anxieties, and disappointments of this present life, and an entrance on the stability and peace of the life everlasting.

It is impossible, perhaps, altogether to silence the voice of imagination, and to reflect quite dispassionately on a subject of such intense interest. Imagination glances from the social comforts of life to the dreary solitude of the tomb, and deepens the shadows which hang over that last home of mortality, with the contrast of the bright colours which diversify the present scene. We cannot from our hearts " say to corruption," in the words of Job, "thou art my father," and "to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister;" but, bound by the powerful spell of imagination, we recoil with some degree of horror from all the circumstances of the grave. The shroud which is to wrap our cold remains, and the coffin which is to inclose them, and hide us for ever from every mortal eye, cannot be thought on without an inward repulsiveness and aversion. Have we not found, in our regret for some beloved friend, who is gone from us never to return, that, though we have felt the strong power of religion to sustain. us under affliction, and its competence to supply the void made in our hearts, yet we have not been able to divest ourselves entirely of that human weakness, which clothes the state of death with gloomy horrors, and overwhelms us with fearfulness and disquietude at the contemplation of it. Have we not experienced a difficulty in divesting ourselves of the idea that the beloved object who is withdrawn from our society, has sustained some dreadful affliction; and in preventing the feeling of pity for his state, from mingling with our regret, and aggravating the bitterness of our sorrow? So prone are we by nature to yield to the impulse of imagination, even in contradiction to our judgment, and eager to dwell rather on the delusive picture of horrors which it presents, than to anticipate with joy the real glories to which death is the passport and introduction.

Though, however, we may not be altogether able to overcome the sensations of gloominess and silent apprehension, with which imagination associates the event of our mortal dissolution; yet it is our duty, not to suffer such delusions to prevail over the express direction of God's word, which instructs us to regard this dissolution of the body as a preparatory step to its reunion with the soul in a glorified state hereafter; and, accordingly, to look to it with sentiments of resigned and triumphant joy, rather than with those of dejection and alarm.

But thus to regard death is not the work of a moment-is not the effect of a sudden resolution;-it is the work of time--of many thoughts and resolutions matured in the mind, and strengthened by corresponding actions. If the contemplation of death still disquiets us, notwithstanding our Christian views of it, it is a sure proof that we have not had death sufficiently in our thoughts. To think on it slightly and partially, must inevitably make us disconsolate and miserable; but to meditate on it fully in all its bearings, is the most effectual mode of disarming it of its terrors.

There appears, then, no excuse for the inconsiderate folly of mankind, in regard to the event of death, to be drawn either from the commonness of the fact, or from its alledged tendency to throw a gloom over the mind. All such excuses, indeed, are but a part of

that folly itself which will not learn the things that belong to our peace, and argue a depraved ingenuity in the palliation of an error, which we do not care to amend.

Be it our earnest endeavour, then, to counteract this listlessness; this indifference to the actual condition of our nature. Let us frequently retire within ourselves, and commune with our own hearts on the frail and perishable tenure, on which the soul inhabits its house of clay, let us mark the dilapidations of that house, and its signs of impending ruin, and so be warned of the necessity of our departure from it at no distant period.

