Contentment ................................. 284 The Blind Man Led........................ 313 ..................... Interior of Jerusalem Mrs. Start .................................... 207 Andrew Fuller .............................................................. 238 The Three Brothers........................ 262 .................................................... 287 James Taylor................................. 291 Some Account of an Extraordinary Paddy's Farewell to the Priest......... The Two Converts................................................... 17 Romanism in Rome History of a Piece of Wood.............. 44 Protestant Truths ...................................................... 269 "The New Reformation in Ireland" 292 Rome and the Bible Luther and the Pope's Curses......... Superior Conversation..................... 162 Primary Condition of the Human Hints for Social Life .............................................. 164 "Books and Reading" ................... 187 Are you Insured?........................... 217 A Determination to Rise ................ 275 A Dreadful Death-bed..................... 276 Race...... THE CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE, AND FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE. The Cabinet. NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS. We now enter upon the labours of another year, with more than the usual measure of solemnity upon our spirits, from the remembrance that our work is for eternity; and that Editor, Writers, and Readers, are all pressing on to it, as fast as time can carry them. Whoever can afford to trifle, we cannot! Our work is for God, and for his Son Jesus Christ; and the pen will be no less a subject of the general judgment than the tongue. If for every idle word men speak they are to give an account in the day of judgment, it is not to be supposed that there is immunity for idle words written. This weight of responsibility applies, with peculiar force, to Periodical Literature. Nowhere is error so pernicious as in Magazines and Newspapers, since, from the nature of the case, perusal, to a greater or less extent, is absolutely certain. Error, on the contrary, may be encased, and poison deposited, in a goodly volume, with comparative safety. This has been done on many occasions, and with but little mischief to the morals of the mass of mankind. The size and the price of the productions in question generally went a great way to prevent their spread; and thus the will of the writers was greater than their power to do evil. The numbers were not great of those whose curiosity was sufficient to send them to a bookseller, expressly to order them. The total issue of the worst productions of Infidelity have, on the whole, been but a thing of nought, compared with the millions of the people. But had our Humes and our Paines possessed the aid of the Periodical Press, with a circulation of 5,000, 50,000 or 100,000, to each of their impious effusions, how different would have been the result as to quantity, and consequent mischief! These men did not know their business. They adopted the surest method to frustrate their own evil designs; they even eschewed the small tract, the best substitute for the serial. Would that their posterity had remained in the same beneficial ignorance! But, alas! it is much otherwise. Poison is no longer dealt forth in a mass, but in small doses, at prices which bring it within the reach even of the pauper, who begs his bread in the streets. The state of things among us, at the present time, is fearful, and such as ought to excite solicitude through all the ranks of the Church of Christ! The following is extracted from the Report of Her Majesty's Commission on the State of the Mining Districts: "There have been in all times a certain class of periodicals of a low grade circulating amongst the poor, conveying to their minds the worst doctrines, and inspiring them with a distrust of the institutions of society, and a feeling of enmity against those above them. A season of excitement might bring to light the fact that the poison has been widely and effectively disseminated, and the objects of its propagators attained in endangering the peace of society." It will be seen from this how great are the claims of the Pure and Evangelical Journal on the consideration of all individuals who love the truth, and on all Christian Churches. This is the most powerful instrumentality that can be employed for its advancement; and it ought by all to be viewed and treated accordingly. The Religious Public should remember, that, in yielding to the Periodical Press their consideration and support, they are not acting the part of patrons; on the contrary, they ought to consider themselves the parties benefited. The Churches should look upon the support of Literature as simply the discharge of a duty to themselves and to the truth: any other view is not the correct one. Such are our own feelings, and we trust they are those of our readers. They, tu? are most deeply interested in the matter. They have an important stake in it; for next to the responsibility of sending forth the trut is that of receiving it. Wherever this little Messenger may come, it will be as a FRIEND, and as a promoter of friendship among them. We offer our aid in that capacity to all who will accept it. Our great ambition is to effect the conversion of souls to God, and to build up on their most holy faith those who have believed through grace. Doctrine, experience, and morals, will all have their part, in their turns, and in their measures. The matter of Ecclesiastical |