analogous. Should you think the following statement on this subject worth insertion, it is at your service. It is true that we may wind up machinery, and then leave it, and feel satisfied that, barring accident, it will continue to move for a certain time. But this motion is not owing to any power which can be communicated to senseless wheels and weights. In order to exercise and improve our faculties, while our comfort is promoted, God at the creation decreed that matter might be moved according to certain laws, from which (except by direct miracle) he never swerves; and his energy is always at work to move matter in conformity to these laws. At the same time he gives us ability to discover what these laws are, and thus to benefit by the creatures which he has made for our use. It is only by experience that we know of what motions matter is capable; and if we were so absurd as to endeavour to endue it with a motion contrary to those laws, we should instantly find that our skill does not give motion to matter, but only uses the power of motion which it derives from the unseen God. Our act therefore, in winding up a machine, and leaving it for a time, is entirely of a different kind from the act of God in enabling the machine to move at all, and is no argument against the necessity for his universal presence. Allowing, however, for the sake of argument, that matter might be endued by the Creator with a power of self-motion and gifted by him with a temporary independence on him-points respecting which, from our limited knowledge, we are utterly unable to argue-another reason for God's perpetual superintendance may be deduced from the consideration of these very machines made by the art of man. If our attention is withdrawn from every part of them for an instant, we have no security that some hindrance will not occur, which may disorder the whole and derange the best con certed work. So, if He did not uphold and watch over every part of his works and suffer nothing to occur, however apparently trifling, but by his permission, the great chain of causes and events might be disturbed, and the all-perfect plans of his providence thwarted. The universe would not go on with certain and measured steps towards that beautiful consummation of all things, which in due time is to be unfolded to the admiration of all created beings. Such, at least, are some of the reflections that strike my own mind on the question; though, after all, yourself and your readers will pro bably be of opinion, that these metaphysical arguments on such a subject are of comparatively little avail, either for establishing truth or exposing error. For all that is necessary to be known by us as con. cerns our intercourse with our adorable Creator, we have "a more sure word of prophecy ;" and it is therefore not any serious loss that we are not able to speculate with certainty upon what it does not actually concern us to know. For practical purposes the especial providence of God is made abundantly clear to us in the Scriptures; but the knowledge of the precise mode of its operation, may be one of those points which are reserved for the disclosures of a future world. T. B. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. In comparing the following passages; Luke xxii. 35--38 and 49-52; xxiii. 32, 33 and 39-43; it seems to me probable, that the transgressors among whom Isaiah prophecied that our Lord should be reckoned referred particularly to those disorderly and rebellious bodies, who were setting up pretended Christs to free the nation from the Roman yoke, and give them universal license. They were robbers and murderers, and were hunted down without mercy, wherever they could be found. St. Paul was confounded with one of these leaders, Acts xxi. 38; and Gamaliel (Acts v. 31-39) hesitated to determine whether the Apostles were organising such bodies of men or not, It was necessary for the fulfilment of the prophecy, that a charge of this nature should be, as in fact it was, urged against him; Luke xxiii. 1-5. Herod mocked him, as one who at tempted some great revolution which he possessed no means of effecting. His persecutors, perhaps, took advantage of his having desired his Apostles, when he was leading them by night to a secret place near the main road over Olivet to Jerusalem to provide themselves with necessaries as for a distant journey, (they might perhaps insinuate, into the Wilderness, as in Acts xxi. 38,) and with purse and scrip, and also with swords. Our Lord foresaw that the sword would be improperly used; but he exercised miraculous power in healing the wound which it inflicted. His disciples, we may suppose, were searched before the of ficers dismissed them; and all these circumstances, though omitted in the brevity of the narrative, we may readily conceive, would be urged against him as proofs of lawless intentions. Our Lord's question, xxii. 52, implies, that he was considered as a robber, and was apprehended under that designation. "Thief" is a word which, as now used, applies rather to stealing in secret; a crime not punished with death under the Jewish Law, and ought to be changed for "robber" both here and in Matt. xxvii. 38. Our Lord's being put to death between two men who were notoriously guilty of this crime, was perhaps intended to fix the charge more strongly upon him, and also the accusation inscribed on his cross; for the leaders of those lawless bands generally pretended to be the Christ, the expected King of Israel. The quotation of the same text by our Lord, when he required that swords should be provided, and by the Evangelist " Mark, xv. 27, 28, shews the connexion between the act of arming themselves, and the advantage taken of it, when his enemies accused him. They represented him as a "transgressor," like the malefactors who were to be executed on that day. I may add, that the Jews never executed more than one criminal in one day, except for the same offence, and we have no intimation that Pilate violated their customs by this threefold execution. If the foregoing interpretation is well founded, it furnishes a remarkable illustration of the very minute and circumstantial accuracy of the prophecies respecting the Messiah; and thus adds to the multiplied proofs of the divine inspiration of those astonishing predictions. T. B. MISCELLANEOUS. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. In one of your late Numbers, you noticed the augmented patronage bestowed upon Christian missions, and the increased respect with which they are regarded even in quarters where, till of late, they were neglected, if not openly ridiculed. A recent article in the Quarterly Review deserves notice, as an illus. tration of this remark; but I am particularly anxious to invite the attention of your readers to the following extract from it, on account of the defence which it contains of some of those minor financial schemes of charity which have been peculiarly censured or derided. The paragraph is penned somewhat playfully, but certainly in one of the best moods of that not very consistent journal; and it proves that the writer had neither a head nor a heart that could ridicule what, though abundantly open to the jest ing of little wits, must command substantially the reverence of every wise and good man. Those who can ridicule the penny subscriptions, and slight votive offerings made in behalf of our modern charitable institutions, would have had an excellent field for the display of their sportive faculties in ancient times, from the collections made towards the building of the Temple to the offering of the widow's mite. "No minister," says the reviewer, "however expert in the art of raising money, could ever succeed in putting so many ways and means in motion as have been devised by the ingenuity of missionary directors and collectors, or suggested by those who took a lively interest in the cause. Large sums are continually produced by penny-a-week subscriptions. It has been calculated,' says the London Missionary Society, in a late Report, that if every house in Great Britain raised only one penny per week, the product would be 450,000l. per annum.' It is curious to look over the Reports, and ob serve by what various devices the amount of the yearly receipts is swollen. A little is done by missionary boxes, in shops or in private houses, like the poor boxes in our churches. Schools and juvenile societies supply more: a great deal is raised by Ladies' Branch Societies, or Associations;' something from the sale of pincushions and ladies' work of all kinds. In an Evangelical Magazine before us, these items appear: By selling matches, 17. 3s.; by lending tracts, 21. Os. 9d.; Sunday school boys, 7s. 6d.; produce of the sale of ornamental mouse-traps, 17. 4s. 6d.'One tradesman in a small way,' lays aside for this purpose the odd pence in every day's receipts, and recommends others to follow his example; another, in still humbler life, does the same with the farthings. The wife of a Greenwich pensioner presented to a late Wesleyan Missionary Meeting at Greenwich, a bag containing nine hundred and sixty farthings. One person gives every year the produce of a cherry tree. Sometimes a Sundayschool girl presents a portion of her earnings. Sometimes the workmen at a manufactory contribute largely; and not unfrequently servants make contributions in proportion, which evince a noble spirit. If an item now and then appears which may raise a smile, there are others which excite a different feeling. One sum of 100%., and another of 150l., are given as offerings to God for an unexpected accession of fortune. One of the last Missionary Registers acknowledges ten pounds as a thank-offering on the recovery of a child. A lady presents thirty pounds as the produce of her jewels; and a blind basket-girl as many shillings, being the amount of what candles must have cost her during the winter, if she had eyes to see. What a sunshine of the soul must that poor girl have enjoyed! 'If thou hast much, give plenteously; if thou hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little; for so gatherest thou thyself a good reward in the day of necessity.' This cruse will not fail. The whole receipt of the Church Missionary Society for its first thirteen years was little more than 22,000l.: last year the income exceeded 39,000l. In reference to this subject,' they say, there is a fact to be stated which deserves attention. On a careful investigation it appears, that the Society never had, since it began to send out missionaries, and has not at this moment, more funds in hand than would serve to discharge its actual obligations on account of its missions in various parts of the world. And yet it has never been put to any difficulty in discharging the obligations which it had contracted; nor has it been withheld, merely by the want of funds, from entering on any promising undertaking brought before its Committees. The Committees state this fact as a ground of thankfulness to Almighty God, that he has enabled the Society to proceed with such an equal and steady course.' H. surely the regularity and solemnity of our religious observances would make some impression upon persons to whose ancestors we owe the light we now enjoy, but who have themselves fallen back into darkness. The persons attached to the embassy and the Duke of Cumberland are numerous: there are more than half a dozen English students, and nearly twenty other Englishmen connected with the gasworks here, some of whom have wives and families; and there are also many English persons regu larly settled here. I have likewise heard many Germans who speak English, say, that such a service would be well attended by those acquainted with our language, to hear it pronounced with purity and propriety; and they form a numerous and most respectable class. Though coming at first from an inferior object, we may hope that they would derive benefit of a higher kind: I have therefore no doubt, but a suitable minister would collect a considerable congregation." Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. THINKING that the following extract of a letter from a gentleman visiting Berlin, dated last February, may interest your readers, and perhaps forward the excellent object which my correspondent has in view, I request its insertion in your pages. C. "As for devotional observances, unhappily for all our countrymen here, and we are not a few, there is no English service, nor even an English clergyman in the place, notwithstanding we have an embassy, and the Duke of Cumberland's establishment here. Indeed, the general absence of religious feeling in Berlin, so close to the cradle of the Reformation, is truly astonishing. The majority of the shops are open on Sundays, as are all public offices: the mechanics likewise are all at work: no distinction is made in family arrangements: all the usual proceedings go on as on other days balls are given, the theatres are open, and are crowded and warmed with stoves, while the churches are miserably empty and dreadfully cold and damp. While the cold was at all bearable, we went regularly to the French Church, as it kept up the habit of distinguishing the day. : "For myself, I really think that you should apply to some of our excellent Societies, and request them to send a missionary hither, as Government does nothing for the spiritual welfare of absentees. In many respects the character of the Eng:ish stands high here; and Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. THERE appears to be a strong necessity for calling the attention of the public to the manner in which the singing is usually managed in most of our village churches, especially where there is no organ to regulate the melody; and, even where this assistance is found, the psalms and hymns are often most inaptly chosen, whether we look to the appointed services of the day, or to the subject of the sermon. Especially is this observable when a hymn is chosen for either of our great festivals, or at a funeral. In addition to these evils, the singing gallery too frequently becomes a mere theatre for the display of the supposed vocal and musical skill of the singers, to the total exclusion of that devotional harmony which was intended as a guide for congregational singing. These evils are most seriously to be lamented, and call aloud for public interference. It may be replied, that the officiating minister ought, as in duty bound, to interfere, and to regulate the psalmody of his church. But this is much more easily said than done, especially in country villages. It is granted, that the minister has nominally, but he has not really, the management of the singers; for if at any time he conscientiously interfere with them, he is looked upon as intermeddling with what does not belong to him,-as being an enemy to psalmody, and is opposed and cried down as such. The consequence, probably, is, that the singers refuse to sing, except on their own plan; and, if not given way to, absent themselves altogeher from the church. The clergyman, in consequence of two evils, -either enduring the singing as he finds it, or causing a schism in his congregation, usually chooses the less, and prefers continuing the inapposite psalmody to offending his flock; on whom, even on the intruders themselves, a word in season may, by the Divine blessing, minister to edification. Under these circumstances, I would respectfully suggest whether it would not be desirable for the diocesan kindly to counsel the parishioners on the subject, and to support and patronize the minister in improving the psalmody. Exhortations and directions to this effect might, not inaptly, be introduced in an Episcopal Charge, by means of an address to the church-wardens at the visitation, or by a circular sent to the parishes. The eccle. siastical law or canonical usage on the subject might be expressed, and the bishop's wishes, or even commands, be signified. Instructions might be given to the officiating minister to select the psalms or hymns, and to regulate the tunes; and the church-wardens be directed to see officially that the minister is not interrupted in carrying these instructions into practice. Perhaps it would be desirable if a few per sons of respectable character were chosen by the minister, or by him and the church-wardens, to whom a small remuneration should be given from the parish purse, to sing some plain and devout tunes for parochial instruction in congregational singing. And, if a selection of appropriate psalms and hymns for every Sunday and Festival, with a few proper tunes annexed, were published under the sanction of the venerable Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, the clergy would have the opportunity of adopting a regular systematic plan of psalmody, highly conducive to general congregational singing. It is most desirable, either in this or some other way, to regulate our village psalmody, that our churches may echo with the praises of a merciful God in Christ Jesus, from the lips of the assembled congregation, instead of either a monotonous solo from the clerk or an ostentatious display of musical skill by a band of singers, in anthems unintelligible by their complexedness, and indevout through their theatrical effect. A COUNTRY CURATE. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. ON the fearful subject of slavery, the wish, I am convinced, of many of your most judicious readers, is, that the motto of your publication should be "Nulla dies sine lineâ;" not a Number without at least some brief fact, argument, or allusion, to keep alive and strengthen the abhorrence of the public to the whole system, and their resolution to exert every lawful and prudent effort for its extinction. Permit me to contribute my humble mite to this desirable object, by requesting the insertion of the following extracts from a work entitled "Travels in Western Africa, in the years 1819, 1820, and 1821, by Major William Gray, and Staff-Surgeon Dochard," lately |