children of the night be afraid of changing; but let those who are of the day be like "the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT

PRAYER.

"Is any prayer acceptable to God, which is not the dictate of his own Spirit? If you mean by the dictates of the Spirit, his influences on the mind to show us our wants, and upon the heart to make us desire a supply of them; I answer, no; for a prayer which hath not, at least, the abovementioned qualities, is only a vain babbling.

Does a believer always pray with the Spirit's assistance? Yes, when he prays as a believer, and not as a parrot; for at his lowest times, he has, more or less, a sight of his wants, and a desire to have them supplied; and this he could not have, did not the Spirit work upon his mind and heart."-Fletcher.

THE SLAVE; OR THE POWER OF TRUTH AND LOVE.

"Let it not be said, we can do nothing for the slave. We can do much. We have a power mightier than armies, the power of truth, of principle, of virtue, of right, of religion, of love. We have a power, which is growing with every advance of civilisation, before which the slave-trade has fallen, which is mitigating the sternest despotisms, which is spreading education through all ranks of society, which is bearing Christianity to the ends of the earth, which carries in itself the pledge of destruction to every institution which debases humanity. Who can measure the power of Christian philanthropy, of enlightened goodness, pouring itself forth in prayers and persuasions, from the press and pulpit, from the lips and hearts of devoted men, and more and more binding together the wise and good in the cause of their race? All other powers may fail. This must triumph. It is leagued with God's omnipotence. It is God himself acting in the hearts of his children. It has an ally in every conscience, in every human breast, in the wrong

doer himself. This spirit has_but begun its work on earth. It is breathing itself more and more through literature, education, institutions, and opinion. Slavery cannot stand before it. Great moral principles, pure and generous sentiments, cannot be confined to this or that spot. They cannot be shut out by territorial lines, or local legislation. They are divine inspirations, and partake of the omnipresence of their Author. The deliberate, solemn conviction of good men through the world, that slavery is a grievous wrong to human nature, will make itself felt. To increase this_moral power is every man's duty. To embody and express this great truth is in every man's power; and thus every man can do something to break the chain of the slave."

W. E. C.

GREAT PRINCIPLES.

A SOLEMN responsibility rests on those who devote themselves to the advocacy and propagation of great principles. Great principles are either great blessings, or great curses; they are either the source of unspeakable advantages, or the fruitful parents of tremendous evils. If they could be separated from their consequences, and received or rejected by themselves, the case would be widely different. But this is impossible. A great principle is like the first link in a large chain; you may not see one half of the links which compose that chain; but if you move the first link, you draw all the rest after it. So, when you plead for a great principle, you may not be able to see half way along the chain of consequences that depend upon it; but in proportion as the principle is received, all these consequences naturally follow; and you are as much responsible for them, as for the principle on which they depend. He who propagates great principles, is

like the man that casts seed into the earth: it seems but a handful when it is buried beneath the soil; and it may appear, to a casual observer, as an operation of no very serious or important character. The man himself, perhaps, who scatters the seed, feels but little concern about it, and exercises no vigilance in ascertaining

the quality of the seed he sows. And yet on the quality of that seed depends the quality of the next year's harvest. If the seed be genuine and good, a rich, full harvest may be expected to reward the husbandman's toil, and to furnish seed for the following year. But should the seed be spurious, mixed, or defective, so will the crop be also; and he who thought that he had only sowed good seed in his field, to his astonishment may find that tares grow up among the wheat. Nor is this the worst. The tares grow more rapidly, and multiply more abundantly than the wheat; and, in spite of all his care, the ensuing year, the husbandman finds that it was easier to fill the soil with weeds than it is to get rid of them. So the man who delivers a lecture, or writes a book, to unfold and advocate a great principle, is sowing seed. Men's minds are his field, and sentiments are the seed he sows. It may seem, to lookers on, to be a trifling employment in which he is engaged, and he himself may not be sufficiently aware of its importance, or sufficiently cautious as to the tendency of the views he propagates. But he is really exerting an influence of the most powerful character; and, be it for good or for evil, that influence will be both seen and felt after many days. The sentiments he avows become the topics of thought, of reasoning, of conversation. They may not produce great effects immediately; the seed must have time to germinate. But by and by the effects appear. It is found that his views have been silently and almost insensibly working their way in people's minds; and now they are seen moulding the affections and regulating the conduct of multitudes. Some more powerful mind than his by whom the great principle was broached at first, takes it up, and follows it out to its legitimate results; and the multitudes who have embraced the principle, and submitted to its influence, perceiving the close and intimate connection with those other principles that depend upon it, embrace those other principles as well. The man who wrote the book, or delivered the lecture, had never contemplated such results as these, perhaps; and yet he is plainly responsible for all the consequences that flow, legitimately, from

