come over us; and, instead of dividing the spoil, we shall suffer all the terror, confusion, and ignominy of discomfiture and retreat. Both God and man must hold us in derision, if, while we repel from the Lord's table the barber who shaves, the baker who bakes, the engineer who conducts an engine, the clerk who sells railway-tickets, and the widowwoman who deals in groceries on this holy day, we permit gentlemen to enjoy the fellowship of saints, though they hold shares in, and direct the affairs of, Companies which desecrate the Sabbath by wholesale. And if we exclude none, but wink at the iniquity under all its forms, and among all its practitioners, then is the beauty of holiness" compromised; and, with it, "the glory," and its accompanying "defence," will assuredly evanish.

These are not the notes of sedition, but the warnings of a devoted and self-sacrificing loyalty; and we implore our readers to look at the whole subject in the light of Scripture, and in its direct bearings upon the present belligerent circumstances of the church. Look at the resuscitated energies and concentrated forces of Popery, at home and abroad; at the deep-laid and expensive schemes which infidelity is carrying out, for the subversion of truth, order, religion, and morality; at the unseemly divisions, and souldestroying errors, which distract Protestant churches; at the visible tokens of divine displeasure which rest upon our trading and commercial interests; at the wants of the heathen world, and the humiliating proofs which are, in continuance, given of our inability to meet them; look, we say, at these things, and judge whether it be not mad, and suicidal, as well as impious, for members of the church, under such circumstances, to provoke God further, by persevering in practices

which are manifest violations of his law.

We love science; and, therefore, we grieve to see it made the minister of sin. We love Christian consistency; and, therefore, we mourn to see it sacrificed at the shrine of mammon. We love our country; and, therefore, we tremble to see millions of its money, and tens of thousands of its sons and daughters, devoted to confederacies who unblushingly publish their rival schemes of Sabbath-profanation in placards and newspapers. This is no time for cant or compliment; plain, unexaggerated truth must be spoken, if, peradventure, the Lord may grant us repentance, and “turn the fierceness of his wrath away from us." We joyfully acknowledge that our Sabbath is disencumbered of all merely Jewish restrictions; but we protest against the inference, that, therefore, we are at liberty to prostitute it to purposes of pleasure or of profit. Are we to be ungrateful, just because God is good? Are our obligations diminished by the multiplication of his mercies? Do we owe him less than the Jews, because he has given us more? Are we to take Antinomian liberties with his law, because he has superadded to it his Gospel ? If we may not attribute it to ignorance, does it not look exceedingly like hypocrisy, to plead the spirituality of our dispensation, and our obligations to universal holiness, as an argument for relaxing the obvious meaning of the Sabbath-law? And to argue, that, because God is to be found everywhere, it is of small importance whether we worship him in his "house of prayer," or in the temple of nature; at his table, or in a railway-carriage? "I speak as unto wise men; judge ye what I say." "The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools."

PETER M'OWAN.

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London District

1842"

The ninety-two French Priests now in England have all subscribed a "Form of Declaration of Catholic communion, commanded by His Holiness." Nothing is said of their object in coming to this country, nor of their present employment. There are now nine Vicars Apostolic in England, and five in Scotland. Last year the Central District, which comprehends the counties of Derby, Notts., Stafford, Leicester, Warwick, Worcester, Oxford, and Salop, was "divided into eight deaneries, each under the patronage, and called by the name, of a saint," and a Rural Dean appointed to each. The Pope, in his letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, President of the Catholic Institute of Great Britain, says, "We are encouraged to entertain the cheering hope, that the light of divine faith will again shine, with the same brightness as of old, upon the minds of the British people. We desire nothing with greater earnestness, than to embrace once more, with paternal exultation, the English nation." The object of the Institute is, to defend and propagate, by tracts and works, &c.,

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duly approved," and by other means, the pernicious principles and

practices of Popery. Among its Vice-Presidents it numbers two Earls, five Lords, ten Baronets, and above thirty Esquires. All the Popish Bishops and Clergy of Great Britain and the colonies, the Popish Peers and Members of Parliament, are members of the Committee, ex officio. The first year after its establishment, it had nineteen Auxiliaries; last year, forty-four; but this year it announces one hundred and ten in Great Britain, and eight in Australia. There are also now, in the British colonies and possessions, twenty-seven Popish Bishops and Vicars Apostolic. In Australia there are thirty Priests. At Sydney, "besides the cathedral church, and two temporary chapels, the foundation-stone of St. Patrick's church, Charlotte-place, has been laid. The cost will be about £20,000. It is intended to build another church at the south end of the town, for which a site has been granted by Government." At Hobart-Town, VanDiemen's Land, "a splendid church is about being commenced."

