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Bishop M'Ilvaine to a mutual friend in England.

to approximate towards that spirit and method of "New York, Sept. 15th, 1835. teaching of which their Lord was a perfect example, "MY DEAR FRIEND, I have purposely delayed may their hearers remember that it is possible, writing to you since my return to my field of labour mechanically to acknowledge the truths presented to and anxious care, that I might communicate the re- them in these gospels, without any serious ensult of the proceedings of the General Convention of deavour to view them in their genuine force and the church in regard to Bishop Chase. That council bearings; nay, that they may become intellectually has recently terminated its session, and I have the masters of the whole subject without allowing it to happiness of stating that, Bishop Chase having been have a vital influence upon their consciences, their called to take the oversight of the new diocese of Illi-hearts, and their lives. Unless that view of scripnois, the diocese and its Bishop have been unani- ture be sought from above, which sanctifies the will mously received into union with the whole church of while it enlightens the understanding, the philosothis country. May the Lord be ever with my venera-phical examination of its evidences, or the critical ble brother in the episcopacy in his vast and uncultivated diocese, and grant him in his declining years a spring time of fruitfulness in his work and labour of love. "Faithfully yours, "C. P. M'ILVAINE. "Bishop of Ohio." From the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Onderdonk, Bishop of

New York.

"I regard the recent organization of the diocese of Illinois under the episcopal superintendance of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Chase, as an event highly auspicious to our church in the immense western region of this republic. The exertions however of the few and feeble congregations in that diocese need to be furthered, and the hands of its diocesan strengthened by the aid of more favoured portions of the Church.. Whatever application may be made by Bishop Chase or in his name and under his authority, will I hope be favourably and liberally responded to by the members of the members of the diocese of New York.

The Cabinet.

THE SAVIOUR.-The discourses of Jesus have a spirit and tendency which distinguishes them from all others, and especially from the method or instruction prevalent in his own age. We discover in them none of the trifling glosses upon scripture, nor the "old wives' fables" in which the scribes delighted; none of the affected obscurity or the sophistical distinctions common in the Grecian schools of philosophy. No particular stress is laid upon the explanation of doctrinal points, or the interpretration of difficult passages of the Old Testament. We remark everywhere a tranquil familiarity with the highest subjects; a disposition rather to assume and authoritatively to enforce, than to demonstrate the truths he taught. Yet is his manner in the highest degree affectionate. A "spirit of love" no less than a sound mind animates his exhortations as well as his actions; a love which, while directed towards his heavenly Father as its supreme object, embraced all his creatures within ita bands. If his first object was to glorify God by "bearing witness to the truth," his second was to render that truth acceptable to his hearers, to convince them that it came from one who perfectly loved them, and was willing and able to do more for their present and eternal welfare than man had ever undertaken. His whole soul appears so possessed with these high purposes as to become insensible to his own glory; prepared in this cause to endure, even to court every extremity of shame and indignity. Our Lord's teaching is also represented as practical; not so much calculated to win admiration, to gratify the intellect and excite the fancy, but directly effectual to supply the actual necessities of man of man as he exists in every age and in every clime; to make a way for the doctrines he enforced to the hearts as well as to the understandings of his hearers; to represent them vividly to their eyes and ears; to connect them with their domestic usages and daily duties. May the ministers and stewards of his mysteries be enabled more and more

survey of its literary character, will rather be of disservice to our real welfare. Without that safeguard, such inquiries, by multiplying facts and notions of slight and secondary moment, will distract and deter us from the simple reception of the word of God, as the direct communication between our

souls and that Power who implanted, and will again require them.-Light Shining out of Darkness.

THE CHRISTIAN.-The Christian is a man, and more-an earthly saint-an angel clothed in fleshthe only awful image of his Maker and Redeemerthe abstract of God's church on earth-a model of heaven, made up in clay-the living temple of the Holy Ghost.-Bishop Hall.

Poetry.

LAYS OF PALESTINE.
No. VI.

BY T. G. NICHOLAS.

(For the Church of England Magazine)

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."-Hab. iii., 17.