the principle he inculcates, as well as for that principle itself. If those consequences are good, to him are the human family indebted for their acquaintance with them; and if those consequences are evil, on him rests the responsibility of sowing seed that naturally produces so pernicious a harvest.

Very few men contemplate a great principle in all its bearings, and anticipate the whole of its results, either when they embrace it themselves, or when they begin to inculcate it on others. We have not held such a principle long, before we discover that it applies to a great number of things, which we never imagined before would have been influenced by it in the least. In its application to those things, it assumes an aspect in which we had never viewed it, and leads to conclusions of which we never dreamed when we embraced the principle. But now we suppose that we have considered the subject in all its bearings, and begin to declare our views to others. But we have not done this a great number of times, before some skilful, far-sighted antagonist inquires, "And what do you think of your principle applied to such a case?" We are, for the moment, perhaps, confounded. This is a case that we had never once considered; and, in its application to a case like this, the principle which has

hitherto seemed manifestly true, leads to consequences at which we almost tremble. Well, we reexamine the subject; we find, perhaps, that the consequences which our opponent charges on the principle that we advocate, do not fairly flow from it, or that, fairly proceeding from it, they are as little to be dreaded as the principle itself, and once more we feel our minds at rest upon the subject. But still we are not aware of the extent to which the great principle may be carried; and possibly, after we have slumbered in the tomb for hundreds of years, some master mind may discover that this principle legitimately applies to a whole class of subjects, on which it sheds a flood of light, explaining mysteries, detecting errors, harmonizing truths, astonishing some minds, and grieving others; filling some with rage and disappointment, and transporting others with extacies of joy.

In short, to be acquainted with all the bearings, and apprized of all the consequences of the great principle, we must be acquainted with universal truth; for all great

ciples are closely connected together; the contemplation and reception of one, naturally leading to the knowledge and reception of all others.

The above remarks are intended to impress on our minds two important lessons. That we should diligently, patiently, and thoroughly consider great principles, before we embrace them; and that, having deliberately embraced a principle, after mature examination, we ought not to be startled if we find it leading us to conclusions that we did not at first anticipate. He who embraces and propagates principles without deep, diligent, patient, prayerful consideration, is like a man who sets a machine in motion, without acquainting himself either with its powers or its design; we need not be surprised if he becomes the author of extensive mischief, both to himself and to his fellow-men. While he who starts aside from the legitimate consequences of a principle, of the truth of which he is thoroughly assured, is like a man who engages a guide (of whose integrity and skill he is thoroughly satisfied) to conduct him through a country with which he is not acquainted himself, and yet starts back and trembles, because he finds that in some places the road is more difficult and dangerous than he had foreseen. We should never embrace a principle, till we are satisfied that it neither contradicts itself nor any other ascertained truth; but when we are satisfied that a principle is in harmony .with itself, and with all the other truths at the knowledge of which we have arrived by the study of God's word, we need not be alarmed at its consequences, however they may clash with our own prejudices, or with the prejudices of our fellow-men. No reformers, perhaps, except one, have been able to foresee all the probable results of their principles, and most of them have been startled more or less when they have begun to perceive them. The apostles of our Lord little thought, for a length of time, that the truths which they proclaimed were intended to undermine and supersede the whole Mosaic economy.

