-that the heart is indeed deceitful above all things that he who trusteth in its fairest promises, will too surely, in an hour when he thinketh not, find that his trust has been vain, and himself a miserable fool.

By these, then, and other similar instances, may the folly of trusting in our own hearts be evinced; and thus, by practical experience may the fact be proved, that if we are to stand at all, we must stand by Faith; since in the very instant of our forgetting Him who is the object of our faith, and becoming fearless and high-minded, in that very instant we are almost sure to fall. Let us then learn in time the lesson of that distrust in ourselves, which must lie at the very foundation of our faith in the Lord Jesus, that "walking wisely we may be delivered." For this is the moral which the wise man in our text suggests. He would not discourage or deter us-he would not fill us with anxious fears he would not make us conscious of sin and of weakness, and then leave us doubtful of pardon and of help-he would not have us shrink from any one of the duties or the trials to which we are called. But he would have us walk wisely, circumspectly, cautiously, yet boldly, with our eyes turned away from ourselves to God; and he assures us then of safety and deliverance. He would have us cherish a practical and habitual sense, not merely in general of the frailty of human nature, but in particular, of our own infirmity and our own helplessness. He would have us, not merely at intervals, acknowledge our dependence upon God, and then go away to live in forgetfulness of him, as if the fact of our having confessed our weakness and implored his help in the morning, would operate as a charm to save us during all the thoughtless hours of the busy day. He would have us at all times, in business and in pleasure, at home and abroad, in all our concerns, carry about with us a settled conviction of the folly of trusting in our own hearts. For it is folly, and it must be ruin.-What else is it, indeed, that lures and betrays to destruction the thousands who, like Felix, put away from them the word of truth that would make them tremble and repent? Day after day, they go on in their carelessness,indifferent about religion, and the purifying influence of its faith and its hopes. Do they mean to go on thus for ever? Surely they contemplate a future change, either sudden and abrupt, or gradual and insensible. The evil is, that they know not their own utter inability to make that change themselves. They intend not to live always, at least they intend not to die, unconverted, unsanctified. But fondly, madly, they would persuade themselves, that they can convert and sanctify their own souls, at whatever time, and in whatever manner they may find it necessary or convenient. This is the delusion which they cherish-this the false confidence which soothes them in their delay. They trust in their own hearts, in their natural goodness, in their strength of principle, their resolution, their honour, their promise of stedfast amendment. But they grasp a lie in their

right hands. The heart is not good. We cannot make it, we cannot keep it good. It is the work of God; and our sole resource is, to seek Him while he may be found to embrace the mercy and the grace of his gospel-to enter into covenant with Him, that he may be our God, that he may dwell in us, that he may redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. In faith, therefore, let us walk humbly with our God, let us watch and pray continually that we enter not into temptation, since however willing the spirit may be, yet the flesh is weak. "Trust ye then in the Lord alone for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Amen.

PRAYER TO THE DEAD.

BY THE REV. ROBERT M'CHEYNE. Ir is very interesting to compare the accounts which different missionaries give of different people and their superstititions, in order to find out the identity of human nature that runs through them all.

The following extract is from the Journal of the Rev. Mr Nicolayson, once the fellow-student and roommate of Gutzlaff, now labouring most faithfully in the cause of Christ, among the Jews, in "the City of the Great King."

I engaged with Rabbi S. in a discussion on the practice of Jews praying on the graves, which he admitted to have two intents, as stated in the Testament, 1. That we may be the more forcibly reminded of the fact that we are but dust and ashes, and fast returning may be the better prepared to make this humiliating to that original of our existence as to the body, that we confession of Abraham in our prayer before the Holy One. And, 2. That we may thus avail ourselves of the intercession and merits of our sainted forefathers. In reference to this last motive for this practice, I expressed to him my deep and sincere regret, to find the have so sadly disgraced so great a portion of the nomiJews thus given over to those very superstitions which nally Christian Church. He tried to excuse this by saying, that it is not taught as a doctrine of divine authority, nor the practice enjoined as a necessary duty, but only encouraged as tending to minister consolation to the distressed mind. I contrasted it with the Old Testament doctrine of justification, and the utter worthlessness of human merits upon this point. He endeavoured to lessen the force of this contrast, by referring to Moses' appeal to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in his intercessions for the people. But this was easily obviated by the fact, that, in the first place, it is not to the merits of these patriarchs, but to God's free promade; and, in the next place, that it is not the justifimise to, and covenant with, them, that this appeal is cation of Israel he here pleads for, but the conversion of the threatened punishment of blotting them out, which might have seemed inconsistent with that covenant. In fact, that very generation perished in their sins. Rabbi S. was convinced that both the practice and principle of prayer to the dead, are inconsistent with the pure principles and worship of the Scriptures.

