in the largest one, a most animated | Dublin. Soon after to England. And meeting was held to plead the cause of now desire, with a grateful heart, to Protestant truth and union among bre- record all the kindness of friends, and thren. Christians of all classes were the goodness of God, to us in Ireland. there. The people had a mind to the work. The ministers led the way; and the spirit of love rose and prevailed. Surely the "Author of peace and Giver of concord" was with us. His approving smile seemed to rest upon our meeting. A resolution was cordially adopted to form a Branch Alliance at Athlone. Communications have since reached us, telling us how refreshing and edifying the hour was felt to be; and when the next day we parted, it was with the impression, in which we believe Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Independents shared, that of the three principal graces which now remain "the greatest of these is love." The day following we returned to Land of darkness, sorrow, and tribu- Let all Christians pray for Ireland. A WORD FOR WORK AT HOME FOR THE EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE. Beginning at Jerusalem."-Luke xxiv. 47. THESE words were spoken by the Saviour after he had risen from the dead. They form a part of the instructions which Christ saw it right to give to his disciples before he was finally taken away from them, and had passed into the skies. This was the great commission with which, in all subsequent times, they were to be intrusted, and for the carrying out of which a succession of men was to be raised up to the very end of time. "Repentance and remission of sins" was to be preached in his name among all nations, with this saving clause and limitation, "beginning at Jerusalem." Jerusalem was still to be the favoured city; and the Word of Life, which was to be sounded in every city and nation of men, was first to be rung in the ears of the Israelites; and from them, as from a centre, it was to go forth to the East and West, and North and South, until the circumference had been reached. Basing my remarks on these words, I want to show you the need there is for the continued and increased labours of good men in our own country; and that while we would not utter one word in disparagement of the great Missionary Societies, which are the glory of our land, and one of the wonders of our times, it behoves us to look after our home population, and not suffer our own friends to perish while we are giving the bread of life to strangers. According to the examples of the apostles and first ministers of truth, and of Jesus Christ himself, it behoves us in all our labours to begin at Jerusalem. I. THIS ACCORDS WITH THE EXAMPLE AND INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SAVIOUR.— For our guidance in this world, it is ne cessary for us often to recur to the conduct of the Divine Redeemer, since that conduct is not only the very best in the circumstances that man can adopt, but it is the invariable rule by which his life is to be guided. In seeking to do good, it is well for us to go back to the life-time of Him of whom it was said, "He went about doing good;" and in that life-time we shall find our strongest stimulus as well as our sweetest encouragement. He may well af ford to be a model for men, from whom all may copy, but whom none can excel. In connexion with Jerusalem, the example of the Saviour is singular: considering the treatment which he had received at their hands, and the way in which they had acted towards the prophets, his messengers, in former times, we should not have been surprised, but almost gratified, if he had shut them out from the reach of mercy, and consigned them to the hardness of heart which their sin merited. Instead of this being the case, however, he seems to have retained the very strongest interest in everything pertaining to the chosen city; and with perfect truth it may be said, that the worse they treated him the more he loved them; and even with his last breath, when they crucified him, he earnestly sought for them a blessing. "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do!" When the Saviour gave these instructions to his disciples, we must remember that he was not just entering upon his mission, and that Jerusalem was an untried place; for, instead of that, his work was completed-he had endured all the insults they had inflicted-he had seen the wickedness of their conduct, and the impenitency of their spirit -he had experienced their unjust condemnation and their rude treatment upon the cross; and yet, notwithstanding all, he says to his disciples, after he rose from the grave, "Preach my gospel in all the world, but first in Jerusalem. Let the wretched city again be visited. Let the shaft of heaven, which is coming down upon it for its impenitency, be hurled back if possible. I have wept for Jerusalem-I have prayed for it-I have laboured for it-I have suffered for it; and now, when I am no longer in the flesh, I send you, my chosen servants, to the rebellious city: perchance they may repent." Thus, if we would copy the example of the Saviour and his apostles, we must have our own country the object nearest our hearts, and the first in our efforts; we must begin at Jerusalem. II. IT IS THE DICTATE OF HUMANITY, AS WELL AS OF RELIGION, TO SEEK FIRST TO BENEFIT THOSE AT HOME-There is a current proverb, the reasonableness and propriety of which no one will question; "Charity begins at home." No doubt this universal truth is often made the apology for niggardliness and covetousness. But when seen in its true light, and felt in its true influence, instead of contracting the fibres of the heart, it expands them; and while it requires us to think of those near at hand, it prompts us to feel deep concern for the remotest members of the great human family. We should deem him a sorry parent who professed great love for other children, while he manifested little or none for his own. We should call that man a sad hypocrite who could be all smiles and gentleness in the soeiety of strangers, and whose own fireside is unlit-up by one gracious look, and who is a very churl at home. We should deem that a spurious Christianity which was loud, and animated, and zealous about the sufferings and sins of the people of distant lands, while the very same sufferings are endured, and the very same sins are committed, by our neighbours, and we are not lifting up a finger for their benefit. And that would be a far-fetched and misbegotten philanthropy which should be clamorous about the improvement of the condition of persons living at our antipodes, while it has no protest to utter against the wrongs beneath which thousands at bome groan, and no plan to propose for ameliorating the lot of its own kinsmen and countrymen. Let us have a largehearted charity as large-hearted as you will, provided it only be genuine; but let us never suppose that it can be genuine