yet shone, but who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, the light of everlasting truth may arise.

Time has been, when the Church of England, more beloved and valued, because better understood by her own sons, was regarded with corresponding attachment in foreign lands. She was revered as the great bulwark upon earth of a true faith, and a primitive discipline; as the protector, patron, and glory of all the Protestant Churches. Time was, that the most gratifying expectations arose that her sister churches on the Continent might be united, through her influence, in one compact band of Christian communion, receive from her the same common confession of Christian faith, and adopt her ritual as the common model for their Christian worship; whereby, it was presumed, not without good reason, that the genuine principles of the primitive ages, and of the Reformation, and with them the influence of Christianity on the lives of men, would be widely propagated, and largely confirmed through out the world.

Another and very different set of principles, I need hardly say, is now extensively prevailing amongst us; how injuriously to the interests of peace, and piety, and true religion, time will

reveal.

Still, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, retaining its fidelity, while it dictates to none, and interferes in no sort with the internal concerns of other governments, and other professions of religion, seeks, in the British possessions, to sustain and propagate the Christian faith, according to that form to which it is bound by every tie, the profession of the Church of England. With this view, the support of Missions in distant lands is another principal branch of our designs. And while its sister Institution, the Incorporated Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, has, on the same principles, disseminated the Christian religion with distinguished success in the western hemisphere, our Society has directed its regard especially towards the east, and has, now for a great VOT. III.

2

number of years, maintained a very important mission in British India; whereby, at the same time that the saving word of God has been made known to idolatrous and pagan nations, the blessings of the Gospel have been extended to great numbers of Europeans, our own friends and relatives, placed there in circumstances of peculiar danger, and needing, therefore, in some sort, in more especial degrees than other men, the help and consolations of religion. Consider with yourselves, how great the peril must be of those who are sent forth, most of them in very unripe and tender years, far from home, far from the reach of the counsel, guidance, and example of parents and friends, into a licentious and unhealthy region. Consider the temptations and hazards which there surround them: and O! how unhappy must their condition be, if they be forsaken at length by their heavenly Father and Friend; if they drive him also away from them, by evil courses, and make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. Further, therefore, with your help, and pray for the prosperity of that Society, which, according to its means, endeavours to impart to these wanderers from their native shores, the untold blessings, far more precious than all the gold of Arabia, of the worship, the faith, and the piety of their fathers. Neither let it be imputed to us for blame, if, desirous that what God has joined together, man should not put asunder, we therefore send forth not the Bible only, but the Missionary also; not the Missionary alone, but the Missionary with the Bible in his hand, and, where occasion permits, with the Book of Common Prayer also, and with such other Treatises, as the piety of holy men has provided for the incident necessities of afflicted humanity. And, let us be pardoned also, if, knowing well that one of the greatest impediments to the successful propagation of our religion has ever been the divisions and disunion of Christians amongst themselves, we look with less complacency than others upon the indiscriminate admission and enco

ragement of sects and principles the most discordant, and choose rather to be directed by the voice of the Apostle, who commands us to mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which we have received, exhorting us all to speak the same thing, to be of one mind, and to seek the edifying of the body of Christ in love.

You now have before you a statement of the principal general designs of this our Society: and you will have some notion of the extent and value of its proceedings, when I in form you that the number of Bibles dispensed by it, during the last year only, amounted to twenty-two thousand; of New Testaments and Psalters, to upwards of fifty thousand; of Common Prayer Books, to nearly the same number; and of other books and tracts to nearly haat a million.

• The special purpose of the meeting of this day, and of the other proceedings of which this day's meeting is a part, is that a knowledge of these undertakings may be brought to your own doors; and that, with this knowledge, a participation in them may be extended as widely as possible amongst us; that so we may all lend our aid, in our place and measure, to bring on that glorious day, when the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.* And now, I think, you will see, that this Society does indeed deserve your esteem, gratitude, affectionate regard, and support, to the very highest degree, and far beyond what any other Institution hitherto extant, can do.

