spirits, they made me faint, they were insupportable; I was forced to withdraw from them, lest the raptures should make me swoon away."

He also kept days of solemn thanksgiving to God for his mercies. His chief employment on such days may be gathered from what he writes on two or three of them. He set himself,

1. To recollect the merciful dispensations of God unto him.

2. To consider the aggravations of those mercies, in the greatness and freeness of them.

3. To register them in his memorials.

4. To acknowledge them in his devotions.

5. To contrive what returns he should make by way of gratitude to God.

Upon which he writes: "I spent the day in such exercises; and the sweetness of them, with the heavenly afflatus they brought upon my mind, made me a rich recompense for the labour of them." In the close of the day, coming to ponder, "What shall I now render to the Lord for all his benefits?" he has recorded the result of his thoughts on that head in the following questions or resolutions:

"1. Shall I not love the Lord, and be constant, fervent, and unwearied in serving him? especially in the rules I have proposed for my conversation?

"2. Shall I not endeavour to shine by a good example?

"3. Shall I not husband and redeem the golden hours which I enjoy, in the midst of so many smiling providences? "4. Shall I not every day, in every capacity, relation, and company, be contriving, What can I now and here do for God?' and lay myself out accordingly?' Oh! that God would help me thus to do."

On another of these thanksgiving days, he writes thus: "The forenoon of this day I spent,

"1. In acknowledging my own vile. ness before God, by which, after an aggravated manner, I have made myself unworthy of all that goodness and mercy which have followed me all my days.'

2. In acknowledging those glories that belong unto the great God, as he is infinitely excellent in himself, and as he is the Creator and Governor of the world; and unto Jesus Christ, as he is altogether lovely.' In these

·

exercises my heart was brought into such a frame as would have turned a dungeon into a paradise.

"In the afternoon I went over various instances of God's kindness to myself, in my thoughts and in my praises."

Dr. Mather took frequent opportunities of examining and proving the state and frame of his own soul, that he might be ready always to give a reason of the hope that was in him. This was usually a part of his preparatory work for the Lord's Supper. On one such occasion he writes thus:

"First, I find that not only my understanding sees, but my will chooses the great God as my best Good, and my last End; for,

"I. My interest in him is my greatest wish and joy, according to Psa. xvi. 5, 6; Psa. lxxiii. 25; Lam. iii. 25; Isa. xxvi. 13. But to this my conscience objects, You would then be more careful and more earnest for securing that interest. To which I

answer,

"1. That I do not mourn under, and strive against, my own coldness; and endeavour to stir up myself to greater zeal and diligence in this matter. And,

"2. That my zeal to make use of any enjoyment is not so lively as to make sure of my interest in God.

"II. I do heartily embrace and purpose the glorifying of God, as the main design upon which I would be, and live, and work. But how do I know that I do so? `I answer,

"1. By my frequent actual dedications of myself to his glory.

"2. By the disposition of my soul in prayer for any mercy; above all, for that mercy.

"3. By my exceeding great satisfaction in God's being acknowledged and glorified, especially when he is so by me, or by my means.

"Secondly, I reject with much detestation all that has made any separation betwixt the Lord and my soul. Sin is that accursed thing; therefore I lament it, I abhor it, I labour to avoid it.

execute every one of his offices in the accomplishing of my salvation. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left me destitute of his eternal mercies.

are

"I made use of a collection of marks and signs of grace, which I had by me; and I examined whether I had done such and such things which mentioned in them, as marks of the children of God; and, to put the matter out of all doubt, I set myself to do them over again. Great satisfaction was the effect of these exercises."

RESOLUTIONS.-"As to my words. 1. Not to be of many words, and when I speak, to do it with deliberation.

42. To remember my obligation to use my tongue as the Lord's, and not my own, and therefore to promote savoury discourse, if I can, wherever I

come.

"3. Never to answer any question that is weighty, without first lifting up my heart to God in a request that he would help me to give a right answer.

"4. To speak ill of no man, except on a good ground, and for a right end. "5. Seldom to make a visit without contriving what I may do for God in that visit.

"As to my daily course of duties,

"1. To pray at least thrice every day. "2. To meditate once a day, after a doctrinal and practical manner.

"3. To make a custom of propounding to myself these three questions at night, before I go to sleep, viz. What has been the special mercy of God to me in the day past? What has been my carriage towards God, and in his sight? And if I should die this night, is my immortal spirit

safe?

"4. To keep up a converse with God by frequent ejaculations.

"5. To eye and regard God in his providences.

