2. The necessity for increased expenditures, may be regarded as an evidence of prosperity, and of the divine favour.

3. It is economy to afford a liberal expenditure, when the work so expands as to need it.

4. After a certain point, the expenses of the Missions may be expected to diminish.

5. These churches will at length become our fellow-labourers in carrying the gospel to other lands.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN NEW YORK.-The Annual Convention of this Diocese was held last month in the city of New York. The two principal events that transpired were, 1st, the refusal of the Convention by a large majority to admit the delegates of a coloured Episcopal Church regu larly organized; and 2d, the election of a Provisional Bishop in the place of the suspended bishop Onderdonk. After a close contest, in which Dr. Wainwright failed of an election, on one ballot, only by one vote, (and that a blank one,) the Rev. Dr. Creighton was chosen. We append the testimonials as an ecclesiastical curiosity.

In conformity with the canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the delegates then affixed their signatures to the following

TESTIMONY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION.

We, whose names are underwritten, fully sensible how important it is that the sacred office of a Bishop should not be unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty to bear testimony on the solemn occasion, without partiality or affection, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that the Rev. William Creighton, D. D., is not, so far as we are informed, justly liable to evil report, either for error in religion, or for viciousness in life; and that we do not know or believe there is any impediment on account of which he ought not to be consecrated to that holy office. We do, moreover jointly and severally declare, that we do in our conscience believe him to be of such sufficiency in good learning, such soundness in the faith, and of such virtuous and pure manners, and godly conversation, that he is apt and meet to exercise the office of Bishop, to the honour of God and the edifying of his Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ.

[This Certificate is for presentation to the House of Clerical and Lay Delegates in General Convention assembled, previous to consecration.]

A Jesuit and THE ARCHBISHOP.-A great excitement has occurred in England in conseqence of the successful attempt of a deceitful Jesuit to entrap the Archbishop of Canterbury. It seems that a Mr. W. R. Francis Gawthorn, lately a Tractarian, (in which company doubtless he began to learn his bad morals,) pretending to be a "convert from Dissent to the Church of England," and to have scruples about remaining in the Church, if she denied the validity of the ministrations of the foreign Protestant pastors, as the Bishop of London had done, wrote to the Archbishop to draw out his opinion on the point. His object was to have the Archbishop endorse the validity of the foreign ordinations, and thus induce a large body of brother Tractarians to hasten their perversion to Romanism. The Jesuit signed the name of "W. Francis" to his letter; and the Archbishop replied in the following letter:

"Sir-You are far too severe in your censure of the Bishop of London, though I wish that his lordship had explained himself more fully. But in his original letter to Lord Cholmondly, he expressly stated that they could not by

law, minister in our churches; but that every endeavour would be made to provide places, where they might celebrate divine worship according to their own form. I hardly imagine that there are two bishops on the bench, or one clergyman in fifty, throughout our Church, who would deny the validity of the order of those clergy solely on account of their wanting the imposition of the Episcopal hands; and I am sure that you have misunderstood the import of the letter which occasioned your addressing me, if you suppose that it implied any such sentiment in the writer's mind. I remain, sir, your most obedient and humble servant, J. B. CANTUar.

W. FRANCIS, Esq."

MR. HUGH MILLER lashes Gawthorne in a manner which the Jesuits will remember. He says of these violators of the truth:

"Popery seems bent on exposing itself in every variety of way. Every day brings some new and more appalling disclosure of the incredible enormity of that system. All that Protestant writers ever said in condemnation of it is as nothing compared with the testimonies it is now bearing against itself. It stands before the world as the negation of good. Truth it knows not; honour it knows not; it has said with Lucifer, "Evil, be thou my good;" and has now put a period to its progress by the very impossibility of going farther, either in theoretical or practical iniquity. A wider gulph between itself and virtue than now exists we hold to be impossible. Fiends might be more skilful; they could not possibly be more wicked. If there is any being in the universe that can go beyond the Jesuit, (and the Jesuit is but the perfected Romanist) in the perpetration of evil, it is owing, not to the character of the Jesuit's code, but to the extent of his powers. He cannot be so wicked as his code, simply because his nature is finite. He finds himself surpassed by the denizens of pandemonium, not because their system in its ethical character is a whit worse than his, but solely because they have a wider sphere and more vigorous and active intellects. In short, Jesuitism is the jurisprudence of pandemonium applied to earth. If any one should think that our notions are exaggerated, or our condemnation too severe, we crave his attention to the story of Gawthorn and the Archbishop of Canterbury."

