Ah! thus it will be by-and-by, when the angel shall declare that time shall be no longer, and we shall all be called singly and alone to answer for all the time of our

probation here. Will you be able to say, "This is our God, we

have waited for him?" or will you call on the mountains and hills to fall on you to hide you from the presence of the Lamb? Now is the time, in the morning of life, to seek an interest in Him who says, "Those who seek me early shall find me.' But there is no time for delaying; death may wing his way to you this night, by the command of the Eternal: then where will you be? Will heaven or hell be your portion? Will you sink among the spirits of the lost, or soar away to join the glorious company in the better land, shut in for ever with the Lord? ANN JANE.

WE select the following from many answers to the queries of last month:-

FIRST QUESTION.

"A. F. Q.' would be glad of an explanation of Exod. xxiii. 3,' Thou shalt not countenance a poor man in his cause.' It seems to me strange that the people were not to favour the cause of the poor man."

ANSWER BY J. D. P. Y.
The command given in this verse

does not imply that we should not "favour" or look with approbation on a poor man, if employed in a proper and lawful cause. For in such a case he should rather be encouraged and upheld. It means, that justice must not be perverted in he is poor. He may be a wicked favour of a poor man, merely because man, and, if he commit a wicked action, it would by no means be right to let him go unpunished because of his poverty. A just judge

must be no respecter of persons; if the poor transgress, they must be punished as well as those in better circumstances.

SECOND QUESTION. "Can any of the numerous readers of the Bible Class Magazine' tell me the present state of the Roman Catholics in England; the number of their chapels, religious houses, bishops, priests, &c.?"

ANSWER BY E. J. W.

In the year 1780 Romanism was almost a dead letter, but during the last seventy years it has wonderfully increased in England, as the following statistical account will show:

The number of priests in England in the year 1780 was 359; the proportion to the laity being as 1 to 190. Towards the close of the 18th century the prospects of the Papacy began to brighten. About the year 1795, a small fraternity of Jesuits, described in the "Laity's Directory" for that year as "the Gentlemen of the English Academy at Liege," were driven by the fury of the French Revolution to seek an asylum in this land. They were received with sympathy, and their settlement at Stonyhurst excited no suspicion. A college was instituted, and a foundation laid for the re-establishment of an order which had been finally expelled from England in 1604. During the present century, upwards of 300 chapels have been built or re-built in England:-From the year 1800, inclusive, to 1810, 16; 1810 to 1820, 20; 1820 to 1830, 39; 1830 to 1840, 90; 1840 to 1850, 144: total, 309.

Other testimony might also be quoted, showing the activity of Romanism, and calculated to arouse Protestants to a sense of responsibility. It has recently been stated, that since May, 1842, a SINGLE house has sold of Roman Catholic books and tracts 7,277,256 copies, at 1d. to 3d. each; 1,527,084 at 4d. to 6d.; 2,360,784 at 8d. to ls.; 108,000 at 1s. 3d. to 6s.: total, 11,273,124,-besides more than 13,000,000 of religious prints and prayers. May this statement quicken to greater zeal all who know the truth! And may it rouse us all to use our best endeavours to stay the progress of such souldestroying publications, which is most effectually accomplished by spreading the word of God, and diffusing pure evangelical religion; and we shall then raise up one of the most effectual barriers to the spread of Popery, or its counterpart-Puseyism.

THIRD QUESTION.

"In what way might Abel be made cognizant of God's acceptance of his sacrifice?"

ANSWER BY W. F.

Abel was made cognizant of God's acceptance probably by fire, Gen. iv. 4, compared with Lev. ix. 24. In Heb. xi. 4, we read, that "By faith Abel offered unto God a more

excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." The meaning of "God's testifying," may be learnt on referring to Gen. xv. 17; Lev. ix. 24, &c. "There is, however," says Cobbin, "no direct evidence here that God testified his approval in this manner to Abel; still I think the expression amounts to a probability."

FOURTH QUESTION. "What may have been the probable value of the tabernacle put up in the wilderness?"

ANSWER BY SAMUEL.

If we look at Exod. xxviii. 2431, we shall be enabled to form some idea what was the probable expense of that beautiful fabric. The account there given is that there were 29 talents and 730 shekels of gold; 100 talents and 1,775 shekels of silver; and 70 talents and 2,400 shekels of brass (or, in the opinion of some, copper); and by estimating the talent of 3,000 shekels at 125 lbs. troy weight, we are enabled to make the following calculation:-gold at £4 per ounce, £175,460; silver at 5s. per ounce, £37,721 17s. 6d.; brass (or copper) at 1s. 3d. per lb. avoirdupois, £455 2s. 10d.: total, £213,637 0s. 4d.

But the above amount was only the price of the raw materials of

the metals; then comes the value of the wood, the curtains, the high priest's dress, with its breastplate containing so many precious stones, the dresses of the common priests, and the workmanship of the whole; it must be considered a moderate estimate if we regard its total expense as not less than £250,000, however much more it might have been. But we cannot be certain of the truth of our estimate, owing to the difference of the values of the precious metals at different times, and in different countries. - See "Pictorial Family Bible," p. 201.

FIFTH QUESTION.

"Can any one tell me what is the meaning of the words printed at the head of many of the Psalms, such as Aijeleth Shahar, &c.?"

ANSWER BY B.

There is very great difficulty felt amongst learned men to explain satisfactorily the terms referred to, and great variety of opinions as to the meaning of several. The celebrated Jewish commentator, Aben Ezra, with Forkel and J. C. Fabor, two German writers of good authority, with some others, consider the strange words to be the names of ancient melodies, to which the psalm was to be sung. Thus, "Michtam" may have meant "The Golden Tune;" and "Aijeleth Shahar" (Psa. xxii.), meaning "The Hind of the Morning," may have referred to a melody known by that name. So Psa. lx. might have to be sung to the tune of "The Lily of the Testimony;" and Psa. lvi. to the tune of "The

Dumb Dove." There are many instances of the names of melodies being thus prefixed to old ballads as well as sacred songs in our own country, and which may be referred to as an illustration.

66

It is very probable that this is the case with many of the psalms, though not with all, and hence we would not exclude other explanations. