cants had broken up, the teachers of the sunday schools assembled for social prayer, according to their custom every sabbath morning, previously to the opening of the schools. They are wont to use forms of prayer, written by their minister, accompanied with the reading of a portion of the holy word, and with singing. On this occasion the master, a devout man, introduced into the prayer the breathing desires of his own heart and of his associates. The scholars had prepared for recital one of the Fast-day collects, and suitable pas+ sages selected from the lessons.

At the hour when the church. going bell invited us to the public sanctuary, the clergyman led thither his youthful flock, attended by their teachers. The streets were perfectly still, and every shop was closed. On the arrival of this interesting procession at the church porch, we found the house of God already filled with such a congregation as bad never before been known to assemble there in the morning. Much pains appeared to have been previously taken, to excite attention to the solemn season, and to explain its design and end, by the circulation of the Rev. E. Bickersteth's admirable HELP, and also of the authorized services. The decorous stillness of the rustic congregation, and the promptitude with which they had complied with the command of their earthly sovereign, and the advice of their pastor, Fowerfully and evidently affected the latter as he passed, and the deeply impressive service which followed, and which seemed to awaken throughout the sanctuary the filial contrition that its language breathes, prepared us for an exposition of the first lesson, Isaiah lviii. grounded on the question asked by Jehovah in the sixth verse, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen?" We were shewn the characters of the fast which the Lord does not choose, and conse

quently will not accept: the nature of the fast which corresponds with the divine choice, and meets with the divine acceptance; and the blessed results, which are secured by the faithful word of the Lord to such a fast as He approves.

During the brief interval between the morning and afternoon services many were in their closets, and others were occupied in the instruction of the reassembled young. At half-past two we again entered the house of God, expecting to meet there only those, whom a spiritual sense of the day's duties would draw together a second time. To our agreeable surprise the church was thronged in every part, and never did a congregation listen with more breathless attention to the preached word. The text was this, "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel." 2 Sam. xxiv. 15. In meditating upon these words and their context, we saw that the awful visitant, now drawing his fatal sword upon British Israel, is no self-commissioned desolator or ad→ ventitious offspring of chance, but the direct executioner of Jehovah's will and the proclaimer of his wrath. That will was proved to be most righteous, and that wrath was traced up to sin, as its provoking cause. The plague was shewn to have produced its designed effects, when, through the convincing Spirit and the preached truth, it has humbled a guilty nation in penitential confession: and the grand doctrine of revelation-that without shedding of blood there is no remission, was illustrated by the events which have immortalized Moriah's mount, and Araunah's threshing floor, and Calvary's hill. We were invited to examine and adore the paternal love, which has hitherto used the rod with a for bearance and gentleness unprecedented in the history of the cholera's dreadful scourge; and were affec tionately exhorted to prepare to meet the holy, will of God in that

only posture of safety and composure, which the believer maintains while in prayer and faith he looks not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen and eternal.

At five o'clock another cottage was opened for prayer, and at seven we had the concluding service of the day. The minister of the parish gives an expository lecture in his school-room every Wednesday evening, chiefly for the benefit of the labouring poor, and on the present occasion he expected to meet few or no more than his usual plain congregation. Long before the appointed time, however, the room was filled to excess with a dense crowd of devout auditors, who were encouraged to seek through the Lord Jesus Christ a fulfilment of God's gracious promise to his ancient people, recorded in 2 Chron. vii, 13, 14. " If I send pes tilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." In the course of this exposition we were most suitably called upon to feel and express a large amount of thankfulness to God, for the extensive mercy that day shewn to Britain through the medium of our national church, in the admirable and scriptural tenor of the prescribed services, and in the invaluable opportunity thus afforded for universal prayer, humiliation, and instruction, through the length and breadth of the land. It was justly urged, that the Church of England had thus, in a very powerful manner, renewed her claims upon the affection of her children and friends.