"Feb. 24, 1835.-Visited the tomb of Huldah the prophetess-Jews have free access to it, and we found several here saying their prayers."

Now, if we leave this interesting Missionary, and his labours of love, among the broken-off branches of God's olive-tree, and follow his fellow-student to the scene of his labours in an opposite region of the globe-among

the Chinese, a people who seem to have nothing in common with the Jew-we shall find a strange identity of superstition. The following extract is from "Abeel's Residence in China," an interesting little work:"According to the superstitious custom of the Chinese, they have just been paying their annual visit to their departed relatives; repairing their tombs; decorating the surrounding spots with coloured papers; of fering sacrifice to their manes, and attending to numerous rites, which they conceive to be becoming in the living, and not only gratifying to the dead, but quite necessary to their comfort. The more wealthy erect on these occasions booths on the hills, assemble their kindred, prepare a sumptuous entertainment, provide candles, incense, gold and silver paper, suits of clothes and other articles, which, being converted by the operation of fire into smoke, pass, they imagine, into the world of spirits. There they kneel and pray to this effect: We, a multitude of children, grandchildren, and other descendants, now, on such a day, have come hither to worship at our ancestors' tumuli. We pray, that by the protection of our ancestors, we may become prosperous, and that their descendants may be constantly supported. Even those who profess to believe the doctrine of spiritual annihilation or metempsychosis, are among the most scrupulous in their offerings to the dead. It appears to be a very prevailing opinion, that the spirit, or one of the spirits, as they believe in a plurality, continues in the vicinity of the dispossessed body; that the sympathy between them remains almost as perfect as before their separation; and that the comfort of the living agent is materially affected by the regard shewn to it, or to its decaying companion by earthly relatives. The idea of having none to sacrifice at their tombs, and supply them with such things as they are supposed to need in the invisible state, is abhorrent to a Chinaman."

Leaving the cemeteries of the Chinese, let us enter into the temples of the Roman Catholic all over the world, and still do we find the prayer ascending to the dead. Nay, there we find what we did not before, an assembled conclave of men, declaring, with an assumed tone of infallibity, "that the saints do pray for men, that it is profitable to invocate them, and to have recourse to their prayers and assistance." And further, hurling an anathema on those who say, "that their relics and sepultures ought not to be honoured."

Truly, Satan is “ Prince of the Power of the Air," for his delusions spread wherever there is air for man to breathe. Ask the Jew, the Chinese, the Romanist, why he lifts up unholy hands in prayer to the dead, "intruding into those things which he hath not seen ?" The Jew will appeal to the Talmud, the Chinese to some Antediluvian lawgiver, the Romanist to tradition and the Church, as authorities for the practice, and perhaps they are all equally successful in the appeal. But might not an intelligent child point out a primary authority, whence these authorities derive all their information and all their power,-namely, the natural heart "led captive by Satan at his will,” the fleshly mind which puffs up with vanity the poor children of darkness, ignorant of or despising, "the ONE Mediator between God and Man ?"

THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT. Ir gives us great pleasure to lay before our readers a spirited historical account of that act hallowed in the recollection of Scottish Christians, the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant. The account is taken

from a recently published work containing much valua ble information, entitled, "The Life and Times of Alexander Henderson," by the Rev. John Aiton, Minister of Dolphinton. The narrative is as follows::

"Wednesday the 28th day of February, 1638, was a proud day for Henderson, and one of the most memorable mentioned in the history of that period. By this time the Presbyterians had crowded to Edinburgh to the number of sixty thousand; and, to give all solemnity to the occasion, a fast had been appointed to be held in the Church of the Greyfriars. All were astir by the morning's dawn; the Commissioners of Barons were early met, and about half-past eight, Rothes and Loudon joined them.

"It was agreed, that all the rest of the barrons and gentilmen that wer in toune sould meitt in the Greyfreer Kirk, be two hours in the efternoon, wher Rothes and Loudon sould meitt with them,' to sign the Covenant. This union, the great pillar of strength to the cause, having been thus effected with perfect harmony amid a world of difficulties, was the occasion of vast joy to all concerned.