Though on each sun-lit hill no more

Spread the rich tendrils of the vine,
And though the fig-tree's bloom be o'er
Through the glad vales of Palestine;
A higher, nobler joy be mine,

A ray of that celestial glow
Which centres at the throne divine,

Whence pure unnumber'd pleasures flow.
Though Heaven no kindly influence yield,
Nor genial showers their moisture lend,
Nor the full increase of the field

In Autumn, 'neath the sickle bend;
There is a great unchanging Friend
Who views his own with pitying eyes,
While to his ear their vows ascend

A pure, accepted, sacrifice.
And though the flocks at even-tide

Obey their Shepherd's call no more,
Though drought, and strife, and fear abide
Where peace and plenty smil'd before;
Though ev'ry earthly joy be o'er,

My heart shall still in God rejoice,
His mercy now and evermore

Shall gladly swell my raptur'd voice!

IS ALL WELL?
Yes, all is well, my God, that thou hast done,
From the first hour my pilgrimage begun
Thy love has never changed, nor succours fail'd
When foes without and fears within assail'd.

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CHRIST A SURE REFUGE.
(For the Church of England Magazine.)
"I am." Exodus, 3, 14.
Art thou weak, afflicted soul?
I am strong to make thee whole.
Art thou sick and hast no cure?
I am thy physician sure.
Art thou fainting on thy road?
I am near to bear thy load.
Art thou hungry, thirsty, poor?
I am rich to bless thy store.

Art thou much with grief opprest?
I am come to give thee rest.
Art thou weary of thy sin?
I am peace to thee within.

I am ready at thy side

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BISHOP WISHART.-George Wishart, Bishop of Edinburgh, was of the family of Logie, in the county of Angus. He first was minister of North Leith, but was deposed by the Covenanters in 1638, for refusing to take the Covenant. The insurgents who were then in possession of the government, discovered that he had corresponded with the royalists, and in consequence they plundered him of all his goods, and imprisoned him in Haddo's-hole. Haddo's-hole, or the thieves' hole, was the nastiest and worst part of the common gaol of Edinburgh, and was so denominated from the circumstance of Sir John Gordon, of Haddo, having been shut up in it for his loyalty to Charles I. Wishart was immured in this loathsome dungeon for seven months, and during all that time was only allowed once to change his linen. While in Haddo's-hole he ran some risk of being devoured by rats, the marks of whose voracity he bore on his face to the grave. On his discharge from this abominable place, he went abroad with the Marquis of Montrose. After the fall of that illustrious nobleman, he became chaplain to the Queen of Bohemia, sister to Charles I., and in that capacity accompanied his royal mistress into England in 1660, to visit her nephew after his happy restoration. He was presented to the church and rectory of Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he lived much respected. On the restoration of the Church of Scotland, he was preferred to the sec of Edinburgh, as a reward for his loyalty and former sufferings. He was consecrated at St. Andrews, and held the see of Edinburgh till his death in 1671. He was buried in the Chapel Royal, Holyrood, where an elegant monument was erected to his memory. He was a man of true religion and piety; and never forgot his own sufferings in Haddo's-hole; but felt for those who inhabited that abode of wretchedness and misery. In pursuance of this charitable sympathy it was his daily practice to

send provisions from his own kitchen, all the time he sat Bishop in Edinburgh, to the prisoners. In particular, he nearly killed the west-land Whigs, taken at Pentland, with over-repletion. Burnet himself admits that the prisoners were in greater danger from full feeding than they had been during their short campaign. He wrote the history of the war in Scotland under the great Montrose, a book to which all historians are indebted for the true history of that period.-Stephen's Life of Archbishop Sharp (of St. Andrews)

RELIGION IN AMERICA.-In the United States, the variety of sects, the continual splitting and breaking up of those sects, and their occasional violent altercations, have all proved most injurious to society, and to the cause of religion itself. Indeed, religion in the States may be said to have been a source of continual discord, and the unhinging of society, instead of that peace and good-will inculcated by our Divine Legislator. It is the division of the Protestant Church which has occasioned its weakness in this country, and will probably eventually occasion, if not its total subversion, at all events its subversion in the western hemisphere of America. At present Massachusetts, and the smaller eastern States, are the strong-hold of religion and morality; as you proceed from them farther south or west, so does the influence of the clergy decrease, until it is totally lost in the wild states of Missouri and Arkansas. With the exception of certain cases to be found in western Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, the whole of the States to the westward of the Alleghany Mountains, comprising more than two-thirds of America, may be said to be either in a state of neglect or darkness, or professing the Catholic religion. If the Protestant cause is growing weaker every day from disunion and indifference, there is one creed which is as rapidly gaining strength-I refer to the Catholic Church, which is silently but surely advancing. Its great field is in the west, where, in some states, almost all are Catholics, or from neglect and ignorance altogether indifferent as to religion. The Catholic priests are diligent, and make a large number of converts every year, and the Catholic population is added to by the number of Irish and German emigrants to the West, who are almost all of them of the Catholic persuasion. Athough it is not forty years since the first Roman Catholic see was created, there is now in the United States a Catholic population of 800,000 souls under the government of the Pope, an archbishop, twelve bishops, and 433 priests. The number of churches is 401; mass-houses about 300; colleges, ten; seminaries for young men nine; theological seminaries five; noviciates for Jesuits, monasteries and convents, with academies attached, thirty-one; seminaries for young ladies, thirty; schools of the Sisters of Charity, twenty-nine; an academy for coloured girls at Baltimore; a female infant school, and seven Catholic newspapers.— Captain Marryat's Diary in America.

