church at Placentia, and of other religious ministrations in the district.

"In conclusion, I am commanded by the Queen-Dowager to express the satisfaction which her Majesty experiences in being able in this instance to assist the Bishop of Newfoundland in the attainment of the objects for which he is striving at the sacrifice of so much personal comfort; and her Majesty's best wishes for the success, under God's blessing, of his truly apostolic labours. am, my dear Sir, most sincerely yours, J. R. WOOD."

RAILWAYS.

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WHILE SO many persons are justly lamenting the evil influence which railways exercise on the moral and reli- . gious state of the people, it would be as well to consider if there are not also some good effects likely to arise from them. The truth is, that they must and will be made. They are become so important to the trade of the country, that men will not do without them. If they are an evil, it is an evil which is quite unavoidable; and no talking against them can possibly stop their being constructed as fast as acts of parliament can be passed, or iron manufactured to lay them down. We fear, indeed, that it is true they have hitherto had a bad effect upon the morals and religion of the nation. Many villages through which they have passed have been dreadfully corrupted by the mass of evil brought into them by bands of rude and vicious labourers employed upon them, and placed under very little, if any, control. The drunkenness prevailing among these labourers, and the utter contempt of religion manifested by the greatest number, have emboldened the vicious in our villages, corrupted the young, and spread a kind of contagion all around. Besides this, the practice of working on Sundays, for some part of the day, so common where there is great pressure for time, this terrible desecration of God's holy Sabbath, has done incalculable injury to those who have had the misfortune to witness it, and brought a heavy load of guilt on these undertakings, which make us fear that they are regarded by the Lord with displeasure, and that his blessing cannot be upon them.

The companies who have constructed the railways are guilty of this iniquity, this sin lies at their door. They might have prevented it, by a sacrifice of worldly gain, and they have not. Among them there have been some conscientious men who have tried to stem the torrent, and their influence has perhaps done some good and stopped much of the evil. But much has been done which cannot be wiped away. We are happy to add, however, they are now appointing chaplains on various lines of railway, to establish regular worship and instruction in the Gospel, for the labourers; and we hail this as a very great step in improvement, and a proof that the omission before has been felt. But much yet remains to be done. The Sabbath desecration is not at an end by any means, but still proceeds to a dreadful extent. Thousands are tempted, by money and pleasure, to lose the blessings of the sacred day of rest, and to be so immersed in the things of this world, that the thought of another and everlasting world will never be in their minds. May this great evil and iniquity against God be soon felt and taken away! May men learn that gain obtained in disobedience to the laws of God is accursed, and that they had better "touch fire" than unrighteous gold! May they learn to pity and love the souls of those they employ, and to see that no one is compelled to lose the means of salvation by the labours which they impose upon him.

These are some of the evils of this great feature of the present age. But as railways will be made, we desire to see a hope that they may be productive of good; and we think there are many reasons for such a hope. In most of the painful things we are accustomed to witness in this life, we endeavour to inquire how will God bring good out of this evil? How will He turn the designs of irreligious men into good to his people? What benefit may eventually arise from what now seems to threaten so much mischief? As men who love their country, and seek its good, we are bound to lament every thing which threatens it with adversity-every thing which may tend to divert the blessing of God from its shores. This has been too often our feeling when contemplat

ing the gigantic system of travelling now become so universal.

We have grieved to see great and powerful trading companies regardless of the obedience due to God's eternal laws, and spreading an evil example far and wide through the country. But is not now the hand of the Lord to be seen restraining and curbing much of this licentious system? Has it not been found, that the better and more religious men are, the better labourers and servants they make? Has it not been found by experience that vice and infidelity make bad workmen, less to be trusted, however skilful they may be, or strong and active? Drunken habits destroy their strength, and make them useless in situations of trust.

Those who have no fear of God before their eyes, are found seldom possessed of valuable qualities in such employments. Thus the world is compelled to confess the value of religion. It becomes, in a sense, men's very interest to do something in the way of instruction. for their dependents. This is a good effect, wrought by providential circumstances; and it manifests a proof of the Divine government of the world. It may be hoped that this will be seen more and more; and that more exertions will daily be made in the right direction. towards establishing truth and justice, religion and piety, amongst the thousands who are employed in railway undertakings. Should these hopes be realised, there will be means of employment found for many thousands of steady and trusty men, which they can conscientiously accept. Valuable situations will be opened for industry, talent, and integrity. These virtues are so necessary in concerns of that importance, that they will be amply repaid and highly valued. Large numbers of persons will be wanted as bookkeepers, inspectors, policemen; and for all these offices nothing will do but honesty, sobriety, and good conduct. Religious and faithful men may easily prepare themselves to discharge these duties; and they will be the best for them, if only the directors of the companies will let them enjoy the Lord's day, free from all labours which cannot be strictly justified as "works of necessity."

MOUNT EGMONT, IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ir is not long since a print was given of a burning. mountain in Europe called Vesuvius, and an explanation of the wonderful circumstance which gives it the name. We now travel to a very distant island, at the opposite side of the globe, and there too we find the works of God resembling those which are nearer home. In New Zealand, a country only very lately inhabited by the English, there is a mountain of the same kind as Vesuvius, namely, in having once been a burning volcano. It has ceased for so many years to throw up either fire or smoke, that the people of the country have never heard their fathers speak of it. Nevertheless, the evidences that it once did so are so plain, that no reasonable person can doubt it. A traveller, who has himself ascended it, has written an account of his laborious walk to the summit, and informs us that not one of the native New Zealanders had ever dared to mount it. They felt such strong superstitious fears of what they should find inhabiting its solitary heights, that they never ventured to go up more than about a quarter of the way. Some of them went with him to the spot where the continual snow begins, and then left him to accomplish his journey with only one companion, and he a European. He relates, that throughout almost the whole way he was constantly finding large pieces of ashy matter, or burnt hardened stone--the plain tokens of violent eruptions of flaming materials from the interior of the mountain in former ages. The further he ascended the more these appearances met him, until at length the whole ground bore the marks of fire: at the same time it was covered with snow, which never melted! so great are the changes on the surface of the earth. This mountain, which once gleamed with a blaze of flames, and was scorched with fiery heat, is now perpetually cased in snow. It is, however, a happy change for the country around, when we remember the disastrous effects of a burning mountain, as they have so often been felt in Italy even in our own days.

The print represents not only this mountain appearing

VOL. XXVI.

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