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WORSHIP. God of glory! Source of blessing! Grant thy grace our hearts to raise : We thy sacred truth possessing,

Here unite to sound thy praise. Cherubim in glorious beauty,

Humbly bow before thy throne, Chant thy greatness, pay their duty; Yet wilt Thou our offerings own. Mortal, weak, and sinning creatures ; O what poor returns we pay Thee-the Author of our natures, Our Preserver night and day. Guilty terror fills our spirits, While we view thy holy law; But the great Redeemer's merits, Bid us joys eternal draw— From the wells of thy salvation, Springing in thy sacred word; Let us drink thy consolation,

Haste to serve our rightful Lord. Fill us with thy Holy Spirit :

Give us wisdom-give us grace : O prepare us to inherit

Heavenly bliss before thy face.

IRISH SUNDAY SCHOOL SOCIETY. GRATITUDE to the gracious Author of all good, must arise in every pious mind on reviewing the progress of the Sunday School Society for Ireland. This invaluable institution, in common with all others of a kindred nature, has been singularly honoured of God, in promoting the happiness of men.

"During a period marked by circumstances peculiarly unfavourable to scriptural education, through the blessing of the Almighty, there have been added to its lists, during the past year, 31 schools, 4,564 scholars, and 496 teachers: thus the number of schools in its connection is 2,642, embracing 206,717 pupils, taught by 19,142 gratuitous teachers. Of the scholars, 112,256 are reported to be reading in the Bible and Testament, and 35,239 are reported to be adults above the age of fifteen. From the returns it appears that not one half of the scholars are receiving instruction in daily schools."

The remarkable and merciful preservation, both of teachers and scholars, during the dreadful ravages of the cholera, is thus adverted to in the last report of the Cork Auxiliary Society :

"In the city of Cork, out of more than 400 teachers, one only has been called to his Redeemer's presence; and the number of scholars who have fallen victims to the disease, has not amounted to an average of one to each school; while throughout the county of Cork, the committee have reason to believe the teachers and scholars of Sabbath schools, have been equally the subjects of this marked providence of God."

Although the principal object of the "Sunday School Society for Ireland," is to communicate the blessings of religious instruction to the poorer classes, yet the children of many in the middle and higher ranks have derived important advantages from their attendance at Sunday schools. A valued correspondent, one of the earliest friends of the Society, has communicated the following very extraordinary information :-

"Fifteen boys who attended this school became ordained clergymen in the church of England! Three died in the faith, having proved eminently useful, and finished their course with joy. The remaining twelve are faithful preachers of the everlasting gospel!"

THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY In their External Division; exhibited in a Course of Lectures delivered in Clinton Hall, in the winter of 1831-2, under the appointment of the University of the City of New York, by Charles P. M'Ilvaine, D.D. Bishop of Ohio, and President of Kenyon College. London, Fisher and Jackson, 12mo. cloth, pp. 424. Dr. Olinthus Gregory has laid the church of God under lasting obligations to him for his numerous literary works, especially his invaluable "Letters on the Evidences of Christianity." An additional debt of grati tude is due to that eminent man for recommending and superintending this edition of Bishop M'Ilvaine's excellent Lectures on the "External Division" of that most important subject. "England is a Christian nation," is a favourite and a delightful sentiment: but there are not a few, who are otherwise well instructed, who are extremely ignorant of the grounds and reasons of their professing Christianity: we are of opinion that this should form a branch of education in every seminary, and in every Sunday school.

Bishop M'Ilvaine's Lectures will form a suitable present for young persons of a superior class, and on their account we beg to call the attention of parents and guardians of youth to this choice volume.

The Lectures are thirteen in number, with the following heads:-Introductory Observations-Authenticity of the New Testament-Authenticity and Integrity of the New Testament-Credibility of the Gospel History -Divine Authority of Christianity, from MiraclesArgument from Miracles continued-Divine Authority of Christianity, from Prophecy-Argument from Prophecy continued Divine Authority of Christianity from its Propagation-Divine Authority of Christianity from its Fruits-Argument from the Fruits of Christi anity continued-Summary and Application of the Argument-Inspiration and Divine Authority of the Scriptures, with concluding Observations.

THE WHITE ELEPHANT OF SIAM.

