it, and the Holy Ghost gave testimony to it " by signs and wonders." If we would dwell in safety and happiness, secure from the thunders of Mount Sinai, we must pitch our tents around the cross. The great doctrine of the atonement is that doctrine, from which the others radiate as from their centre, and God recognizes no genuine piety, independently of the pardoning and sanctifying grace that flows from this doctrine. See then that you keep your eye fixed upon your Great Advocate in the courts above, that He may not only guide you in safety through the waves of this troublesome world, but enrich you, during your passage through it, with all spiritual blessings; for he still remembers and pleads in your behalf, what he once did and suffered for you: and such intercession cannot but form an indissoluble bond of connexion between heaven and earth, and thus serve to elevate your hopes, to spiritualize your affections, and to maintain, in lively exercise, that mysterious and invisible communion with the living Head of the Church, in which the life and power of godliness consist. A cold, historical assent to an or. thodox creed, may indeed lead you to the porch of the temple;---but only that faith, which is the fruit of the Spirit, and upon which all other graces are founded, and by which they are nourished and strengthened, can conduct you into the sanctuary itself, and inflame your hearts with the sacred fire of the altar. B. M. CHRISTIAN COMPASSION FOR BARGEMEN. SIR,-It has given me great pleasure to see the case of Bargemen introduced into your Magazine, for they and their families have often excited my compassion; and if your clerical friends will but take this matter up as its importance demands, I have no doubt but much good will result from their exertions. On many of our canals commodious packet boats are used for the accommodation of travellers, which are frequently employed on Sundays as well as other days. This was the case at one time on the Lancaster and Preston canal, but some of the pious inhabitants of Lancaster applied to the proprietors on the subject, and the evil was corrected. If the example of these excellent persons was generally followed, and especially if the Clergy and their friends would exert themselves to the utmost, a great moral change might soon be effected in this, and various other respects. Many serious persons have considerable property in canals, and consequently possess a proportionate degree of influence; but they, surely, can never expect the divine blessing on their wealth, while they allow the unholy gain arising from the violation of the Lord's day to mingle with the general stream of legitimate remuneration. Individuals may perhaps, of themselves, effect little, but the result of combined and repeated exertions, may, through the divine blessing, be productive of extensive good. On few subjects indeed is it more important at the present moment to petition the Legislature, than on the gross and grievous profanation of the Lord's day. The enactments of our pious forefathers have been rendered in many instances nugatory, by the craft and subtlety of wicked men; and attempts are continually making to promote the cause of profaneness and infidelity. Arise, then, ye ministers and people of God, and let your revered King and esteemed Government knowthat your great concern is, that the day of God and the ordinances of heaven may be honoured in our land: for righteousness only can exalt our nation, and sin is a greater reproach to us than to any other people under heaven. I am, most respectfully, A GRIEVED CHRISTIAN, THE SEAMAN'S FRIEND.-No. IV. MR. EDITOR,-I had intended to trespass on your pages before this. time, but a variety of those home duties, which I am anxious to impress others with a sense of the duty of attending to, have diverted not my thoughts, but my pen, from the service of our brave and neglected seamen longer than I could have wished. And now I sit down to write another paper, I really am perplexed what to write about; because I have tales of horror and distress, of sufferings and sins, of joy and of peace, of mercy and truth, as connected with our seamen. And I have tales of lively sympathy and sweet Christian compassion, and of base ingratitude and stupid apathy, of liberality and penuriousness, as connected with our lands-people, which would fill many pages. I shall therefore, for the present, pass by these, and transmit you a letter which I have this week received from a gentleman of America, the Rev. Mr. Boyd, a zealous Episcopal divine of Philadelphia, whose brotherly affection,' to use the words of one of the leading merchants of that city, whose letter is also before me, is most highly esteemed by the venerable pastor of the Mariners' Church in that city, and whose attention to the cause of the mariner has prevailed from the first effort in its favour in that part of the world.' I have in a former letter stated how the holy flame of zeal for the Redeemer's glory, and the salvation of perishing seamen, had taken wing, and fled to the shores of many distant parts of the world, and especially to America; and that there was a holy emulation in that interesting part of the globe, stirring up good men of all denominations to instruct and christianize the ignorant, profane, neglected sons of the ocean. Mr. Boyd's letter will probably give some of your readers additional information, and tend to illustrate and confirm what I stated in the letter now referred to, as it will, I doubt not, delight the hearts of many who pray for and wish well to our Zion, and the cause of Christ universally in the earth. Philadelphia, Dec. 18, 1826. REV. AND DEAR SIR,-At the request of my esteemed friend, Robert Ralston, Esq. and the Rev. Joseph