and there is accordingly a State Temperance Society formed wholly of members of the provincial Senates, in every State of the Union except one, comprehending altogether twenty-three in number. 4. The state society of Washington embraces a large majority of the members of both houses of congress; and a public declaration in favour of such associations, signed by the three last presidents of the United States, has been issued by General Jackson, addressed especially to the young men of the Republic; to commemorate which a beautiful silver medal has been recently struck at Birmingham, and some thousands have already been sent over to America. 5. More than 4,000 distilleries have ceased their operations— some from the conscientious conviction of their proprietors that to distil a poison, the habitual use of which created so much misery, was a crime; and others because the cessation of the demand rendered it unprofitable to produce a supply. 6. More than 8,000 persons who were engaged in the traffic or sale of distilled spirits, as merchants and dealers, wholesale and retail, have abandoned this occupation, and turned their premises and their capitals to more wholesome and useful account. 7. More than 1,200 vessels now sail from different ports in America which take no ardents spirit with their stores, whether the voyages be to the icy sea or to the torrid zone; and while the crews of such vessels are invariably in better health and better discipline than when the contrary practice prevailed, the underwriters, both in England and America, readily insure such vessels against the perils of the sea at a lower rate of premium than if they carried spirits with them; and of the American ships that frequent Liverpool, the greatest numher are navigated on this principle, without the use of spirits by either the officers or the crews. 8. The number of criminals in the goals, of sick in the hospitals, of lunatics in the asylums, and of persons subsisting on charity from their being in a state of destitution, has been greatly reduced throughout America by the influence of the Temperance Societies alone; and more than 12,000 persons, who were confirmed and notorious drunkards, have been reclaimed from their former habits, and rendered useful members of society by the operations of this useful association. 9. In almost every State in America there is a public journal devoted exclusively to the advocacy of the Temperance Reformation, the sale of each of which amounts to several thousands per week. The most popular is the one called the Temperance Intelligencer, This is a large sheet, little inferior in size to The Morning Chronicle, and is filled exclusively with details of public meetings, conferences, reports, and statements connected with the Temperance cause; and of this more than 200,000 copies are are printed of each impression; notwithstanding which, it is so rapidly increasing in sale, that it is not an unusual occurrence for its publisher to receive orders for 1,000 copies extra one post, and to add to the number of its permanent subscribers by several hundreds in a single day; and this in a population of less than onehalf of the number of that of Great Britain and Ireland. 10. The most remarkable feature of all is, perhaps, however, this that several Temperance Almanacs have been published in different States of the Union, containing the usual information of Almanacs adapted to particular localities, and in addition to this, every kind of detail connected with the Temperance cause; and for the one preparing for the year 1836, at New York, orders had been received up to June last for more than 600,000 copies, and upwards of a million were expected to be subscribed for before its appearance in December. We have received some curious and interesting details respecting the progress of the Temperance Reformation in this country also, though not approaching in magnitude to those connected with America; as here the numbers enrolled in these societies do not yet exceed 200,000 for England, and about an equal number for Ireland and Scotland combined; making, therefore, less than half a million out of twenty-five millions of people, or 1 in 50 of the entire population; while in America the numbers are about one million and a half out of twelve millions of people, or 1 in 8 of the entire population. We may add, however, two remarkable facts connected with the cause in England, as to proportions of numbers in particular localities, namely that in Cornwall, with a population of 320,000, there are 12,688 members, or about 1 in 25 of the whole number; and in the small town of Colne, in Lancashire, out of a population of 6,000 persons, there are 1,500 members, or 1 in 4 of the whole number; a larger proportion, it is believed, than any single town or place in the world; and as the members of the Colne Temperance Society abstain equally from spirits, wine, and beer (which is the case, indeed, with the Yorkshire and Lancashire societies generally, and there are in these two counties 30,990 members in the first, and 19,872 members in the second, being together, about onefourth of the whole number in England), the effect in that town has been, nearly to root out both dram-shops and beer-shops, and to turn a drunken and riotous, into a sober and orderly population. [Still greater things have been done, both in America and Britain, since the date of this paper.] PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL AMONG ROMAN CATHOLICS IN FRANCE. A faithful minister of the Gospel wrote lately to his Christian friends that M. G., in the city of B., had renounced popery to embrace the Christian religion in its purity. This bold act drew upon him many anathemas from the Romish priests. They predicted, in their anger, the most frightful calamities. But M. G. had obeyed the voice of conscience, and did not allow himself to be terrified, On the contrary, he sought earnestly to enlighten the members of his family, and to persuade them also to enter the paths After some time, God deigned to bless his efforts. of truth. His eldest daughter, at that time, was at Louhans, learning the trade of a tailoress. Surrounded by priests to whom she confessed the secrets of