A late traveller to the Court of Siam, in the East, says, "The greatest curiosities to which our attention was directed, were the white elephants, well known in in all the countries where the religion of Buddha preEurope to be objects of veneration, if not of worship, vails. The present king has no less than six, a larger number than was ever possessed by any Siamese monarch, and this is considered peculiarly auspicious to his reign. Four of them were shown to us: they ap proached much nearer to a true white colour than

had expected, and were of ordinary stature, the sinallest not less than six and a half feet high. The rareness of the white elephant, is no doubt the cause of the consideration in which it is held. The countries in which it is found, and where indeed the elephant exists in greatest perfection, are those in which the doctrine of the transmigration of souls is held: it became natural therefore to imagine, that the body of so rare an object as the white elephant, must be the temporary habitation of the soul of some mighty personage in its progress to perfection. This is the current belief now, and accordingly they each have the rank and title of a king, with an appropriate name expressive of this dig nity, such as the pure king,' the wonderful king,' and so forth. Each of those we saw, had a separate stable, and no less than ten keepers to wait upon it. On the head they all had a gold chain net, and on the back a small embroidered velvet cushion."

London: Printed and Published by C. WOOD AND SON, Poppin's Court, Fleet Street; to whom all Communications for the Editor (post paid) should be addressed; and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen in the United Kingdom.

PENNY MAGAZINE.

No 61.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.

AUGUST 3, 1833.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY C. WOOD AND SON, POPPIN'S COURT, ILIFT STREET, LONDON.

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CHURCH OF CHUNAR, BELONGING TO THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN INDIA. MR. GRANT'S Bill, for the Renewal of the East India Company's Charter, will, in all probability, be the means of an amazing alteration in our Indian Empire. Politically, commercially, and religiously considered, though it appears to have excited but comparatively little interest in the public mind, some regard it as one of the most important measures that ever was formed for the British Colonies. Many look up to it as embracing incomparably more momentous interests than the absorbing arrangements which are being made for the West Indies. We cannot but contemplate both the East and the West Indies a; likely to be infinitely benefited by the projected changes, especially in relation to the spiritual interests of the myriads of immortals, now perishing for lack of knowledge, by the promulgation of pure Christianity.

Bombay, at a salary of 24,000 sicca rupees, respectively to be paid of the revenues of those territories." The 89th clause in the Bill has passed in Committee, and there is every probability that it will become law in a few weeks. We can only pray that this appointment may be for the glory of the Lord, and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

Mr. Grant's Bill provides for an enlargement of the "Ecclesiastical Establishment," on the principles of the Church of England, in India, by the creation of two new bishops, one for Madras, and the other for VOL. II.

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How this measure is regarded by the "Court of Directors of the East India Company," may be judged of by some extracts from their letter to Mr. C. Grant, of the 10th of July. "The Court stated, that the principle upon which a Christian church in India, at the expense of the nation, had been instituted, was, that it was the duty of the government to provide for its civil and military functionaries the means and services of their religion. The Court were desirous the principle should be maintained; but the Court's conviction, at the same time, was strong and sincere, that both practice and policy demanded that the expense to the natives of India of a Church Establishment with which they had no community of feeling, should be limited to what is essentially necessary for the use

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of the servants of the State. The Court considered there was no necessity for the extension of the Episcopal Establishment in India. If it were extended, it would be impossible to resist the extension of the Scotch Establishment. The Court deeply lamented the mortality that had occurred since the establishment of the episcopal see of Calcutta, but were not ready to admit that the death of Bishop James, Dr. Middleton, Dr. Heber, or Dr. Turner, arose from the fatigues of the duty. Travelling in India, whether by sea or land, was an important means of preserving and restoring health. The Court called attention to the fact, that since the see of Calcutta was established, the expense had been augmented from 48,000l. to 100,000/.; and the clerical part of the pension list from 8007. per annum to 5,0007. a year. The Court contemplated the creation of two or more sees with apprehension as to the financial consequences; and they pressed on the King's Government, and the Lord Primate of England, to pause before they adopted measures involving on the people of India a certain, and possibly an unlimited addition to the financial burdens of India."

