Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

For dreary were this earth, if earth were all,
Though brighten'd oft by dear affection's kiss:
Who for the spangles wears the funeral pall?

But catch a gleam beyond it, and 'tis bliss.
Heavy and dull this frame of limbs and heart:
Whether slow creeping on cold earth, or borne
On lofty steed, or loftier prow, we dart

O'er wave or field, yet breezes laugh to scorn Our puny speed; and birds, and clouds in heaven, And fish, like living shafts that pierce the main, And stars that shoot through freezing air at even, Who but would follow, might he break his chain? And thou shalt break it soon; the grovelling worm Shall find his wings, and soar as fast and free As his transfigur'd Lord, with lightning form

And snowy vest-such grace he won for thee, When from the grave he sprung at dawn of morn, And led through boundless air thy conquering road, Leaving a glorious track, where saints new-born Might fearless follow to their blest abode.

But first, by many a stern and fiery blast,

The world's rude furnace must thy blood refine; And many a gale of keenest woe be pass'd,

Till every pulse beat true to airs divine,

Till every limb obey the mounting soul,

The mounting soul the call by Jesus given:
He who the stormy heart can so control,
The laggard body soon will waft to heaven.

Miscellaneous.

KEBLE.

IRELAND, at all times a subject of deep interest to Protestants, and particularly so to the members of the Established Church, presents at this time an aspect which calls for the deepest sympathy, and at the same time for the most vigorous exertion. Under Christ, the Light of life, and under the Word of God, the lamp of life to our feet, the life of religion in Ireland is its Protestantism; the life of Protestantism in Ireland is the Church of Great Britain and Ireland. Extinguish the light she holds forth, and the rays of Divine light become few and feeble. Proceed further, and extinguish those which remain, and immediately the night of superstition, of which we cannot see the termination, closes in upon that unhappy country: darkness will cover the land, and gross darkness the people.-Prayer-Book and Homily Society's Report.

SWARTZ. In the time of war, the fort of Tanjore was in a very distressing situation; a powerful enemy was near, and the provisions were insufficient even for the garrison. There was grain enough in the country for their supply, but they had no bullocks to convey it to the fort; the people had lost all confidence in the Europeans, and the rajah in vain entreated their assistance. The only hope left them appeared to be in Swartz. "We have lost all our credit," said the rajah to an English gentleman; "let us try whether the inhabitants will trust Mr. Swartz." Accordingly he was desired to make a speedy agreement with them, for there was no time to be lost. The sepoys were daily dying in great numbers, and the streets were literally lined with the dead every morning. Swartz, therefore, sent letters in every direction, promising to pay with his own hands for every bullock that might be taken by the enemy; and in a short time, his benevolent exertions obtained for the perishing inhabitants above a thousand bullocks. He sent cate

Mr.

chists and other Christians into the country, at the risk of their lives, who, with all possible haste, brought into the fort a large quantity of rice, by which means it was preserved. At another time, the inhabitants of the Tanjore country were so miserably oppressed, that many quitted the province. In consequence of their departure, all cultivation ceased, and every one dreaded the calamity of a famine. Mr. Swartz, without delay, entreated the rajah to remove the shameful oppressions, and to recall the inhabitants. His advice was followed; and the rajah endeavoured to bring back the people, promising to listen to their com plaints, remove their grievances, and that justice should be administered. This, however, proved fruit. less all his efforts were in vain, for the people would not believe him. Mr. Swartz was then requested to write letters to them as before. He cheerfully did so, assuring them, that, at his intercession, kindness would be shewn them, and that their oppressions should be removed. The people immediately believed his word. and seven thousand men came back in one day, and the rest of the inhabitants soon followed their example. He then exhorted them to exert themselves to the utmost in the cultivation of their lands, which should have commenced in June, but nothing was done even in the beginning of September. The people instantly replied, "As you have shewn kindness to us, you shail not have reason to repent of it: we intend to work night and day, to shew our regard to you."

PROV. XI. 21.---The expression, "though hand join in hand," may bear a slight correction, conformable both to the original Hebrew and also to the custom actually prevailing in Syria. The original simply signifies,hand to hand." And this is the custom of persons in the East, when they greet each other, or strike hands, in token of friendship and agreement. They touch their right hands respectively; and then raise them up to their lips and forehead. This is the universal Eastern courtesy. The English version, and the devices grounded upon it, give the idea of hand clasped in hand, which is European, rather than Oriental. The sense, therefore, is, " Though hand meet in hand”-intimating, that heart assents to heart in the perpetration of wickedness--" yet shall not the wicked go unpunished."-Rev. W. Jowett.

