for the current year shall be laid before you; and it is a satisfaction to me to have been enabled to make some reduction in our military establishment. "You will observe from the accounts of the public revenue, that notwithstanding the receipts in Ireland have proved materially deficient, in consequence of the unfortunate circumstances which have affected the commercial credit of that part of the United Kingdom, and although our foreign trade, during the early part of this time, was in a state of depression, the total revenue has, nevertheless, exceeded that of the preceding year. "A considerable part of this increase must be ascribed to the new taxes; but in some of those branches which are the surest indications of internal wealth, the augmentation has fully realized any expectation which could have been reasonably formed of it. "The separate provision which was made for the Queen, as Princess of Wales, in the year 1814, terminated with the demise of his late Majesty. "I have, in the mean time, directed advances, as authorised by law; and it will, under present circumstances, be for you to consider what new arrangements should be made on this subject. "My Lords and Gentlemen, "I have great pleasure in being able to acquaint you, that a considerable improvement has taken place within the last half year in several of the most important branches of our commerce and manufactures; and that, in many of the manufacturing districts, the distresses which prevailed at the commencement of the last session of Parliament have greatly abated. "It will be my most anxious desire to concur in every measure which may be considered as calculated to advance our internal prosperity. "I well know that, notwithstanding the agitations produced by temporary circumstances, and amidst the distress which still presses upon a large portion of my subjects, the firmest reliance may be placed on that affectionate and loyal attachment to my person and government, of which I have Jecently received so many testimonies from all parts of my kingdom; and which, whilst it is most grateful to the strongest feelings of my heart, I shall ever consider as the best and surest safeguard of my throne. "In the discharge of the important duties imposed upon you, you will, I am confident, be sensible of the indis pensable necessity of promoting and inaintaining, to the utmost of your power, a due obedience to the laws, and of instilling into all classes of my subjects, a respect for lawful authority, and for those established institutions under which the country has been enabled to overcome so many difficulties, and to which, under Providence, may be ascribed our happiness and renown as a nation." The cautious and conciliatory tone of this speech scarcely afforded any room for objecting to the address moved in reply to it, which accordingly passed without opposition. In the House of Commons, however, a division took place on a motion for papers respecting the exclusion of the Queen's name from the Liturgy, which was brought forward without the usual notice, and on that ground alone objected to by ministers, who agreed to grant them if notice were given. But, notwithstanding the manifest unreasonableness of pressing the motion, under these circumstances, the minority who supported it was large. In a house consisting of 429 members, 169 voted for it, and 260 against it. Numerous loyal addresses to the throne continue to pour in from all parts of the country, subscribed, we have no doubt, by a very large part of the rank and wealth and intellect of the nation. Before we again meet our readers, not a few of the questions which have divided and agitated the country will again have been brought under discussion. We shall not enter upon them by anticipation, but would refer our readers to the remarks which we have so often submitted to them, respecting the duties of Christians, in times especially of political debate and contention. To our earnest prayers for the king, and all who are in authority, as well as for the legislature and the nation at large, let us join our endeavours to promote in our respective spheres a spirit of peace and loyalty, of subordination and contentment. Let us exert ourselves to counteract that moral apathy, which, notwithstanding the great revival of religion among us, still too extensively prevails, and hangs as a dead weight on the measures which may be concerted for the extension of Christian education, and for promoting the best interests of society. Let our efforts also for the public benefit be such as we can consistently hope will receive the blessing of God; Tot such, for example, as counteracting seditious Sunday newspapers by encouraging loyal Sunday newspapers, or otherwise "doing evil that good may come." Let us cultivate a temper opposed to that of mere party, whether in religion or in the affairs of the world; and, above all, let the religion we profess evidence itself in all the details of a holy, a contented, and a devoted life. In proportion as such a spirit is extended among us, may we expect the favour of Him who alone can heal our divisions, and through his superabounding mercy, and notwithstanding our sins and provocations, can cause the changes of these eventful times to issue in the advancement of his glory and our good. Mr. Canning has resigned his situation of President of the Board of Controul, and has been replaced by Mr. Bragge Bathurst. The revenue for the year just closed, is stated to exceed by 2,340,000l. that of the preceding year. This includes the produce of the new taxes imposed in 1819, and which were estimated at three millions. OBITUARY. MRS. CUNNINGHAM. Ox the 9th instant, at the age of fortyone, died at Neasdon, in the house of W. T. Money, Esq. M. P., Mrs. CUN NINGHAM, the wife of the Rev. J. W. Cunningham, vicar of Harrow, and daughter of the late R. Williams, Esq. of Moor Park, leaving nine children, all under fourteen years of age, to mourn her irreparable loss. While on a visit at Mr. Money's, she was seized with a pleurisy, which ended fatally on the fourth day. She early became sensible of her danger; and the calm satisfaction and cheerful serenity with which, from the first, she contemplated it, and which appeared to brighten into joy and exultation as she drew nearer to the end of her course, sufficiently indicated that her mind had long been familiarwith death, and that her treasure and her heart were already in heaven. Few persons had so many strong ties to bind them to this world as Mrs. Cunningham. She had a heart peculiarly formed for enjoying the charities of domestic life; and she was herself the delight not only of her own family, but