RELIGIOUS DESIRES.-None ever thirst after God and righteousness, but those who in some measure already enjoy the one, and possess the other.-Thomas à Kempis.

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ON THE CHOICE OF BOOKS, AND THE STUDY | religious subjects, are daily issuing from the

OF THE SCRIPTURES.

BY THE REV. ELLIS B. WERE, M.A. Vicar of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. JUDGING from the multitude of books and readers, that we see on every side, we may reasonably conclude, that never were so many readers to be found, as at present, and never were so many books written and published. The press literally teems with books; it pours forth volume after volume, with unexampled fecundity and perhaps more works emanate from the prolific brains of the present generation, in one year, than were conceived by our sober forefathers in at least fifty years. The fact is, every one now seems to write; and not content with writing, every one seems also to print.

Scribimus indocti, doctique poëmata passim. I have often thought how useful it would be to the young, to have a kind of bibliographical Mentor, to guide their devious steps, and direct their conflicting choice, amidst the intricate maze of quartos, octavos, and duodecimos, which, arrayed in imposing garbs, every where meet their eye, and court their attention. For, to say nothing of foolish, fanciful, or demoralizing works, how necessary is it to reject multitudes, even of a good and useful character.

So many works are now written on the same subject, with perhaps a slight difference in the title, or the mode of treatment, that we may waste pounds and months on a library of books, in acquiring that knowledge, which we might more speedily and cheaply have acquired, by the perusal of one well-selected volume. This remark is equally applicable to theological works, as to those of a secular and scientific kind. Innumerable volumes on

VOL. VIII.-NO. CCXIV.

press, which contain every imaginable variety and shade of doctrine and sentiment. Some of them are most useful and edifying; others are flimsy and superficial. Some contain the marrow of ancient standard divinity, some contain the fruits of original thought and labour: whilst others are nothing more than old works revived, and adapted to the tastes and habits of the age; new editions, in fact, of old works, with the title-page omitted, and the phraseology pruned and polished according to the present fashion. In such a theological labyrinth, how desirable would it be to have a clue, by which to shape our course, so as to arrive by the best and nearest path, at the great object of pursuitthe knowledge of divine truth. Indeed, without some such clue, we are in danger of losing our time, and of running into all kinds of error and contradiction. Now we read a book charged with the dogmas of a particular party, and are convinced by it. By-and-bye, we light on another book of opposite tenets; and between the two we are suspended and bewildered.

We may be told that this is the price always to be paid for knowledge; and that it can be acquired in no other way.

I reply, that in the case of adults, who have read and reflected, and whose minds are tolerably matured, this kind of promiscuous reading may do no harm, though rarely. I think, does it do much good. But, in the case of young persons, whose opinions are not yet formed, and who are anxiously seeking after truth, it is of great service to put them in the best and plainest way of acquiring it, and, as far as possible, to keep from them every thing perplexing and contradictory. We may be told that, without reading

[London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand.j

both sides of a question, it is almost impossi- | parable excellence of the scriptures, and the ble to decide upon it. I do not, however, unparalleled guilt and folly of neglecting condemn such reading; I only advocate a them, and yet, sad to say! he feels his judicious selection of books on the subject, heart and affections secretly recoil from holy and recommend that they should be placed communion with them. This feeling has in the hands of the reader at convenient and been a source of inexpressible anguish to fitting seasons. many a pious Christian. Indeed, to be able to perceive the moral worth and beauty of the eternal word, and yet to be incapable of loving and embracing it, may possibly be one of the keenest punishments to be endured hereafter, by lost souls. Compared with such, the fate of the fabled Tantalus, were blest-were enviable!

