fairest provinces of the globe, shall give place to the life and the light of the everlasting Gospel; and the millions that now acknowledge our political supremacy, shall also accept, in all sincerity and knowledge, of our religious creed; and as they are linked to us by one common civil and social bond, so shall they also be seen bending with us at the same pure and spiritual altar. We must not rest contented, however, until, with our alms, we also mingle our prayers unto Him, in whose hands are the issues of all things, that he would uphold and prosper the labours of his Church, in extending the Messiah's kingdom over lands that yet "sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," that he would be graciously pleased to strengthen the hands, and encourage the hearts, of the humble and pious instruments employed in this good work; and, in his own time, mercifully fulfil the promise he has given unto mankind, that he will, one day, "give unto the Son the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW OF THE VIEWFORTH OF KIRKALDY, ONE OF THE ICEBOUND WHALERS, OF 1835. No. IV. BY THE REV. J. THOMSON, One of the Ministers of Dysart. HAVING thus imperfectly described the sufferings and the dangers of the crew of the Viewforth, I have now a very pleasing duty to perform, namely, to record their religious exercises while detained in the Arctic regions. This is the more interesting, because it will enable us to see, more distinctly, the connection between their piety and their preservation. The Christian knows that what ever secondary causes may be employed for effecting any purpose, either in the natural or moral world, these are only instruments in the hand of the adorable Ruler of the Universe. His providence is over all his works. "He layeth the beams of his chambers on the waters; He maketh the clouds his chariot; He walketh on the wings of the wind." "Ilis way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters." "They that go down to the sea in ships, and do business in the great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." How becoming is it, therefore, that our seafaring people should habitually cherish an impression of the omnipresence of God, wherever they go, and that, fearing his holy name, they conscientiously endeavour to worship him in the beauties of holiness, and view him as all their salvation and all their desire. I rejoice in having it in my power to bear testimony to the piety of many of the crew of the Viewforth, a consideration that greatly endears them to my heart. The influence which religion exerted on their dispositions and general deportment, was too marked to escape observation. I have given a brief sketch of their accumulated sufferings and dangers, and I do now state it, as my decided conviction, that, under the pressure of these evils, had it not been for the consolations of the Gospel, they must have all yielded to the hopelessness of despair. But it was their happiness to know in whom they believed; and they found, to their blissful experience, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Various considerations combined, at an early period of their detention, to awaken deep concern in their minds, regarding their eternal welfare. They were surrounded with dangers from which God only could deliver them. The thought of never more being permitted to see their families and homes, melted their hearts, and drew tears from their eyes. Disease had entered the ship, and death, occurring so frequently, brought before them, in the most impressive manner, the solemn realities of the eternal world; while the religious instructions communicated to them, and the devotional exercises in which, as oft as possible, they engaged, tended to keep alive on their minds a sense of the value of salvation, and the necessity of preparation for heaven. The sources of their spiritual improvement and comfort were the following: 1. The Word of God. That blessed volume was now felt by them to be the anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast. They perused the sacred page with new and inexpressible delight. Every moment they could spare was devoted to this employment. And truly they found the inspired volume to be "a light to their feet and a lamp to their path." One of them told me, with tears of joy flowing down his weather-beaten cheeks, "that in his Bible he always found the sweetest consolation." This was the case with others. The men were seen, when below decks, eagerly reading the Scriptures of eternal truth, and laying hold of the hope there set before them. 2. I learn that much attention was given to Secret Prayer. This is an indispensable duty. To the performance of it, how many powerful motives now united to lift up the voice of that exhortation, in the ears even of the thoughtless, “Arise, O Sleeper, and call upon thy God." Accordingly the mariners' cry was now heard, "Save us, O Lord, we perish; ' "Master, Master, save us." Nor was the duty felt to be only a matter of necessity. The truly pious felt it to be an unspeakable privilege. At the throne of grace they experienced peace and joy in believing; and reposing all their hopes on their divine Saviour, they were enabled calmly to bear their sufferings, and to acquiesce in the will of their heavenly Father. 