if it is teaching us to overlook our suffering artizans and toil-worn labourers, many of whom are in a condi-pathy except with a retrograde and tion little better than the poor African who is branded with the cursed name of slave. It is an easy thing to lash ourselves into a kind of furor about objects that are remote and indefinite, and to people the imagination with all sorts of phantoms and horrors; but to encounter and do battle with the monster that lies at our own door requires hard, stern, personal labour; and to that I fear we are not so readily persuaded. | alone is accumulating at the rate of one thousand a week, and other large towns in almost the same proportion, while the religious part of the community is making no increased efforts corresponding thereto? And, blind ourselves to it as we may, is it not a fact that one of our great national universities is sending forth teachers who have no sym semi-popish Christianity; and that the other is making men good scholars, and qualifying them to be expert philosophical sceptics, instead of teaching them the principles of the religion of Jesus, and qualifying them for the cure of immortal souls? Is it not a fact that a large majority of the clergy of the English Church are imbued with Tractarian notions, while the great bulk of the rest are thoroughly incompetent for their sacred functions, and that only here and there one, like stars in a cloudy sky, are giving forth the true light from heaven, and guiding men to Jesus? We say these things in sorrow, rather than in anger. We have no wish to traduce the present things worse than they are. But we believe the battle of Christianity has to be fought over again in our own country. On the one hand, it has to contend with a cold, dry, dead ritualism, and on the other, with a proud, impertinent philosophy, besides encountering the masses who are steeped in ignorance and vice. Nor must Christianity shrink from the encounter. It is said that III. OUR HOME POPULATION NEEDS THE HELP OF All good ChristIANS AND PATRIOTIC MEN.—Some persons may be ignorant enough to suppose, perhaps, that there is no particular necessity for any very great effort at home-that Christianity has been so long in opera-ministers of other churches, or to retion in these lands that it must have accomplished everything it is designed for-that the supply is quite equal to the demand-and that religion is rapidly leavening the masses of our people. We are by no means unmindful of what has been done on behalf of our own beloved country by the labours of humane and Christian men, nor are we unthankful for the measure of blessing with which God has owned those labours. But with all the religiousness of which our land boasts, and justly boasts, is there not much demoralization and vice? Are not our jails crowded with the committers of crime, and is it not found needful to enlarge them? Is it not at present considered the most perplexing question to statesmen and others, What are we to do with our criminal population, because they are increasing on our hands? Is it not a fact that the population of London "Freedom's battle, once begun, Though often fought, is always won;" and much more truly may we say of our honoured religion, that though she has often to enter the field and confront the foe, she is always a conqueror, and from every attack comes off with fresh laurels. May God help us to be faithful to our religion in all times of threatened calamity and danger! IV. OUR OWN WELFARE IS BOUND UP WITH THE WELFARE OF OUR HOME POPULATION.-How beautiful that de- | breaks to which other lands have been subject—if we would diffuse peace and V. IN SEEKING THE CONVERSION OF UP THE VERY BEST HUMAN AGENCY FOR scription of mutual relationship and No about the successes of their earthly speculations; but, let them freight their ships also with salvation, and inscribe upon their sails, "Holiness to the Lord." Suppose every Englishman who leaves our ports for pleasure, or riches, or science, or art, had impressed upon his mind, and engraven upon his heart, the religion of heaven and the love of Christ, what blessed results would soon be experienced! No longer could the heathen point to England when our Missionaries preach, and say, "Look at your own home. Evangelize your own country, and spend not your zeal and your life upon us." Let our own country become converted, and we might soon join with the blessed above, in singing the anthem of salvation, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Who does not pant and pray for such a time? Who will not labour for the coming of such a day? Who will not help to give such an impetus to the gospel chariot here, that it shall roll on at lightning speed to other regions, and scatter its heaven-sent blessings upon every land? Northallerton. J. B. L. THE YOUNG WEALTHY RULER. Mark x. 17; Matt. xix. 16; Luke xviii. 18. sensual young men who say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. He believed in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and of the life everlasting. He viewed with solemn, reverential awe the great futurity in which all must live, and live for ever. His faith prompted the inquiry, What must I do? How important the inquiry! The inheritance of heaven is lost, How shall I regain it? THE young man referred to in this | sacred things; nor was he one of those passage was no ordinary personage. He was rich, for he had great possessions; he had rank, for he was a ruler of the Jews-either a ruler of the nation, one of the Great Sanhedrim, or a ruler of the synagogue, a post of considerable dignity; he had education, talents, moral excellence; and to all these advantages we must add his youth, for Matthew (xix. 20,) speaks of him as a young man. What may we not hope from such a man, placed in such happy circumstances, endowed with such talents, and distinguished by such a love of moral excellence? May we not hope to see him become a decided and earnest disciple of Christ? A little attention to this passage will convince us of a mournful truth, that the most amiable and hopeful characters do not always become the most pious. 1. We are to consider the case of a hopeful inquirer. His inquiry is vastly important. This young man was no infidel. He was not one of those conceited and presumptuous young men, who mock at VOL. XXX. The inquiry is deeply interesting. "The Jews seem to have thought," says Dr. Doddridge, "that if they abstained from gross crimes, sacrifices might atone for smaller neglects." Hence they went about to establish their own righteousness, neither understanding the nature of the laws, nor the use of those sacrifices which were designed to exercise faith, and to point to a better sacrifice, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. How natural the inquiry-What must I do? I must do something, that is plain; reason requires it, nature prompts it-I must do something, or endure some 3 B |