not weigh national honour against your dollars, or balance infamy against the wealth of your exchequer !

Finally, Gentlemen, we implore you in a Christian and fraternal spirit, to view the question in that solemn light which gave it its real importance in the eyes of Great Britain-not as an issue between man and man, but between yourselves and God. Do not imagine that we are speaking with fanatical enthusiasm, or giving utterance to the effusions of bigoted and misguided zeal. We declare it to be the sober, and deliberate conviction of our countrymen. Such was their calm and well-considered judgment on the guilt and criminality of the system, that on no point of foreign or domestic policy did greater unanimity prevail. It was condemned from our pulpits, it was reprobated from our hustings. It called forth the indignation of our popular assemblies. It superseded the interest of our elections. Our senate was inundated with petitions against slavery, and our representatives pledged by their constituents to its extinction! Without distinction of rank or sex, without reference to religious creed or political faith, without regard to personal convenience or party alliance, all classes came forward, as one man, to declare that slavery was a crime before God, and must be abolished.

In the same words and for the same reason, we declare to you, our brethren and natural allies, with the affection springing from our consanguinity, and with the respect due to the dignity of the alliance, but at the same time with the frankness of that Christian love which we would extend to every nation upon earth, that to uphold SLAVERY IS A CRIME BEFORE GOD; and if you wish to retain His favour, to propitiate His mercy, and to be blessed with His countenance and protection, either in your national or individual enterprise, you also, must forthwith abolish it, and for ever.

We have the honour to be, GENTLEMEN, Your Affectionate Brothers & Faithful Allies.

These proceedings, together with that prospect of ultimate success which all the signs of the time conspire to offer, must be most gratifying to every benevolent mind. The public-spirited and humane actors in this sacred cause, have every thing to encourage and cheer their labours. Their efforts for the emancipation of the slaves in our own colonies have been crowned with signal success. Nor is it only their influence on the minds of our legislature, in which that success consists; the working of

the great measure in our colonies, is so facitous, as at once to vindicate and reward their labours. The intelligence continually received from the West Indies is of the most interesting and delightful character. Within three days of the time in which we are writing, Mr. Secretary Stanley has addressed to the country, through the Howe of Commons, some statements which, as coming from the highest authority, mot have already excited the most hearties gratitude and joy.

"With regard to Demerara," said Mr. Stanley, "he could only say he had a stri more gratifying announcement to make to the house. He had received, on the 13 of the present month, two despatches dated the 26th and 27th of January; and although two papers, to which the gover nor referred, had by some mistake not accompanied the documents, yet the language made use of sufficiently shewed what the scope and tendency of those enclosures were. He stated, in the first place-'I cannot shew you, in a more gratifying manner, the tranquil state of this colony than by submitting to you the returns for the last month from the three fiscals and the protectors of slaves, the one containing all cases of punishment imposed on the slaves by the judicial authorities, the other all cases of complaint throughout the colony,' comprising 80,000 of a slave po. pulation, against their masters. For Demerara itself, by some accident, the report of the fiscal has not been forwarded, but the total punishments awarded in the other two districts in the month of December,' (an holiday month, be it recollected, when some little excitement was naturally to be expected,) amount to no more than 13,-no one of them being of a corporal nature, and varying from one to three weeks' imprisonment. The total number of complaints from 80,000 slaves against their masters, amounted also to 13; while all of them were of the most trivial and insignificant nature.' He had also to state, although the returns alluded to could not yet be submitted to the house, that the governor used these expressions, as to the amount of produce, and the diligence of the slaves- I beg also to lay before you, and draw your attention to returns shewing the quantity of colonial produce gathered this season, as compared with preceding years,' he (Mr. Stanley) regretted much not having the identical documents,—

a considerably increased quantity has been made last year, although the season has not been by any means peculiarly favourable. This increased quantity is

olely attributable to the increased goodwill and diligence of the slaves; and this good-will and diligence of the slaves are the consequences of the milder treatment they now experience, and the cheering prospect they have before them.' He had only one other and not the least gratifying statement to make, that the Court of Policy of Demerara, composed in a great measure, as to one moiety at least, of colonial planters utterly unconnected by any tie with government, and not very sparing in the course of the last few years in venting their feelings of disgust at some of their measures, had unanimously passed an ordinance, without one dissentient voice, abolishing, from the 1st of March, 1834, the power of the masters to inflict corporal punishment to any extent and for any cause whatever; thus by five months anticipating one of the principal enactments of the British legislature."

The length to which we have extended this article forbids us to make any comments upon these statements, or to communicate to our readers any further information at present. We shall probably resume the subject.

