scene of "a minister's" labour is cast in some sequestered corner of the land, in what the men of business, or the men of intellect and literature, would call a wilderness: but in that wilderness a flock is to be fed, and that flock is designed for immortality: and the faithful shepherd watches, and prays, and labours for the safety of those souls entrusted to him, as a father for the welfare of his children... The interpreter of Scripture may find some reward in perpetuating his name amongst his brethren; the preacher may be cheered by the applause and admiration of his hearers: but what can stimulate the humble and retired minister, the laborious "watchman of the house of Israel,” except the desire implanted in him by the Spirit, that he" may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus," as his "hope and crown of rejoicing in the" great day?-Bp. J. B. Sumner. THE EUCHARIST.-How blissfully, amid all the horrors of the wilderness, and the conflict of surrounding enemies, could the eye and heart of the pious Israelite repose upon the cloudy pillar of glory, which rested upon the tabernacle. There was peace, there was security, which no power of this world could disturb. And although he knew that God was ever nigh unto all them that call upon him, and that no sensible representation could bring him nearer, yet this visible token of his presence, and sign of his covenant, could not but administer continual hope and comfort. And are we, amid the perplexing wilderness of life, amid the weary struggle with foes of body and soul, are we left destitute of similar comfort? O, no! the same Lord of glory, who exhibited that symbol of his helping presence to the Israelite, hath ordained a restingplace for our spiritual eye. In the ordinance of the Lord's supper he hath established among us a visible sign, and hath given us in this rite a palpable assurance, that if we suffer, then we suffer with him who rose again, and ascended to prepare mansions of bliss for his faithful followers; for if he shew us his death, he also foreshews to us his coming again, when all enemies, with their great leaders, sin and death, shall be put under his footstool, and he shall receive his own into everlasting glory.-Rev. R. W. Evans. PERPETUITY OF HEAVEN'S HAPPINESS (Rev. iii. 12). It is said of the triumphant Christian," he shall go no more out." In this world, my brethren, change and decay are stamped upon every thing around us. Our choicest blessings are suspended on the slenderest threads. The man this morning lifting to heaven a head lofty as the cedar, and spreading forth his green branches on every side, may ere night be struck by the fires of heaven, and lie blasted and lifeless on the plain. And even our spiritual joys partake in some measure of the same fluctuating character. How great, for instance, are apt to be the ebb and flow of the religions affections! How soon is the ardour of devotion chilled! How difficult is it to sustain the vigour of our first love! How does the body seem to hang upon the soul, and to chain it to earth when it is soaring to heaven! But the Christian, exalted to be a pillar in the temple of his God," shall " go no more out." The sun of his joys shall never go down. The well-spring of his comforts shall never fail. The joys of one moment shall be the joys of eternity. Once lodged in the bosom of his Father, no force shall drag eternally participate in the pleasures which are at his him from it. Inseparably united to God, he shall right hand. He shall "shine as a star in the firmament for ever and ever."-Rev. J. W. Cunningham. UNIVERSALITY OF PRAYER.-Prayer is not a special gift, set apart for privileged souls alone; it is a common duty imposed on every believer; it is not solely a virtue of perfection, and reserved for certain purer and more holy souls; it is, like charity, an indispensable virtue, requisite to the perfect as to the imperfect, within the capacity of the illiterate equally as of the learned, commanded to the simple as to the most enlightened; it is the virtue of all men; it is the science of every believer; it is the perfection of every creature. Whoever has a heart, and is capable of loving the Author of his being; whoever has a reason capable of knowing the nothingness of the creature and the greatness of God, must know how to adore, to return him thanks, and to have recourse to him, to call upon him when turned away, to thank him when favourable, to humble himself when he strikes, to lay his wants before him, or to entreat his countenance and protection.—Massillon. THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE.