Sir

gallantry when afloat, and to this day the notorious enemy of irreligion and of vice in every form. Jahleel Brenton so promoted would be a token for good that I fear my poor country is never, never more to behold.'

*

"Don't say never, uncle.'

Well, God grant I prove mistaken: but regarding as I do our headlong course to ruin as the rushing of a torrent, the restraining banks of which have been broken down, I cannot see how anything short of miraculous interposition is to stay it. A change of men may indeed produce a change of measures; but in order to undo any part of the evils now daily in progress of perpetration, they must be men of such fixed, unbending, stern principle, so resolved not to turn to the right hand or to the left for any persuasives of expediency, so enlarged beyond the narrowness of self, and elevated above the grovellings of worldly ambition, that in vain shall we look for such characters save among those whom God has enlightened, and taught, and richly gifted, not merely for the political, but for the spiritual rescue of an erring people. It may be that He will be thus gracious unto our land; but I almost cease to hope for any less deliverance than that which His own right hand shall achieve when he takes unto him his great power, and comes to reign.'

'Be it so, uncle; the Lord is at present glorified even in the troubles that are falling upon us. We have sowed the wind; and the whirlwind and the storm that we are about to reap do but fulfil his word. We will adore him in his just judgments, as in his unmerited mercies.'

I trust we shall be enabled so to do. It is in the

midst of judgment that his mercy is most apparent, in enabling us to understand-to" hear the rod and who hath appointed it." Alike in our own hearts, and in the Christian world around us, we may clearly trace a need-be for these chastening visitations. In the first, what a mass of unbelief, of pride, of selfrighteousness, of rebellion, and discontent in every form lies coiled and cherished by the warmth of our bosoms! In the latter we may discern a growing approximation to that which they profess to have abjured. There is a wide and increasing departure from the sobriety that scripture enjoins, in the appearance and deportment of believers. Luxury, in our houses, our tables, our garb; conformity with worldly opinions, habits and modes of speeech; coldness and lack of sympathy towards those who are perishing spiritually for lack of knowledge, or bodily for lack of what we expend in superfluities;-these things and many more are creeping in among God's children to an extent that we are unwilling to confess or to believe. It is in mercy that he sends any startling message, warning us to " be watchful and strengthen the things that remain, which are ready to die." Wonderful is the contemplation of this perfect love; which, whether it assumes the aspect of the dark cloud, or of the joyous sunbeam, is love still; unmixed, unfailing, everlasting love!'

'How that thought sweetens every painful contemplation, dear uncle. Viewed in themselves, all surrounding objects may be fraught with gloom and grief: regarded in connection with God's unchangeable purposes of mercy to his church, the scene changes, and brightness invests the whole.'

'Yes, as far as we are concerned; but shun the

selfishness that would lead you to overlook in your own privileges the sad fate of others, the dishonour brought on the God of your country by the misdeeds of your people. The prophets of old, while experiencing even miraculous manifestations of the divine favour towards themselves, lamented day and night over the provocations of their nation; yea, the King of prophets and of kings, as he looked upon his own Jerusalem, wept because she refused to know the things that belonged unto her peace. Next to gross carnal-mindedness, I desire to hate selfish spiritualmindedness. Our ties, family, social, national, are ordained and woven of the Lord; and those who lightly regard their binding obligation, despise his ordinance, neglect his commandment, and contemn the example that he vouchsafed to give.'

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THE

CHRISTIAN LADY'S MAGAZINE.

DECEMBER, 1839.

HELEN FLEETWOOD.

IV.

LET no one suppose we are going to write fiction, or to conjure up phantoms of a heated imagination, to aid the cause which we avowedly embrace. Names may be altered, characters may be grouped, with some latitude of license; but not an incident shall be coined to serve the purpose, however good, so far as relates to the main subject-that is, to the factories of this our free and happy England. Vivid indeed, and fertile in devices must the fancy be that could invent a horror beyond the bare, every-day reality of the thing! Nay, we will set forth nothing but what has been stated on oath, corroborated on oath, and on oath confirmed beyond the possibility of an evasive question. Neither will we lift the veil that piety and modesty would draw over the hidden atrocities DECEMBER, 1839.

2 I

of this diabolical child-market. Blasphemy and indecency may, they do abound, turning every mill into a pandemonium; but it is not needful to sully our pages with either. We will exhibit the tree, we will analyze the soil where it grows, the elements that nourish, the hands that culture it, and the fruit which it ultimately produces; but the secret circulation of its poisonous sap we will not so bare as to contaminate the mind of a youthful reader, or to harrow up the soul of any one. Let the pestilence preserve the cloud of darkness in which it walks; we only desire to shew the withered remains of its poor blighted victims.

The groupe that entered Mrs. Wright's dwelling, and whom their mother's instinctive movement had partially screened from view while she uttered her deprecating remark, quickly drew round the table, and commenced an eager attack on the provisions before them. It consisted of three children, a girl and two boys, at whose ages it was impossible to guess with any hope of accuracy. Little difference appeared in their height as they sat, the tallest not exceeding that of Mary Green; but the stoop of his projecting head, the retiring curve of his chest, and the disproportionate length of his arms, betrayed a deficiency or a perversion of natural growth, which was farther confirmed by the very settled expression of a countenance by no means prepossessing. Next to him, in stature and in place, sat a comparatively stout and straight little fellow, but with an aspect so vacant, so stupified, that he seemed to be under the influence of a powerful narcotic. The third was the spectre of a very pretty girl, whose naked arms resembled ivory wands rather than limbs of natural