Editor's Table. THE NEW VOLUME.-With the present number we commence the fifteenth volume of the Ladies' Repository. The continued increase of public patronage has induced the publishers to enlarge the work from forty-eight to sixty four pages, and to make sundry other improvements-all of which will, no doubt, be perceived and appreciated by our patrons and friends. It is an interesting fact that the Repository will, this year, contain just double the number of pages it contained in 1840, when first issued, and also, that we have now monthly two steel engravings, in addition to a beautifully engraved title-page, for January, when in the first volume there were only four engravings inserted for the whole year; yet the work is now published at the same price. The large increase of circulation has enabled the publishers to make these improvements, so advantageous to our patrons. As our friends last year gave us the greatest increase to our circulation ever realized in a single year, we now repay them by making the greatest improvement ever made in any one year. The editor, too, would take the opportunity to present his congratulations to his old friends, and trusts that he will still be permitted to make his monthly visits to their home circles. Heaven's blessings be upon you, dear friends, young and old! "May your shadows never be less!" as saith the old proverb. To his new friends, timidly and modestly, would he make his best bow-hoping that his acquaintance with them may be long continued and productive of mutual good. ARTICLES IN THIS NUMBER-We have rarely presented so great a variety, both as to style and matter, in any one number as in this. "The Inspired Man," from the terse and vigorous pen of J. D. Bell; the "Life and Times of William Jay," from the sprightly pen of Erwin House; "Moral Education," from the smooth and classic pen of Dr. Thomson; the touching incident in the life of Bishop Hedding, so illustrative of his character, from Dr. Paddock; and the fine article on the Daughters of China, from Dr. Wiley, are worthy of special attention from every reader. We have also some articles of a briefer and lighter character, some poetic gems, and also some carefully prepared selections to complete our circle of adaptation. Various as may be the tastes and turns of our readers, we endeavor to serve a dish for all. OUR ENGRAVINGS.-The New Cover.-The new engraving we have had for our cover will be among the first objects that will arrest the attention. Some will look upon it just as the chubby, bright-eyed, dimple-cheeked, curlyheaded child at the left of the base views it-simply as a picture. See, his eye is turned outward as though he would attract attention-his hand pointing where he would direct that attention, and his face wreathed in smiles, as much as to say, "Ain't that a pretty picture?" Such, we trust, will be the verdict of all who look at it simply as a picture. Others will wish to study it more fully, to examine its artistic execution. Such will find a delightful blending of the symbols of "literature and religion." Music is represented by the harp, the guitar, and the piano; painting by the portfolio, the pallet, and the easel; science by the telescope and the globe; literature also by its appro priate insignia. In the female figure on the left, learning and literature are connected with woman. The artist has done well to put a pen in her hand; for in these days the pen in the hand of woman is exerting a transcendent influence. In the figure on the right religion is also appropriately connected with woman; she sustains the cross, and her clear intellectual and spiritual eye pierces to the highest summits of heaven-born faith. St. Louis. We here present our readers with another of our splendid views of American cities. It is from an original drawing, and was engraved expressly for the Repository. St. Louis is one of the prominent cities of the west. It is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, twenty miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and nearly two hundred above that of the Ohio. It is nearly equidistant from New Orleans to the Falls of St. Anthony, each being about eleven hundred and fifty miles distant. It is the great commercial metropolis of Missouri, and was formerly the capital of the state. Its site is elevated above the river, so as to protect it from being submerged by any of its floods, and it is also protected by a limestone bank extending along the shore nearly two miles. These are rare advantages. The city extends along the bank of the river about three miles, and the streets cross each other at right angles-running either parallel with the river or at right angles to it. The bank in the rear is some forty feet higher than the first level, and overlooks the city, the river, and the surrounding country. The population of the city is about 90,000. There are some fifty churches. The Catholics have a strong hold here, having a splendid Cathedral and a well-sustained college. The city is admirably situated for trade, and its trade surpasses that of any other city on the river except New Orleans. Steamboats ply from this place in almost every direction, and the number of arrivals in a single year have amounted to nearly a thousand. It has also become a large manufacturing place. St. Louis was first settled in 1664 by a company of merchants, to whom the Dictator-General of Louisiana had given a grant for the exclusive trade with the Indian tribes on the Missouri. In 1770 there was a French garrison here and about forty private houses. Ten years later an expedition of one hundred and forty British and fifteen hundred Indians was sent out from Mackinaw to capture the place. It, however, was successfully defended against their attack. For the past thirty years the city has enjoyed a very rapid growth. It is the natural depot of the vast and fertile regions watered by the Upper Mississippi, the Mis. souri, the Illinois, and their numerous tributaries. It can hardly fail to become, in time, one of the great cities of the new world. Bishop Janes. Our engraver, Mr. Jones, has been remarkably successful in the production of this likeness. As it regards fidelity of expression and artistic skill in the execution, we think it will be ranked among the very best of the many portraits he has engraved. Bishop Janes was a native of Salisbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut. He was a school-teacher in his earlier days, and, at the time of his entrance upon the ministry, we believe he was principal of an academy in New Jersey. He was received on trial in the Philadelphia conference in 1830, and stationed at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. In 1834 he was appointed agent for Dickinson College, then in its infancy. In this