And yet such was the case, and such was the effect of their labours. When Luther and his fellow-helpers embraced the principle that it is the duty of Christians to obey God rather than man, and that every Christian ought to judge for himself what God requires, they were not aware of the consequences to which the principle would lead. When Wesley and his helpers laid down that same principle as the fundamental principle of Methodism, and as the principle by which all the deliberations and movements of Methodist Conferences should be regulated, they were not aware to what consequences it would lead. And the founders of many other religious denominations also appear to have been ignorant of the consequences of the principle. Luther saw clearly enough that it would destroy the power of the Pope and of councils, but he does not appear to have seen that it would require him to refuse to exercise authority and power over the minds of men. Wesley and his helpers saw that the principle would destroy the authority of bishops and convocations; but they do not appear to have been aware that it would require them to refrain from binding their own sentiments upon the souls that were converted under their ministry. When they began to see this, they all shrank back, renounced the very principle of their reforming movements, and went back to the old principle of spiritual despotism, which they had so long and so zealously laboured to destroy. And so it has been with most reformers. They all saw that they must be free themselves, but were afraid to follow out the principle to the conclusion that it was necessary that all others should be free. They saw that no one ought to have authority to dictate to them what they should believe or do; but were afraid to run on to the conclusion, that they themselves had no right to dictate to others what they should believe and do. All agreed in embracing a great, true principle, a principle on which they found themselves bound act, if they would either be accepted of God, or useful to men; and yet, alas, such was their weakness and inconsistency, that they all agreed in setting themselves in oppo

to

I fear that many who plead for the same principle in the present day, and who so clearly see the inconsistency of their predecessors, in not having carried it thoroughly out, will fall into the same inconsistency. They are still not aware, many of them, how far the principle, if clung to, will oblige them to go. They are not aware what a thorough transformation it will work in the arrangements and regulations of Christian churches, and what thorough havoc it will make of all sectarian idols. They are not aware how many peculiarities which are now adored, it will oblige them to regard as nothing; they are not aware how many things which would now be regarded as utterly intolerable, it will oblige them to do. When they do come to see the principle in all its remoter bearings, they will, we fear, either renounce it altogether, or they will do as their forerunners did; they will say, We will have the springing fountain, but we will not have the stream; we will have the fire, but we will have no burning.

We have a woeful example of this kind of inconsistency in the American republic. They laid down the principle that all have equal rights, that no man has a right to be a tyrant, and that every man has a right to be free. But look at them a little after, and what do you see? Those very men who, just now, would have it that all men have equal rights, when they find that the principle requires them to give freedom to their brethren of colour, start, shrink back, turn round, and fly in the face of the very principle of their own freedom and independence. And at this day, the people who have filled the earth with their boasting of liberty, are the greatest despots, the most extravagant, the most barefaced, the most impudent, the most violent, the most intolerant, the most cruel, and the most

unrelenting and implacable slaveholders in the civilized world. Their inconsistency is the bye-word of all nations, whithersoever the story of their doings is known.

We have seen the same thing take place on a smaller scale, in religious matters. We have seen a denomination, basing itself on the principle of unrestricted liberty as taught in the Gospel, and on the doctrine that the Scriptures are a perfect rule both of faith and practice, turn round, and contend for strict and absolute uniformity of opinion and practice, even on matters ceremonial, and require unreserved subjection to its principal officials in all things. We have seen a denomination that has boasted of liberty, and exclaimed against spiritual despotism beyond all others, for nearly half a century, run back headlong into all the black and horrible extravagances of the darkest and most intolerant ages, as if driven mad by the appearance of the harmless but unwelcome consequences of their boasted liberty.

