moralists, and even christian ministers, have likewise laid down their costly tributes at the feet of the demon of slaughter. Christian sentiments on the subject, have doubtless been destroyed in an incalculable number of instances, by a literature breathing the spirit of war.

A similar influence is exerted, upon a portion at least of society, by standing armies. The opinions of those who compose them must produce an effect; they are viewed with favour as their country's defenders; their gaudy uniforms dazzle the eye; their martial music, though it be but the fife and drum, rouses the spirit of strife. Familiarity with these excitements deadens the sensibility of the populace to the evils of war, strengthens the national vanity, blunts those feelings of charity with which our brethren of other nations should be regarded, accustoms us to view them as our natural enemies; and when the shock of actual strife is felt, prompts us to rejoice in their calamities and destruction. And are these depraved and inhuman feelings to be invigorated throughout the country by more troops and more military display? Ought we not rather to expect, at least, in a time of peace, that warlike preparation should be retrenched, the unchristian sentiments it implies discouraged, and the spirit of peace promoted.

The proposed addition to our military forces, may occasion the very evil from which it is intended, professedly, to defend us. A poet, well acquainted with human nature, has said, "How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds, makes deeds ill done." Many have been instigated to murder, by seeing weapons suited to their dreadful purpose. When the inhabitants of this country were accustomed to wear arms, quarrels in the streets were frequent, often ending in bloodshed and death. It is with nations, in this respect, as it is with individuals. The possession of powerful armies has often enabled kings and statesmen to rush into unjust and unnecessary wars. The forces maintained under the pretext of keeping the peace, have been the very instrument of breaking it. The Roman history, through a period of more than seven hundred years, with the exception of two brief intervals of repose, is an unbroken catalogue of conflicts with other nations. Rome ever stood prepared for war. History clearly shows that the best defended nations have been more frequently engaged in war than States which were less powerful in arms. One cause of this has undoubtedly been, a readiness to use military power, on trifling occasions, or for unjust and ambitious purposes. And where is the security, that the statesmen who are so anxious to increase our armaments, would not readily bring them into action to avenge trivial insults, to maintain some fancied "balance of power," to repress the spirit of liberty, or for many other insufficient reasons? And what will be the effect produced upon neighbouring nations? Will not their jealousy be excited? Will not their suspicion, distrust, and hatred be aroused? Will not they, if possible, multiply soldiers and battle-ships, strengthen their own fortifications, and thus frown back upon England a bitter defiance to her increased military preparations? Thus, these pretended provisions for our security, will render us more insecure; the increase of military force, may prove like one of its own powder magazines; kindled by some accidental spark of contention, it may shatter to fragments the peace and prosperity of the country. The fortresses and cannon, with which the island is to be bristled round, may act like the iron in a building which attracts the lightning; the electric shock of strife, and its inseparable horrors, may thus be drawn upon us by the very means which were intended to repel them.

The Duke's proposal is, then, on every ground objectionable, dangerous, and alarming. There is a more excellent way. There are, we believe, national defences more worthy of a great and Christian nation, and, at the same time, more truly powerful and effective than those which his Grace has suggested.

The first and most essential of these is, the Divine blessing. Without this, no Kingdom nor State can be truly safe. The finest armies, and the strongest battlements, will be insufficient for the protection of a nation forsaken of God. Vain are all the defences if he sees fit to "give a Jehoiakim into the hand" of a Nebuchadnezzar; and the invulnerable strength of a Babylon becomes useless as the scattered sand, yielding as a web of gossamer, when Cyrus is sent to fulfil the purpose of Jehovah. For the preservation of Jerusalem, when it is threatened, he can sweep away myriads of her enemies in a night, and put a hook in the nose of the blaspheming monarch who assails her. And, although miracles are not now to be expected; yet, if a nation pleases him, are there not a thousand ways by which his providential agency can secure, undisturbed, its peace and safety? "When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only." And by what means is the favour and protection of the "King of nations" to be secured? By defacing and burdening his works with more fortresses, as monuments of hostility between the members of his family? By turning thousands more men, created in his image, into fighting animals, machines for the deliberate slaughter of others wearing that image? By squandering more of the nation's treasure for these unchristian objects? Judging from the spirit of the Gospel, few things could be more offensive to the Divine Being. National repentance and reformation will be infinitely more pleasing to him. If the legislation of the kingdom were conducted in entire accordance with the principles and spirit of the Gospel, can we believe that God would permit such a kingdom to be overthrown or injured? He would, there is little reason to doubt, manifest his favour, not by giving us victory in bloody battles, not by "crowning our arms with brilliant success," but by making the world to be at peace with us. Legislation, however, is influenced by the character and wishes of the community; and to the conduct of the people, independently of this consideration, God will look, with a view to his providential dealings with them. Ten righteous would have saved Sodom. And if, "for such a proportion of holy fear, love, prayer, and practical purity," that guilty city might have been spared, how rich the blessing, and how sure the defence, which may be secured, for our own land, by faithful piety in professing Christians! Let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity, and abstain from all appearance of evil; let them practically, as well as by profession, discountenance Sabbath-breaking and intemperance; let them resist the encroachments of a worldly spirit, and the insidious advances of a soul-destroying formalism; and let them use more earnest efforts to extend the Redeemer's kingdom, and by drawing down the blessing of God upon the land, they will surround it with defences more mighty and effectual than all the soldiers it could muster, or all the fortresses which frown upon its shores.