A day kept in this manner could scarcely fail of bringing down from the Father of mercies a rich blessing, upon every parish and on every assembly. Should it be his righ

teous will yet to suffer "the overflowing scourge to pass through" the land, it would be an act of base unbelief to doubt, that multitudes of fast-day supplicants will then receive most evident answers to their prayers, and "be hid within the ark." Let us be unfeignedly, thankful for the grace which disposed large masses of our population, embracing men of every rank and condition in society, to unite in a public acknowledgment, 'that we have not manifested a due sense of the numberless blessings, both temporal and spiritual, which we and our fathers have received' at the hands of our gracious God,

The

and of the mighty deliverances which' His power hath wrought for this church and kingdom. That through our neglect of his ordinances, and misuse of His bouuties, offences have been multiplied in the land; and His holy name hath been profaned among the heathen by our transgressions.' These confessions embrace the sum and substance, the very essence of our national sins. Nor is it less a matter of mutual congratulation and of gratitude to God, that, at the same time a renewed and distinct recognition was made of the grand fundamental principles of our evangelical faith and duty. nation, in all the thousands of her temples, then implored another Pentecost. Pour forth the gifts of thy Spirit on all pastors and teachers of thy flock, that they may be clothed with righteousness, and that thy word spoken by their mouths may never be spoken in vain.' Our great NATIONAL WANT, which no merely political changes either can, or promise to relieve, was laid at the divine footstool, coupled with an acknowledgment of our great NATIONAL DUTY, as being the depositaries of the unsearchable riches of Christ, in words which ought not to be forgotten or thrown aside, when the occasion that called them forth has passed away. To

THERE are few parents whose circumstances allow them to think of giving their children a complete education, that can be content with the more solid and useful branches alone. Something more is desired, in general, under the name of accomplishments. And those which are in common request, are modern languages, dancing, fencing, drawing, and music. How far these are admissible in a strictly religious education, presents the next question for our consideration.

And first, as respects languages. Although these are frequently classified with the mere ornaments of education, yet they ought to be reckoned amongst the solid branches, since they possess extensive utility in all the commerce of life. Language is the medium of communication between man and man, In proportion as we enlarge our knowledge of language, we enlarge our range of communication, and multiply at once our powers of social intercourse, and our channels of literary improvement. Of course, the same argument which leads the Christian to lay up all other know ledge, viz:-that knowledge is the most effective instrument of doing good-applies to this also; and hence the result would appear manifest, that as many of the modern languages as could be readily attained, should be acquired in the progress of education.

The second subject, the art of

the Christian community has ever recommended the adoption of the Jewish custom. It is manifest, therefore, that the passages which we have quoted cannot be brought to bear on the present question. The species of dance authorized by the Bible, has been obsolete for nearly two thousand years; and even if it were not, yet no man can seriously believe that the dancing which is called an accomplishment in our day, has the slightest trace of a religious character.

It is said, however, to be of service in polishing the exterior,-in giving grace and elegance of manner, in affording an innocent and healthful exercise, and a valuable recreation to the youthful portion of society; and for these reasons it is contended-aye, and sometimes by the ministers of the sanctuary themselves, that it ought to be considered as an essential branch of a finished education. Let us briefly examine these supposed recommendations, that we may understand their real validity.

If it be true that the art of dancing gives grace and elegance of manner, what is the reason that out of the many thousands, of both sexes, who have learned it, at no small cost of time and money, there should be so very few who are at all distinguished for their polished deportment? What is the reason that the dancing masters themselves, display in general no very elevated model of gentlemanly refinement ? What is the reason that when our orators, whether forensic, or parliamentary, or ministerial, exhibit their talents before the public eye, no man can distinguish the result of the elegant accomplishment in the general grace of their carriage and their gestures? What is the reason that we sometimes behold in the untaught rustic and native Indian, more real dignity and harmony of movement, than ever was produced by the art in question.

