united by the common bond of jealousy of civil liberty. At any rate, it would not be safe to rely upon their assistance.

Mrs. M. God grant we may never witness such a strife! Ed. Amen. But certainly we ought to be preparing for it. Mrs. M. How?

Ed. Nationally, by a complete and immediate severance from all political connection with Papal idolatry; individually by prayerful, earnest endeavours to carry the Gospel everywhere, in all its simplicity, fulness and power. "Ecclesiastical Titles

Bills" may rebuke the audacious conceit of the Pope, but they cannot arrest the steps of his stealthy emissaries, prowling as they do in quiet country villages, and invading as they do the sanctity of domestic circles. Let the Word of God have free course, let an evangelical ministry be secured everywhere at any cost, let new enterprises be undertaken, so as to bring the truth to bear upon the multitudes of ungodly poor which are crowded in innumerable courts and alleys, and then we shall not only successfully meet Rome's ecclesiastical aggressions, but be prepared to repel a second Armada from our shores.

Mrs. M. But what do you think of the increase of Popery in our own country, in a religious point of view? Are there not many cathedrals and convents springing up?

Ed. The latter ought to be strictly inquired into. But I do not dread the influence of these things; I do not believe that the Roman church, as such, will in this land extend itself very fast.

Aug. Not while Smithfield has other memories than that of a cattle-market, while the red-brick Lollards' Tower yet frowns over the Thames, while Guy Faux is yet memorable, and the Book of Martyrs is known and read.

Mrs. M. You said the Roman church, as such; do you mean that its spirit may extend itself.

Ed. Yes, its spirit, rather than its organization, which does not take with our people. And I fear its spirit has. There are many who, although not altogether Romanists in outward guise, are altogether Romanists in heart. If not secretly in communion with the Papal church, they are joined to it in feeling, and every instinct seeks the association. They minister treacherously in Protestant parishes, they disseminate Popery in schools and colleges, and they beguile the young with sentimental stories.

Emm. Dear Mr. Editor, here is a parcel of books lying on your table, which seems quite apropos to your last remark about beguiling the young.

Ed. Ah, I perceive you have got hold of a packet of Reward Books* which are all more or less tinctured with Popery.

London: Masters.

Emm. Then you have read them?
Ed. Which I advise you not to do.
Emm. Why not?

Ed. Is it wise to taste poison that one may comprehend what the nature and influence of poison are? Can a man touch pitch without being defiled? It is necessary for some persons to read such books, that they may warn Christian parents against them. But it is not a salutary thing for the young to do. I call them slow poison for the young.

Mrs. M. Will you point out their chief errors?

Ed. There are such as these. I have not taken up one of these books, in which an anxious inquirer could find the way of salvation through a crucified Redeemer plainly and truly stated. The Church is put in place of Christ. Holiness is said to be derived from baptism, not from the Holy Spirit's operations in the soul. The Prayer Book and Catechism are not only placed on a level with the Bible, but are evidently preferred far above it. When a religious duty is enforced, there is a complete ignoring of the only sufficient motive of action; that is, faith which worketh by love. The most exaggerated descriptions are given of the sanctity of church walls and churchyards; and of the importance of attending daily prayers and festival services, whilst pleasure taking on the Lord's day is permitted, and even cricketplaying on the Sabbath allowed, as an exception, to those who during the week have no other time for play!

Mrs. M. This is a lamentable account.

I

Ed. Alas! it is. The children for whom these insidious stories are written, might as well be heathens as such Christians as these books would create. I am quite certain that the writers have known nothing themselves of that joy and peace which come through believing in Christ, or they could not so completely have excluded the Saviour from these narratives. would even speak more strongly than this. I believe, that these productions exhibit a systematic and concerted departure from Protestant Scriptural truth; are features of that "Mystery of Iniquity," which not only has its stronghold at Rome, but its disguised agents numerously and untiringly at work in the Church of England; and are calculated to distil a deadly poison into the hearts of youthful readers.

Mrs. M. Parents ought then to be anxiously on their guard when purchasing children's books.

Ed. Most assuredly. Once, it might have seemed a matter of little moment when one went into a shop to buy a book for a child, what works were selected. Their style, sentiments and merits were very much of an average. But now, wrapped up in an innocent looking and rather nonsensical story-book, you find

yourself taking home to the nursery a small, but powerful dose of Anglo-romanism! Had it been a theological pamphlet, you would have known what you were about, but you could not imagine these simple-looking reward books to be controversial treatises. We do live in critical days, and the grand scheme of the great enemy of souls seems to be, to transform himself into an angel of light, and to work, not so much by positive wickedness, as by mistaken piety. Let us all be more watchful against this new ઃઃ device;" warn our friends against circulating such deceptive and dangerous story-books; and take especial care that they never creep into libraries over which we have any controul. Aug. Suppose we had a Protestant Index Expurgatorius, would it answer?

Ed. Of course not. There being no penalties to enforce its prohibitions, the condemnation of a book would only ensure its more extensive perusal. The best mode of opposing error is by a wider proclamation of the truth.

Old L. Don't you think, Mr. Editor, that much of the mischief is owing to young people reading so much fiction. Whereever I go, I see nothing but story-books and juvenile novels. If such things were not so much allowed, they could not become channels of improper doctrine.

