but I felt, distinctly felt, the whole time, that I was surveying a human production. It was not my Saviour-it was not even a correct representation of what he was when in the flesh-it was but an imaginary likeness. Never would I forget that we "walk by faith, and not by sight;" we rest our hopes on an invisible Lord, "whom, having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' I pity the poor deluded Romanist, but I hate his delusion, dishonouring to Christ, and fatal to the souls of men. But another reflection arises while considering the power of the fine arts in exciting devotional feelings. Supposing the feelings thus kindled to be lawful, and kept within safe bounds, are they of a wholesome nature? do they contribute to the health of the soul, the well-being of the spiritual man? The inquiry is important. If there is any one thing that I have deeply felt, it is the danger of resting in what has been called the poetry of religion; of mistaking human excitement for real devotion; of confounding two things so essentially different as the play of imagination, and the working of the Holy Spirit. I have dreaded it for myself, and often, in these days of excitement, I have dreaded it for others also. Not that we are required, with stoical severity, to lop off all the ornamental faculties which are bestowed on man; but neither are they, with Epicurean license, to be allowed an unrestricted luxuriance. The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of principles and actions, not of mere impressions. "Passive habits," we are taught by a high authority,* #66 are weakened by repetition, active habits are strengthened." It may therefore be laid down as an axiom, that if passive impressions do not lead to action, their effect is decidedly injurious to the character. I would not, however, be understood as passing a sweeping censure on the class of impressions of which I am now writing. They may lead to real communion with God in Christ, and thus be instrumental in fostering and strengthening the exotic graces which the Spirit of God plants in the unkindly soil of the human heart. The last Good Friday which that eminent servant of God, the late Rev. Legh Richmond spent on earth, was spent, it may be remembered, in solemn prayerful meditation before an exquisite engraving from Guido's picture of Christ crowned with thorns; and doubtless it was a day of sweet communion with the Master whom he loved. Imagination must, it cannot be too often repeated, be kept under the direction and correction of faith and reason; it must, if I may be allowed such a metaphor, be chained captive to the triumphant chariot of Messiah. But if that which, taken by itself, is but of the earth earthy, be mistaken for that which is pure and heavenly, the mistake is fearful, and it may be fatal. We may be feeding our minds on the husks of this world, while we imagine that we are nourishing our souls with the bread that cometh down from heaven; we may be increasing rapidly in spiritual pride, or even in common earthly vanity, while Satan, who is ever at hand to deceive, tells us that religion within us is growing and flourishing. There are many ways in which even they who have entered by the strait gate, and are treading the narrow way, may be deceived and retarded; and could the reasons of the Lord's dealings with his people be laid open to our view in this world, many a painful application might be traced up to the secret indulgence of evil thought, the bewildering workings of deceitful imagination. Differently constituted minds are exposed to different temptations, and well does Satan know how to adapt his arts to each; but (and let us be thankful for the blessed assurance) "the Lord knoweth our frame;" knows exactly our weakness, our ignorance, Bishop Butler. our proneness to wander from him; and even when we think not of him, he is near to guard, to instruct, and to guide. Correggio's picture has led me a long way; it has led me to the dangers of unbridled imagination, to the temptations of our arch-enemy, and to the lovingkindness of our ever-present and almighty Friend. In closing my paper, I retrace my steps. Our blessed Saviour, when on earth, habitually connected visible with invisible objects, and drew from things present and tangible important moral lessons; and would that every object that we contemplate could be the means of leading us unto Him! Faith grows by exercise. The Grecian fable of the monster's receiving strength each time that he touched his mother earth, may speak to the heart even of the Christian. To grow in grace, we must be ever going to the source of grace--the manna of yesterday will not do for to-day; and the descriptive, distinguishing mark of the believer is, that he is ever "coming" to the living stone; his experience is, that he gains by every touch fresh strength and fresh vigour. We must be living in Christ; we must be living upon him; we must have the Spirit of Christ, or we are "none of his." There is no poetry in this statement-no enthusiasm-no idle play of fancy; it is a sober scriptural truth, and a truth of eternal moment to the writer and to every reader. LITURGICAL HINTS.-No. LXV. "Understandest thou what thou readest?"-Acts, viii. 30. ST. MATTHEW'S DAY. Sept. 21. THE COLLECT. (1.) “O almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an apostle and evangelist." Matt. ix. 9; x. 2, 3, 5, 7; 2 Tim. iv. 5. (2.)" Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches." Luke, xii. 15; Ps. Ixii. 10; Luke, xviii. 