Thus fickle Luke his prime of manhood gains,

And, wav'ring still, in idle doubt remains ;
Now will he trade, now fight, now plead, now preach,
Yet still he useless lives, rejecting each!

I guess his fortune while I see him waste

His days, his years, in asking-" What's my taste?"
And, as I silent mark him, I foresee,

Poor, fickle Luke, at last will nothing be.

Brighton.

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS OF A SERMON ON THE NATURAL

BENEFIT OF AFFLICTIONS.

(Preached on the Occasion of the Deaths of a poor Woman of Cancer, after two severe Operations, and of a poor Man who hanged himself.)

THIS truly Christian improvement of afflictions, and the striking efficacy of Christian principles in affording support under them, have been beautifully exemplified in the behaviour of our sister lately departed, whose patient submission under the most painful disease to which the human, and particularly the female, frame is subject, secured her the esteem and respectful sympathy of all who witnessed it. In her was fully exemplified the most distressing side of the contrast so pathetically stated by Job: "One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; his breasts are moistened with milk, his bones are filled with marrow; another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure they lie down together in the grave, and the worms cover them.' Yet, knowing that she had the gracious promise of her Redeemer, that, "though a man die, he shall live again," she was content to "wait with patience her appointed time, till her change should come." though constantly weary and faint of body, she yet endeavoured to her utmost power to counteract all "weariness and fainting of mind, by considering Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, in hope of the joy set before him.”

And

It is painful to be called upon at any time to lament that all should not have schooled their minds effectually to receive this benefit from afflictions; that some should not be content to wait the appointed time, but should rush uncalled into the presence of their Judge. And it becomes particularly so, when this has been the case with a friend and fellow-worshiper, with one who had appeared to study to

understand his religion, and to adorn it, by regular attention to religious duties, by industry in his employment, and by active benevolence; and had thus secured the respect of his fellow-worshipers, the good-will of his employers, the regard of his fellow-workmen, and the affection of his friends. -Still, the Minister of Religion must discharge his duty: and though the state of mind in which the act of suicide is usually committed requires all the gentleness of treatment which is consistent with an open and full representation of the truth, still it is his duty to warn against it; as a direct breach of a positive commandment, and of course an act of disobedience to the Supreme Lawgiver; as a desertion of the station and its duties which Providence assigns to every one; as a confession of the too slight practical influence of Christian principles on the mind; and as a rash appeal from present sufferings to the awful judgment of Him by whom they were appointed.-Disturbance of mind is, in such cases, generally pleaded, and very generally allowed : how justly in all cases, I have my doubts. But of this I have no doubt, that, when this disturbance has been produced by a rejection of the regulating power of religious principles, by passions, by extravagance, and its frequent concomitant, gaming, or by intemperance in bodily gratifications, instead of an excuse, it is, in fact, an aggravation.

These general observations I have thought it right to make, because it is the first, and I earnestly hope and pray that it may be the last, opportunity that I shall ever have. I do it with the less scruple, because I am persuaded that no one will apply any of the vicious causes which have been mentioned of that disturbance of mind which often leads to suicide, to the case of our late unfortunate friend; for whom all, I believe, who knew him, had always a sincere respect. Of him I would rather say, in the words of the Apostle, Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come; who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart; and then shall every man have" his due portion of " praise," of blame, or of pardon, "from God."-Or in the words of the poet, who has thus beautifully adopted and applied the sentiment of the Apostle,

66

"No further seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his failings from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)
The bosom of his Father and his God."

THE BISHOP OF LONDON'S SERMON ON PRISON DISCIPLINE, WE hail the accession of the present learned and respectable Bishop of London to the cause of practical reform, and have great pleasure in extracting the following excellent remarks on a recently published sermon of his, from the Morning Chronicle of the 14th of October. This Journal uniformly maintains the liberal side on all moral and religious as well as political questions, and deserves the countenance and support of the friends of religious liberty and free inquiry.