We seek to propagate true religion by schools and missions. We distribute the Holy Scriptures. We distribute the Book of Common PrayWe distribute a multitude more other books, the sole object of which is to maintain truth and godliness in all descriptions of men, and to uphold, unimpaired, the pure, apostolical, reformed faith and worship of our fathers. Now, which of these things shall be our reproach? Which shall

be pleaded against us? Which shall divert from us the streams of patronage, or curtail the tribute of our praise and estimation? Shall any? God forbid! With whomsoever these may be arguments against us, they cannot be so with you: but, if ye value truth, if ye value piety, if ye value charity and the holy religion of your fathers, and your own choicest blessings; and if ye desire to hand them down, unimpaired, to your children, ye will go on as ye have begun: ye will not be seduced from your stedfastness; your patronage in these matters will be with the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge; ye will show by the extent of your bounty, that you care anxiously for the welfare of piety and godliness upon earth; and by the channel in which you choose that this bounty should flow, ye will show that ye judge from the heart, that these inestimable blessings are best attained in connexion with a faithful, filial regard to the honour, the special interests, and the prosperity of the Church of England.

The present Times, in a Religious point of view. An Extract.

To many, I believe, the present times appear to be more than ordinarily "zealous of spiritual gifts:" and we occasionally hear expressions uttered of self-congratulation and wonder on this subject, which it is not easy altogether to approve of. Our spiritual day is represented as one of surprising brightness, and of special effusions of the Holy Ghost. It is affirmed, that it may bear a comparison in respect of zeal, and the favour of heaven, and the progress of divine truth, and the extension of charity, with the most distinguished of the past ages of the Church. May it be so! May God of his infinite mercy grant that his grace and goodness shall abound towards us more and more continually; and that the folly and perverseness of man may interpose less and less to thwart the divine purposes of loving kindness and bounty to the children

of men !

But then, to secure these good ends, it must never be forgotten, that we carry all this treasure in earthen vessels. The apostolic age itself comes in to admonish us, that spiritual gifts, the least questionable, may be abused to very ungodly consequences; that, therefore, it may well become us to examine ourselves; to prove our own selves; not to be highminded, but to fear; not to believe every spirit, but to try the spirits whether they be of God.

And truly, if the times in which we live, be distinguished by those extraordinary effusions of the divine grace, and more than common gifts of the Divine Providence, which some believe, O that there were not still more, the most afflicting reasons to fear, that in too many respects, the celestial bounty is marred amongst us, on all hands, by earthly intermixtures of zeal not according to knowledge, of ostentation, and vain-glory, of faction, and insubordination, of a pragmatical self-importance, and a craving after human praise; insomuch that, upon the whole, the religious principle, so far from being purified, elevated, and confirmed, is, it is to be greatly feared, in a rapid course of becoming lamentably debased, and deteriorated, by continual large accessions, from the most carnal and secular sources.

The impropriety of rambling after various Preachers, and forsaking our stated places of worship.-An Extract.

UNLESS men, therefore, can show, that these self-commissioned teachers have found out a new way of salvation, or that there is any difficulty in the old one; unless they can show, that their extemporaneous effusions are preferable to the sober and sublime words of our liturgy; unless they can show, that the inventions of man are better than the express appointment of God; till they can do all this, I would advise them to adhere to the worship of their fathers, and to follow those lawful guides and pastors, who are appointed, both by divine and human authority, to minister to them in holy things. And let them not doubt, but