In a memorandum, Mr. Grant stated it was proposed to abolish the Archdeaconries of Madras and Bombay, and that a suffragan Bishop be appointed to each, on a salary of 2,500l. to be assisted by the senior Chaplains of the Presidencies, at a salary of 2001. or 2501. each, in addition to their salaries as chaplains.

ROMISH ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENT IN THE

EAST.

Dr. Buchanan gives the following as the "Establishment of the Romish Church in the East: "

"There are three archbishops, and seventeen bishops of the Romish church established in the East. In Bengal alone there are eight Romish churches, four Armenian churches; and two Greek churches. In confirmation of this statement, we shall subjoin an authentic report of the Roman Catholic establishments, which has been transmitted by the archbishop of Goa.

Presented by the King of Portugal.
Archbishop of Goa, Metropolitan and Primate of the
Orient.

Archbishop of Cranganore, in Malabar.
Bishop of Cochin, Malabar.

Bishop of St. Thomas, at Madras. His diocese includes Calcutta; where he has a legate. Bishop of Malacca.

Bishop of Macao.

Bishop of Pekin.

Two Bishops in the interior of China. Bishop of Mozambique.

Presented by the Pope.

Bishop of Siam.

Bishop of Pegu.

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"The above establishments are at present full, with the exception of the bishopric of Pondicherry, which was formerly presented by the king of France; and it is stated that the revenues are the same granted at the first endowment, with some exceptions of increase.

"Besides the regular churches, there are numerous Romish missions established throughout Asia. But the zeal of conversion has not been much known during the last century. The missionaries are now generally stationary respected by the natives for their learning and medical knowledge, and in general for their pure manners, they ensure to themselves a comfortable subsistence, and are enabled to show hospitality to strangers.

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On a general view of the Roman Catholic Church," Dr. Buchanan adds, "we must certainly acknowledge, that, besides its principal design in preserving the faith of its own members, it possesses a civilizing influence in Asia; and that notwithstanding its constitutional asperity, intolerant and repulsive, compared with the generous principles of the Protestant religion, it has dispelled much of the darkness of Paganism."-Memorial, chapter ii.

CHURCH OF CHunar, Belonging to the CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Chunar is a town on the river Ganges, about 500 miles above the city of Calcutta, where the Church Missionary Society has a flourishing station. The origin and progress of the work of God in evangelizing the heathen in this dark portion of the earth, is truly interesting, and strikingly illustrative of the power of the gospel. "The Rev. Daniel Corrie, who was chaplain at Agra, a large city more than 300 miles above Chunar, when he left that place in 1814 to return for a time to England on account of his health, committed the congregation to the care of the Christian native, Abdool Messeeh, whose labours among his countrymen had been much blessed of God; upward of fifty adults having been baptized in the preceding sixteen

months.

"Mr. W. Bowley, born in India, was appointed to labour with Abdool: but it was found best, after a while, that Mr. Bowley should remove to another station; and he was accordingly fixed, in 1815, at Chunar. Mr. Corrie had been chaplain at Chunar before he went to Agra: there were premises at Chunar belonging to him, which were made over to the Society; and in these Mr. Bowley took up his abode. Here he began to labour as a catechist and teacher, both among the native Christians of the place, and the Mahomedans and Heathens. Chunar being a station for invalid European soldiers, their wives and descendants form

a considerable body of native Christians. A large school-room was erected in 1815, which served also for a place of worship.

On the return of Mr. Corrie to India in 1817, he was appointed to the chaplaincy at Benares, a very large city on the Ganges, a few miles below Chunar. In February and March 1818, he visited Chunar, and found the mission in so promising a state, that the room would not accommodate all who wished to attend. Having represented this to the Corresponding Committee of the Society at Calcutta, they requested him to adopt measures for the erection of a church or chapel, for the accommodation of the congregation. A paper was according circulated by him, in May 1818, stating the necessity of the case, and inviting contributions. The Marquis of Hastings, Governor-General of India, was pleased to begin the subscription, by giving a considerable sum in the money of India, equal to more than one hundred guineas. His Lordship was followed by many European gentlemen living in India; and the soldiers, native Christians, and even some Heathens, at Chunar, lent their aid: the remainder of the expense was supplied from the funds of the Society. Mr. Turnbull, the proprietor, presented a piece of ground for the church. The foundation-stone was laid on the 4th of August 1818; and the church was so far completed, in April 1820, as to admit of its being then opened for Divine worship.

