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know two or three persons, or more, who have been carried away by it. And when it is quelled, what rejoicing at the triumph of truth over error! This is praiseworthy; for we ought to feel strongly where we discern spiritual danger; and to rejoice, like the angels, over one sinner that repenteth. But, in the mean time, those constant, unwearied, ever-present, destroyers of souls, the world, the flesh, and the devil, are carrying on their conquests, and millions upon millions are falling victims to their devices-millions who never heard of the "all-absorbing controversy❞—whatever it may be. In the very parish perhaps of a clergyman, who is preaching against some prevailing error of the times," are to be found tens of thousands of persons who are rushing to destruction, not through any new form of heresy, but in the broad way of ignorance, and vice, and practical ungodliness. He does well to oppose any particular error which he considers rife and dangerous-he would betray his trust if he did not do so; - but when we ask, What is the general condition of his parish, how small a fraction does the "prevailing error" form in the account! The really prevailing error is sin-sin in all its phases ;— sin in the heart, and sin in the life?-worldliness, pride, evil appetites, hatred of God and godliness, and that master-sin, unbelief. The mat. ters which form the staple of most religious controversies blow over the heads of the multitude. They are not indeed to be lightly regarded; and as pressing directly upon the church of Christ, they are of momentous importance; but hell is peopled, and heaven unpeopled, upon an awfully larger scale.

We

To Judge then of the actual progress of Christ's kingdom upon earth, we must take longer periods and wider estimates, than those connected with the prominent topics of the fleeting moment. may look at passing details till we are sorely puzzled; we may compute spiritual gains and losses, and not be able to strike a balance. We have a revival here, and a declension there; we have Popery rampant, and Protestantism contending with it; we have more good books than formerly, and more bad ones; more of zeal, but also more of strife; Sabbath societies and Sabbath desecration; Christian missions, Bible institutions, and plans for universal religious education; and opposed to them, Scepticism, Socialism, and every new and old form of vice and impiety. How are we to thread this

maze?

But take a larger space of time, and let the field be the world. Take the present century, for example, of which forty years have

swiftly rolled away; or take the three eventful centuries which have elapsed since the days of the Reformation. The present year is the tercentenary of several occurrences which may afford materials for comparison. The year 1540 was memorable and execrable, as that in which the order of the Jesuits was instituted by the pope, who appointed Loyola, its projector, its first General. About the same time those discussions were at the height which eventually led to the Council of Trent, though it was not convened till 1546. In England Henry VIII. that year commanded that a Bible should be provided in every parish; and the last blow was given by the Parliament to what remained of monastic institutions; but on the other hand, that staunch friend of the Reformation, Cromwell Earl of Essex was beheaded; two days after, Barnes and other Protestants were burned to death in Smithfield; and the king having married Catharine Howard, the popish party felt confident of repressing the opening Reformation.

Now, what are the results of comparison on a large scale ? A few thousands of Bibles in England for home use, have multiplied to scores of millions at home and abroad, even to the ends of the earth. Popery, though of late on the increase in various places, is assuredly far less powerful upon the whole than it was when it governed the whole civilized world with undisputed sway. Protestant Christianity has not made large conquests in Europe during the last three centuries; but it has widely pervaded North America; it has extended its influence to India; numerous European colonies throughout the world acknowledge it; many Heathen islands in the South Sea have been converted to the faith by its instrumentality; while Romanism during the same period has not made any one large and permanent conquest; and in many still nominally Popish lands it has received many severe wounds.

Taking, then, a survey of the world; contemplating the numerous Missionary stations; the Bibles circulated; the Scriptural schools instituted; the actual number of converts to the Gospel from among the heathen; and the extensive revival of piety in our own and other lands, we do, upon the whole, believe that there is much reason to thank God, and to take courage ;--though, alas! there is also ample reason to lament and be confounded, when we think how little, after all, is the increase; and how many and formidable are the still opposing obstacles to the diffusion of the faith. We cannot, however, believe that the labours of the churches in our own and other lands

have been in vain in the Lord. One circumstance is peculiarly auspicious amidst the strifes and calamities of these our days, that the churches of Christ throughout the world begin more than ever to acknowledge their obligation to endeavour to promote their divine Master's glory. They may jangle with each other: but all avow this to be a duty common to all. Our own branch of the Universal Church, we bless God, has been especially blessed with this outpouring of grace and holy influence. Our scriptural schools, our new churches, our religious societies, our increasing efforts on behalf of our long neglected colonies, our efforts among the heathen, and above all, because the root of all, the increase of truly scriptural doctrine, holy zeal, and ardent love among us-notwithstanding every head of the enumeration is subject to the most afflicting and humiliating deductions and exceptions-are tokens for good in which we do rejoice, and will rejoice.

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PUBLIC AFFAIRS.-National Education..
Calcutta Cathedral.. Bishop Butler....

ANSWERS.-Papers received..Millenarian

Discussions.. Dr. Wolff.. Pluralities .... 63

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tension.. Church-rates.. Irish Municipal
Bill.. Address to the Queen on Socialism
..Slavery in the United States

ANSWERS.-Papers received Rogers's

Antipopopriestian.. Horne on Weeks..

New Zealand Missionaries

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REL. AND MIS. COM... Embassy of Re-

conciliation.. Elder Son in the Parable..

Touching for the King's Evil..Oriental

Illustration of Scripture.. Synonymes in
the English Bible.. Deference to the
Fathers.. Soul-starving Preaching..Jus
tification by Faith frustrated..Thanksgiv
ing for the Queen.. Heaven and Provi-
dence.. Melvill on Omnipotence.. Wil.
berforce on Pitt.. Popish Schoolmasters
of the Hibernian Society..Oxford-Tract
Doctrines .. Siguing with the Cross;
and the Inspiration of Ignatius Un-
christian Epitaphs
.449-478
REV. OF-Roman Misquotation, by Pope
. Observations, &c., by E. W..Life of
Luther, &c., by Gustavus Pfizer

PUB. AFF.-Regency Bill..Trial of Oxford

.. Inglis's Motion for Church Extension

National Education .. Ecclesiastical

Duties and Revenues.. Hume's Sab-
bath-Desecration
ANSWERS.-Papers received

..

....

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683

REL. AND MIS. COM.-Romans vii. 1-4..

..Bishop White on the Lord's Supper

Voluntary Principle.. Rash Commercial

Adventures.. Memoir of Bishop Cover-

dale.. Portraiture of War.. Alleged Re-

vival of Dodwellism by Pusey.. Infer-

ences from Scriptural Phraseology 641-682

REV. OF.-Macbriar's Missionary Travels

..Geramb's Pilgrimage.. Wilde's Narra-

tive ..

Southgate's Missionary Tour

Hughes's Illuminated Atlas...
PUB. AFF.-Affairs of Turkey and Egypt;
hostilities in Syria; differences be-
tween England and France; the Jews
at Damascus; New Zealand ceded to
England.. Rejection of Alderman larmer
..Grammar Schools Act..Vaccine Inocu-
lation.. Stowell and the Romanists
ANSWERS.-Papers received.. Parker So-
ciety..Withy's Memoir .. Clerical Po-
verty.. The Ordinary of Newgate
Knollis's Sermons

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