agency he continued two years, aud was then stationed in Fifth-Street Church, Philadelphia. In 1839 he was transferred to the New York conference, and stationed in Mulberry-Street Church. In 1841 he was elected Financial Secretary of the American Bible Society. In this capacity he traversed nearly or quite all the states of the Union, eloquently and successfully pleading the cause of the Bible. At the General conference of 1844 he was elected a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. All will pronounce the accompanying a truthful portrait. Title Page. A charming little picture, too, the engraver has given us for our title-page. Children and flowershow beautiful the association! ARTICLES DECLINED. "Thoughts on Education" evinces considerable vigor of mind, but there are some crude ex- | pressions and defective figures which indicate inexperience. Take the following from the very first sentenco: "The old man whose hoary locks are tottering on the verge of time." Steps, not locks, totter. We are sorry to disoblige our friends, but we can hardly find place for the following articles: “Charles Lee,” “A Tribute to my Departed Mother," "Woman's Sphere," "We may Live," "Bunyan's Times"-the author will pardon the editor, but it appears to have been rather carelessly written-"Autumnal Reflections"-albeit the fair authoress has vigor of mind, and if she will prune her compositions of some of their overloaded foliage they will bear print yet-and also "A Contrast." "The Primrose," early flowering plant though it be, seems to have blossomed prematurely. Some of its lines are little more than half-grown; others are of an uncomfortable length. It reminds us of the following stanza which we have somewhere seen: "There are, it is true, some crippled lines, namely, That have too few feet and crawl lamely; But then, as a compensation for that, you will meet Many others that run along on a superabundance of feet." EXCERPTA FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Our preparations under this head we have been compelled to omit for want of room. MISCELLANY.-The Best Sign of a Call to the Ministry.— William Jay mentions the case of a young man who thought he was called to the ministry. The thought originated with himself; neither his pastor nor the Church knew any thing about it. The young man, however, must needs consult somebody, and calling upon Mr. Jay he was directed to an "older authority." This was a man of blunt, straightforward manner. The young man sought an interview with him; told him that he had been for some time satisfied of his call to the ministry, and asked his aged adviser what he deemed the best sign or evidence of a Divine call to the work. "Sir," said the sage, "what I should deem the best sign or evidence would be a man's not thinking of it, but considering himself the last person in the world God would select for this purpose; and who, if God came for him, would be found like Saul, hid among the stuff,' and requiring an effort to draw him out." We commend this incident to the attention of those who imagine themselves called to the ministry, while no corresponding conviction seems to be wrought in the Church. The Woof of Scandal.--Mr. Wilberforce relates that at one time he found himself chronicled as "St. Wilberforce" in an opposing journal, and the following given as "an instance of his Pharisaism." "He was lately seen," says the journal, "walking up and down in the | Bath Pump Room reading his prayers, like his predecessors of old, who prayed in the corners of the streets to be seen of men." "As there is generally," says Mr. Wilberforce, "some slight circumstance which perverseness turns into a charge or reproach, I began to reflect, and I soon found the occasion of the calumny. It was this: I was walking in the Pump Room in conversation with a friend; a passage was quoted from Horace, the accuracy of which was questioned, and as I had a Horace in my pocket I took it out and read the words. This was the plain bit of wire which factious malignity sharpened into a pin to pierce my reputation." How many ugly pins bave been manufactured out of even smaller bits of wire than even that! STRAY GEMS. Every body complains of his memory-nobody of his judgment. . . . Phoebus endows the weak poet, like the statue of Memnon, only with sound. . . By so much the more are we inwardly foolish, by how much we strive to seem outwardly wise.—St. Gregory in Mor. . . . Those who understand the value of time treat it as prudent people do their money-they make a little go a great way.-Hamway. . . . If you do not keep pride out of your souls, and your souls out of pride, God will keep your souls out of heaven.-Dyer. . . . There is a greater depravity in not repenting of sin when it has been committed than in committing it at first. To deny, as Peter did, is bad; but not to weep bitterly, as he did, when we have denied, is worse.-Payson. . Peter stood more firmly after he had lamented his fall than before he fell, insomuch that he found more grace than he had lost.— St. Ambrose in Ser. ad Vincula. . . He who is always his own counselor will often have a fool for his client.Hunter. . . . Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of self-confidence.-Fenelon. The most mischievous liars are those who keep just on the verge of truth. . . . Gravity is the ballast of the soul. . Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost. . . . Contentment consisteth not in adding more fuel, but in taking away some fire. . . . Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues. . . . Scorn no man for his poverty; honor no man for his wealth.--Turkish Prov. ANOTHER WORD TO THE FRIENDS OF THE REPOSITORY.— Will you, dear friends, bear another word of exhortation from your friend, the editor? Of our brother ministers we would inquire, Have you done all you could to promote the circulation of the Repository among the members of your congregations? Has effort been made-prompt, energetic effort? Has the congregation-nay, the whole neighborhood-been canvassed by yourselves, or by agents appointed by you, to obtain subscribers? Now is the time for action; not a moment is to be lost. Continue, brethren, to roll up our subscription list. Will not our old and present subscribers help us? You receive the work to your own home and give it a hearty welcome; but may you not be the instrument of sending it to the HOME of your neiGHBOR? Show this number to him, to his wife, to bis daughter, and invite them to subscribe for the volume. Let them see the work, its contents, its engravings, the beauty of its mechanical execution, and tell them all this is to be had for TWO DOLLARS. They will hardly be able to resist the temptation to subscribe. Your pastor will be ready to receive it and transmit the money. |