pieces-whose youngest novices are worth men of a hun. dred years old-and whose brothers are more than philosophers who are that lace of gold, blue, silk, purple, and scarlet, which the Scriptures call the breast-plate of judgment-and who are worn upon the breast of the high priest of the Jews." And again-"A company of angels, foretold by Isaiah, in these words-Go forth ye swift messengers.' Escoban, one of their own writers, says of them-"You are the true doctors of the churchyour maxims are as so many revelations proceeding out of the mouth of the Lamb, and given to the chief authors of your society, as his chosen Scribes."

Such is the character claimed by these "heady, highminded men”—and of course such is the light in which they wish the world to view them. That they may be seen in their true colours, we shall proceed to give some extracts from their most celebrated writers in our next.

H.

RELIGIOUS TRACTS.

SIR,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

Ar a time when Religious Tracts are denounced as "trash," and charged with "consuming the little lei. sure which the labouring classes have for reading, without having accomplished one particle of good for them as ra tional beings," I feel myself called upon to lay before your readers a few statements on the subject. With the individual who has advanced such charges, whoever he may be, I have no concern. He is in able hands, and I have no desire to interfere where interference is unneces sary. My sole object at present is to call the attention of the Christian public to the excellence and usefulness of many of those litle publications, which have been so much despised and slandered.

That foolish and unlikely stories have been printed and circulated in the form of Religious Tracts, I readily admit. It can scarcely be conceived that ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLIONS of publications, in forty-eight languages, issued by a single society, during the first thirty years of its existence, should contain nothing worthless or improper; but it is equally improbable, that such a vast number of

little works could have been circulated "without having accomplished one particle of good." The truth is, that with all their imperfections, they have been eminently useful. From their extreme cheapness, and from the eagerness with which they are read, when elaborate treatises on the same subjects are neglected, they form a most powerful engine for the dissemination of sacred truth. It is worthy of notice, that Unitarians, and even the disciples of Infidelity, have lately adopted the same plan for the circulation of their doctrines,- -a fact which is a strong testimony to the efficiency of the system. Nor is the information contained in Religious Tracts so despicable as some would have us to believe. A large number of them consist of extracts from standard theological works. Others are written by divines of the highest eminence, and the great majority of those with which I am acquainted, are admirably calculated to awaken the careless sinner to communicate clear views of sacred truths, and to “build up the saint in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation." Their expositions of Scripture doctrines are in general highly satisfactory, their attacks upon prevailing vices most forcible, and their appeals to the conscience most earnest and pointed. Let any individual qualified for estimating their worth, any sincere admirer, for example, of "Magee, or Wardlaw, or Dwight," give himself the trouble of reading them, and he will find that his labour is more than compensated, and that I have not written a single sentence of unmerited eulogium.

As evidences of the usefulness of these little publications, I have selected the following facts from thousands which have been already laid before the public. In a late report of the Edinburgh Religious Tract Society, there is the following interesting statement:

"A Student of Union College was one day returning from an exeursion for distributing Tracts in the adjacent country, when a fellow-Student who was perfectly regardless of religion, observing some tracts in his hand, hailed him from his window, calling him by name, and saying in a contemptuous manner, 'What is it that you are carrying about with you there? I have,' he very respectfully replied, 'a few Religious Tracts;' and selecting from the little parcel one of the most awakening and alarming-'That one,' said he, 'I can recommend, as well worthy of your perusal.' He gave him the tract, and proceeded to his own room. Three or four days afterwards, at the close of one of the college exercises, the young man who sat in the window took the other by the arm, and requested him to walk. His earnest inquiry, made with the utmost solemnity, was, 'What must I do to be saved?' He said that the truth of

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God's word, contained in the tract, had fastened on his mind; he saw himself to be a ruined sinner, and feared there was no mercy for him. About one week afterwards, he indulged a hope in Christ, and now gives good evidence of piety. But for this tract, his talents would probably have been exercised in the mere pursuit of worldly good. Now, it is hoped, he will become an able and devoted Minister of Christ."

Here is a lesson for Students, and for all who are desirous of doing good. Let them go and do likewise, and who knows whether their labours may not be crowned with similar success? The following statement, from a gentleman in Van Dieman's Land, is extracted from the Thirtieth Report of the London Tract Society :