Eastburn, both of this city, I venture, though a stranger, to write this letter to you. Their wishes are, in making this request, that I would give you some information respecting what is doing in this city in behalf of seamen, testify to the kind and Catholic spirit which prevails among us, and thus afford to you and others, their friends and benefactors in England, an additional incentive, if any be necessary, to persevere in the good work in which you are engaged. We have reason to bless God for what he is doing to the furtherance of his own glory in the earth amid the gloom which rests upon the nations, and spreads its sable influence over what is called Christendom, it is delightful to contemplate those redeeming features in the prospect, which keep alive the hopes and animate the exertions of the friends of Zion. With Bible Societies, and Missionary Societies, and National and Sunday School Societies, and Tract Societies, and a long list of similar charities, we may now associate Bethel Unions and Mariners' Church Societies. These all are links of the same golden chain, with which I trust the Lord is preparing to bind together the scattered members of his mystical body. You belong, Reverend Sir, to a branch of the Christian church which is becoming the admiration of the world. The Church of England I regard as the hope of Christian Europe. She is rising in her strength to assert the cause of God, "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." May she continue to march forward in the power of the Lord of hosts, confounding the counsels, and carrying dismay into the ranks of all his enemies. As a humble observer of passing events, I rejoice sincerely, and thank God, that the same Holy Spirit which has reproved the churches in England, for their past supineness and indifference, appears to be moving upon the hearts of the pious on this side of the Atlantic. Christians of every denomination, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Friends, &c. &c. are beginning to feel that they belong to the same 'body,' which is animated by the same Spirit. I pray God that the fires of sacred charity which have been kindled in England and America, may burn brighter and brighter, and kindle wider and wider, until all who love the Saviour are warmed by their heat, and every thing which has a tendency to prevent its exercise shall be burned up. The following are the leading particulars which I have been able to collect concerning the Mariner's Church of Philadelphia. In the month of October, in the year 1819, for the first time, God put it into the hearts of a few persons in this city, to collect the sailors of the port together for the purpose of public worship. To this good work they were no doubt incited by the report of what was doing in other places. The attempt was made in a sail-loft gratuitously offered for the occasion, and succeeded beyond expectation. On the first Sunday several hundred sailors with their wives and children came together to listen to the word of life. He who stirred up the wills of his people to undertake this good work, had prepared a pastor for the seamen in the person of the Rev. Joseph Eastburn. He is a man in all respects suited to the place. His manner of preaching is simple, serious, and impressive. Man, his utterly lost and helpless state as a sinner, Jesus Christ and him crucified, with the converting, renewing, and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, are the subjects upon which he continually dwells. In his private intercourse Mr. Eastburn is so mild, and affectionate, so friendly and accessible, that he has attached the whole body to himself by bonds which can never be severed, On the next Lord's day after the first, a Sunday School was commenced under the direction of teachers of various religious persuasions, and continues to flourish. On an average one hundred and fifty children attend, for the most part the children of sailors. Thus far the school has been conducted with perfect harmony. It was at first feared that an instrument of so many strings could not be kept in tune, but experience has proved that the grace of the Gospel can accomplish what no scheme of worldly policy ever has. :: The undertaking having prospered under the blessing of Almighty God, in June 1823, measures were adopted to provide a permanent accommodation for the mariners' church. A subscription paper was circulated, which in a few weeks presented an amount little less than ten thousand dollars with this sum a suitable lot was procured, leaving a balance to be appropriated to the building of about twelve hundred dollars. When the house was finished there was a debt upon it of nine thousand forty seven dollars, forty-eight cents, which has been reduced to six hundred and fifty dollars. This sum it is expected will be paid by the annual rent of the stores under the church, by the monthly contributions of the seamen, and, if needs be, by another appeal to the liber ality of the pious. The annual rent is about seven hundred and fifty dollars. When the debt is extinguished the property will belong to the sailors, and form a perpetual provision for their spiritual benefit. The new building, seventy-five feet by sixty-one, was finished in a neat and commodious manner, and opened for public worship on the third Sunday in October, in the From the dedication of year 1824. the church to the present time the congregations assembling have been large, serious, and attentive. I doubt not, much good has been done. no The moral effects of this church upon that class of the community upon whom it was calculated to operate, have been of the most salutary kind. Joseph Watson, Esq. the present active and intelligent chief magistrate of the city has stated, that the police