We would by no means commend the spirit of intellectual religionists, who consider the physical creation as the body and God the soul of the universe; we would not carry you to the groves of the Druids, or to the banks of the Ilissus, or the shaded porticos of Athens, that you may tremble before a sylvan deity, or do homage at the shrine of some elemental god; we would not teach you to feel that on every hill, and in every vale, and by every fireside an exclusive deity presides, and that every day and month should bring its separate order of devotion; that some guardian saint should be refreshed with the incense of to-day, and some divinity be hailed with sacrifice to morrow; but rather to look upon matter as a primary revelation of some of the attributes of the one God;-one to which are added the sublimer revelations of scripture, and of our Lord Jesus Christ: for the bible is a revelation upon nature, and Christ upon the bible itself.

A lover of nature easily becomes enthusiastic. There is something so charming in her face, so ravishing in her voice, that his soul is stolen away, whilst his senses are deceived by her blandishments. She speaks, and her accents are more than mortal: she smiles, and his very being is lost in her light;-she is his divinity; he calls her immortal ;-" the fair, the sublime.”

Such enthusiasm is, however, wrong. It gives to a thing the attributes and the worship which belong only to Supreme intelligence and goodness. It mistakes the medium for the end; the path for the mansion to which it leads. There is doubtless something in every object of nature which man does not behold; rather we would say, it is the representation of an ideal which we cannot see. When the Saviour, looking upon the lily of the field declared it more glorious than Solomon in all his glory, he saw what is to us the ideal, but in his view the real, the immortal! Whilst then we love nature, let us love her for her office; not so much for herself. What is she, but the representation of beauty; a dim revelation of greatness and goodness?

Perhaps no season is more calculated to inspire the mind with hope, and infuse life into its thoughts, than spring-time; and no month in that season so bright as May, so cheering as a type of that period when life will be the song of nature and of mind; when time and death shall die, and EXISTENCE shall comethe shadowless-the true!

As rational beings then we should seek intercourse with mind,

and value nature as a medium of communion with the Infinite One; as affording us a field of honourable and improving study; as giving us a language by which our own artificial modes can be enriched, and by which we can hold converse with the beauties unseen but felt, the sentiments unheard but uttered, of a higher and a purer state.

And whilst we bless the Author of our being for a medium of intercourse so pleasing, let us never be satisfied with its revelations. Let it be our delight, as it is our privilege, to approach nearer to Him, and listen to the oracles of inspiration. Let us repair to the mount, and hear the law. Let us enter the tabernacle where it is expounded; let us listen with the prophets to the angel from the throne. Nay, let us turn to the temple whose vail is rent, from which the incense, and the priest, and the altar have departed; and there behold, and feel, and love "the perfection of beauty," and talk with its Creator.

The scenes of the present month will be in some respects calculated to give us pleasing and enlarged views of God, and afford us opportunity for the exercise of a noble sympathy with minds engaged in the highest acts of christian benevolence, and with the Divine mind, in his economy for the restoration of man from sin. Such scenes show us for what we are created, and for what redeemed. They present before us ignorance, and urge us to the enlightenment of man; they present before us temporal sorrow, and invite us to wipe away the tear. They bring to our view moral agonies, and call upon us to administer the sovereign balm. They pourtray a world in ruin, and stir up our love, and zeal, and courage, to go and save; they show us the success of the past,-ignorance instructed, sorrow assuaged, souls saved, aggressions made upon the kingdom of sin, and scatter by its light the darkness of the future; they point the eye of faith to the word that shall never fail, and to the hand that will never be shortened; they remind us of the union of christian feeling in behalf of a world's renovation, and the thought gives us strength; they lead our hopes and faith onward to the results of present action, and the harp, and crown, and palm are before the disciple's eye; the triumphant shout of renewed creation breaks upon the ear; the everlasting gates seem already lifted up; and the wayworn traveller to Zion is at home.

Will any deprive themselves of the enjoyment of such scenes?

Will they sluggishly waste the month in pacing the walks of the city, reposing at home, or visiting shops, or the country, for relief from the tedious monotony of life? Will they lose the instruction, the pure mental and moral excitement, which the truth would occasion; and above all, will those who talk with apparent warmth and zeal of the extension of the kingdom of Christ, and of the approach of millennial glory, deny themselves these privileges? withholding, too, their public attestation and their

means?

Our readers will hardly pardon us, if, on closing this paper, we do not invite their attention to that part of the scenes of May which has more intimate relation to our seamen. When the earth is covered with beautiful forms;-" when every gale is peace, and every grove is melody;-you will not forget that there may be "sorrow on the deep." When you cull the dewy primrose, the frail but lovely child of May,-you will reflect that brothers who once went with you to the fields, and supported you on the cliff whence a devoted floweret hung, are now at rest in some coral field of the "deep, deep sea!" When you attend the anniversary of the Missionary Society, the question will linger in your mind,-How can my charities be conveyed to the heathen, without the aid of the Sailor's nervous arm and brave heart? When you hear the cause of the Bible Society pleaded, the conviction, somehow, will be present, that poor Jack must be at the helm, and on the shrouds, and in the storm ;-sleepless, wet, cold, away from home, tempted, cheated, plundered ;—or the bible will never reach the dying objects of your sympathy abroad. When the Tract cause is presented to your view, it is impossible you should not think the sailor an agent in the dissemination of these humble heralds of salvation and whilst you give to these and other most pressing and worthy objects of charity, your heart-your christian love-will dictate a portion of your bounty for the good of him who brings from afar the enjoyments of life, and bears your gifts to the suffering of other lands. You will surely attend the anniversary meeting of our Society, and bring others along with you. You cannot permit your friends to be ignorant of such a cause, leaving them destitute of the privileges which you so highly value, of aiding in a work so good and great-of following the Lamb in his conquest on the sea, and sharing at last in his triumph!

