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ber of 12,000 souls. In 1820 it continued increasing, and so in every subsequent year. In 1828 and the following years, through the encouragement given by the government and interested parties at home, the influx became still more rapid and overwhelming, varying from 33,000 to 50,000, 53,000, till it reached its climax in 1833, of above 60,000 souls. Of course it would be naturally expected, under a Christian government, that a provision, adequate to the spiritual wants of this enormous mass... would be made; but the reverse was the case; and.. the late Mr. Canning and his colleagues, in 1824, adopted a system gradually to diminish even the means (such as they were) heretofore granted to the Protestant Church in Canada. No words of mine can adequately describe the heinousness of such a proceeding; and to that false step, and others of a similar tendency at home, must be ascribed by every one, in the least conversant with Scripture, the downward progress of England since. It was the first decided triumph of popery over truth in the counsels of Great Britain (1 Kings, xx. 31-34): I pray God the result may not extend so far, but that in mercy to the ignorance of the people of this country, "the Lord will yet be entreated for the land, and the plague be stayed from Israel" (2 Sam. xxiv. 13-25)...

"Let it be remembered that these poor people (many to avoid the stigma attached in their minds to parochial aid) have left their native country, their dearest relatives and friends, their parish and their church, with few of the necessaries, and still fewer of the comforts of life. Their minds naturally dwell with regret upon all they have left. They evidently desire a church and a pastor-but, alas! without assistance, these blessings they are unable to procure. While the impressions of home are recent, they are earnest and anxious in their longings to obtain the benefit of those institutions for the care of their souls, and the instruction of their families, to which they had been accustomed in Britain; and every pious and sincere Christian must surely wish to encourage and keep such sentiments alive. To assist the Canadian emigrants in these important matters will be a good and laudable work, and will eventually prove a lasting benefit alike to themselves and to the country they have left." Such was the forcible language of this zealous and venerable prelate [Bishop Stewart] in 1823; and as evidence of the truth of his statement... I shall quote a passage from a layman.

....

Mr. Howison... makes this remark respecting the district near Ancaster: "There is a church near it, in which an episcopalian clergyman officiates every Sunday. Exclusive of this, there are but two places between Niagara and Ancaster (a distance of fifty miles), where divine service is regularly performed. Thus, in the space of 300 miles, there are but four villages at which public worship is regularly performed throughout the year. It is evident.... that this deficiency in the number of religious establishments must have a fatal effect upon the principles of the people ; for the Sabbath, presenting no routine of duty to their recollection, gradually approximates to a week-day."

The Cabinet.

the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ under the persuasion of a personal interest in this decisive revelation; and let us view this as in a picture. "About midnight, as they were driven up and down in Adria," the shipmen with whom Paul was sailing for Italy, "fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks, cast four anchors out of the stern," says the sacred historian, "and wished for day." Now, if you had seen these mariners after they had dropped their last anchor into the sea, you would have beheld them, in the full sense of the expression, waiting for the coming of the light. At that moment they could not discover any sign of it. All was dark and unpromising around them. The east was no brighter than any other quarter of the heavens, and gave not the least indication of an approaching sun. But these men believed notwithstanding, that the day would dawn on them in due time; and, amidst the thick shades that were around them, they waited for its coming. And herein we may see depicted the faith of a Christian with regard to the future coming of his Saviour. There is no token of this coming either in heaven or on earth. Our Lord is as far removed from our sight now as he has been in time past; and, "since the fathers fell asleep," to use the language which St. Peter attributes to the scoffers, "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." But still, in the depth and deadness of this night, the Christian looks forward with undoubting confidence to the coming of the day. And he does as firmly believe that yet a little while and He that shall come will come and will not tarry, as the shipmen with Paul's company believed that the sun would in due time appear in the horizon, while all was yet gloomy and dark. But yet further; these men were waiting for the day in the way of earnest expectation. Their belief in the return of morning light, under ordinary circumstances, would have been hardly present to their minds; it would not have excited a single desire; it would not have suggested one rising hope within their bosoms: but in their hour of danger and anxiety they felt it to be of the last importance. They were persuaded that it would bring with it a great and important benefit; and accordingly it had itself become to them the subject of lively expectation. They were waiting for its arrival, not only believing in it, but thinking of it, looking for it, hoping for it. And herein, again, they may represent the Christian, who is waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ. He has upon his mind a practical impression of the paramount importance of this great event. He has a hope that it will bring with it a blessing to surpass all that can be otherwise bestowed upon him; and therefore it is habitually present to his mind. It is not a matter that has a place in his belief, but is strange to his reflections. He is waiting for the coming of the Lord. There are other occurrences to take place, perhaps, at an earlier period, wherein he may be more or less concerned. He expects to feel some rough motion of a stormy sea, from which he will study to protect himself; he will pay some attention to his present circumstances; and he will occupy some moments in conversation with the company around him: but still the great thought is uppermost, and fixed; he has cast forth his anchor, and is wishing for the light; he is waiting and hoping for the morning dawn. The wishes of a Christian may go after many things in proportion to their value; but not one among them all can stand in competition with the great object of his hope; not one can promise him such safety and happiness as that for which he chiefly looks; and hence, with respect to the constant posture of his soul, he is waiting for the coming of the Lord.-Riddle's Sermons.

BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. - Christianity can make the poor man rich, by furnishing him with the THE CHRISTIAN WAITING FOR THE COMING OF HIS golden treasure of contentment; it can exalt the LORD. Let us contemplate the Christian waiting for lowly, by offering to his gaze the imperishable bless

ings of a welcome to the throne of God; it can calm the ruffled surface of domestic or of civic life, by spreading over it, like oil upon the waves, the smooth and gentle calmness of untroubled peace; and to the sorrowful it has a power of ministering encouragement and comfort, which even the terrors of the dungeon, and the threats of vengeance, have no strength to overcome.-Rev. W. B. Clarke.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE.-A little error of the eye, a misguidance of the hand, a slip of the foot, a starting of a horse, a sudden mist, or a great shower, or a word undesignedly cast forth in an army, has turned the stream of victory from one side to another, and thereby disposed of empires and whole nations. No prince ever returns safe out of a battle, but may well remember how many blows and bullets have gone by him that might easily have gone through him; and by what little odd unforeseen chances death has been turned aside, which seemed in a full, ready, and direct career to have been posting to him. All which passages if we do not acknowledge to have been guided to their respective ends and effects by the conduct of a superior and a divine hand, we do by the same assertion cashier all providence, strip the Almighty of his noblest prerogative, and make God not the governor, but the mere spectator of the world.-South.

TEST OF THE WORK OF GRACE.-The extent of the work of grace is not to be estimated so much by what remains to be done, as by what has been accomplished; not so much by what yet appears, as by what has been overcome. A very small measure of the operation of godliness may appear truly lovely in dispositions or characters who have had little comparatively to contend with; whilst a far more considerable progress in real improvement may have been made in others whose apparent condition is yet very, very defective. For an individual the most amiable and gentle, apparently, of a whole multitude, may be totally devoid of personal godliness; whilst another who is sometimes borne away by an irritable temperament into ungentle behaviour, may be one in whose heart a saving work of grace has been begun. And it will require if we would exercise a right and charitable judgment concerning our fellow-christian in regard to infirmities which may appear-that we should enter into his secret and humiliating feelings, when he departs from the scene of his disturbance; it will require that we should know something of the struggles that have been made, as well as of the measure of irritating feeling which has been overcome; it will require that we follow the individual into the privacy of the closet, and hear his laments before a throne of grace therebefore we can reasonably judge of the reality of the Spirit's work in that man's heart, or duly estimate what the Spirit has wrought therein. These observations are put forth, not for the palliating of our own sinfulness, or for the lessening of our abhorrence of that which is evil; but as suggestions for our guidance in forming an estimate of the character of others.From Memorial of his Son, by Rev. W. Scoresby.

Poetry.

CHRIST STILLETH THE TEMPEST.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)

"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."-Mark, iv. 39.

On the loud ocean's boisterous wave
A fragile bark is driv'n,
Tempestuous seas the vessel lave,
Nor dare the helpless seamen crave
A tranquil calm from heav'n:
And hope's last fond, expiring ray,
To gloomy fear and doubt gives way.

Upon the couch in sleep reclin'd

A form divine is there, Who neither dreads the stormy wind, Nor joins his calm and tranquil mind

The deep wail of despair.

Upon that slumbering One they cry, Car'st thou not, Master, that we die? He rose-the sea in fury boil'd;

He spake the tempest ceas'd;
No more against the surge they toil'd,
But from his gaze their hearts recoil'd,
Although from fear releas'd.