Secondly. The adoption of all practical measures by which peace can be preserved. As I have occupied too much space already, I shall

simply suggest some of these. Justice to other nations is obviously necessary. This will deprive them of every real ground for attacking us; and it will make us strong in the respect and sympathies of the world.

Unrestricted commercial intercourse is a national defence. By this, national jealousies are softened down; a vast network of interests and feelings is formed, wnien mast not be rashly, or on slight occasions, torn asunder. This was, probably, the chief barrier in the minds of statesmen, to the war with America, with which we were recently threatened. They feared to make the inevitable and tremendous sacrifice. Extended commercial relations with any nation, is a reason of overwhelming weight with each party, for the preservation of peace.

The substitution of arbitration for the use of arms, would, of course, preserve the national peace; and every Christian should sympathize with the efforts of Peace Societies to promote this desirable end.

The expression of friendly sentiments to our brethren of other nations, will exert a happy influence. This can be done by the people themselves. This Christian mode of proceeding was, doubtless, a powerful instrument in preventing war with America. To place ourselves in the attitude of suspicion and defiance, is to excite hostile passions, and kindle the flames of war; but to convey assurances of amicable and friendly feelings, will almost infallibly quench them. Let us, then, seek the blessedness of the peace-makers. To turn away

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from the nation the guilt and calamities of war, will cover us with a purer and brighter glory than all the victories which the blood of Britons has ever won. And, finally, let us more earnestly pray for the speedy arrival of that happy period, when men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more," but when the spirit of that Gospel shall be universally exhibited, which brings "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.'

Truro.

A BRIEF ADDRESS TO A YOUNG BROTHER APPOINTED AS A SUPPLY TO S-D.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,-I am happy to inform you that you have passed the District Meeting, and now your way is plain to the station to which you are appointed. Go in the spirit of prayer, and may you have a prosperous journey. May your labours be both acceptable and useful.

Believing you have given your heart to God, and that you desire to spend and be spent in his cause, I first advise you to "Set the Lord always before you," and preserve the impression of "Thou God seest me." Never forget, that the Saviour to whom you direct the eye of penitents, is your Saviour; and the Gospel you proclaim to others, is the Gospel of your salvation; and the rules of holy conduct you press upon others, are to be the rules to which, at the peril of your soul, you are to conform. Let no day, as the old philosopher directs, pass without a line. Meditate daily in the law of the Lord, that you may become a scribe well instructed in the mysteries of the Kingdom. Begin and end

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each day with prayer, and crave the Divine guidance and blessing on all you do. In preparing for the pulpit, have at hand a Concordance and Common Place Book, and let your compositions be richly fraught with Scripture illustrations. Be a man for yourself, and whatever you collect, put in your own language, then you will never hear the mortifying insinuation, "Ah, I know where he got that sermon !”

Study to improve your style, but never attempt to imitate any other preacher. Wear your own clothes: they will best fit you; and in them you will appear to the best advantage. Master, or as the Scotch say, "Mandate your sermons." Compose in the spirit of prayer; and preach in the confidence that the Divine Spirit will honour his own word, and render it saving and sanctifying in its tendency. When you ascend the pulpit, go not hurriedly; a light step indicates vanity. Nor cast a wandering eye around; but direct your prayer to God and look up, and with fervour ejaculate a prayer, "Lord help me." Never fish for compliments, nor commend your sermons. Keep your ears open to the remarks of judicious hearers; whether they pertain to pronunciation, action, or grammatical inaccuracy: but do not invite criticism, or you may be teazed with it. Those, however, that are best qualified to give advice, are the most diffident in offering it.

