sacrilege, such robbery of God? Of course such gross deeds of darkness could not well exist in the light of truth, and therefore the Bible may well be kept back as much as possible. It would never do to have the Bible alongside such Catechisms as these in the schools.

But you will be told it is all false, that the Second Commandment is thus treated. Yes, a good friend of mine near Derby did not hesitate to say that it would never do to circulate there a tract which I had sent, and which stated this fact. It was said that the Roman Catholics in and around Derby denied the fact, and brought it forward as a proof of Protestant slander. It so happened that the very day I got this account, I fell in with a short Historical Catechism, by M. L'Abbe Fleury, published by Richardson, Derby, being previously examined by the Rev. Thomas Sing, by command of the noted Dr. Wiseman, and pronounced correct and in turning to the Commandments, what was my indignation when I found the Second altogether omitted! not the slightest recognition of any part of it! Was there ever any thing so

monstrous?

But Popery is, in this sense, all of a piece. It acts consistently. There is an unscriptural and an anti-scriptural system to maintain, and therefore the Scriptures must be kept away.

And, oh! how all this goes against the spirit and the testimony of the Scriptures! Would Christ have said, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures," if he had thought that the people had no business with the Scriptures? Or would he have said, "Search the Scriptures ;" and that even to a very gainsaying and ignorant people, inclined to pervert every thing? Or would not Philip have reprimanded a poor ignorant Ethiopian convert for venturing to read a book which he could not understand, if he really thought he was doing wrong? And how came St. Paul to say, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness?" 2 Tim. iii. 11. And, again : "Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope,' Rom. xv. 4.

And how comes St. Paul to commend Timothy, because from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation? Surely if any are unable to understand the Scriptures, or likely to make a bad use of them, it must be children. One more passage I must give

you, and it is a remarkable one. You know how the Papists extol St. Peter above all the Apostles, as the head of Christ's Church. Now when Peter was growing old, he wrote two Epistles, which bear his name. They are addressed to Christians of all kinds, and in various places. Peter refers in them to the Holy Scriptures. He even names the bad use which some made of them. He admits that in his beloved brother Paul's writings, there are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they also do the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction," 2 Pet. iii. 16. All this he fully admits. Yet he does not say that on this account the Scriptures are only to be intrusted to some, and not to others. On the contrary, he says expressly in another part of the Epistle, "We also have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy is of any private interpretation," 2 Pet. i. 19. not clear from this, that all do well to give heed to God's word, even though many may and do wrest and abuse it to their destruction?

Is it

The whole spirit and character of the Bible goes against the idea that the Bible is not open to all. God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and where shall that knowledge be had but from the Bible?—the Bible that is for all. Oh! while we hold fast our Protestant privilege, and cling to the Bible, may we be led to pray for those of our fellow-creatures who are under a "strong delusion to believe a lie."

A letter just received from Capt. Pakenham, at Genoa, is added at page 59, and will be read with interest as confirming what is above stated.

READING THE BIBLE.

W.

You boast that you have read the Bible through many times. The reading is good-the boast is of no value. The profit is yours; the praise should be given to God: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory," Psa.

cxv. 1.

Love the Bible, and read it; it is a costly treasure, more precious than gold: "The law of thy mouth," saith David, "is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver,” Psa. cxix. 72. Are you in the broad way? It, by the power of the

Spirit, guides your steps into the narrow way

which leadeth unto life, and surrounds your path with the doctrine and life of Jesus. Are you in doubt and error? It sheds upon you its sacred light, and dispels the darkness. Does your heart tend to the world? It draws it back. The fire of the word

consumes worldly lusts, When it communicates to you a lively sense of the love of God, it soon expels the love of the world. It attracts the heart, as a magnet, to heaven, when our natural corruption would press us to the ground. Is the heart indisposed to that which is good? The Bible draws it to God by the manifestation of his goodness and mercy. Are not such allurements of love calculated to soften the hard heart, or warm the cold heart? Such power doth the goodness of God possess, when it is carried home to the heart; it draws it with such a sweet and mighty influence, that the heart delights to do that which would be pleasing to God. Are you sorrowful? The Bible comforts you; for it is the voice of a gracious God, whose love is beyond that of a mother, and whose words cannot but be consoling to his weeping child. Are you weak? He strengthens you. His word is as a cordial to your fainting soul.

But, my friend, read not the Bible as a mere historical book, that your mind may be furnished with the knowledge of its contents; but that your heart may be affected, that your devotion may be excited, and that the power of the word may be manifested in your life. The Bible is not designed to make you clever, but holy; not to give you the spirit of disputants, but to fill your heart with love. The devil showed, by the temptation in the wilderness, that he knew the Bible, yet not for his own profit, but for the purpose of tempting therewith Christ and his members. Many learned disputants study the Bible very diligently, not for their own improvement, but in order to perplex others.

The word of God shall be to me a glass, in which, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, I behold what I was in Adam before the fall, what I became by the fall, what I am in Christ, and shall be in eternity! The first, by God's grace, will excite in me love to God, and repentance, which proceeds from love; the second will work in me self-condemnatiou, the mortification of the flesh, humility, gentleness, and patience; the third will implant in me faith and godly fear; the fourth will teach me to despise the vanities of time, and to aspire after an eternity of blessedness.

SOME ACCOUNT OF A POOR WOMAN.

MRS. H- was the wife of an
under-gamekeeper, in the service
of Mr. B-, of B. She
could scarcely spell out words so
as to read a verse in the Bible,
and her husband could not do so
much as this. She always ap-
peared a quiet, modest young
woman, but unconcerned about
her soul. When she was about
twenty-eight years of age (having
been married about seven years,
and having one only child, a little
boy of six years old), she was
attacked with a violent inflam-
mation on the liver, in the month
of December, 1836. The medical
man who visited her considered
her to be in great danger, and
she felt sure she was dying; but
a few days after was so much
better as to be pronounced out
of danger. The following account
was given of her by Miss B-
who went to visit her in the im-
mediate crisis of her illness:-
"I cannot convey an idea to you
of the solemn, heart-rending tone
of her voice, when fixing her eyes
full of tears on me, she said,
'Oh! I am in such a fright about
my poor soul. All my life I said
I was a sinner, but I never felt
what my sins were till now.' She
said little more at that time."
About three days after, when the
immediate danger she was in ap-
peared to be over, Miss B-

went again to visit her with the Rev. Mr. G-, who conversed with her about twenty minutes. He was much struck with the reality of her convictions, and gave an account of his interview with her in the following letter:

"When I first began to speak,

and to hear her speaking, I was greatly struck with her simplicity and earnestness, but could not at first form any judgment of her case. She told me she had been taken suddenly ill, and had been seized with great terror, and had prayed, but had not found any real comfort. The extremity of her sickness abating, she felt a hope of recovery, and trusted that God would not suffer her to fall back into her former state. I did not know at first what to make of this account, though it encouraged me to hope that the Lord might be working in her heart. I proceeded, as I could, to say a little of the method of God's teaching. How He humbles us, how He convinces us of sin, folly, ignorance; how He empties us of all self-confidence, and shows us we have no hope in ourselves. I suppose it was then that I dwelt on the words which appear to have sunk deep into her heart,—Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'

Her attention became unusually arrested, and she said with much apparent feeling, I believe what you say-it is all right.' I began from this to hope that the Lord had already granted her in a measure spiritual discernment, which made me pray that he would direct my words, and keep my heart in talking to her, for I deeply felt I knew not what to say. Presently she observed, with unusual simplicity,

Sir, I have an aunt living-she went out of her mind for her sins; she was in Bethlem Hos