pensations of God, viz. that "righteousness, temperance, and industry exalt a nation, whilst idleness and profligacy are a ruin and a disgrace to any state.' " The Bible contains the only absolutely authentic history that ever was written. The most upright man on earth may write what is absolutely false, through ignorance or wrong impressions; and I believe there is more truth in some of those fictitious narratives founded on the general principles of human nature, than in the pages of some of the most veracious historians; to be absolutely correct, a historian stands in as much need of inspiration as a prophet. Facts he may know: but the motives and feelings of the actors, the things which render history chiefly interesting, he never can know with certainty, without Revelation. The history of the Bible is entirely a religious history; it mentions the wars and civil transactions of the Jews merely as illustrations of God's providence, and refers to other books, specially mentioned, for particulars; it is, in short, the history of redemption; detailing the origin, progress, and final accomplishment of the scheme, and furnishing as it goes along, through a succession of hands, and a succession of ages, means of verification, to satisfy every diligent enquirer after truth, till the end of the world; and that there may be no doubt as to its absolute correctness, it is written twice over; first, in prophecy and anticipation; and afterwards, in its development and completion. Such being the great end of Scripture history, we need not be surprised that it should deal sparingly in the general history of the world. No heathen nation is ever mentioned in it, except in connection with the history of the Jews, who had the keeping of the oraeles of God, and through whom salvation was to come to the Gentiles, and extend to the remotest corners of the earth. By far the largest and most fertile countries in the world are not so much as mentioned in saered history; I allude to the countries and nations heyond the eastern limits of Persia, and the mountainchain of the Parapomisus, which bound the geography and history of Scripture towards the East. Into these vast regions, more populous than all the world besides, the light of Revelation in ancient times had never penetrated; and they were separated from the rest of the world by a seemingly impassable barrier. India, the nearest of them to the historical countries of Scrip. ture, is only mentioned once in the Bible, as forming the eastern boundary of Ahasuerus's empire; it was known only by name, till the expedition of Alexander the Great, when the canon of the Old Testament Scriptures was closed; and we can infer connection between it and the western world before that period, only by the mention of some articles of Indian production, such as ivory and the like, which, however, might have come from another. they might not "be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." This was evidently an attempt in direct opposition to the will of heaven, as intimated both to Adam and to Noah, which was, that they shall replenish the whole earth. It is impossible, therefore, to conceive that Noah could be concerned in such an enterprise. He had seen too much of the power and judgments of God in the destruction of the whole human race, with the exception of his own family, to venture to oppose the will of heaven; his faith had led him to prepare an ark for the saving of his house; and when he had seen the faithfulness of God in fulfilling both his promises and his judgments, it was impossible that he could give any countenance to open rebellion against his will. But we never hear a word of Noah after the flood, except that "he lived three hundred and fifty years." It would appear that all his three sons moved towards the West, where the original settlement of the human race had been. Nothing is clearer than that Canaan, Phenicia, Egypt, and a great part of Arabia, were peopled by the descendants of Ham; this is evident from the tenth chapter of Genesis. On the same authority, we learn that the descendants of Japhet, the Japetus of the Greeks, peopled "the isles of the Gentiles;" that is, not merely the isles of the Mediterranean, but all the maritime coasts of Europe, to which the Jews had access only by sea. The descendants of Shem alone seem to have kept possession of the country first inhabited by man, and to have had less of a migratory propensity than their collateral kindred. His sons were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram; and Elam is the name for Persia, in the original language of Scripture, derived from its first occupant and settler. Asshur founded Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, which is uniformly denominated Asshur in Scripture from him. Arphaxad, again, is the lineal progenitor of Abraham, who dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, till he received a call from God to go in search of another inheritance. Lud is suppos ed to mean Lydia; and Aram, the name of Shem's fifth son, is the Scripture name for Syria, intimating that it was occupied and peopled by him. Here, then, we find all the branches of the family of Shem clustered together, as it were, and occupying the choicest countries of the world, from which they could find little desire to emigrate and, taking all these circumstances together, we are left completely at a loss to account for