agreed to hold a meeting in the cabin for special prayer. We sung from Psalm evii. 25, &c. :—

"For He commands, and forth in haste the stormy tempest flies, Which makes the sea, with rolling waves, aloft to swell and rise." Each of the seven missionaries engaged in supplication. Our prayers were graciously heard. The wind came steadily round to the south, and southeast, from which points we were protected by the land; the sea began to calm. After breakfast we all met for worship; the seamen, being drenched with the rain, could not attend at the usual hour. We sang again from Psalm cvii. 29, &c. :—

"The storm is chang'd into a calm at His command and will:

So that the waves, which raged before, now quiet are and still."

At twelve o'clock we weighed anchor, left Lifu, and sailed for Marè. In the evening we held a thanksgiving service, to praise the Lord for our merciful deliverance. The storm proceeded in a north-east direction, and reached Erromanga about mid-day; and so heavy was the rain there, especially on the mountains, that the river at Dillon's Bay rose ten feet in half an hour.

If the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is evidently ruling in the hearts of the children of disobedience, the servants of antichrist, in Lifu, is still permitted at times, as in the days of Job, to wield the lightning and direct the course of the whirlwind, he certainly availed himself of his privilege on that Tuesday morning; but, mercifully for us, his chain had been greatly shorter than it was in the days of the ancient patriarch. We sustained no injury,-" not a hair fell from the head of any of us,”-not a sail was torn, nor so much as a rope broken; for surely

"The Lord sits on the floods; the Lord sits King, and ever shall."

For a considerable time past Rome has been moving earth and hell,— bringing all her varied and powerful agencies into the most vigorous and active operation, in order to reduce Britain again under the power of the Papacy, that civil and religious liberty may be for ever extinguished. O that British Christians, and Protestants of every name, might be equally earnest in moving heaven and earth, in employing every Scriptural means for bringing Imperial France under the power of God's Word and Spirit, that so, wherever the language of Calvin is spoken, the principles of the Reformation might be embraced, and civil and religious liberty enjoyed! To be continued.

UNION COMMITTEES.

THE following document was submitted by the Committee of Synod at a meeting of the Joint Committees of the four Presbyterian Churches negociating at present on the subject of union. meeting was held on the 8th ult. Of course, it will be understood that the document deals exclusively with the one question of the relation of civil rulers to religion and the Church :

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES BY The reformed pRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE, RESPECTING THE RELATION OF NATIONS AND THEIR RULERS TO RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

I. That Civil Government is the ordinance of God, for His own glory and the good of human society, and has its foundation in

nature, not in grace. But this Divine ordinance having, in common with the other primitive institutions of human life, been depraved by the apostasy of man from God, and greatly perverted from the ends for which it was ordained, can be brought into perfect harmony with its original design only in connection with the Mediatorial economy. It has, accordingly, been placed by the Father in subjection to Christ as Mediator, to whom all power in heaven and in earth has been given; so that not only are all things subject to His omnipotence as God, and made subservient by His Providence to the interests of true religion, but a moral obligation rests upon nations and their rulers, wherever the light of the Gospel is enjoyed, to acknowledge Him as their Lord, and to be guided in their public and official procedure by His law. It enters, therefore, into the design of Christ, in the progress of His Mediatorial work, to bring nations and their rulers into willing subjection to Himself as the King of kings and Lord of lords; and thus, by bringing civil government under the regulation of Christian principles. to make it fully accomplish the ends for which it was originally ap pointed.

II. That the Church and the State, while each acknowledging, in its own province, the authority of the Divine law, ought to exist in friendly alliance, co-operating for the advancement of the glory of God, the interest of the kingdom of Christ, and the happiness of mankind; and may so exist without any improper blending of civil and ecclesiastical authority. But while this friendly alliance, held forth in Scripture, ought always to be kept in view as the normal relation of the Church and the State, the question whether, or to what extent, the realization of it, in any given case, ought to be attempted, cannot lawfully or safely be determined without taking into account the circumstances, character, and attainments of both; particularly the degree of unity which the Church has attained, and the extent to which the State has become Christian. A variable element is thus introduced, which leaves room for mutual forbearance among those who hold the Head, in regard to the expediency of alliances between Churches and States in the present condition of the world.