Assrs.-The Mollahs, or men of the law, are generally to be seen riding about on mules; and they also account it a dignity, and suited to their character, to ride on white asses, which is a striking illustration of what we read in Judges, v. 10: "Speak ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment."-Morier.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

THE DIVINE AUTHORITY FOR A

LITURGY.

BY THE REV. H. G. WATKINS, M.A. Rector of St. Swithin, London Stone, with St. Mary

Bothaw.

THE work of creation, completed as to each individual existence, is a subject adapted only for contemplation and for praise. So also the work of redemption, by the incarnation and death of the Son of God, demands, and, where an interest in it is esteemed as it ought to be, cannot but receive, our most thankful acknowledgments. But the gracious and daily interposition of our heavenly Father, in directing and controlling the affairs of the world, and our spiritual and temporal allotments in it, is, or ought to be, a subject of daily prayer, as well as of our daily thanksgiving. If we seriously "believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth," and that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his knowledge, we shall offer constant prayer to him, that we may, as to our souls and our bodies, be daily directed by his holy will and governance; so that all things that may happen in the world around us, and in our own personal and private affairs, may turn to a good account in respect of our conversion to God, our edification as Christians, and our eternal salvation. If we have been at all influenced by our Saviour's question, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give," or what can he profitably receive, "in exchange for his soul?"-then shall we endeavour to use the language of praise and prayer, furnished by our Church, with simplicity and

VOL. I. NO. XXVII.

PRICE 1d.

godly sincerity, "not as pleasing men, but God which trieth our hearts."

Do we feel the force of the confession we make before God and his Church,--that "we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and that there is no health in us?"-then we shall ferrently pray, that the Divine mercy may be bestowed upon us; and we shall praise the God of all grace for promising remission of sins and an inheritance in heaven to all who repent and believe the Gospel.

Certain sentences, because of a precatory form, are not therefore necessarily acceptable to "the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy." (Is. lvii. 15.) When these are offered without the feeling of the heart, the heart-searching God says by his prophet," Bring no more" such "vain oblations." Those who worship only in this way are thus described by Jehovah himself, "to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid," "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matt. xv. 8.) Such persons, according to St. Paul's account of the matter, have "a form of godliness, but deny," or at least undervalue, "the power thereof." (2 Tim. iii. 5.)

In what a wretched state would the parishes in England have been at the era of the Reformation, if a reformed form of prayer had not been provided for the common use and understanding of ministers and people! Indeed, a form of prayer was then absolutely necessary and expedient.

2 E

But the use of a form for public national devotion was known to the Jewish Church. That that ancient people of God were assisted by especially prescribed forms of prayer, is evident from various parts of the Old Testament Scriptures. (Exod. xv. 1, 20, 21; Num. x. 35, 36; Deut. xxi. 7, 8, xxvi, 3, 5; 1 Chron. xxiii. 30, compared with Nehem. xii. 24, 45, 46; Ezra, iii. 10, 11; Hosea, xiv. 2.) Aaron was commanded to bless Israel in a certain form of words. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Num. vi. 22-26.) Most of the Psalms were composed for the service of the temple, as forms of prayer and praise. (Psalm xcii.) "Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David | and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped." (2 Chron. xxix. 30.)

Some learned men have traced a considerable resemblance between the Jewish forms still extant and our own, allowing for the larger measure of revealed truth which we enjoy. No doubt our Saviour, "who came unto his own people," and was educated as a Jew, attended constantly the temple and synagogue worship, and conformed to the public liturgy then in use. We know he conformed to circumcision and to baptism, and scrupulously observed the passover, and other solemn festivals of the Jewish Church. Had not this been the case, the scribes and pharisees would have reproached him as a heathen and profane person. This, however, they never dared to do.

Our Saviour in answer to the request of his disciples, that he should teach them to pray, as John also taught his disciples; i. e. that they should have a form of prayer, which should be a sign that they were his disciples, and in communion one with another, instructed them to use that form which we usually designate as the Lord's Prayer. And it is a remarkable fact concerning this prayer, that it does not consist of sentiments or expressions at that time first formed by our Saviour, but, excepting the clause, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us," every part is taken from the Jewish formularies; so that, in the main, the prayer was formed of expressions previously in use, and then only combined and adopted for a Christian service. And St. Matthew and St. Mark inform us, that

our Lord, when in the Garden of Gethsemane, left his disciples, and went away again and "prayed the third time, saying the same words." (Matt. xxvi. 44, and Mark, xiv. 39.)