that the means of salvation may be had at home as well as by deserting their families and occupations to ramble abroad, and that God will be found of them, who diligently seek him, as well in a church as in fields or tabernacles; for he is not far from every one of us. And whilst I condemn those who thus ramble frem field to field, or from tabernacle to tabernacle for instruction, I will not, I cannot approve their practice, who spend their Sundaysin rambling from church to church. I mean not to give offence to any man who does this; but let the censure fall where it will, I must say, that it is an indecent, it is an unjustifiable custom, which ought to give offence to every sober mind: For, let me_ask any serious and thinking person, Is it decent to spend the Lord's Day, which God commands to be kept holy, in this rambling and unsettled way? Is it decent either wholly to neglect the prayers of the church, or to come in when they are half finished? Is it decent to take off the devotions of a congregation by a noisy entrance or an impudent stare? And is it not much more indecent than all these, to turn their backs upon God's worship, which they too often do, if they happen not to like the voice of the minister or the appearance of the congregation; if the one has not the powers of eloquence to soothe their ears, or the other affords not the charms of beauty to captivate their eyes?

I know, farther, such men will tell me, that they go to hear the best preachers; that is, for they mean by it, the most pleasing speakers; for it is the sound, much oftener than the sense, which constitutes their idea of a best preacher. But what an indecent and childish plea is this! Is the church then become a play-house, where men are to seek for pleasure in hearing? Are the ministers of God become actors? Were they ordained to entertain you? Are our discourses to be weighed in the nice scales of criticism, or tried by the rules of oratory? Must we join with the popular phrenzy for politics, or rant for liberty, before we can be heard? Must we adopt the language of fiction, and bor

row the gestures of the theatre? Must we paint to your imaginations enamelled meads and purling streams, gentle zephyrs and Elysian fields? Must we scatter from the pulpit the flowers of poetry, or weave the silken tale of romance, before ye will deign to listen to us? If some have done this to draw after them the admiration of gaping ignorance, sorry I am to say it, that they little understand either the nature of their own office, or the dignity of the religion they profess to teach, which stands not in need of borrowed

ornaments or theatric rant. What! has truth then no weight? Have the tidings of salvation no influence? Has the word of God no power? Has heaven no charms? Has hell no terrors, unless we add to them poetic fiction or theatric gesture?

For shame, O Christians, think more nobly! spend not your sabbaths in pursuit of soft speeches or newfangled instructors. Reflect for a moment for what different purposes we stand here, and for what different ends this place and day were intended. Judge, if not more favourably for us, at least more wisely for yourselves. It is indeed happy, where sound conspires with sense, and the powers of eloquence adorn the truths of the Gospel: But, after all, is a well turned period, or a mellifluous voice able to save you? Can they add to the certainty of God's word, or increase the riches of your Redeemer's kindness? Can they prevail upon God to remit his vengeance to the unrepenting sinner, or to hear the prayer of an impure supplicant? Can they secure heaven to you without faith, or happiness without works? No; if heaven and happiness be gained, they must be gained by other means than listening to soft speeches and pleasing instructions. It is not the voice of angles, nor the tongue of seraphs, that can save you: they may instruct and advise you: but you must save yourselves. And can nothing but the voice of the charmerin struct and advise you? May not a man be an useful and sufficient, though not a pleasing instructor? Was St. Paul wanting in knowledge, because he was rude in his speech? Is not truth, truth,

from whatever mouth it comes? Is not God able to bless his word in the hands of the meanest of his servants, and out of the mouth of babes in utterance to ordain strength? Why then should men desert their proper and lawful teachers in the church, even though they are less pleasing ones? They may gaini heaven under their instructions; and would they have more?

But this is not all consider farther what a discouragement you throw upon the ministry by leaving your owni churches. For to what purpose do we labour to feed our flocks, if they will not attend to us? How shall we heal the diseased, if they fly from us? How shall we address ourselves to the particular circumstances and capacities of our congregations, if they are composed of a motley throng, whom chance or curiosity has brought together? It is a part of that solemn charge, which is given to every one of us at our admission into the ministry, " that we should never cease to apply our care and diligence, till we have brought all those ose who åre or shall be committed to our charge, to that agreement in the faith and of the knowledge of God, and to that ripeness of age in Christ, that there be no room left among them, either for error in religion or viciousness in life." But where, my brethren, shall we apply all this care and diligence in rooting out error and subduing vice, if you, who are committed to our charge, withdraw yourselves from us?

