Nono, wishing to signalize his previously not very glorious Pontificate, by some extraordinary act, and having, as he said, "sought assistance from the most holy Virgin Mary, the mother of God, and from the saints, who have made England glorious by their virtues," declared, in an assembly of fifty-four cardinals and one hundred and forty bishops, held in the autumn of 1854, that, "in the first moment of her conception, the Virgin Mary was preserved free from all stain of original sin, by a special act of grace of God Almighty, in view of the merits of Christ," and that, henceforth, this must be the belief of all Catholics. In England, the enunciation of this dogma was regarded with indifference or contempt, except in Popish circles; but, in many Catholic countries, it greatly intensified the idolatry of which Mary was previously the object. Santiago was doomed to be affected by the newly authorised doctrine in an extraordinary manner. It has there been employed by the Jesuits for the extension and establishment of their sway over the minds of the ignorant population. As usual, they have been mainly successful with the females of the city, nearly all of whom have been persuaded by them-in opposition to the remonstrances of husbands and fathers-to become the members of a vast sisterhood designated, "The Daughters of Mary." Of this confederation, designed specially to promote the fame and worship of the Virgin, the Church of La Compania was the centre, which accounts for the large number of females present on the night of the catastrophe. In the name of Mary, and professedly for her honour, Ugarte and his coadjutors played such fantastic tricks as might have made angels weep-could those sinless beings be susceptible of sorrow-and demons laugh. A raffle for the favour of the Virgin was one of the inventions of this son of Satan, one of the prizes being drawn by an infidel statesman, and another by a lady of easy virtue. Strange characters these to be regarded with special favour by the Immaculate Virgin!

But the ne plus ultra of Ugarte, his highest achievement in religious charlatanry, was the establishment of a Celestial Post Office, by which the "Daughters of Mary" might correspond with their Virgin mother.

"At the entrance of the temple, the Virgin's letter-box was constantly open, and there persons of robust faith deposited, in sealed letters, their wishes and their prayers. Every Wednesday that letter-box for eternity was placed before the high altar, and Ugarte, who acted as postman between the mother of God and her daughters, exhibited to the Divinity those offerings."

The letters thus intended for the Virgin, were, of course, pre-paid, and thus made a source of revenue to the Jesuits. To perpetuate the imposture, letters seeking for favours of little value, would sometimes be answered by the priests causing the objects asked for to be conveyed, by some apparently supernatural means, to

their writers; while others, whose desires were not so moderate, were directed to continue to write and pray, that by their perseverance the Virgin might be rendered propitious. Surely the force of folly and impudence could have gone no farther! We are almost equally astonished at the audacity of the priests, and at the ignorance and stupidity of their dupes. That so much devotedness to one supposed to have boundless influence in heaven, should have been followed by the destruction of so many of her devotees, naturally excited much surprise among the surviving population of the city, as it probably will in the minds of thoughtfal Catholics in other places The priests, however, equal to the emergency, have insulted those whose kindred perished in the flames, by declaring that their death was "a special mercy of Mary, who wanted to take them all to her bosom," and that it had been permitted by God "because Chili wanted a supply of saints and martyrs." Some persons think it strange-and not without reason that Mary, in selecting the objects of her "mercy," passed by all the priests, and that none of them was honoured with the martyrdom by fire. Had she chosen Ugarte, instead of one of his victims, we suspect that few would have regretted his elevation to the honours which he pronounces so desirable for others.