The true solution of this difficulty, appears sufficiently manifest. There are peculiar dispositions to external grace, implanted in some individuals, so that they display a remarkable degree of it under the most unfavourable kind of cultivation. And just as it would be very unfair reasoning to contend, that because a few savages are dignified and graceful, therefore, their mode of life must be best adapted for the acquisition of external dignity and grace, so is it equally unfair to argue, that because a few who have learned dancing are eminently polished in their manners, therefore dancing is an essential requisite to a gentlemanly deportment. The fact is, that the effort made in genteel society to form the manuers, by parents attending to the walk, carriage, and general position of their children, and still more the imitative propensity of all to catch the manners of those with whom they commonly associate; these are the real agents in producing the actual result. Seldom, if ever, does the dancing-school polish those whose ordinary companions are vulgar. And still more rarely shall we find those who are accustomed to refined society, deficient in the general average of that external grace which characterizes the gentleman. We dispute not that young persons ought to be taught to walk-to hold themselves erect to perform with propriety the customary modes of salutation -and to avoid all awkwardness of gesture or position. But we are very confident that these may be acquired far better by the general superintendence of the parent, and by mixing in due time with good society, than by the dancing school. While all beyond this, in the higher departments of personal grace, is not so much a subject for the dancer, as for the rhetorician. Happy indeed should we esteem it for the department of the graces, if the schools of dancing could be

turned into schools of rhetoric. The admirers of oratory would gain almost as much in personal accomplishment as society would lose in folly.

As to the utility of dancing in affording an innocent and healthful exercise, and a valuable recreation, we deny the proposition in all its parts. We do not say what it might be, if practised only for the purpose of exercise and recreation; but we must take it as it is always practised in fact; namely, for the simple purpose of pleasure. Hence arise all those adjuncts of dress, and decoration, and festivity, and enlivening music and gay company, which really furnish the excitement and constitute the charm. Deprive it of these, and no man need be troubled to prove its puerility. And just as it is in these things that mankind find the fascination, so is it in these that the serious and devout mind beholds the danger. We say, then, that in actual prac tice, the ball-room is not innocent, either as it respects the health of the body, or the health of the soul. The winter is its appropriate season; and who does not know that the change of clothing-the substantial dress of comfort, worn throughout the business of the day, cast off at night, for the light habiliments of fashion-the excessive heat of the system produced by exercise, followed by the chilling exposure to the frosty air-the late and unwholesome hours, and the exhaustion of the animal spirits, manifested by the languor and listdessness of the ensuing morning;who does not know that these are perilous shocks to the constitution of multitudes, and do actually produce diseases which embitter life, and often hurry the young and the lovely advocates of pleasure to a premature grave! And who can think that the soul is not injured by an amusement which frames all its allurements in such wise as to address the passions, by every

avenue of sense; which kindles personal vanity, and excites the appetite for admiration; which not unfrequently calls forth feelings of envy, spleen, and jealous competition; and sometimes produces the temptation to anger, hatred, and revenge?

We see nothing, therefore, in the arguments commonly relied on, in favour of dancing, as now practised in Christian communities. And we should exclude it from Christian education.--First, because all the advantages which it promises, in the formation of manners, and the attainment of personal grace, can be far better secured in a safer way, within the power of parents and teachers in general. Secondly, because it is a waste of time and money, and a fearful absorber of the youthful mind; leading to the premature excitement of the passions, drawing away the thoughts from all sober and useful application, and casting a shade of dullness and disgust, over the solid and serious objects of human life. Thirdly, because it is dangerous to bodily health, and to Christian morality, and utterly hostile to the influence of spiritual truth. For evident it must be to all, that there is but one path to heaven; that this must be trodden alike by ministers and people: and that if CHRIST and his apostles were again on earth, no Christian congregation could be tolerated in any recreation which might, not be enjoyed in their fellowship. But what mind can contemplate the idea of associating the Redeemer or the apostles with the gay frivolity of fashion? Nay, who could endure to see the present ministers of CHRIST engaged in the follies of the ball-room? And if it be so utterly incongruous in the ministerial character, how can it be consistent in those who profess to be seeking the same holiness, and who hope to attain the same celestial kingdom of pure and spiritual bliss? V. N.