be useful, for awakening the desires of the godly, and leading them to be more concerned for the propagation of the gospel. by itinerant preaching, and also for exciting in such ministers as have taken but little interest in this work a desire to put their hands heartily to it. In conclusion, may I not adopt our Lord's words, Luke x 23. "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that we see; for many prophets. and righteous men, even in our country, have. desired to see them, but did not." Our fathers had the Scriptures, and many of them enjoyed the preaching of the gospel. Their shelves too might have been loaded with laboured commentaries on the Bible. But on reading at a missionary prayer meeting, or Bible Society, the 2d and 72d Psalms, with similar Scriptures, after considering the Missionary and Bible Society Reports, and especially if the reader has been traversing the country witnessing the effects of the gospel, I can again aver that the people of God present at these meetings will and do obtain such a practical knowledge and understanding of these truths as could not have been made known, or have been so understood by any ore, before God in the wise dispensations of his holy providence had shewed them in their accomplishment. I am, Sir, your constant reader, L Dec. 1. 1818. 1 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY THE LATE MR ROMAINE. I AM become a great admirer of Phil. ii. 1—12. The dark ground sets off this delightful picture. O what times do we live in! Parties, disputes, quarrels, contentions who shall be the greatest, yea, almost hatred itself in the family of love! We have much hearing, and little doing. The apostle James would be frightened to see the professors of the day all ears, without hands or feet; nothing about them active but a gossipping tongue. For these things I mourn, and preach, and pray; not without some profit. I see some love the gospel; and those that profess it make us live more at home. QUERY. In the New Testament both faith and obedience are represented as necessary to salvation;-on what ground, or on what account is the latter necessary? Is it merely necessary as an evidence of faith in the Son of God, or as that without which it will not be accepted as genuine at the great day of account? Or does it constitute a part of what is required by God (as the moral Governor of mankind, and according to the tenor of the covenant of grace) as necessary to the enjoyment of ultimate salvation? In other words, Is eternal life promised in the Scriptures to faith alone, (good works being regarded merely as the evidence of faith), or to faith and obedience united? Any remarks upon this important question will be received with thankfulness by A CONSTANT READER. Juvenile Department. ་་་་་་་་་་་ Private Conversations, between a Sabbath School Teacher, and ·some of his more advanced Pupils. PHILOFAIDES, having in early life obtained the knowledge of the holy Scriptures, was thereby made wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ. Having thus seen the importance, felt the power, and tasted the sweets of true religion, his "heart's desire and prayer to God for others was, that they might be saved." He felt peculiarly concerned that the young might "escape the pollutions of the world," through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour, and be raised up as a "seed to serve the Lord." He saw, with deep concern, the bulk of the youth around him spending their Sabbaths in worse than idleness, sauntering in the streets or in the fields, encouraging each other in profanity and vice, contracting habits of idleness, of profane swearing, of pilfering, and what is worse, of contempt for the sacred institutions of Sabbath sanctification and public worship; and thus becoming a prey to Satan, and a nuisance to society. After much prayer to God, and consultation with Christian friends, for direction and advice, he attempted to collect a few of them together on the Sabbath evening, to try what might be done in the way of a SABBATH SCHOOL. In this at tempt he succeeded, as to numbers, far beyond his expectation. The thing being quite new in the village, curiosity brought such numbers together, that he was obliged to employ some well-disposed neighbours, to assist him in maintaining order. But, notwithstanding these promising appearances, he met with discouragements on which he did not previously calculate. Every returning Sabbath increased his conviction of the difficulty of the work, and of the deficiency of his own talents for the discharge of its important duties. The natural levity and indifference of the children was such, that he was often tempted to exclaim, "Can these dry bones live?" The complete indifference discovered by many parents, whether their children attended or not, greatly disheartened him. Some of the youth, too, of whom from their appearance he began to think well, soon disappointed his expectations, and vexed him exceedingly. All these things pressing upon his mind, made him, in his desponding moments, heartily wish he had never put his hand to the plough." On the other hand, however, when he lived more by faith, he was not without his encouragements. He knew that conversion was the work, not of man, but of God, and that the young mind is just as susceptible of his divine operation as the oldest. He knew that parents were commanded to teach their children the way of the Lord, with the promise of success. He knew that neither David nor Solomon despaired of success, in dealing with children on the concerns of their souls. He derived peculiar encouragement from the preacher's language, Eccles. ii. 6. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, this, or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." Besides, he saw, with pleasure, the youth storing their memories with the precious truths of the Bible; and he could not but hope, that, by the blessing of God, they would sooner or later become useful to them. Nor was he without hope, that a few of them were even at present profiting by their attendance. Thus he found himself encouraged to go on, walking by faith, and leaving the issue with the Lord. By a manner amiable and affectionate, he gained the esteem of the children. In all his exercises, he carefully avoided tedi ousness. He knew that the youthful mind was incapable of continuing-long fixed on religious subjects, be they ever so interesting. His prayers were short, confined principally to the concerns of the school, and of other kindred institutions. He carefully avoided long discourses; and attempted rather to excite their curiosity, and to fix their attention, by proposing questions from the passages read or recited, so framed that a little attention to the pas sage furnished them with the anThus their minds were engaged, their attention kept alive, and their ingenuity excited. swer. But PHILOPAIDES did not