"We have derived very great gratification from the perusal of a Sermon preached by the present Bishop of London on the 22d of June last, for the benefit of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline, and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders. The Sermon breathes throughout a spirit of genuine philanthropy, and is altogether so different in character from any thing proceeding from the Episcopal Bench, which has of late fallen in our way, that we must be pardoned for considering the appearance of such a production a new era in the Church. In the Charges and Sermons of Bishops we have almost always found those exalted personages looking with ill-will at the improvement of their fellow-creatures, as if the interest of the Church were irreconcilably opposed to the interest of the people as if the safety of the Temple were best secured by its being surrounded by thick darkness. The predecessor of Dr. Blomfield, now Archbishop of Canterbury, in a far-famed Charge, enjoined the prostration of the will and the understanding, and in another spoke of knowledge as being an antagonist power to religion. The present Archbishop of Dublin, in his examination before a Committee of the House of Commons, in 1825, when asked, Does there exist in the minds of the people an anxiety for instruction?' answered-The lower classes in Ireland are extremely desirous to have, what they call, learning;' and again, "Then, should their education increase also, and their exclusion continue, does not your Grace conceive that the progress of education will also measure the increased dissatisfaction which they will feel at exclusion?' answered, 'I am sure that an over education of the lower orders will, under any circumstances, create dissatisfaction, and produce mischief. It was but the other day that a Bishop inveighed lustily against Mechanics' Institutes, as one of the chan

nels by which the antagonist power, above alluded to, was fed.

"But the Bishop of London's Sermon is conceived in what we should have been led to consider a most antiepiscopal spirit. His Lordship strenuously advocates the diffusion of knowledge, and the reform of our Laws, with the defects of which he is evidently well acquainted. When individuals in his exalted station are actuated by the noble ambition of endeavouring to leave the world better than they found it, and the ambition is seconded by commanding talents, the good they may do is immense. We hail, then, the appearance of this Sermon, as a source of hope and consolation for the country, as the harbinger of a better spirit in the religious instructors of the nation.

"Speaking of education, his Lordship observes, with obvious reference to the evidence of some of the witnesses before the Police Committee' It is marvellous and lamentable that even at this time of day persons should be found who maintain that the increase of juvenile delinquency, if it has not in part been occasioned by the general diffusion of education, has at least received no check from it. I would fain be told by what process of inquiry they have arrived at this conclusion; not certainly by examining the returns made from the different gaols; still less from an investiga tion of the books of our schools, from which it would appear that the proportion of criminals who have been educated upon any thing like a right system, or to any considerable extent, is very small. Unless crime itself can be eradicated as education extends itself through all classes, the proportion of educated delinquents must increase. Surely the fair inference is this:-if, unhappily, the number of offenders is so great, in spite of the advantages of education, how fearfully great would it have been, had no extraordinary efforts been used to communicate religious knowledge to the poor !'

"How short a period has elapsed, since the endeavour of Sir Samuel Romilly to apportion punishment to crime, that the connexion between crime and punishment might be more certain, was scouted in the House of Lords, as a wild and visionary innovation! How cheering the contrast presented by the language of the Bishop of London! It is no longer necessary,' he observes, to prove by argument, that the true end of punishment is the prevention of crime; or that such prevention is to be accomplished principally by two

methods; the correction and reformation of the criminals themselves, and the religious and moral improvement of those classes which are most exposed to temptation. These methods I consider to be incomparably the most effectual, without overlooking the importance of a due apportionment of punishment to crime, and of establishing in the opinions and expectations of the people a certain and uniform connexion between the offence and the appropriate penalty.

"It is profitable occasionally to look back from the point we have reached to the ground we have passed over. It is assumed by Dr. Blomfield, as a matter no longer to be disputed, that there should be an uniform connexion between the offence and its appropriate penalty. Now, in 1811, when Sir Samuel Romilly's Bills were before the House of Lords, only ten Peers supported Lord Holland's motion for a second reading, and they were consequently lost by a great majority. We remember well the insulting tone of the late Lord Ellenborough on the occasion. The Bills, quoth he, went to alter those laws which a century had proved to be necessary, and which were now to be overturned by speculation and modern philosophy.' Lord Eldon saw the wisdom of the principles by which our criminal code was regulated,' and opposed the innovation. Lord Redesdale was also opposed to innovation. Lord Liverpool told us that our Code had succeeded as well as it was possible for any system of Criminal Law to succeed. He should, therefore, oppose the Bills, which, while he was sure they could effect no good, might be productive of very great mischief.' There was no Dr. Blomfield on the bench of Bishops to utter any of those enlightened arguments which his Lordship now urges so triumphantly; and the hereditary Legislators went to their homes in a state of trepidation, on account of the alarm into which they had been thrown by this daring attempt of speculation and modern philosophy.' Now, it is a great encouragement to men to persevere in a good cause, however unfavourable appearances may be at the time, when we find that in a few years, such has been the change wrought by reasoning, there is not one individual of any note to be found in the country, to advocate the principles which were maintained by the Ministry, the House of Lords, and the Judges of the land. Where is the man in the present day, who would have the barefaced audacity to tell us, as Lord Liverpool did only a few years