3. Social Worship. The sight of a Bethel Flag in the Arctic Regions is peculiarly interesting. This, it was their privilege occasionally to enjoy. It was hoisted on board the Jane of Hull, whose mate, a truly pious man, conducted the devotional exercises of the assem bled worshippers. Mr writes, Oct. 18.-"This is the Lord's day, and I believe it has been kept as such by a good many. It was a sublime sight to see the Bethel Flag flying in the Arctic Regions, the scenery around us being such as no person at home can conceive. There was a complete turn-out of all the ships, probably not fewer than one hundred and forty men. His prayer was beautiful, expressing our belief that it is not by the hands of men that the ships are to be relieved, and that we look up to a higher power, whom the winds and waves obey. He said, too, that perhaps a brother, a sister, a father, or an indulgent mother might then be praying for our safety, and he prayed that their prayers might be heard. His text was Lam. i. 12. We stood in need of the consolation which he administered. We needed to think of the sufferings of Jesus to keep us from being faint and weary in our minds.' So long as the vessels kept near each other, and the weather permitted, such opportunities of spiritual improvement were frequently enjoyed. What a blessing it is to have pious officers on board these vessels! The Jane was highly favoured in this respect. And when it is stated, that not one of her crew died during the voyage, or so much as had a headache, notwithstanding all their sufferings and perils, we cannot but mark the benign influence which religion exerted over their minds, and the connection subsisting between their preservation and the prayers offered up for their deliverance. The Viewforth was also highly privileged with the means of spiritual improvement. The pious young officer from whose journal so many extracts have been given, but whose name, in deference to his modesty, is withheld for the present, was the main and highly honoured instrument of good to the crew. His exertions 64 To were incessant and unwearied. Every alternate night | human virtue can ever be of reward. Man, when about he met with the men, for reading the Scriptures and to appear before a being of infinite perfection, can feel prayer. Every occurrence which took place, whether but little confidence in his own merit, or in the imperdeliverance from impending danger, or the death of a fect propriety of his own conduct. In the presence of messmate, were carefully improved. Thus: "Octo-his fellow-creatures he may often justly elevate himself, ber 22. Prayer aboard of our ship to-day. It was un- and may often have reason to think highly of his own animously agreed by the men, that we should assemble character and conduct, compared with the still greater between half-decks, to give thanks to that God who imperfection of theirs. But the case is quite different has so mercifully preserved us through the past week. when about to appear before his infinite Creator. Read also a sermon from the Retrospect on these words such a being he can scarce imagine that his littleness of David: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not and weakness should ever seem to be the proper object all his benefits.' Sung the 29th Paraphrase, and part either of esteem or of reward; but he can easily conof the 107th Psalm. It was truly sublime to hear our ceive how the numberless violations of duty of which voices ascending to the throne of the Most High in he has been guilty, should render him the proper object such an awful situation, and I am sure many of them of aversion and punishment; neither can he see any reasang from the heart." Sunday, January 7th, read the son why the divine indignation should not be let loose, funeral service over another of our shipmates, and as- without any restraint, upon so vile an insect as he is sembled on the half-deck to embrace the first opportu- sensible that he himself must appear to be. If he would nity to give thanks to Almighty God for his unbound- still hope for happiness, he is conscious that he cannot ed mercies. All hands were present, the sick lying in demand it from justice, but that he must entreat it from their beds. It was most solemn and impressive, and the mercy of God. Repentance, sorrow, humiliation, many were deeply affected." contrition at the thoughts of his past conduct, are, upon this account, the sentiments which become him, and seem to be the only means which he has left for appeasing that wrath which he knows he has justly provoked. He even distrusts the efficacy of all these, and naturally fears, lest the wisdom of God should not, like the weakness of man, be prevailed upon to spare the crime by the most importunate lamentations of the criminal. Some other intercession, some other sacrifice, some other atonement, he imagines, must be made for him, beyond what he himself is capable of making, before the purity of divine justice can be reconciled to his manifold offences. The doctrines of revelation