Tender babes have been whipped, starved, drowned, stabbed and burnt to death, dashed against trees and stones, torn limb from limb, carried about on the points of spears and spikes, and thrown to dogs and swine."

It has been calculated that fifty millions of persons have been slain on account of religion by the Romish Church. As a contrast, what was the character of our Saviour? He went about doing good, healing the sick, casting out devils, speaking words of peace and good-will, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom. Witness the palsied man, the woman in Simon's house, the woman with the issue, the widow of Nain; and listen to His own words: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." "The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke ix. 56). Here is a difference indeed from the Bulls of the Popes for fifteen centuries, containing "lies written in hypocrisy, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;" full of all the malice that men, aided by the devil, could invent. Contrast the Holy Inquisition (?) for making converts with the sweet, free Gospel of Jesus; and may these things quicken us to our duty, help us to value our privileges, and to spread God's truth in every way we can, praying for His blessing upon it.

Dr. Wylie speaks to the following effect-"In the dogma of infallibility, he (the Pope) has crowned a career of unparalleled blasphemy-a blasphemy which no other being in the universe save one (the prince of the bottomless pit) would be guilty of. He has climbed up to the throne of God, robed himself in the mantle of God, and said unto the nations, I am God.' As a contrast, what does the Almighty say of him (the Pope-Antichrist)? That he is 'the son of perdition,' and that our Lord will consume him with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of His coming." T. W.

THE INCREASE OF RITUALISM.

THE Rock, a weekly representative of Evangelical Church opinion, commenting upon the appointment of the Rev. J. H. Wilkinson to the Bishopric of Truro, remarks-" Mr. Wilkinson has been at St. Peter's a little over thirteen years, and his peculiar position in London is well known. He was, in his early years, an Evangelical; and his friends would assert that he has never given up the doctrines which he once so earnestly preached. He has, however, undoubtedly added to the creed of his youth very high views of the Church and the Sacraments, and must be considered

as, to all intents and purposes, a very High Churchman, though no doubt an eminently earnest and zealous preacher. Mr. Gladstone's policy has now nominated his fourteenth bishop, and not one is identified with the section of the Church to whose piety and zeal in the last century the Church's very existence as more than a department of the Civil Service is due. Half-a-dozen men

might be named, in as many seconds, as well qualified for the Bishopric of Truro as Mr. Wilkinson-not extreme men, not members of the Church Association-but all having the fatal fault in the Prime Minister's eyes of being Protestant and Evangelical in their sympathies. It is now abundantly evident that, so long as Mr. Gladstone is in office, Evangelicals have nothing to look for but cold and contemptuous neglect."

[We should be sorry to sacrifice principle, even politically, but we would rather remain neutral than support a known wrong; and we have long felt that Mr. Gladstone, by his patronage, has done much to make the Ritualistic, anti-reformation movement in the Church of England a success. Let our readers contrast the class of men appointed to bishoprics by Lord Palmerston with those appointed by Mr. Gladstone, and likewise remember how the latter has advanced noted Romanists to important positions in state affairs, and the anti-evangelical spirit complained of by the Rock will stand out in strong colours. May the Lord of hosts arise and save us from the evils which must otherwise ensue from this retrograde course!-ED.]

WHATSOEVER is dearest to us upon earth is our "Isaac." Happy are we if we can sacrifice it to God. Those shall never eat with Abraham that cannot sacrifice with Abraham.—Bishop Hall.

NATURE will feel and be certain before it believes, but grace will believe before it feels; therefore nature does not go farther than its own light, but grace steps out cheerfully into the darkness, and follows the Word. Let nature think it true or false, faith cleaves to the Word.-Luther.

THAT thousands go in the broad way to destruction is sad beyond expression, but not strange at all; but that in the path of heaven any should descend to hell is astonishing. That those

who live without God in the world, in the profane neglect of His worship, in a dissolute, disorderly course, should fall under condemnation, is believed of all; but that many who have appeared zealous in religion shall be at last rejected, is contrary to general expectation. Bates.

LETTERS FOR THE YOUNG.-No. XXXIV.

[The following letter is a reply to the one which appeared in our last number, page 58.]

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,-I have read your letter with pleasure, hoping the Lord has, in infinite mercy to you, begun the good work of grace upon your soul. So far as I am able to judge from your letter, you appear to me to be under the gracious drawings of the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort; and, if so, the result will be most blessed indeed.

In reply to your first question, the life of sin (Rom. vii. 8), the strength of sin (1 Cor. xv. 56), and the knowledge of sin (Rom. iii. 20), are by the law. But the reproofs or rebukes for sin in the conscience of an elect sinner are from the Holy Ghost (John xvi. 8), and may be longer or shorter in their duration, and deeper or shallower in the wounding inflicted; though I say with Hart

"Of that mighty multitude

Who of life were winners,
This we safely may conclude,
All were wretched sinners.

