approving conscience in endeavouring to advance the welfare of man, will induce those whose scientific attainments qualify them for the task, to turn their thoughts to the subject, and to report the result of their practical knowledge. Thus, Mr. Editor, we may hope that another excuse for " Sunday Cheese-making" will be withdrawn; and that, under the blessing of GOD, we may, ere long, rejoice to see the Sabbath a Day of Rest, and a Day of Worship, amongst the Farmers, and farming servants, of the country. Truly Your's, SCOTLAND. EDUCATION ON SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES. (Abridged from a Glasgow Paper.) J. H. ON Monday evening Dr. Chalmers delivered, in the North Parish Church, at Greenock, the first of a short series of lectures, which two years ago he kindly consented to give for the benefit of the mechanics of Greenock. The eloquent lecturer dwelt at considerable length upon the duty which devolved upon parents and other guardians of youth, of beginning early to ply their minds with the lessons of the New Testament. A child could soon discriminate between right and wrong, and, as such was the case, it became imperative, at the very dawning of conscience, to inculcate the moralities of the Bible, which could be appreciated much earlier than most people imagined. There was a beautiful harmony, he remarked, between the written word and the testimony of conscience, so that what was revealed in the one, met with a ready response in the other, and proved the author of both to be the same. I want, said the Rev. Doctor, emphatically, I want for the education of the young, no more than a Bible and a conscience, and earnest prayer for God's blessing. His reference to the evidences of Christianity was interesting and satisfactory-inasmuch as it was clearly shown, that however philosophically the Christian evidences of every kind were understood and defended by men of scholarship, the truth which illumined their minds was not more convincing than the truth which beamed upon the mind of the cottage peasant from the internal and experimental evidence alone. It had as good a hold of his heart as the same truth could have of the heart of him who could climb the historical ladder which reached from the present time to the days of the apostles, and was as powerful in directing and sustaining his hopes, and in framing his habitual conversation. On Tuesday evening, Dr. Anderson, of St. Andrew's, delivered a lecture on the laws and properties of heat. Another lecture, on Wednesday evening, was delivered by Dr. Chalmers. After explaining many things connected with the laws of heat, and when drawing near the close of a long and most interesting lecture, the Doctor alluded in glowing language to the riddles, the puzzles, and the enigmas, which continually beset the philosopher in his investigations. How, for for example, could any one explain the process which the particles of any piece of solid matter underwent when subjected to certain applications, and by which it was at one time expanded, and at another contracted. The particles appeared to be all firmly united together; but so it was, that by these applications the subject of experiment was materially affected. Such was the result. But all the processes connected therewith, who could adequately explain? True philosophy, in all these cases, would just say, "I don't know." Notwithstanding all the attainments which had been made in the various sciences, it was plain and palpable that much was still left in darkness, and the man who had been most successful in his researches into the laws and operations of nature, was the very man who was readiest to confess his ignorance, and to acknowledge that all his acquirements were nothing compared with the boundless field which lay before hin. The delivery of these lectures, which has long been looked forward to with deep interest by the public of Greenock, was exposed to considerable jeopardy by the injudicious conduct of a few individuals, who, as we are informed without consulting the general body of subscribers, chose to have the institution opened a few days before the time appointed for Dr. Chalmers' appearance, and that, too, under the auspices of gentlemen who hold views upon educational, and other matters, diametrically opposed to those which it was well known were entertained by the Rev. Doctor. It will be seen, however, from the following letter to the Secretary, that Dr. Chalmers, with his characteristic honesty and straightforwardness, has taken care that there shall be no room left for misunderstanding his views upon the subject of Scriptural Education; and we think we can veuture to assure him that he will find that the public of Greenock, generally, are not prepared to allow the Bible to be excluded from the schools at which their children are taught : Glasgow, 113, N. Montrose-street, "Dear Sir,-You are aware of the invitation given me, two years ago, by the mechanics of Greenock, and of the promise made by myself, that I should deliver in their hearing a lecture on education. "I have never lost sight of this engagement. I have corresponded on the subject with your predecessor in office; and my communications latterly have been more frequent, as the time drew near for carrying the engagemeut into effect. It was at length settled that I should give my lecture on the evening of Monday, the 28th; and that it should be followed up by a brief lectureship for some subsequent nights on the laws and phenomena of heat, as affording a specimen of one branch of education, at least the education of science. For the better execution of this additional and extended part of the scheme, I have procured the invaluable assistance of my friend Dr. Anderson, Professor of Natural Philosophy, in the University of St. Andrew's, who is now in Glasgow, and has brought with him an apparatus-part of it obtained from England-for the purpose of elucidating some of the recent discoveries. In short, all was in a state of forwardness for the execution of our purposes; and we fixed on Saturday last for an interview with two of your own number, that we might arrange the details. "Meanwhile, on the Friday preceding, that is, on the 18th of this month, or four days ago, we were informed for the first time of another arrangement, by a handbill from Greenock, which announces the opening of your Mechanics' Institution on Monday, the 21st, under the auspices of the three following gentlemen, who are to address the Meeting on subjects connected with the diffusion of knowledge and the improvement of mankind, viz. :-James Simpson, Esq. advocate; George Combe, Esq.; and the Rev. Patrick Brewster; and all this previous only by a few days to my own lectureship, and which you have now been looking forward to for two years, on the subject of education. of "I will not enter on the consideration here of the principles of any these gentlemen; though I have been told by others of a discrepancy