Jesus Christ, our great High-Priest, and the sovereign Head of the Church, has appointed a form of words, without the use of which neither sprinkling with water, nor immersion in it, would constitute Christian baptism. "Go ye, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. xxviii. 19.) This form is still preserved and used in all Churches that observe the rite of Christian initiation. The apostle Paul concludes several of his epistles with the same benedictory words; and, indeed, the whole Scriptures present us with sentences of praise and of prayer, suited for our own adoption and use.

Many of the ancient fathers expressly speak of the Lord's Prayer as then commonly used in the Church. We have indubitable testimony, as early as within one hundred and fifty years after the apostles, that liturgies existed and were in use. Even then they were called "Common Prayers," and "CCRstituted Prayers;" and those afterwards that were used in the court of Constantine, under whom Christianity was first delivered from heathen persecution, were called at that time "Authorised Prayers."

66

Matthew Henry and Dr. Watts have collected many Scripture sentences, and given several forms of prayer, which they commend as useful helps to our addresses at the Throne of Grace. Some of the most respectable independent ministers now living, who, nevertheless, feel pleasure in the avowal of their perfect freedom to act as they please in the conduct of their own public worship, do honour to our Liturgy, by making large and frequent quotations from it, in combination with their own extemporaneous petitions and thanksgivings. Christians of all classes constantly sing by printed forms: and if it is lawful and expedient in the poetic preconceived compositions of others to pray and praise, it must be no less so, to offer our supplications and grateful acknowledgments in more simple prose. What is lawful and right in the one case, cannot possibly be less so in the other. Considerations of this kind ought at least to silence the objections that captious minds suggest against the lawfulness and use of a liturgical form of public worship: as they shew that pious people of all parties directly or indirectly acknowledge both.

The authorised formularies of the Western Church were originally in Latin, a language

then generally spoken, and were compiled from forms used by the primitive Christians; but, in process of time, the good and wholesome sentiments, of which they were entirely composed, were mingled with the most gross and degrading superstitions, and are found still so mingled, in the present printed missals and breviaries of the Church of Rome. In the time of Henry VIII. the absurdity of praying publicly in an unknown tongue became manifest; and a service in English was ordered, "that men might pray with the understanding, and that the unlearned might rationally say AMEN at the giving of THANKS." The eminent Grotius says, that the English Liturgy, in his view, approaches the nearest of all he had seen to the services of the primitive Church.

[To be concluded in an early Number.]

EXTRACTS FROM FOUR LECTURES ON
ADVENT.*

LECT. I.-The Certainty of Christ's Second Coming. I PROCEED to argue, from the minuteness of accomplishment of prophecy relating to the first advent, that all that is predicted of the second will be as truly fulfilled.

It is very needful to draw men's attention to this part of the prophetic record. For there appears to prevail much practical disbelief of Christ's second coming. The age of wonders, many seem to think, is past, and now there shall be no change in the regular order of the universe. Politicians arrange their plans, as if they deemed this world, the theatre of their machinations, eternal. Men talk of the march of intellect and spread of knowledge, and anticipate a continual improvement of nations, and calculate on, for thousands of advancing years, the accomplishment of their schemes, as if they imagined that the tide of events would never come to a full stop. Rarely, if ever, do you find it admitted as a principle, in business, or in books, not especially theological, that we are drawing to an end, advancing to a crisis-not the mere petty revolution of this or that empire, but the catastrophe of creation. There are individuals, to be sure-and the number is perhaps increasing-who think of and believe in the return of Christ to judgment; but the multitude, the mass of the world, is uninfluenced by such thoughts. The mechanic goes to his daily labour, the merchant to his countinghouse, the student to his books, with no apprehension that "the end of all things is at hand." credit theoretically the doctrine, they place the facts of it at the telescopic distance of many generations, too remote to be of interest or dear importance to themselves. I say, therefore, that the certainty of Christ's second coming ought to be diligently weighed: and I earnestly invite your attention to the overwhelming evidence of it which the Scripture fur

nishes.

