The Salvation of Israel. A Sermon on behalf of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews. By Rev. GEORGE SMITH. Aylott and Jones, Paternoster row. THIS is an able and judicious discourse, and will be read with pleasure by all who have formed scriptural views of the salvation of Israel. The society for whose benefit it has been preached and published has strong claims on the support of Christians of all denominations.

"A SABBATH EVE IN SUMMER-TIDE."

How peacefully the moment's glide

Of evening's dewy close,
Lulling the heart's unquiet tide

To calmness and repose.

Or if a soft breeze hovereth

Above that sleeping sea,

'Tis as the gentle south wind's breath

From perfumed Araby.

And balmy odours on it come,

Of fadeless flowers to tell,

Which wreathe the exile's distant home,

Where he ere long shall dwell.

And rosy sunbeams linger yet

Amid the golden west,
Telling of suns that never set,

Of pure and perfect rest.

And many a feathered warbler's note

[s borne upon the breeze;

But thro' those glorious realms shall float

Undying melodies.

Sweet Sabbath hours! in mercy given,

Amid life's changing skies,

To shadow forth that perfect heaven,
Whose sabbath never dies!

Oh, when of life's uncertain day

The sunset hour is come,

As now, may beams of glory play,

To light the wanderer home!

E. M. I.

387

THE EDITOR'S APPEAL.

THE INDEPENDENT OR YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S MAGAZINE has thus far kept its course. Cast on the waters of society—a pilot-barkit has rode the waves, with no sheet-anchor but truth, with no gale to fill its sails but the divine blessing, with no compass but the divine word. And now the Christian public are on the eve of doubling a cape; a new year is about to burst upon them. Who can tell what secrets are enfolded in the dim sea-caves of 1845? Who can tell what rocks and quicksands may be in their way, or what gusts may suddenly arise to beat upon them? This is not a time to withdraw any means of disseminating truth; this misty uncertainty should not, must not, cannot be the occasion for extinguishing a light that points the voyager to his haven.

Upon the readers of this magazine it rests to determine, and to determine now, whether it shall continue through another year. Not seldom has it been affirmed, that no periodical can succeed which does not belong to some public society. The Editor denies the charge. It is a libel on the religious world. What! shall intrinsic merit exert no influence? Is the worthless shell all that is regarded, and the wholesome kernel despised? Is truth itself contemned, unless sheltered by patronage? Is there not virtue enough in the community to respond to that which is good and just, unless it have the appendage of names? Let every one who loves the truth assist to wipe away the reproach, by helping forward the circulation of a magazine which has for its single object the maintenance of truth in all its purity and its power.

The Editor rejoices to know that there are other periodicals pledged to the advocacy of the same great principles. The Congregational Magazine must ever obtain the suffrages of the most intelligent portion of the Independent body. The Evangelical Magazine, honoured for upwards of fifty years in carrying on a great work, demands continued sympathy. The Christian Witness lifts up its voice nobly for the right. There are others, devoted to specific purposes, too numerous to be named. But the Independent or Young Christian's Magazine has a character peculiar to itself, and claims which are peculiarly its own. It is for the young; it reflects their own buoyant spirit; it gives voice to their own untired energies. It is to aid them rightly to consider themselves, in their present solemn position-endowed with mighty powers-privileged with facilities and opportunities unknown in past ages-and destined to accomplish gigantic purposes. It is to hold up to them, as in a mirror, those holy truths, which, in proportion as they obtain the government of their heart and mind, will render them blessings to their

country and to the world. It is to sound as a trumpet through the length and breadth of their ranks, to summon them to various departments of Christian usefulness, by presenting them with stirring motives and practical schemes. It is to inculcate, by way of narrative and example, those principles of religious liberty, which, next to the doctrines of the everlasting gospel of the blessed God, demand their warmest adherence. It is to furnish them with information of those important events, which are daily supplying fresh calls for the maintenance of the conflict with error. In fine, it stands alone-a magazine for dissenting youth.

The Editor embraces this opportunity of thanking those ministers who have from the pulpit recommended its circulation to the young people of their congregation; to those gentlemen who, from a persuasion of the value of its truths, have circulated copies of it gratuitously in their neighbourhood; and to those ladies who have judged its pages suitable for reading in juvenile working parties. Let others do likewise. If the object of the magazine is one which commends itself to conscience-if its extinction would cause a desideratum in nonconformist periodical literature—if its voice is the echo of the apostolic injunction, "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good "-if its principles are founded on the New Testament-if its spirit is a Christian spirit-if its aim is the divine glory-then let it not now die.

procure six additional subPerhaps some may procure Let all do what they can.