"I am happy to inform you, that, through God, the tracts sent were not in vain. A poor old man, who was transported here for house-breaking several years ago, became free by servitude. He was in the habit of bringing wood to our town: he was a very great drunkard,―his general conduct exceedingly depraved,—and he bore a very dishonest character in the neighbourhood. In July, 1827, he brought me several loads of wood; and when I paid him, I gave him the tract to the aged. I made him promise he would read it. The Sunday following I saw him at our place of worship. He afterwards told me with great sorrow, that he had not been to the house of God for upwards of eight years. At the conclusion of the service, he called on me to lend him some more tracts. I gave him some; but being engaged in the Sunday-School at that time, I did not enter into any conversation. During the week I heard many people express their surprise at his being at the house of God, and that he did not visit the public house as formerly. In a few days he called on me, to know where he could get a Bible. I, having one of the Society's Bibles in the house, gave it to him. As I put it into his hands, he burst into tears, and said, 'O, Sir, I am a vile sinner, and I want to see if there is any hope of mercy for me. One of the books you gave me says, the Bible points out the way of salvation; I do not know what is in the Bible, for I have not read it since a child. I have a wicked heart-God be merciful to me, a grey headed sinner!' I said but little to him at the time; but told him to read the Bible, and pray to God to enable him to understand it. On the following Sabbath, I mentioned the old man to our Minister; he called on him, and spent the whole day with him. From this time he became an altered character, and the drunkard forsook his cups. He became indisposed, and died a few weeks since, giving evidence that he was 'a brand plucked from the burning,' in the 68th year of his age."

Let all who wish to be useful be encouraged by such facts as these, to promote, by every means in their power, the circulation of Religious Tracts. For a single shilling they may procure a quantity sufficient for conveying some of the more prominent doctrines of the Gospel to the houses, and it may be by God's blessing to the hearts, of perhaps fifty of the families that are perishing around them in ignorance and carelessness; and how could a

shilling be better spent? What glorious results in time and in eternity might flow from this single act of benevolence. If we know individuals addicted to any particular vice, a tract thrown in their way may be the means of their reformation. As auxiliaries to the Minister of the Gospel, Religious Tracts are highly valuable. Might I be permitted to give a suggestion to my fathers and brethren? Let them select a number of the most promising young people of their congregations, and supply them, say with ten tracts each. The expense will surely be no obstacle, it is so trifling, compared with the good which may be reasonably expected. Let them next prescribe to each of these individuals nine families of his poorer neighbours, and cause him to engage to call at their houses on a particular day of every week, for the purpose of distributing the tracts on the first visit, and exchanging them on every succeeding one, until they are all read by each family. Let other tracts be then furnished, and the same process repeated. This plan I can recommend, from personal experience of its happy tendency. It is admirably calculated to train up the young, engaged in carrying it forward, to habits of activity and regularity in benevolent exertion. It awakens, in behalf of the Minister who adopts it, much more gratitude than that to which the trifling sums he is required to expend might seem to entitle him. And, above all, he may thus be the honoured instrument of "saving souls from death, and hiding a multitude of sins.".

Another suggestion, Sir, you will allow me to submit. Those who wish to be useful by publications, might often accomplish their object by a tract, when a more elaborate and clever production would do little good. The following extract from the Sixth Report of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Religious Tract Society, places this remark in a point of view sufficiently striking:

"Had the author of that tract-'The Swearer's Prayer,' turned his labours into another channel, and prepared a larger work for the press, he might never perhaps have been known as an instrument of good to almost any soul, whereas we know not almost any publication which the Lord has more signally blessed for the conviction and conversion of many, than this little tract of four pages; instances almost without number are on record, of its successful agency, and the light of eternity will doubtless disclose many more, of which we shall never hear in a present world. Nor are these blessed results confined to any country or clime. These little messengers have found their way to far distant lands, and have been translated into many tongues,"

Hoping that this communication may be the means of directing some of my poorer brethren to a source of religious improvement, to which they have the most easy ac cess, and of reminding the benevolent of one of the cheapest and most effectual ways of doing good,

I am, Sir, yours truly,

ON REVERENCE FOR THE NAME OF GOD.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

M.

SIR, A LIGHT and irreverent use of the name of God is highly unbecoming on the part of man, displeasing to the Most High, a violation of his own special command, and exceedingly hurtful to the feelings of every one, who, as Moses enjoined on the Israelites, "has learned to reverence and fear that glorious and fearful name, the Lord our God." Were the frequent and unnecessary use of this name confined to irreligious persons, those who fear and reverence God would not have so much to deplore; but that the practice is too common, even among Christians, few will deny. This, Sir, is an evil, to which I wish to call public attention; and, among the rest, I particularly request the regards of the Ministers of the Gospel. Their business is to minister in holy things; and perhaps the frequency of their engagements in fresh exercises, leads them into forgetfulness on this particular point. In reasoning with men on any subject, unnecessary repetition of the same word is a proof that the speaker is ill informed, and greatly weakens the force of his argument. In writing, the thing is quite intolerable, and at once leads to the rejection of a book so composed.

Various allowances are, however, to be made to those who deliver unstudied, extemporaneous discourses, they are, I suppose, nearly unconscious of the evil-this, however, they should not be; for in addressing men on religious subjects, and much more so when they address the Majesty of heaven and earth, their words, few or many, should be well chosen. Our Lord particularly charges his disciples "not to use vain repetitions." Now I think it will be admitted, that the unnecessary repetition of any word will fairly entitle it to this character. Surely, then,