Of course, in speaking thus, I trust to the candour of your readers, as not apprehending me at all to say that there are not instances, perhaps many of them, of clergymen who have faithfully improved this loud call of Providence to the warning and instruction of their hearers: what I aim to express is, that no general or public cognizance of this tremendous visitation from the hand of God-no general clerical movement in consequence of it—no meetings of the clergy to express their views or feelings on the subject-no announcement in the shape of warning to the country, of counsel, strictures, invocation, or public address-has, so far as I can discover, emanated from any ecclesiastical body-not excepting the dignitaries of the Church, or even the Charges of the Episcopal Bench.

Now I cannot but anticipate, sir, from such silence of the ministers and heads of the Church on a judgment of God, so awful and afflictive, consequences to the cause of religion and morals of the most mischievous description. With the more serious or religious part of the public, disposed as they will naturally be to regard this calamity as an infliction from the hand of God, it must tempt not a few to question at least, if not to doubt whether they are right in so regarding it, and tend in a great measure to suppress those intercessions and humiliations of themselves before

God, which they would otherwise have been disposed to exercise: and what a loss to our suffering country and to the Church of Christ does not such a supposition involve! Whilst to the great mass of society, the busy, the frivolous, the men of the world, immersed in its gains or pleasures— living "without God in the world," and ever glad to thrust Him, as it were, out of his own creation; what an occasion does it supply to them, when at any time they hear this destructive plague spoken of as a judgment of God for national sin, to assert or allege that it is evidently not so viewed by the clergy of the kingdomand thus to triumph in their sneering ungodliness, and become the more confirmed in their proud and mischievous INFIDELITY!

It is with the intent, sir, to give expression to these my painful views and apprehensions, in a channel the best calculated of any that I know, to reach the notice of the Reverend the Clergy of the United Kingdom, that I have ventured to solicit a place for these reflections in your pages; and it is my earnest prayer that they may be received by my respected brethren in the humble and friendly spirit in which they are written, and that it may please the Lord to bless them to the general edification of your readers.

Tweddell.

In a letter to a son he names the four following circumstances, as requisites in a candidate for the Christian ministry.

1. "That the person be really and truly converted to God; a new creature, born of the Spirit; and it is requisite that piety be not only real, but

eminent.

2. “That there be competent abilities, natural or acquired, and both if possible; for the preacher should be the superior of most of his hearers in mental powers.

3. "There must be a prevailing, a strong, an unconquerable inclination and desire to the work; so that the person shall prefer it infinitely above all other employments, and that for the best purposes-the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

4. "The sanction and approbation of competent judges; for men may think they have all the requisites; but as we are all partial to ourselves, it is well to have the approbation of wise and good men; it is very satisfactory to a humble person."

pleases in the armies of heaven," and who "beareth rule in the kingdom of men," has decreed her fall-has declared that he will send "a mighty Angel, having great power; and lightening the earth with his glory;" who shall proclaim with a loud voice, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." We, therefore, have no cause for apprehension. Since the efforts of the church of Rome are but as the convulsive throes of a dying man-if these efforts should for a season prevail, they alter not the mind of the Most High, for "His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure;" nor need they alarm his people. For "these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful!" "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."+

To raise his people to this standard, and to enable those who profess the Protestant faith to act up to their profession, the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit is essentially requisite. Beloved brethren, then, as you partake of the spirit of our Protestant forefathers, pray for this unspeakable gift. Pray, that He who said to Joshua, "Be thou strong and very courageous," may give to his people that strong faith in his word, and holy boldness in his cause, which may lead them to say with Luther, "Though the sun be darkened by legions of devils as by thick clouds, we will not fear, for God is for us, and victory is ours."

A third particular calling for notice is, our strifes and divisions.

These are so well known as to make it unnecessary to particularize them. But how grievous must they be in the sight of that God whose name is "Love!" and who has commended his love to us by sending *Rev. xviii. 1-4.

his Son first "to die for sinners," and then "to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." How grievous to our blessed Saviour, whose last prayer that "all who believe in him may

was,

be one, even as the Father and the Son are one." How grievous also to the Holy Spirit, who directs that "all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, should be put away with all malice;" and that we should "be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us." When we bear in mind the strife and debate, the hard words and angry spirit, which have lately prevailed, and which have almost separated bosom friends, and rent asunder the church of Christ, we cannot but apprehend that these unhappy divisions have been one fertile source of all our sorrows. Nor can we hope that God will be reconciled to us whilst we remain unreconciled one to another. How important then is the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit to convince the members of the universal church of Christ of their sinful neglect of their Lord's new commandment"Love one another;" and at the same time to incline the hearts of his people to the exercise of brotherly love. For He alone can remove these obstacles which unrenewed nature, long cherished habits, educational prejudices, narrow-minded bigotry, and sectarian selfishness, have raised. He alone "can break in pieces these gates of brass, and cut in sunder these bars of iron."

Let your prayers then be earnest for His mighty aid; That he who on the day of Pentecost brought the very crucifiers of our Lord to be of one heart and mind with his chosen disciples, would pour such streams of love upon the church of Christ, that they who are now furthest off may be brought "to love one another with pure hearts fervently."

