tions for which we have not yet found a warrant in the Word of God; and let us desire sincerely to know the truth, that we may be prepared for the worst; and may God's Holy Spirit 'guide us unto all truth.' P. 3.

A Soliloquy on the Art of Man-Fishing. By the Rev. THOMAS BOSTON. Written in 1699. Edinburgh: W. P. Kennedy. 1844.

A very precious treatise rescued almost from oblivion by some kind Christian friend, to whom the thanks of the church are certainly due for this republication, never more needed than in these last days. As a specimen of its solemn and searching character, we give the following example, without thinking it at all necessary to make any apology for its length:

"It implies a renouncing of our own wisdom. It must not be the guide that we must follow, Matt. xvi. 24. Paul would not preach with wisdom of words, 1 Cor. i. 17; he did not follow the rules of carnal wisdom. Therefore, O my soul, renounce thine own wisdom. Seek the wisdom that is from above; seek to preach the words of the living God, and not thine own. Since thou wast most set to take this way, and prayed most that thou mightst not preach that which might be the product of thine own wisdom and natural reason, but that which might be given thee of the Holy Ghost, thou hast found that God hath signally countenanced thee. Take not the way of natural wisdom, follow not the rules of carnal wisdom. Its language will always be, Master spare thyself; have a care of thy credit and reputation among men. If thou speak freely, they will call thee a railer, and thy preaching reflections; every parish will scare at thee as a monster of men, and one that would preach them all to hell; and so thou shalt not be settled. Such and such a man, that has a great influence in a parish, will never like thee. That way of preaching is not the way to gain people; that startles them at the very first. You may bring them on by little and little, by being somewhat smooth, at least at the first; for this generation is not able to abide such doctrine as that thou preachest. But hear thou and follow the rules of the wisdom that is from above: for the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God; that which is in high esteem among men, is nought in the sight of God. The wisdom that is from above will tell thee, that thou must be denied to thy credit and reputation, &c. Matt. xvi. 24; Luke xiv. 26. It will tell thee, Let them call thee what they will, that thou must cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet,' &c. Isa. lviii. 1. It will tell thee, that God has appointed the bounds of men's habitation,' Acts xvii. 26. It will tell thee, that not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called,' &c. 1 Cor. i. 26. Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, thou shalt speak God's words unto them,' Ezek. ii. 7. It will show thee rules quite contrary to those of carnal wisdom. Let me consider then what carnal wisdom says to me, and what the wisdom from above says—

SPIRITUAL WISDOM.

things; for it may well do them ill, chap. ii. 17, 18. What the Lord sayit will do them no good.

eth to thee, that do thou speak,' 1 Kings xxii. 14.

"Cry aloud, and spare not,' Isa. lviii. 1. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,' Jer. xlviii. 10.

"If you will preach such things, yet prudence requires that you speak of them very warily. Though conscience say you must, yet speak them some-Handle not the word of the Lord dewhat covertly, that you may not offend ceitfully.' Peter, at the first, told the them sore, and especially with respect Jews that were but coming in to hear, to them that are but coming in yet, Him (Christ) ye have taken, and by and do not fill them with prejudices wicked hands have crucified and slain,' at first: you may get occasion after- Acts ii. 23. Work while it is called wards. to-day; the night cometh wherein thou canst not work,' John ix. 4.

“Be but fair, especially to them that have the stroke in parishes, till you be settled in a parish to get stipend. If you will not do so, you may look for toiling up and down then: for parishes will scare at you, and will not call you, and how will you live? And so such a way of preaching will be to your loss; whereas otherwise it might be better with you.

"To have respect of persons is not good; for, for a piece of bread that man will transgress,' Prov. xxviii. 21. The will of the Lord be done,' Acts xxi. 14. 'God hath determined your time, before appointed, and the bounds of your habitation,' Acts xvii. 26; and his counsel shall stand, oppose it who will, Isa. xlvi. x. It is God that sets the solitary in families,' Psal. lxviii. 6. If thou be faithful, thou shalt abound with blessings; but if thou makest haste to be rich, thou shalt not be innocent,' Prov. xxviii. 20.

"Thus thou seest, O my soul, how that carnal wisdom, notwithstanding it speaks fair, and with a good deal of seeming reason, is quite contrary to the wisdom that is from above. It promiseth fair, but its promises are not always performed; it threatens sore, but neither do its threatenings always come to pass; it makes molehills mountains, and mountains molehills: therefore reject the wisdom of the world, for it is foolishness with God. Carnal policy would make thee fear him that can but kill the body, yea, that cannot do so much now, and to cast off the true fear of God. O my soul, remember that word, and make use of it for strengthening thee. Prov. xxix. 25, The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.' Never go to seek temporal profit, by putting thy soul in hazard; but wait thou on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land,' Psal. xxxvii. 34; for his way is the safest way, however carnal wisdom may speak otherwise of it, and may account the following of it mere folly; but remember thou that the foolishness of God is wiser than men,' I Cor. i. 25."-Pp. 11-13.

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We beg here to acknowledge the receipt of several volumes from different authors and publishers, which, we regret to say, arrived too late to be noticed in the present number, but which shall be duly attended to in our next. We intend in future to give regularly a list of books received. Frequently we are unable to notice these at large for some time after they are sent, and authors may sometimes suppose their books neglected or lost when not acknowledged or noticed in the first number after their reception.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

The most interesting field for some time past has been the Continental one. God seems to be working there by his own mighty power. In all that is taking place—in the numerous conversions from Popery—in the greatness of the movements in several provinces of France, we see most manifestly the finger of Jehovah. We cannot give any thing like a regular narrative of all this. We shall put together various extracts from different sources, which will help to state the facts.