To assist us in such contemplation, I know no readier help, than to have recourse to the examples of holy men, who have already passed through their conflict with the last enemy, either as known to us by our own observation, or as recorded by others for general instruction. When the faithful servants of Christ, having fought the good fight of faith, humbly trusting in their Redeemer's merits for the acceptance of their imperfect righteousness, have at length closed their warfare and consummated their virtues, by a death full of religious resignation and hope; death seems in their case so harmless, and I would almost say so lovely, that we cannot any longer, with such instances before us, shudder at the thought of it. In spite of the instinct of nature and the voice of imagination, we feel, while these pictures of triumphant Christianity are before our view, as if it were good for us to die, and to depart, that we may be with Christ. The promise, in fact, which is made in the Scriptures, of peace to the righteous, and of entering into the joy of their Lord, ceases to bear the aspect of a mere promise in the contemplation of such scenes. The anticipated reward of the godly man, appears, in some measure, to begin to be realized, in that holy comfort, which, through divine grace, he is permitted to feel, in the consciousness of having loved and served his God, however imperfectly, yet with an humble and fervent zeal. And we must be dull indeed to the calls of Christianity, we can have no zest for heavenly things,-unless we are led by such instances at once to a more rational and pious consideration of our own death. To present to your notice one such example, let me shew you how a Christian can die, from the following words of a very highly-gifted minister of our Church, long since gone to his reward, uttered on his death-bed :—“ I have lived,' said that holy man,' to see this world is made up of perturbations, and I have been long preparing to leave it, and gathering comfort for the dreadful hour of making my account with God, which I now apprehend to be near: and though I have by his grace loved him in my youth, and feared him in mine age, and laboured to have a conscience void of offence to Him and to all men; yet if thou, O Lord! be extreme to mark what I have done amiss, who can abide it? And, therefore, where I have failed, Lord, shew mercy to me; for I plead not my righteousness, but the forgiveness of my unrighteousness, for His merits, who died to purchase pardon for penitent sinners. And since I owe thee a death, Lord, let it not be terrible, and then take thine own time. I submit to it; let not mine, O Lord, but let thy will be done.' After which expressions he fell into a dangerous slumber; dangerous as to his recovery, but recover he did, but it was to speak only these few words :- God hath

heard my daily petitions, for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace with me; and from that blessed assurance, I feel that inward joy, which this world can neither give, nor take from me: my conscience beareth me this witness, and this witness makes the thoughts of death joyful. I could wish to live to do the Church more service, but cannot hope it, for my days are past, as a shadow that returns not.' More he would have spoken, but his spirits failed him; and after a short conflict betwixt nature and death, a quiet sigh put a period to his last breath, and so he fell asleep."-The account speaks for itself. We cannot but ardently wish to follow so bright a pattern of Christian holiness-we cannot but feel our bosoms thrill with the desire, so to die the death of the righteous, and that our last end may be like his.

Thus, when our heart is disquieted within us, and we are tempted by the fear of death;-when fearfulness and trembling come upon us, and a horrible dread overwhelms us, and we are ready to say with the Psalmist, "O that I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rest; Lo, then would I get me away far off, and remain in the wilderness; I would make haste to escape, because of the stormy wind and tempest;"-we shall find, from having duly thought of death in the day of our health and prosperity, our terrors dissipated in its actual presence, as the prospect of heaven more fully opens on our view. That faith in the Redeemer's blood, which has supported those, who are gone before us, through their last agonies, will prove to us also as the wings of a dove, on which we may flee away and be at rest-lifting us up from earth, and carrying us away far off to that wilderness of God, which no profane footstep has ever tracked-whither having hastened our escape, we shall leave behind us the stormy wind and tempest which agitate this lower world, and find eternal rest to our souls.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PRESBYTERIANS IN

IRELAND.

(Extracted from the Appendix to Dr. Miller's "Observations on the Doctrines of Christianity," &c. &c.)

In concluding an article in a late number of our journal, in which we gave some account of the recent work of Dr. Miller of Dublin, we remarked that we should take an opportunity of recurring to the subject of his Appendix :-this we propose now to do, Its high interest will afford a sufficient excuse for our devoting additional space in our pages to the consideration of it. It is also of a nature wholly consisting of a statement of historical facts and of remarks grounded upon them; so that our author's observations are little susceptible of abridgment, and leave little to be said by us in the way of comment. We therefore content ourselves by offering to our readers, under our miscellaneous department, a series of extracts of the most prominent

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facts, and most interesting remarks, contained in the paper before us; earnestly recommending the whole to the perusal of all who feel an interest in the welfare and unity of the Protestant Church.

"The Presbyterians of Ireland are fortunately placed in circumstances not adverse to forming a connection with the Established Church. Though the Presbyterians of England had separated from the Established Church of that country in the year 1566, yet in the settlement of the northern province of Ireland, begun in the year 1609, or fortythree years after that separation, their Clergy were received into the parochial preferments, which they continued to hold until the year 1657, when they were driven from them by the Lord Lieutenant Henry Cromwell, for refusing to swear allegiance to his brother the Protector. After the Restoration, the policy of assimilating the Established Church of Ireland to that of England prevailed; and as, by a new and more comprehensive act of uniformity, the Presbyterian ministers, who had in the civil war taken possession of the parochial benefices of England, were compelled to retire, so in Ireland it was determined, that the ministers ejected by Henry Cromwell should not be reinstated. In this country, however, a kinder consideration of their loss was entertained, and an annual sum of five hundred pounds was allowed for their support, which annuity, denominated a regium donum, was, after the Revolution, augmented to twelve hundred pounds, and at present, for the province of Ulster alone, exceeds fifteen thousand, with an indefinite power of increase, as new congregations should be formed. Though the Presbyterian ministers of the other provinces had never been admitted to the benefices of the establishment, yet, in the reign of Anne, they also received an annuity of eight hundred pounds, which has since been augmented in the same manner as that of the northern

