varied forms of netting, knitting, and worsted work. This employment may, indeed, be good or evil, not only as it is used for good or trifling purposes, but in proportion to the time which it consumes, and the thought which it occupies. A weed in a garden is well defined as "a flower out of its place;" and this is an apt illustration of many employments which supersede others far more important and suitable. If the occupation to which I allude be confined to a lawful period of recreation, and be dedicated to a useful purpose, or the cause of God, it is comparatively unobjectionable. But is this generally the case? Do we not see the best hours of the day, and the best energies of the mind engrossed by it? Should not the consciences of our really Christian characters be alarmed at this imperceptible encroachment, and be led to enquire whether more time is not due to personal improvement, or more direct means of usefulness? Nor is the consumption of time the only evil attedant upon this prevailing occupa tion. Thought is a talent not less important, and one for which an awful account must be rendered. "The thought of foolishness is sin." It has been well observed, that"in continual duties (such as the regulation of the mind), the duty

EVERY one is familiar with the remarkable property of quicksilver ; that if several drops of that metal be placed in proximity, they instantly unite. And so intimate is this union, that the aggregate mass preserves the very form of its constituent particles. No joinings of the individual parts are visible: the extention of the whole is alone apparent. But if foreign impurities be present, a change is observable. The powerful attraction formerly exhibited, no longer exists, or rather, the admixture of impurity obstructs its operation. The little globules preserve each its own narrow sphere, and rather repel than unite. The metal must be purified before it will conglomerate.

And thus it is with the various

seems to be as it were thinly diffused over a wide space, and to be of great importance nowhere. The guilt of neglecting it at any one time is but as a particle. Therefore the accumulation of guilt is unalarming; each little portion passes and vanishes away, and is too slight to leave a legible trace on the conscience, so that the innumerable small portions are never felt as collected into the

great sum." With young persons especially, there seems to be peculiar danger, lest trifling employments should produce this sad "running to waste of the thinking principle," which is more precious than gold or silver, on account of its connection with things of Eternal importance. The association between what is apparently so lawful, and what is so decidedly sinful, may seem to be unnecessary; but does not experience prove that it is almost inevitable? May you, my dear friends, be preserved from the dangers to which I have alluded, and be enabled so to improve your present advantages, to dedicate your time and thought to God, that when called to appear before Him you may receive the joyful welcome, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Bristol, Nov. 19th, 1845.

UNION.

parts of the Christian Church. All are of the same substance, yet, isolated, they each preserve a separate identity. The same sterling metal is to be found in all. But, oh! how much of dross is commingled; and what confusion does this adulteration effect! Where is now the primitive unity of the Church? Opposition we find instead of union, discord where all should be harmony,-hate where there should be nought but love.

But thanks be to God, there is one who "shall sit as a refiner and a purifier,"-shall blend, amalgamate, unite, till the metal tried and purified shall be molten into one true and unspotted reflection of His own glorious image! T. D.

Schneidemühl, Nov. 17, 1845. Accept, honoured Sirs, my hearty thanks for the charitable gift which you have transmitted to me. The sympathy and active love which you and other friends of the truth have thus shown to me, awaken in my heart feelings of happiness and joy! Forsaken and persecuted by those who refuse to acknowledge the Lord whom I have sworn to serve, and whom I joyfully serve, I find friends in far distant England; brothers who, united with me in heart, espouse my cause; disciples of Him who has shown that He can command both life and death! To you, then, my friends, I feel my. self attracted by the bonds of affection; to you, my beloved brethren, gladly do I offer the right hand of fellowship, and together let us walk onward towards the heavenly Jerusalem; together let us fight against the powers of darkness; and the efforts of that spirit of the world which is not supported by Popery alone, but contrives to exercise its sway in many other systems besides. It seems, indeed, to me, as if the evil spirit which has so long had his abode in the Romish Church, were about to fly from that body, and to enter into another, in order to escape the attacks now making from all sides on his ancient dwelling! The Church of Christ is indeed built upon a rock, against which even the gates of hell cannot prevail; and we are safe in the smallest ship, if Jesus be with us; for he will command the winds and the waves which are stirred up against us by the spirit of the world; but still it behoves us to do our duty, and to arm ourselves against the adversary "who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." The mists of Roman superstition and deception are fading away, and more and more brightly beams forth the Sun in the clear unclouded sky! The day, the long wished for day of release from the Roman yoke and Roman darkness has dawned upon us.

