and lastly, we may venture to say, in the pages of the "Christian. Observer." And such persons became naturally warm advocates and champions for the work. But these truths are now no longer a terra incognita; but are so stamped on the national mind as, we trust, never more to be erased or forgotten.-To these observations others might be added of the same character; but these may serve to account for the earnestness of the first supporters of the Work. It was new. It was conspicuously able. It was controversial. It was a depository of truths hitherto unrecognised, or wholly forgotten. To this let it be added, that the Work then stood almost alone as a popular contender for the Truth. Now, it has rivals of all sizes, shapes, and characters;-some of them so Scriptural and efficient, that we are content to suffer a little for their sake.

Now, some of these juvenile advantages of the "Christian Observer" cannot be recalled. Novelty cannot last. Those early friends, not easily replaced, have, for the most part, passed into the world of happy spirits. The bitterness of controversy we should be sorry to resuscitate. Nor could we wish to have the world ignorant, only that we might have the satisfaction of giving them instruction.

What, then, are the legitimate means, under the Divine blessing, of our re-awaking some of the ancient enthusiasm about the Work?

First, then, we would beg to remind our readers, that what was once valuable because it was new, is now valuable because it is old. The truths which then, in a sense, first rose on the horizon, are just as precious when they have reached the brightness of the meridian day. The principles of this Work have now stood the test of half a century; and they have not failed men in life or in death.

Next, if old friends are dead, new ones must present themselves to be "baptized for the dead," to fill up the gaps in the ranks which death or desertion has created. The "Christian Observer" greatly needs the contributions of first-rate men, who will put their whole force into what they write, instead of despatching to the Editor, as is sometimes the case, the crude effusions of a few careless hours. The Evangelical body abounds, we cannot doubt, with men capable of a very high order of periodical literature. But it is very difficult to drag them from the cloistered cells, or those busy wheels of life, where they are mainly to be found.

Is it presumptuous for us to say, that the "Christian Observer" has strong claims on the religious part of the community? Let a Newspaper be as good as it will, it has no leisure to wait for events, and to survey them in solitude and silence. It must, to a

considerable extent, live upon impulses. And we are persuaded that Truth would be a considerable sufferer by the withdrawal of a Work which follows at a slower pace, indeed, but has time to contemplate men and things on all sides, and give, not the first impression, but a deliberate judgment on what is passing around us. In the mean time, an Editor has, no doubt, a difficult duty to discharge. If he writes gravely, he is apt to be charged with dulness; if in a more sprightly manner-with levity; if he is strong, the charge of bigotry rings in his ears; if gentle, he catches the opprobrious epithets of weak-pusillanimous—compromising milk and water. What is to be done? We answer, in a word—to sit light to conflicting opinions-to commit ourselves to our Great Master-to follow the law of our conscienceand, as far as we are able, to speak the truth in love.

And such, God helping us, is the course which we hope to pursue during the coming year. In the mean time, we have strong reason for acknowledging with gratitude the habitual and telling assistance of many friends, both old and new; and we are often cheered by the voice of encouragement from those whose praise cannot be dear at any price. "Laudari a laudato viro," is an honor never to be despised.

Many highly important subjects and objects either present themselves on the horizon, or are already darkening the heavens. The Tractarians are only half dispersed, and continue now and then to push a half-blind follower into the gulf of Popery.-The Broad Church-a far more formidable body, because striking at the very foundation of Christian truth-have hitherto scoured the sacred field with far too little systematic or organised opposition. -The privileges of Christian teaching are to be asserted for the one hundred and eighty millions of India. - Wide and numerous openings for Truth also present themselves in Turkey and China. University Reform is calling for wise and temperate counsellors. New corruptions in society-mercantile dishonestyintense greediness of gain-new extravagances in dress and dissipation-all present themselves as so many armed men to be encountered with the sword of the Spirit. If we should be permitted to contend as soldiers in these fields of warfare, and to win one battle for our Lord and Saviour, it will not repent us to have risen early and late taken rest-to have consumed, not merely the midnight oil, but the last flickerings of the lamp of life, in the service of a Master who will recognise the meanest gift cast into His treasury by the humblest of His disciples.

[The Editor desires to be considered as not responsible except for the general tone and character of the Papers in the "Miscellaneous" department of this Work.]

THE NEW YEAR.

We pass the portals of another year, and shall soon find ourselves in the current of its movements and in the heart of its events. For the last two years your prefatory correspondent has had to speak, first with pain of the progress of war, then with anxiety of the chances of peace. My first impulse is to acknowledge and adore the mercy of God, who has, for the present at least, given us respite from such thoughts. We no longer "see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet." Armies and diplomatists no longer crowd the foreground of our landscape, diverting our eyes from more congenial objects. There are still, however, obvious causes for anxiety, and abundant materials for speculation. What will the rolling year bring round?

will it leave behind it? What will be the result of those differences of interpretation, which threaten to nullify the Peace of Paris? What will prove to be the actual relation between the late Allies? or what will become of that relation? Will the league with France hold on? and if it does, will it work for good? How will that Empire dispose of its internal difficulties, daily becoming more evident and complicated? How will it fare with its retrograde government, which stands by the dread of anarchy and has no foundations of its own? Will the Empire of Austria hold together its disjointed fragments, destitute as it is of moral influence in its government, and destitute of the sympathy of its subjects? What will come of the unnatural state of irritated and miserable Italy? In what form, and in what direction, will the new influences which shake the United States of America develop their power? Questions like these crowd upon the mind; but perhaps no immediate pressure of interests compels us now to adopt them. Such speculations would, at the present moment, be rather voluntary than necessary. As CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 229.

B

1