have been the subject of his discourse. Nor will it be without its use in the family or the closet, where there may be a desire to find any topic of religious truth, or any exercise of religious feeling, as it is expressed in the devotional compositions of the sweet singer of Israel. Every congre. gation is a witness with what effect a Psalm, appropriate to the discourse that has just been delivered, is heard and sung; yet the preacher has often been perplexed to find such a one. This little volume is intended to be helpful to him in such a selection; and so far as we have had opportunity of examining, we think it well calculated to answer the purpose.

THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION of FAITH, with Proofs from Scripture; and the Directory for Family Worship, with the Shorter Catechism and Proofs at large from Scripture. Gardner, Paisley. 1832.

THE great advantage of this little volume is, that it will render its valuable contents more accessible to the public than they have hitherto been. The size and price secure this end. And how desirable it is that these important works should be more read and better understood. There is more sound theology in the Confession of Faith or the Shorter Catechism than in any work, we had almost said than in all the works, which have appeared since the date of their publication. A neglect of them has been a principal cause of the flood of error that has for years been flowing in upon this country, of scepticism on the one hand, and fanaticism on the other. We cannot therefore but rejoice in any attempt to bring these standards of truth more prominently before the public mind, and to place them more conveniently in the hands of the public. And we do trust that the advantage thus offered will be generally and gratefully embraced, in the speedy purchase and diligent study of this cheap and valuable little volume.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE..

ORDINATIONS. On the 5th inst., the Rev. Samuel Armor was ordained to the pastoral charge of the Presbyterian Congregation of Ineh. The services were conducted by the Rev. Messrs. Canning, Grey, and Ellison.

On the 5th inst., the Rev. Daniel G. Brown, of Moy, was ordained to the pastoral charge of the united Congregations of Creggan and Newtonhamilton. The services of the day were conducted by Messrs. Dill, Orr, Bell, Jenkins, and Henry,

On the 7th instant, the Rev. Samuel Taylor Wray was ordained to the pastoral charge of the 1st Congregation of Donaghady. The services were conducted by Rev. Messrs. Hemphill, Armor, and Clarke,

Op the 12th inst., the Rev. George Steen was ordained to the pastoral charge of the Presbyterian Congregation of Newtonlimavady, in connexion with the Synod of Ulster. The services of the day were conducted by the Rev. J. Bellis, Rev. Mr. Whiteside, and Rev. John Brown, Moderator of the General Synod.

It is remarkable how Christian churches and Christian very men, having the holy Scriptures in their hands, can, notwithstanding, habitually live in the violation or neglect of some of their plainest requirements, never appearing to recognise their authority or feel their own accountability. In no case has this been more observable than with reference to Christian missions. Churches have been organized, and established, and continued in the enjoyment of numberless privileges, while the obligation of extending the principles of Christianity has never been felt by them. And men have been found, blessed with all the privileges of the Christian profession, who yet never have been known seriously to address their attention to the propagation of the Gospel. We shall endeavour to collect some of the principles obviously laid down in the Scriptures on this important subject.

1. Christianity was at the beginning designed, by its Author, to be the religion of the world. The commission to preach it is universal, and yet at the same time the most minute. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."Mark xvi. 15; Matt. xxviii. 20. All the world-every creature in all the world-every creature in all the world unto the end of the world;-these are the limits, and the only limits, of the commission. Until it shall have been executed to the full extent of these limits, the original command of Christ will never have been obeyed. At first it was correctly understood by the preachers of the cross. The apostles, and those who laboured with them, never thought of limiting their labours within a narrower compass than the known world. "They went every where preaching the word." They understood the saying literally, "the field is the world," and acted accordingly. And had their spirit continued in the church, in a few centuries the whole earth would have been blessed with the knowledge of Christ. Very soon, however, a different

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spirit seized the church. Lukewarmness succeeded zeal, and the obligation to spread the Gospel ceased to be felt. There have been, from time to time, partial revivals of the missionary spirit; but it has never prevailed in the church, as it ought to have done, since the apostolic age. The best contrived, and most extended, and longest sustained efforts that have been made since that era, exist in our own times. Still the church is yet far from faithfulness in this matter. In many of our most important church establishments, there is no direct provision for the propagation of the Gospel. The duty is not recognised. The different sects into which the church is divided are far more concerned to advance their own little party interests, than to promote the common cause. Proselytism from one another seems to occupy their attention, rather than striving together for the faith of the Gospel. And there are thousands of persons calling themselves Christians, and professing to regard the authority of the Scriptures and the honour of Christ their author, who do not conceal their aversion to the whole cause of missions. They pronounce them unnecessary, fanatical, vain, and obviously look upon their zealous advocates with not a little suspicion. It is not to be expected of such that they would reason on the question. It is not by evidence they are decided, but by heart-hatred to the cause. They are Christians only in name. Were the church governed as it ought to be, they would not be acknowledged among its members. They are living in sin, not only unrepented of, but maintained and justified. Their sin is a rejection of the original command to establish the Gospel throughout the whole earth.