ministers.

"The Presbyterian ministers of Ireland had been thus originally nurtured within the Establishment, long after a decisive separation had occurred in England: from this situation they were driven, not by the regular government of the country, but by a temporary usurpation, to which they nobly refused to submit; and though it was afterwards deemed prudent to maintain their exclusion, for the purpose of assimilating the ecclesiastical establishment of this country to that of England, yet a provision was made for the ejected ministers, which has since been largely augmented. If the original provision should appear very scanty and insufficient, it should be recollected, that the benefices must have been of very inconsiderable value, in a country in which a settlement had been begun but forty-eight years before, during a third part of which time the province of Ulster had been ravaged by rebellion and civil war.

"The political circumstances of the Irish Presbyterians are also such, that no impediment can present itself on account of any distinction, for in this country the disqualification of the test-act was late imposed, and early removed, having been enacted in the year 1703, and repealed in the year 1779. No political jealousy therefore can now exist on either part, which could at this time disturb the harmony of the two classes of Protestants, and oppose a closer and more intimate union. Both are equal in the enjoyment of political privileges; both are in

their churches protected and supported by the Government; and such is the confidence reposed by the State in the good feelings of the Presbyterians of Ireland towards the Establishment, that they have been by law permitted to assist in vestries assembled for regulating and assessing the parochial expenses.

"It seems not easy to conceive a combination of circumstances more favourable for considering dispassionately this most interesting question; what is it, beyond merely traditionary feeling and the influence of habit, which now hinders Presbyterians from connecting themselves with the Established Church, and forming one united body of Protestants? Even these causes indeed operate at this time very feebly; for Presbyterians, and their very ministers, do not hesitate to educate their sons for the ministry of the Establishment; so that really it would seem that, in this country, the question requires only to be fairly submitted to public discussion. Who can be sincerely attached to the cause of true religion, and not consider the question as of vital importance?

"The actual circumstances of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland may dispose the more serious and reflecting members of that body, to regard the question as more especially interesting to themselves, for they may lead them to consider, whether they have any sufficient security for the maintenance of a sound faith.

"The standard of religious opinion in the Church of Scotland, from which the Presbyterian Church of Ireland has been derived, is the Confession framed at Westminster in the year 1745, which in that country, as has been stated to the author, is subscribed twice by every minister of that Church. This Confession, however, which was framed in all the rigour of the Calvinistic doctrines, is not equally respected in the more lax constitution of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, for each congregation may exercise a power of withholding any public enquiry into the religious sentiments of the person whom they invite to be their minister. The consequence of this relaxation is, that ministers, believed to be Arians, are heard in their synods, professing to have formed their opinions for themselves exclusively from the Sacred Scriptures, and declaring their dissent from others acknowledged to be orthodox.

"A church so constituted may fairly be described as one without a confession of faith, for a conformity to its acknowledged confession is enforced only according to the pleasure of each particular congregation; and accordingly it may perhaps be truly said, that the religious opinions of its congregations, with those of their ministers, vary through every gradation of theological opinion, from the Trinitarian Calvinism of the Confession of Westminster down to simple Arianism. A large proportion, however, it is believed, are sound in their faith, and cherish the independency of their ecclesiastical system, for the sake of that independency, rather than as a protection for opinions disagreeing from the original standard of their church.

"As the ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland are not generally required to subscribe an acknowledged confession of faith, so neither do the laity profess their adherence to any of those forms of doctrine, which have been denominated creeds. These were originally used in the baptismal service, and were afterwards introduced into the general Liturgy of the Church. As the Presbyterians, though they