Against these grievous inconsistencies we would have our readers to be on their guard. We would have them, when they have discovered a truth, to hold it fast, and act upon it in all things, whatever the results may be. We would not have them to be hasty or rash in the application of principles; but we would not have them to shrink from the proper application of a true principle, because it may lead to painful consequences, or because it may require a fresh modification of their plans or proceedings. We would have them as severe in trying principles, and as careful in applying them, as need be; but we would have them to trust in God, to have confidence in truth, to be firm and resolute in what is right. We would have them to be as considerate, and prayerful, and prudent as possible; but we would have them to possess a holy courage and daring, and we would have them to reckon it the truest prudence to abide in all things by the truth as it is in Jesus.

An inflexible adherence to truth and righteousness, the bold and resolute carrying out of great principles, will frequently expose you to reproach, and derision, and persecution,-it will frequently cause your friends to fall off, and it may some

times cause you to be left entirely alone, but be not alarmed. While you have truth and God on your side, you are mightier than the whole world. The Apostle Paul once stood alone: "At my first asswer, no man stood by me :" but he did not stand alone to the end: it was not long before it was said, "All Asia is gone after him." Stand to the truth, and though you may have to stand alone for a time, the whole world will come round you in the end. Fear nothing, so long as you have truth and God on your side. The Apostles, and those to whom they preached, were terribly alarmed, when they discovered that the tendency of the principles they had embraced, led to the abrogation of the Mosaical economy, but they still went forward, and neither the one nor the other sustained any loss or injury thereby. It will be so with us, if we imitate their example. Let us exercise so much patience, humility, diligence, and prayer, as not to mistake specious error for solid truth; but having ascertained the truth, let us fearlessly follow where it leads the way. LET US PROVE ALL THINGS, AND

HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

POLITICS.

THERE are no commands in the New Testament addressed to kings or magistrates, any more than to soldiers did Christ go on the supposition that none of his disciples would ever be kings or magistrates? Did he go on the supposition that if kings and magistrates embraced his religion, they would be led to lay aside their earthly power, and, like other Christians, use no power but that of truth and love? Did Christ intend that his disciples should leave the politics of the world to worldlings, and employ themselves in doing good in some such way as he himself pursued? Did he intend to have his people a kingdom to themselves, ruled by no king but himself, and known to each other only as brethren, as fellow-subjects to himself? Did he intend to redeem us out of the world, and to employ us, not in working the machinery of worldly politics, but in drawing men away from all earthly systems, and, by bringing the whole world to act on

the pure principles of the Gospel, render the cumbrous and cruel machinery of earthly politics unnecessary? There appears to me to be more in the religion of Christ, than some of its disciples are aware. Depend upon it, there are still hidden in the Gospel, some very important treasures of wisdom. What sort of a world should we have, if all should embrace the religion of Christ? Would there be any kings or magistrates? What would kings or magistrates have to do? Who would choose them? Who would want them? Would any Christian make himself into a king or magistrate? That could not be. It seems manifest to me, that the religion of Christ is intended to bring about a state of society, in which kings and magistrates shall have no existence what

ever.

It seems plain to me, that Christ never intended his disciples to be kings or magistrates, or any thing else but plain good people, living, talking, and labouring for the good of mankind in some such way as that in which he himself talked, and lived, and laboured. It seems to me that Christians are out of their place in holding power of any description, except such power as Christ himself and his Apostles used, the power to benefit men by teaching them truth, and turning them to God. It seems to be intimated in Daniel ii. 34-44, as well as in other parts of the Sacred Writings, that the religion of Christ is intended to break in pieces and consume all forms of worldly power and rule, and become itself the ruler over all the earth. But we may say more on this subject hereafter.

THE BEST PREPARATION FOR USEFULNESS.

THE letter, from which the following is extracted, was received some time ago by a young man who was very desirous to be engaged in extensive labours for the reformation of the church and the salvation of the world, but who was afraid that he was not sufficiently prepared for such public exertions by a knowledge of logic, rhetoric, grammar, history, natural philosophy, the philosophy of the mind, and other similar branches of science. He wrote to a friend expressing the views and feel