far less firm than they imagine. As to the warrant for drawing lots which they profess to derive from Scripture, it will, I presume, be found, upon fair consideration, that the inference is quite untenable. For it was only under the peculiar circumstances of the Mosaic dispensation, and even by the express command of God himself, that the Jews cast lots to determine what shares of the promised land should be respectively apportioned to their tribes. And in this case the casting of lots was confessedly an appeal to God for the determination of an important point, which could not else have been satisfactorily adjusted. With respect to the instance of Matthias, the casting of lots was unquestionably a religious act; since it was accompanied by a solemn prayer to the Supreme Searcher of all hearts, for the pose of forming that decision which might be most agreeable to His divine will. That either of these very singular and insulated cases can form any kind of precedent for Christians in modern days, I am unable to conceive. As well might we look to dreams, to determine in any difficult case what may be the will of God, because such a mode of decision was divinely permitted to the Jews.

pur

Next, as to the alleged indifference of the practice, the assump tion, I think, is contrary to fact. For, if we cast lots only to determine (as in the instance supposed above) which of the contending claimants shall be entitled to some little article of property, do we not, in such a case, appeal either to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, or else to mere chance; since by one or the other arbiter the point in dispute must be decided? If to the former, what warrant can we shew for so solemn an appeal in a matter so light and insignificant? And with respect to the latter, its very existence would be denied by every Christian,

In another point of view also, the practice will appear not to be a matter of indifference: for may it not be supposed to lend some countenance, however small, to raffles and lotteries, if not to games of hazard? Or to set the matter in a stronger light, I would ask, what answer could be made by the persons to whom I am referring, to such questions as the following? "If you, who are so decidedly religious, consider it innocent to cast lots in indifferent or trifling cases, what harm can there be in my raffling for a valuable article which I really want; as in so doing I hazard but a small sum? Or why may I not purchase a part of a lottery ticket, in the hope of obtaining relief for the immediate distresses of my family?"

my

I do not wish, Mr. Editor, to overstrain inferences on the foregoing subject, and shall therefore conclude by entreating the Christian readers of your miscellany, to rectify them as far as they may appear to want a scriptural foundation. Πισις.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. IT has been often observed, that there are two books in which Got has been pleased to display hi character to mankind; the boo of Nature and the book of Grace. The knowledge of the former, when rightly employed, should ever lead to the study of the latter; while an acquaintance with the latter ought no less to induce the devout philosopher to avail himself of the many intimations contained in the glowing pages of the former. Religious persons might derive great benefit from thus habitually making nature the handmaid to religion; and in order to do so, it seems desirable that they should cultivate a taste for the beauties of creation, and an aptitude to catch the impressive moral displayed by every part of the works of the Almighty. So far

however, from this being always the case, instances, I conceive, are not rare in which persons appear not merely to have acquired no new relish for the beauties of nature, in consequence of becoming devoted to the service of nature's God, but even to have lost something of the enthusiasm which they once possessed. Nor is such a result difficult of solution; for when a person is put upon his guard against the undue influence either of philosophical pursuits or animal gratifications, he may very probably become somewhat indifferent to the study of nature, unless supplied with new motives, and impelled by new feelings, to prosecute his intimacy with her. And such new motives and feelings we might at first sight imagine, would be supplied by religion alike in every case; but I will illustrate by two examples my position, that this is not the fact.

The mind of Lysander, having been moulded by the varying circumstances of his growing years, was fixed as to its general character at the time when his attention was first turned to religion. From the very commencement of his spiritual career, he was chiefly impressed by the terrors of the Divine law; and being greatly harassed by the ever recurring consciousness of his deficiencies in duty, his mind was but little disposed to cultivate those meditative virtues so congenial with the contemplatation of the works of creation. Thus in this stage of his religious progress, there was nothing which left in his mind any link of association between his spiritual hopes and best interests, and the forms

or the vicissitudes of the scenery of nature. He could not look upon the setting sun as an object which, under the Divine blessing, had often powerfully fixed his thoughts upon eternity; nor could he, while listening to the ocean's roar, call to mind any consecrated moment, when, gazing on its threatening