It appears to me that, although the terrors of the law have not sunk you so low as many are sunk thereby, yet the spirit of the old covenant has taken hold upon you sufficiently to bring tormenting fearfulness upon you at times, which the Lord has sent in mercy to make you feel in some measure the infinite need you have of the dear Redeemer to save you from the bottomless pit. All the children are not chastened alike, nor to the same degree; yet the Bible declares, " He scourges every son whom He receiveth."

Your second question is, "Do all the children of God experience deadness, coldness, barrenness, carelessness, and indifference to the things of God?" I answer, "Yes, they do." See Psalms lxxxviii. 5, and exix. 25; Isaiah xxiv. 16; Luke x. 41; and Romans vii. 24.

66

Your third question is, "Do children of God, though they feel their need of Jesus, yet at the same time feel their inability to trust in Him?" To this I also answer, Yes, they do." See Mark ix. 22-24; Solomon's Song i. 4; Psalm lxxx. 3, 7, 19; and Isaiah xxxiii. 23; and the Lord, of His infinite mercy, give you understanding in all things, and to come unto Jesus, and roll yourself upon Him, just as you are. Although you may often seem not to have the spot of the Lord's people, yet my advice is, with Mr. Hart

"To trust Him endeavour,

The work is His own;

He makes the believer,

And gives him his crown."

And remember again

"All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him:
This He gives you,

'Tis the Spirit's rising beam.

You may be as much puzzled to find a law work in you, as to find in yourself a clean heart and a pair of clean hands to come to Christ with; and you may be equally at a loss to find within you a proper sense of your need of Jesus in any way to save you ; and yet, for all that, whether you have these things or have them not, you must come; and come you do, I believe, when you can find none of them.

I could not, although I much wished to, write to you before this, and I have no more time now. The Lord bless you exceed

ing abundantly is the desire of, yours truly and affectionately, 35, The Oval, Hackney Road, J. SHORTER.

June 26th, 1847.

EASTER.*

ON SEEING A PICTURE OF THE CRUCIFIXION.

"Death is swallowed up in victory."-1 CORINTHIANS XV. 54.

Hastings, 1883.

I KNOW the Lamb of God
Was nailed upon the tree;
I know He shed His blood

For sinners-aye, for me!
But ah! I cannot lift mine eyes
On pictures of that sacrifice!

To "sit and watch Him there,"

68 They know not what they do ;" Can those who love Him share

In such appalling view?

The sun withdrew, and would not see
Th' incarnate Saviour's agony.

"'Tis finished!" is the gracious word,
And Faith will show the way
Where I may yet behold my Lord,
As morn o'er mountains grey :
Instead of anguish, death, and strife,
"The Resurrection and the Life."

The Life, the Light, the Love,
No water-floods could drown;

The opened heavens above,
The glory and the crown:

Through these the Lamb, once slain, I see,
And rise with Him to victory.

By Mrs. JOSEPH FEARN, author of "Plain Rhymes on the Pentateuch," &c.

NOTICES OF BOOKS, &c.

Episcopal Perfidy; or, Plain Words about the Mackonochie Scandal. By JAMES MORTIMER SANGAR, B.A., Curate of Drypool, Hull. One Penny. London: W. Wileman, 34, Bouverie Street, E.C.

THIS is a bold exposure of the Jesuitical conduct of the bishops, who, instead of seeking to purge their Church of the leaven of Popery, have practically shielded one of the most notorious Romanizers in our land from the just penalty of the law he has so shamelessly defied, by translating him to another benefice, where he can still pursue his unholy course of perjury, in contravening the very truths he once solemnly vowed to defend. We could wish that every clergyman and member of the Established Church might read this little tract, and lay its plain statements to heart.

The History of a Candidate for Confirmation. One Halfpenny each, or twenty-five for eightpence. London: W. K. Bloom, Tract Depository, Castle Street, Holborn, E.C.

CLERGYMEN who prepare candidates for Confirmation, and candidates themselves, would do well to ponder the account here given, and compare themselves with the truths and teachings of the Holy Spirit, so blessedly exemplified in the case of Phoebe Galen.

The Lord's Dove. A Sermon by Mr. E. CARR.

Threepence.

London: J. Gadsby, 18, Bouverie Street, E.C.; and Tourle, Trafalgar Street, Brighton.

THIS sermon contains some sweet and encouraging marks of discipleship, which will, no doubt, be helpful to many who are "seeking for Jesus." We hope it will find a wide and ready circulation,

LUTHER AND THE DYING STUDENT.

LUTHER once visited a dying student, and asked him what he thought he could take to God, in whose presence he was shortly to appear? The young man replied, "Everything that is good, dear father; everything that is good." Luther said, "How can you bring Him everything good, seeing that you are but a poor sinner? The youth rejoined, "Dear father, I will take to God in heaven a penitent, humble heart, sprinkled with the blood of Christ." "Truly," said Luther, "that is everything good. Then go, dear son; you will be a welcome guest to God."