"O ye of little faith," he cried,
"Why tremble at the raging tide?
A mightier power can bid it cease,
And o'er the waters there is peace."

STANZAS.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)
LORD, draw me nearer unto thee,
Thy glory and thy grace to see;
To know thee, Saviour, as thou art,
To love thee with a perfect heart.
O, tear each rebel wish away,
Submit my spirit to thy sway,

Bend every thought before thy throne,
And fix my heart on thee alone!

But can it be? e'en while I kneel,
The fatal work of sin I feel;
E'en while I pour my lifeless pray'r,
The clanking of her chain I hear;
E'en while I strive to look on high,
Earth's baubles catch my glancing eye,
And earthly fancies o'er me roll,
Hiding my Saviour from my soul.
My God, my God, forsake me not;
Thy word I have not all forgot,
Though like a faithless sheep I stray
Far from the lov'd, the narrow way;
Then seck thy servant; Saviour, come,
And lead the weary wand'rer home;
Come in thy majesty and might,
Against thy foes and mine to fight.
Jesus, to thee I lift my eyes,
From thee my hope and help arise;
Though false and frail my spirit be,
'Tis consecrate, dear Lord, to thee.
I long to love and serve thee more,
Thy grace to feel, thy pow'r adore :
O bid my earthly wand'rings cease,
And sweetly whisper words of peace!

STANZAS.

T. C. N.

M. A. STODart.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)

"I will arise, and go unto my Father."-St. Luke, xv. 18.
WHEN morn with fresh'ning sunbeam breaks,
And thought from hours of sleep awakes;
When ev'ning brings, on wings of peace,
The time when toil and labour cease-
Father, I would arise and go to thee,
Perpetual spring of benefit to me.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF THE POOR.-It is every day becoming more and more important, as a branch of ministerial duty, to countenance and encourage national daily or Sunday-schools, to watch over the mode in which they are conducted, and to prevent the instruction which is given in them from degenerating into the mere form of knowledge without any of the power of godliness. The salaried teachers of the schools may work the machinery of the system so as to produce results, sometimes of a surprising kind, if we look merely to the exercise of the children's memory but it is the province of the clergyman, who is more alive to the tendencies of education, and entertains juster and nobler views of its objects, to give a spiritual character to those results; to apply them to the confirmation of right principles and right habits; and to take care that the youthful learner is trained, not only to know the Holy Scriptures as the term is commonly understood, but so to know them that they may be likely, under the Divine blessing, "to make him wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." is to these seminaries that we are to look for a succession of youthful branches, which, having been grafted into the body of Christ's Church at baptism, may here imbibe the sap of holy principle, and be prepared by culture, under the gracious influences of the Spirit sought for in prayer, to become trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. It is hardly going too far to assert, that a clergyman's attention to his parochial schools is the most hopeful part of his ministerial exertions. It is surely a point of incalculable importance to him to secure an interest in the affections of a large part of his flock from their earliest years. Not to mention the hold which he may thus acquire upon the parents through the medium of their children, he may securely calculate upon being listened to in his public ministrations with intelligence and profit by those who have been long habituated to his mode of teaching divine truth, and with attention and respect by those who have been accustomed from their infancy to regard him as their instructor and friend; to fear his kind rebuke, and to rejoice in his approving smile. And although it will ever be his duty to remind them that he speaks not in his own name, but as the messenger and servant of One who desires that they should be brought nearer to himself, yet the personal regard which is excited towards him may be made powerfully auxiliary to higher motives and restraints. One of the surest preservatives from the poison of vice or infidelity,

next to the sound instruction with which their memories have been stored and their hearts strengthened, will be habitual reverence which they have acquired for their kind and disinterested instructor, and their unwillingness to forfeit his good opinion.-Bishop Blomfield.