"And in all, to be continually going to Christ by faith, as the only Physician and Redeemer of my soul. Lord, thou workest in me to resolve; help me also to perform."

The day before he died, he had some passages read to him in his book, "A Discourse upon Recovery from Sickness;" which passages, he said, he felt, and if he had strength to speak, he would use the very words. The following are extracts:

"If the request be granted, and the felicity of having our Saviour graci- ously with us, be obtained, what a

strength will the joy of the Lord give us for our conflict with the last enemy. It is said, Zech. xiv. 7, It shall come to pass, at evening time it shall be light.' Oh, the light which a glorious Christ, present with us, will give us in the evening, when the curtains of a death-bed are drawn about us. light of a soul passing into the inheritance of the saints in light! The light of an open and abundant entrance into the paradise of God.

The

"The Holy Spirit of God helps the Believer; first in a way of rational argumentation, to take encouragement from the things that accompany salvation, found upon him. And while he is doing so, he breaks upon the soul, in a way of more immediate irradiation, and with an overpowering and overwhelming efficacy assures him, The glorious God has made thee one of his children, and will surely do thee good.

We

"He will enable us to feel the life of God begun in our souls, and a predominant respect unto the great God governing us, and inclining us to acknowledge him in all our ways. shall raise this conclusion upon it. Here is a life begun that can terminate no otherwise than in an endless life with God. There is a well of water in me, that will spring up to everlasting life. Death, do thy worst, there is no killing that life which God hath begun to raise me to. Have I Christ living, acting, and working in me? And will he ever lose his hold of me? No, no, I am sure of living with him for evermore."

Dr. Mather died on February 13, 1727-8, which was the next day after he had completed his sixty-fifth year. God was graciously pleased to favour him with an easy dismission out of life, and with a sweet composure of mind to the very last blessings which he had often and earnestly prayed for. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.'

The foregoing facts may serve as specimens of the piety which distinguished the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England, and account for the extraordinary effects which attended their evangelical ministration. If knowledge be power, how much more devotion! We cannot breathe a better wish for the Church of God, through all her borders, than that the Lord may imbue his servants, of every name, with such a spirit as distinguished Dr. Cotton Mather.

THE Census of Nations is entitled to peculiar and permanent regard, as furnishing a bird's-eye glance throughout society in all its compartments and concerns. The following is a portion of the last Census of the United States, which presents an impressive view of the marvellous expansion of that extending country:

The total number of inhabitants in the United States was, on the 1st of June, 1850, 23,263,488. The absolute increase from the 1st of June, 1840, was 6,194,035; and the actual increase per cent. is 36.28; but the probable amount of population acquired by additions of territory should be deducted in making a comparison between the results of the present and the last preceding census. These deductions diminish the total population of the country, as a basis of comparison, to 23,091,488, and the increase to 6,022,035. The relative increase, after this allowance, is found to be 35.27 per cent. The aggregate number of whites in 1850 was 19,630,738, exhibiting a gain upon the number of the same class in 1840 of 5,434,933, and a relative increase of 38.28 per cent.; but, excluding the 153,000 free population supposed to have been acquired by the addition of territory since 1840, the gain is 5,281,933, and the increase per cent. is 37.20.

The number of slaves by the present census is 3,204,089, which shows an increase of 716,733, equal to 28.81 per cent. If we deduct 19,000 for the probable slave population of Texas in 1840, the result of the comparison will be slightly different. The absolute increase will be 697,733, and the rate per cent.

28.05.

The number of free-coloured in 1850 was 428,661; in 1840, 386,392. The increase of this class has been 42,369, or 1096 per cent. From 1830 to 1840 the increase of the whole population was at the rate of 32:67

per cent.

At the same rate of advancement, the absolute gain for the ten years last past would have been 5,576,590, or 445,444 less than it has been, without including the increase consequent upon additions of territory.

One of the most interesting results of the census is the classification of inhabitants according to the countries of their birth. We are thus enabled to discover, for the first time, of what our nation is composed. The investigations under this head have resulted in showing, that of the free inhabitants of the United States 17,737,505 are natives of its soil, and that 2,210,828 were born in foreign countries, while the nativity of 39,014 could not be determined. It is shown that 1,965,518 of the whole number of foreignborn inhabitants were residents of the free States, and 245,310 of the slave States. It is seen that the persons of foreign birth form

The number of white mutes in the United States amount to 9,091, and the coloured to 632, of which 489 are slaves. The census of 1840 returned the number of white deaf and dumb at 6,685, and the coloured at 970. The latter number is clearly erroneous, and was calculated to create an opinion, that the deaf mutes were so much more numerous among the coloured population of the north than among the whites. The proportion of deaf mutes among the coloured is less than among the white population, and among the slaves the proportion is still smaller. Among the white population there appears to be one deaf mute to each 2,151 persons; of the free coloured, one to each 3,005; and among the slaves, one to each 6,552.

