striking difference between ancient and modern times.

But the sun is now setting; a solemn monitor, not to me only, but to the world. And will it be that the glowing orb yonder will go down for the last time setting in darkness? Yes! but the kindling skies will be surpassed in glory, and the redeemed of the Lord shall see a light and a brightness "above the brightness of the sun," when they behold Him who died for them face to face in his eternal kingdom! Well, then, may we press on eagerly to redeem the time, Eph. v. 16. Well may we say to ourselves, in the language of the New Zealand chief, "Make haste! make haste! for my sun is fast going down!"

NETLEY ABBEY.

It may be that to-morrow I shall cross the Channel; but, if it be possible, I must see Netley Abbey to-day. Much have I heard of this picturesque ruin, and of the sweet seclusion and romantic beauty of its situation. Were I a bird, thither would I fly; or were I a fish, this Southampton water would soon be crossed by me; but being neither the one nor the other, I must wait till the ferryman, who is at the moment absent, arrives, to put me across in his boat.

Southampton is the birth-place of Dr. Isaac Watts, a fact that will render the place more interesting to many than if it had been the birthplace of a king. Much business is carried on by the inhabitants, with the Channel islands, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. The wind has been rising ever since midnight, and is now whistling around me in right earnest. Its fitful bursts, accompanied with sunshine as they are,

raise my spirits. How animating is the energy

of the elements !

"There is a fearful spirit busy now:

Already have the elements unfurled

Their banners; the great sea wave is upcurled;
The cloud comes; the fierce winds begin to blow
About, and blindly on their errands go;

And quickly will the pale-red leaves be hurled
From their dry boughs, and all the forest world
Stripped of its pride, be like a desert show.

I love the moaning music which I hear
In the bleak gusts of autumn, for the soul

Seems gathering tidings from another sphere;
And in sublime, mysterious sympathy,

Man's bounding spirit ebbs and swells more high,
Accordant to the billows' loftier roll."

Here comes the ferryman, as leisurely as though it would hardly serve his purpose to put a single passenger across the water. We shall have a rough passage, but no matter if we are under His care who "measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance," Isa. xl. 12. Without His protection, a breeze may bring about our destruction; and with it, a whirlwind cannot injure a hair of our heads.

two or three miles distant from Southampton,. and I am now drawing near to the ruin; but the enchanting beauty of the surrounding landscape has spelled me to this spot, which mingles the elegance of the park with the wilder witchery of the rudest heath. Water and woodland in the distance, and the foreground entanglement of shrubs and furze, and fern and brier, adorn the place with variegated beauty, while the unbroken solitude imparts a depth and tone to my emotions. The glowing sunshine and the gusty wind add to my delight, and give an upward tendency to all my thoughts.

Sometimes the busy fancy delights in strange contrasts. Let me contrast, for a moment, the verdant and coloured foliage, the pure air, and the sweet seclusion of this fair spot, with an opposite scene which I witnessed yesterday; it will make me, perhaps, value my present advantages, and I shall gaze around me with feelings of additional thankfulness and joy.

How different to this is the walk from one end of Lower Thames Street, in London, to the other, from the bottom of Fish Street Hill to the Tower! Cabs, hackney coaches, and carriages, crowd on each other. Laden porters make their way to the different steam packets, and streams of company flow on to the same

place of destination. The huge wheels of heavily-laden wagons grind the ground, as they leave the different wharfs; and the iron-shod hoofs of huge horses putting forth their strength, strike fire against the stones. The cracking of whalebone whips, the clamorous contention of excited carters, and the shouts of police officers resound.

On the right hand of the street are the Custom House, Billingsgate fish market, packet offices, fruit stores, wharfs, and quays; gloomy arches and intricate entrances to the buildings on the river side; immense warehouses, with folding doors, tier above tier, and oval glazed apertures in the wall to let in light. Iron and wooden cranes are at work, high in the air. Here a bulky pack of wool is hoisted up, and there a heavy hogshead is dangled down. Thick, upright beams of timber, with ponderous cross pieces, are placed against the ground floors of the warehouses, to defend them from the heavy wagons; straw, dirt, and filth are swept together in an unsightly manner, while the smell of fish is equally offensive.

The left hand of the street is occupied with shops, stores, offices, and public houses. Brokers, ship agents, Custom House agents, and agents of all kinds, are there found in abun