inheritance that fadeth not away. How, then, must remorse be added to disappointment, if he forfeit this by criminal neglect! But how delightful will be his reflections, if, when about to lose all earthly good, he enjoys the sure anticipation of that which is eternal and unchangeable! How strongly is he urged, not only to seek himself the true and living faith, which is essential to this; but also to consecrate a liberal portion of his wealth to extending to his fellow-men the knowledge and means of this glorious privilege. of this earnest call upon Solon. The following facts were related in reply. When Solon, a wise Athenian philosopher, was at Sardis, on some occasion, he obtained a social interview with king Cræsus:-the king, with a view to extort from the philosopher a compliment on his felicity, made a display of his riches and vast possessions. But instead of applause, the philosopher observed, that he could call no man happy in this life, because he could not foresee what was to befall him before his death. The recollection of these words, at this serious moment, with Cræsus, caused him thrice to call upon the name of Solon. Hearing this story, Cyrus was touched with such compassion for the unhappy man, that he stopped the execution, and ordered him to be taken down; and for ever after Crœsus was made a confident and chief counsellor in all Cyrus's affairs. Happy would it be, if Christians, on Christian principles, could view temporal possessions like this heathen philosopher, and act as if they were not to be depended on for happiness, and a security against the ills of life. Then we might look for greater ardour in seeking the only true and substantial happiness, beyond the limits of this life; and more liberal improvement of the means which worldly pos, sessions afford of promoting the spiritual and eternal blessings of religion. The true spirit of Christianity is calculated to raise the mind above the world, so as to view its pursuits and enjoyments as vanity, and lighter than vanity, when compared witheternity and happiness above. It is, however, a lamentable fact, that many Christians, instead of placing their greatest affections on things above, where they ought to be placed, show that their chief concern is here below. A very heathen teaches them that this is folly. He could call no man happy, while he did not know what was to befall him. The wretched Cresus felt this truth, when his possessions, and honours, and all the appendages of royalty, so far from soothing, must have added to his misery. But the Christian has promise of an VOL. HI. 12 en The time is coming, when Solomon's words, all is vanity, will be realized by every individual; when goldbarriers will be insufficient to keep off the agitations of a guilty soul, about to quit its earthly tabernacle, and appear in the presence of its Judge. Let then Christians have at least as much reflection as a heathen philosopher, who judged that man ought not to felicitate himself on his possessions, as long as he knew not what were to be his misfortunes here. Let them think more of future happiness, and devote more of their earthly treasures to the interests of religion, and to extend the borders of that holy and apostolic Church, which the Redeemer, at the expense of his atoning blood, established to lead them to heaven, where is happiness without alloy. In this way, riches may procure for them crowns of rejoicing, bliss that shall never fade away, but be durable as eternity. LONG-ISLAND. LIGHT AND LOVE. LIGHT is the great source of blessing in the natural world, love in the moral. The excellencies of both are united in the Divine nature: God is light, and God is love. A slavish and superstitious fear of God proceeds, therefore, from a misapprehension of him; as when the disciples saw Jesus walking upon the sea, and knew not who it was, they were scared with the appearance; and, therefore, our Lord, to take off their fear, only made himself better known to them: It is I, says he, be not afraid. Baring Botany-Bay Skip. (From the Christian Guardian for Jan. 1819.) In the Supplement to the December number we mentioned the sailing of this ship, with upwards of 300 convicts, from the river, having on board also the Rev. John Cross, an assistant Chaplain for New South Wales, with his wife and children; the Rev. Mr. Butler, a Clergyman belonging to the Church Missionary Society, and his wife and children; Mr. and Mrs. Kemp; Mr. Hall, and two New Zealanders, for New Zealand, via Sydney: we congratulated our readers on the probable accession to the cause of religion in our distant settlement, and among the Zealanders, by the services of such men as we believe them to be, and we heartily wished them a prosperous voyage, and great success in their ministry. And now we have to communicate, with a sorrow chastised with submission, and with thankfulness unmixed with any alloy, the result of a most narrow escape of the ship and people from destruction. Shortly after their sailing from Sheerness, on the bank, near the North Foreland, the vessel grounded! The shock occasioned by her position was so violent as to move the people off their feet; and the groans of the vessel, in her laborious conflict between the ground and the under-swell, were described to us by an ear-witness as most tremendous; and the tremulous motion of the mainmast was indescribably affecting to the women and children, and brought paleness into the countenance of one of those most accustomed to the sea. In this jeopardy they did not continue long, for, by the good providence of God, the ship touched at the time the flowing of the tide had commenced, so that by setting sails, and moving the people forward in the ship, the tide greatly helping, she launched forth into deep water. Till this period the Rev. Gentlemen felt no confounding alarm; but a quiet and tranquil presence of mind, answerable to the promise, "As thy day is, so shall thy strength be," kept them from