The number of persons in the United States who are destitute of sight is 9,702, of which 7,997 are white and 1,705 coloured, of which latter 1,211 are slaves. By a comparative table prepared, it is shown that muteness and insanity are more prevalent among the whites, and blindness and idiocy among the coloured. Among the white population there appears to be one blind person for each 2,445 persons; among the free coloured, one to each 870; and among the slaves, one to each 2,645.

The number of insane persons in the United States is given at 15,768, of whom 15,156 are whites, 321 free coloured, and 291 slaves. The number of idiots returned is 15,706, distributed as follows: Whites, 14,230; free coloured, 436; slaves, 1,040; total insane and idiotic, 31,474; total whites, 29,386; total blacks, 2,088. By the census of 1840 these two classes of persons were returned together, a thing not generally understood, and presented the following numbers: -Whites, insane and idiotic, 14,508; coloured, insane and idiotic, 2,926; total, 17,434.

The returns upon education are not prepared for publication, but it is ascertained that nearly 4,000,000 of youth were receiving instruction at the various educational institutions of the country on the 1st of June, 1850, or at the rate of one for every five free persons. The teachers number 115,000, and the schools, seminaries, and colleges amount to nearly 100,000.

No State in the Union is without legal provision for the protection and support of its indigent population. The whole number of persons receiving the benefit of public funds for the relief of the destitute during the census year was 134,972; of this number there were 68,538 of foreign birth, and 66,434 Americans; and of the whole number receiving support on the 1st of June, 1850, there were 316,916 natives of the United States, and 13,437 foreigners, making a total of 50,353 persons. The total amount expended in the support of paupers during the year was 2,954,806 dollars. This sum, though considered large in the United States-a young community, healthy and vigorous, and, therefore, comparatively unacquainted with the disease of pauperism, a disease as surely incident to the condition of every nation in its maturity as grey hairs are to the physical constitution of man in his decline appears insignificant to those acquainted with the discussions and controversies upon this topic in Europe, and especially in Great Britain, France, and Belgium. The report presents some comparative statistics on this subject, with which the reading public of Great Britain are but unfortunately too familiar.

From the returns upon crime it appears that the whole number of persons convicted in the United States from June, 1849, to June, 1850, was about 27,000, of which 13,000 were natives of the country, and 14,000 of foreign birth.

The whole number in prison on the 1st of June, 1850, was about 6,700, of whom 4,300 were natives, and 2,460 foreigners by birth. The number of native convicts included coloured persons.

THE ORGANS OF PERSPIRATION. TAKEN separately, the little perspiratory tube, with its appended gland, is calculated to awaken in the mind very little idea of the importance of the system to which it belongs; but when the vast number of similar organs composing this system are considered, we are led to form some notion, however imperfect, of their probable influence on the health and comfort of the individual. I use the words "imperfect notion” advisedly, for the reality surpasses imagination, and almost belief. To arrive at something like an estimate of

the value of the perspiratory system in relation to the rest of the organism, I counted the perspiratory pores on the palm of the hand, and found 3,523 in a square inch. Now, each of these pores being the aperture of a little tube of about a quarter of an inch long, it follows, that in a square inch of skin on the palm of the hand there exists a length of tube equal to 882 inches, or 73 feet. Surely such an amount of drainage as seventythree feet in every square inch of skin, assuming this to be the average for the whole body, is something wonderful, and the thought naturally intrudes itself- What if this drainage were obstructed? Could we need a stronger argument for enforcing the necessity of attention to the skin? On the pulps of the fingers, where the ridges of the sensitive layer of the true skin are somewhat finer than in the palm of the hand, the number of pores on a square inch a little exceeded that of the palm; and on the heel, where the ridges are coarser, the number of pores on a square inch was 2,268, and the length of tube 567 inches, or 47 feet. To obtain an estimate of the length of tube of the perspiratory system of the whole surface of the body, I think that 2,800 might be taken as a fair average of the number of pores in the square inch, and 700, consequently, of the number of inches in length. Now the number of square inches of surface in a man of ordinary height and bulk is 2,500; the number of pores, therefore, 7,000,000; and the number of inches of perspiratory tube, 1,750,000; that is, 145,833 feet, or 48,600 yards, or nearly

28 miles.

