signal instances, in paying tribute when not obliged, and in forbidding resistance of the officer that seized him; and his last prayer was for the peace and unity of the church. And now, since by his great love and study of peace, he shewed himself to be the genuine Son of God, who is styled the God of Peace,' he might with the better decorum make the same disposition of mind the measure and argument of our filial relation to him; as he does when he tells us, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." 999* 2. By thinking less of the present, and more of the future. Here below, it is true, Christians find an entire uniformity of opinion impossible: and through the frailty of human nature, continual obstacles to perfect concord are arising. But in a future state of being, we believe, the Church of God will become united in an unbroken affection: distracted by no tumults, divided by no rivalries, it will be one fold under one shepherd. Let us try to realize this condition in our minds, and we may obtain a foretaste of it here. When, while enjoying communion with some Christian friend, we converse about the high and holy truths of our religion; when we express in each other's ears our hopes of that blessed repose hereafter, for which the heart, agitated by the vexations of the passing hour, ceaselessly pants; when we communicate to each other our ideas of the love of God to man as displayed in the mysterious marvels of Redemption, are we not already engaged in an employment somewhat similar to that which faith represents as part of the occupation of the glorified? How different are the feelings with which we rise from the perusal of a polemical journal in *Discourses upon the Beatitudes. Dis. vii. In which our own opinions have been virulently attacked, from those with which we lay down a volume by some writer who, though not of our own communion, faithfully and ably proclaims the common salvation! the former case, we feel ourselves compelled, almost involuntarily, to defend and retaliate; in the latter, we are melted into love: fixed in admiration at the truth and sublimity of what we have read, we forget that the writer belongs to a different denomination, and in the oneness of sentiment which we feel, produced by an attachment to the same Lord, we find an assurance of an eternal union hereafter. In the public prayers of the church we bless God's "holy name for all his servants departed this life in his faith and fear;" and an additional earnestness may be given to our thanksgivings in this respect, when we compare their profound tranquility, their universal love, with the distractions and dissensions, the fevers and heart-burnings, of the militant church. We dare not, indeed, expect that their deep repose can brood over this tumultuous scene; "Heav'n's high vault, serene and clear, Will not touch earth's troubled region, And the there is never here." HOW ARE SINNERS CLEANSED? By fastings and penances, by mortifications and absolutions, replies the Papist. By the waters of baptism, says the Puseyite. By abstinence from the luxuries and good things of this life, says the Mahometan. By divers washings and purifications, says the Jew. But the Lord Jesus Christ comes forward and sweeps away all these lying dogmas with the one simple declaration, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken to you." And to this give all the Scriptures witness. How striking is the testimony of the Psalmist, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Why did not David regard the rite of circumcision as the channel for purifying the soul from original sin, and affording a preservative against actual and practical sin? Because he was well acquainted with the real character of the rite. He discriminated between the outward and visible sign, and the inward and spiritual grace. He knew that the outward sign was applied merely as a badge for distinguishing the professing people of God from the heathen nations around, and giving them admission to Jewish and spiritual privileges; and at the same time he was not ignorant that the inward circumcision of the heart was essential to constituting a Jew a real child of God, and leading him to look through the propitiatory sacrifices of the Mosaic law to that Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Man has always been the same corrupt creature, and God has always employed the same means for cleansing him from his sins and preparing him for his kingdom in heaven. What the Jew required for this high and important object, the Christian also requires. There may have been different kinds of dispensations adapted to the gradual development of the mysteries of redemption; under the Mosaic dispensation the Jew might have obtained his entrance into the visible Church of God by circumcision, and under the Gospel dispensation the Christian may receive admission to the present visible Church by baptism; but from the day that Adam cast down his spotless robe of righteousness, and became a polluted sinner in the sight of a holy God, the same means have been employed for opening the eyes of sinful man, turning him from Satan to God, and bringing him out of his native darkness to the pure and unsullied light of the gospel of Christ. These means have been applied by the instrumentality of the Word of God. How plainly does Peter set forth this truth when he is instructing the strangers scattered through Asia Minor, in the redemption of their souls. " Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." This is the only seed I can discover in the Scriptures of truth. The Word implanted in the heart of man by Him who is the author of it; received by faith through hearing, and through