HISTORY OF THE FIRST BETHEL FLAG.

[Communicated by Capt. A WILKINS.]

With Pharaoh's butler, I may say,—“ I remember my faults this day." I feel condemned. It is now twenty-four years since the commencement of the sailor's cause on the river Thames; and, till now, we have had no service, or anniversary, to raise our Ebenezer to God. May God pardon our ingratitude, and cover us with the mantle of his love!

On the 16th day of December, 1816, as I was walking my quarterdeck, reflecting upon the privileges we had on board that vessel, the Zeno,' of North Shields, I thought, What a blessing it would be, if they extended to every other ship,-or if any thing could be done for the improvement of my much-neglected brethren of the deep. Without consulting flesh and blood, I took my boat, and went on board the Junius,' Capt. Mortin, of North Shields;-solicited, and obtained his vessel. We met simply for prayer. About seventy were present-nine engaged; but I never learned where the labourers came from. While the cabin-boy was praying and calling for mercy, the captain cried out, repeatedly,—“Lord, bless the lad-Lord, bless the lad !" This captain found mercy, and died in the faith, and the boy become a steady follower of Christ. The next evening, I obtained the Happy Return,' Capt. Chatir, North Shields; we were well attended, and no want of labourers. In the commencement, we met for prayer, every evening during the week; but, shortly after, I gave orders to omit saturday evenings, in order to allow our men to go on shore, to get their little necessaries, and prepare for the sabbath. now obtained leave to hoist a lantern at the peak-end, to guide our seamen; and, shortly after, got our captains to hoist the light at the main-top-gallant-mast-head. This was a mighty conquest indeed,— new light' soon became a subject of debate and controversy; some would say, "Why, the captain's on shore, to be sure, spending his evening." Others would say, "No, that's the radical light, for the psalm singers." Some laughed us to scorn; others threw coals at us, etc. Our difficulties were many, our opponents powerful, and numerous; and our owners and merchants, not a few, gave orders to their captains to allow no meetings on board their vessels.

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In 1817, as the spring set in, our winter signal was of no use. A flag was then thought of. I went on shore, and begged from door to door, till I got a sum sufficient to purchase a piece of blue calico. Peter Hunt, cut out the letters' BETHEL ;' and sister Rogers made this our first Bethel flag, which was first hoisted on board the 'Agenora,' Capt. Reed, of South Shields. This new signal was generally styled, THE RADICAL FLAG. Our opponents, finding no way whereby they might set aside our meetings, gave information to the Thames police, our craft therefore was in danger. At length the time arrived for the trial of our faith. Just as our meeting for prayer had commenced, a

police boat came alongside, took possession of the quarter-deck, and guarded the companion, that none of the prisoners should escape. The benediction being pronounced, from the quarter-deck was heard a loud voice, "Below, there!" " Halloo," cried one of our tars in the steerage. "Where is the leader of your meeting?" He soon came upon deck, to whom the officer said,-"Well, sir, are these your meetings?" "Yes, sir, the meetings we hold ;-we meet to return thanks to God, for bringing us safe to port, while others pray for protection on their passage." "Well, sir, these meetings have been differently represented to our office;-it has been said, that you meet together for treason, and conspiracy, against your sovereign." One of our pious sailors cried out, "GOD BLESS THE KING! Master,-tell him we won't hurt a hair of his head, but we'll pray for him, master!" "Well, sir, if these are your meetings, go on, and may the Lord prosper you." "Amen and amen," cried our sailors; "let us have the old hundredth." Thus we narrowly escaped the treadmill, and no fine for the first offence.

In July our converts had so increased, that it was necessary to divide ourselves into two bands,-another signal was now necessary. We therefore collected a few shillings amongst ourselves, and got a second Bethel flag. To this flag, we added the star, and the dove. We could now therefore occupy two tiers, five times a week, making the ratio of ten services per week. We were now getting into a mode to work the lower pool pretty well-when lo! a mighty Philistine, Goliah by name, threatened to rout the Israelites; for it came to pass early one morning, as a noble stripling was taking the ark to good Obededom's house, this gigantic foe seized the ark with all its trophies, and placed it on his galley fire, cursing the God of David. Our first Bethel flag thus suffered martyrdom-it was burnt to ashes. This made Israel to weep bitterly; however we consulted the Lord, and a deputation of five persons took courage, with sling and stone, and went to his castle, and after a mighty conflict, Goliah consented to make us a new flag. This mighty conquest enabled us to take down our harps from the willows, and shout for victory. Our second flag, which was rescued from the flames by the efforts of another, suffered but little injury. This novel circumstance entitled this man of war to a new name, given him by our collier boys; for when it happened that the Philistine was coming on shore, or running back to any harbour for refuge, our little boys would shout," Yonder comes Burn the Bethel,-yonder comes Burn the Bethel !"

Eight months had past over our heads, and we seemed to remain unnoticed, till about August, 1817, when Mr. Samuel Jennings, of Rotherhithe, took us by the hand; who, at an expense of £20, fitted up his school-room for our use. I gave orders forour pious sailors to attend his sabbath-morning prayer meetings. Mr. J. was the first person that attempted to preach on board. The first ship was the Barbara, Capt. Ward, of North Shields. He condescended to improve the death of several of our pious men; and never ceased in his labours for seamen, till he fell asleep in the Lord, the 10th June, 1827.