-There are many well-meaning men, and friends of religion too, who look with timid apprehension on the march of the popular mind, as if it were fraught with peril to the cause which they have nearest the heart. A multitude of profane and repulsive associations have unhappily gathered around the idea of science in their upright minds, until they have come to regard it as wholly incompatible with the influence of an all-prevalent piety. Ignorance is thus made not only bliss, but wisdom and duty too. Oh! sad decree of eternal Providence, if this were a providential decree-that the torch of science, elevated in the sight of mankind, must disperse, like shadows of night, the blessings of the present life, and the hopes of another-that in order to secure both, we must, like the hero of the tale with the which our childhood is familiar, darken and close up the chamber of knowledge, and affix an edict of exclusion upon the door, as if the sanguinary secret of human destruction were locked within! But this, if it were desirable, would be now impracticable. The tide of irrepressible inquiry would soon burst every barrier in its way, and rush in with accumulated force on the forbidden spot. The voice of learning is gone forth, irrevocable by any earthly power. The rays of information, multiplied in innumerable reflections, have shone abroad, and none can extinguish them. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge in every department shall be increased, until the gracious designs of an ever-watchful Providence are carried into accomplishment.-Rev. P. E. Butler. SPIRITUAL LIFE.-The spiritual life is a whole. If the glory of the Saviour, and the operations of his Spirit, and the total ruin of man as requiring both, are not first understood, it is impossible that the blessed fruits of all this, in the new life and happiness of the renovated, pardoned, and sanctified heart, should be produced. There is, however, such a thing as "the love of Christ constraining a man to live no longer to himself, but to Him that died for him and rose again;" there is such a thing as the inward experience of the grace of Christianity; there is such a thing as a holy, happy, spiritual life, which differs as much from a merely rational and moral one, as the rational life differs from the animal, and the animal from the vegetable. Not to have seized this idea, is to have missed one peculiar feature of true Christianity. — Dr. Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta. VALUE OF THE BIBLE.-We stand indebted to the Bible for much intellectual, as well as moral, ad vantage. Indeed, the two go together. Where there is great moral, there will commonly be great mental degradation; and the intellect has no fair play whilst the man is under the dominion of vice. It is certainly to be observed, that in becoming a religious man, an individual seems to gain a wider comprehension and a sounder judgment, as though in turning to God he had sprung to a higher grade in intelligence. It would mark a weak, or at least an uninformed mind, to look with contempt on the Bible, as though beneath the notice of a man of high power and pursuits. He who is not spiritually will be intellectually benefited by the study of Scripture.-Rev. H. Melvill. GROWTH IN GRACE.-Growth in grace manifests itself by a simplicity, that is, a greater naturalness of character. There will be more usefulness, and less noise; more tenderness of conscience, and less scrupulosity; there will be more peace, more humility: when the full corn is in the ear, it bends down because it is full.-Cecil. THE POOR PREACHED TO IN THE GOSPEL.- In speaking of the poor as particularly addressed by the Gospel, those poor are meant, who, to the situation, add the proper dispositions of an humble station: not a proud, sullen, discontented, or licentious poor; not those who would, if they possessed the means, practise the vices of the rich; and who make up for their deficiencies by the cravings of envy, the wishes and hopes of disaffection, the tricks of dishonesty, or the boldness of blasphemy: but those who use well the common reason, which God hath vouchsafed to them in equal measures with the rich; who reflect wisely on their natural condition; who receive thankfully their proper mercies; who bear patiently the common uncertainties of life; and, providing with an honest diligence for ordinary wants, look up with a simple desire to that heavenly Instructor, whose presence they feel, and whose providence they own. It is "to the poor" indeed, but to the humble, the obedient poor, that "the Gospel is preached."― Archdeacon Hoare. Poetry. SIN. LORD, with what care has thou begirt us round- The sound of glory ringing in our ears; Without, our shame; within, our consciences; Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears. Yet all these fences, and their whole array, One cunning bosom-sin blows quite away. THY HOME. HERBERT. (From Evans's Rectory of Valehead.) WHERE is thy home? Not where thy soul Is joyous o'er the ruddy bowl, Where harp and viol through the day, And down at night keeps care at bay. O heir of a more glorious sphere, Look further still-it is not here. Where is thy home? Not where thy breast Where is thy home? Not where all ranges Where is thy home? Not where the breath Where is thy home? Not where to learn Where is thy home? Not where thy heart And thou, no longer guest, art son. No further look-thy home is here. ECCLESIASTICAL SKETCHES. V. LATIMER AND RIDLEY. How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled! *"M. Latimer very quietly suffered his keeper to pull off his hose, and his other array, which to looke unto was very simple: and being stripped into his shroud, he seemed as comely a person to them that were present as one should lightly see and whereas in his clothes hee appeared a withered and crooked sillic (weak) olde man, he now stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly behold. . . . . Then they brought a faggotte, kindled with fire, and laid the same downe at Dr. Ridley's feete. To whome M. Latimer spake in this manner, 'Bee of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man: wee shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never bee put out.'