sinking while the ship was in danger; but when she floated on the bosom of the but now threatening ocean, they felt a sinking, perhaps in part from sensations of gratitude, and in part from the unbending of the nerves, which had been too highly stretched before with apprehension, mingled with hope and trust in God. The wind continued strong, but in their favour, till they reached the Downs, off Deal; and the moment they came into ten fathoms water, the wind of the Lord blew strongly in their teeth, and they were forced to anchor: this gave opportunity for more minute inquiry into the state of the hold, and they found that the ship was making three feet water in twenty-four hours. This induced the Captain to land and set off post for London, to lay the state of the vessel before the proper authorities, whose decision was to return into Sheerness to refit. So then the voyage is postponed, but the precious lives are saved most probably from destruction, for, had the wind not prevented, they would have proceeded down Channel; and, as the ship is deemed not sea-worthy, they might have looked in vain for any haven but that to which the Christians among them would have come suddenly and certainly, but the unbelievers never. But now, who can tell but that many of these lives may, through grace, be reserved for salvation work here, and the enjoyment of glory hereafter! The hand of God has been made manifest in the outset, and we trust it will be always viewed and owned in the sequel by many on board. The account given of the care and attention of the Captain, the good conduct and promising manners of the convicts, which we have received from the best authority, afford us a hope that, with this warning of the suddenness with which they may sink into eternity in remembrance, and the kind and zealous instruction and prayers of the Rev. Gentlemen on board, those who go forth as convicts before a human bar, may, by a higher conviction, be brought to a throne of grace, for mercy and pardon, through our Redeemer's blood and righteousness. It is supposed that the delay occasioned by this incident will not be very long. The reasons for the incident itself are in the hands of a higher Power, where we wish to leave it, knowing that he doth all things well. (From the Missionary Register for Dec. 1818.) THE following Official Notice, from the Colonial Government, has given us much pleasure. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, acting in the name of his Majesty, having been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland, dated at Westminster, on the 27th of September, in the 57th year of his Majesty's reign, and received in this Colony, to constitute within his Majesty's territories in the Island of Ceylon, an Archdeaconry, to be called the Archdeaconry of Colombo, and to be subject, during his Majesty's pleasure, to the Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta; and to appoint the Honourable and Rev. Thomas James Twisleton, Clerk, Master of Arts, to be Archdeacon of the Archdeaconry of Colombo-the said constitution by his Royal Highness, and appointment of the Honourable and Reverend Thomas James Twisleton to the Aachdeaconry, are notified by his Excellency to take effect from the first of April current. It is also announced, that the Governor has appointed the Rev. George Bisset, the second Chaplain to succeed the Archdeacon as Senior Colonial Chaplain, and Principal of Schools in Ceylon. Natural History of the Boabab. On the Isle of Sor, to the east, cotton and indigo grow naturally, and, together with mangoes mimosas, the magnificent boabab, or adausoia, the elephant of the vegetable kingdom, is found. This tree often serves the Negroes for a dwelling, the construction of which costs no further trouble than cutting an opening in the side to serve as a door, and taking out the very soft pith which fills the inside of the trunk. The tree, far from being injured by this operation, seems even to derive more vigour from the fire which is lighted in it, for the purpose of drying the sap by carbonizing it. In this state it almost always happens that the bark, instead of forming a ridge at the edge of the wound, as happens in some trees in Europe, continues to grow, and at length covers the whole inside of the tree, generally without any wrinkles, and thus presents the astonishing spectacle of an immense tree recompleted in its organization, but having the form of an enormous hollow cylinder; or rather a vast arborescent wall, bent into a circular form, and having its sides sufficiently wide asunder to let you enter into the space which it encloses. If casting your eyes on the immense dome of verdure which forms the summit of this rural palace, we see a swarm of birds, adorned with the richest colours, sporting on its foliage, such as roilers with a sky blue plumage, senegallis of a crimson colour, and souimanga, shining with gold and azure; if advancing under the vault, we find flowers of dazzling whiteness, hanging on every side; and if in the centre of the retreat, an old man and his family, a young mother and her child meet the eye; what a crowd of delicious ideas is aroused at this moment!