so wide and palpable between their views and my own, that the proposal of such an opening for your Institution, when looked to in all its circumstances, might be regarded by some in no other light than as a personal and practical insult to myself. I will not entertain this feeling. Your own explanations of Saturday have led me to dismiss any idea of this kind from my thoughts. I will say farther, that no provocation could ever have made me insensible to the obligation of my own promise. I feel it due to myself-provided the explanations I now give are previously acquiesced in by the mechanics, and laid before the public of your town -to do all I have undertaken to do; and still more do I feel it due to the sacred cause of a Christian and Bible education, not to retire from the arena of its proposed advocacy, even though the most inveterate opponents of this cause, unknown to myself, and long subsequently to the task having been put into my hands, should have been invited to enter the field before me. "It has now become indispensable that I and the mechanics, as well as the general community of Greenock, should understand each other. The object of my appearance among you will be, to protest against any system which would dissociate religion from scholarship; and to offer in my preliminary lecture, the proofs and consideration on which I hold, that from the first dawnings of a conscience and understanding in children, they ought to be plied, under the roof of their parents, with the lessons of the Old and New Testament; and ought to be presented with the same lessons, not only at church upon the Sundays, but in the scriptural schools throughout the week. And though, in the subsequent lectures, to be given conjointly by Dr. Anderson and myself, the time will be chiefly taken up with the demonstrations and experiments of natural science, this will not exclude my special office, which shall be, not only to point out the theology that might be educed from the glories of the Divine workmanship, but, if possible, to neutralize the mischief that flows from but a little learning, which-when unaccompanied with certain principles and considerations that I shall endeavour to urge upon my hearers-is, indeed, a dangerous thing. I hold that this maxim of the poet admits of being disarmed, so as that even a little learning, instead of a dangerous, shall become a profitable thing at once accordant with the modesty of true science, and with the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It shall be my assiduous endeavour, if I come amongst you, to impress on the minds of those who shall honour me with their attendance, the little proportion which all that is or can be known bears to all that, in our present state, must remain for ever unknown-so as, if possible, to convince you that, with every footstep of growing knowledge, there ought to be a growing humility-that best guarantee both for a sound philosophy and a sound faith. May I beg that you will lay this communication before the members of your Committee previous to its appearance in the Greenock newspaper of Friday; after which, if no fresh obstacle be interposed, I shall find my way quite open to the place of delivery for my first lecture on the evening of Monday, when I hope to have a pacific and cordial Meeting with you all. (Signed) "I have the honour to be, my dear Sir, "Mr. Alexander Muir." "Yours very truly, 66 THOMAS CHALMERS. THE OLD ARM CHAIR. I love it-I love it-and who shall dare To chide me for loving that old arm chair. I have treasured it long as a sainted prize, Have bedewed it with tears-have embalmed it with sighs. Not a tie will break, not a link will start. Would you learn the spell ? -a mother sat there, And a sacred thing is that old arm chair. In childhood's youth, I lingered near She told me shame would never betide, With truth for my creed, and God for my guide. I sat and watched her many a day As her eyes drew dim, and her locks were grey, 'Tis past, 'tis past! but I think on it now, 'Twas there she nursed me,-'twas there she died, Say it is folly, and call me weak, Should tears of affection bedew my cheek; My soul from a mother's old arm chair. 66 MONEY: ITS USE AND ABUSE BY CHRISTIANS. (Concluded from page 309.) Brethren and Sisters in Christ! I beseech you by the mercies of God, listen to your Heavenly Father and Friend entreating you to repent and turn yourselves from your idols of silver and gold,"a for "what shall it profit you, if you gain the world and lose your souls ?"b Bear in mind, that the religion of the Gospel is pre-eminently characterized by diffusive disinterested benevolence; and if disciples of the self-denying, sympathising, and loving Saviour, you must imitate Him who "pleased not Himself,"c but went about doing good,"d who "had compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way."e Think often of your heavenly origin and destination.--Remember you are only pilgrims, and sojourners, and stewards on earth, and that the chief end of your existence is to glorify God here, that you may enjoy Him hereafter in heaven. And as nothing short of the omnipotence of divine grace can rescue you from this pit of destruction, look to the all-sufficiency of Him, who. on this subject says: "with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible."f Often go to the Cross of Christ, and estimate, if you can, the value of what He paid for your redemption, and then you will feel that you are not your own, for ye are bought with a price, even with the precious blood of Jesus, who, though He was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich;"g therefore, "glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God's." It is only at the cross of a dying Saviour, that your hard heart can be melted, your selfishness and avarice destroyed, and that you will feel the expulsive and consuming power of holy love : 66 You will there, and there only, triumph over those feelings and passions, which now permit you to contemplate without the deepest sorrow, and unreserved consecration of your every talent, the pitiable and helpless condition of many hundred millions of your fellow-sinners, yet" sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death." Let then the value of immortal souls, and the love of Christ constrain you; for "He died that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again."k A good man" disperseth and giveth to the poor," and if there be any thing worth living for, next to securing an interest in the favour of God Himself, it is to enjoy the testimony of our consciences and so to act that it shall be justly said of us," when the ear heard, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it gave witness, because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help a Psalm cxv. 4. b Luke viii. 36. c Romans xv. 3. d Acts x. 38. e Hebrews v. 29. f Matthew xix. 26. g 2 Corinthians viii. 9. U i Luke i. 79. k 2 Corinthians v. 15. 7 Psalm cxii. 9. |