Rejoice with us, O brethren, we have found the true Lord from heaven, and have renounced the earthly false god, the Pope, for ever, that we may serve one Master, even Christ! Rejoice, too, with us, that we have not exchanged one house of bondage for another; but that we have, in leaving Rome, found admission at once into the house of our loving Father, and that in this happy admission, many other congreations have shared, viz. : Bromberg, Nacket, Thorn, Grandentz, Schubin, Chodziesan, Posen, Schurersentz, Rawicz, Lissa, Raisen; and many more besides, in the most distant corners of our province, have found themselves drawn back to the Lord, and have dared to acknowledge Jesus Christ to be what he himself declares! Our congregations are, indeed, generally speaking, poor, and some of them small, but we know, too, that the number of those who love Christ in sincerity and truth, has ever been small, and yet we, too, have the pleasure of seeing that number daily on the increase; and so our churches grow in number without ceasing. Schneidmühl counts above 170 communicants; the church in Posen above 300; those of Bromborg, Thorn, and Rawicz, each as many; the other congregations are less considerable, but are on the increase; and when the difficulties and impedi. ments with which we have had to contend are considered, it must excite surprise, that so much should have been accomplished in one short year. The greater proportion of our congregations are poor; the machinations and persecutions to which they are exposed are great; but we look up to our Father with a childlike con. fidence, and hold fast by his fatherly hand! Once more, expressing my heartfelt thanks for the sum of 73 dollars, 15 silver grosehen which I have received, and imploring the grace of God and the power of the Lord to be abundantly showered upon you, I remain, Your brother in Christ, (Signed) J. CZERSKI.

NEW ZEALAND.

NEW ZEALAND.-The following intelligence, extracted from a letter addressed by the Rev. Robert Maunsell, one of our Missionaries in New Zealand, to the editor, gives a gratifying account of the failure of the efforts of Popery in that part of the Island with which Mr. Maunsell is more immediately connected.—

"New Zealand, Waikato Heads, May 27, 1845.

"Of Popery here, I may say with the strictest truth, that the mission to, at least this the middle district, is a total failure. They began with great swelling words, and we read in papers published in other countries of the tribes that had joined, and the crowds that were hastening to welcome them. Even these reports are not now heard. Their presents hav. ing been discontinued, and their promises having failed, the priests find that instead of advancing, they are receding. At Tauranga, on the eastern coast, they have lost their principal pa Maungatapee, and the leading man and his tribe have become Christians. At Matamata, their next settlement. (a large pa to the westward), the priest found his party reduced to three, and it is discontinued as a regular station. At Ngauhuruhuru their next settlement to the westward, about forty miles from Matamata, they began, about a year since, with some prospects. The frame of a chapel was put up by European workmen, in hopes that their native disciples would finish it. Their numbers, however, have seriously diminished, and the chapel remains untouched-a pleasing contrast to two very well-built large chapels, built entirely by our people with their own unpaid labour. At Wha

wharua, about forty miles to the south-west, they have been altogether discarded. On the Waikato river they have not yet succeeded in forming a settlement. So that in the whole of this district there is not a single place in which popery can with any truth be considered as even holding its ground.

"Through the energies and influence of our excellent diocesan, a new impulse has lately been given to our school-system throughout all our missions in this island. No matter what success we may have with adults, it is clear that schools for the children are the life and sinews of success. Heretofore, and indeed now, we have had many difficulties to contend against that are not known at home -chiefly from the scattered and wandering state of the people; but as attention is strongly aroused to this branch of our labours, more will, I hope, be now done than has been hitherto effected.

"The loss of my translational library, which you were kind enough to mention in your paper, has, through the liberality of Christian friends in England, been completely repaired. For this most gratifying evidence of Christian liberality I shall never feel sufficiently thankful, but I shall, I trust, continue to regard it as a fresh obligation to diligence. I remain, dear Sir, your very affectionate brother in the Gospel.

"ROBERT MAUNSELL."

FRANCE.

THE GOSPEL IN FRANCE.-We were never more encouraged in our work than at the present moment. The Gospel is now really making way in France. The Evangelical Society have just avowed their wish to employ sixty more ministers, forty additional colporteurs, and sixty schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. New doors of usefulness are opening everywhere. Mr. Audebez writes: "The prospect before us grows daily more encouraging; the movement becomes more and more of a serious and evangelical character. . . We do not any longer preach controversy. The hour of the Gospel is come; it is loved because of itself. What a blessed sight to see the birth of a people of God!" You may be sure that Satan is not idle. The colportage of the Holy Scriptures is again

subjected to the opposition of the civil authorities, excited by the Romish clergy. The colporteurs are now no longer attacked as selling books containing principles contrary to the Roman Catholic religion; but as colporting immoral books. Thus the enemies of the word of God add calumny to illegal attacks and persecution. Difficulties of the most vexatious kind are thrown in the way of new erections, for Rome fears the building of Protestant places of worship, but, under the blessing of God, all will be overcome.

The spirit of Christian union is spreading amongst us. On Friday, the 15th of August, a meeting was held in the Evangelical Chapel, Lyons, when more than 200 persons were present as deputations from nearly every Evangelical denomination in France. Members of the National Church and of Dissenting Churches mingled together, and minor differences were forgotten in the delightful feeling, that, though many, they were all one in Christ.

perstition, there is reason to believe only wait an opportunity of throwing off a yoke which is felt to be degrading, and would have done so long ago, but that they were deterred by the dread of persecution.