-The leaves, when dried, are converted into the powder lalo with which the natives season almost all their food. They employ the roots WORDS are no otherwise important than as they are the signs of ideas. The connexion between the two, has, in but very few instances, any foundation in nature. It is merely arbitrary. By this, however, it is not to be understood that every man has a right to assign to words any sense he pleases. To avoid endless perplexity and misunderstanding, it is obviously necessary that there be a general consent in this particular. In some cases the derivation of a word is sufficiently evident to control this. In others, it should be governed by the authority of standard writings; or where their decisions are not given, general usage. I propose to submit a few remarks on the very prevalent misapplication of certain religious terms. The Scriptures, and the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, are the standards by which the use of these terms shall be tested; they being supposed to be acknowledged by the reader as competent authority. Peter, St. John, and St. Jude, are termed in their superscriptions, Catholic, or, as it is in our translation, General Epistles. The learned differ in assigning the cause for this. One opinion is, that as (with the exception of the short Epistles of St. John) they were not addressed to converts in particular places, but generally; they were, therefore, termed Catholic. Others are of opinion, that as the first Epistle of St. Peter, and the first of St. John, were, from the beginning, universally received as authentic, and doubts were entertained of the remainder of these seven Epistles, the former were termed Catholic; and that the name was afterwards applied to them all, when the claims of the others to genuineness had been fully examined, and universally approved. In both these sentiments, we perceive the same signification of the word in question. Where it occurs in the Liturgy, there can be no doubt of its retaining the same meaning. In the Apostle's Ang Creed, we profess belief in "the Holy Catholic Church;" and in the Nicene Creed, in "one Catholic and Apostolic Church." In the visitation of the sick, there is a prayer for "all present at the visitation," that they may die " in the communion of the Catho-th lic Church." It is obvious that there is here meant what is expressed in the prayer for all conditions of men, the litany, and the prayer in the communion for the whole state of Christ's Church, by the expression, "Univer sal Church." This, again, is explained by the XIXth Article. “The visible Church of Christ is a congre-e gation of faithful men, in the which al the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly administered, according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that, of necessity, are T requisite to the same." All, then, who come under this de finition, belong to the Catholic Church. But by a very prevalent misapplicat Tha tion of that term, it is made, in a vast on majority of cases, to convey a very re different idea. It is claimed by a portal tion, and a very corrupt portion, of Num the Christian world, as peculiarly de Chan 1 signating their character. The claim is virtually allowed by most other Christians. Of the claim, I will now say nothing further, than that if they who advance it are sincerely of opinion that others have forfeited their title to it, they have a right to charitable allowance for the error. In the sanctioning of the claim by others, lies the greatest evil. It is doing injustice to the cause of Christ; by virtually allowing that a portion of his followers, who, we honestly think, have very essentially departed from the purity of his religion, compose his whole (Catholic) Church. It is doing injustice to those Christians who have thrown off the corruptions of the Church of Rome; by virtually admitting that they thus severed themselves from the Catholic or Universal Church of Christ. It is doing injustice to the standards of the Protestant Episcopal Church, by placing her language at variance with that generally received; and subjecting it to ⚫ being misunderstood, or perverted. tions above stated, by conceding, in common usage, the term Catholic to this one denomination, to the exclusion of all others. No one thinks of saying English Catholic, Danish Catholic, Swedish Catholic, &c. yet these terms ought to be used, in justice to Protestant churches, if Roman Catholic is used in compliment to the Papal Church. Remarks on some other misapplied terms, it is proposed to submit hereafter. N. L. K. CYRUS AND TIGRANES. CYRUS had taken the wife of Tigranes, and asking him what he would give to save her from servitude? He replied, all that he had in the world, and his own life into the bargain. Cyrus, upon this, very generously restored her, and pardoned what had passed. All were full of his praises upon this occasion; some commending the accomplishments of his mind, others those of his person. Tigranes asked his wife whether she dit greatly admire him? " I never looked at him," said she. "Not look at him!" returned he; " upon whom then did you look?" "Upon him," replied she, "who offered his own life to redeem me from slavery."' The religious denomination which assumes the term in question, as specially its right, should be distinguished, as all others are, by titles arising out of its peculiarities; as the Church of Rome, the Roman, or Romish Church, as designating the local centre of its influence and authority; or the Papal Church, as indicative of the constitution of its ministry, and thus upon the same footing with the terins Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational: but ought not to be encouraged in claiming the term Catholic, to which all are entitled who come under the definition of the 19th article above quoted. Romanists, or Papists, should, upon the same principle, be the term used to designate the HARK! the shrill herald of the morn members of that Church. The expression Roman Catholic, is hardly less censurable than the latter word simply. It implies a contradiction. Let its form be changed into Roman Universal, and this will at once appear. If it be said that the expression may be considered elliptical, and denoting the same as the Roman branch of the Universal Church, it is still liable to the objec This charming example should be copied into our behaviour in the house of God; where we should behold and contemplate the beauties and perfections of that blessed Person alone, who actually did give his life a ran som for us. A MORNING HYMN ON EASTER-DAY Begins the sons of men to warn, To bless our longing eyes. Back to their den repair. 'Tis this the weary sailor cheers, Who now no more the tempest hears, |