- Fox's Acts, &c. Similar alterations in the outward figure and deportment of persons brought to like trial were not uncommon. See note to the above passage in Dr. Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, for an example in a humble Welsh fisherman." Of saintly friends "the murtherer's chain partake, VI. ENGLISH REFORMERS IN EXILE. SCATTERING, like birds escaped the fowler's net, By dauntless Luther freed, could they forget Whence thickly-sprouting growth of poisonous weeds; Miscellaneous. WORDSWORTH. a HINDOO ABSURDITY.-The Hindoos carry on complete system of bargaining with their gods, or rather a compound system of flattering, cajoling, bargaining, and threatening. The most ordinary method is the contracting: "If you will grant me so and so, I will give you so and so, such and such sweetmeats, fruits, flowers, &c. ; or, I will worship you alone for so many days." If this is not successful, they say: "If you will not give me so and so, I will keep you without a drop of water; or, I will put a rope round your neck, and drag you round the house; or, the most disgraceful of all, I will beat you with a slipper." In times of drought, or of any great extremity, they will absolutely brick up the entrance to an image, and threaten to keep their god close prisoner, until he shall help them. This took place at Nassuck a few years ago, when the poor god was bricked up, and kept without water, offerings, or adoration, until the rain began to fall, when they liberated their prisoner, and begged his pardon. The DEPOPULATING EFFECTS OF TURKISH POWER.-The astonishing loss of population, which those parts of the world now under Turkish dominion have sustained since ancient times, is very affecting. I have wandered amidst the ruins of Ephesus; and I had ocular and auricular demonstration, that where once assembled thousands exclaimed, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" now the eagle yells, the jackal moans. echoes of Mount Prion and Mount Coryssus no longer reply to the voice of man. I have stood on the hill of Laodicea, and I found it without a single resident inhabitant. There was, indeed, an inferiority in its desolations to those of Babylon. Of Babylon it was predicted (Isaiah, xiii. 20), "The Arabian shall not pitch tent there." At Laodicea, the Turcoman had pitched his migratory tent in the area of its ancient amphitheatre; but I saw neither church nor temple, mosque nor minaret, nor a single permanent abode. I have myself observed the exactitude with which the denunciations of Divine anger against the three Churches of Ephesus, Sardis, and Laodicea, have been fulfilled. Whilst the other four Churches of Asia, which are in part commended, and in part more mildly menaced, are still populous cities and contain communities of nominal Christians, of each of these it may now be said, that it is "empty, and void, and waste." And though "the Arabian may pitch tent" at Laodicea, and "the shepherds," as at Ephesus, "make their fold there," still have they scarcely "been inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation." Wild "beasts of the desert lie there"hyænas, wolves, and foxes. "Their houses are full of doleful creatures:" scorpions, enormous centipedes, lizards, and other noxious reptiles, crawl about amidst the scattered ruins; and serpents hiss and dart along through the rank grass which grows above them. "And owls dwell there." When I was standing beneath the three stupendous columns of the Temple of Cybele, which are still remaining at Sardis, I looked upward and saw the species of owl which the Greeks call cuckuvaia, perched on the summit of one of them. Its name is derived from its note; and, as it flits around the desolate ruins, emitting this doleful sound, it might almost seem to have been appointed to chant from age to age the dirge of these forsaken cities. And here the distich of Hafiz is most true: The spider has wove his web in the imperial palace, And the owl hath sung her watch-song on the towers of Afrasiáb. I paid a visit to the city of Colossæ-if that, indeed, may be called a visit, which left us in some degree of uncertainty whether we had actually discovered its remains. Colossæ has become doubly desolate: its very ruins are scarcely visible. Many a harvest has been reaped, where Epaphras and Archippus laboured. The vine has long produced its fruits, where the ancient Christians of Colossæ lived and died; and the leaves of the forest have for ages been strewn upon their graves. The Turks, and even the Greeks, who reap the harvest and who prune the vine where Colossæ once stood, have scarcely an idea that a Christian Church ever existed there, or that so large a population is there reposing in death.