacities adapted for happiness. Although we cannot believe that, like the higher orders of intellect, it can create a heaven of thought for itself, we are yet justified in concluding that it finds in its physical sensations a sensible paradise; for if we view it otherwise, the animal structure becomes merely a chemical aggregation of callous atoms, however delicately it may be formed.

That lofty island which you observe on our port beam, rising abruptly out of the blue waters, is Madeira-the beautiful. You have no doubt often heard of it as the resort of those blooming with an unearthly beauty, who seek-alas! too often in vain-a refuge from the inexorable foe that is devouring them, in the balmy breezes, the vivifying sunshine, and flowery dells, canopied with feathery palms or luxuriant fruit-trees, which peculiarly characterise this favoured land. The principal town, Funchal, stands along the shore of a shallow bay on the eastern side. Behind it the steep hill-side, ploughed with deep ravines, is cultivated in terraces to the summit—a height of some 2000 feet. There, according to the elevation, you may select whatever climate you please. On this, the western side, under the shadow of which we are now sailing, may be observed the same general features. We see the same waving canopy, embowered villas, rugged precipices, and lofty elevation, that derive shade and moisture from the towering mass of clouds that rests heavy and lowering over it.

Not the least interesting or important event that has occurred was the birth of a pretty female baby, on the third day after our departure from England. We wish the fortunate parents every joy of the dear possession. May they find it a pledge of domestic happiness! Our good

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