He became

waves, his soul had sunk in conscious helplessness and guilt before that Almighty Ruler, whose arm impelled, or whose word restrained, its gigantic energies. therefore increasingly disposed to overlook such assistances and intimations of nature; and thus was that refinement of the moral sense, by which the still small voice of the works of creation is heard and their silent pointings discovered, gradually impaired; so that even to the present moment, though released from his terrors, and contemplating God as a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus, there is still wanting that affectionate veneration for his natural works which has formed so prominent a feature in the minds of many eminently pious characters, and which Cowper has so beautifully described in those well-known lines:

"He looks abroad into the varied field Of Nature; and though poor perhaps, compar'd

With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,

Calls the delightful scenery all his own.
His are the mountains, and the valleys
And the resplendent rivers; his t'enjoy
his,
With a propriety that none can feel,
But who, with filial confidence inspir'd,
Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous

eye,

And smiling say, 'My Father made

them all!'

Often have even the sufferings of an animal impressed on his thoughts the evil of sin, or the silent monition of fields and groves raised his mind to brighter worlds, where

"Heaven's immortal spring shall yet arrive,

And man's majestic beauty bloom again, Bright through the year of love's triumphant reign."

When harassed by the disorders and inconsistencies of the moral world, often has he been soothed by the characters of Divine love impressed on so many of the scenes around him; and often, too, has he been awed into humilitybyequallyevident marks of vindictive justice; and this even before he began to perceive that Nature could only display, and Botreconcile, these apparently conflicting attributes. Thus Nature, under the Divine blessing, became to him a lesser light, which ruled his anxious night of spiritual ignorauce, and ushered in the dawn of Divine illumination. And now, though rejoicing in the greater light, he is still open to the influence of these tributary rays, and feels gratefully disposed to be reminded of his Almighty Benefactor and Preserver, through the medium of his works. The close and affecting analogy which exists between the processes of nature and the process which has been carried on in his own soul, is another circumstance which serves still more to rivet his regard; since he can scarcely go abroad among her productions without being reminded of that delicate arrangement by which the spiritual blade has been foster. ed and the full ear developed.

The difference between these two characters is the result, neither of wilful neglect in the one, nor of meritorious effort in the other. It has arisen from the temper of their minds, the habits of their education, and in some measure, perhaps, from the peculiarities of their spi. ritual noviciate. Hence the devout admirer of nature should learn to

regard the indifference of his Christian brother, not merely with forbearance, but respect; and should keep in mind, that his own aptitude to improve the influence of natural objects is, as much as any other means of grace, the gift of God, and must therefore be considered as a talent for which a strict account will be required. He will feel how much less frequently his taste for the works of creation has been made the auxiliary of devotion than it might have been; how often the solemn appeals of animate or inanimate nature have been made in vain; how often, under the effects of a ruffled temper, or a perverse inclination, he has resisted those influences which were so well calculated to win him back to calm and profitable meditation. Thus, if ever he is disposed to indulge self-complaisance in the consciousness of a gift so flattering to human pride as that of mental susceptibility and taste, these reflections will temper his satisfaction, and make him feel how, even in trifles, the heart is prone to any destination rather than that which constitutes its truest privilege and best enjoyment.

On the other hand, let the op. posite character, who is disposed to treat as airy nothings the imaginative musings of his neighbour, and to pride himself upon the strength and sterling qualities of a mind that disdains them, remember that this difference of opinion may origina'e rather in the bluntness of his own perceptions than in the diseased or puerile state of his neighbour's understanding; and that no talent is to be despised which has the power of leading the mind to sacred meditations, or the heart to devout affections.

C. D.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. A CORRESPONDENT in your Number for last September has proposed the following query: 1s it the duty

of religious persons to attend the service of God in their parish church, in cases where the minister is notoriously deficient in exhibiting the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and where, in truth, they go in expectation of nothing beyond merely moral discourses?

In addition to the excellent reply of Philiturgus, in your Number for November, I would remark, that if your querist live in London, he must know that many religious persons, and sound churchmen, do not regularly attend their parish church: nor does such regularity, I think, appear binding upon them; chiefly because their example is not so prominent as to be detrimental to the interests of religious order; nor can the churches contain all the parishioners.

If he reside in the country, he must be sensible that, when he ceases to attend his parish church, he must, in nine instances out of ten, frequent either a Dissenting Meeting house or remain at home. But it is presumed, that no religious churchman would do either, unless forcibly driven from his

church by the heterodoxy, rather than by the morality, of the 'minister's preaching.

