until within two days after this, when death put an end to her sufferings. From the broken sentences which her friends told me she uttered during the moments of returning reason, there cannot be a doubt but that her spirit winged its flight from a world of sin and misery, to a region of purity and everlasting blessedness. CHARLES.

REFLECTION.

'WHAT God hath joined together let no man put asunder,' was, I confess, a prayer which I could not help offering up when I heard the King of kings, and Lord of lords' besought most heartily 'to behold our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria, and so to replenish her with the grace of his Holy Spirit, that she might alway incline to his will and walk in his way;' and when the thought that one so young, so fair, and (of necessity) so inexperienced, was called to hold the reins of the government of this mighty empire, at a time so confessedly fraught with dangers as the present moment, I trembled at the prospect, till I recollected that, as a believer in revelation, I knew that it is the Lord who reigneth over all by whom kings reign; and that the Church, acknowledging that great truth, was sending up from not less than ten thousand Sanctuaries;-the same prayer commending her, with one consent,' to his providential care and guidance who has promised that where two or three are gathered together in his name he will grant their requests.' And surely that Kings and Queens should be the nursing parents of the Church, is as beautiful a

[BY THE GRACE OF GOD, OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT B AND IRELAND, QUEEN, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, &c. &

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system as it is scriptural both in word and in example, and as necessary to the real good of the nation to be governed as either. If it be beautiful, scriptural, and needful for a father of a family to establish the order of family worship, and to provide, spiritually as well as temporally, for his own household, how should it be otherwise in the case of the King, Queen, or ruler of a people, since he or she is but the greater head of a greater family? It has been reserved for the would-bewisdom of modern days to drivel out such an opinion as this, 'That religion is a matter so entirely between man and his God, that no one has any right to step in with the authority and power of a legislator or ruler and provide religious instruction for him.' If this absurd position were tenable for a moment, the authority not only of a Sovereign to provide true religion instead of false for the good of his people; but also the authority of a father to interfere with the religion of his children; as well as the authority of a Minister in not shunning to declare what is the counsel of God, (and by consequence to declare with the same authority what is "another gospel,") must be deemed an intrusion upon the liberty of man! And what must be the consequence ?—That whilst he that steps in with authority to provide for the temporal welfare of man may do it without any breach upon his right, the moment he makes his spiritual welfare the object of his provision he abridges the right of individuals, and assumes a power that does not belong to him ; and rather every man must be left to enjoy a liberty which will soon release subjects from fearing God or honouring the King;-children from the wholesome authority of parents ;-people from submission to their

spiritual rulers and guides;-and a land of order, holiness, and happiness, into a land of confusion, sin, and misery. What reason then for "the remnant that are left" to pour forth their prayers to the Lord in his holy temple,-to him whose throne is in heaven, and who from that throne beholdeth all the dwellers upon earth,'-that he may arise,-scatter the enemies of our Church and State,-that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations!'

'Thy choicest gifts in store,
Still on VICTORIA pour;

Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws,

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice,
God save the QUEEN.'

A LETTER.

SIR,-As one great design of this little periodical is to help the believer on his way Zionward, I feel called on to plead (for the encouragement of the young convert) for an insertion into its pages an extract of a letter from an established Christian in India to an English officer and friend there stationed, and from whom he had just been separated, trusting it may be in the Lord's hand an instrument of good, without whose Spirit's aid all human attempts are unavailing.

Z.

'We are now, my dear friends, each of us placed in a state of separation from the people of the Lord, and left to commune with our own hearts and with our God. It is well for the believer that when most alone in one sense he is still not alone in a higher and better sense for his covenant God, who has called him by his grace, and quickened him by his Spirit, will never leave nor forsake him. Let this be your consolation, dear friends; let this be your confidence; for only in simply believing it can prove a source of comfort; neither must you judge of the presence of the Lord with you by your sensible enjoyments. Truly I believe that the Lord is not unfrequently nearest to his people when they are most deeply mourning his absence; for in the salutary discipline he may see fit to carry on with the soul he loves it may be a part of his wise and gracious plan so to withdraw his manifestations as to bring forth in much bitterness of spirit those earnest cries which the exercised soul cannot express in word, but which are described as 'groanings which cannot be uttered." But he sees through the darkness, and though the season may be exquisitely distressing, yet faith must rest upon the simple word of truth, (Jer. xxxi. 3,) and take up the language of Job, (chapter xxiii. 10,) in sure anticipation that darkness shall become light, and that we shall yet have to praise him for his faithfulness and truth. The Lord indeed can and may vouchsafe continued light to the soul, but it is not usually so. The pilgrim is in the wilderness, and must expect days of storm and nights of darkness, as well as hours of peace and joy. Be alike, dear friends, prepared for both, so that when the trial comes you may not think

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