22-24; 1 Tim. vi. S-11; Heb. xiii. 5; Luke, xix. 1-19. (3.) "And to follow the same thy son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end, Amen." Psalm exix. 36; Matt. viii. 19, 20; 2 Cor. viii. 9; Matt. xvi. 24, 26; John, x. 27; Luke, xiv. 33; 1 John, ii. 6; Luke, xviii. 28-30; John, xii. 26. The EPISTLE (2 Cor. iv. 1-6) is fitly chosen for the occasion, as it contains St. Paul's expression of thanks to God for calling him into the ministry of the Gospel. The circumstances of Paul's conversion were, indeed, far more extraordinary than those of St. Matthew's. But there was a similarity in the cases. called to the ministry of the Gospel, and both were unlikely subjects, according to the measures of man's calculation, to be "endued with so singular a benefit." 64 Both were Seeing we have this ministry," says St. Paul," as we have received mercy, we faint not." No troubles, dangers, nor distresses, should cause any of the faithful servants of God to faint, who have received mercy or favour from God to be put into the ministry. They are to renounce all the corruptions of their former state, and to deliver the Gospel, in all things necessary to be known, with plainness and perspicuity. If the Gospel be hid to any, this is no argument of the Gospel's obscurity, but of the darkness of the minds of those who refuse it; who are blinded by Satan, the god of this world, who fills the minds of evil men with ignorance and error, with passion and prejudice, lest the beams of the Sun of righteousness should penetrate their souls. The apostles sought not their own glory, but to advance Christ; they were servants for the Church's interest. Christ must first shine into the hearts of ministers by his Holy Spirit; and then, but not until then, will they savingly enlighten others. The GOSPEL is Matt. ix. 9-13. The words with • Abridged from Bp. IIeber's Parish Sermons, vol. iii. Sermon for St. Matthew's day. which it begins inform us of the manner in which the great apostle and evangelist, St. Matthew, was joined to the number of Christ's immediate followers. And in this short history many facts are expressed, or understood, which may both confirm our faith in the truth of our Saviour's divine authority; and shew forth in lively colours the freedom and riches of his grace; and enforce on our minds and practice the necessity of a ready and cheerful obedience to every command which he may lay on us, and to every sacrifice which he may see fit to require at our hands. And first, the manner in which our Saviour called St. Matthew, and the ready obedience and public expressions of joy with which he, on his part, received the call, must very strongly confirm our faith in the divine authority and mission of Jesus. St. Matthew was by no means a person likely to be led by interest to enter into our Saviour's service, or to be deluded into it by a blind enthusiasm, or by the crafty pretences of a deceiver. He was a publican, or receiver of the taxes-a situation which was always held by wealthy and responsible men,-it was a situation in which wealth was absolutely necessary, since the publicans were bound in very large sums, to the amount sometimes of many thousand pounds, for the due discharge of their office; and since the place itself was so gainful, that considerable sums were often laid out in its purchase. And that St. Matthew himself was rich, we have an additional reason to believe, from the information given us by St. Luke, that, on his being thus called, Matthew (or, as St. Luke names him, Levi, the son of Alpheus, it being very common for the Jews to have more names than one)-that Matthew made Jesus and his disciples "a great feast in his own house," at which a great company of persons, of the same profession with himself, were assembled. But to a man thus situated, a wealthy man, a man in a place under government, which of itself gave him what we should call the rank of a gentleman, a man of business, and of the world, what inducement could be found but a sincere faith in Christ, to lead him to abandon at a word all these worldly advantages, and to enter into the ministry of one who literally had not where to lay his head? Secondly, the history of Matthew may set forth, in a striking manner, the freedom, and riches, and saving power of grace; inasmuch as, first, the situation in life and the former habits of Matthew were such as, humanly speaking, no person would expect to derive from them a saint or an apostle: and secondly, since it is not too much to say, that no conviction of the truth of our Saviour's miracles, no admiration of his doctrine, no general assent to the opinion that he was really the person foretold by the ancient prophets, would have been sufficient, without the preventing and furthering grace of the Almighty, to move a man to so great a sacritice of interest, so great a change in his habits, his views, his cares, and his pleasures, as that which is recorded of St. Matthew. Though the office of publican was not in itself unlawful, and though we have no reason to believe that St. Matthew himself had been a wicked or dishonest man even before he met with our Saviour, yet was his profession such as a very pious or conscientious man would hardly have chosen; since the publicans or tax-gatherers of the Romans were looked on as traitors to their country, and as drawing wealth out of the general misery; and because their way of life obliged them very often to be in the company of heathens, whereby they would be exposed to the temptation of eating of meats, and joining in conversations, which were expressly contrary to the law of Moses. It