III. That the Civil Magistrate, having no authority in spiritual things, ought not to prescribe to the Church a Confession of Faith or Form of worship, and ought not to interfere with the establishment or direction of her internal government and discipline, nor to attempt the enforcement or propagation of religion by civil penalties. It is his duty, nevertheless, to embrace and profess the Christian faith; to recognise the creed and jurisdiction of the Church when in accordance with the Word of God; to remove external impediments to the progress of Christianity; to protect the subject in the worship of God; to promote Christian education; and, generally, to further the interests of the Christian religion in every way consistent with its own spirit and enactments. The Church, on her part, as a public witness for the truth and claims of Christ, is bound to unfold the principles of the Bible respecting legislation,

national duty, and magistratical responsibility; to uphold Civil Government founded on right principles and directed to its appropriate ends; as also to testify against whatever is immoral in the Civil Constitution, or iniquitous in civil policy.

That when the Civil Magistrate sets himself in habitual opposition to, and abuses his power for the overturning of, religion and the national liberties, he thereby forfeits his right to conscientious allegiance, especially in countries where religion and liberty have been placed under the protection of a righteous Constitution.

IV. That it is the express ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the members of the Church shall, with their freewill offerings, make temporal provision for the maintenance and extension of His kingdom; but it is competent to the civil magistrate, and is his duty, when circumstances render it necessary or expedient, to employ the national resources in aid of the Church, and it is competent to the Church to accept such aid; provided always that the terms on which aid is given be such as shall not involve the Church in approbation of what may be evil in the constitution of the State, and be consistent with the preservation of her spiritual independence. But it is not lawful for the magistrate to grant aid to the Church from the national resources merely from motives of political expediency; nor may those resources be employed for the support of truth and error indiscriminately.

V. That the conditions of a legitimate alliance between the Church and the State not having been secured at the Revolution Settlement, and that Settlement having involved a departure, in several important particulars, from attainments reached during the second Reformation, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, while not. requiring of her members an approval of every step taken by their fathers, yet holds that they had valid reasons for declining to acquiesce in that Settlement; and that subsequent events-particularly the Secession of 1732, and the Disruption of 1843-have gone far to justify their convictions as to the evils of the Revolution Settlement, as well as the position they assumed in regard to it. Accordingly, not merely from the character of the Government, as illustrated in its assumption of supremacy over the Church, and its patronage of other ecclesiastical systems by which dangerous errors are taught and propagated, but from the express terms of the Settlement by which the Scottish Church was established, the Reformed Presbyterian Church is united in regarding as still valid the grounds on which it has hitherto continued in a state of separation from the present Church Establishment in Scotland.

Notes on Public Affairs.

UNION.-The Joint Committee on Union met in Edinburgh on the 8th and 9th ult. After lengthened and frank conference, it was found that entire harmony prevails in the Churches represented as to the principles on which their several Courts are constituted. Considerable progress was also made in ascertaining the facts in reference to " Public Worship."

The Committee meets again on the 15th inst., when this subject will be resumed. It is well to bear in mind that the Committee is not occupied in attempting to form a basis of union, but simply in ascertaining how far the Churches represented agree or differ. It will belong to the Churches severally, after all the facts have been ascertained, to determine whether or not there be such an amount of agreement as to encourage an attempt at union. Whatever may be the ultimate issue of these conferences, it is certainly of great importance that the Churches should be correctly and fully known to one another. While we recognise the obligation resting on us by the authority of the Great Master, and by those National Vows which we hold to be still binding, to pray and labour for union, we are also fully alive to the importance of having all things arranged in accordance with truth, and of doing nothing rashly. The interests of union would be imperilled, not promoted, by any compromise of truth. In any union formed on such a basis the seeds of dissension must be contained, which will almost certainly produce their bitter fruit at some future period. Even when the interests of truth are homologated, it is necessary that the Churches should have time to examine everything fully, and to satisfy themselves that they are so. Only thus can fear and suspicion, which are the bane of fellowship, be completely removed. Divine direction is greatly needed in conducting these conferences, and all who love Zion should invoke, on behalf of those engaged in them, the Divine presence and counsel. At this meeting the Statement by the Committee of our own Church, “On the relation of nations and their rulers to religion and the Church," to which we invite the attention of all her members, was given in.