Emm. I hope all fictitious writing is not to be condemned! Ed. It would neither be wise, nor useful. But there may be a very great inexpediency in allowing the mind, especially that of the young, to be frequently feasted upon luxurious and exciting narratives. The tendency of what is called light reading is to relax the energies of the mind, and so to unfit it for grave studying, or reflection; to fill it with romantic notions, and thoughts of an ideal world; thus to make the ordinary life seem dull and uninteresting; and the poor reader, rather to dream of a future which never comes, than manfully to work out that future, as Providence indicates it, for himself.

Aug. But sometimes truth itself is as romantic and exciting as fiction. Here, for instance, is a book, which, in a novelist's hands would have become a three volume edition, and have been eagerly called for at every circulating library.

Ed. What is this marvellous, true story?

Aug. THE UNCLAIMED DAUGHTER.*

Ed. Oblige us with a brief outline of it, that we may judge of its claims to our attention.

Aug. There is, at this moment residing, I believe in Dublin, a young lady, over whose origin and early history a veil of mystery, hitherto unpenetrated, hangs.

* Bath: Binns & Goodwin.

Old L. What! a stolen child?

Aug. That is a matter for investigation. There are no proofs she had been stolen.

Ed. How and when was she discovered ?

Aug. By Miss Hartley, her beloved protectress, at the Dublin Destitute Asylum, in 1836. Her dress and manners, although only four years old, were those of gentle birth. Miss Hartley was so much prepossessed in her favour, and fancied she saw something so remarkably mysterious about the child's circumstances, as finally to adopt her, and though, in straitened circumstances, to bring her up and educate her for the station in life to which she had apparently been born.

Ed. What account did the child give of herself?

Aug. All that could at various times be gleaned from the little girl's early recollections amounted to this:-a solitary cottage, in the midst of corn fields and mountains, was the first residence she remembered. Of this cottage Nicholas Murphy, elderly and careworn, was owner. Not harsh, but by no means fatherly, in his manner. At night he departed, leaving her alone, and often not only in fear but in hunger. In the morning

some girl came and dressed her.

Old L. What was her name?

One

Aug. None, except that they called her "Little One." The child had a strange presentiment that some pretty lady would take her away. This thought gave her comfort. She fancied this lady belonged to a large house in the vicinity. day she saw a lady coming towards her. She believed this was the lady of her dreams. She ran towards her; but when she had reached her, to her horror, she saw the lady dying under the knife of "Thady," the beggarman, whom she had once seen before.

Ed. It is a wonder the murderer allowed the witness of his crime to escape.

Aug. Probably he thought her too young to awaken any uneasines sin his mind. On that evening it seems that Murphy was absent. A neighbour, Mrs. Keegan, took her to her own house, and she had not long been there, when a woman and a soldier entered, bearing with them a coffin.

Old L. A coffin! why it must have been the poor lady that was murdered, and they were carrying her away!

Aug. It looked suspicious. The man spoke of England and his master. The next morning they were gone. Soon after this, the large house was burnt, apparently by design. Murphy stood watching the flames with some sort of malignant pleasure. Not very long after these occurrences, Murphy drove the child to a large house in a park, and she was taken by a servant into a room

containing a coffin. They remained there some time. She was then carried into another room, where a lady in mourning received her, and caressed her. The child felt quite at home, as if originally she had been accustomed to a higher class of society.

Mrs. M. Was she given back to Murphy ?

Aug. Yes, and he took her to Dublin, and left her in the charge of a woman she at first instinctively detested; and soon had reason to dread, by bitter experience of her cruelty. Murphy she never saw again. She once tried to escape and for this was struck so brutally, that the mark of the wound is yet visible on her forehead.

Ed. From this woman, I suppose, she went to the Destitute Asylum.

Aug. She did so. A false story obtained admission for her, and thence she was rescued by the benevolent lady to whom I have referred.

Ed. What attempts were made to discover her parents?

Aug. The most eager and persevering endeavours were fruitless. Nothing has ever been discovered.

Ed. Was the child's story corroborated by any other facts? Aug. The most important fact was that of "Thady" passing and re-passing the house where the little girl resided with her benefactress, his manner indicating some unusual interest in its occupants. Miss Hartley even spoke to him; but although the conversation strengthened her belief in the accuracy of her protége's narrative, the man would not say anything that elucidated the mystery.

Ed. Why was he not taken up?

Aug. The evidence against him did not seem strong enough to warrant such a step.

Ed. Were no inquiries made in the neighbourhood where the child was supposed to have resided?

Aug. To some extent; but nothing was learned further. A maid-servant was however met with, who said the child was very much like a lady who had been visiting at her master's.

Old L. Did they make anything out of that?

Aug. No. Why they did not go to the gentleman whose servant they met, and tell their story to him, we are not informed. It seems an oversight. They had also heard of a lady advertising in the Times for the recovery of a lost child, and the details of the advertisement, as reported, gave them some slight hopes. But they failed to get a sight of the advertisement. They wrote to the Times Office, but could not get them to spend the time necessary for a long search in past volumes of the newspaper.