the early and overflowing population of those countries to the eastward of the possessions of the sons of Shem. Conjecture is always at work where history fails; and we may suppose that Noah, whose patriarchal authority must have been acknowledged by all his descendants, who constituted the whole world, led a colony, collected from the various branches, but principally from the family of Shem, whose locations were to the eastward of all the rest, into India; from which the stream of population extended till it was limited by the Eastern Ocean; if, indeed, we can venture to assign such limits to its progress; for there seems to be little doubt that America was peopled from the east of Asia, and not from the west of Europe or Africa. Shuckford, without either authority or pro In stating, then, the peopling of the world after the flood, the Bible takes no notice whatever of India, China, Tartary, Japan, and the numerous islands which stud the Indian Archipelago; their population is left entirely unaccounted for; and neither from historical records, nor from similarity of manners, customs, or religion, can we connect their origin with any of the nations of the dispersion mentioned in Scripture.bability, has supposed that Noah himself penetrated as Whence are they, then? We are not to suppose the creation of another race distinct from the family of Adam; but we are certainly constrained to suppose that the nations bounded by the Eastern and Indian Ocean have been planted in circumstances very different from those which determined the settlement of the western branches of the human family. Let it be observed, then, that the people whose affinities and history are mentioned in Scripture," journeyed from the East," Gen. xi. 2, and dwelt in the land of Shinar; and there it was that they engaged in the extraordinary attempt to build a city and a tower, that | far as the Eastern Ocean, and became the Fo-hi of the Chinese. But there is no improbability in supposing that he directed the course of population towards the East, in fulfilment of what he knew to be the purpose of God, that the whole world should be peopled; for he received the same command that was given to Adam, "be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth." —Gen. ix. 1. That these emigrants towards the East should have remained almost entirely unknown till comparatively modern times, need excite no surprise. There is little interest and no improvement, to be derived from the history of people ignorant of the laws and ordinances of heaven: their changes are, in general, sudden and exterminating and when they remain permanent in their habits, they exhibit one unvaried scene of ignorance, bigotry, and superstition: in no point of view can they be interesting to a rational mind, except as affording a demonstration, that no length of time will lead to saving knowledge till God reveal his will from heaven. God had fixed the scene of Gospel Revelation in other regions than those of the remote East; and therefore the history of its inhabitants is buried in impenetrable darkness. The promised Messiah was to spring from the family of Abraham, and therefore the history of this family is invested with the highest interest in the Sacred Scriptures, the only authentic record of antiquity; and through it we are brought into contact with some of the most powerful of the ancient nations, and made acquainted with their laws, manners, and religion. When the family of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, went to settle in Egypt, in consequence of the extraordinary circumstances which led to the exaltation of Joseph, we are introduced to the knowledge of the Egyptian policy and government, and, at last, to the signs and wonders manifested in the punishment of the hardened idolaters, which was completed by the overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. Then we have the wars and wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness, the subjugation of their enemies, their triumphant entrance into Canaan, and the bloody wars which they waged with its inhabitants, till they were exterminated or subdued. All this, and all the vicissitudes of the Jews, till Christ was born in Bethlehem, would have been totally uninteresting, had not every event formed a link in that chain which connects heaven and earth, time and eternity, and marks out this world as a pre-ordained theatre for the display of the marvellous wisdom of God. Keeping this consideration in view, even the dry genealogical details of Scripture, which would be totally uninteresting elsewhere, are essential elements of history, as without them we never could have known that God's promises were fulfilled, and that Christ had suffered and died and risen again," according to the Scriptures." But still, though we may perceive from such considerations as have been suggested, a sufficient reason why India, and the countries beyond and around it, are unnoticed in sacred history; yet these regions open up a field of deep interest to an inquiring mind. Setting aside their historical records, which pretend to stretch into the remotest antiquity, and which are filled with falsehood and fable, yet it cannot be doubted that they have a literature more ancient than that of any existing people, or, perhaps, than any existing writings, with the exception of the Old Testament Scriptures. European scholars, struck by this