coincide, in this respect, with those original anticipations of nature; and as they teach us how little we can depend upon the imperfection of our own virtue, so they shew us, at the same time, that the most powerful intercession has been made, and that the most dreadful atonement has been paid for our manifold transgressions and iniquities. SMITH'S MORAL SENTIMENTS, [First Edi tion.] Sparing though I have been with extracts on this part of the subject, enough, I trust, is before the reader, to enable him to form some idea of the attention paid to religious exercises by the crew of the Viewforth. And it is a pleasing fact, that this happened not only when they were on the brink of danger, but also when the subjects of a merciful deliverance. The only fair day they enjoyed on their return homewards, was a Sabbath, which was devoted to spiritual exercises. And may we not hope, that, when the records of eternity shall be unfolded to our view, it will be seen, that these holy exercises have been, through the operation of the Spirit of grace and supplication, productive of the most beneficial results to many a soul? Meanwhile, let us not overlook the connection between them, and the exemplary deportment of the mariners, as well as the answers which were returned to their prayers for deliverance. Not an oath was to be heard on board the ship. Intemperance was unknown among them. So great was the restraint imposed by religion upon them, that when they had the spirits belonging to the vessel at their command, when taken out on the ice, they nobly resolved, as one of them told, rather to die than commit an act of inebriety or insubordination. What a contrast to the irreligious and the dissolute belonging to other vessels, and how different also their experience! "Godliness, with contentment, is great gain; having the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come." "Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the Lord, and who walketh in his ways." And as an The Viewforth arrived in our harbour on the 22d of February 1836; an event which occasioned intense and universal joy. Thanksgivings were publicly offered to God, in our Church, on the evening of the following Sabbath, when a large congregation assembled. Some of the rescued sailors were also present. evidence of the impression produced on the subjects of the deliverance recorded in these pages, it may be stated, that several of them united with us, for the first time, on the 20th of November last, to commemorate the sufferings and death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, at the sacramental table, and experienced, we trust, a foretaste of that communion which the redeemed shall enjoy with him for ever in the mansions of celestial glory and felicity! CHRISTIAN TREASURY. The Necessity of an Atonement.-If we consult our natural sentiments, we are apt to fear, lest, before the holiness of God, vice should appear to be more worthy of punishment than the weakness and imperfection of Power of Speech. Observe man gifted with the power of speech, the power of communicating thought for thought, and circulating knowledge, and truth, and love, through all his fellow-creatures. Just conceive, for one moment, what we would be without it; how black, how ignorant, how dreary, how comfortless! Where would there be mutual assistance, mutual advice, the communication of knowledge, the interchange of affection? Observe man, the only created being endowed with this glorious faculty, and then consider the use he has made of it. Listen to the curses and the blasphemy against the very Being who bestowed it, who gave it that it might rise before the throne in hallelujahs. Then hear the falsehood, the deceit, the prevarication issuing through the channel where truth should for ever flow; then hear the impure and wanton jest, that circulates poison, and nurses and assists the natural corruption of the heart, when, (God knows!) it has enough to corrupt and brutalise it within; then listen to the scandal, the malice, the invective, and the recrimination, upon the tongue to which God gave the eloquence of affection and benevolence, and the music of pity and consolation; then attend to the lips that can be eloquent and valuable on every subject but one,that can descant on the market, and its prices; on the world, and its fashion, and its politics; nay, on every little impulse of the feelings, and every fine-spun sentiment of the mind; but if the great God intrudes into conversation, his ways or his dispensations, his mercies and his loving-kindnesses, the tide begins to ebb, the glow of society dies away, and the cold and heartless silence betrays that an unwelcome stranger has made his appear. ance.