-Rev. J. Hartley. 2 KINGS, iii. 11. "Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah." -The Oriental method of washing is universally dif ferent from that practised in the West. No where is water previously poured into a basin; but the servant pours water, from a pitcher, upon the hands of his master. The custom of washing hands before dinner prevails also to this day. The servant goes round to all the guests with a pitcher, and a vessel to receive the water falling from the hands, and performs the office here attributed to Elisa. The same service is repeated when the repast is ended.—Rev. J. Hartley. EARLY RISING.-I can hardly believe that person to be a Christian, who (unless ill health positively forbid it) has not acquired, or at least who is not constantly, perseveringly, and prayerfully endeavouring to acquire, this blessed habit of early rising. It is strengthening both to soul, body, and spirits; more so, much more so, than any one who has not experienced its happy effects can have the least idea of The person who, from religious motives, has acquired, or is acquiring, this habit, begins the day by an act of self-denial; and thus, the soul, through the blessing of God, is put into a healthy and vigorous state for meeting those assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which every day brings with it.-Hints to Five Classes. Portfolios, of a neat construction, for preserving the separate Numbers until the Volumes are complete, may be had of the Publishers, price 2s. 6d. each. LONDON-Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square; W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. Parts I. and II. are now ready, price 8d. each. PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN, 46 ST. MARTIN'S LANE. ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. We hear much in the present day of the diffusion of knowledge and the march of intellect, and much, I fear, which betrays that the parties, who are most disposed to glory therein, are really in great darkness and ignorance, and are boasting only in the sparks of their own kindling. But, on the other hand, there are multitudes to be found among professors of religion, who rush into the opposite extreme, and despise knowledge. Even that knowledge which consists in a proper acquaintance with "the things that are freely given to us of God," and with the entire revelation of his will, is undervalued by many, who seem to be satisfied if they have embraced a few of the more prominent religious truths, and deem it almost presumptuous, or at least a mark of the want of spiritual modesty and humility, to be aiming at any increase in the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of God. It is not too much, however, to say, that the knowledge of God is of the very first importance, as connected with the eternal salvation and blessedness of the soul. The Holy Scriptures lay as great an emphasis upon this matter, as they do upon the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. If that great work hath taken place in the soul, we are declared to be renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created us; if it has not taken place, we are said to be " alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in us" for the very life which is in Christ, is declared to be the light of men-which is VOL. I. NO. XIV. PRICE 1d. only another term for divine knowledge; "and this (says our Lord himself) is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." In treating of this subject, it is of consequence, in the first place, to observe, that it is not any sort of knowledge that is life eternal. A curious desire for knowledge proved death to our first parents; and St. Paul says, even of religious knowledge, if it be held in an unsanctified spirit, that it puffeth up. It is the knowledge of God that is eternal life: other knowledge is only useful in proportion as it immediately or remotely helps us to this: and if it be unaccompanied by the knowledge of God and of Christ, there is reserved for it only the blackness of darkness for ever. What then are we to understand by the knowledge of God? First may be noticed the recognition of him as God, in opposition to all others who have claimed to be god, or who have been worshipped as such: "for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many and lords many,) yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge." And, indeed, the mention of Jehovah in the Scriptures, as "the true God and eternal life," is opposed to whatsoever else a man may seek after in order to obtain happiness: for this, in effect, becomes his god; and when he gives it his chief affections, he worships it. Thus the Scriptures call those worshippers of Mammon, who make riches their chief object of pursuit or of enjoyment; P and thus also of such