THE TRACTARIANS AND THE ARCHBISHOP.-The late declaration of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as to the needlessness of the Episcopal ordination of the clergy, is not, it appears, to be passed over in silence. A protest against such an opinion is already in course of signature by the clergy in the metropolis; and another protest against it is also lying for the sig natures of both the laity and clergy. It is also intended to petition Convocation upon the subject: the petition is now preparing, and will be made public in a few days. The protests declare, that such an opinion as that expressed by the Archbishop is "at variance alike with Holy Scriptures, with the doctrine and practice of the Church Catholic in all ages, and with the Articles and Formularies of the Church of England."

BIBLE DISTRIBUTION.-"In my visits to-day," says one of our distributors in Wisconsin, "1 met an unfortunate youth, about fourteen years of age, who for two years past has been grieviously afflicted. The family of which he is a member possesses one well worn and much injured Bible. During his long confinement, the lad has seldom been able to hear a sermon; but about a year ago a great change took place in his character. He was often compelled to hear language the most profane and corrupting. Amid these unpropitious circumstances, the Bible was his constant companion. Day after day, in his weakness, he has lain upon the floor, reading the Scriptures. At length he sent for a friend to come and pray with him; and now we have reason to believe that he is a disciple of the Saviour. The great instrumentality in his renewal was the Word of God."-Bible Record.

Choughts for the Choughtful.

THE BIRTHDAYS OF THE DEAD.

THE birthdays of the living! They are ever hailed in the home circle by loving hearts, as glad and joyous seasons. At this moment we can picture the joy both of the giver and receiver of the simple birthday offerings of our youth. It might be but a fresh gathered rose, laid upon the breakfast table, a handful of spring flowers, or some inexpensive trifle, obtained from the savings of weeks or months out of our little store, but—it was a proof of love. It told as well as the pearl or diamond could have done, that the life of the beloved was precious, and that the anniversary of his birth was no trifle in our eyes. And not the birthdays of youth alone are welcome. When we see the lines of grey, streaking the soft hair, the step grow more feeble, the voice more faint, the elasticity of the spirit flee away, yet there is joy in our welcome, for are they not with us still? Yet more precious, that they need our care and watchfulness, and that we are essential to their happiness.

The birthdays of the absent! There is more bitterness in these. Somewhat we feel of a presage of that absence which knoweth no return. Still they are amongst the living. Though blue seas may divide us, they may cross those seas, and come to us again, unchanged in heart, uncooled in love. And until then we breathe forth our birthday greetings, which we know their fond memory shall meet, though distance sever us for awhile. Thus we are consoled-for the absent may return.

But the birthdays of the dead! Where is our hope and joy in these? It is but a narrow stream that divides us, but that stream once crossed, who shall return? The shores of the heavenly world may not be very distant, but an impenetrable veil is drawn between that world and our mortal sight, and not a glimpse is given us of the angel band, whose feet are treading the golden streets of the New Jerusalem. Yet deem not the fond heart unresigned, that is bursting with emotion on the anniversary of the birthdays of the dead. They are in heaven, but we are on earth. Their spirits are purified from the world, but ours yet partake of worldly affection and earthly regret. We know that they shall rise again, but in the meantime they are hidden from our mortal sight; and we sorrow, though not as those who have no hope. Yet if there is one thought above all others which should console us, it is this-that they weep not. If they love us still, (and who can doubt?) it is with that purified love which is without dross, and without sting. No regret, no cloud, no shadow of grief passeth over the birthdays of the redeemed. The aged and the weary are at rest-the faint have renewed their strength-the little ones are safe for ever. "For I say unto you, their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven."

Would you

HOW TO DIE IN FAITH.

then be so happy as to die in faith, take these Advices:

1. Be careful to get faith beforehand; for death is a time to use faith, not to get it. They were foolish virgins who had their oil to buy when the bridegroom was close at hand.

2. Study to live every day in the exercise of faith, and be still improving and

making use of Christ in all his offices, and for all those ends and uses for which God hath given him to believers.

3. Frequently clear up your evidences for heaven, and beware of letting sin blot them to you.

4. Record and lay up the experiences of God's kind dealings with you, and be often reflecting upon them, that you may have them ready at hand in the hour of death.

5. Meditate much on those promises which have been sweet and comfortable to you in the time of trial, and beg that the Lord may bring them to your remembrance when you come to die.-Willison.

"IT IS ALL MY OWN."

A man of wealth, living a stranger to religion and its ordinances, was walkand holding this soliloquy-"What a happy man I am! I have fortune, an affectionate wife, and every thing to make me comfortable; and what is more, I am indebted to no one for it; I have made it myself. I am independent of every one; it is all my own. Many persons are under obligations here and there, but I am not. It is all my own." At that instant, a sudden shower drove him to the nearest church. He went in, and just at that moment, the minister rose and read his text-"Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price." "What," said he to himself, "this is a strange doctrine. But it does not apply to me; I am my own, and all I have is my own." The course of the sermon exposed his obligations to God, and issued in totally revolutionizing his views and feelings.