-WOLFE'S REmains. SACRED POETRY. TO THE SUPREME BEING. THE prayers I make will then be sweet indeed, WORDSWORTH. FAMILY WORSHIP. O LORD, another day is flown, And we, a lonely band, Are met once more before thy throne, And wilt thou bend a list'ning ear For thou didst bless the infant train, And we are weak as they. O let thy grace perform its part, And shed abroad in every heart, Thus chasten'd, cleans'd, entirely thine, The sun of holiness shall shine In glory on our head. And thou wilt turn our wand'ring feet, MISCELLANEOUS. offered up for the rest of his soul, mingling his tears with those which his attendants shed, as if they had been celebrating a real funeral. The ceremony closed with sprinkling holy water on the coffin in the usual form, and, all the attendants retiring, the doors of the chapel were shut. Then Charles rose out of the coffin, and withdrew to his apartment, full of those awful sentiments which such a singular solemnity was calculated to inspire. But either the fatiguing length of the ceremony, or the impression which the image of death left on his mind, affected him so much that, next day, he was seized with a fever. His feeble frame could not long resist its violence; and he expired soon after. How foolish the exchange!-When Lysimachus was engaged in a war with the Getæ, he was so affected with the torments of thirst, that he offered his kingdom to his enemies for permission to quench it. His exclamation, when he had drank the water with which they furnished him, is wonderfully striking, "Ah wretched me, who for such a momentary gratification, have lost so great a kingdom." How applicable is this to the case of those who for the momentary pleasures of sin, part with the kingdom of heaven? "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The vanity of talent on a death-bed.—The latter moments of Steevens, the celebrated editor of Shakspeare, (says Mr Dibdin,) were moments of mental anguish. He grew not only irritable but outrageous; and in full possession of his faculties, he raved in a manner which could have been expected only from a creature bred up without notions of morality or religion. Neither complacency nor joyful hope" soothed his bed of death. His language was too frequently the language of imprecation, and his wishes and apprehensions such as no rational Christian can think upon, without agony of heart. Although I am not disposed to admit the whole of the testimony of the good woman who watched by his bed-side, and paid him, when dead, the last melancholy attentions of her office-although my prejudices, as they may be called, will not allow me to believe, that the windows shook, and that strange noises and deep groans were heard at midnight in his room-yet no creature of common sense (and the woman possessed the quality in an eminent degree) could mistake oaths for prayers, or boisterous treatment for calm and gentle usage. If it be said why -" draw his frailties from their drear abode ?" the answer is obvious, and, I should hope, irrefragable. A duty, and a sacred one too, is due to the living. Past examples operate upon future ones; and posterity ought to know, in the instance of this accomplished scholar and literary antiquary, that neither the sharpest The Force of Superstition.-The Emperor Charles Fifth of Germany was a memorable instance of the sin and folly of tempting the Providence of God. expiation for his sins, he inflicted upon himself discip-wit, nor the most delicate refinement, can alone afford line in secret, with such severity, that the whip of cords As an 66 a man PEACE AT THE LAST. The vessel of human which he employed as the instrument of his punish-existence must be secured by other anchors than these, when the storm of death approaches. ment was found, after his deccase, tinged with his blood. Nor was he satisfied with these acts of mortification. The timorous and distrustful solicitude, which always Separate Numbers, to complete Sets, may at all times be had. accompanies superstition, still continued to disquiet Publisher, Price Two Shillings and Sixpence. He him, and, depreciating all that he had done, prompted him to aim at something extraordinary, at some new and singular act of piety, that would display his zeal, and merit favour of heaven. The new act on which he fixed was as wild and uncommon as any that superstition ever suggested to a disordered fancy. He resolved to celebrate his own obsequies before his death. ordered his tomb to be erected in the chapel of the monastery. His domestics marched thither in funeral procession, with black tapers in their hands. He himself followed in his shroud. He was laid in his coffin with much solemnity. The service for the dead was chanted; and Charles joined in the prayer which was Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, at the Offices of the SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, 104, High Street, Edinburgh, and 19, Glassford Street, Glasgow; J. NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GRоOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junior, & Co., Dublin; and W. M'COMB, Belfast; and sold by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland. Subscribers in Edinburgh and Leith will have their copies delivered at their own residences regularly, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher.-Subscribers in Glasgow will, in like manner, have their copies delivered, by leaving their addresses at the Publishing Office there, 19, 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, 68.