If they

It will be sufficient for my purpose to present to you here a few of the most remarkable predictions. I take one from the Old Testament :-"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." (Job, xix. 25-27.) It is plain that these words do not refer to the first coming of Christ; for, in the following verses, Job connects

By the Rev. John Ayre. Published by Seeley and Burnside. 1835.

the coming he refers to with his own resurrection :"and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." Again, on our Lord's ascension, the angels assured the disciples, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts, i. 11.) Again, St. Paul says, "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch

angel, and with the trump of God." (1 Thess. iv. 16.) And in another epistle, "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire." (2 Thess. i. 7, 8.) And, once more, in the closing book of Scripture we read, "behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth attendant circumstances are also described. The dead shall wail because of him." (Rev. i. 7.) Some of the

are to rise, and the living to be changed: for "the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.) The world is to be consumed by fire: in that day, "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." (2 Peter, iii. 10.)

Now I argue, that as the prophecies were fulfilledexactly which described the conception, the birthplace, the lowliness, the judgment, the death, the burial of Christ; so will there be the clouds, the fire, the trumpet, the archangel's voice, the shout of attending myriads, the wailing woe, which shall be on all kindreds of the earth. The events are CERTAIN. Your eyes shall see that pompous appearance;" your ears shall hear that tremendous voice; and you shall wail, bitterly and for ever, if you are not prepared to meet him.

66

This is the particular, and most important light, in It takes its interest which we are to view this matter. from us.

We shall be the subjects of that day's solemnities. To us the Lord will come, to judge us according to our works. He is the Master, then returning to his household, and punishing him that he finds drunken. He is the Lord, then reckoning with his servants, and requiring of them an account of the

talents he had lent them. He is the moral Governor of the world, then coming to justify his ways in the sight of the universe-to inflict "tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil"-to render "glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good."

Many persons are apt to lose sight of this point of chief importance: they wander-and Satan loves to lead them into speculations about the particular time, and the precise manner, of Christ's second coming. The time, presumptuous men!-hath not the Father reserved that within his own power? Our Saviour's awful words ought to sound the knell of every expectation to penetrate that mystery: "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt. xxiv. 36). The manner!--one would think that these persons had sat in the councils of heaven, and helped to frame the purposes of the eternal mind. The time!-yes, I will tell you of the time: it shall be when men are least expecting it, when they are eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage, as when the flood came; then shall it come, when scoffers are "walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?" When you, peradventure, are dreaming of unbroken years of security, THEN shall the unearthly thunder, his apparitor, rend the firmament; then shall the fire, his minister, dissolve the elements; then "every eye shall see him, and the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." The manner!-ves, I will tell you of

the manner that very Jesus who was crucified, shall descend in his body, and be looked on in glory; and the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and the dead shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, "some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." So much is revealed: but "secret things belong to God." And just as when our Lord came first, there were many circumstances in the manner of his coming, which even those that looked for him did not expect, so will it be now: the broad fact is written as with a sunbeam, "HE COMETH :" the where, the when, the how, as to minute particulars, are veiled in impenetrable darkness.

I will not enter into the controversies which have distracted the Church on these points: they tend, I have had reason to know, to alienate the mind from the grand matter of fact to puny speculations about mere circumstantials. Carry home with you, I repeat, the fact he is coming. Let it follow you to your retirement, and attend you in your business, "behold, he cometh," and I shall see him. And then, O brethren, ask your hearts, Am I prepared to meet him? Can there be an inquiry so momentous? Postpone it not. Begin your preparation now. Now we may shew you Christ the Saviour, the mild, compassionate Lord: his eye is not now lighted up with fury, his hand not yet stretched forth to destroy. He is still waiting to be gracious. He will blot out your iniquities in his own precious blood, that "cleanseth from all sin." Wash in it, and you shall be clean. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you, the very guiltiest of you, shall not be condemned at his bar of judgment: you shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.

Biography.