The following suggestions are respectfully offered, to assist those who are desirous of this union:

1st. Let Christians follow the exEph. iv. 31, 32.

ample of our blessed Lord, (Mark 1. 25.) who rose up a great while before day for secret prayer. Let them thus secure the blessing of Him who says, Pray to thy Father which seeth in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

2nd. Let them call upon the Lord in their families, for his Spirit to be poured upon themselves and their households, their neighbours, their country, including Great Britain and Ireland, and our Colonies, the ministers of the Lord, the churches of Christ, the remnant of scattered Judah and outcast Israel, and upon the Gentile world.

3rd. Where circumstances will admit of a morning service, let the congregation be assembled, and, in addition to the appointed prayers and a suitable sermon, let all who are de

voutly disposed partake together of the Supper of the Lord-or, as may be more convenient, let the whole congregation meet in the evening for public worship, and let an appropriate discourse be preached.

4th. Let the ministers of the Lord meet on the following Monday, with their brethren of their own communion, in earnest prayer for themselves, their flocks, the whole body of Christ, and the world at large, and then especially consult together upon the most effectual means for hastening the coming of the Lord's kingdom, and particularly for the continuance of such a general concert for prayer, that the year may proceed according to this devout commencement.

Thus prays their affectionate brother, and servant in the Lord,

JAMES HALDANE STEWART.

ww

"In the very centre of Europe, there is now exhibited, in miniature, before the eyes of all nations, an instructive rehearsal of that dread drama, for which there is reason to believe that Europe, and this wide world itself (which knows not God), are doomed, at no very distant day, to furnish a more ample theatre. Amid the valleys and mountains of Switzerland, the servants of Antichrist and the sons of Belial are ready to rush to deadly conflict; and if we ask-where, at such a crisis, are to be seen the sons of God?-we are irresistibly reminded of the saying of Scripture, When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?'

"In effect, there are, at the present moment, only two great parties in Switzerland. On the one hand, there are the adherents of Rome,-steeped

in all the darkness of the middle ages, and now lending themselves as the ready, abject tools of the Jesuits. And, on the other, there are those whom (as we have lately seen) the most aristocratic journal in England reckons as good Protestants,-Protestants of the school of Gibbon, and Voltaire, and Rousseau, and Thomas Paine,- -men who denounce marriage, who denounce government, who denounce morality, who denounce and defy God Almighty himself! These two parties look on each other with mortal hate. The former is drawn to a head under the so-called Catholic League, an old association which formerly included only four, but now embraces seven cantons,-being, generally, of the smaller cantons, occupying the most mountainous and least accessible parts of central Switzerland. The latter include the more

extensive, populous, and wealthy cantons, and the two parties being nearly balanced in the general diet of the confederation, a formal rupture has hitherto been averted, by the votes of three neutral cantons,-namely, Basle (the city,) Neufchatel, and Geneva. So fierce, however, is the enmity of the great antagonist parties, and so incapable of restraint, that it has already burst through all constitutional barriers; and the infidel democrats, fired at the restless and successful machinations of the Jesuits, have rushed, more than once, tumultuously to arms, and marched their 'free,'-in other words, lawlesscorps,' into the very heart of the Romish cantons.

"The revolution, which has just occurred at Geneva, may be taken as another proof of the determined resolution of the democratic cantons ;by whom, there can be no doubt, it has been instigated and promoted. It is stated that 2,000 troops of the Canton de Vaud were ready to march, -if it had been necessary to the aid of the Genevan insurgents. But the strongest, the most respectable, and, to all appearance, the most stable government in Switzerland, could not depend on the fidelity or energy of its own subjects, and has at once succumbed before lawless violence. While we write, a similar revolution is said to have been effected in the city of Basle. But-whether there be so or not, the change at Geneva is enough of itself for the attainment of the end in view. The altered vote of that canton turns the majority in the general diet. The 'Free Corps' will at once be converted from lawless banditti into a constitutional army; and the two parties, with all their resources, and all their hearts, will at once be ready to rush into the deepest horrors of civil war,-a war of extermination.

"The state of matters in Switzerland should put to flight the dreams with which so many have been deluding themselves, when they vainly imagined that what is called the enlightenment of the nineteenth century,' was to take sin out of the heart of man, and remove the curse from a world that disowns its God and

rejects its Saviour. It should read, also, a very seasonable lesson to those who are now looking to state education as the certain means of man's regeneration. For, be it remembered that, according to official returns, the people of Switzerland are the best educated people in Europe. But if the light that is in them be darkness, how great is that darkness!' If, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened;'-if, 'professing themselves to be wise, they have become fools'-if they have changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever;'—and if thus 'they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,'what wonder if he 'give them over to a reprobate mind'-to be filled with_all_unrighteousness ?'—what wonder if he turn their counsel into foolishness, and give them to eat the fruit of their own ways?""

"The difference, which exists between Switzerland and Scotland, has been strikingly illustrated by the very opposite circumstances attending the similar events, that recently occurred in the two countries. In Scotland,— when a band of faithful ministers, for conscience sake, abandoned their state endowments, their own congregations, and thousands and tens of thousands more of the Scottish people, followed them with cheerfulness, and have adhered to them with constancy. In Switzerland, a band of Christian ministers,-driven from their earthly all by, if possible, a still more imperative necessity,-have had none to follow them, and are made the subjects of all but universal execration. Dr. Alexander (in his recent work) explains to us the reason:-The mass of the people are the decided enemies of spiritual religion in all its forms; and regarding the presence among them of a pious and evangelical minister as an annoyance rather than a blessing,-they have exulted in the circumstances, which have relieved them from the presence of one whom they hated as an enemy, because he told them the