"MORAL SCOTLAND."

A high authority in the Scottish metropolis -the journal of the Messrs. Chambers-has presented a paper headed "Moral Scotland," in which it is stated, that in forty cities and towns every 149 of the population support a dram-shop! While it requires 981 to keep a baker! 1,067 to support a butcher!! and 2,281 to sustain a bookseller!!!

And is this the once famous land of Bibles, parish-schools, and sagacious men? A Scottish reviewer, referring to one of the chief towns, states, that it "spends yearly on drink about £200,000; while £7,000 will more than cover its expenditure for all religious, educational, and benevolent objects put together."

PUBLIC preaching is an institution ordained by God for the accomplishment of some definite object. He has given a special commission to some of his servants, and their business is to execute this commission. In the ma

terial world, everything, as far as we know, is formed for some special purpose, and is adapted with a view of this purpose being attained. This renders it highly probable also, that preaching respects some end peculiar

to itself, and the unfailing wisdom of its designer is a guarantee that it is adapted to that end.

If preaching were a mere mechanical exercise, and its efficiency did not depend at all upon the views and feelings of the agent, then it would be a matter of comparatively small importance whether those who undertook the office of preacher were correctly informed of its design, and regulated their conduct in accordance with it. We might then act as mere automata without throwing our entire heart into the designs of him who called us to this species of labour. But the accomplishment of the Divine purposes is mysteriously connected with, and even, in a certain sense, dependent upon human procedure. Hence it must come to pass, that the accomplishment of the purposes of the Almighty and our personal usefulness will be promoted if we can obtain a clear and full comprehension of what we are to aim at in our ministrations, and preach under the influence of feelings which such knowledge is calculated to excite.

There is one peculiarity in which all institutions, beings, and objects agree, viz., they are all alike designed to exhibit and promote the glory of God. This is the point to which all things tend. Here they all at last meet. This is the grand reason for the existence and permission of every event and dispensation. The universe, with its complicated laws, its conflicting interests, and its constant changes, is a perpetual unfolding of the Divine glory. The Divine nature is rich in all that is excellent, and all things exist that the riches of that excellence may be the object of admiration, and the source of happiness to intelligent beings.

Yet, at the same time, every institution and object has some special end which distinguishes it, and gives it an individual peculiarity, and which is subordinate to the one great end which is common to all. It is this special, immediate end of preaching which we wish to discover and enforce on the present occasion.

It is evident that, by preaching, there are many objects which may be and which are accomplished. Still, the prominence given to it in the Gospel; the provision which is there made for its effectual exercise, by way, for instance, of precept, promise, and exam

ple; and the honour which is awarded to the successful preacher, render it, à priori, probable that there is some one immediate object which the preacher ought always to keep in view,-some one end to which all others are subservient or secondary, and for the attainment of which he must devote his most assiduous labours, and exercise all his energy and skill.

And, further, since preaching is not a human institution for the accomplishment of human objects, but the means of carrying out the intentions of God toward the world; and since the Bible is to us the source from whence we ascertain the Divine will, it may properly be supposed that the Scriptures would throw out some light that will show us what, without doubt, preaching is intended to subserve.

There is not in Scripture a distinct and formal enunciation of the precise object which the preacher must always aim at. The Bible is not a book of philosophical, casuistical, or moral definitions. It rather exhibits facts, truths, and principles which indicate, yet clearly and satisfactorily, what we are now seeking to ascertain, and it is by attending to its statements that we hope to arrive at a correct solution of the question before us.

We observe, then,

1. That the eternal condition of the soul of man is represented in Scripture as a matter of the highest importance.

We are taught that man possesses a soul which is responsible to God. That soul may be related to the Almighty as a child to a father, or may be as an outcast and a wanderer. It may live in the smile of the supreme Ruler, or be condemned by self, by intelligent beings, and by holy laws, as a rebel. Its nature may be perfectly pure in heaven, or may be the subject of the deepest moral defilement and guilt in hell. Every human soul may, and indeed must be, found in one of these opposite states.

There is vast importance to be attached to the state in which the soul is found even in this life. Freedom from guilt, renovation of heart, and a consciousness of the Divine favour, even if confined to the limits of our present life, possess a value which no one can fully estimate; while a consciousness of unpardoned sin; the reign of evil passions over the soul, and a conviction of being far from God,