was a profession, too, so odious to the Jews, and the persons who followed it were so universally accounted sinners, that if God saw as man seeth, or if God had not designed to shew the freedom of his grace, and to give hope that no class of men are shut out from it, and that no circumstances are so unfavourable as to destroy its efficacy, we may be sure that Christ would not have chosen a publican for one of his twelve apostles. In truth, however, this action is only a single instance of that mercy which is in every age set forth by him. And we daily find the effects of his Holy Spirit shining forth in the conversion of those from whose habits and circumstances such happiness was least to be expected; while others, far more favourably situated, are seen to go in a state of utter blindness to their spiritual advantages, or contented, at most, with a general decency of conduct, and with that fatal reliance on the praise or countenance of mankind, which is the deadliest enemy to true religion. We may learn, thirdly, from the history of St. Matthew, the necessity of our immediate and cheerful obedience to the commands of God. When our Saviour called him to arise and follow him, he called him to give up a gainful profession for a life of hardship, and toil, and danger; he called him to expose himself to the mockery of his former companions; to the scoffs of the wise and learned among his countrymen; to the persecution of men in power: he called him to enter into a situation for which neither his former habits, nor, as he might plead, his general education suited him. Should we have wondered if, under such circumstances, St. Matthew had offered an excuse? But he arose immediately, and followed him with joy, as having obtained the highest honour which mortal man could obtain. When we compare this conduct with our own, can our hearts answer that our behaviour has always resembled that of Matthew? Is there no instance which we can recollect, in which our duty was as clearly shewn to us as Matthew's duty was to him; though not by the voice of a present Saviour, yet by his written words, and by the words of his ministers; and in which, notwithstanding all this, we have been afraid or ashamed to follow its dictates? Let us sacrifice, without delay, whatever earthly desire or earthly advantage may interfere with our salvation; imploring the grace of that God who called Matthew from the receipt of custom to be a prophet and evangelist, that we may, in like manner, forsake whatsoever hindereth us in our course to heaven, and from following Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Cabinet. HEAVEN. O thou city of God above, thou Church triumphant! very excellent things are spoken of thee. In thee there is no yesterday nor to-day; in thee is no birth- nor burying-day, no leading into captivity, nor crying in the streets: if we desire fairness, in thee is fairness as the sun; if music, in thee is the melody of angels; if we desire pleasure, in thee is fulness of pleasure for evermore; if we desire security, in thee there is no alteration; if concord, in thee is all consent; if continuance of joy, in thee is all eternity. Come again yet awhile, and let us behold a little, in our contemplation, the choirs of angels and archangels praising God, and seeing that holy One that makes all holy, and singing with tunes comfortable and voices indefatigable, day and night, that sweet song, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Let us behold how they enjoy that tranquillity which hath no disturbance; how they have that knowledge which hath no error; how they practise that love which hath no offence; the more they love, the more they desire to love. He that hath tasted a bitter potion, and afterward tasteth honey, the taste thereof must needs be sweet unto him, far above the former taste. Will not, then, this blessedness be acceptable, sweet, and comfortable, after all the sorrows of a transitory life ? -From Disce Mori, by Chris. Sutton. HOW AMIABLE ARE THY TABERNACLES, O LORD OF HOSTS! God is love: wherever he dwells, the place must be lovely. His tabernacles are the places where he meets his people, affording them the plentiful supplies of all things necessary for their soul's growth in the knowledge of himself and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, whom to know is eternal life: there he graciously reveals himself unto his people, in all the endearments of an affectionate Father in Christ Jesus, in all the love of a God in covenant with them in the same Jesus. Where God manifests his presence, all must be amiable. His cloudy, fiery pillar speaks his majesty, glory, power, and love; his enemies are terrified; his children, encouraged by him, put their trust in him, glory in him as a holy and just God, as a God of infinite love and amazing condescension. What holy intercourse, what sweet communion, is carried on in God's house of prayer with himself and the redeemed by Christ, when he condescends to draw near to them who are drawing nigh unto him; when he regards their supplications, and restores comfort to his mourners, lifting up the light of his countenance upon them, and causing their hearts to leap for joy! The convinced sinner comes and hears of divine love in God's giving his Son for sinners and to sinners; and through the loving operation of the Spirit, his heart is open to receive the loving Saviour. The struggling warfaring Christian, encouraged by the same love of God, is making continual application to Christ, because he is convinced that in him it pleased the Father all fulness should dwell. The poor, mourning, grieving backslider finds God telling him he will heal his backslidings, because he has loved him freely. The sick and afflicted believer rejoices in his afflictions, when he hears in the tabernacles of the Lord that his afflictions are appointed of the God of love, and tokens of his fatherly affection.