matter to answer their reasonable claims on his affection and friendship; nay, he is in sad disgrace in many quarters for his apparent want of attention. How, then, without neglecting his obvious duties, can he find the time to reply, in addition to the just claims upon him, to all his indulgent correspondents? Let me put this affair in a clear point of view. If letters are addressed by fifty people to one person, every one of the fifty, thinking the writing of a letter to be no great object, will expect an answer. Thus it is with them: but how stands the affair with the party addressed? It might be an easy thing for him to write one letter, but a hard thing to write fifty. It might be possible to do what is requested by one, yet altogether impossible to accomplish what is required by all. That it may not be thought that I am supposing an imaginary case, let me here observe, that I have now more than fifty papers on hand, on subjects no inconsiderable part of which have been proposed to me by others. I feel sure that, knowing this, you will be considerate enough to enter into my difficulties, and forbearing enough to listen to the few additional observations about to follow. To such of my correspondents as feel disposed to offer me useful suggestions, cheering encouragement, candid criticism, or solitary reproof, let me say that I shall at all times be thankful for your communications, regretting that I cannot undertake to give you a reply. To such as may be anxious to obtain from me a contribution in furtherance of any worthy and benevolent object, or by way of remembrance, I offer my best acknowledgments for the compliment implied in the request; but candour requires me to state, that already are my energies in such full requisition, that necessity, and not disinclination, compels me to decline. And now a word to those whose kindly natures prompt them to send me little articles of their own workmanship. Bear with me, and let me speak plainly. I value your gifts, but there is a way in which your kindness would be more acceptable to me. It would please me much could I persuade you to become, if you are not already, donors or subscribers to the Religious Tract Society. Think for a moment of the difference between the sum of good likely to be effected by bestowing a little present on a private individual, and the advantage se cured by assisting the active benevolence of an institution deserving your support. In the former case, you confer a passing temporal pleasure on one human being; in the latter, you may haply be the means of bestowing an abiding spiritual benefit on many. The course I recommend may involve somewhat of a sacrifice, but you will think none the worse of yourselves for having made it. Come, come, fall into my way of thinking, and you will have no reason to regret taking my advice. It is kind of you to think of the earthly comforts of any one; it will be kinder still to think of the eternal welfare of your fellow-beings, and to help some of them on their way to heaven. Again I say, that I estimate highly the least expression of goodwill. A common pen wiper, that would cost but a penny, or a gillyflower from the broken jug in the almshouse window, given in the spirit of kindness, would be thankfully received by me; for kindly feelings are costly things in my estimation: but I have not the time at my disposal to follow out as I would in letter writing, such private feelings and affections. I hope that I have written intelligibly, and that you fully understand me. Though I have not leisure to reply to the many who address me, and to gratify myself in acknowledging personal favours, yet, should you be disposed to show your goodwill towards me by an offering, great or small, to the Society,* let me have an address that will reach you, and I pledge myself in every such case that the same shall be acknowledged in the handwriting of Old Humphrey. We cannot always do as we would; we cannot always choose the most pleasant pathway through the world; for were we to do this, we should be often found loitering by the running stream, and plucking fruit and flowers, instead of walking in the less attractive road of duty. If we would, as followers of Him whose kindness and love were unbounded, really serve others, we must learn to deny ourselves not only in these little things, but also in much greater matters, taking heed to his words, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me," Luke ix. 23. Though the object in what I have said has been simply to show my inability to * If a Post Office order, to be made payable to Mr. John Davis.