her heart, and bigoted women who told her that her father was a heretic and a son of perdition, she thought she must remain inviolably attached to the Romish Church. But all the powers of earth and hell cannot oppose the accomplishment of the merciful designs of the Most High. This young girl would not abjure her father, as she was advised, at least, not until she was certain that he had really abandoned the truth to follow error. She took the most obvious method to inform herself, that of going to hear the preacher of the religion her father now professed. She went to the church, and the pastor preached Jesus; she learnt for the first time that salvation is of grace, and that whosoever believeth on the Son hath life. On hearing this joyful news, her heart was affected; she wept, and a divine voice whispered within her that such a doctrine could not be false. Returning to Louhans, Miss G. related frankly what she had seen and heard. Her story shocked the bigots who surrounded her. "Oh! go no more to that false church," cried her friends, " "you will be lost: these are Satan's preachers!" But very different sentiments filled her heart. She was impatient to hear more of that precious Jesus whose mercies she had begun to experience. She inclined still to try the remedy which Rome gives to diseased souls; she sought absolution from the priest; but this pretended absolution did not give her peace of conscience. Soon after, and of her own accord, she followed her father's steps. An old lady who lived near her tried to shake her resolution by asking her reproachfully: "What have you done, poor child? You have left the church of which St. Peter is head, and the pope after him!" "Have I abandoned the church of our Lord Jesus Christ?" replied she; "no, no, God has kept me from so great a sin. I have entered, on the contrary, into his church, and I bless God for having given me this grace." "But you do not confess any more; you no longer invoke the Holy Virgin." "I confess every day to the Lord; trust that the Virgin Mary is happy, because God has given her grace to believe in the Saviour. If I am deceived, prove it to me by the word of God." "Oh! what will become of you? you cannot but be unhappy." "Unhappy! oh no. I never before tasted such delicious happiness. Jesus died to redeem my soul; he has given me his peace; what then can I want?" These words, pronounced with truly Christian simplicity, irritated so much the old lady, that she exclaimed in a paroxysm of rage: "Don't you see that the devil instigates you? When you were in our Church you were always sad, now you are out of your head with your joy. When you listened to our priests, who surely know as much as your minister, you retained nothing; now, after having once heard this impostor, you recollect all that he utters; this can come only from the devil!" Miss G. persevered in her new course, in spite of the attacks and reproaches with which she was unceasingly followed. Her two brothers embraced the same faith. In a word, the whole family of G. have experienced abundant spiritual blessings. Leaving this interesting family, let us accompany a servant of God to the military hospital of Lyons. He went regularly there to read the Holy Scriptures. One day, when he had read and explained a chapter of the Bible to several soldiers, one of them was so much touched, that he was bold to open his heart to this compassionate stranger, whose discourses were as a soothing balsam to his wounded soul. While confessing how bad a son he had been, he begged his new friend to visit his mother, who was, he said, a pious woman, and who would be happy to hear him. Our brother went to see the mother of the prisoner, whom he found plunged in the superstitions of Rome. After some visits, in which the word was purely and simply presented, accompanied with prayer, the woman gradually lost her confidence in her own righteousness, and became convinced that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life," and that "no man can come to the Father but by him." Then she went to hear preaching in the Evangelical chapel of Lyons. There the veil which concealed the truth fell from her eyes; at her request she was admitted to a small company of converts in that city. Her abandoning of popery caused a great sensation, because she was a woman of much intelligence and zeal. Husband, relations, friends, priests, all united to bring her back to the Romish church, but in vain. In the same hospital, an invalid, a soldier who had formerly studied in a Roman Catholic seminary, and another soldier who was a Jew by birth, were also converted to the confession of evangelical faith. NOTICE. The Editor is grieved to find that the paper in the July number, on False Profession, has given offence in some quarters. He has read it over very attentively, and has not a moment's regret that he inserted the paper, but he does indeed regret that any members of the Methodist connexion should feel otherwise than thankful that false profession, wherever discovered, should be exposed, and made a subject of warning to others. If the Editor could for a moment allow that he deserved the charge of bigotry and intolerance towards other sects, which a certain angry Reviewer brings against him, he should be distressed indeed. Most heartily can he say, and always has said through life, "grace be with all them who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." But he surely does not merit such a charge, unless it can be proved that he has published the history because of its connexion with Methodism, and would have concealed it if discovered in the bosom of his own Church. He thinks that his pages can testify, that he has been ready to warn his readers against spiritual wickedness, in whatever places it might be discovered. These are days in which hypocrisy and self-deception abound amongst all denominations of Christians; and the Editor feels that he cannot take more useful ground with his readers, than by exemplifying their dreadful workings whenever an occasion offers for the purpose. 2 Cor. 6. 1 1 Cor. 16. 22 2 John, ver. 9 1 Cor. 16. 14 Col. 2.7 1 Sunday after Christmas 31 Ps. 37. 30, 31 Arthur Foster, Printer, Kirkby Lonsdale, |