tributors. For a trifle, a volume is lent a sufficient time for its being hurried over. We do not include our Mechanics' Institutions' libraries as belonging to this class; they are honourable exceptions. The largest of these pernicious collections in the town of Leeds contains about seven thousand volumes, amongst which there are, of history, biography, voyages, travels, &c., about 'five hundred volumes; all the rest are works of fiction, not a tithe of which would profit any one to read them. In the language of a previously-quoted author, "they carry a turpid stream of vice over the morals of mankind. They corrupt the taste, pollute the heart, debase the mind, demoralise the conduct. They throw prostrate the understanding, sensualise the affections, enervate the will, and bring all the higher faculties of the soul into subjection to an imagination which they have first made wild, insane, and uncontrollable; they furnish no ideas, and generate a morbid, sickly sentimentalism, instead of a just and lovely sensibility. A wise man should despise them, and a good man abhor them." We wish these facts to be borne in mind by our teachers, for we regard such libraries as so many plague-spots in our land; and we wish them to impress upon their scholars the necessity and utility of reading good wholesome books. Might not our Sabbath school libraries be made far more interesting and tempting than they are to our senior scholars ? It does not follow, as some seem to think, that because they are Sabbath school libraries, they should contain no other works but those strictly religious; nor that all the books distributed on a Sabbath should be proper only for reading on that day. Works of theology, and books strictly religious are to most juvenile minds uninteresting and insipid, and those who are or have been library secretaries, or upon their managing committees, well know that books of this description are the least read. We rarely find, in looking over the catalogues, initiatory or elemental works on botany, chemistry, drawing, geology, or astronomy; yet we doubt not but that some of these would furnish congenial studies, and be proper food for the minds of many of our scholars. In the department of scientific and literary biography they are generally very deficient. We must now conclude, hoping that the subject, or some of the observations thrown out, may induce some one more competent than the writer to follow them up. If so, the better half of my object in submitting them will be accomplished. Leeds, R K. S. UNION OF SABBATH SCHOOLS. TO THE EDITOR,-DEAR SIR, ALLOW me to address, through your valuable miscellany, our Sabbath school teachers, on a subject which has not been forgotten by our Annual Assemblies, as evidenced by their counsels, exhortations, and prayers, Sunday school teachers, I congratulate you in being employed in the most important service of religiously instructing the rising generation. I hope that the love you bear to Christ and the souls of the young, has influenced you to undertake the arduous task of informing the youthful mind about Christ; that the inclinations of their will may be corrected, the affections fixed on a proper object, and their feet directed into the paths of obedience, love, and peace. At the present time, praiseworthy efforts are being made to induce Christians. of various denominations to unite in the manifestation of their brotherhood in Christ. Most of the arguments advanced in support of Christian union, are as applicable to union among teachers, as to the object to which they are intended more inmediately to apply. We conceive, there is a very simple method that might be employed to unite all the schools in our Connexion. At present all are engaged on the same general principles, but the important connecting link, in many cases, is wanting. We have the means of forming that link, by getting our itinerant preachers properly connected and identified with our Sabbath schools. For this purpose, I would advise you, as the Annual Assembly is drawing near, to take this subject into your serious consideration, and to request the representatives, appointed by your circuits, to bring it under the notice of the Annual Assembly, and to solicit that a list of the circuits recognizing their itinerant preachers as the link of union between the schools and our churches may be published. Thus the extent of your connexional union may be seen; and the preachers will see where they are cordially invited to co-operate with the Sabbath School teachers. T. S. A SUNDAY EVENING'S SCENE. ON Sunday, June 14th, I was called, in the order of Providence, to preach in one of our seaport towns in the northern part of the kingdom. I preached twice, and assisted in the prayer meeting after the evening's service. Through the day the sky was cloudless, and the heat oppressive; but in the evening dark clouds hung overhead; in the air was solemn stillness, the leaves of the trees trembled, and the almost purple glare of the sun's last rays rested on the tops of the houses; altogether, it was just such an evening as, if we had been in the West Indies, we should have looked upon as a portend of coming calamity. It was proposed by a friend walking with me from the chapel, that our route home should be by the quay of the river. As soon as we arrived there, our attention was arrested by a number of persons standing on both sides of the river. At first we conjectured that a steamer had either just arrived or was expected; but the melancholy information was soon given us that a man had been drowned. He had then been about an hour under water, and two boats were employed in dragging for him. While we were standing, the cry came from the opposite side of the river, "They've got him, they've got him!" a ery which produced thrilling sensations in my breast, sensations which no ordinary incident can cause, and which I hope not often to be the subject of. I stood on an eminence, and saw, only some twenty yards from me, the poor stiffened corpse laid in the boat. He was a foreign sailor, about eighteen or nineteen years of age. The melancholy circumstance seems to have