CONVERSION OF SIX HUNDRED ROMAN CATHOLICS TO PROTESTANTISM.-The remarkable conversion of an entire commune, consisting of upwards of six hundred Roman Catholics, has been effected by the simple reading of the Scriptures, circulated by the agents of the London Bible Society. The commune is called Villefavard, and is situated in France. The conversion of such a multitude conveys the highest panegyric on the labours of this admirable Society, and is the best possible proof that the Bible, without note, comment, or even interpreter, overturns all the errors and pretensions of the Papacy. No wonder that the Pope should issue his condemnatory letter against the Bible Society, when these are some of its cheering effects! The following account of the conversion is contained in a letter of Mr D. Pressense, published in the Bible Society's Monthly Extracts:

"I have already spoken to you of the labours of the Bible colporteurs in the department of the Haute Vienne (Limoges), and of the good effected by them in a commune consisting of six hundred and more Roman Catholics, where the reading of the Scriptures has led the people to make inquiries after a religion more consonant with the truths of the gospel. I have also already mentioned, that the Popish clergy have done all in their power to stop this movement, and the active and strong manner in which they have been seconded by the authorities; yet, notwithstanding all this, the perseverance on the part of the inhabitants of Villefavard (the name of the commune here spoken of) has triumphed over every obstacle. They have come to the happy conclusion, not by violently resisting the authorities and the priests, but by declaring as one man, (for not a single individual among them manifested the smallest hesitation), that they were firmly resolved to embrace the Protestant Evangelical religion.

"On Sunday, the 7th September, the church, on which the seals had been placed by order of the sub-prefect, with a view to prevent the gospel from being preached in it, was at length opened, and given up to the inhabitants, whose property it is. The labours at this time carrying on in the fields kept many from attending; but still the church itself was not only full, but there were as many as it held standing on the outside. Mention is made of 1280 persons from Villefavard and the neighbouring communes having been present. During the two hours that the service lasted, the crowd, in the church and outside, remained stationary, attentive, and deeply affected. Three pastors officiated on the occasion. At the conclusion of this meeting, many persons from the surrounding communes, who had previously entreated the minister recently established at Villefavard to visit them and to converse with them on the Holy Scriptures, repeated their request afresh; and there is reason to hope that the spark, which has thus fallen in the midst of the department, may soon be kindled, and burn in all directions.

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In the mean time," writes the friend from whom the above account has been obtained, we behold a commune, consisting of more than six hundred souls, passing over, with their mayor, their curé, (that is, their former curé, converted to Protestantism, and become a teacher), and their church, to the Protestant faith, or at least to the Protestant worship; and if all are not con

verted to the Lord, all will at least have, in future, an opportunity of hearing the word of God. Even at present, the reformation which has been effected in the commune of Villefavard manifests its influence upon those around them who are still Roman Catholics, by compelling their clergy to be less haughty and less exacting."

The following extracts are from the Fourth Report of the Foreign Aid Society:

"It is scarcely necessary to inform the readers of the Annual Reports of the Foreign Aid Society, that the posts occupied by the Genevan Société Evangélique are in the Departments' of the Soane and Loire, the Jura, the Rhone, the Isere and Drome, and that the colporteurs maintained by that Société are spread over those extensive provinces. But from recent communications it appears, that the work has received a great extension dur

ing the past year. The Geneva Committee say, fifty colporteurs have laboured in Poitou, Provence, Dauphiné, Languedoc, and Burgundy; the sales of books have been large, and the results extraordinary. Our colporteurs are of two descriptions: first, distributors of Bibles and tracts; secondly, Scripture readers. In Languedoc whole villages desire to be Protestant. In Provence it is necessary to keep the people from annoying the priests. In the Drome another priest has quitted the Romish Church, and offers himself as a colporteur."

Again,

"The progress which the Reformed faith has made in France since the Restoration, has become a matter of deep concern to the Romish hierarchy in that country; and it is not surprising that the subject should have grown in importance, until it has found its way into the King's council-chamber, and into the national legislative assemblies. The question of religious liberty is now agitating in France; the merits of that question lying simply in this proposition-whether the Protestants of France shall be at liberty to propagate their doctrine by means of their colporteurs, evangelists, and pastors, or not. Into the subordinate views of this subject the Committee cannot enter; but it is highly gratifying to them to be able to state, that the petitions of the consistories and their sections have been heard in the Chamber of Deputies, and the principle of religious liberty been asserted by a majority of the members present. The progress of the Reformed religion in France, to which allusion has been made, is thus stated by Mons. de la Farelle, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, in his speech on the 19th of March last. At the fall of the empire, in 1815, the Reformed worship, including the Lutherans, reckoned 464 pasteurs. In 1830, when Charles X. was dethroned, the number had risen to 547; in 1843, it was 677; and at this time it may safely be affirmed that they exceed 700. The public grants made, according to the charter, for the maintenance of those pastors, have had a proportionable increase. In 1815, the sum total was 306,600 francs. In 1843, it amounted to 1,219,000 francs; and this year it will, in all probability, be still greater. So that a sum of L.50,000 is now granted annually out of the public treasury of France for the salaries of Protestant pasteurs, varying from 1800 to 3000 francs per annum each. The number of churches has increased in the same proportion, and yet the Protestant population is far from being supplied. There are 111 places where Protestant congregations are obliged to meet for worship in the open air. Of the eighty departments into which France is divided, there are yet twenty-six in which there is neither church, nor consistory, nor pastor. The Protestants scattered in those extensive provinces, have no means of grace to which they can have access; and the question of religious freedom now pending in France, will decide whether they are to be visited without molestation by a home missionary or not. From this statement it will be seen, that there is legal protection for the Reformed religion to a great extent; and that it enjoys what it never before enjoyed in France, viz., support from the