In vain did some of the recreant priests, having first secured themselves in a place of safety, sprinkle those near them with "holy water," and pronounce over them the words of absolution; the blood of their victims cries to heaven against them, and will not be forgotten in the great day of inquisition. The men who, in that awful hour, preferred the adjuncts of their idolatrous worship to the lives of their fellow-creatures, whose agonies they witnessed, and whose shrieks they heard, must be regarded with indignation by every man in whose breast humanity is not quite dead. Let us, however, while condemning these ecclesiastical cowards, keep our attention most awake to the enormities of the system of which they are the fitting representatives. Where Popery reigns ignorance prevails; and if we would see the former perish we must remove the latter. Such scenes as those we have reviewed loudly call on Protestant Churches to enlarged and persevering efforts for the dissemination of that truth which is the antagonist of superstition and vice of every kind and name. Should the Santiago conflagration result in this, it will not have occurred in vain; evil will, by an all-wise Providence, have been overruled for good, and the time accelerated when the angel of the Apocalypse shall exclaim, with a voice that shall fill heaven with joy, and hell with dismay, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Rawtenstall Pulpit.

YOUTH.

THE morning of life is, doubtless, the most pleasant period in human existence. The body is healthy and strong; the blood flows gayly, and the heart beats with the strongest emotions of expectation and hope. The senses are perfectly developed; the smell enjoys the fragrance of every flower; the taste the delicacies of every season; the ear the vibration and harmony of every sound. The head is not blanched with the snow of years; the face is not furrowed by time; there is no dimness of vision, no trembling of limb. And there is a young mind in this young body; a mind of vast expanse, whose principles are best strengthened and matured by experience; a mind with power to detect and retain; with power to appropriate and superintend; with motives to propel, with reason to guide, with judgment to decide, with memory to lay-by in store and recall.

What dignity and importance attach to the mind when its immortality is admitted and considered. This world is filled with the creations of its power, and graced with the adornments of its fancy. But now, it is only in the dreamy and impotent state of infancy; and its present abode is too confined, time is too short, for the full disclosure of its resources. It ranges widely and sublimely, advancing into eternity, an unbounded amplitude congenial to the greatness of its nature. It has energies that can never be spent, a fervour that can never be quenched. The sea with its wonders, the earth with its fruits and beauties, the lofty firmament, bespangled and gemmed with reflecting bodies of heavenly lustre, may merge in general confusion, while mind, with its principles and thoughts, its projects and aspirations, shall rise, unblackened and unscathed, admidst the final crush, gathering splendour from a thousand gleams of glory irradiating its pathway to immortal blessedness..

LITTLE THINGS.

Very few notice with critical exactness small objects. An elephant receives more attention than a fly. It is a question difficult to settle whether the telescope or the microscope has revealed most wonders. This is certain, as we understand the minute we are better able to comprehend the vast. The details of the school boy are the materials for the structure of manhood. The majestic oak is the child of the acorn.

FROM DEATH COMES LIFE.

The fallen leaf nourishes the root of the tree which produced it, and thus begins again to live, reappearing the next spring fresh and green as before. As the beauty and richness of the harvest come from the coffined and decomposed grain, precious and abundant fruit comes from the death of Christ. His death is our life. He is styled the "first fruits." What does this arithmetical language mean? No such fruit before. Not the only fruit, some to follow. The promise and evidence of other fruit, fruit everywhere, and in all

ages.

PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST.

Go back to the time of the pre-adamite earth; go back to the earliest geologic period; go back before chronology inscribed its first date, and you find Him dwelling in the silence and grandeur of His own eternity.

CHRIST WITHOUT A COMPEER.

History knows no character to approach Him in moral worth and in the multitude of His followers. The best and the oldest surviving book abounds with allusions and representations of Him. Patriarchs, walking in the grey dawn of Christianity, saw His day with gladness. In tracing His glorious life, and dwelling on His matchless love, prophets and bards attained an altitude of thought magnificently sublime, and felt raptures which they could not describe. Priests looked upon their vestments, and altars, and sacrifices, as the shadows of "good things to come," and had their salvation as they borrowed their light from His cross. His Spirit was in the law, as His presence is in the gospel. Angels wandered from the palace of their King, to sing an anthem over His manger-cradle, and women left their homes to weep at His grave. We ought to betake ourselves to the contemplation of such a character with admiration solemnized by reverence, and with love instructed by knowledge.

WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?

There are some questions, important in themselves, which only concern a few. A man asks, what shall I do to get that lucrative situation? Another asks, how am I to settle my children comfortably, and with credit to myself? But this question concerns all; for Christ came to enlighten all, and died to save all. There are

some questions which have only a momentary interest. How to rescue a crew from shipwreck; or, how to repel the stroke of an adversary, are of this nature. But this question is of permanent interest. While there is a trembling conscience inquiring, What must I do to be saved? While humanity groans for a deliverance it cannot effect, is conscious of a void it cannot replenish, a hunger it cannot satisfy, a thirst it cannot slake, the text will retain its primal importance. There are some questions that are more curious than momentous. A man wants to know the length and colour of angels' wings; whether angels have bodies; if so, what is their food? and what is their raiment? and how can they move from place to place with agility and expedition? But this question is a ponderous one. There is nothing trifling in it. Addressed to man's understanding and heart, the answer is expected to reveal the range of his light, and the depth of his love. There are some questions that you would be at liberty to treat lightly, from the absurdities involved. It is asked, "Is the colour of the soul blue, and its shape triangular? Do the inhabitants of Jupiter walk with their heads downwards? Is the sun a body of melted glass ?" (Dwight.) But at your peril you treat this question with indifference. There is nothing ridiculous in it. It is as rational as it is solemn, There are some

questions which cannot be answered. There is not a farmer that can tell you how seed germinates; there is not a philosopher that can tell you how mind operates on matter, or, how the principle of vitality in vegetables and animals originates. The more intelligent simply say that they cannot tell. But this question has been answered a thousand times, and it is ever fresh and ever new. It does not ask for an infallible and absolute judgment, but simply for an opinion. What think ye of Christ?

PROPHECY.

Within the wide range of sacred prophecy are included the most remarkable events and persons. Circumstances of grandeur and individuals of consequence, pass vividly before the interested reader, with the nearness and importance of present realities. It is no longer prophecy but history; no longer anticipation, but experience; the theory has fallen into the rank and file of actual events. The sounds of the future are heard; the scenes of the future are seen; the senses are superceded, and imagination is supreme. The destruction of Jerusalem is foretold; the description is so minute and impressive that we are transported in thought to the summit of a neighbour hill, and we see the Roman soldiers crowding at the gates, we hear the thunder-strokes of the battering rama, and the resounding crash of the fallen stones; we see the battlements scaled, and more than a million of the inhabitants attenuated, drooping, and dying by famine, or becoming the food of the hungry lip of the sword of the insolent invader, and the doomed city sacked and destroyed. Where there is prophecy there is inspiration. There are no principles in ethics, or in physical science, enabling man to predict the time, place, and other leading circumstances of any coming event in the moral world. The mutability of human conduct forbids such a prediction. Who can penetrate the thick foldings of that veil which overhangs the vision of unassisted man? His eye requires to be unfilmed by a divine operation. He only knows that which his senses are capable of communicating. I can understand Professor Airy, by means of mathematical astronomy, prognosticating an eclipse; or Admiral Fitzroy, by close observation and classified data, giving the prelude of the storm; these predictions have to do with results in the region of unreasoning, blind matter, operat ing according to inflexible and invariable laws. To know the laws is to foretel the results. But what about a knowledge of events which shall transpire five hundred years hence, and shall be dependent upon the conduct of man who is the most changeful of beings? Daniel gives the answer. "There is a God in heaven that revealeth the secrets." I say farther, that the words in which the Scripture prophecies are couched were also matter of inspiration. Hence men of letters speak in terms as glowing of the literary attractions of such portions of the Bible, as the saints do of their consolatory doctrines. The figures are clothed in purple and fine linen. Isaiah writes; every line traced by his inspired pen is a beautiful creation of objects and scenes, fragrant and lovely as Eden's flowers, tall and majestic as Lebanon's cedars. What description of battle and con