POPERY.-Truly there is a crying need for all who hold the truth to cultivate agreement and unity. It is by such means, among others, that the Spirit of the Lord is likely to lift up a standard against the enemy when he is coming in like a flood. Popery-the Antichrist-that has so long deceived the nations, and trampled under foot the civil and religious rights of men, while losing power and apparently tottering to its fall in Italy, is manifesting peculiar activity in our own country; and, alas! with astonishing success. Many things seem favourable to its growth. Irish Papists swarm in our large cities, marry Protestant females, whom they prevail on, in many instances, to join their church, and rear Popish families. The masses, festering in ignorance and immorality, while a sense of God is not utterly effaced from their minds, gladly embrace a religion which devolves everything on the priests, and assures salvation on condition of some external observances and sacrifices; while, practically, they are permitted to live as they list. Multitudes in the Episcopal Church, by Puseyite training, are led more than half way to Rome, and prepared for embracing Popery, as the issue to which the instruction of their ministers logically conducts. Men, too, of rationalistic and infidel tendencies generally prefer Popery if they embrace any religion. Moreover, not a few of our nobility and gentry, finding Scriptural Christianity to be dangerous to their feudal influence, embrace Popery, in the hope that, by its revival, absolutism may be re-established. In England there are 17 Popish bishops, 1338 Popish priests, 941 churches and stations, 58 monasteries, and 187 nunneries. Scotland, 4 bishops, 83 priests, 191 churches and stations, and 14 nunneries. During the last year there has been an increase of 71 priests in England, and of 5 in Scotland. The progress of Popery in London is especially rapid, as will appear from the following figures. In London and surrounding neighbourhood, there were in

In

THE POOR.-The sum expended during last year on the maintenance of the poor in Scotland was £787,629 2: 8, or at the rate of 4s. 64d. per head of the inhabitants. The weekly allowance of each pauper, on an average, has been increased by 4d. The cost of pauperism is rapidly becoming greater. The sum expended annually during the last ten years was on an average £674,816: 1: 64, or less by £112,816: 10: 6 than last year. Lunatic poor have been relieved to the number of 6289. While the expense of relieving the poor has been thus rapidly increasing, the wealth of the country is increasing still more rapidly; for, while the rate per cent. assessed for the poor in 1843 was £7: 4: 91, it was for last year only £6:11: 74. The duty of providing for the poor is one of great delicacy and difficulty. Where it is left to voluntary charity, the most noisy and importunate are likely to obtain aid, while the shrinking and sensitive are in danger of pining in neglect. Where the provision is systematic, legal, and compulsory, it is apt to become subversive of the spirit of charity. It is neither given in benevolence, nor accepted in gratitude. On the part of the giver it is viewed as a tax, on the part of the receiver as a matter of right. If paupers are made comfortable, a powerful motive to shun dependence is removed. If their condition is rendered painful and scanty, the meritorious and helpless poor are made to suffer, as a warning to others. While it is a joy to contribute to the maintenance and comfort of the meritorious poor, it is distressing to see how many, by their indolence, their improvidence, their impurity, or their drunkenness, become, with their families, a burden on the community. All should vigorously sustain the agencies at work for the instruction and elevation of the masses; because, although this may involve present expenditure, it will effect an ultimate saving to themselves, besides conferring a lasting benefit on others.

TRANSPORTATION.-At the request of the settlers in Western Australia, with whom the scarcity of labour was severely felt, Government sent to them a large number of convicts. The other provinces of Australia, however, having more than a sufficient number of bad characters among their own population, and fearing lest many of the British convicts might find their way to them, combined and agitated to prevent any more being sent. They even went so far as to threaten that they would, in retaliation, ship their own criminals to Britain. The Government has intimated that a measure is about to be introduced for putting an end to transportation to Australia in three years. This measure is to be based on a reason which does not assume the opposition of the colonists, but there cannot be a doubt that their agitation and threatened resistance are the true reason. The colonists cannot fail to discover this, and it will be well if their success in this instance does not prompt them to make demands which cannot be granted, and which may, when refused, lead to calamitous results.

FRANCE. The Reformed Church in France is recognised and supported by the Imperial Government. Its affairs are managed by a General Council in Paris, which is chosen by the Church. Under the one name Reformed, there have been for a long time two parties-the Evangelical and Rationalistic. Hitherto the party of Rationalists has been the most powerful, and have returned men of their own as members of the General Council. For some time past the Evangelical party has been increasing in numbers and influence. We are happy to learn that in the late election, which was a trial of strength, they have succeeded in returning all their candidates to the General Council, with the exception of M. Guizot, who was obnoxious on political grounds. While we hail this event as an indication that the cause of evangelical truth is making progress, we trust that its friends will not relax their efforts until the unhallowed leaven, which has hitherto been working perniciously, is fully purged out.

AUSTRIA.The cause of liberal and constitutional government seems to