taken place in the following manner. The master of the vessel had given the sailor a letter to take on shore. He was getting out of the ship into the boat, but somehow unfortunately slipped between both. He was no swimmer; and before he could be rescued, had sunk a third time. It was impossible to witness such a scene without reflecting upon the awful uncertainty of human life. He was a young man, who on that morning was in the enjoyment of health, and when he awoke and saw the beautiful light of the sun, he little conceived he would be in eternity, and his everlasting doom fixed, before its setting. In the midst of life we are in death. Reader of these lines, let me ask thee, Art thou unconverted? How sad and dangerous is thy state. The security thou hast of thy life is no stronger than a spider's thread. A few more weeks, and thou mayest be in thy grave, and the green grass waving over thee. Be solemnly warned, then; and ". prepare to meet thy God." Another reflection forced upon me from the scene was, the insensibility and hardness of the ungodly. Hundreds were assembled; but instead of the melancholy fate of a fellow mortal causing a pensive sadness to rest on every countenance, rude unfeeling unconcern was everywhere visible. Oh, it is the grace of God which can make us "kind and tender-hearted." With sad and sorrowful feelings, I walked away from the quay of that river, both on account of the gloomy catastrophe of that unhappy young man, and the sunk and debased condition of my fellow creatures. I thanked God that, though "least of all," I was numbered amongst the "saints of the Most High." May I live in their communion; and when I die, may I witness their sympathies, and then dwell with them where there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, but where the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." I. M. SLANDER. THERE are few vices more debasing, more disastrous in their consequences on society, than slander. Like sharp frosts, it blights the loveliest flowers. It lays waste like a sweeping fire, or dreadful pestilence. All are liable, at any moment, to fall before its withering touch. The best, the purest, the most virtuous, have fallen before its power. These, in fact, are the most liable to the scathing influence of slander. For slander is the child of envy, jealousy, and ` other evil passions. Let an individual stand prominently before the world as uncommonly amiable, lovely, virtuous, and of good report, and he soon will' be assailed by the voice of slander "Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie All corners of the world." Alas! how often is the heart of the virtuous made to ache and BLEED by the vice of evil speaking. And why is it that any one can indulge in such mean and wicked conduct? Surely it is only to gratify an envious and malicious disposi tion. And for such unholy gratifications must the virtuous be made to suffer, and be robbed of that which is dearer than wealth, health, or life-a spotless reputation. I once knew a young lady; she was lovely and strictly virtuous, the delight of many happy social circles, and was admired for her spotless purity. At length envy and jealousy rankled in the bosom of one who professed to be her friend, and this person proved her greatest foe; "the poison of asps was under her lips," she now spoke evil of her, whom she once considered pure and innocent, Others of her sex, with eagerness and pleasure, spread the base unfounded report, till, strange to say, many less intimate friends, and total strangers, believed it true. When it had reached the ears of the injured young lady, she wept as if her heart would break, and as if her "head were a fountain of tears." She could not be comforted. If my heart ever throbbed with sympathy, if I ever felt or saw the wretched effects of evil speaking, it was then. I wished the originator of the foul slander had witnessed that scene; had her heart been as the flinty rock it must have beer. affected. How frequently do such scenes occur ! It is much to be lamented that there are so many persons who delight in slandering the characters of others, and that so many are willing to lend an attentive and delighted ear to such slanders. A person's reputation, that which is dearer than all temporal things, is trifled with, as if it were a mere bauble. Such things ought not so to be. Why will the feeling breast with pain and woe, Why rob the Christian of his spotless fame, And by deception blight the purest name?" Slanderers ought not to be countenanced or listened to; they should be looked upon with a deserved frown. Thus would the good of the community be advanced; many truly virtuous characters be saved from injury, perhaps from utter destruction; and the mouth of the slanderer be stopped. I incline to think that those who indulge in evil speaking, are not fully aware of the heinous nature of the crime of which they are guilty, nor of its destructive consequences. We cannot at all times ascertain the motive by which the slanderer is actuated; but often it is of the most base and despicable kind; sometimes, perhaps, it is to be revenged for some slight or supposed injury received; at other times they strive to depreciate the character of another, in order to exalt themselves. When the latter is the case, the attempt is often a miserable failure; for if the person who happens to be in the unenviable position of hearer, be honest and discriminating, he will at once close his ears, suspect and reprove the slanderer. Finney says, "We need not be a liar to be a slanderer." If we tell the truth with a design to injure, that is slander. Would to God, the church were free from this most mean and despicable of all kinds of vice. Alas! how few attend to the advice of the blessed Saviour, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone." For want of attention to this admirable advice, how often has the pious minister's heart been made to ache, and his eyes to weep; the peace, unity, and prosperity of families and churches destroyed.. "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." The apostle James says, the untamed tongue is