as live in sensual indulgence it is written-" whose god is their belly." On the other hand, the Lord Jehovah, who is the great fountain of living waters, the only source of real happiness, gives, as his first commandment to his people "Thou shalt have none other gods but me." But, more particularly, by the knowledge of God are we to understand an acquaintance with his attributes. First may be mentioned his holiness, for this is the attribute by which he is especially praised and adored in heaven, -"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty:" and it may be truly said, that we know nothing of God, until we know him in this character. Next, I would mention the attributes by which he proclaimed himself to Moses, viz. " Merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and in truth:" though even in this place we are again reminded of his holiness, by being assured, "that he will by no means clear the guilty." To these things may be added his omnipotence and omnipresence-or, in other words, his possessing all power, and being every where present; together with his infinite knowledge and wisdom, by virtue of all which he exercises an unerring providence in behalf of his people, and proves their Guide, Protector, and Deliverer. But God is chiefly to be known by us as he is revealed by Jesus Christ; and especially, therefore, is the knowledge of Christ necessary toward the obtaining eternal life. Without this knowledge, the view of some of the attributes of God are calculated to overwhelm us with despair. How, for example, can we expect any other than eternal destruction from the presence of the glory of God, if we consider his infinite holiness, righteousness, and truth, and then turn and look at our own sinfulness? But through the knowledge of Christ we learn how God may still be just, and yet the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus; and by him we have access into that grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. But, besides this, many of the attributes of God cannot be adequately comprehended, and therefore cannot be known in such manner as suitably to affect the heart, unless we are acquainted with the manner in which he has dealt with Christ Jesus for our sakes. What a view, for example, does it afford of the holiness of God, to think that sin could not be atoned for in his sight but by the death of his onlybegotten Son! What a view it affords us at the same time of his mercy, to think that he spared him not, but delivered him up for us all! What a view have we of his justice, in that he punished even Him, when our sins were laid upon him! What a view have we of his | power, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places! These things so remarkably display the glory of God, that even angels themselves desire to look into them. Farther, it is necessary to know Jesus Christ, in order to apprehend aright those attributes of God which we must imitate. For if our knowledge of God does not lead us to seek to become like him, and to be partakers of his divine nature, our light is, after all, darkness; and so far as our own happiness is concerned, both for time and for eternity, our knowledge is vain. But no man hath seen God at any time; and we should fall into error and misconception concerning him, were we to be left only to our own imaginations. Multitudes indeed do continually err in this matter, esteeming God to be such a one as themselves. But the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him he is the express image of the Father, insomuch that whosoever hath seen the Son, hath seen the Father. us. And Christ not only exhibits to us the image of the Father, but he enables us, by the teaching and illumination of his Spirit, to have a right apprehension of it in our minds, without which, indeed, the declaration of it by words and actions were thrown away upon The unbelieving Jews witnessed his life and conversation, yet saw they no beauty in him that they should desire him; but a believing Jew exclaims, " We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son JESUS CHRIST. This is the true God and eternal life." And Jesus himself says, "No one knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." It is by the same Spirit, also, that we are enabled "to know the things which are freely given to us of God;" and by means of which we are ourselves transformed into his image. It has passed into a proverb, in regard to profane things, that knowledge is power. That there exist mighty chemical agents, for example, in the natural world, is of no use to us, until their properties become known. We may even be superficially acquainted with some agents for thousands of years, as in the instance of steam, and yet, from the want of a more intimate knowledge of its properties, remain unable to apply it to the various important uses for which it is available. This is true in a tenfold degree of spiritual things; for the riches of divine grace, which are treasured up in Christ Jesus, can only be known, so as to be made available, by an experimental acquaintance with them. |