-Monthly Parts, containing four Numbers each, stitched in a printed wrapper, Price Sixpence. ON THE PUNISHMENT OF MEN'S SINS IN BY THE REV. ROBERT LEE, A.M., Is God's dealings with men, there are many more indications of his providence and moral government, of his rewarding what is right and punishing what is wrong, than they are willing to see or acknowledge. There are many sins which may be said to inclose their own punishments; they carry them within themselves, and infallibly discharge them in due time. Such sins, as if by the very nature of them, "when finished, bring forth death." Some of these are more fruitful of penalties than others, but none are barren; nor is it necessary here, as in the case of the fabled phoenix, that the parent should die before the offspring begins to live. There are, however, many other sins which do not appear to us necessarily to involve their own punishment. And yet they are punished, undeniably, signally even in the present life. God hath bound the two firmly together, though the links of the chain are too minute for our discernment; and when in such cases we see vengeance treading on the heels of guilt, we are called upon to acknowledge, "there is a God that judgeth in the earth." The history of the world is a perpetual comment on this text. For though apparent exceptoas do occur, such as perplexed the Psalmist for a moment (Ps. lxxiii.) and threw a painful chill cver the hopes, or rather wishes, of the wisest and best among the Gentile sages; yet those exceptions are neither so many nor so decided, as to bring the truth into any dispute, that the good man has a reward, and the evil a punishment, even in the present world. It is not meant to be asserted, that either the reward or the punishment is adequate, or exactly proportioned. It evidently is not so; and to pretend it is, is to shut our eyes against numerous and obvious facts. But it is equally absurd to deny, that indications, both of reward and punishment, are distinctly visible, and, in many cases, approximations also to the degrees of the antecedent virtue or vice. VOL. II. PRICE 1d. The great use to which a devout mind turns the study of history, is to mark and trace the connection between the vices and miseries, the virtues and prosperity, both of individuals and of nations. And if any person, who has not been accustomed to make such connection the object of his particular regard, will, with the view of noting it, reconsider any portion of history with which he is already familiar, he will probably be surprised by its fertility of proofs that "God hath not forsaken the earth," and he will wonder how he could overlook the footsteps of divine justice where they were so visibly imprinted. It is true, historians, for the most part, do not trouble themselves with that consideration. It is enough for them, generally, if they glorify every one but God. The old heathen narrators are left to recognise something like divinity as existing in the universe, and as exercising some influence in the affairs of mortals. Our modern philosophers have chosen to follow the epicurean sect, who love the notion of a deity that does nothing, and cares for nothing; and so they describe the machine with no more reference to its mainspring, than if it had no moving power at all, but the wheels themselves caused their own motion. On the other hand, it is, I allow, both possible and very easy, to run into a dangerous extreme; the more carefully to be avoided, as it will often necessarily involve us in uncharitable as well as unjust conclusions regarding the characters of our fellow-men. We must never, in this case, reason backward. The a posteriori argument, which serves us so well in science, must not be admitted here. If the tower in Siloam falls and kills certain men, we are not permitted to conclude "they were sinners above all them that dwelt in Jerusalem;" nor is a man proved to be "a murderer, whom vengeance suffereth not to live," because, though escaped from the sea, a viper, out of the heat, fastens on his hand. It is, in by far the majority of cases, altogether incompetent for us to pronounce, "thus and thus the man hath done," because "thus and thus he suffers." But this incompetence on our part is no reason why, when we know both the course of conduct, and the issues of it in the subsequent condition of the individual, or of the nation, we should shut our eyes to intimations so distinct of God's moral government, as displayed and that for our instruction -in the history of the world. To do so is both impious and irrational,-is at once the effect and symptom of an atheistical spirit; "because they regard not the work of the Lord, nor the operation of his hand, he will destroy them, and not build them up." Lactantius, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church, has left a book, on "The deaths of the Persecutors."