a-days are so sad
and gloomy,--she is really anxious about her poor daughter," &c. And
all this from persons who live in a constant whirl of excitement, to
whose daily life excitement is essential, not as a means of temporary
relief from severe thought and action, but as the very end of
existence. And whence is their excitement derived? From the most
contemptible and silly frivolities, from balls, parties, visits, and
gossip without end--excitements utterly selfish, which materialise the
soul, debase its tastes, enervate its powers, rendering it incapable
of all earnest labours or self-denial, and which incapacitate it from
apprehending the purity, the majesty, and the surpassing wonder of
spiritual realities. These are the persons who, forsooth! are so much
alarmed lest their dear children should become excited about the
things which arrest the attention and engage the thoughts of the
mighty angels, yea, of Jesus Christ himself. Believe it, that whatever
excitement may possibly accompany the commencement of the Christian
life in one who has never been trained to think seriously or act
conscientiously, the only persons in the world who are habitually
free from all excitement, or violent emotions of any kind, are true
Christians, because they have the "love which casteth out fear," and
enjoy "the peace of God which passeth all understanding."

We must here conclude these brief and very imperfect remarks upon
a great subject. We end, as we began, by expressing our profound
conviction that _the_ want of all our wants is this, and this only, a
_Revival of Spiritual Religion_; or, in other words, genuine, simple,
truthful, honest love to Jesus Christ, to His people, to His cause,
and to the whole world! This, and this alone, will fulfil the longing
of many a weary, thirsty soul for better things than at present seem
probable or possible.

"Who will shew us any good?" is the despairing cry of many a
thoughtful man, as he passes in review before his anxious eye the dark
side of things, such as careless living students of divinity, who
are to be the future teachers of this great nation; ministers and
congregations apparently dead as stones; churches becoming idols,
claiming the reverence and love of their members, and jealous of
any other idol usurping their throne; scoffing infidelity among the
ignorant; philosophic scepticism among the intelligent; indifference
among thousands; while abroad heathen nations, with countless