There was a confirmation held in a neighbouring parish, at which the young people of this parish attended, in the latter end of September; and I was surprised to hear from the reader that several Roman Catholics wished to present themselves on that occasion. I sent for the parties severally; and after feeling myself satisfied that they fully understood the nature of the ordinance, I admitted seven to the ordinance, one of them a married woman, who came with two of her children. It is right to add that the last-mentioned person is married to a Protestant, but never made any movement in the way of conversion previously; and all these cases I attribute very much, if not solely, to the reader's visits and conversation.

IRELAND.

SCRIPTURE READERS' SOCIETY. -To an extent quite unknown and unimagined by most, a spirit of enquiry prevails amongst the Roman Catholic portion of the population, which not all the tyranny and threats of the Romish clergy can entirely suppress, and which the Scripture readers are the instruments in fostering and spreading still more widely. The Word of God in its simplicity and purity presented to the mind, is found to recommend itself; there is a sweetness and a power in it which testifies of its true original; the calumnies propagated against it are suspected and discredited; the bearer of it becomes a welcome visitor; truth and error are set in strong contrast; light breaks in upon the darkness; in many instances the result has been actual conversion, and in many more a state of mind has been induced, either less unfavourable to the reception of the Gospel, or now longing for the complete enjoyment of Christian liberty and peace. Hundreds of persons, nominally the slaves of su

TRACTARIANISM IN 1640.

"Nel teatro del mondo gli avvenimenti si ripetono, e cambiansi solo gli attori." "On the stage of the world the same events come over again, the actors only are changed."

THE following extracts from Lord Clarendon's "History of the Rebellion" have not, it is believed, hitherto been brought before the public in connection with passing events :

66

Though the nation generally was without any ill talent towards the Church, either in the point of the doctrine, or the discipline, yet they were not without a jealousy that Popery was not enough discountenanced, and were very averse from admitting anything they had not been used to, which they called innovation, and were easily persuaded that anything of the kind was but to please the Papists.

"The opinion that there was no necessity of doing anything, and the complaint that there was too much done, brought the power and jurisdiction that imposed the doing of it to be called in question, contradicted, and opposed. Then the manner, and gesture, and posture, in the celebration of the Communion, brought in new

disputes, and administered new subjects of offence, according to the custom of the place and the humour of the people; and those disputes brought in new words and terms (altar, adoration, and genuflexion, and other expressions) for the more perspicuous carrying on those disputations. New books were written for and against this new practice,* with the same earnestness and contention for victory, as if the life of Christianity had been at stake. Besides, there was not an equal concurrence in the prosecution of this matter amongst the bishops themselves: some of them proceeding more remissly in it, and some not only neglecting to direct anything to be done towards it, but restraining those who had a mind to it from meddling with it. And this again produced as inconvenient disputes, when the subordinate clergy would take upon them, not only without the direction of, but expressly against, the diocesan's injunctions, to make those alterations and reformations themselves, and by their own authority. So that from this unhappy subject, not in itself of that important value to be either entered upon with that resolution, or to be carried on with that passion, proceeded, upon the matter, a schism among the bishops themselves, and a great deal of uncharitableness in the learned and moderate clergy towards one another which, though it could not increase the malice, added very much to the power and ability of the enemies of the Church to do it hurt, and also to the number of them. For, without doubt, many who loved the established government of the Church, and the exercise of religion as it was used, and desired not a change in either, nor did dislike the order and decency which they saw mended; yet they liked not any novelties, and so were liable to entertain jealousies that more was intended than was hitherto proposed;" especially when "the archbishop (Laud), guided purely by his zeal and reverence for the place of God's service, and by the canons and injunctions of the Church, with the

*The Rev. Ayliffe Poole has published a pamphlet, to prove the propriety of having two lights upon the altar.

custom observed in the King's Chapel, and in most cathedral churches, without considering the long intermission and discontinuance in many other places, prosecuted this affair more passionately than was fit for the season."—Vol. I., Book i., pp. 163, 169-172.

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun."-Eccles. i. 9.

MISCELLANEOUS.

NOBLE WAY TO SUPPLY MISSIONARY FUNDS. — In reading the letters of the Rev. Thomas Scott, the excellent commentator, I find the following fact, referred to by his son, as coming from the lips of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, in 1810. As the secretary of the Baptist Mission, he said:"We now expend between £6000 and £7000 annually on our missions and translations; and one half of this sum is furnished by three persons-the men who do the work. These were those great men, Carey, Marsham, and Ward, who earned more than £1000 a year each by their hard literary labours, and then threw the whole into the common fund of the mission."

The

CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. patriarch Abraham gave one-tenth of all his possessions to religious uses; and so did Jacob, and many other Old Testament worthies. And it is worthy of notice that the Jews, who, as a nation, gave more to religious purposes than other people, were, any as a nation, more prosperous and wealthy than any other that ever existed. Even the heathen-the Arabians, according to Pliny, and the Grecians, according to Xenophon and Herodotus-gave no less than a tenth part of every thing to sacred uses. And shall the Christian do less for his God than the Jews under the old dispensation, or the heathen for their idols?