And

and honourable," are exposed to all the awful consequences and miseries, temporal and spiritual, of Sabbath desecration; and who, as the natural victims of Chartism, Socialism, infidelity, and every form of crime against God and man, are fast involving themselves and their country in one common ruin. where is the remedy for this over-bearing weight of sin and misery? Shall we find it in the speculations of our modern would-be philosophers? Shall we find ît in the ordinances and inventions of men,- the power of the arm of flesh? No, here "the wisdom of man is foolishness with God." Jesus Christ and him crucified stands forth alone as Jehovah's remedy,— 'the only medicine appointed by the mercy of providence for our fallen nature, admits of no substitute, acknowledges no palliative but itself for the moral diseases under which we labour. To look to any other source for help is certainly to mistake the nature and extent of our malady.'

And where shall we find that help for the moral misery of our country? Whither shall we turn our despairing eyes but to the Established Church of our land? From what other quarter may we hope to hand down the blessings of our common salvation to generations yet unborn? By every motive then which we can lay before you we would exhort you—by your love to your Lord and Saviour, by your compassion for perishing sinners, by your loyalty to your Sovereign, to help, as the Lord hath prospered you, in this work and labour of love, a Society whose funds are now entirely exhausted.

The most prominent, however, of those defects which cripple the energies of the Established Church,

and circumscribe its usefulness, is the want of Churches and Ministers, in the large towns and populous districts of the kingdom. The growth of the population has been so rapid as to outrun the means possessed by the Establishment of meeting its spiritual wants and the result has been, that a vast proportion of the people are left destitute of the opportunities of public worship and Christian instruction, even when every allowance is made for the exertions of those religious bodies which are not in connexion with the Established Church.'-Second Report of her Majesty's Commissioners.

Donations for this object will be thankfully received by the Rev. H. A. Simcoe, Penheale, near Launceston, Cornwall.

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATION.

"Be strong, and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them," Deut. xxxi. 6.

Dr. Hackett is recorded as the last man in England who persisted to read the Liturgy after it had been proscribed by the Parliament; and the following anecdote is given by his biographer, illustrative both of his attachment to the Church, and his holy courage.

One Sunday, while he was reading the Common Prayer in his Church, a soldier of the Earl of Essex came and clapped a pistol to his breast, and commanded him to read no further. The Doctor, not at all terrified, replied, I will do what becomes a

divine, and you may do what becomes a soldier.' The tumult was quieted for a time, and the Doctor permitted to proceed.

"Lord, let it alone this year, also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down," John xiii. 8,

9.

WHEN the Great Husbandman shall come
To fix the Barren Fig-tree's doom,

And mark where fruit is found;

Shall I a fruitful tree be seen,

With foliage gay all fresh and green,
And be with glory crowned?

Or will his all-discerning eye,
A barren tree in me descry,
Fit only for the fire;

While fill'd with trembling and dismay,
At his command I'm borne away,

To meet his dreadful ire?

Forbid it, O thou God of grace,
Now may I humbly seek thy face
And bow with holy fear;
Now while the dresser intercedes,
And for the Barren Fig-tree pleads,
O condescend to hear!

O Lord this Barren Fig-tree spare,
And I to digging will repair,

And well manure its root,
Perchance 'twill recompence my toil,
When I have thus enrich'd the soil,
And bear abundant fruit.'

THE CHURCH OF OUR FATHERS.

HALF screen'd by the trees, in the Sabbath's calm smile, The Church of our Fathers, how meekly it stands;

The villagers gaze on the old hallowed pile

It was dear to their hearts, it was raised by their hands.

Who loves not the place where they worshipped their God? Who loves not the ground where their ashes repose? Dear, even the daisy that blooms on the sod,

And sacred the dust out of which it arose.

Then say, shall the Church that our forefathers built,
Which the tempests of ages have battered in vain,
Abandoned by us in supineness or guilt,

Oh say, shall it fall by the rash or profane?

No! perish the impious hand that would take

One shred from its altar, one stone from its towers,
The life blood of martyrs has flowed for its sake,
And its fall, if it fall, may be reddened with ours!

Rev. H. A. SIMCOE, Penheale-Press, Cornwall.

Art thou a King? Read the Scriptures; thou shalt find who hath established thine estate, and what duty thou owest to God. God there telleth thee, (Prov. viii.) "By me kings rule, and princes decree justice." I have given thee authority; thou carriest my sword; I have put a crown upon thy head; thou art my servant; walk before me; let thy heart be perfect in my sight.

Art thou a subject? Read the Scriptures; they will teach thee to know thy duty. There Paul biddeth thee, "Give tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to