Long before the appointed hour, the venerable Church of the Greyfriars, and the large open space around it, were filled with Presbyterians from every quarter of Scotland. At two o'clock, Rothes, Loudon, Henderson, Dickson, and Johnston, arrived with a copy of the Covenant, ready for signature. Henderson constituted the meeting by prayer, very powerfullie and pertinentlie' to the purpose in hand. Loudon then, in an impressive speech, stated the occasion of their meeting. After mentioning that the courtiers had done every thing in their power to effect a division among the Presbyterians, and when thus weakened to introduce innovation, and that they should therefore use every lawful means for keeping themselves together in a common cause, he said, that in a former period, when Papal darkness was enlightened only from the flaming faggot of the martyr's stake, the first Reformers swore in Covenant to maintain the most blessed word of God even unto the death. In a later period, when apprehensions were entertained of the restoration of Popery, King James, the nobles, and people throughout every parish, subscribed another Covenant, as a test of their religious principles. The Covenant, now about to be read, had a similar object in view, and had been agreed to by the Commissioners. In conclusion, he, in their name, solemnly took the Searcher of Hearts to witness, that they intended neither dishonour to God, nor disloyalty to the King. The Covenant was next read by Johnston, out of a fair parchment, about an elne squair.' When the reading was finished, there was a pause and silence still as death. Rothes broke it, by requesting that if any one of them had objections to offer, he would now be heard. They were told, that if these objectors were of the south and west country, they should repair to the west end of the Kirk, where Loudon and Dickson would reason with them; but if they belonged to the Lothians, or to the country north of the Forth, they were to go to the east end, where he and Henderson would give them every satisfaction. Feu comes, and these feu proposed but feu doubts, which were soon resolved.' These preliminaries occupied till about four o'clock, when the venerable Earl of Sutherland stepped forward, and put the first name to the memorable document. Sir Andrew Murray, minister of Ebdy, in Fife, was the second who subscribed. After it had gone the round of the whole Church, it was taken out to be signed by the crowd in the churchyard. Here it was spread before them like another roll of the prophets, upon a flat grave-stone, to be read and subscribed by as many as could get near it. Many, in addition to their name, wrote, till death, and some even opened a Published by FRASER & Co., Edinburgh.

vein, and subscribed with their blood. The immense sheet in a short time became so much crowded with names on both sides throughout its whole space, that there was not room left for a single additional signature. Even the margin was scrawled over; and as the document filled up, the subscribers seem to have been limited to the initial letters of their name. Zeal in the cause of Christ, and courage for the liberties of Scotland, warmed every breast. Joy was mingled with the expression of some, and the voice of shouting arose from a few. But by far the greater portion were deeply impressed with very different feelings. Most of them, of all sorts, wept bitterly for their defection from the Lord. And in testimony of his sincerity, every one confirmed his subscription by a solemn oath. With groans, and tears streaming down their faces, they all lifted up their right hands at once. When this awful appeal was made to the Searcher of Hearts, at the day of judgment, so great was the fear of again breaking this Covenant, that thousands of arms which had never trembled even when drawing the sword on the eve of battle, were now loosened at every joint. After the oath had been administered, the people were powerfully enjoined to begin their personal reformation. At the conclusion, every body seemed to feel that a great measure of the divine presence had accompanied the solemnities of the day, and with their hearts much comforted and strengthened for every duty, the enormous crowd retired about nine o'clock at night. Well, indeed, might Henderson boast, in his reply to the Aberdeen doctors, that this was the day of the Lord's power, wherein we saw his people most willingly offer themselves in multitudes, like the dew-drops of the morning-this was indeed the great day of Israel, wherein the arm of the Lord was revealed the day of the Redeemer's strength, on which the princes of the people assembled to swear their allegiance to the King of kings.'