singularity, eagerly applied themselves to the study of Oriental literature, and soon mastered all its difficulties; some with the view of finding confirmation of Scripture history, others to supply food for unbelief. Both parties have been disappointed, and the supposed storehouses of Indian literature have been found to contain either a mass of indigested fable, or of inexplicable mysticism. But if we consider the circumstances under which these nations must have been originally settled, and in which they continued till commerce opened up an intercourse between them and Europe, we shall probably find a state of things conformable to what might be expected among people settled, at first, under patriarchal authority-the first form of government on earth, but who have never afterwards been favoured with the communications of a prophet to reveal the will of heaven. Such, we can have no doubt, are the circumstances under which these Eastern regions were planted and peopled, and such the circumstances under which they remained till European enterprise established a In India direct and regular communication, and brought into No man can trace the antiquity of this system in these countries which has remained immutable for, perhaps, thousands of years; stamping the same immutability on the institutions of the state, and the character of the people. But do we not see something resembling it in the constitution under which the patriarchs lived, before a written law was given to Israel? They were the High Priests in their families, and, in addition to this, they exercised the power of life and death over their dependants, and of making war on just occasions. Judah ordered his daughter-in-law to be burned, Gen. xxxviii. 24; and Abraham, though inclined to peace, was prepared for war, and had three hundred and eighteen servants born in his own house, and trained to war, with whom, aided by the men of Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, he pursued and defeated the five kings who had plundered Sodom and carried off his brother Lot, Gen xiv. Here, then, we see the regal and sacerdotal offices completely conjoined, which was still more conspicuously manifested in the case of Melchizedek, king of Salem, and "Priest of the most high God." Now, we have only to suppose that, after that period, God should have given no Revelation, and no prophetic intimations to man, and we may easily conceive that a state of things, very similar to that which now exists in the unenlightened East, would have prevailed throughout every region inhabited by men. That is, we would have been able to trace some of the vestiges of the primeval patriarchal religion, arrested in its progress, from the want of those communications which God made to his chosen people; and corrupted by the inventions and efforts of men, to improve an obviously defective system. And it is not a little remarkable to observe the similarity of features which superstition assumes all over the world. When the Roman Catholic missionaries first found their way into the East, they were astonished to observe so many religious practices bearing the closest resemblance to those of their own church. They found religious mendicants and professed saints, out-doing in austerity and self-inflicted martyrdom all that had ever been recorded of the most celebrated devotees of the West; they found a close resemblance, also, between many of the rites and ceremonies of the Orientals, and those enjoined by their own church; and, with much simplicity, they ascribe this state of things to the invention of Satan, who had introduced the rites of the Catholic church into India, by way of forestalling the light that was to come from Rome, and teaching the natives to undervalue its communications. The doctrine of the soul's immortality is held over all the East, in its most extravagant form, viz., that of transmigration from one creature into another, till, at last, it shall be absorbed into the deity. We can trace this doctrine up to the highest antiquity, over all the East; and with the knowledge of this fact, it may well be matter of surprize that any doubt should ever have been entertained as to the existence of the doctrine of immortality among the Jews, in the earliest periods of their history; when, indeed, they held it in much greater purity than at the time when our Lord came "to bring life and inmortality to light by the gospel;" at which time a doctrine similar to, if not identical with transmigration, seems to have been very prevalent. See John ix. 2. This doctrine was also received in Egypt, and was introduced by Pythagoras into Greece, and there can be little doubt that it had its origin in India, and in the remotest antiquity; for the natives of that country are distinguished above those of every other by the immutability of their habits and opinions, and by their aversion to adopt those of other nations. There is another coincidence between them and the ancient Western nations, which cannot be accidental, I mean the worship of the Bull, which exists at this moment in India, in as much vigour as it did elsewhere in the earliest times. This animal, as is well known, was the chief object of worship in ancient Egypt; the idolatrous Israelites worshipped it in the form of the golden calf in the wilderness; and the two golden calves, set up by the kings of the ten revolted tribes at Bethel, and at Dan, had their origin