becoming a living principle in the soul of the believer, by the gradual development of which his light grows brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. See again the power of the Word, as a cleansing power from sin. In Ephesians i. Paul tells his converts that they "trusted in Christ after they had heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation." And then when speaking of the Church of Christ, (His people) in chap. v., he tells them that Christ sanctifies and cleansed it with the washing of water by the Word. Not the waters of baptism-this is all a vain figmentthe Word is the cleansing elementthe water is merely an emblem. And let us close our Scriptural references by one of the petitions inIcluded in our Saviour's beautiful prayer, in which he utters those solemn words,-" Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." Oh, then, let us ever cling to this leading and cardinal truth, as regards man's salvation, that it is the word of the living God, brought home to his heart by faith in the blood of His dear Son, that is to cleanse and purify, and sanctify his defiled heart. Entelligence. HOME. EMIGRANTS.-We are glad to find that some benevolent ladies in Plymouth have formed a Society for the purpose of providing means of employment for the single women during the four months passage to Australia. The object is a most important one. There is no calculating the mischief that must necessarily ensue from a state of idleness during so long an interval; and Dr. Browning's success on board the convict ships may well serve to shew how important may be the privileges of a well-directed effort of this nature. "It is proposed that a fund be opened by which contributions, either in useful materials, or money for purchasing and collecting them, may be obtained, such as- - Worsted and Yarn, Sewing and Knitting Cotton, Sewing and Knitting Needles, Calico cut out in Patterns for useful Garments, Remnants of Cotton Prints, Silk, Cloth, &c., Pieces for Patchwork, Scissors, Straw for Plaiting, Books containing Directions for Knitting, Sewing, Making up and Cutting out Garments, and Hints for Domestic Services, Slates, Copy Books, Writing Paper, Pens, Pencils, Ink, &c. "The most decent and intelligent amongst them will be selected by the Visitor of the Ship, to superintend the Industrial Classes. This plan is not to be considered as a wild chimera, which may never be carried into effect, for it has already been tried and attended with the most satisfactory and encouraging results, the Emigrants received most gratefully the materials furnished them, and fell in most readily with the formation of the Industrial Classes. "The work thus made up may be sold with a considerable advantage at the end of the voyage, as a reward for their industry, and thus afford the poor girls a little money to start life with, in the colony. "It must be remembered that these young women are selected chiefly from the poorest of the labouring class, as may be inferred from what has been instanced above; many of them are but scantily clothed, and are almost pennyless; cast-off garments, therefore, would be most acceptable. Several are deterred from emigrating because they have not a sufficient stock of warm clothing. There are to be found amongst them also many friendless young girls, who have been unable to procure places as servants at home, and are therefore compelled to seek their fortunes in the colony. "The Colonial Commissioners, who pay the greatest attention to their bodily comforts, and make most ample provision for their sustenance, have no funds to appropriate to such purposes as we plead for; and it is to be hoped, when such happy results may ensue from such comparatively inexpensive means employed, many will be ready to lend a helping hand in a work which will be productive of the best feeling on the part of our future colonists towards their mother country. "Gifts of any kind will be most thankfully received; such as pieces of unfinished work, samplers, scraps in wool, silk, &c., backs of letters, old visiting cards (which may be useful in making pincushions, &c.) and things which would be thrown away or burnt, will be most valuable as a means of employment for these young persons. "Contributions and annual subscriptions will be thankfully received, and further information afforded, by the Rev. T. C. Childs, St. Mary's, Devonport, who has for the last two years carefully watched and attended to the spiritual necessities of all emigrants who leave the Port of Plymouth." We strongly recommend this labour of love to the benevolent cooperation of our readers. We long to see the day when a more extended and adequately organized system will be adopted on behalf of our poor emigrants. Not an emigrant vessel ought to leave our ports without a schoolmaster or missionary on board. LORD ASHLEY AND THE GANG OF THIEVES.