In the Report of the Church Missionary Society for 1821-2, it is stated, “During the past year, the church, mentioned in the former Reports, has been finished; and is now conveniently fitted up, for the double purpose of English and Hindoostanee Worship. It is understood by the Committee, that the middle aisle is pewed for the accommodation of Europeans, and such native Christians as have adopted European manners; and that a considerable space round the pulpit is left open, and matted, to admit the natives sitting in the usual posture; while the side aisles are supplied with moveable seats."

Schools, and various institutions for the diffusion of evangelical truth, are attached to this church and station; and the instances of conversion to Christ, among the natives, of a most encouraging character, are reported in the Society's papers, to which we refer our readers.

SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY.

NOAH.

The Deluge.

(Concluded from p.235.)

AGAINST the Mosaic account of the Deluge, some infidels have objected, from the supposed insufficiency of water: but such objections, like most others of that class of persons, arise from ignorance; as we are not able to ascertain the quantity of water which exists in the creation. From various experiments and calculations, inade by scientific men, it has appeared, that water exists to an extent, far beyond the ordinary conceptions of the most intelligent minds; besides "the fountains of the great deep," in the bowels of the earth, whose diameter is nearly eight thousand miles, and which must necessarily be sufficient to deluge the globe, to the height of very many miles. And our young readers should further remember, that the inspired author, who relates the fact of the deluge, declares that it was carried on under the immediate direction of Almighty God; an event, which, from its

very nature must have been out of the common course, and truly miraculous. It deserves also to be noticed here, that every nation of antiquity possesses some remarkable tradition of a universal deluge, at a remote period of their history and unless we admit the Mosaic record, all the ingenuity of sceptical cavillers cannot account for this universal tradition in the Pagan world.

Of the reality of the deluge, the most abundant proofs still subsist in every country. The loftiest mountains upon the earth, are the Himalayan, in the north of India: they are about 27,000 feet, or rather more than five miles in perpendicular height above the level of the sea. Their summits, like all others of similar elevation, are covered with perpetual snow: but as far as human investigation has reached, the most striking evidence has been found of the truth of the Mosaic account of the deluge.

The Andes, the Alps, the Appenines, the Pyrenees, Libanus, Atlas, and Ararat, in short, all the mountains of every region under heaven, where search has been made, conspire in one uniform and universal proof that the sea has been spread over their highest summits; for they are found to contain shells, skeletons of fish, and marine animals of every kind. The bones of extinct animals have been found in America, at an elevation of 7,800 feet, and in the Cordilleras, at 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. The fossilized remains of the horse, deer, and bear species, have been brought to England from the Himalayan mountains, found at an elevation of more than 16,000 feet. Skeletons of the elephant and rhinoceros, natives of Africa and southern Asia, have been dug up on the steppes or table lands of Tartary and Siberia; and remains of elephants have been found in various parts of England. Crocodiles, chiefly of the Asiatic species, have been discovered in the earth, in various parts of Europe. Fossil remains of the elephant, and of the gigantic mammoth, an animal still larger, but not now known to exist, have been found in the northern parts of Russia, in North America, and in Ireland. The like remains of the hippopotamus, tiger, and hyæna, animals peculiar to Africa and the East, and the entire skeletons of whales, have been found in different parts of England!

To these facts it may be added, that trees of vast dimensions, with their roots and tops, and some with leaves and fruit, have been found at the bottom of mines, in regions where no such trees were ever known to grow. Indeed, the fact of the deluge has received the most satisfactory confirmation by the discoveries of the greatest students in geology.

"And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters were assuaged. And the waters returned from off the earth continually; and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated: and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark, and sent forth a raven, which went to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were upon the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days;

and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in unto him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried." Gen. viii, 1-14.

A whole year and ten days was Noah shut up, with his family and the living creatures in the ark; in which time a variety of reflections, both painful and profitable, must necessarily fill his mind. But his faith was vigorous, like that of other of the servants of God in their peculiar and fiery trials, affording to us a most instructive example, to "trust in the LORD for ever; for in the LORD Jehovah is everlasting strength." Isa. xxvi, 4.

