special times for secret dedication and communion with God. The sacred book was her constant food and study. Her love for the ordinances of God deserves special remark. Messengers of the gospel she loved for their work's sake, and for their Master's sake. 'Pray before, as well as after your visit" was her solemn entreaty to her own beloved minister. "Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long, SECTION IV.-FIDELIA FISKE. "In the structure and working of her whole nature, she seemed to me the nearest approach I ever saw, in man or woman, to my ideal of our blessed Saviour as He appeared on the earth." DR. ANDERSON. CHRISTIANITY AND HUMAN NATURE. The peculiarities of Christianity form a most important and powerful argument in favour at once of its truth and of its Divine origin. A comparison of Christianity with other religions not only proclaims it to be the only religion worthy of God and suitable for human nature; but proclaims at the same time, and with equal power and effect, the utter futility of the infidel maxim,-that all religions are alike. A false religion, whether recorded in the pages of the Koran or the Shaster, may contain many important truths; but the fact that it is a human instead of U a Divine, a false instead of a true religion, indelibly stamps it as unacceptable in the sight of Him who is "Holy in all in His works ;" and unadapted to meet the wants of sinful creatures. There is only one religion in entire accord with all the phases, aspects, and transitions of the human mind; and that is the religion of the Bible. Christianity is adapted to you as an intellectual being-it records a history-it reveals a theology-it unfolds a philosophy—it affords scope for reasoning-it appeals to the imagination. Christianity is in harmony with your moral nature. Truly and beautifully has Sir Thomas Browne said, "There is no felicity in what the world adores-that wherein God Himself is happy, the holy angels are happy, and in whose defect the devils are unhappy— that dare I call happiness." Your character is entirely sinful and depraved. Christianity presents to you the ideal of your original rectitude, and would win you to the love of holiness, as a thing of beauty and majesty. Christianity is adapted to you as an emotional being. The facility in shedding tears at the remembrance of sin, or at the cross, is no evidence of repentance; joy in the belief that sins are forgiven is no proof of conversion. Yet weeping is a mighty thing. Our Saviour never fell into sentimentalism or affectation, but His great soul ran over His eyes when on earth; and it would do the same if He dwelt with us now. Christianity excites the deepest emotion, and wakes up all the tumultuous feelings of the soul. Christianity is in harmony with your social nature. It takes your state under its auspices; and its tendency is, by its laws and influences, directly or indirectly, to etherealize the affections of the family, to ennoble the love of country, and to inflame all the enthusiasms which point to the good and glory of the race. Christianity is adapted to you as a suffering being. Trials are ill to bear. They are not "joyous, but grievous." Yet he who believes that all things work together for good, will thank God for medicine as well as for food; and for the winter that kills the weeds, as well as for the summer that ripens the fields. Christianity is in harmony with your immortal nature. You are full of "thoughts that wander through eternity;" and Christianity establishes the truth of a future state- -secures its glory-prepares for its enjoyment. It makes the hope of heaven a guiding principle in life, adapting its disclosures and descriptions of the future inheritance to the varied circumstances of the present. What a religion this!—it is the of God, and the wisdom of God. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" power BIOGRAPHY. Fidelia Fiske was born on the 1st May, 1816, at Shelburne; a decayed town in Nova Scotia. Her father, a man of noble form, benignant face, and saintly character, who lived to the patriarchal age of ninety-two; was descended of ancestors who had emigrated from England to America. Her mother was a woman of great activity and equability; a native of Taunton, Massachusetts. This colony took its name from the circumstance that it was founded by a number of Christian men and women, who went forth from St. Mary Magdalene church, Taunton, Somerset, in the days of Archbishop Laud. The home of her childhood was a plain one-storey farmhouse, the large family room of which served as kitchen, nursery, dining and sitting room. In that mountain-home life was quiet and simple, yet by no means dull and monotonous. Around the blazing fire the little circle gathered every evening, while sewing, knitting, reading, and story-telling filled up the swift hours; till at length the great Bible was brought forth, a chapter read, and a fervent prayer offered. At early dawn they renewed their peaceful pursuits, amid the ceaseless and ever-varying voices of nature. As a child, Fidelia was unusually thoughtful and observing. She always weighed consequences, and nothing could escape her notice. When about four years of age, she began to attend the district school near her father's house. Here for some ten or twelve years she pursued the studies usually taught in country schools. Though by no means a prodigy, she had next to no labour in acquiring the art of reading; and easily outstripped others of the same age, and won the place of honour in her class. On the 12th of July, 1831, Fidelia made a public profession of her faith in Christ, and became a member of the Congregational church at Shelburne. In 1839, Miss Fiske entered the middle class in Mount Holyoke seminary. This institution enjoyed a high reputation for its educational and religious tone. Miss Lyon, who presided over it, was a most gifted, fascinating, and holy woman. Early impressed by religious truth, Fidelia here found herself in a thoroughly congenial element. The diligence and thoroughness of study required suited her mental habits; while the prominence given to religious instruction and religious duties met the wants of her rapidly-develop ing religious life. As might have been expected, she soon formed an attachment for Miss Lyon, which was reciprocated, and which time only intensified. At the close of her first year, a malignant form of typhoid fever appeared in the academy. Miss Fiske returned home to her parents. Two days after, she was seized with the disorder, and for many days lay at the gate of death. During that season of sickness she learned, for the first time, the real feelings of the sick and dying, and how to care for them. Nor were these the only lessons she learnt. The malady passed from her to her father, who went through the gate that seemed to have opened for his daughter. Her younger sister also, who had been converted in answer to her prayers, followed her father into the land of the immortals. The autumn of the following year found her again at Mount Holyoke, a member of the senior class. After graduating, she became a teacher. Although high culture marked in a distinguishing degree this seminary, it was unlike many of the schools in England for ladies, where the tinsel of accomplishments is preferred to the ennobling influence of piety. We have now reached the great crisis in her history. At the meeting of the American Board at Norwich, Connecticut, in the autumn of 1842, Miss Lyon was very anxious that her seminary should be more thorougly pervaded with the missionary spirit. Calling a meeting of such as were present, she told them that the institution had been founded to advance the missionary cause, and that she "sometimes felt that its walls had been built from the funds of missionary boards." Miss Fiske little knew how much that meet |