of a most extensive circle of friends. It would be difficult to conceive a more enviable situation than her's. Her cup seemed to comprise almost every ingredient of human happiness; and possessing excellent health, a sound and cultivated understanding, singular gentleness and humility of mind, and an unvarying cheerfulness of temper, it seemed scarcely to be mixed with any alloy. To be suddenly called from such a state as this, to have to bid adieu to so many objects of the most tender affection and solicitude, to close her eyes for ever on all that had so long occupied and delighted her-bad she had no better portion, had she had no better hope beyond the grave-might indeed justly have been regarded as a great calamity. But she had happily been led to recognize the vanity and uncertainty which are stamped on all earthly possessions and enjoyments. She had thought on her latter end, and was prepared for it. She had come as a miserable, lost, and helpless sinner to the cross of her Saviour, and had made choice of His favour as her chief good. In the hour of health and prosperity she had remembered Him; and on the bed of sickness, and amid the agonies of expiring nature, He did not forget her. The support He then afforded her fortified her to bear without a single murmur of complaint the excruciating pains which were dissolving her hitherto healthy frame, as well as the keener anguish naturally arising from the disruption of those ties which had united her so long and so closely to the dearest objects of affection. Her closing scene exhibited the calm, unostentatious triumph of faith and hope. Though naturally of a timid spirit, and remarkable for the doubt and hesitation with which she had previously been disposed to view her own spiritual state, she was now enabled, without one perplexing fear, to confide in the love and mercy of Him who had died to save her, and to enjoy, without one intervening cloud, the bright prospect of that future felicity which He has promised to those who trust in Him. Had we had time, we could have enlarged on this most striking exhibition of the power of Christian principle, and we could have brought forward details at once most affecting and consolatory. This it may be in our power still to do. Meanwhile, suffice it to say, that in no case with which we have been acquainted, did more diligence appear to have been given "to make her calling and election sure," and in none have we ever known the promise annexed to such diligence more signally fulfilled. She had been consoled and cheered by that promise during her illness, and it trembled on her last breath as her spirit took its flight to heaven. "An entrance was indeed administered to her abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Her funeral took place in Harrow church on the 18th instant, and was attended not only by her afflicted husband and family, and many other weeping friends, but by the entire population of the parish, who seemed most sincerely to mourn her loss. The poor and the young had always been the special objects of her anxious and unwearied care. They appeared all to be present, and to unite in lamenting the loss of their benefactress, whose voice had so often soothed their sorrows with the accents of Christian sympathy, and had so often conveyed to them the lessons of Christian instruction. "The memory of the just is blessed." May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercy and of consolation, who has visited them with this heavy affliction, make up, from the treasures of His grace, to her widowed husband and her motherless children, the invaluable blessing of which, in his wisdom and love, He has seen meet to deprive them. • Her last illness appeared to be the effect of a cold caught in consequence of her anxiety to provide warm clothing for some poor persons in the late înclement weather. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. We have read with the attention which they deserve the letters of W., and of another correspondent, J. P. If their kind and friendly expostulations had at all altered our sentiments, we should have felt no hesitation in confess ing the change. With W., while we agree in his fundamental principles, we differ so widely in many of his facts, and in his inferences from them, that it would serve no useful purpose to engage in a discussion of the subject. Our other correspondent, however, has brought so much of his dialectic skill to bear upon us, that he compels us to say one word, and but one word, in our vindication.-He will not even allow us credit for common fairness, because in our Number for December we have not in express terms affirmed, that in the affair of the Queen the ministers of the crown have erred from first to last, and, by the course they have pursued, have lowered the estimation, and weakened the authority, of their master. Now, we do not see what end our correspondent proposes by forcing us to this explicit avowal; for admitting such to be our opinion, we are not aware wherein it is inconsistent, as he would insinnate, either with our fall conviction of the Queen's guilt, (to say nothing of our reprobation of the almost treasonable answers to many of the addresses presented to her), or with the line of defence we have adopted in our December Number. Supposing it to be our opinion that this very affair was one of those in which ministers had not" done all they might have done to se cure to Cæsar the honour and respect which are due to him," we do not think that our forbearance in not particularly specifying it ought to be made a matter of charge by our correspondent. CATHOLICIS; G. S. FABER; s; C. C.; and A. B. C., will appear. CANTRAHIGIA, (Quere, Cantabrigia?); A LANCASHIRE CURATE; PHILONEPIOS; A Constant READER; J.M. W.; and BENJAMIN WILLS, are under consideration. W. V. did not state whether his paper was meant for fact or fiction. We are much obliged to Evdauan for his favourable opinion of our work, and his" earnest wishes and prayers, that for a long succession of years the Christian Observer may continue to edify the friends of real religion, and of the Church of England." His suggestions respecting the approaching completion of our "fourth lustrum" had been anticipated, and the subject is at present under consideration. POSTSCRIPT. A motion to censure ministers for excluding the Queen's Name from the Liturgy, made on the 26th, in the House of Commons, was negatived by a majority of 101, in a house containing 520 members, and after a debate protracted to seven in the morning. THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER. No. 230.] FEBRUARY, 1821. [No. 