"Next day, 1st of March, some of the leading Presbyterians went to Tailor's Hall, where the ministers who had more recently come to town were met. Here again the doubts of every one were stated with freedom, and after having been removed by arguments similar to those already detailed, about three hundred of the clergy added their names. The Covenant was next carried round the city, and signed by many who could not attend the day before. On this occasion, it is said that a multitude of women and children followed it weeping and praying. Some of the nobles took a copy with them wherever they went, and solicited the subscription of those whom they met. On the Friday, a copy for signature was transmitted to every shire, bailiery, and parish. In the country, it was everywhere received as a sacred oracle. Much more than was necessary has been said on both sides, in an angry spirit of controversy, about children being allowed to subscribe. In answer to these imputations, Rothes expressly asserts, that only the hands of those who were admitted to the Sacrament were allowed to be put to the parchment. It has also been often asserted by the Court historians, and was complained of by the Marquis of Hamilton, that coercive measures were used to procure names; and that several who refused at Glasgow, St Andrews, and Lanark, were not only threatened, but beat into compliance. It cannot be denied, that some who had the management of the subscriptions in the country carried their preposterous zeal too far-that non-conforming ministers, who after exhortation still refused to subscribe, were dishaunted' by Presbyterians-and that even personal compulsion was resorted to in some instances. In fact, both Rothes and Baillie lament that their good cause had been thus hurt by ungodly violence. But it is by no means true, that these disorders were encouraged by the leaders, or that they were even exercised to any considerable extent. The testimony of Rothes, Henderson, and Baillie, is surely conclusive on

this point. All classes of the community were admit ted, and public notaries were at hand to act for those who could not write; but so far from the unwilling being forced to subscribe, they were not, even after consenting, admitted to enjoy the privilege. Every body was not allowed to come forward. No distinction was made in point of rank or circumstances, but there was in respect of character and conviction. Some men, says Henderson, of no small note, offered their subscription, and were refused, till time should prove that they joined from love to the cause, and not from the fear of men. No threatenings were used, except those of divine judgment; nor force, except that of reason. The matter was so holy, says Rothes, that they held it to be irreligious to use wicked means for advancing so good a work. Baillie says, that they had no remedy for such unhappy grievances, till the law was made patent. I was present,' says Livingston, at Lanark, and several other parishes, when on Sabbath, after the forenoon's sermon, the Covenant was read and sworn, and I may truly say, that in all my lifetime, excepting at the Kirk of Shotts, I never saw such motions from the Spirit of God. All the people generally and most willingly concurred. I have seen more than a thousand persons all at once lifting up their hands, and the tears falling down from their eyes; so that through the whole land, excepting the professed Papists, and some few who adhered to the prelates, people universally entered into the Covenant of God.' The writer of the Edinburgh Collections not only bears testimony in similar terms to the manner in which the Covenant was signed and sworn in the Greyfriars and College Kirks of Edinburgh, but he asserts that, on Sunday the 28th April, the Communion was solemnly given to the people in these two kirks, according as it was given before the Assembly at Perth, after twenty years interruption. same writer states, that there were about this time many Jesuits in Scotland, who laboured by argument and gold to make converts. One of them, called Abernethy, made an open recantation in the Greyfriars Church. On the day following that on which the Jesuit was converted, Lindsay, a minister from the north, who had long refused to subscribe the Covenant, preached in the same church. In the end of his sermon, he declared that for a long time he was in a great wrestling with the doubts of his own conscience; thereafter calling sundry times with fervent prayer to God to resolve his mind, he at length got resolution to his conscience to yield and subscribe, which he did. And he stated in his sermon, that since his subscription, he had such comfort in his mind as he was not able to express, and that for all the earth he would not turn back. All this he declared with tears in his eyes, attesting God for the verity of it, to the great consolation of all who heard him."

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

The

Christian Light.-There is a spirit of light and knowledge flows from Jesus Christ into the souls of believers, that acquaints them with "the mysteries of the kingdom of God," which cannot otherwise be known. And this spirit of knowledge is withal a spirit "of holiness;" for purity and holiness are likewise signified by this "light." He removed that huge dark body of sin that was betwixt us and the Father, and eclipsed Him from us. The light of his countenance "sanctifieth by truth;" it is a light that hath heat with it, and hath influence upon the affections, warms them towards God and divine things. This darkness here, is indeed the shadow of death, and they that are without Christ, are said, till he visit them, "to sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," Luke i. 79; so, this "Light is life," John i. 4; it doth enlighten and enliven, begets new actions and motions in the soul. The right notion that a man hath of things as they are, works upon him, and stirs him

SACRED POETRY.

THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

How fair and how lovely it is to behold

The sun in its splendour approaching the west! Its race is near run, and, refulgent as gold,

It glides through the ether, as hastening to rest. It sinks but in sinking 'tis only to rise,

Its splendour and glory afresh to display ; It sets but in other and far distant skies,

It rises and reigns in the brightness of day. Yet far more resplendent than this is the scene

Of the good man approaching the confines of time, All loving, all peaceful, all calm and serene,

He passes away with a brightness sublime.