in the same superstition. I pretend not to account for the origin of this revolting impiety; I mention it only as a coincidence of practice between the ancient Eastern and Western branches of the human race, affording a decided proof of a communication between them and furnishing, along with the doctrine of transmigration, a presumption, as I think, that these opinions and practices had their origin in those Eastern countries, where they have retained their permanent abode, and still exist in all their pristine vigour. But I do not dignify my speculations on this subject, with any higher name than conjecture; I am convinced, however, that we have scarcely yet touched the threshold of knowledge in regard to these interesting regions; and I could wish that a literary mission, composed of men well versed in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Sanscrit, and Persic, were sent to explore the history and literature of the East; as I am fully convinced that elucidations of Scripture will yet be derived from that quarter, as satisfactory as the fulfilment of prophecy. THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN LUNATIC ASYLUMS. IT has been long a matter of doubt among medical men how far it might be useful, or even practicable, to bring Christian instruction to bear, upon the minds of the insane. The attempt, however, has been made in some instances, and with the greatest advantage. Thus, in the Lunatic Department of the Charity Workhouse of Edinburgh, an efficient and judicious chaplain, the Rev. Lachlan Maclean, has, for a considerable time past, been conducting religious worship every Sabbath, and the result of his labours cannot be better stated than in his own language, as contained in his Report: “Few years have elapsed since the possibility of in- | troducing religious worship into Lunatic Asylums, with any advantage to the inmates, would have been denied even by the humane and intelligent classes of society. The insane, because often beyond the reach of human aid, were thought to be incapable of receiving religious instruction. The animal frame bore a heavy load of suffering, and to it the physician's skill and keeper's watchfulness were, no doubt, unceasingly directed, but the immortal part was forgotten-its wants were left unprovided for. In so far as the public was concerned, this seeming indifference to the eternal interests of the unhappy maniac, proceeded probably from ignorance of his real state. He was supposed to be always the subject of frenzied madness, or despairing stupor. It was either not known or lost sight of, that some of these individuals frequently have intervals of sanity, continuing for several weeks at a time; that others display insanity only on certain points, and that a third class, although deranged on all occasions, and proper objects for confinement, both on their own account and that of others, are yet kept under such control by the firm, but mild discipline of an asylum, as to listen with attention to whatever is said to them, and even, not unfrequently, cheerfully to comply with judicious advice. These facts, of course, could only be known by those acquainted with the interior of such institutions; but unfortunately, whatever changes and improvements they might have been the means of producing, they failed to suggest the propriety of endeavouring to ascertain what effect the preaching of the Word of God might have upon the downcast solitary mourners. "The trial of religious worship on the Sabbath day, was at last, however, made in the Lunatic Asylum, Bristo Port, brought about by a judicious resolution of the Managers of the Charity Workhouse, who, being convinced of the impropriety of a great number of strangers visiting the Lunatic Asylum, devolved upon two of their body, the sole superintendence of that branch of the establishment. These gentlemen, while engaged in discharging their affecting trust, became intimately acquainted with the character and condition of the insane; and were thus convinced of the competency of many to receive religious instruction. The Managers of the Workhouse, in consequence of their recommendation, sanctioned the introduction of divine service into the asylum on the Sabbath, in July 1828. The result, even the first day, was highly satisfactory, and has continued to be so down to the present time, proving, in every respect, the propriety of the arrangement. In general, from forty to forty-five of the patients attend divine service. Their conduct in the chapel might indeed afford a salutary lesson to many in the possession of all their faculties. To these poor maniacs it is no light, trifling, or matter-of-form business to engage in the service of their God. Disposed to look for indifference instead of affection from their fellow-crea tures, and cut off from the business and innocent enjoyments of time, many of them go to the chapel delighted with the remembrance that there is a Friend whom adversity cannot change, a blessed Redeemer who visits the humble apartment into which the parent or child cannot, often dares not, enter. mission, occupied many a thought during the preceding "The duties of the Sabbath have, by their own ad week. When engaged in these duties, their cares and sorrows are for a time lost sight of, and even the most wretched manifest, by their deportment, the soothing effects of religious feeling. After leaving the chapel, the duties of the morning form the subject of conversation during the rest of the day; and sermons heard in happier scenes are remembered and compared with that delivered by their chaplain. "Formerly, partly perhaps on account of the surrounding stillness, the Sabbath appeared to be the most disturbed day of the week; ever since the worship of God commenced, it has been the most peaceful, and evidently the most delightful to the patients. "On different occasions individuals returned, some time after having been discharged, requesting permission again to join in worship with their former partners in affliction; and several who either met the chaplain by accident, or called upon him, have testified in the strongest terms, the happiness they enjoyed when surrounding the family altar during their days of darkness. The foregoing general statements might be sufficient to prove the benefit which the insane derive from religious exercises, but a more minute account may perhaps be desired of a field but lately opened through Christian benevolence. To gratify such a wish, the following facts may be stated, illustrative of the conduct of the insane in the chapel, and of the effects produced upon them by the worship of God. "On one occasion, in the middle of the sermon, a man subject to epilepsy, sunk to the ground in frightful convulsions. If any fear was entertained lest others might have been excited by the distressing spectacle, it was but for a moment; two of his companions, both in general restless and troublesome, voluntarily went to the assistance of the superintendent, and removed the unhappy man. Whenever the door was closed, the rest prepared again to listen with unshaken composure. "Another patient who was visited by severe bodily disease, as well as mental derangement, seemed to be happy only when engaged in the service of God. Wi: le strength remained, he was never absent from the chap 4, and even after having been confined to bed during the week, the arms of his brethren in affliction supported him to the place where prayer was wont to be made. When that was found impracticable, the accents of pruise, and words of resignation on the bed of death, proclaimed the presence of hope blooming full of immortality. "On another occasion, after divine service, the chaplain was requested to visit an aged woman, one of his hearers, who had been an inmate of the asylum for the lengthened term of twenty years. Her case had been a bad one. On the bed of death, however, she was restored to the full possession of reason. After joyfully welcoming her visitor, she expressed in the most grateful terms her happiness on account of the change that had taken place in the house. Formerly,' said she, the Sabbath wis the same as any other day, the joyful message of salvation never reached us; now we have the Word preached every Sabbath, and even on the bed of sickness I can hear the glad tidings of peace.' (Her apartment was separated from the chapel merely by a thin wooden three weeks after the interview just described. To the close of life she manifested the patience and holy confidence of the dying Christian. Only once her mind appeared to be a little disturbed, whether in consequence of a well-known prejudice, or off account of the peculiar character of the house, the writer of this article does not know, as, without asking any questions, he endea voured to banish the painful feeling. The circumstance alluded to was this: Her situation seemed to cause her some uneasiness, for she expressed a regret that the sour was leaving the body in a state of confinement. moment, however, she recovered her composure, and exclaimed, how can I complain who have been a great sinner, when I think of the sufferings of my sinless Redeemer.' "At another time, the boys belonging to the Charity Workhouse, who lead the singing, stopped short in the first line of the Psalm; when one of the most hopeless of the patients immediately raised the tune, discharging in the most becoming manner the duties of the precentor; and, it ought to be added, evidently much to the satisfac-partition.) This interesting individual lived for nearly tion of the congregation. The man in early life had been a precentor, but his conduct on this occasion was so unlike his general behaviour, that it might have caused astonishment, had not instances of equal composure been witnessed every day. Patients, who, during the week, never remain in one position, or even quiet for five minutes at a time, from morning till evening, join, when their Bibles are placed in their hands, in the services of the Sabbath, with a steadiness and reverence, that, but for their appearance and conduct on other occasions, might well cause doubts of their actual insanity to be entertained. "Two sisters were regularly present at worship; the one was intelligent, but easily, or rather at all times excited; the other was a poor hopeless idiot, conscious of little more than mere existence. The attention of the former to the latter, during sermon, was truly affecting; she watched every movement of her countenance, seemng to live for her alone. When any remark was made pleasing to her own mind, if a momentary smile met her inquiring look, she had her reward; the hope of better days visited her; and anxious that others should participate in her joy, her helpless relative was repeatedly led by the hand, at the close of the service, to the She is much chaplain's