LORD CHESTERFIELD." I have run," says this farfamed man of the world, "the silly rounds of business

and pleasure, and have done with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world, and consequently know their futility, and do not regret their loss. I appraise them at their real value, which is in truth very low; whereas those that have not experienced, always overrate them. They only see their gay outside, and are dazzled with their glare. But I have been behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse pulleys and dirty ropes which exhibit and move the gaudy machines; and I have seen and smelt the tallow candles which illuminate the whole decoration, to the astonishment and admiration of an ignorant audience. When I reflect back upon what I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry, and bustle, and pleasure of the world had any reality; but I look upon all that has passed as one of those romantic dreams which opium commonly occasions, and I do by no means desire to repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the fugitive dream. Shall I tell you that I bear this melancholy situation with that meritorious constancy and resignation which most people boast of? No, for I really cannot help it. I bear it, because I must bear it, whether I will or no; I think of nothing but killing time the best I can, now that he is become mine enemy. It is my resolution to sleep in the carriage during the remainder of the journey." Bishop Horne observes, "No man ever knew the world better, or enjoyed more of its favours, than this nobleman; yet in how poor, abject, and wretched a condition the world left him, and he left the world, at the time when he most wanted hope and comfort! There was one who took his leave of this world in a very different manner: I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day."

TINIVELLY.In the south of Tinivelly I have visited, I think, all the villages that contain Christian congregations; and in the centre of that district there think, 500, and the other 400 native Christians. are two entire Christian villages-one containing, I They had their regular churches and their native priests and catechists, and their boys' and girls' schools: these Christians were living together in a state of harmony; there was not a vestige of idolatry they had their regular service in the church, morning to be seen in either of them, not an idol to be found; and evening, daily. I have visited them frequently, and have been particularly interested, wheu among them, to see groups of women, while the men were labouring in the field, assembled together under the shade of the palmyra-tree, spinning cotton, and singing their Lutheran hymns to the motion of their wheels. The names of the villages are, the one Mothelloor, the other Nazareth. I was much interested to observe the harmony in which these people seem to live together; each was like an oasis in the moral desert of this immense country. I was careful

to ascertain the character and conduct of the people toward their heathen neighbours; and the Hindoo tassildar of the district assured me that they were a quiet, inoffensive people, and he should rejoice if all the inhabitants around him were of the same chaI could not but regard these villages as encouraging trophies of the Christian missionaries' achievements in the East.—Rev. J. Hough (Appendia to Protestant Missions vindicated).

racter.

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PREPARATION FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER.
BY THE REV. RICHARD HARVEY, M.A.
Rector of Hornsey.

No. II.

THE words of the apostle Paul, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup" (1 Cor. xi. 28), form the entire ground-work of the address which is appointed to be read by our Church when a minister gives warning to his congregation of the celebration of the holy communion. That exhortation is so frequently misunderstood, and so very generally disregarded, that it may be useful to take the present opportunity of calling the attention of my readers to its meaning, and the necessity of complying with it, if we would be faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus.

The first thing which it is important for us to notice is this, that it is only proposed to administer this sacrament to "such as shall be religiously and devoutly disposed." No others can possibly be benefited by the sufferings and death of Christ. No others can entertain a well-grounded hope that they may obtain remission of their sins, and be made partakers of the kingdom of heaven. It may be our duty to give humble and hearty thanks to God for our redemption; but the irreligious and indevout cannot be sincerely grateful for that which will only serve to increase their condemnation. In compliance with the language of the apostle, the Church then proceeds to remark how divine and comfortable a thing is this sacrament to them who receive it worthily, that is, in a becoming and Christian manner; and how dangerous to them that will presume to receive it unworthily, that is,

VOL. V.-NO. CXVI.

PRICE 1 d.

in a careless, or irreverent, or formal, or selfrighteous spirit. The dignity of the holy mystery, the due discerning the Lord's body, is next adverted to; the great peril of unfitly partaking of it is noticed, and a pressing exhortation to a close and sincere examination of their spiritual state is earnestly enforced. The necessity of such a scrutiny having been laid down, "the way and means thereto" is declared. We are referred "to the law and to the testimony;" "to examine our lives and conversation by the rule of God's commandments;" and we are exhorted to hearty repentance, an humble acknowledgment of our guilt, with full purpose of newness of life. If we have a quarrel against any, we are told to forgive; if we have done an injury to another, to repair it to the best of our power; otherwise we are in an unfit condition to receive the Lord's supper; and "he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

The blasphemer of God's word, the scoffer at serious religion, the adulterer, the malicious, the envious, the perpetrator of any grievous crime, are lastly called upon to repent, or else not come to the holy table. For, as the apostle says, "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" (1 Cor. x. 21). And at the conclusion, as a means of satisfying the doubtful, and removing all groundless alarm from those who cannot quiet their own consciences, but require further comfort or counsel, an invitation is made to them to come and lay open their troubles to their appointed minister, to seek of him ghostly, i. e. spiritual, counsel, to