a FIRE, a world of iniquity, it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the whole course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. This language is most emphatic when applied to the tongue of the slanderer. His tongue is indeed a fire, an unruly evil-not his neighbours' or enemies,' but his own tongue. The apostle intimates, that it is easier to curb an unruly horse, or to guide a ship in a storm, than to tame the tongue. He moreover says, that if a man accomplish this, the same shall be called a perfect man; and "the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." To speak evil of an absent brother is consummate cowardice. It is a verbal assassination of the person, and is too often, alas! followed by consequences the most direful and afflictive. May the time speedily arrive when the law of kindness and forbearance shall be written on every professing Christian's heart, when they shall "forgive one another in love, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us." "He that will have friends must show himself friendly." This principle never fails. There should be kindness in the Christian's look, in his words, and in his acts. The celebrated missionary Moffat, when over in England, said, "He never in one instance knew kindness to fail, even in taming an African savage; he had gone into their wigwams when fierceness was depicted in every feature of their face, but he invariably conquered them by kindness ere he left their hut." Let Christians take a lesson from this, and learn the "more excellent way.' them give more earnest heed to the apostolic injunction, "Speak evil of no man," and be kindly affectionate one towards another. Thus the world will be constrained to say, "See how these Christians love each other." FINANCES OF THE CONNEXION. TO THE EDITOR, DEAR SIR, "Let S. M. 1 How the income of our Connexion should be made to meet its expenditure? is a question which for the last few years has cost the Annual Assembly much anxious deliberation. While reading the work of Dr. Reed, on the "Advancement of Religion, the Claim of the Times," my attention was arrested by a passage bearing upon the subject, which I have transcribed. If you think its sentiments worthy of serious consideration, its insertion in the Magazine will oblige yours, "A READER." "WHY should our great annual assemblies be so much the scene of bustle and of business, and so little of calm earnest devotion? As if the advancement of religion in the world could be secured by any other means than its decided advancement in ourselves? It is a mistake utterly a mistake. We must look higher and we shall get more. Wealth will come when we are poor in spirit; and success as we are prepared by a mortified spirit to bear it. The secondary will wait on the primary; but if the primary is neglected and deɛ-. pised, the secondary will not be available. We may go on to accumulate means on means, and agency on agency, till they are stupendous to look upon; but they shall be like Ezekiel's machine, without the living eyes and spirit that moved it; great, but unmanageable and useless-the monument at once of our labour, our folly, and our unbelief!" O THAT there were amongst us more of the spirit of ardent believing and persevering prayer! Where are the mantles of the men of former days? Where is the power and spirit of Elijah? And where is the love, the zeal, and the courage which fired the hearts and animated the bosoms of our reformers and our founders? Is there not such need for exertion now, as there was then? Is the world less guilty, or are souls less valuable now, than they were then Is salvation less precious, or is damnation less awful now, than it was then? Is God harder to be intreated, or is the Spirit less willing to be imparted now, than he was then? Has prayer lost its efficacy and the blood of Christ its virtue? Ye mighty dead! ye cloud of witnesses, what say you? No! Ye angelic host-ye ministers of His-ye that stand before the throne and perform your Maker's pleasure-what say you? Has prayer lost its efficacy, or the blood of Christ its virtue? No! Ye spirits of darkness, from whose adamantine grasp many a captive has been delivered, what say you to the question? However reluctant may be your reply, you—yes, you, are compelled to answer, No, No! Christians, what say you to this question? prayer lost its efficacy, or the blood of Christ its virtue, or the spirit of Christ its power? We answer in language sounding from the throne, "The Lord's ear is not heavy that it cannot hear; neither is his arm shortened that it can. not save." Then why is not the world converted, and the purposes of redeeming mercy accomplished? We answer again, in language sounding from the throne, "I will be inquired by the house of Israel to do these things for them" "Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them." "To your tents, then, O Israel!"-to your closets-to your knees, in earnest, beseeching, imploring prayer, for the yet unpoured influences of the Holy Spirit, that the world may be enlightened, renovated, and renewed, "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new !" Has Such is the grand consummation which the missionary enterprize aims at, and which it is intended to realize. Let each, then, ask himself, What can I do to accelerate this glorious period of renovation and renewal ? What can I do to lessen the amount of human misery, and to increase the sum of human happiness? What department of the great field of labour can I occupy with most advantage, and with the probabilities of most success? And not only ask the question, but give it a tangible, persevering, and practical answer. Let parents take this question to their children, and ask what they can do to serve the interests of this great cause? Let teachers take this question into their Sabbath schools, and ask their scholars what they can do? And let the minister take this question into the pulpit, and, on all fitting occasions, ask the youth, and others of his congregation, what they can do? And let each, let all, be urged to try, and give a practical answer. If ever there was a time when |