-ED. reply individually to all who address me, yet as there are exceptions to most rules, there may be especial cases wherein my remarks will not apply; but I do hope that the suggestions contained in this general notice, will so far recommend themselves to the judgment of my correspondents, as to be kindly received and generally adopted. A TRINITARIAN FAITH. If it were asked, "Is a trinitarian faith of much importance to practical piety?" we should be content to say, Trace the history, either of individuals, or of churches that have renounced it, and you will find an answer. A trinitarian faith, clear of every evasion, and excluding even the disposition to look for evasions, we hold to be the basis of all Christian piety. But now, with a due ingenuousness, let us look to the other side of this argument. Orthodoxy alone, is not, we say, Christianity; for it has consisted with the widest departures from its purport. More than a little constancy of faith and strength of mind are demanded, in travelling over the road of the trinitarian controversy, from the early years of the third century onward, toward modern times; and if our belief have not previ- | ously been firmly grounded upon the proper biblical evidence, it is probable that the perusal of this history will breed doubt, disgust, suspicion, and will end in a heterodox conclusion. The Greek mind, which had relinquished none of the faults of a better age, and which retained few of its admirable qualities, and which had been schooled in nugatory disputation by a degenerate philosophy, a sophisticated logic, and a spurious rhetoric, found its field in the trinitarian argument. Ponderous tomes have brought this argument down to our times; but how much of the warm apostolic feeling do these books present to our view? something, indeed, but not more in proportion to the mass, than there are grains of the precious metal to be gathered from a mud bank, in the offing of a gold coast. Orthodoxy very early severed from evangelical truth, showed at once what was its quality when so divorced. Some time before the breaking out of the trinitarian controversy, a discipline and course of life directly contravening the first principle of the gospel, had received the almost unanimous homage of the church throughout the world, and was applauded, on all sides, as the highest style of Christian piety. What moral influence was orthodoxy likely to exert, when it fell into the hands of those who had overlooked, or who virtually denied the truths, which alone can bring it home to the heart? The Saviour, forgotten, as "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," was soon forgotten also as the " one Mediator between God and men.' Most instructive is the fact, that, at the very moment when trinitarian doctrine was the most hotly contended for, and punctiliously professed, mediators many, and gods many, and goddesses many, were receiving, under the auspices, and by the encouragement of the great preachers, theologians, and bishops of the time, the fervent devotions of the multitude! It was to these potent intercessors that sincere petitions were addressed, while to the Trinity was offered a doxology! Whenever men were in real trouble, and when they needed and heartily desired help from above, they sought it, where they believed they should the soonest find it, at the shrines of the martyrs, or of the Virgin. No fact of church history carries a heavier lesson than that which we gather when, listening to the perorations of the great preachers of the age of orthodoxy, we hear them first invoking, with animation and highsounding phrases a saint in the heavens, while the finger pointed to his glittering shrine, and then ascribing "honour and glory" to the Trinity! Orthodoxy, by itself does not touch the conscience, does not quicken the affections; it does not connect itself, in any manner, with the moral faculties. It is not a religion, but a theory; and inasmuch as it awakens no spiritual feelings, it consists easily with either the grossest absurdities, or with the grossest corruptions. Orthodoxy, powerless when alone, becomes even efficient for evil, at the moment when it combines itself with aceticism, superstition, and hierarchical ambition. What is the religious history of Europe, through a long course of time, but a narrative of the horrors and the immoralities that have sprung from this very combination? Heterodoxy, which has long been the temptation of the continental Protestant churches, has at length wrought their ruin; or, at the best, has left them in an expiring condition. But, in perfect equity, must it not be acknowledged that orthodoxy, severed from evangelical truth, has been the temptation of England; and that, at this moment, by reviving its ancient connexion with superstition, it gives just alarm to the sons of the reformers? Those great men, the lights of the sixteenth century, whom we do not worship, but whose steps we would follow, were orthodox, and yet they were no monks; they were Trinitarians, but they were not idolaters; they had studied the fathers, but they bowed to the Scriptures; and from the Scriptures they recovered evangelical truth; inestimable treasure, which so many around us now ready to exchange for the vainly-invented" superstitions of antiquity! Isaac Taylor. are GOD IS ON THE MOUNTAINS. I HAVE climbed the rugged side of the huge mountain beneath my feet. I am standing on the proud height that overtops the surrounding eminences. Woods and waters, barren heaths, and fertile vales, are distantly spread on either hand, and far, far beyond, are the dim-descried spires of many towns and cities, while the sunlit and coloured clouds above me, gladden my spirit, and almost entrance me with delight. God is on the mountains! and I, an unworthy reveller in his glowing creation, am thirstily drinking in the streams of his goodness. God is on the mountains! He has clothed the high hill, the craggy rock, and the spiry peak with sublimity and beauty! In the morning they are wreathed with snowy vapours, at noon they are lit up with glittering sunbeams, and at even-tide they are spread over with azure, and purple, and gold. How boldly their awful forms rise up towards heaven! How aspiringly