INFLUENCE OF Piety on EDUCATION. HAVING in a former article endeavoured to demonstrate that education, or the pursuit and the possession of useful knowledge, is highly favourable in its influence on piety and morals; we now reverse the subject, and shall undertake to shew, that devotional feelings, in their turn, strongly tend to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, and to render that knowledge a source of greater happiness to ourselves, and a more efficient instrument of usefulness to others.

As every object of science reminds us of the glorious Being who is the Author of Nature and the God of Truth, it is clear that all scientific inquiries ought to be prosecuted in a religious spirit, and with a constant reference to that Being. In the creation of the universe, two grand objects were contemplated by the Almighty, namely, the manifestation of his own glory, and the physical accommodation of his creatures, both animal and rational. That the former was his principal design is most reasonable to believe; for even in that, he had an ultimate reference to the moral good, and consequently to the highest happiness, of his intelligent creatures. For piety is founded on that knowledge of the divine character, which the contemplation

of his works is eminently calculated to impart.

Now, it is evident that the study of physical science, that is, of the objects and processes of the natural world, together with the laws by which they are regulated

ought to be conducted with a constant reference to this two-fold design of the Creator. Our temporal advantage and convenience ought assuredly to be attended to in our literary pursuits; and all our attainments should, if possible, be made subservient to these ends. Nevertheless, if it be true, that the display of the perfections of Deity was the principal object contemplated in creation, then, to observe these perfections thus displayed, should be the primary object in the study of creation. If an acquaintance with Deity be essential to that "fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom," and that divine love which is the soul of holiness; to obtain this knowledge is the highest duty of man, and the noblest reward of mental application. By observing the wisdom, power, and goodness, as well as the truth and justice, of the great Creator and Governor of the universe, as illustrated by the history of nature and nations, our feelings of admiration and gratitude cannot fail to be stimulated and improved.

Now, we think that this view of the matter cannot be reasonably rejected, except on the ground of downright atheism, or of principles equally worthless : nevertheless, its practical rejection is a phenomenon everywhere to be met with. In numberless cases, education is systematical disunited from piety, as from some. thing that would contaminate and degrade it. Vast numbers of books have been written on subjects connected with physical science, with morals, and even with education explicitly, in which scarcely any reference is made to the authority and agency of the Divine Being. In some cases, when religion is permitted to make her appearance, the writer seems as if he were half ashamed of what he was doing, and betrays evident suspicion that he is offending the taste of his readers. Now, the propensity thus manifested, of disuniting religion from philosophy, of seeking scientific knowledge merely for its own sake, or with a view to secular importance, and of regarding it in all its bearings except that which has on it the character and requirements of God, and the spiritual condition of man, can only 'be explained on the principle of that carnality of mind which is enmity against God. No fact in man's moral history bears stronger

testimony to the deep degeneracy of his

nature.

Philosophy without religion is a perfect anomaly. The disciple of such a philosophy is a monster. If a person of ordinary taste and judgment were shewn a picture or a statue of exquisite workman. ship, his very first remark would be, Who is the author of it? and his expressions of admiration would, at least, be equally divided betwixt the beauty of the perform ance and the genius of the artist. The profane philosopher, however, exhibits a strange and singular destitution of this very natural feeling of interest and admiration relative to the author of any grand execution. His feelings are indeed like those of other men, so far as second causes and subordinate agents are concerned; but beyond these, he disdains to pursue his investigation. Though with every rational and natural motive to trace and admire the Almighty in his works, yet the intolerable enmity of his heart towards God renders all knowledge of him hateful and grievous. "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts; his ways are always grievous." With what astonishment and indignation, we may well suppose, must angels behold a race of beings like this! Placed, as they are, in a world abounding with displays of Almighty power and wisdom; surrounded with the wonderful works of God, and endued both with the capacity and the desire to investigate these works. To see them ardently engaged in exploring the great system of nature, acute in tracing effects to their causes, and enthusiastic in their admiration of the beauty, the grandeur, the utility, and the variety of its parts, and the perfect proportion and harmony which subsists among them, and unites them into one stupendous whole; and yet never, or rarely lifting their minds to the contemplation of the glorious Intelligence, by whom these vast and complicated operations are performed, and utterly unmindful of those displays of infinite power, wisdom, and good. ness, so eminently conspicuous in the world around them! How, they would ask, can that astronomer survey the planetary system, and not be struck with the omnipotence which wields, and the skill that guides, those mighty orbs! How can the naturalist examine the structure, the instincts, and the habits of animals, and observe the striking adaptation of the same to their several circumstances and uses, and not be overpowered with that 'meridian evidence' of the existence and providence of God,

'which puts all doubts to flight! By what unaccountable fatuity, they may again ast, do those beings terminate all their inquires in second causes, and never permit ther thoughts to ascend to the great First Cause of all things, the Source of all beings, Him. self the perfection of beings, and the knowledge of whom is the noblest and the most necessary of all sciences! In this maner may we imagine the spotless intelligences above, expressing their astonishment at the greatest of mysteries, and the greatest of absurdities, connected with human character; namely, the possession, and the ardent pursuit of learning, in the complete absence of pious feeling!