-Rev. J. W. Peers. RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES.-That which we have long uninterruptedly enjoyed, we are too apt to undervalue and overlook. Hence, if personal comforts, ease, health, faculties, and limbs, have been continued, how seldom do we offer up praises and thanksgivings for the same! Thus it is with our national favours. Annual returns of fruitful harvests, freedom from tremendous judgments, and peace and liberty, do not call forth, in a suitable manner, our devout acknowledgments. And thus, alas! it is also with our spiritual blessings; the free use of the holy Scriptures, the faithful preaching of the everlasting Gospel, and the strivings of the Spirit of God, do not lead us to adore and magnify the Divine mercy with our lips and in our lives. How justly, then, might we be deprived of that for which we do not give thanks, or which we regard as no special favour, or of no great moment! May we all yet know the time of our visitation, and thankfully embrace the things which make for our peace.-Rev. W. Marsh. Boetry. THE REST OF HEAVEN. BY REV. E. B. WERE. (For the Church of England Magazine.) "And I said, O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."-Psalm lv. 6. O RESTLESS, craving soul of man, Thou anxious, lonely, weary thing, Rest is a native of the skies, Look, then, O look above! The home of heavenly love! On, on, then, in thy pilgrimage, With each besetting foe; 'Tis thine to watch and pray, and strive Devotion's flame to keep alive; Not dream of rest below. Soon shalt thou quit this mortal coil, To those bright bowers above; CHRIST IN THE STORM. (For the Church of England Magazine). THE wind was high, the tempest loud, Shrill was the sea-bird's cry, The waves in might were swelling proud, And darkness veil'd the sky; One lonely bark along the tide By veering winds was driv'n, And look'd from earth to Heav'n. The cry of deep despair was heard From lips all pale with fear, In sleep as calm and mild And bent the suppliant knee: And mark'd the raging sea. Then "Peace, be still!" with dulcet spell Along the waves was heard; The winds were hush'd, the billows fell, Obedient to the word. The sun casts off his cloudy veil, And bright illumes the day, The bark by summer's gentlest gale Is wafted on its way. But fear and wonder rule each mind; They gaze with silent awe On Him who stops the raging wind, And gives the sea its law. M. A. STODɅrt. THE FIRST PSALM. BY THE REV. WILLIAM GRAY, (For the Church of England Magazine.) Where piety a jest is made: But in Jehovah's sacred law Doth ever find supreme delight, And food for meditation draw From that rich source both day and night. He shall be like a fruitful tree Which grows on some fair river's side; His leaf in verdure still shall be, And all his works success betide. But no such bliss is kept in store For that vile race who God despise ; They are like chaff, which from the floor Driven by winds, neglected flies. And when in judgment God shall sit, To recompense his friends and foes, These shall sink to the lowest pit, And rise to endless glory those. Miscellaneous. SABBATH-DESECRATION.-On a general survey of human impiety and depravity in some of their most noxious and revolting forms, it is impossible not to be aware that a very large proportion of these evils takes its immediate rise from the neglect, or the more palpable violation, of the Sabbath. The mode in which the process of depravation is carrying on is as various as the age, the character, and the circumstances of individuals. You may sometimes trace it in the career of one who commenced his course in iniquity as a boy, let loose from every salutary restraint, creating noisy disturbance in the vicinity of the church, instead of devoutly and solemnly joining in the services which are conducted within its walls; or rambling through the churchyard, seeming to be no unapt resemblance of the wretched beings which met the Saviour as they came out from among the tombs. As you accompany him in his further progress, you will find the Sabbath invariably selected as his choice opportunity for carrying into execution every darker purpose of his reprobate and reckless mind. On the morning of that hallowed day, instead of the neatness and cleanliness of attire which would intimate a readiness to meet his fellow-worshippers in the house of God, and is no unfaithful index to the interior of the mind and character, you will see him issue forth from his dwelling arrayed in the appropriate insignia of idleness and improvidence, and hastening to some scene of profligate resort, to mingle with companions not deficient in the will or the ability to make him tenfold more a child of hell than themselves; and it is well if he does not eventually reach the climax of human guilt and ignominy in the perpetration of some deed of dishonesty or of violence, which will forfeit his liberty to the outraged dignity of his country's laws; while he avows with his last breath, that the season at which he was first initiated into the mysteries of atrocious crime was no other than the Sabbath-day. You may witness a similar process of degeneracy in the case of a young female, trained up to no better habits by parental wisdom, authority, and