Appeals are made in the Directory on behalf of their London Mission Fund, the Secular Clergy Common Fund, the Associated Charities, &c.

The following is the form of a legacy to the Secular Clergy Fund: "I bequeath the sum of pounds for the benefit of that Fund; and earnestly hope that the holy sacrifice of the mass will be offered for the repose of my soul," &c. They have a Society for the providing poor churches with the necessary altarlinen, vestments, &c. The Marchioness of Wellesley is its President; the Duchess of Leeds, Countess C. Clifford, Countess Stafford, Countess Montalembert, Hon. Mrs. Petre, and Hon. Mrs. Digby, are Vice-Presidents. To induce persons to become members, it is stated, "Once every indulgence the most holy sacrifice is offered up on behalf of the members of this Society. At the decease of a member one mass is said for her soul; and, in the week following All-Souls, Requiem is sung for all the deceased members." The Directory states, that "the Dissenters are, in general, well disposed." And again: "The Catholic body is receiving extraordinary accession from the ranks of our Dissenting brethren, wherever the standard of our faith is planted, and our doctrines expounded by our Clergy." They have numerous boarding-schools in different parts of the country, some of which are conducted by Priests. There are thirty-eight charity-schools in the London District only. They have also an Association for the Propagation of the Faith, under the patronage of His Holiness. The bond of union among the members is, "simply to recite a very short prayer every day, and to subscribe a halfpenny a week to the funds of the Society."

Such are some of the subtle, active, and determined measures which the Papists are still employing for the propagation of their destructive errors. There is such a striking contrast between the splen

dour of their chapels, and the poverty of the persons who attend them, that it is plain they are liberally supplied with money from some quarter. Is it not a part of the policy of the Romish Church, to concentrate all its energies, from time to time, on a single portion of what are called the "heretical territories ? Some years ago her zeal and resources were employed on America. For the purpose of inundating it with Popery, a single Association in France gave more than sixty-one thousand dollars; and, for the same object, in 1829, the Pope himself granted merely to one Bishop twenty thousand dollars. Of late years, there is reason to believe, it has been his settled policy to establish his authority in Great Britain. May all Protestants, who have been slumbering, now awake! Let Bibles and religious tracts be more extensively circulated. Let Sabbath and day schools, conducted Christian principles, be multiplied. Let fervent, united, and believing prayer be perseveringly presented to the throne of the heavenly grace, for that general effusion of the Holy Spirit that must precede, but which shall assuredly usher in, the perfect day of the church. Popery is irradiated by no beam from heaven; it is supported by no Scripture; it admits of no proofs; it gives birth to no pleasures; and is only permitted to remain until the "time, and times, and half a time" shall be fulfilled. The hour is on the wing, when that sun which measures out, as with reluctance, its unholy reign, shall pour his splendour amid its ruins, and a voice be heard as "the sound of many waters, saying, Hallelujah! Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth, is fallen, is fallen!"

SAMUEL DUNN,
Dudley, April 6th, 1842.

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IN what sense does the possession of this inward life constitute a witness or testimony? The question and its proper reply may be illus. trated by a comparison,-homely, perhaps, but not inapposite. man is in circumstances of distress. By a benevolent friend, a written promise is given him, stating, that if he will apply, in a certain prescribed manner, to another person, whose name is mentioned, and who is represented as being both able and willing to afford the requisite relief, his wants shall be all supplied. Such a declaration as this would be itself a testimony, borne by the person making it, to the ability and willingness of the person to whom it refers. But, encouraged by the promise, the distressed individual makes the application described and required; and, immediately upon making it, he obtains the relief. That which before was only a written testimony, becomes now an actually experienced testimony. Before the application was made, and the relief obtained, if the question were asked, "What evidence have you of the power and good-will of the person to whom you are to apply?" the answer must be a reference to the written declaration; but now the relief enjoyed is likewise a testimony. And its operation is twofold. It proves, not only the good-will of the reliever, but the truth of the written declaration. Apply, and be relieved," was the language of the declaration. "I have applied, and I am relieved," is the language of the successful applicant: "I therefore am myself in possession of that which at once confirms the truth of the declaration, and bears witness to the kindness and power of my benefactor."