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learn from him whether they may expect forgiveness; or if he is not sufficiently discreet and learned, they are recommended to go to some other who is.

are equally applicable to every sacred ordinance. They are suitable to baptism, to prayer, to public worship, to the observation of the Sabbath. He who disregards the proThis is the general purport of the warning mises of baptism; who offers up no prayers which the minister is directed by the Church from his heart; who joins in no public devoto give for the celebration of the holy com- tions to God; who pays some outward attenmunion. It is often looked upon as a dis- tion to the Sabbath, but does not sanctify it as suasive from partaking of it, rather than an the Lord's day, will find these several means of encouragement to receive it. It is regarded grace only a means of sorer condemnation. by some persons as a collection of all that is The apostle speaks strongly in reference to fearful and alarming, with little to comfort or the Lord's supper, because he had to correct encourage; and many think they comply with the Corinthians, who were guilty of a most its spirit in absenting themselves from the flagrant profanation of it. But the same Lord's table, because they are exhorted to language is strictly applicable to every other repent, or else not to come "to that holy exercise of devotion, and to every talent with table." Surely upon the same grounds they which we may be entrusted. Indeed St. Paul might argue, that by continuing in sin men himself applies the same mode of reasoning to observe the various directions of Scripture, the Gospel generally: "To the one we are wherein they are assured that they must turn the savour of death unto death; and to the from their sins or die in them, and exhorted other the savour of life unto life" (2 Cor. ii. to repent that iniquity may not be their ruin. 16). And men might with as much propriety It is not my purpose to qualify this exhorta-object to hear the word of God, as refuse to tion, or to soften down any of its statements; partake of the Lord's supper, lest they should but rather to remind my readers that every receive it unworthily. word which it contains, and every statement of the apostle, is applicable to any means of grace whatever. St. Paul is not arguing to shew that we may neglect the holy communion, but that we should examine ourselves, and be always ready. The drift of the exhortation is not that we are to keep away from the holy table, but that we are to repent, to confess and forsake our sins, and seek spiritual comfort and grace in this sacred ordinance. It is to assure us that we should never be unprepared, that we ought always to be ready to meet our Saviour here in his appointed means of grace, if we would meet him with joy hereafter. Instead of speaking peace to us when there is no peace; instead of deluding us with the miserable hope that a week's preparation formally repeated every month will save a soul from death; instead of deceiving us with the notion that by reading certain prayers which we never feel, by making sundry resolutions which we never mean to keep, we shall be enabled to profit by this sacrament, the apostle says expressly," Let a man examine himself;" let him search and see what manner of man he is; let him prove his own soul; let him see if Christ is in him of a truth; and so "let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." In like manner our Church says, that men are to search and examine their own consciences, and that not lightly and after the manner of dissemblers with God, but so that they may come holy and clean to such a heavenly feast, in the marriage-garment required by God in holy Scripture, and be received as worthy partakers of that holy table. And these remarks

In a former number I called the attention of my readers to the sacrament of baptism as entailing the most weighty responsibilities on all who partake of it; I endeavoured to shew that men are bound to keep or disavow the promises which they then made by themselves or their sureties; and I have thought it desirable on the present occasion to offer a few remarks on the sacrament of the Lord's supper, of which so very small a number partake. Let it not for a moment be thought that I would recommend men to receive the holy communion without the fullest consideration and most earnest prayer. "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself." And none are more unfit communicants than the self-righteous, the formal, or the careless. If men do not intend to keep their baptismal promises, if they are not seeking grace to repent, if they are not turning earnestly to the Lord, if they are not convinced of their sins, if they do not pray to be converted from them, if, in short, they are not striving to be conformed in all things to the will of Christ, they must not come to that holy table. But it should be remembered that no other services will avail them any thing. The Gospel will not be good tidings, because they have not accepted it. The Saviour will not be their deliverer, because they have not received him. sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord."

"The

We should, therefore, examine ourselves, whether we be really Christ's, for "Jesus Christ is in us, except we be reprobates" (2 Cor. xiii. 5). (2 Cor. xiii. 5). We should inquire into our

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