That piety must, in every respect, be favourable in its bearing on learning, might be inferred from the natural connexion subsisting between them. This point we shall now attempt more particularly to illustrate. And,

First. Piety often contributes solely, a materially, to the production of a taste for learning. A concern for salvation always awakens reflection and inquiry; it brings into action the reasoning and imaginative powers of the mind, and by this means introduces the individual into the intellectual world. And from the habit of thinking thus acquired, and the glimmering of truth thus let into the mind, many are induced to contemn the exercise of a power, and the pursuit of a pleasure, equally new. Besides, when a person becomes religios, he is cut off from vain and corrupting amusements, and the vacuum thus occa sioned, he naturally seeks to fill up by literary pursuits and to his sobered habits, such pursuits answer even the purposes of amusement quite as effectually as the most popular sports ever accomplished those purposes before. Moreover, the improvement of his mind by the acquisition of use. ful knowledge, he now discovers to be a duty which God requires of him, not only for the sake of his own spiritual advantage, but as a qualification for public usefulness.

Second. Piety directs in the pursuit of learning; or, in other words, it is the safest guide in the selection of studies. This may not be so important a matter, where a judicious adviser is accessible; but in num berless instances there is a complete default of this advantage. And where religious principle is absent also, there is little prospect of a judicious course of study being adopted: the individual will then be left to the mercy of chance, or humour, of idle curiosity, licentious passion, or infidel profaneness; or, at best, he will be guided by motives wholly secular and grovelling. It is under

influence of such incentives as these, so many consume their time, corrupt eir hearts, and abuse their literary taste devoting themselves to news and roance, to idle speculation or petulant conversy. Or if they seriously set about the ady of some important science, perhaps it one, the study of which is unsuitable to eir genius or opportunities, and the applition of which belongs to a condition very ifferent from their own. Now, we affirm, at religious principle, although it may not persede the counsel of friends, or suggest the minutiae of what is proper in the irection of study, yet it will generally preerve a person from the errors here enumeated. True piety is invariably accompaied by a considerable share of prudence r practical wisdom in ordinary affairs; for raises a man above the influence of pasion and caprice, and it puts the governnent of the conduct in common matters nto the hand of common sense; and rarely loes this faculty lead us astray, when its lecisions are unwarped by prejudice, and mplicitly obeyed. Common sense would orbid a man to spend his time in pursuing the toys and butterflies of literature, much less to swallow its poison for the sake of its agreeable appearance: it would teach him to direct his attention to those sciences, the attainment of which is adapted to his opportunities and turn of mind, and which promise to be practically useful, in preference to those which, without these recommendations, are more invit. ing in their appearance.

Third. Piety facilitates the acquisition of knowledge. The cultivation of the mind under any circumstances involves considerable difficulty; but the business of selfcultivation is peculiarly arduous. To prosecute it successfully requires no inconsiderable measure of self-denial, diligence, and resolute perseverance. But these are lessons which can nowhere be so effectu. ally learned as in the school of the gospel; and none fail to learn them who enter that school. Here the mind acquires that activity, that contempt of ease and grovelling pleasure, that patience of hardship and difficulty, that honesty and singleness of purpose, and that happy freedom from the embarrassing influence of wayward passion, all of which are of the greatest value in the pursuit of knowledge. The natural love of science, aided by ambition, is often seen to produce vehement ardour in the attainment of learning; but the Christian, while he may possess all that is innocent, and of course, truly valuable, in these incentives, is influenced by motives infinitely more

noble, powerful, and permanent; that is, a regard to the will of God, and to the eternal consequences, as it may respect both himself and others, which may result from the faithful improvement and exercise of the intellectual talent committed to his keeping.

Fourth. Piety enhances the value of learning, by making it a source of nobler personal enjoyment. There is a pleasure in the acquisition of knowledge, which may be called natural, or purely intellectual, in which the unbelievers and profane participate, as well as the Christian: yet there are delightful associations connected with scientific researches, known only to the latter. The Christian tastes all that is truly valuable, in what may be called the natural pleasure of knowledge; he is fully alive to all that is grand, beautiful, and useful in the physical world, and admires with the utmost warmth, the exquisite arrangement and the interminable variety of its objects; still his highest pleasure arises from his recognition of the finger of God in natural phenomena, and in contemplating the character of Deity, as impressed on the face of creation. However his mind may be impressed with admiring wonder at the glorious array of beings which form the universe, and with what is vast or exquisite in the several individuals composing it, with still greater astonishment and awe does he contemplate that mighty Intellect from whom they originated. In short, to him, natural objects are chiefly interesting as they illustrate the character of their great original, and are a sort of representation of that glorious Being, in whose favour he is interested; and he views them with something like the feelings of a lover surveying the productions of his absent friend, which are at once specimens of uncommon genius, and, to him, of special favour.