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Just so is it in reference to the blessings actually received by the

genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He applied, as he was required to apply; and he has received, in consequence of his application, exactly what he needed, and what the original and written testimony promised. He was not required, by the terms of that promise, to wait for the disclosures of eternity, and the blessings of a future state. Then and there, indeed, he is to receive the final and consummating gift; but of that gift he is to receive the foretaste and pledge here below. He is to have the part before the whole, and as an earnest of the whole. He is to receive the earnest of the Spirit." And when he thus receives forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified,-when he is thus "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," he has within himself that which is a witness of the goodness of God; and, at the same time, a proof of the divine origin of the declaration which contains the promise, and of the divine mission and power of Him by whom these great blessings have been bestowed. God's testimony concerning his Son is, in other words, that he saves all those who come to him: they who come to him, and receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls, have, therefore, this testimony or witness in themselves. They have the Son; they, in consequence, have life: by their possession of this life, therefore, they are assured of the truth of those written declarations which bear testimony to Christ, and according to the directions of which themselves have acted.

An important event in the ancient history of the Jews, will likewise furnish an illustration of our argument. On one occasion, during the journeying of Israel in the wilder

ness, they were suddenly exposed to a new and most fearful danger. The whole camp was attacked by a number of venomous reptiles, whose sting was painfully and rapidly mortal. We may easily conceive of the anguish and dismay that would be spread through the vast multitude. Against ordinary foes they might have defended themselves; and from most of the wounds received in battle, the usual carefulness and skill would have recovered them. But from these assailants, gliding stealthily through the encampment like so many visible incarnations of death, who should preserve them? And from the issue of their poisonous bite, who should save them? The serpents "bit the people; and much people of Israel died." The sin for which they were thus punished is very briefly but significantly described: "The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water." They doubted of the divine power with which Moses was really connected. They saw him only as a man, and as a man whose plans had failed. He had brought them up out of Egypt; but it was "to die in the wilderness." The irruption of these terrible serpents produced, at least, a temporary repentance. They went to Moses, confessed their sin, and besought his intercession. He promised it to them. He then came and told them, that he had received a divine command to make a serpent of brass, resembling those by which they had been bitten, and to set it up on a pole. He added a promise of evidently miraculous intervention: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." The whole credit of the Jewish leader was now most certainly at stake. Merely looking on the image of a serpent was not an act that, of itself, could certainly cure all who had been bitten by these venomous reptiles nor did Moses pretend that it

was. He represented the whole as a special divine interposition: "So and so hath the Lord said; so and so the Lord will do." And, in obedience to the injunction, the brasen serpent is made; it is affixed to a lofty pole; it is set up in a conspicuous place. The wounded and dying Israelites looked upon it. And what was the result? Moses had testified that God had said, "Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." But had God said this? If the work of death had still gone on, the conclusion was inevitable, that either Moses was himself deceived, or that he was endeavouring to deceive. Every wounded Israelite who, looking upon the brasen serpent, yet died, furnished a proof that God had not spoken as Moses said. But what was the result? "And it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” The people had spoken against Moses; and God, both in fearful judgment, and in undeniably divine mercy, bore testimony in his favour. At first, the testimony only exists in the declaration, "Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live:" but when the Israelites looked, and lived, they had the witness in themselves. Health, restored to them by looking on the brasen serpent, is the testimony that Moses had spoken truly; and that this brasen serpent was, as he said that it should be, the divinely appointed, and certainly and universally efficacious, instrument of restoration. God gave life; but that life was to come by the brasen serpent: and to the efficacy of this, as an instrument, Moses, in God's name, bore testimony. He that looked, and lived, had that testimony in himself. He knew, from his own-in this respect unerring-experience, that the truth had been spoken. Had he looked, and remained unhealed, every pain that he felt, as he approached the mortal termination of his agonies, would have borne witness against Moses. But he looked, and his pains fled away. He looked, and he had life. And his restored health,