Never forget, my Brother, you are a Methodist Minister. Methodists hold Prayer-meetings, Class-meetings, Love-feasts, and what are called Revival-meetings. Press attention to them both by precept and example. It is to be lamented that in some places there is sinful neglect. But when these die I tremble to think of the results, for the glory of Methodism will have departed. On a delicate subject I would write delicately. But keep your body under. I hope you will find it convenient to form no matrimonial connexion, (should you continue in the Ministry,) until your probation is ended. Pay due respect to your superintendent; consult him in every subject connected with his prerogative, and manifest a willingness to serve him. Often enquire, when going into the country, what is to be done, and do it.

I know, my Brother, you are formed for study and retirement. Do not over-do it, but when your spirits begin to flag, turn to some relieving exercise, or walk out and pay a few pastoral visits, which will relieve you both in body and mind; then you will return with renewed vigour to your delightful employ, the improvement and increase of mental acquirements. Lastly, I advise you immediately to procure Dr. A. Clarke's Letter of Advice to a Young Preacher; and soon as possible obtain Messrs. Wesley's and Fletcher's Works. They will confirm you in the faith; guard you against Antinomian errors; and deeply imbue your mind with sound doctrine.

September.

C. A.

THE SPIRTUALITY OF GOD." God is a Spirit." A Spirit has no parts; no form nor figure; and, therefore, no perceptible relation to place. "God is a Spirit," every where present, with his whole being and perfections. He sees every thing: he is fixing upon me here, upon every one in every place, the piercing beams of observant thought. He knows every thing, perfectly; all objects, with all their properties, and all their relations; the past and the future, as well as the present. What is that foresight of coming events which we call "prophecy," but a page detached from the future history of the world, as it already exists in the Divine mind?

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES & ANECDOTES.

THE PROFLIGATE'S DREAM.

A TRUE NARRATIVE.

WHAT are dreams? To this question, so often, so earnestly asked, there never yet has most probably never will be-a satisfactory answer given. It is one which seems most particularly to rouse the inquisitiveness of human nature, and has, accordingly, drawn forth from a thousand minds a thousand speculations and hypotheses; some clever and ingenious-many more inanely silly than ever was dream of a half-wakened idiot.

To these I have no intention of adding one, either good or bad. I am content to observe, that while judgment sleeps, imagination wakes; and relieved from the surveillance of her staid sister, she revels amidst the inexhaustible stores of ideas which she finds in the mind; and seizing these in heterogeneous handfuls, she thrusts them into her kaleidoscope, and then forces the helpless and unresisting soul to gaze at the sometimes gorgeous and bewitching, sometimes hideous and appalling, scenery she has thus created.

Who can wonder if, amidst the interminable combinations thus produced, a little truth should sometimes mingle? or if, in the endless wheelings of the phantasmagoria, they should occasionally assume the attitude of the future, as well as of the past? Nay, which of us, whose mental vision is bounded to each successive point of our own existence, shall venture to assert that these combinations are not at times permitted, if not ordained, by "Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being?"

Whether my readers shall think these ideas confirmed or otherwise by the following dream, I do not know-nor, in very truth, do I much care, since it is not for the purpose of supporting any preconceived theory that I relate it here, but merely as a most uncommon instance of continuity of purpose and of imagery in a dream, and a graphic force of delineation, that might almost suit it for the subject of a drama; and let my readers rest assured that the dream was dreamt, and that the descendants of the dreamer's relatives are among the most wealthy and respected families in Glasgow.

About ninety years ago, there was in Glasgow a club of gentlemen of the first rank in that city, for the meetings of which card-playing was the ostensible cause and purpose; but the members of which were distinguished by such a fearless and boundless excess of profligacy, especially in the orgies of this club, as to obtain for it the cognomen of "the Hell Club." They gloried in the name they had given or acquired for themselves, and nothing that the most unrestrained licentiousness could do to merit it was left untried.

Whether the aggregate of vice be greater or less in the present age than in the one gone by, I am not prepared to decide; but of this I am certain, that among the upper and middle ranks of society it is forced to wear a more decorous disguise; for assuredly, in this our day, habitual drunkenness, and shameless license, dare not prank themselves forth in the eyes of all beholders, as if they thought they derived a glorious distinction from conduct too degrading for the brute creation. Still less would such men be now unhesitatingly received into the best society-that of cultivated, refined, and virtuous women-as if they were indeed the "fine fellows" they chose to call themselves.

Perhaps it may be that vices-those diseases of the soul-run a round, like the diseases of the body; and some rage with virulence in one age or period, and die away only to give place to others that succeed to their devastating prevalence and energy.

But I have wandered from the club. Besides their nightly or weekly meetings, they held a grand annual Saturnalia, at which each member endea