HOW TO DEAL WITH SORROW.

Our sorrows as well as our joys come from Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. God has some wise and beneficent purpose to accomplish in all his dealings with his people. They should strive to co-operate with him—should be labourers together with God. They should seek to learn how to deal rightly with his providences, that the wished-for results may follow. The following pithy remarks on this subject, from a writer of the seventeenth century, may be profitable to the reader.

"When sorrow, when the cross comes upon thee, seek not with the world to distract it. Drive it not away with fresh sources of sorrow, but bid it welcome. Cherish it as a heavenly visitant, as a messenger sent from God with healing to thy soul; and thou shalt find that thou 'entertainest angels unawares.' Thou shalt find the bow in the cloud; His light arising out of darkness; His form upon the troubled waters; and if he hush them not, he shall say to thy soul, Fear not, for I am with thee.' He shall make it gladlier to thee to lie down in trouble and anguish, while he is with thee, than ever any of the joys of this world were, while he was less present with thee, or wherein thou forgettest him.

"The blessed lot is not to live joyously in the world, undisturbed by sorrow or suffering, having our good things in this life, and left to our own ways. It is to lie low, (well is it for us if it be of our own accord, yet any how to lie low) under his cross. Though for a time it lay heavy upon us, it is not so heavy as sin. Though it wound us, the wounds are 'the wounds of a friend.' Though its nails pierce us, they are but to let forth the disease which would consume us. Though it bow us to the earth, it places us not so deep as we deserve to be; it casts us down only, that, when we have learnt to lie there in silence and humiliation, he may raise us up."

THE WAY OF TRANSGRESSORS IS HARD.

I want to tell you a true story. I went to the jail the other day to visit a young man only twenty-four years of age, yet he had been sentenced to prison twice. Before the last sentence had expired he made his escape, by sawing off

an iron bar; but in a few months he was caught, and lodged in the jail where I saw him.

He was very pale, and he will soon die, as he is in a consumption. I asked him of his early life, and what did he tell me? That his father died when he was only eight years old, and he soon began to be disobedient to his mother, and to care for nothing she said to him. He kept company with bad boys, and soon commenced stealing-little articles at first, such as apples, peaches, &c.; and then, as he grew older, he broke into houses and stores with others at midnight, and became a thief and a robber.

Seeing a Bible resting between the iron bars of his windows, I said to him; "You have found God's holy word to be true, that 'the way of transgressors is hard.""

"Yes, sir," he replied, "I have just been reading it in the Bible." I asked if he had been to meeting often during the past eight or ten years. "No sir," said he, "I was afraid of God!" I inquired if his bad associates endeavoured to put God out of their minds. "Yes, sir," he replied, "and I have tried to do it too, but it would come back again to my mind."

He seemed quite penitent, and as we knelt in that stone cell, and I raised my voice in prayer for him, he was so much affected that he wept like a child. His earnest wish was to return once more to his mother, and to die in his childhood's home. His life was fast ebbing away, and he needed friends to take care of him. But this wish was denied him. An officer was sent for him, and irons were put around his thin wrists, and, sick and dying as he was, he was hurried back to his former cell in the State Prison, nearly three hundred miles off. And there in that gloomy cell, away from all friends, with no kind mother to tend him, he will die.

Boys, always mind your mothers! Always read the Bible, and remember what you read. Avoid the company of bad boys, whether at home or at school. Always remember those four short words of the Bible: "Thou, God, seest me." Had that young man remembered them, and also that verse, "If sinners entice thee, consent thou not," he would now probably have been a good and happy

man.

THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE.

The doctrines of grace are, under the influence of the Spirit of grace, the very life of my soul, and the soul of all my happiness. That Jesus is a present Saviour from the guilt of sin by his most precious blood, and from the power of it by his Spirit; that, corrupt and wretched in ourselves, in him, and in him only, we are complete; that, being united to Jesus by a living faith, we have a solid and eternal interest in his obedience and sufferings to justify us before the face of our heavenly Father; and that all this inestimable treasure, the earnest of which is in grace, and its consummation in glory, is given, freely given to us of God; in short, that he hath opened the kingdom of God to all believers. These are the truths, which by the grace of God, shall ever be placed next my heart, as the throne whereon the Saviour himself shall sit, to sway all its motions, and reduce that world of iniquity and rebellion to the will of the Most Holy. These are the truths to which by nature we are enemies; they debase the sinner and exalt the Saviour, to a degree which the pride of our hearts, till Almighty grace subdues them, is determined never to allow. May the Almighty reveal his Son in our hearts continually more and more, and teach us to increase in love towards him continually, for having given us the unspeakable riches of Christ.