For instance, it might be proper for the young divine to make himself acquainted with the arguments of infidels, against our holy religion; but it would not be judicious to set him on that task before he had well studied the evidences in favour of Christianity. Moreover, there is reason to apprehend that much time is frequently devoted to the works of men, which ought to be employed upon the word of God.

And every Christian knows by experience, that a close and perpetual perusal of secular, and even of theological works, has the melancholy effect of producing an alienation and distaste to the study of the sacred volume. But the bible should be the Christian's textbook, and, in one sense, his library; he should be comparatively a man unius libri," and should jealously guard againt the influence of any literary charms, which may weaken his affection for the sacred oracles of God. There is a repose, a purity, a brightness and sublimity in the holy scriptures, which are not congenial with the earthly and polluted mind of man; and it flies from them, as the bird of night from the beams of the noontide sun. For alas! "men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; and they will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved."

If the Christian would shun this evil, and be spared these painful feelings, he must habitually search the scriptures; he must imbue his mind with their spiritual truths; he must cherish a pure and sanctified taste, and restrain his desires and affections from running too freely after the charms and allurements of mere secular literature.

This latter is a snare, into which persons of taste and education frequently fall to the melancholy detrimeut of their piety and peace of mind! If ever it was necessary to guard against this temptation, and to exercise prudence and caution in the selection of books, it is at the present time, when every day gives birth to so many attractive volumes, whose merits are infinitely diversified; and when, consequently, it becomes so difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff-the precious from the vile. We should ever remember, that, as we shall have to give account hereafter of every idle word that we speak, so we shall have to do the same respecting every idle book that we read. It is the interest, therefore, as well as the duty of the Christian, so to employ the time, talents, and opportu nities which God has given him, that he may be able to render that account with joy, and not with grief. And, doubtless, he will not be the least approved of by his divine master, who has spent most time in the school of Christ; who has acquired most of the mind and of the truth that are in him; and who has been most diligent in the study of that sacred book, which alone can make us wise unto salvation.

And this sad characteristic, or infection, of our fallen nature remains, like other corruptions, even in the breasts of the regenerate weakened and subdued indeed, but still existing; it still stirs and breathes, though bleeding at every pore; and if the Christian does not vigilantly keep under his prostrate foe, if he does not pierce him through and through, with the sword of the Spirit, that foe will revive-will recover his former strength, and again struggle with him for the mastery. Yes, so strong and deeply rooted is our natural aversion to spiritual things, that, though the Christian may, at one time, feel a sacred pleasure in the perusal of the scriptures, and be able to exclaim with the psalmist, "Oh! how love I thy law; it is my meditation all the day;" yet, at another time, if he neg-which produced it; and it is hoped that a few introlects the perusal of them, and indulges too much in promiscuous and secular reading, he will find a gradual decay of his spiritual taste, and a growing disinclination to spiritual studies. He may grieve and wonder at the change, yet so it is; his understanding and experience may combine to prove the incom

A SERMON BY A WALDENSIAN PASTOR.

THE following sermon, by a Waldensian pastor, derives

considerable interest from the place and circumstances

notions which too often confound the Vaudois, or Waldenses of Piemont, with the Vaudois, or people of the Pays de Vaud in Switzerland.

ductory observations will serve to correct the erroneous

At this particular crisis, when the Protestants on the continent, and particularly those of Switzerland, are putting their Churches in jeopardy by the theo

logical doctrines which they profess; it is of no small importance to exhibit the little Church of the valleys of Piemont in its true character and locality. It is an Italian, and not a Swiss Protestant community; it has a liturgy of its own; it is an established Church; it is not a voluntary, but an endowed Church, although the poorest of the poor; and there is yet one more mark to distinguish it from that of a similar name in Switzerland. At the last synod held at Lausanne by the Vaudois pastors of the Pays de Vaud, confessions of faith were declared to be inconsistent with Christian liberty. At the synod of the Waldensian Church of the Vaudois of Piemont, held in April 1839 at La Tour, the articles of faith, called the Confession of 1655, (because it was published in that dreadful year of persecution, as the basis of faith on which the Waldensian Church had rested for ages past,) were formally recognised as the rule of public instruction and worship. One of its articles is to this effect"That there are two natures in Jesus Christ, viz. divine and human, truly united in one and the same person, without confusion, separation, division, or alteration; and that Jesus Christ is very God and very man." It was declared also in the synod of April last, that candidates for orders cannot be admitted to the

sacred functions until they have signed that confession, and publicly avowed that they will adhere to it in their preaching and teaching.