2. Vol. XX. RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. to EARNEST PRAYER FOR THE GE NERAL EFFUSION OF THE HOLY full OUR having the kindness ks extent both of our wants and of fur You in your work will much oblige, Yours, H. In the present day-a day which may indeed be called " a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of blasphemy," and yet a day which, from the progress of true religion, shines with many a ray of bright hope and earnest expectation-one great question ought to occupy the mind: How to overcome the evil, and to extend the good; how to confound the works of Satan, and to enlarge and establish the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, Many are the attempts which are now being made for this purpose. Societies are in active operation to suppress vice, to reform our prisons, to afford a refuge for the destitute, to provide an asylum for the penitent, to educate the young, to circulate the holy Scriptures, to evangelize the heathen, and to promote Christianity among the Jews. Each of these institutions has its peculiar excellence, but they are all limited in their object and in their effort. No one great and extensive plan has yet been adopt ed, which may, at the same time, effectually benefit ourselves, our families, our country, and the world at large. The aim of this paper is humbly to suggest such a plan, not with a view to disparage other benevolent attempts, but to give life, and vigour, and energy to them all. The plan is this: TO UNITE THE HEARTS OF ALL SINCERE CHRISTIANS IN CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 230. desires. The limits of this paper require brevity; but if the Scriptures are examined, the following truths will be clearly seen-namely, That no human effort is of itself sufficient to change the heart of man, or to build the spiritual temple of the Lord. God employs men as instruments, but He is himself the great agent. "Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God only giveth the increase." "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts :". That the Holy Spirit, as the Lord Jehovah, the third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity, is infinite in power; that with Him nothing is impossible, for all hearts are open to Him, and all creatures subject to His will:-That, exclusively of His almighty power as God, in the economy of our salvation, He has undertaken offices which are fully sufficient to secure the most extensive blessings. He convinces the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He takes away the stony heart, and gives an heart of flesh. He assists in prayer; He acts as our teacher and remembrancer; He guides into all truth; He glorifies the Lord Jesus, and sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. He has also a boundless treasury of every requisite to accomplish his purposes: for He takes of the things that are Christ's, and shews them to his people; and in the Lord Jesus we know are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and L knowledge. "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodi ly." The Holy Spirit, therefore, has only to pour out from this inexhaustible treasury, and what man by all his unassisted efforts can never attain will be immediately accomplished. The same power which, on the day of Pentecost, effected the conversion of three thousand unbelieving Jews under one discourse, can convince the most prejudiced, and change the hearts of the most obdurate of the present day. When He "makes bare his arm," "the mountains will flow down at his presence," "a nation shall be born in a day," and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. Whilst the sacred Scriptures thus acquaint us with the power of the Holy Spirit to effect these great objects, they afford us every reason to expect this Divine aid whenever general prayer is made for its at tainment. The prophecies clearly shew that days of great blessedness are before us, and that those days will be preceded or accompanied by a very large effusion of the Holy Spirit. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Joel, plainly predict this effusion, whilst Ezekiel confirms those predictions by the most striking emblems. Who can read the remarkable vision of the valley full of dry bones, and the interpretation given of that vision, without being convinced that the Holy Spirit will yet exercise this office in a very remarkable manner; so powerfully, that those who are now as a multitude of dry bones shall stand up as a great army of true believers? The Divine Oracles at the same time assure us, that it is in answer to prayer that this blessing will be bestowed. It was not till the prophet had said, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live," that the life-giving Spirit came. In another prophecy also, after promises of great mercies, it is added, "I will yet for this be in quired of by the house of Israel to do it for them." Such is the appointed connexion between this Divine gift and prayer for its bestowment.-So much is this the order in which God is pleased to grant bis mercies, that he has promised not only to pour out a spirit of prayer and supplication upon his people, but to lead them to excite one another to implore this blessing; for thus it is written, "The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also." And when prayer is offered, God declares, "Before they call I will answer, and whilst they are yet speaking I will hear." Without, therefore, entering into the question as to the exact period of those glorious times, we have every reason to believe, that whenever prayer is generally made for the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, a wide and copious effusion of his sacred influences will be afforded. The earnest supplications, therefore, of every sincere Christian for that promised blessing; and his unwearied efforts, in humble dependance upon God, to excite a similar earnestness in others, are objects greatly to be desired. For the readier attainment of these objects, the following hints are respectfully offered. That all the ministers of Christ should seek a deeper and more abiding conviction of their own personal need of the Divine influences of the Holy Spirit-both for their own growth in grace, and for success in all parts of their ministerial labours-in order that, under this conviction, they may be led to more earnest secret prayer for this blessing: That, like Daniel and his companions, they should unite with their brethren, as opportunities may offer, in prayer for a more general effusion of the Holy Spirit: That they should preach upon the various offices of the Holy Spi |