Again: Do not our parish churches in general come recommended to most of us by some circumstances, which no other places can have? Can we, for instance, forbear reflecting when we enter them, that we are now going into that house, which, after some few short months or years, is to be our last and long home? Will it not stop the levity of the gay to reflect, that they are now standing over those gloomy chambers of mortality, from which nor youth nor strength can secure them for one moment? Will it not damp the vanity of beauty and check the giddiness of youth to consider, that not all the bloom of nature, nor all the flattery of admiration, nor all the ardent vows of enraptured lovers can exempt them from the common stroke of fate, and that they may, within the revolution of a few days, enter these very doors a pale and loathsome spectacle of mortality? Is it not again a striking thought, that in this very place our ancestors worshipped the God of their fathers before us? Ask your hearts seriously, Is it nothing to reflect, that, in this very placé, perhaps an aged father, or tender mother, offered up their last prayer to heaven for me and all their posterity? Is it nothing to reflect, that I now tread upon the ashes of a beloved husband, wife, or favourite child? Will their tombs teach me no useful lessons? Will their mouldering remains inspire no serious thoughts? Will their example add no weight to the observations of the preacher, or my own reflections upon the vanity of life? Will their memory add no fervour to our devotions, or earnestness to our repentance? If we think them in Abraham's bosom, safe from all the cares and toils of this mortal life, can our affections sleep, or our prayers be languid, when we reflect, that it is on them we are to wing our way to that heaven, to which we piously hope they are gone before us? And if we think them in a state of misery, will that awaken no alarming thoughts? Will it be no terror to the guilty to think, that he is kneeling over the grave of a debauched companion, who is now soliciting a drop of water in hell to cool his tongue? Will he not naturally be led to consider, how small a space divides the living from the dead? Will he not naturally say, "His doom is irrevocably fixed, and mine cannot be far off: what he is now, may not I be to-morrow? Can I then slumber on in my sins? Is it not time for me to awake, and to cryout, Men and brethren, what shall I do to be saved?

These are reflections which must arise in every feeling breast; they cannot indeed affect all equally, but they must affect all in some degree; and, I should think, should induce every man, (where there is not some very strong reason to the contrary) to

prefer the worship of his church to that of barns and tabernacles.

I might add, that our parish churches commonly are endeared to us, as being the burying places of our families and friends. I know, indeed, the philosopher will tell me, that this is all weakness, and that it matters not where our bodies are laid. It may be so: it may be weakness, but it is a weakness which wiser men than he have not been ashamed to countenance. "When I die," said one of the old prophets, to express his regard for one of his brethren, "bury me beside him, let my bones lie by his bones." And we constantly find it said in the Old Testament," he slept with his fathers," "he was buried with his fathers," "he went down to the grave of his fathers." Such too the constant voice of heathen antiquity. Hic sacra, hic genus, hic majorum multa vestigia ;-studioseque eorum etiam sepulchra contemplor, were strong recommendations to the great master of Roman eloquence. And one of the best judges of human nature of our own country, very truly, though in the language of fiction, represents it as one of the greatest misfortunes of an unhappy old man, that he should not die and rest where his

father before him had done:

"You have undone," says he, "a man of fourscore years and three, That thought to fill his grave in quiet; yea, To die upon the bed my father dy'd, To lie close by his honest bones."

Winter's Tale, Act 4. Sc. 8.

And surely we must own, that there is something congenial to human nature, something agreeable to the tender feelings of affection, that those, "who in their lives have been lovely, in their deaths should not be divided."

Carr.

FOR THE CHRISTIAN JOURNAL. Messrs. Publishers,

It must surely come within the legitimate objects of the Christian Journal, to contribute, in any way, to the removal or mitigation of human misery. I have lately perused a "Report of the" late "Physician of the New-York Lunatic Asylum," Dr. WILLIAM HANDY, "addressed to a