desk, with the observations, better to-day. Do you not think she is more animated? She understood what you were saying. I hope she will soon be well as for myself, I ain merely stopping here on her account. "Shortly after the introduction of divine service, one of the managers, who had been repeatedly present at worship on Sabbath, in order to ascertain how far it was possible to secure the attention of the insane to a lengthened address, privately desired a very restless patient to write an account of the next sermon. Upon receiving the paper, the chaplain was not a little surprised to find that no part of his discourse had escaped the notice of his watchful auditor, whose critique was in every respect most minute. "About two years ago, a patient expressed himself pleased with the view which had been taken of a text, principally on account of the effect which he hoped it would produce upon one whom he described as being in a state of despair. The chaplain, it need scarcely be said, lost no time in conversing with the unhappy man in presence of the friendly maniac, who listened with the deepest interest to every remark, and endeavoured, in the most affectionate manner, to remove the load that pressed upon the troubled mind. The object of his care was soothed, and, it is pleasing to add, finally left the asylum, the child of better hopes. In a The last case which will be mentioned, is that of a converted Jew. "The expression of this man's countenance indicated perpetual grief. His was indeed a broken and, to all appearance, a contrite spirit. During divine service, his weeping eyes were constantly fixed upon the preacher, not a word seemed to escape him. When the words were those of comfort, or declaratory of God's goodness, and of the Saviour's love to fallen man, a smile of delight proved the grateful feelings of his heart. When any allusion was made, either in the address or prayer, to those from whom he had separated himself, the tear, the uplifted countenance and folded hands, testified bow much he loved his brethren, his kinsmen, according to the flesh, and how strong his desire was that Israel might be saved. To the last, the same affecting tenderness was displayed, until death relieved the brokenhearted sufferer. af "Had nothing more been effected by divine service in the asylum, than merely securing, by this means, to the insane, during a peaceful hour, forgetfulness of their sorrows, and, by breaking in upon the monotonous round of a solitary life, awakening early recollections, thus proving to them that they are still united with, as remembered by their fellow-men, the benefit conferret upon them would have been great; but the foregoing statements will prove that more has been accomplished. The living are soothed and comforted, the dying have been strengthened by the service of God, and the oft expressed desire of many has been gratified. For, repeatedly before the service of God was established in the asylum, the patients, upon hearing the tolling ef the bells for public worship, remarked to the matro", how much they felt the want of religious instruction, and with what delight they would have joined the mul titude that kept the solemn Holy Day. They now receive the wished-for religious instruction, and meet in their solitary mansion to worship Him who is not confined to temples made with men's hands. And highly do they seem to value the blessed privileges. May the happy effects produced upon them by divine truth, be the means of directing public attention to the spiritual necessities of the insane in general, and dispose those to whose care they are intrusted, to introduce the service of the only Physician of the grieved in spirit into similar institutions." CHRISTIAN TREASURY. Christianity contrasted with Paganism.-The erection of hospitals and infirmaries for the poor, is one of the distinguishing ornaments and fruits of Christianity, unknown to the wisdom and humanity of pagan times. Compassionate consideration of the poor formed no part of the lessons of pagan philosophy; its genius was too arrogant and lofty to stoop to the children of want and obscurity. It soared in sublime speculation, wasted its strength in endless subtleties and debates; but, among the rewards to which it aspired, it never thought of "the blessedness of him that considereth the poor." You might have traversed the Roman empire, in the zenith of its power, from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, without meeting with a single charitable asylum for the sick. Monuments of pride, of ambition, of vindictive wrath, were to be found in abundance; but not one legible record of commiseration for the poor. It was reserved for the religion, whose basis is humility, and whose element is devotion, to proclaim, with authority, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' ROBERT HALL. Atonement.