Such is the Waldensian Church of the mountains of Piemont. During three or four months in the summer, many of the inhabitants of the Alpine villages drive their flocks and herds to the rich pasturages near the summits of the mountains, and dwell for the time in chalets, or log-houses, at a considerable distance from their homes. To these remote spots the Waldensian shepherds and herdsmen are frequently followed by their pastors; and a congregation is collected on the green turf, in the midst of one of nature's grandest amphitheatres. The preacher places himself under the shade of a rock, upon a platform of the living granite, and there addresses his hearers upon some sacred topic; to which the scene and the associations of the present, the past, and the future, secure a degree of heart-stirring attention, which is more easily imagined than described.

I was present at one of these sublime services. The spot selected for the sermon was an Alp on the Col de la Croix, one of the frontier ridges of France and Italy, and very near the pass which leads from Val Lucerne in Piemont to Val Queiras in Dauphiné. Monte Viso, and its bright pinnacle of snow, soared above the mountain-sanctuary; and the plains of the Po might be seen from the stupendous rocks which overhung it.

At nine o'clock in the morning, a shepherd blew a “blast both loud and long" with a large conch-shell; others, from the surrounding heights, did the same; and the summons was repeated at intervals for more than an hour. It had been announced, for several days previously, that the moderator of the Vaudois Church would preach on this occasion; and people were seen approaching from all directions. Many French Protestants crossed the border to hear the Italian pastor. But a storm of wind and rain interrupted the picturesque and holy gathering; and it was not possible

to hold the convocation under the canopy of heaven— it was therefore assembled in a large granary. The solemnity commenced with prayers from the Waldensian liturgy; and never did I witness more devotion while the voice of supplication and praise arose from the minister's lips, or a more listening congregation during the delivery of the sermon.

The preacher gave me his sermon, which was in French-the language in which the Vaudois of Piemont receive all their instruction, because Bibles and Protestant books are not permitted to be circulated in Italian; and the copy, which is now offered to the reader, is a literal translation of the original.

W. S. GILLY.

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”—Isaiah, lii. 7. THE Connexion between the subject of these words, and our present circumstances and place of meeting, is most striking. We are now assembled upon these mountains, where every thing speaks to us of the greatness, the majesty, and the power of the Almighty, to offer unto him our tribute of adoration and thanksgiving. On these mountains the ministers of his word bring good tidings, and publish peace to his people, and address them in the words of consolation and

joy-" Thy God reigneth." This was the prophet's announcement; this it was that filled his soul with the most lively emotions, and constrained him to cry out, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!"

What subject can be more calculated than this to quicken our devotion and love, and to inspire us with those religious feelings by which only we can lay hold on the grand and important truths to which the prophet directs us, and partake of the divine influence by which he was animated?

In order to attain this end, we will consider, first, the true meaning of the words of my text; secondly, we will endeavour to analyse the feelings of the prophet; and we will conclude by drawing some practical instruction from them.

whom heaven is the throne, and earth the footstool; O sovereign Ruler of the universe; great Being, of thou who fillest all things with thy presence, and from whom no secrets are hid; look down from the throne of thy majesty upon this portion of thy children now assembled to meditate on thine infinite mercies, and to seek the things that belong unto their peace. Believing that thou dwellest not only in temples made with hands, we now humble ourselves before thee, and publish thy praises amidst the works of thy creation, in the glorious temple which thou hast formed for thyself. Accept, O Lord, our offering of prayer and praise; supply whatsoever is imperfect in us; be with him who speaks, and with those who hear; that with one accord we may make the echoes of these mountains to repeat," The Lord reigneth; let the inhabitants of the earth rejoice, for he hath redeemed Jacob; he will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Amen."

of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth "O, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" It must be evident to every one that the expression, "how beautiful are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings!" is employed by the prophet in a figurative sense only, in the glowing style of Oriental writing; and by it may be understood the messenger himself, or the tidings which he announced. It must be evident also, if we consider the power accompanying these words, the inspired fervour of the prophet, and the tenor of the whole chapter from which the text is

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