office is longer a seat of justice, as it formerly was, for pronouncing judgment upon mariners brought there in a state of intoxication." And the distinguished officer placed over the customs of the districts, has said, "that it is a rare occurrence for a mariner now to appear on the floor of the custom house under the influence of liquor." I hope it will not be thought improper to mention the names of Richard Dale, Esq. Robert Ralston, Esq. and Samuel Archer, three of the most active friends of the mariners' church from the beginning. I do not single out these names to flatter the individuals to whom they belong, but to present for your consideration a beautiful illustration of that Catholic spirit which I mentioned in the beginning of this letter. The first named of these gentlemen was a communicant of the Episcopal church, a parishioner of Bishop White, who has since been removed by death. The second is an elder in the Presbyterian church; and the third, a member of the society of friends. These still live to witness the happy effects of their charitable exertions. The influence of such an example cannot fail to recommend the cause of Christianity. The world will see and believe that there is a reality in the religion of the gospel when they behold Christians of different names, uniting as brethren for the accomplishment of works of benevolence. The Church of Christ, "which is the blessed company of all faithful people," will hail with delight such indications of pure and perfect love; and generations yet unborn will reap its benefits. Too long have the children of the same heavenly Father, partakers of the same hope, and heirs of the same glorious immortality, looked upon each other as strangers and foreigners. They begin to find that a difference of mode or dress need not produce an alienation of feeling. God grant that all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, may love one another. That God may crown your labours in his service with his abundant blessing, is the sincere prayer of your fellow servant in the gospel of Jesus Christ. GEO. BOYD. To make any observations on the above letter would only serve to weaken the strain of its piety, and draw off the reader's attention from the interesting facts it details. I shall therefore, hasten to subscribe myself, Dear Sir, Yours very truly, ON CHARITABLE BEQUESTS. SIR,-At a time when the streams of benevolence are flowing more rapidly than at any period of our history, it is lamentable to perceive that owing to the abstruseness of our laws relating to Charitable Bequests, and the consequent ignorance of many persons, as to their meaning and application, the generous intention of benevolent individuals is very often rendered void and incapable of taking effect. It is tolerably well known, from having been notified in the annual reports of the various Religious and Charitable Societies now existing, and which are the glory of our beloved country, that by a statute passed in the reign of Geo. II. called the Mortmain Act, All devises of land or money charged on land, or secured on Mortgage of lands or tenements, or to be laid out in lands or tenements, are absolutely void,' although cases do sometimes occur of devises, by persons in the very teeth of the aforesaid Act. A very remarkable instance of which has lately appeared, of a gentleman who died. and bequeathed £30,000 to the Chamber of Exeter, for the purchase of lands in Devon or Cornwall, the rental of which was to be applied to the establishment of a Free School in Exeter. In consequence of the provisions of the Mortmain Act, this large property reverted to the testator's brother as executor. It has, however, been generally considered by the public, that a bequest of 'money' to arise from the sale of leasehold property, is not within the Statute, and is therefore a good bequest, inasmuch as the money only is bequeathed to be paid, after it has been raised by sale of the houses; and I am free to confess my own doubts upon the subject, until a short time since, when the following case came under my observation. An individual having only distant relations, by his will directed his leasehold tene-ments to be sold, and the money to be equally divided between the Treasurers of two Charity Schools therein named. The houses were accordingly sold by the executor, who being convinced of the testator's intention to benefit the Schools, which was clearly manifested in the will, and acknowledged by all parties, was ready and willing to pay the produce thereof (upwards of £1000) as directed by the testator; when to the surprise of all the parties interested, it was declared by an eminent barrister, that although the houses themselves were not bequeathed, but directed to be sold and turned into money, and the money paid to the Schools, the bequest was void, and the whole amount became the property of the next of kin to the deceased. I may also add in corroboration of the above remarks, that being lately in the Vice-Chancellor's Court during an argument in a cause British Museum, v. the Devizees of White,' I heard his Honor declare that an interest in land is within the Statute of Mortmain, and that leaseholds directed to be sold and the money paid to a Charity, is the same, and therefore void.' You will unquestionably agree with me, Sir, in thinking it to be of great importance, that the above point should be explained, and notified to the public without delay, in order that their benevolent intentions may not be frustrated, as I am confident has often occurred, having myself observed precisely similar bequests in other Wills, besides the one to which I have already alluded. I would caution persons from bequeathing any thing whatever to, or for, charitable purposes, except |