content himself with the merè routine of Sabbath school exercises. He invited the more advanced of them to call for him privately, as individuals, that he might more fully know the state of their minds, and obtain an opportunity of more solemnly and pointedly impressing on their consciences the deep importance of the truths taught them at school. In this part of the plan he enjoyed much pleasure, and had reason to hope his pupils enjoyed much profit. Besides, obtaining some knowledge of the state and feelings of their minds, and of the ideas that they entertained of religious subjects, became of great service to him in the school; as it enabled him to get better at their consciences, and to strike at the root of their unscriptural views. The following is a specimen of the way in which these private interviews were conducted. [To be continued]. K 1 Review. Iceland or the Journal of a Residence in that Island, during the Years 1814 and 1815. By EBENEZER HENDERSON. [Concluded from p. 27.] THE sequel of Dr Henderson's journey agreeably fulfilled the anticipations which must have been suggested by his excursion to Holum, of the piety and intelligence which he might expect to meet with, at different places, among the clergy whom he was about to visit. At Hals, the first stage from Akureyri, he was present at a catechising, at which the young people acquitted themselves in a very honourable manner, both to themselves and to their minister. "This exercise, equally instructive to the young and the aged, is but seldom attended to during the summer months; but in winter, it forms a conspicuous and important part of public duty." On leaving Hals, accompanied as was usual by the clergyman, Dr Henderson informs us, they all took off their hats for about the space of five minutes, and implored the divine mercy and protection. This laudable and impressive custom is universally practised in such parts of Iceland as remain uncontaminated by the example of those foreigners who live without God in the world. Before crossing, an after having crossed a river, the genuine Icelander also moves his hat in token of the sense he entertains of his dependence on the Supreme Being; and the fishermen, when they put to sea, after they have rowed the boat into quiet water, at a short distance from the shore, take off their hats, and send up a prayer, which they call vara saungr, com. mitting themselves to the protection of God, and soliciting his blessing on their labour.". The circumstances of our tra veller's intercourse with the peauniformly santry, were almost pleasing. Indeed, he does greater justice to their good qualities than some travellers who have preceded him:-we say justice, for we do not attribute his account of them to partiality, though he has evidently surveyed their character and customs with a benevolent eye. Of course he did not try them by the fastidiousness of an artificial taste, and his perceptions were alive to many indications of a Christian temper and sentiments, which might otherwise have been unnoticed, or perhaps sometimes disdained. The simplicity and sincerity of their manners; the surprising degree of information possessed by many of them, extending to literary and historical matters; and the unaffected piety and good sense of the remarks that were often made by them, it is impossible, however, to regard but with sentiments both of esteem and admiration. Passing Krabla, and descending towards the south as far as to Stafafell, at the northern extremity of that immense ice-mountain which there begins to skirt the coast, Dr H. has recorded in very warm terms the satisfaction and pleasure which he experienced at Hof, at Holmar, at Eydal, and at cessity of internal religion, soon convinced them that I was a friend to the doctrines of Scripture, and that I had not imbibed the principles of scepticism. The discourse then turned on the folly and lamentable consequences of free-thinking, and it afforded me great pleasure to find so much sound sense and intelligence among the Icelandic females." When the Dean returned, he received the information of Dr H.'s arriv al, and of the purposes of his mission, with great delight, and with fervent gratitude to God, "who, he exclaimed, was doing nothing, less than sending them down manna from heaven." Sira Magnus Stafafell, in the company of the clergymen who are stationed there. Hof is the residence of one of the more dignified clergy, Dean Thorsteinson, who is represented not only as a gentleman, and a very respectable scholar, but as an enlightened and serious Christian, whose society was most animating. "The longer I was in company with the Dean, the more did we coalesce; and, like the disciples of old, our hearts burned within us while we talked of the wisdom and good. ness displayed in the plan of the divine government; the love of the Son of God in voluntarily becoming our substitute; the claims he has on our love and obedience, in consequence of that substitution; the excellence of his Gospel, and the plea-sen, of Stafafell, warmly expresssing prospects of the extension of kis moral dominion, which are at present opened to the view of the church." At Holmar he heard a discourse by the minister, the subject of which was, "Christ's life on earth a life of benevolence and useful ness." From him he met with a most cordial reception, and found another heart which beat in unison with his own. The hospitality and interesting conversation of this new friend detained him till noon the following day, when he parted with him with deep regret. Sira Guttorm conducted him a considerable distance on his road, and then bade him an affectionate adieu. At Eydal, the residence of Dean Eisleson, who was not at home when he arrived, he had a long conversation with his lady, and the sister of the Landfoged in Reykiavik," chiefly relating to the external situation of the Icelanders, and the nature of true) happiness. The determined manner in which I spoke of the ne ed the same sentiments. Dr. H. had repeatedly the satisfaction, ip pursuing his journey, of meeting with other clergymen of similar temper and views; and in his subsequent progress round the western part of the island, these delightful interviews were often renewed. We are reminded parti cularly of the interesting groupe of clergymen residing in the neighbourhood of the Snæfell Yokul, where it must have been a great luxury to his feelings, in passing from one to another, to observe similar indications of a sedate and serious piety, truly pastoral habits, and a primitive simplicity of manners, characterizing them all, though in various degrees. Truth requires that the darker shades of the picture should be added; but happily they do not occupy so large a space in it as the brighter hues of evangelical truth and serious vital piety. "In regard to sentiment and style of preaching, the Icelandic clergy may be divided into two classes;> |