example, who spends the former part of the Sabbath in endea vouring to adorn her person, and flaunts away the remaining portion of it in gaudy finery in the most public places of concourse; as if determined to banish to a secure distance every serious and considerate feeling, and bidding fair, unless preserved by a miracle of Divine grace, to end her levity in a course of infamy and wretchedness, to which I scarcely dare to allude. You may observe the effects of the leisure and inactivity afforded by the Sabbath-institution in many milder forms; in the displays of vanity and show-in the more eager pursuit of pleasure and dissipating amusement-in the thoughtless ramblings of the young during the whole or greater part of the day -in the journeyings and convivialities of the rich-in the unedifying and often corrupting associations of those of a lower rank-and in the general indulgences of this holy day, wherever the design of the ordinance is not duly appreciated and practically acknowledged. --Davies's Ordinances of Religion practically considered, A TOBACCO belongs to the class of drugs called narcotics, and is possessed of many of their most noxious qualities. The excessive use of tobacco, in whatever shape it is taken, heats the blood, hurts digestion, wastes the fluids, and relaxes the nerves. Smoking is particularly injurious to lean, hectic, and hypochondriacal persons: it creates an unnatural thirst, leading to the use of spirituous liquors; it increases indolence, and confirms the lazy in the habits they have acquired; above all, it is pernicious to the young, laying the foundation of future misery. I am therefore glad to see that our young men have very generally abandoned the obnoxious and unbecoming custom, lately so prevalent, of smoking in the street. patient of mine, a young officer of dragoons, who was quite an amateur smoker, and used to boast of the numbers of cigars he could smoke in a day, produced ptyalism by his folly; and had he not abandoned the practice, he would in all probability have lived but a very short time. The use of tobacco in the form of snuff is still more objectionable than smoking. On account of its narcotic quality, snuff is improper in cases of apoplexy, lethargy, deafness, and other diseases of the head. The use of snuff is likewise extremely dangerous to the consumptive, to those afflicted with internal ulcers, or who are subject to spitting of blood. Snuff-taking is an uncleanly habit -it vitiates the organs of smell; taints the breath; ultimately weakens the faculty of sight, by withdrawing the humours from the eyes; impairs the sense of hearing; renders breathing difficult; depraves the appetite; and, if taken too copiously, gets into and affects the stomach, injuring in a high degree the organs of digestion.-Curtis on Health. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.-British ordination was derived from St. Paul, and descended in the British Church in direct succession to the beginning of the twelfth century, when Bernard, a Norman, was consecrated bishop of St. David's by the Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 1115. The Saxon Church derived ordination from Rome, that is, from Austin, the first archbishop of Canterbury, who had been consecrated by the Bishop of Arles. But the ordination of Rome was derived also from St. Paul, who founded the Church of Rome (Rom. i. 11). By the submission of the British bishops in the twelfth century to the see of Canterbury, the two Churches (British and Saxon) were united, and have continued so from that time, under the title of the Church of England.-Bishop Burgess's Tracts on the Origin and Independence of the ancient British Church. LONDON:-Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square; W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN, 46 ST. MARTIN'S LANE. CHRISTIAN COLONISATION AND AMONG the many striking features exhibited 66 VOL. V.-NO. CXXV. PRICE 1d. world," "the salt of the earth;" in one word, Christianity. Surely, then, Christian colonisation should ever bring unmingled blessings, and carry "good gifts to men," wherever it bends its course; and should be considered and used as one of the most powerful means, which we may not doubt the almighty Disposer of all things has intended should be employed to bring about that blessed epoch when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And surely England, Christian England, should, like a pious parent, rejoice to send out her well-nurtured offspring to prepare and make ready a harvest for their Lord, who has bound them to his service by so many distinguished mercies. But has such been hitherto the acknowledged and prominent principle in our systems of colonisation? Have we, as a nation, or as social bodies, or individuals of that nation, acted upon these high and holy motives in our past or present schemes of emigration? Have we been desirous to impart the "treasure that fadeth not away," in return for "the gold which perisheth," in our intercourse with barbarous nations? Have we been even duly solicitous to provide for ourselves a sufficient store of that heavenly wealth which can alone satisfy and sustain our souls, while we are eagerly seeking to multiply our worldly riches, "not knowing" (not reflecting) that we may never live to 66 gather" the fruit of our toils. This is a subject of deep and growing importance to every Christian community, but more especially to us in the present day, when every year, nay, every month, we see numbers of young, energetic, ardent beings leaving the P |