"Itching ears" and irregularity are sedulously to be avoided; but it also may be further observed, that no religious person seems bound to shew an approval of such merely moral and defective preaching, by uninterrupted attendance. He may conscientiously avail himself of the ministryof a neighbouring clergyman; but, I think, he ought, if opportunity serve, candidly to acquaint his minister with the cause of his occasional absence, and to state his continued preference for the established order of religion. At the same time, let him not forget that he may read eminent divines and devotional writers at home. He has Moses and the Prophets; he can hear Christ and his Apostles; and with these helps, if he be persevering in prayer for the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit, he will not retrograde very much, although he should not always have the privilege of hearing such preaching as he most approves.

A. B.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. IN the course of the year 1820, and the spring of 1821, I made an extensive tour through Upper and Lower Canada and the United States of America, traversing the latter through Maine and Louisiana, through Alabama, and back again through the States of Mississippi and Tennessee.

Although I had no intention of remaining in the country, the subject of emigration had become so interesting before I left England, that it was natural that in a jour ney of nearly 8000 miles in the New World, about 1800 of which I per

formed on horseback, that subject should engage much of my attention.

I was by no means qualified, either by previous habits or information, to avail myself fully of the valuable opportunities of observavation which I enjoyed but I made a few general remarks on the subject, in my correspondence with my brother; and having found on my arrival at home that he had preserved my letters, it has occurred to me, that, superficial as my knowledge was on many parts of the subject, I might possibly add something to the general stock of information on a question so pe

culiarly interesting at a time in which so many persons have been under the painful necessity of deciding on the eligibility of expatriating themselves, in order to find in the New World a freedom from those cares under which they were sinking in the Old.

If on perusing the letters I send you-which are copied, I believe, without any alteration except where there are personal allusions -it should be compatible with your plans to insert them in the Christian Observer, they are quite at your service.

At a future time I may perhaps trouble you with some remarks on the religion and morals of the United States, if I persuade myself they will be of any interest.

The lands which the Government is at present distributing in Upper Canada lie parallel to the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, and constitute a range of townships in the rear of those already granted. They are said to be no where above ten or fifteen miles distant from the old settlements. Land officers are established in ten different districts, in order to save the emigrants the trouble of going up to York; but their power is restricted to grants of a hundred acres. When an emigrant has chosen the township in which he wishes to settle, and has complied with the necessary formalities, he receives, by lot, a location-ticket for a particular hundred acres, with a condition that he is not to dispose of them for three years. The title is not given till he has performed his settling duties; which are, to clear five acres in each hundred, and the half of the road in front. Now these certainly appear to be very easy conditions on which to obtain the fee-simple of a hundred acres : and the proposal to emigrate must therefore be a tempting one to a starving labourer or mechanic.

Although I most decidedly prefer my own country, I feel that very great injustice has been done to America by most of our travellers and journalists; and I was gratified to perceive, that the Christian Observer, in the true spirit which becomes its character, was the first to endeavour to establish a more correct as well as a more candid and liberal appreciation of that interesting and powerful, though in some respects rival, nation.

H.

Philadelphia, Nov. 6, 1820. Neither am I able to write to you as fully as I could desire on the subject of emigration to the United States, upon which you say you should wish to hear what occurs to me. On this difficult and interesting topic, I will enter more particularly shortly; and, in the mean time, will send you the result of my observations on the inducements which Canada appeared to me to offer to English labourers and other persons of little or no property. Those observations were necessarily both rapid and superficial; and my information is proportionably scanty, although I endeavoured to seize every opportunity of obtaining intelligence.

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 241.

The real inducements, however, are so much less than the apparent ones, that although many would wisely emigrate even with a full conviction of the difficulties they had to encounter, I believe that, at present, there is not one emigrant in five hundred who does not feel bitterly disappointed on his arrival at Quebec. Instead of finding himself, as his confused ideas of geography had led him to expect, on the very borders of his little estate, he learns with astonishment that he is still five hundred miles from his transatlantic acres; and, if he has no money in his pocket, he may probably have to encounter, in reaching them, more severe distress than he ever felt at home. There is indeed much benevolent feeling towards emigrants both at Quebec and Montreal; and societies have D