Will every reader of the magazine scribers for the forthcoming year? twenty, and others not more than one. By the 15th of the present month the Editor will be glad to receive communications from those who will pledge themselves to procure six subscribers. The result of this appeal will determine whether or not the magazine is to continue. If not, the Editor will have the satisfaction of having at least made an earnest and gratuitous effort to do service to the rising generation. If its existence is to be prolonged, its title will be changed to THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S MAGAZINE and oh! amid the deafening noise of folly, and the delusive strains of error, may its voice, piercing as the still small voice of truth and of holiness, find way to many a heart; and, though unworthy, rise with gracious acceptance in His ear, who, when on earth, deigned to be a teacher of truth, and who, now in heaven, vouchsafes the gift of his sacred Spirit, to guide into all truth the minds of his disciples !

All communications are to be addressed to the "Editor of the Young Christian's Magazine, Wrentham, Suffolk.'

DAVIS and HASLER, Printers, 4, Crane-court, Fleet-street.

THE INDEPENDENT

AND

YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S MAGAZINE.

DECEMBER, 1844.

DECEMBER.

HAIL to December's piercing cold! Hail to the keen, hungry winds, that roar, like Arctic wolves, round our dwelling! Hail to the nipping frosts! They bring us coolness of brow, and strength of muscle, and tension of nerve. Their healthful bracing girds us for contest with summer's languor.

Far from us be the torpor that hugs itself beside the gratethe sluggish wintry-life of the lower animals. The sun beams on us from above-the snow beams on us from beneath. We go to buffet with the winds-to accept the challenge of the season, and spurn her icy fetters-yea, to make her deny her nature—to gather a new life from Nature's death, and warmth from off the bosom of cold.

But whither away?

In our "winter-walk at noon is there no call on our services? Yes; the poor have need of us, for to them winter brings with it a train of horrors.

The earth yields crevices of their

them a bare sustenance; and, through the boarded hut, they shudder beneath the freezing grasp of night. There, the mother sighs that her babes are thinly clad, and scantily fed; here, the aged man gathers him in vain round the flickering hearth; and yonder, watching by a dying bed, the weeping girl hangs round the room, as a defence from the driving snow, and still more cutting draughts of air, the garment needed to enwrap her own shivering limbs.

"Oh, poverty is disconsolate!-

Its pains are many, its foes are strong;
The rich man, in his jovial cheer,
Wishes 'twas winter through the year;

The poor man, mid his wants profound

With all his little children round,
Prays God that winter be not long."

G G

We go with loving words, and gift-laden hands, that, perchance, the blessing of him that is ready to perish may come upon us-happier still, if our feeble work of mercy be accepted in His sight, who said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

And hail to the 25th of December-the star of our childhood -the pole-star of the year—which used to defy the short, dark days, and mists of rime and sleet, to damp its mirth, or hide the brightness of its face! Christmas day must ever be dear to us. What, though each time it brings with it some new thought of sadness, till at last joy passes away from it altogether, and it is loved only for the sake of the past—just as a withered flower is loved for the sake of the giver-yet is it the more fondly prized for recollections like these.

There is yet another December day connected with still holier feeling the day that marks the year's close. Like the death of a friend—though long looked forward to, it bursts with awful suddenness upon us at last. We have but just begun to put in execution the purposes we formed at the year's beginning. O vain and foolish man! an hour is wasted, and he is unmindful of the waste-the hour becomes a day, and he is unmindful-— the day becomes a month, and he is unmindful still—the month becomes a year, and he starts up as if awakened by a thunder clap! Happy, if awakened even then! To many, alas! the token of the dying year is only another summons to frivolous pleasures. They say, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we

die."

But, to every reflecting mind, how solemn an epoch! A year is in its grave—a year, more precious to a living man than his hoarded gold to the most avaricious of misers. It calls up before us yet another vision-the vision of that closing scene, when we, too, shall pass away. The death-note of the year is the precursor of our own funeral knell; a thought, piercing as an arrow, to him whose heart is unblessed by the love of God, and yet a thought that brings with it its balm. The close of the year is not the close of the acceptable year of the Lord. If its farewell sound unstop the ears that were deaf, and let in upon them the loud peal of Divine wrath, let him know that Mercy's hand has done it, and that her voice to him is, "Escape for thy life: look not behind thee; escape, lest thou be consumed."