unrighteously, if not malevolently, towards our fellow-creatures. But we must do more than abstain from such guilt in our own persons. We must do what in us lies, as Christians and as citizens, to protect the dependent and helpless in their rights, and to promote the will of our great Lawgiver. We must do so by our example, by our family arrangements, by our church ministrations and discipline, and by petitioning the legislature. It is to this last duty that we at present especially call the attention of our readers. The next session of parliament will probably commence in February, and soon after, leave will be asked to introduce a Bill for Scotland, substantially the same with that reviewed in one of our last Numbers, and another will be proposed for England; `and previous to this, it will be desirable, that the house be put in possession of the feelings of the country on the subject. Petitions to be presented with this view should be ready, and as soon as Parliament sits, they should be addressed to the members to whom they are to be entrusted, with letters explanatory of the views and feelings of the petitioners. And as some difficulty is at times experienced, as to the form of petitioning, we shall take the liberty of submitting what appears to be suitable on the present occasion, leaving it with our intelligent readers to adopt what we have thus furnished, or not, as they see fit, or to modify it, so as to express more accurately their own sentiments.

FORM OF PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Unto the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, the Petition of the undersigned *Ministers, Elders, and Members of the Congregation of A., humbly sheweth,

That your Petitioners had much satisfaction in observing the continued attention given by your Honourable House to the subject of Sabbath observance during the last session of Parliament. That, firmly persuaded, as they are, of the divine authority of the Sabbath, as securing to all a day of weekly and hallowed rest, they regard every encroachment on its observance, as an interference with man's natural and inalienable right. That, constituted as society is, your Petitioners deem it impracticable to secure to all the full enjoyment of this right, otherwise than by prohibiting all unnecessary labour, and all open and offensive profanation whatever. That your Petitioners were gratified to observe the adoption

*This to be varied according to circumstances.

of this principle, in the different bills brought forward during last session.

May it therefore please your Honourable House to continue your attention to this important subject, till measures be adopted which will secure to every part of the United Kingdom, the full enjoyment of the Sabbath, as a day of hallowed rest, and your Petitioners, &c.

FORM OF PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

Unto the Right Honourable, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, the Petition of the undersigned, &c. humbly sheweth,

That your Petitioners being firmly persuaded of the divine authority of the Sabbath, as securing to all a day of weekly and hallowed rest, regard every encroachment on its observance as an interference with man's natural and inalienable right. That constituted as society is, your Peititioners deem it impractible to secure to all the full enjoyment of this right, otherwise than by prohibiting all unnecessary labour and all open and offensive profanation whatever. That your Petitioners are nevertheless distressed to observe, in different parts of the United Kingdom, the most open and oppressive forms of abuse, spreading and settling down into fixed habits.

May it therefore please your Lordships to give to this matter your most serious attention, and to promote the adoption of such measures as will fully secure to all the right observance of the Sabbath, as a day of hallowed rest; and your Petitioners, &c.

The above forms of Petition will be found in some respects different. The reason is, that the House of Lords has not yet had the subject formally brought forward, while the House of Commons has.

THE AMERICAN CHURCH.

[We have been favoured with the following letter by the respected friend to whom it is addressed, and we publish it as an interesting document to our readers, and in the hope that some of our young friends in the ministry, or looking forward to it, may sincerely weigh the proposal it makes.]

REV. & DEAR SIR,

PRESCOTT, UPPER CANADA, Dec. 12, 1833.

THE vast importance of the subject,

concerning which I take the liberty to address you, will plead,

I trust, an ample apology for me.

I was a licentiate of the Ballymena Presbytery, and emigrated to this country in 1820. When I arrived here in the fall of that year, I found no congregation, no meeting-house, and but very few Presbyterians, although an application had gone from this place to the Ballymena Presbytery, praying them to send out a minister. Among total strangers-not a man here that I ever saw, but one from Mr. Spear's congregegation-I felt much discouraged, and thought of returning home. Man, however, may devise, but the counsels of God shall stand sure. It has since appeared that He had a work for me to do in this country, and, therefore, I have remained to do it. Three meeting-houses have been built under my pastoral charge, and a fourth will be commenced in the spring. I preach about 250 sermons in the year, in eight different places on the Sabbath and week-days, ride from fifteen to twenty miles every Lord's day, and preach always twice, and frequently three times. My labours extend over six townships, and a township is about ten miles in breadth, and fifteen in length. On Monday morning I am frequently forty miles from home. You will not be surprised when I inform you, that after thirteen years of incessant labour of body and mind, which I will not attempt here to describe, I am almost worn out in the Redeemer's cause, and willing to circumscribe my labours. Some of the children baptized by me, have been rebaptized by a clergyman of the Church of England; I have been arrested in my own house, tried at the bar of my adopted country, for the conscientious discharge of my pastoral duties; but thank God, these days have passed away, never to return, and we have triumphed; because truth is as eternal as the heavens, and God has made it in all ages and will continue to make it triumph, that it may appear to be like himself. These things, however, with the care of the infant churches under my charge, were more than I would have endured, if God had not been with me; but with him we can do valiantly.