ROBERT LEIGHTON, D.D., ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW. THE state of religion in Scotland during the reigns of Charles the second and James the Second presents a most melancholy picture of the wretched consequences which must inevitably result from that bigoted and persecuting spirit which is utterly at variance with the charity and brotherly kindness so repeatedly inculcated in the Gospel. The historical records of these perilous times differ in their details, according to the views of their several authors: and it is not easy to arrive at the truth, each party being lauded, and the other condemned, as the author was a zealous advocate for prelacy or presbytery. That the presbyterian party underwent severe and heavy trials, no sane man can for a moment deny; and we conceive that all attempts to palliate the enormities of their persecutors have utterly failed. On the other hand, the Presbyterians were not guiltless in this same particular; and authentic documents are not wanting to shew, that, in some instances, it was the want of power rather than of will, which prevented them retaliating to the full upon their adversaries. These perilous times have gone by; and we strongly deprecate all attempts to fan the flame of discord between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians of the north. We fear that, in some instances, the attempt is still made, perhaps on both sides. But surely Ephraim should no longer seek to vex Judah, nor Judah Ephraim. Those persecuting times have gone by. Through the rich mercy of God, our lot has been cast in the days of full religious toleration; and the same blessings, which we would desire to receive with gratitude, we would desire that others should enjoy. Presbytery and prelacy in Scotland have, at this moment, enough to do to ward off the attacks of a common enemy, in the shape of a strange amalgamation of persons of all religious sentiments, and persons of none, seeking, as we conceive, to sap the foundations of God's eternal truth, and to shake the bulwarks of the Protestant

faith. Our own views of Church government are fixed-Episcopalians on principle, and from heartfelt conviction, we are yet willing to give to the clergy of the Church of Scotland their full meed of praise. We trust that between the members of that Church, lay and clerical, and those of the Episcopal communion, there will ever remain a feeling of mutual respect and esteem; and that if there is to be any contention among them, it should not be about the records of other days, but which of them now shall be most zealous in the attempt to bring perishing sinners to the knowledge of a crucified Saviour; to preach with increasing zeal and holier ardour the saving doctrines of the Gospel; and to oppose that spirit of hostility to every thing established, which, in order to obtain the overthrow of the Churches of these realins, would allow even Popery, with all its abominations, to reign triumphant in the land.

to.

The subject of this memoir was raised to the episcopate in Scotland during these perilous times referred His character has been very much misrepresented both by the Presbyterian and Episcopalian party. Neither, in fact, seem to have been satisfied with his conduct. To us he appears to have been an individual eminently zealous in the cause of his heavenly Master; to have been actuated with the purest and most exalted piety towards God, and kindness and good-will towards his fellow-men; and happy for his traducers will it be, in the day of solemn account, to whichever form of ecclesiastical discipline they may have held, if they shall have been found, at the last, men of like faith and holiness. There may be a most devoted attachment to a peculiar system of external worship and ecclesiastical discipline, accompanied with total destitution of vital religion in the soul; and it becomes strong partisans for such systems to beware lest, while they are zealous for the outward beauty of the temple, they forget that holiness to the Lord is the mark of all true worshippers.

Robert Leighton was born in the year 1611. He was the son of Alexander Leighton, a native of Scotland, who took up his residence in London, and who had an information exhibited against him in the StarChamber for a book, entitled, "An Appeal to the Parliament of a Plea against Prelacy," wherein he used the most vehement and virulent language against the Established Church, and brought down upon himself the fury of his opponents. He underwent cruelties on account of this, at which the heart recoils, and which were more fitting for a land of pagan darkness, than one in which the light of Gospel-truth was shining.* He wrote also the "Looking-glass of the Holy War." That he was a man of considerable acquirements cannot be doubted. The universities of Leyden and St. Andrews, each conferred upon him the degree of D.D., a rare mark of honourable distinction at that time.

He was sentenced to be committed to the Fleet during life: to pay a fine of 10,000.; to be carried to the pillory at Westminster, and there whipped; and, after whipping, to be set in the pillory, have one of his ears cut off, one side of his nose slit, and be branded on the one cheek with the letters S. S. for & sower of sedition; and on another day to be carried to the pillory, in Cheapside, to be there again whipped, have his other ear cut off, the other side of his nose slit, and his other check branded with the double S. Mr. Leighton made his escape out of prison the night before his sentence was to have been in part executed; but he was soon retaken; and on the 16th of November underwent the one half of his sentence in Palace Yard, Westminster. On that day sevennight, his sores on his back, ear, nose, and face, not being cured, he was again whipped at the pillory in Cheapside. The hangman, on this occasion, was purposely half intoxicated, and performed his duty with the most savage ferocity. After being thus unmercifully whipped, the poor culprit was exposed nearly two hours on the pillery, in a severe frost and heavy fall of snow; at the end of which he underwent, to the full extent thereof, the remainder of his brutal sentence; and, being unable to walk, he was carried back by water to his confinement, where he remained till he was liberated by the Long Parliament.-See note, Wodrow, vol L p. 237.

« ПредишнаНапред »