He dies but no pencil can ever display

The splendour and glory that burst on his sight, As, guided by angels, he speeds on his way, Through the portals of praise to the temple of light. J. HARRIS.

MISSIONS.

LIGHT for the dreary vales

Of ice-bound Labrador!

Where the frost-king breathes on the slippery sails,
And the mariner wakes no more;
Lift high the lamp that never fails,
To that dark and sterile shore.

Light for the forest child!

An outcast though he be,

From the haunts where the sun of his childhood smiled, And the country of the free;

Pour the hope of Heaven o'er his desert wild,

For what home on earth has he?

Light for the hills of Greece!

Light for that trampled clime,

Where the rage of the spoiler refused to cease
Ere it wrecked the boast of time;

If the Moslem hath dealt the gift of peace,
Can ye grudge your boon sublime?

Light on the Hindoo shed!

On the maddening idol-train,

The flame of the suttee is dire and red,
And the fakir faints with pain,

And the dying moan on their cheerless bed,
By the Ganges laved in vain.

Light for the Persian sky!

The sophy's wisdom fades,

And the pearls of Ormus are poor to buy
Armour when Death invades ;

Hark! hark! 'tis the sainted Martyn's sigh
From Ararat's mournful shades..

Light for the Burman vales!

For the islands of the sea!

For the coast where the slave-ship fills its sails
With sighs of agony,

And her kidnapped babes the mother wails
'Neath the lone banana tree!

Light for the ancient race

Exiled from Zion's rest!

Homeless they roam from place to place,
Benighted and oppressed;

They shudder at Sinai's fearful base;
Guide them to Calvary's breast.

Light for the darkened earth!

Ye blessed, its beams who shed,

Shrink not, till the day-spring hath its birth,
Till, wherever the footstep of man doth tread
Salvation's banner, spread broadly forth,
Shall gild the dream of the cradle-bed,

THE BLIND GIRL TO HER MOTHER.

MOTHER, they say the stars are bright,
And the broad Heavens are blue-
I dream of them by day and night,
And think them all like you.

I cannot touch the distant skies,
The stars ne'er speak to me-
Yet their sweet images arise,

And blend with thoughts of thee.
I know not why, but oft I dream,
Of the far land of bliss ;

And when I hear thy voice, I deem,
That Heaven is like to this.

When my sad heart to thine is pressed,
My follies are forgiven,

Sweet pleasure warms my beating breast,
And this I say is Heaven.

O, Mother, will the God above
Forgive my faults like thee?
Will He bestow such care and love

On a blind thing like me?

Dear Mother, leave me not alone!
Go with me, when I die-
Lead thy blind daughter to the throne,
And stay in yonder sky.

Anonymous.

Jerusalem. We have viewed Jerusalem from different stations, have walked around it, and within it, and have stood on the mount of Olives, with Josephus' description of it in our hands, trying to discover the hills and valleys as laid down by him, near 1800 years ago; and after all our research, we compare Jerusalem to a beautiful person, whom we have not seen for many years, and who has passed through a great variety of changes and misfortunes, which have caused the rose on her cheeks to fade, her flesh to consume away, and her skin to become dry and withered, and have covered her face with the wrinkles of age; but who still retains some general features, by which we recognise her as the person who used to be the delight of the circle in which she moved. Such is the present appearance of this Holy City, which was once "the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth."-PLINY FISK.

The Continent.-The Rev. S. Dwight, at the anniversary of the Bible Society in London in 1825, stated, that after a particular examination of the booksellers' shops in fifty towns upon the Continent, he only found the Scriptures in two instances; the one a Bible in ten folio volumes, the other merely the four Evangelists

And sold by the Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and to be procured of every Bookseller in England and Ireland.

Subscribers in Edinburgh and Leith will have their copies delivered regularly at their own residences, every Saturday morning, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher, or with John Lindsay & Co, 7, South St. Andrew Street.-Subscribers in Glasgow will, in like manner, have their copies delivered, by leaving their addresses at the Publishing Office there, 32, Glassford Street.

Subscription (payable in advance) per quarter, of twelve weeks, 1s. 6d.-per half-year, of twenty-four weeks, 3s.-per year, of fortyeight weeks, 6s.-Monthly Parts, containing four Numbers each, stitched in printed wrapper, Price Sixpence.