My congregations have so increased, and my labours are so great, that I must resign part of my charge; and that part which, probably, I may resign, being in the country, will be able to pay £100 per annum. Now, my dear Sir, as you have a good opportunity of knowing the clergymen, and a very general acquaintance with them; and as I can confide in your Orthodoxy, will you have the goodness to make the spiritual wants of the people in this country known to them, and, perhaps, some who are sound in the faith, and willing to spend and be spent in the cause of Christ, may 66 come over and help us?" Thousands of your dear countrymen, bone of your bone.

and flesh of your flesh, are coming here year after year; they are laying down the Canadian forest before them, converting the wilderness into fertile plains, providing, by their industry, better homes than those they left behind; but, let my ministerial brethren of the Synod of Ulster remember, that immense multitudes of these dear immortal souls that once sat under their ministry, have now hung their harps upon the high cedars and sturdy oaks of Canada, which will be able to sustain them long; and in the name of these immortal souls, and in the name of the Great King and Head of the church, I ask the ministers of Ireland, who among them will come and take these harps down, and again teach their dear countrymen to sing the wonders of redeeming love in this strange land? I plead with you, Sir, the eternal interests of immortal souls. During this period of labour, it will be eternally remembered, that thousands of our countrymen are going down to the chambers of the dead without a minister's voice to warn them, or comfort those who mourn their departure. Oh! my dear Sir, think of one of your dear people, and that one, perhaps, the father of a large and young family, dying in the wilderness, and no minister to visit him in his last moments, nor his family after he is gone. These people have left their native homes, to seek more comfortable ones in this strange land; they, therefore, call into active exertion all their moral and physical powers to accomplish this one object; but it is not difficult to comprehend, how men thus situated will soon bring themselves to forget that they have a God to serve, spiritual duties to perform, an immortal soul to be saved, an All-seeing Judge to meet, and at last go down to the grave hardened and impenitent. Whilst the Secession and the Church of Scotland are doing great things for their countrymen here, sending out missionaries, encouraging others to come, and thereby opening up a field of usefulness for their ministers, building up their respective churches in this important and widely extended colony; will the wisdom, the talent, and the wealth of the Synod of Ulster lie dormant, go down to the grave, in a great measure, in forgetfulness, and suffer to be far in the rere of other religious bodies in missionary labours? I cannot, I will not believe it. I will live to hear of the voice of a Cooke, a Stewart, and many others, lifted up as the sound of many waters, within the walls of the Synod of Ulster, advocating the spiritual wants of their countrymen in Upper Canada, and directing the attention of ministers to it, as a field of eminent usefulness.

There are many young men in Ireland of piety and talent,

going about, in a manner, doing nothing; preaching for ordained ministers, and only encouraging them in habits of idleness, (as I have been one of six probationers who met at a clergyman's house on Saturday night, and more than that number have not been in my house since I came to Canada;) let a few of them come out here, and, I assure you, we will give them work to do; abundance to eat, drink, and wear, and although they will not want difficulties, in a few years, they will, by the blessing of God, become comfortable in their worldly circumstances, and above all, if they have the heart and the mind to do good, they will have the most favourable opportunities. We want no Arminian, Arian, Socinian ministers, but men of true piety, and sound in the Calvinistic faith; and bringing these things with them, whether they come from the Synod of Ulster, or the Secession, we receive them with open arms. "Our United Synod of Upper Canada" consists of 16 members, and once in the two years I travel 250 miles to meet it. A few months ago, the government granted us £700 per annum. We have made an equal dividend of it; how long it may be continued, or whether they will grant a further sum on account of members being added, that is, to new erections, I know not. country has been, and is now, much agitated with politics.Could the Synod of Ulster send out one missionary, and pay him for two years? Can you procure a minister, one in whom you can confide, to come out, and take part of my charge? Will you have the goodness to write to Brother Stewart of B. upon this subject, and give him my kind compliments, and say, that I rely also upon his friendship respecting the subject matter of this letter. Our Synod will meet in June, and they intend to address your Synod respecting a supply of ministers. I was requested by the Presbytery to write to you upon the subject, and ascertain what our probable prospects might be. Will you have the goodness to favour me with an answer before our next meeting of Synod?

The

My dear Sir, you will excuse me, when I urge the objects of this letter upon your serious consideration, and request you to communicate them to the Rev. R. Stewart. I am deeply interested in them. I have read and heard a good deal respecting the separation in the Synod of Ulster. I have many things to say, but cannot now. If you want any information respecting this country, if you write to me, I will endeavour to give it. Could you send me a copy of the minutes of your last meeting of Synod, by some person sailing from Belfast? I remain your Brother in the Gospel, &c. ROBERT BOYD.

No more.

To the Rev. Dr. Cooke, Belfast.