their lofty tops mingle with the clouds! There is silence and solemnity, beauty, glory, and sublimity, in the impressive scene. God is on the mountains. Can there be solitude amid the everlasting hills if God be there? How my spirit yearns for communion with angels and glorified saints, while gazing on the kindling clouds, lit up and intensely bright, with beams from the throne of the Eternal! This is not solitude. "To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell; What is it that makes the heart throb, and the pulse beat with a freer action? that calls forth grateful, and high, and holy outpourings of spirit to the Giver of all good? Oh, the mountain air is pure and purifying! the mountain scenery proclaims its almighty Maker. The enraptured heart, the excited soul acknowledges the presence of the high and Holy One. God is on the mountains in the plenitude of his power and goodness. He is seen in the heaven-piled altitudes; he is heard in the mountain blast; he is felt in the consciousness of his presence, and in the high and heavenly aspirations his glorious creation inspires. God is on the mountains! While I gaze on his goodly creation, I call to mind the glorious revelation of the Almighty. I feel that "the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also," Psa. xcv. 3, 4. At this moment I could "sing unto the Lord," and "make tion." "Lord, thou hast been our dwella joyful noise to the rock of our salvaing place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God," Psa. xc. 1, 2. But see, to the south-west a gloom is gathering in the sky. I have lingered long upon this lofty height, and the sun is now shrouded by the big, black thunder cloud: yet God is still upon the mountains. The gathering vapours have thickened in the murky vault above, and the burdened heavens seem ready to rest, for a season, their load on the lofty hills. The sheep and cattle in the distant vales, are huddled together, waiting in fear the coming storm. What a dreadful crash! It shook the very mountains. Again the thunder roars; the tempest is abroad in its rage. I have escaped the drowning deluge, having taken refuge in a shepherd's shealing. The rushing winds are howling around; the lightnings are flashing fearfully to and fro; in loud * A shed used by shepherds in the north. succession the thunder clap reverberates from hill to hill, and a flood is pouring from the skies. God is indeed on the mountains! The tempest has exhausted its rage, the storm has passed by; what a helpless atom is man in the war of elements! yet here am I preserved. As a bubble on the face of the mighty ocean, as a grain of sand in the wide-spread desert, so am I; a speck, a point in the creation; yet the Father of mercies has regarded me. God is on the mountains, and his almighty hand has protected me. He who said, "Let there be light," and there was light, hath also said, "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee," Isa. liv. 10. THE SHARK AND THE PILOT FISH. THE average length of the pilot fish is about six inches; though we took one example, in the Pacific, which measured one foot two inches. The body is somewhat cylindrical, and neatly formed. The colour of the head and back is steel blue; abdomen silvery; sides marked with five broad black bands; fins mottled black and white, and mostly tipped with white; inner circle of the iris, hazle; outer, gold yellow. A single row of teeth in each jaw. Three short spines in front of the dorsal fin, and two in front of the anal. Lateral line is oblique, and terminates posteriorly in a semi-cartilaginous ridge, projecting from either side of the tail. The female is oviparous. Pilot fish are almost invariably found in attendance upon the shark, though the nature of their connexion with that ferocious fish is somewhat mysterious. They will accompany ships for a considerable time, after their patron shark has been destroyed; but I am not aware that they have ever been seen, like the Remora, attending upon other large fish, whales, or miscellaneous floating bodies. The structure of their mouth and the contents of their stomach, which are usually small fish, denote that they are accustomed to seek their food in a very independent manner: we captured many of them, also, by hook and line, baited with flesh, nor did they refuse the bait, even when they were in company with a shark. The reputation this fish has obtained, of being the shark's pilot, or provider, (and which has sanctioned its trivial name,) would appear to be groundless, were we guided only by the want of similar precedents in the animal kingdom. A fact, however, which came under my notice, during a voyage from India, in the year 1832, led me to believe, that there is some just foundation for this popular opinion. While we were becalmed in the Atlantic Ocean, a shark was seen close to the ship, and attended by two pilot fish, which generally swam one above and the other below him, and occasionally went off to some distance, as if to explore the surrounding sea; although it was seldom long before they returned, and resumed their former positions; the shark, in the meantime, by its unwieldy form, slow movements, and lethargic aspect, offering a strong contrast to the sprightliness and activity of his scouts. A baited hook was lowered from the bow of the ship; but the shark, when alone, passed it several times without notice, and apparently without seeing