An irreligious student of nature terminates all his inquires on second causes and inferior agents: or if conviction force him to acknowledge the agency of a Supreme Power, it is the unwilling and heartless recognition of one who has no interest in the favour of the Creator, and who would feel happier if he could exclude God from creation. While the Christian surveys and examines the universe with feelings like those with which a favoured son would survey the domains to which he was heir, the unbeliever roams over the territories of science with the chagrined and imbittered emotion, with which a disgraced and guilty malefactor would explore the country of which he was an outlaw, and from which he was about to be expelled. The man of re

ligious character pursues his studies under the delightful impression that he is by this means, not only rising in the scale of being, but, by qualifying himself for more extensive usefulness in the present world, even aggrandizing his immortality. But to all such feelings and anticipations the wicked is an entire stranger. His studies derive no importance from the idea of futurity: from immortality he has nothing to hope, and every thing to fear; and all the influence which his scientific acquirements have on eternity, is to expose him to heavier condemnation, in proportion to his augmented responsibility.

Fifth, and lastly. As a means of doing good, or a talent for public usefulness, education is essentially dependent on virtue and piety. Knowledge is power, and, as such, it is valuable in its practical application, only in proportion to the quantum of virtue with which it is associated and wielded. Genius possessed by one who is a stranger to the principles and spirit of Christianity, and of course to true benevolence, is as dangerous as poison in the hands of a child, or a sword in that of a madman. But it will be urged, that many who are destitute of real religion, are known to exercise great talents in a very beneficial manner. To this it is replied, that the prospect of worldly gain or favour induces many persons to act in a manner very different from that to which their natural inclination would prompt them; but it is very obvious, that worldly motives, and principles of mere expediency, constitute a very tottering and insecure basis of practical virtue. In proof of this, we may remark, that some men, in the exercise of their mental powers, have no particular worldly interests to uphold, in which case, they are left to follow the unobstructed bent of their minds; and if this is depraved, if they are uninfluenced by conscience, if they are the creatures of passion, what can be expected but that they will move to confusion, and operate to mis

chief?"

Again: it is the interest of others to employ their talents in a vicious and improper manner; and when this concurs with the bias of the mind, they have a double incentive to the mischievous application of their powers.

It is also to be observed, that in many of those instances of the proper application of learning and talents by vicious characters, the praise, after all, is in a great measure due to the existence of religious prin. ciple. For though most men have suffered more from the original apostacy, than even their outward conduct would seem to

indicate, yet it is believed that the gree part of mankind are more indebted to t restraining and restoring grace of God, either themselves are willing to allow, E others are aware of; and hence, few, e of those who are accounted irreligious, completely so they have some degree the fear of God; and conscience has sy cient influence, if not to make them dec edly pious, and uniformly good, yet restrain them from doing mischief, dia excite them to perform many good actions t It is this struggle between conscience and passion, so generally felt, that gives many characters so much inconsistency, and so doubtful an aspect.

Even those acquirements that are pure secular, and that are exercised for secu purposes, must be so much more valuab in their application, when united with fide lity, prudence, and industry-virtues & rectly springing from pious feeling. B when talent is directed to moral and re gious matters, to that truth which affects our highest interests, nothing, we affirm, ca guide it aright, but conscientious and hear felt piety. All the motives that mere expe diency can muster, will often be found insufficient to restrain the ebullitions of sceptical and unsanctified genius. Bet when such a genius is invited by the pros pect of popularity and gain-a too frequent case-to embark in the cause of vice and profaneness, none can estimate the amount of mischief which learning, so employed and so stimulated, will be the means of effecting. If any doubt whether genius be a dangerous thing when united with 4 depraved heart, let them peruse the writings of Voltaire, of Chesterfield, of Lord Byro and of many a celebrated novelist.

And, again, if they would be satisfed that learning and talent are chiefly indebted to religious principle for the utility of ther practical application, they need only think of the writings and personal exertions of such men as Luther, Baxter, Wesley, and a multitude of others, whose talents have benefited the world in the best and most extensive manner, but who, but for ther piety, would have been curses instead of blessings.

Rainton, Dec. 19.

RECOLLECTIONS OF

W.ROBINSON.

A MISSIONARY.NO. XIV.

ON THE NEGRO, HOTTENTOT, HINDOO, INDIAN AND OTHERS, AS OBJECTS OF MISSIONARY L

BOURS, IN OUR VARIOUS COLONIES.

WHEN the apostles commenced their misIsion in the world, they had the polished Greeks and the warlike Romans for ther