* Without thinking myself obliged to defend every instance which he has adduced in support of his position, I seem to myself justified in asserting, this at least has been satisfactorily proved by him, that those "bloody and deceitful men" among the Roman emperors and rulers "who made havoc of the Church," did not "live out half their days," but were almost, without exception, cut off by untimely and violent | deaths. Of all the histories in the world, those contained in the Sacred Volume abound most in lessons of the justice of God. Indeed, I can see no other end for which many passages of holy writ were composed, or have been preserved, but to afford us those lessons. This intention, indeed, is not stated, for the sacred writers commonly record facts, leaving these to suggest their own instruction; yet this instruction is, for the most part, so obvious, and lies so much upon the surface, that none but the most obtuse or careless reader can overlook it. As an illustration, let us attend to the narrative contained in the 27th chapter of Genesis. Four characters act in this scene, Isaac and Rebekah, Esau and Jacob. The father is partial to his elder, the mother to her younger son; and the sin of partiality is punished by the introduction of envy, jealousy, and discord, into the bosom of the family. and he is deprived of his blessing: that was his sin-this his punishment. Rebekah, sharing with her husband the sin of partiality to one of her children, shares with him the domestic consequences. But, of these, her portion is the greater; for, as Plato has nobly said, "We are rewarded for doing good, by doing more good," so, the heaviest penalty of doing evil, is when it leads us to do more evil. Rebekah's sin of partiality for Jacob, produced all the unwarrantable conduct on her part, recorded in this chapter. She instigates Jacob to lie, and deceive his father, to injure and supplant his brother, and she is punished by living in dread that her favourite child should be killed by the hand of her other child, and the latter being slain by the avenger of blood, she should be deprived of "both her sons in one day," verse 45. Neither Rebekah's sins nor her sufferings ended here. To conceal from Isaac the full extent of the mischief, of which she had herself been the principal author, she states to him a false reason for Jacob's departure, verse 46. He departs, and his mother, as it appears, sees his face no more. Her son is, in effect, dead to her. So also is Esau, who is estranged from her; and is worse than dead to both his parents, whom he lives only to afflict. Chap. xxvi. 35, and xxviii. 8, 9. Jacob, undoubtedly acquainted with the promise respecting himself, instead of permitting God to bring about his own purposes in his own time and way, takes the fulfilment into his own hands. He does evil that good may come; first, ungenerously taking advantage of his brother's extremity to wrest from him his birth-right, then lending an ear to the evil counsels of his mother, lying in words, verse 19, and by actions, verse 22, and, worst of all, expressing his falsehood in the language of piety, verse 20, imposing upon his venerable parent, and Isaac, wishing to communicate the prophetic defrauding his absent brother. Did God approve blessing, containing, among other distinctions, a all this? Some commentators, I believe, have grant of Canaan, and a promise of the Messiah as imagined he did, because no censure is pronounced to come of that family in which the blessing was by the sacred historian. What notions respecting Isaac, wishing to confer this on his elder and fa- God's character such men must entertain I know vourite son, though probably aware the intention not; but of this I am certain, that, as it is imof God was different, for we cannot suppose him possible God should lie, so it is impossible God ignorant of the oracle given to his wife, (Gen. should approve of lies. What he cannot allow in xxv. 23,) sends that favourite son from home, to himself, he cannot excuse or justify in others. obtain the means of pampering his appetite, and But if the historian does not condemn Jacob's while that son is absent on that errand, bestows, deceit, the history does; for, during almost the to his own unspeakable grief, the blessing on his whole subsequent life of that patriarch, he suffered younger son. His sin was manifest in his punish- the effects of his treachery. Thus God, in a lanment. For, had he pronounced the biessing with-guage more impressive than words, taught him, out a feast, or had he been satisfied with feasting and teaches us, that "lying lips are an abomination on the tame animals, of which he possessed such unto him." a multitude, he would not have had the sorrow of exclaiming, in the bitterness of his heart, "Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing." If we suppose Isaac aware of the prophecy as to the superiority of his younger son, his punishment is so much the more signal. Esau was guilty of despising his birth-right, This book has been translated by Bishop Burnet, and, besides his, there is another English translation. It is deserving a perusal. Jacob, in consequence of his sin, is compelled to flee from his father's house. For the same reason, he is forced to become a servant, or rather slave, during seven years. Then, as he had imposed upon his father, and wronged his brother, Laban wrongs and imposes upon him. drinks another cup of seven years' bondage-the unkindness and oppression of his uncle succeedthe more bitter, as being accompanied with con Then he |