it. One of the foraging pilot fish then approached the bait, and immediately swam off to where the shark was headed in a contrary direction; when the monster instantly turned and followed his informant, which now swam a-head of him, in a direct line towards the suspended bait. He did not then hesitate a moment, but seized it, and was captured. While the shark was being hauled on board, the pilot fish expressed the greatest concern, almost leaping out of the water, in their endeavours to follow him, and swimming near the surface, with every demonstration of anxiety. These faithful little fish were observed to attach themselves to the ship, but attracted little attention until some weeks afterwards, when we spoke the Thomas Grenville, East Indiaman, and lowered a boat to communicate with her. One of the fish was then seen to accompany the boat to and from the stranger ship; and so devotedly did it attend upon what it might have believed to be its lost shark, as to lead the officers of the Thomas Grenville to remark, that we had a pilot fish painted on the rudder of the boat. Their attendance upon sharks is somewhat capricious. We have seen more than five associated with one shark, while many others of the latter tribe, and assembled in the water at the same time, have not been accompanied by one of these fishes. They have evidently nothing to dread from the voracious companions they select, but swim around, and often a few inches a head of him, as either their convenience or caprice may dictate.-F. B. Bennett. JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION. It may serve to extricate some minds from confusion, if we give an axiomatic statement of the nature and relation of the two blessings in question. Justification and sanctification agree in the following points: They are both essential to our salvation from the state into which we are fallen, and from the dangers to which we are exposed. Both are sovereign favours, bestowed on us by the God of salvation. Both come to us through the redemption that is in Christ. In both, the operation of the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ. Both are designed to honour the law and government and grace of God. Both are, therefore, enjoyed by all believers, and by believers only. But the two blessings differ in various ways. Justification is specially related to the rectitude of God's government; sanctification relates to the holiness of God's nature. Justification is an act; sanctification is a process. Justification is the sentence of the Father as moral Governor on the throne of grace; sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in the temple of the heart. Justification changes our state; sanctification is a change of our nature, or character. In justification we are pronounced righteous; by sanctification we are made holy. Justification is the acceptance of our persons into God's favour; sanctification is the renewal of our hearts into God's image. Justification, therefore, is a forensic term, expressive of God's jurisdiction over us; sanctification is catharistic, expressing God's moral influence over us. In justification the guilt of sin is remitted; in sanctification its defilement is cleansed. Justification gives a title to heaven; sanctification a fitness for it. Justification is by union to Christ, as the law Fulfiller; sanctification by union to him as the Purifier. Justification comes by uniting us to Christ as our legal Head; sanctification by uniting us to him as our vital Head. Justification is by faith only on our part; sanctification is by many means, chiefly the word and prayer; but also by ordinances and afflictions, under the influence of the Spirit. Justification is complete as soon as we believe; sanctification then commences amid great imperfections. Justification may be referred to a known definite time; sanctification is spread over the whole of life. In justification there is no difference among believers; in sanctification there are great varieties. Justification comes first as the root; sanctification follows as the fruit. Justification, therefore, may be known by sanctification. Justification pronouncing our title to the enjoyment of heaven, sanctification is given to fulfil the sentence. Many more points of distinction might be shown; but these may suffice to assist such as wish to pursue the subject to greater lengths.-Dr. Bennett. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE LAW THE Contrast between the law and the gospel evidently shows the superexcellency of the latter above the former. The glory of the ceremonial law was typical; but the glory of the gospel is the substance. The glory of the moral law kills the sinner; the glory of the gospel quickens him: the former kills him with terror, the latter sweetly and powerfully draws him by the cords of love to God, that he might enjoy his smile, which is life, and be prepared for his more immediate presence in glory, where there is fulness of All the joy, and pleasures for evermore. glory of the law can throw no light on the gospel; but the gospel, like the sun in the firmament, shineth most brilliantly on the Divine character, the fall of man, and all over mount Sinai, and removes the thick veils that were between us and the eternal God. Christ Jesus is the sum and substance of the gospel, the foundation of our hope, the object of our faith, and the centre of our affections. We |