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How do the angels obey God's will: in what spirit and temper? They take delight and pleasure in doing God's will, and perform it cheerfully.

What then do we pray for, when we say, "Thy will be done?"-That man may take pleasure in doing God's will, as the angels do in heaven.

Can men, naturally disliking God's will, and thinking it a great hardship to obey his commands, cause themselves to love God's will, and willingly to obey his commands?-No.

If then a man must really love to do God's will, before he can go to heaven, and if he cannot make himself to love, instead of hating, God's will; by whose strength can he love God's will, and how may he obtain that strength-Man can only love God's will, by God's giving him the strength and power so to do; and man may obtain God's strength, by praying for it.

How is it that man naturally hates God's will, instead of loving it?-Man hates God's will, because his heart is wicked: because his heart or thoughts" (as Scripture says) "are only evil continually," and because God's will is altogether holy.

Who must change man's will from being sinful, to be holy, and what must man do to obtain this change? -God must change the heart of man: but he must pray to God for his Holy Spirit to sanctify his heart, to make it holy; and Jesus Christ purchased the Holy Spirit for us by his death.

Teacher. Since, then, man's will is just contrary to God's will, God's will being holy, and man's will being unholy-since man's will must be made like God's will before he can go to heaven, being made holy-since man cannot by his own strength make his heart holy, but only God-and since God has promised to change

our hearts if we ask him to do so,-it follows that we must pray to God to give us his Holy Spirit to sanctify our hearts, and take away our sins, and to make us to love God, that we may keep his commandments. If we pray, God has promised to give us his Spirit, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." If we do not pray to God, we cannot receive the Holy Spirit, but must remain for ever sinful and wicked; and a wicked person is not fit for heaven and God's company, but only for hell, and the devil's company, where he must for ever dwell in misery but if we pray to God for his Spirit, our prayers will be answered, and we shall be made fit for God's company, and then we shall always dwell with him. Then let me say to you all, that you must pray or you will be condemned; you must pray, or you will go to hell; you must pray in real earnest to God to give you his Holy Spirit; you must pray in spirit and in truth, with all your heart, and really desiring to have what you ask for. If you pray merely as a task, kneeling down at night and morning, and saying your prayers without regarding what you say, and as a task, God will not answer your prayers, because while you are thus praying, you will be only sinning against him, and mocking God; you must pray in spirit and in truth, with all your hearts, desiring and feeling the need of what you pray for. Then let us all remember before we go to bed this night, to ask God for Christ's sake to give us his Holy Spirit; for if he does not change our hearts we must be condemned; but if he does, then we shall be saved, and live with him for ever in heaven, and with his holy angels, and with all the redeemed in his heavenly kingdom, and be for ever in that place, where there is everlasting joy for those who love Christ, and who have been made holy by the Holy Ghost, such joy as man's "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has ever entered into the heart of man to conceive." May we all be made partakers of this joy for Christ's sake. Amen. C. R. A.

ON RECONCILIATION,

GOD was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 2 Cor. v, 19. These words are small in bulk, but great in mystery; 'tis the heads of the Gospel in a nutshell; the most sparkling diamond in the whole golden ring of Scripture. It comprehends the counsels of eternity and the transactions of time. A wonder in heaven, God bringing forth a man-child to be a propitiation for sin, which was the Jews' stumbling-block, and the Gentiles scoff: but wherein the wisdom and grace of God's counsel in heaven, and the power of his actions on earth, clearly shine forth in the face of Jesus Christ. The Jacob's ladder, the upper part fixed in heaven, and the lower foot standing on the earth, angels descended on that; God descends to man by this in acts of wisdom and grace, and man ascends to God in acts of faith and love. How beautiful will this whole work appear when the whole methods of it come to be read in heaven in the original copy, when they shall be seen in the face, in the bosom of God, in fair and plainer characters. To conclude: if all the sparks that ever leaped out of any fire since the creation, and all the drops of rain that have fell upon the world, were so many angelical tongues, their praise would come short of the excess of this love. Let the praise of God for this, be not the business of a day, but the work of our lives, since eternity is too short to admire it.-Charnock.

Humility looks upon another's virtues, and its own infirmities.-Watson.

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