2. The Christian church is, in its original constitution, essentially a missionary establishment. The first great object of associating the members of the church is their own edification; but another has been inseparably connected with it-the propagation of their principles. The recognition of this object is one of the most interesting features in the history of the apostolic church. It was one of which they never lost sight, and it held a prominent place in all their councils and devices. An instructive example of this kind occurs in the 13th and 14th chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. The church being assembled, set apart Barnabas and Saul for missionary labourthese departed to their work, visiting Seleucia, Cyprus, Sala. mis, Paphos, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe some of these places more than once; and having returned after the lapse of a considerable time, the church was assembled, and they re

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hearsed to them a full account of their proceedings. example establishes several highly important principles. It shows that the church felt themselves charged with the responsibility of providing and sending out missionaries-that they held these missionaries accountable for diligence and zeal in their work-and that the missionaries and the church heartily concurred in these views. As long, also, as the church retained its first love, it acknowledged and acted upon these principles. It was just as the spirit of piety declined, the missionary spirit waxed cold. In all ages since, this spirit has revived with the revival of religion. The greatest revival that ever took place in the church since the great apostacy commenced, was at the time of the Reformation; and although the Reformers were too much occupied with their own concerns, and lived in times too troublous to permit them to turn their attention extensively to missionary enterprise and labour, yet they fully recognised the obligation, and waited for an opportunity to preach the Gospel to all men. The best symptom of the revival of our own times is the missionary spirit that is abroad. Indeed God has made the edification of the church, to a great extent, dependent on faithfulness in missionary labour. The evangelization of the world is the great object which, he has proposed, should occupy its attention. When its attention is not occupied with this object, it is taken up with trifles which distract, and divide, and weaken it. On the contrary, when its attention is occupied with the great object which God has set before it, it produces unity, excites zeal, promotes every holy disposition and good work. neglecting the duty of missionary labour, it wastes its strength with internal controversies; whereas, by devotedness to this great work, it is strengthened, and purified, and elevated, and blessed. Let the history of the church be diligently studied, in all its branches, and in all ages, and the facts obvious to every one will prove the justness of these observations.

3. Every separate Christian congregation should consider itself a missionary society. If the Catholic Church shall ever faithfully and efficiently discharge the missionary work, it must be by means of the division of labour. The church is the parent society, and its several congregations the auxiliaries. It is only the lack of service in the church that has produced the anomaly of these times-voluntary societies doing the work which ought to have been performed by the church. And when these societies have been established, they have been obliged, for efficiency, to fall into the arrangements in

which the church itself had previously existed. Only suppose now that the obligation of missionary labour was felt as it ought to be, what a preparation is made for carrying it efficiently forward! Suppose the Presbyterian Church in this country. At its annual meeting there is a solemn consultation on the great business of propagating the Gospel throughout the earth. Every mind is brought to bear upon it with an intensity of thought proportioned to its vast importance, and every heart is made to feel for the destitution of those who are perishing for lack of knowledge. Plans of wisdom and zeal are devised. A special committee is appointed to carry these into effect. And must this committee set out in a tour throughout the land, to organize auxiliaries, and form committees, and collect funds, and seek for missionaries? It is quite unnecessary. The auxiliaries are formed already, for the different congregations are these; the committees are organized, for the sessions are these; the funds are sure, for every congregation, unsolicited, will be forward to send its aid to the great cause; and missionaries will not be wanting, for every congregation will be observing who among its members is qualified for the honourable work, and encourage him to engage in it. This is as it ought to be; but, alas! how different is it from what every one sees and knows! The different congregations do not feel that they have any missionary work assigned them. They look upon themselves as little independent societies, each being wise to attend to its own interests, and wrapt up in selfishness. Until this miserable spirit is destroyed, our congregations will not answer the purpose of their erection. Every member of the church should labour to bring them to a due sense of these things. To promote a revival of the missionary spirit, each Minister, with his congregation, should set on foot such missionary plans and labours as may be blessed of God, and contribute to bring back the Catholic Church to its right mind. Let every congregation have its school, which it will itself support; let it have its Scripture reader to carry the Gospel to those who will not come to hear it, and who are beyond the reach of its Minister's labours; let it have its missionary committee to consider the best means of doing the work which the great Head of the church has entrusted to it; and let it consider, that while the edification of its own members is the primary object of its association, it is also accountable for the Christian instruction of all to whom it can by any means convey the knowledge of the Gospel. O! were this the spirit of our