gregation that

the Inspector, had got an entrance into the parish. He implored them in the name of the Lord, to raise up their hands and voice against him; for that, already, he had that infernal machine (the Irish Bible) at work. O! forget not the unhappy results in Clontibert parish; there, out of thirteen Teachers, eight already have joined the Protestant Church, and soon the rest will follow: after the Bible has set that parish in a blaze, the flame has entered ours-but I am resolved to extinguish it. For this end, on the following day, he went to the Teacher's house. On entering, he enquired where was the devil who lived there? God save us!' replied the affrighted wife, there is no devil living here.' There is,' said the Priest, there are two devils in this house,-your husband and the Irish Bible.' Whilst the trembling woman was informing him where her husband was, he saw the Irish Bible, some Testaments, Portions, and Tracts, on a board fixed to the wall, and laying hold on them, he deliberately pulled out the fire, and burned them to ashes. The poor wife remonstrated in vain: the Teacher's aged mother, who being entirely unacquainted with English, and had long listened to her son reading the Irish Bible, when she beheld it burning in the fire, burst into tears, and in agony of grief, uttered, in the Irish language, the following natural and mournful exclamations (though I fear the report is already too tedious, I cannot refrain from transcribing in English, what is still more impressive in the language in which it was spoken) O, God! O, God! now is burned the Book of books, and father of all good stories; there were in it stories from heaven, stories from angels; O, yes, and stories of Jesus; stories of his apostles and saints; and amid all was the dreadful—but O! the joyful for sinners—the story of the crucifying Friday! Oh! it's burnt-it's burnt! the book of my soul-the book of my heart-the book of my Saviour!'

"P.S. It is an awful fact, that the Priest who, as described above, burned the Scriptures, was drowned in the sea, when bathing, a few days after this occurrence took place."-From the Report of the Irish Society, 1842.

HUMAN MERIT.

You will find one man thinking that if he repents, he shall be pardoned. In other words, he supposes that there is a virtue in repentance which causes it to procure forgiveness. Thus, repentance is exhibited as meritorious; and how shall we simply prove that it is not meritorious? Why, allowing that man can repent of himself-which he cannot-what is the repentance on which he presumes What is there in it of his own? The tears? they are but the dew of an eye, which is God's. The sighs? they are but the heavings of a heart which is God's? The resolutions they are but the working of faculties, which are God's. The amendment? it is but the better employment of a life which is God's. Where, then, is the merit? O, find something which is, at the same time, human and excellent in the offering, and you may speak of desert. But, until then, away with the notion of there being merit in repentance; seeing that the penitent man must say," All things come of thee, and of thine own, O God, do I give thee." Again: some men will speak of being justified by faith, till they come to ascribe merit to faith. "By faith" is interpreted as though it meant on account of faith; and thus the great truth is lost sight of, that we are justified freely, "through the redemption that is in Christ." (Rom. iii. 24.) But how can faith be a meritorious act? What is faith but such an assent of of the understanding to God's word as binds the heart to God's service? And whose is the understanding, if it be not God's? And if faith be nothing but the tendering to

God that intellect and that energy which we have received from God, how can faith deserve of God? O, as with repentance, so with faith: away with the notion of merit. He who believes, so that he can dare the grave, and grasp eternity, must pour forth the confession, "All things come of thee, and of thine own, O God, do I give thee." And once more: What merit can there be in works? If you give much alms, whose is the money? "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts," (Haggai ii. 8.) If you mortify the body, whose are the macerated limbs? If you put sackcloth on the soul, whose is the chastend spirit? If you are moral and honest, friendly, generous, and patriotic, whose are the dispositions you exercise-whose the powers to which you give culture and scope? And if you only use God's gifts, can that be meritorious? You may say, yes! it is meritorious to use them aright, whilst others abuse them. But is it wickedness to abuse? Then it can be only duty to use aright, whilst others abuse them. And duty will be merit when debt is donation. You may bestow a fortune in charity; but the wealth is already the Lord's. You may cultivate the virtues which adorn and sweeten human life; but the employed powers are the Lord's. You may give time and strength to the enterprises of philanthropy; each moment is the Lord's-each sinew is the Lord's. You may be upright in every dealing of trade, scrupulously honourable in all the intercourses of life; but "a just weight and balance are the Lord's; all the weights of the bag are his work." (Prov. xvi. 11.) And where, then, is the merit of works? Oh, throw into one heap each power of the mind, each energy of the body; use in God's service each grain of your substance, each second of your time; give to the Almighty every throb of the pulse, every drawing of the breath; labour and strive, and be instant, in season and out of season; and let the steepness of the mountain daunt you not, and the

swellings of the ocean deter you not, and the ruggedness of the desert appal you not; but on! still on, in toiling for your Maker and dream, and talk, and boast of merit when you can find the particle in the heap, or the shred in the exploit, which you may exclude from the confession, "All things come of thee, and of thine own, O God, have I given thee." Now we would trust that the impossibility of creature merit has thus been established, as an inference from the statement of our text. We wish you thoroughly to perceive that merit is inconsistent with creature-ship. We do not merely prove that this, or that order of beings cannot merit. Merit is inconsistent with creature-ship. A creature meriting of the Creator is an impossibility. When the Archangel can merit, the worm may merit. And he alone who is independent- he who has received nothing-he who is every thing in himself, as well as every thing to the universe, his own foundation of existence, his own store-house of happiness, his own harvest of glory-God, alone can merit, and therefore, God alone could redeem.-Melvill.

THE TRUE BASIS OF EDUCATION.

To all parents and guardians who are not tainted by the poison of infidelity, these few plain rules are earnestly recommended.—Build your system of education on the basis of Religion: remember that the promises and threatenings of Christianity are not temporal but eternal; and that it is not a mere formulary of manners, or a code of observances, but an active principle, intended to prepare us for heaven. Do not, therefore, limit your instructions to what is expedient. Do not affect to be wiser than your Maker; and, above all, avoid those systems of morals which are contrary to Revelation. By attending to the lessons of Holy Writ, and, above all, to the sublime doc

trine of immortality, you will send your children into the world with just notions of human life; you will prepare them to act and to suffer; you will fit them for disappointments; you will enable them to bear that most severe of all trials, prosperity, with humble gratitude and self-possessing prudence; and you will prepare them to endure calamity with dignified patience. Teach them not to expect much; instruct them to think justly of themselves and kindly of others, and you will do more to ameliorate the condition of the human race than a legion of theophilanthropists.—Mrs. West.

VARIETIES.

THE POLITICS OF A CHRISTIAN.--Trust God and live by faith, and then you will find no need of rebellion, or of sinful means. any Do you believe that both the hearts and lives of kings, and all their affairs are in the hand of God? If not, then you are Atheists. If you do, then do you not think that God is fitter than you to dispose of them? He that believeth will not make haste. Deliverance from persecutions must be prayed for, and waited for, (and scripturally sought for) and not snatched by violence, as a hungry dog will snatch meat out of his master's hand and bite his fingers. Do you believe that "all shall work together for good to them that love God?" And do you believe that it is cause of "exceeding joy, when, for righteousness sake, you are hated and persecuted, and all manner of evil falsely spoken of you?" If you do not, you do not believe Christ. If you do, will you strive by sinful means against your own good, and happiness, and joy? Will you desire to conquer when you are more than conqueror ? Certainly the use of sinful means doth come from secret unbelief and diffidence! Learn to trust God, and you will easily be subject to your governors.-Baxter.