-There are not many announcements of benevolent enterprize more fraught with interest than the following. We do hope that Lord Ashley will have every encouragement to go forward. This is indeed a movement in the right direction. It aims at the removal of all the material for immorality and crime. And truly it is a movement in peculiar harmony with the genius and spirit of the Gospel; of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost; of Him who would have his disciples to go into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in. The following statement taken from the Era, and containing the facts, although not exactly in the form in which we should wish them presented, is calculated to engage the mind of every man who is at all capable of reflecting seriously upon our social condition, and the duties and obligations belonging to it : Everybody has heard of the Ragged Schools, and most people know that Lord Ashley is their principal promoter. Now, there is what is termed the London City Mission, established for the purpose of supporting Ragged Schools, and employing missionaries to reform people living amongst us of humble callings, and of all ages. One of these missionaries is Mr. Jackson, of the Ragfair and Rosemary-lane district. His house is open to all who choose to visit him in search of advice and assistance; and between June and December, 1847, so many as 2,343 calls upon him were made by children and young persons. People at all acquainted with the neighbourhood to which Mr. Jackson's zealous, pious, and philanthropic labours are confined, will not be surprised to learn that he is termed the "Thieves' Missionary," a distinction of which he is, doubtless, by no means ashamed, and one which he has been at much pains to obtain. He is, in fact, in the confidence of the thieves of London-a confidence profitable to them, to him, and to the whole community. It occurred to Mr. Jackson, upon the receipt of Lord Ashley's speech, spoken in the House of Commons, in June last, that some of his "young friends" might desire to emigrate "at the expense of the government," but not after the manner in which culprits usually leave the mother country. He accordingly put the question to one of them, and the answer was, "I should jump at it!" Thus encouraged, he made further enquiry among his wicked associates, and shortly afterward, to use the words of the City Mission Magazine— "Mr. Jackson was sent for by a number of thieves lodging in a court adjacent to the district, called Blue Anchor-yard. He went and they expressed themselves extremely desirous to know whether any hope could be held out of their obtaining an honest livelihood, however humble, in our colonies, instead of continuing to pursue their present criminal course in this country, from which they found it now almost an impossibility to extricate themselves. 'It would,' said they, 'be a capital thing for chaps like us.' 999 Even Of course the matter was seriously discussed, and we ask any thinking man, whether a scene more interesting can be imagined than that wherein the moral and religious champion stood, surrounded by the lawless gang of castaways, the miscreants, whose hands or fingers were against everybody, and at whom every man's (particularly every policeman's) hand or finger was directed? Mr. Jackson informed his audience that Lord Ashley was about to honour him with a visit, and he would have much pleasure in introducing them to his lordship. The Irish Free School was fixed on as the place of meeting, and on the evening of Thursday, July 27, 1848, the convicted felons, vagrants, and known thieves, assembled together to the number of 207, for the purpose of consulting Lord Ashley as to the best means for bettering their condition. 207 thieves! Mr. Jackson was not prepared for this. It was a meeting that had never taken place since Spartan boys had ceased to congregate. The City Mission Magazine says,-" Several of the best known and most experienced thieves were stationed at the door, to prevent the admission of any but thieves. Some four or five individuals, who were not at first known, were subjected to a more public examination, and only allowed to remain on their stating who they were, and being recognized as members of the dishonest fraternity; and before the proceedings of the evening com. menced, the question was very carefully put, and repeated several times, whether any one was in the room of whom others entertained doubts as to who he was. The object of this care was, as so many of them were in danger of getting into trouble, as they call it, or, in other words, of being taken up for their crimes, if discovered, to ascertain whether any who could betray them were present." How will it be supposed that the meeting was opened? Why, with a hymn, and then a prayer. An address was next read by Lord Ashley, setting forth the nature and objects of the Meeting, and the characters of those who attended it, together with the result of the reader's previous exertions in the cause of reformation. From that it appeared that rehearsals or trials had previously taken place, and when they last met only 138 avowed thieves were present. We extract from a table the results of inquiries made upon that occasion :— Number of individuals present 138 How many of you have been in prison? 138 Have all of you been in prison for theft? How many of you ascribe your fall to intoxicating drink? How many of you are abandoned by your friends who could help you? How many of you have friends who cannot help you? How many of you have friends who would help you if they knew your present state? Are you willing to give up thieving and go to work ?.. How many of you have mothers living? How many of you have a father liv- How many of you are living with you are willing to emi 138 27 21 83 138 14 17 3148 11 69 42 How many of you are likely to get into trouble? 138 How of many grate? 137 How much do you get for every pound's worth of goods?-5s. in the pound, if we are not known; but if we are known, 10s. in the pound. The above is an important document We leave the reader to ponder over it, and the intelligent mind will find there more to engage it than we have space to point out, or ability to describe. One hundred and thirtyeight of our fellow-creatures in the prime of manhood, thieves by trade, self-acknowledged felons, ready to abandon their unlawful pursuits, and in this Christian, moral, liberal, and enlightened age, actually incapable of discovering how to be honest, and |