—Jesus has "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," Heb. ix. 26; nor need you fear the penalties of the curse, while you view Christ crucified the object of your faith, and make him the only plea for your acceptance before God. Never was justice so magnified before, nor mercy so conspicuously revealed: had the great Creator delivered up a thousand angels, there would not have been a sacrifice nearly equal to that of his not even sparing his well-beloved Son, when he stood as man for men, to bear the vengeance of his wrath. Oh, the justice that demanded such an atonement Oh the mercy that revealed such a salvation for a ruined world! And can sinners hear of such mercy, and resist it? Sinners doomed to die for sins more in number than the sands on the sea-shore! Oh what obdurate hearts must those be that can be proof against such astonishing love, and refuse to yield themselves to Him who paid so great a price for sinners so worthless and so vile! I beseech you, by the love of God, you that have never yet been captivated by such grace, no longer to delay, but haste to be the first fruits unto the Lord this day in this place; the vilest are welcome; God help you to come I-R. HILL. The Picture of Repentance. She is a virgin, fair and lovely; sorrow might seem to stain her beauty, yet, indeed, increaseth it. You shall see her ever sitting in the dust, her knees bowing, her hands wringing, her eyes weeping, her lips praying, her heart beating. She comes out before God, with meat between her teeth, but her soul is humbled with fasting. She is not gorgeously attired-sackcloth is her garment. Not that she thinks these outward forms will content God, but only are the remonstrances of pure sorrow within. And, indeed, at that time, no worldly joy will down, only pardon and mercy in Jesus Christ. She hangs the Word of God as a jewel at her ear, and binds the yoke of Christ as a chain about her neck. Her breast is sore with the stockes of her own penitent hands, which are always lifted up to heaven, or beating her own bosom. Sorrow turns her lumina into flumina, her eyes into She fountains of tears. The ground is her bed, she eats the bread of affliction, and drinks the waters of anguish. Her voice is hoarse with crying to heaven, and when she cannot speak, she delivers her mind in groans. The windows of all her senses are shut against vanity. She bids charity stand the porter at her gates, and she gives the poor bread even while herself is fasting. could wash Christ's feet with as many tears as Mary Magdalen, and, if her estate could reach it, give him a costlier unction. She thinks every man's sin less than her own, every man's good deeds more. Her compunctions are unspeakable, and known only to God. She has vowed to give God no rest, till he have compassion upon her, and seal to her feeling the forgiveness of her sins. Now mercy comes down like a white and glorious angel, and lights on her bosom. The message which mercy brings to her from the King of heaven is, "I have heard thy prayers, and seen thy The Holy Ghost descends as the spirit of comfort, and dries her eyes. Lastly, she is lifted up to heaven, where angels and cherubims sing to her tunes of eternal joy, and God bids immortality set her upon the throne of glory.-ADAMS. tears. Grounds of Perseverance.-Since we stand not, like Adam, upon our own bottom, but are branches of such a vine as never withers, members of such a head as never dies, sharers in such a spirit as cleanseth, healeth, and purifieth the heart, partakers of such promises as are sealed with the oath of God. Since we live not by our own life, but by the life of Christ; are not led or sealed by our own spirit, but by the spirit of Christ; do not obtain mercy by our own prayers, but by the intercession of Christ; stand not reconciled unto God by our own endeavours, but by the propitiation wrought by Christ, who loved us when we were encmies, and in our blood,-who is both willing and able to in us; to whose office it belongs to take order, that none save us to the uttermost, and to preserve his own mercies who are given unto him be lost; undoubtedly that life of Christ in us, which is thus underpropped, though it be not privileged from temptation, no, not from backslidings, yet is an abiding life: he who raised our souls from death, will either preserve our feet from falling, or if we do fall, will heal our backslidings, and will save us freely.-BISHOP REYNOLDS. Every Man in his proper Position.-Adversity is the more common experience of God's people, because their faith and grace are too weak and imperfect, to bear the severer trials to which prosperity subjects them. This sphere is too high for the weak Christian to walk in it without becoming dizzy. And though it may be true, that the man who, in adversity and destitution of worldly good, can look up and trust in God, is a strong believer, as we speak, yet, is not his faith stronger by much as the faith of that other man who, while solicited by all the blandishinents of worldly success and enjoyment, suffers not his eye or his heart, for one moment, to turn away from God, the portion of his soul? sphere in life, will find a very small one to be sufficient The man, who is conscientiously desirous of filling his to occupy him. He who will leave it unoccupied, its duties undone, its interests uncared for, may enlarge it as he likes, and he will not feel it too much. It is from inadequate views of duty, or indifference to discharge it, that many are solicitous to enlarge or to elevate their sphere. It evinces a higher sense of duty when men are disposed rather to contract and limit.-H. The Second Coming.-Can we see and feel the awful signs of the times crowding around us, and never hear the whispering of a yet more awful voice, that seems to break, more and more distinctly every day, on the attentive car! "Behold the Bridegroom is coming! Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the will come!"-WHITE. |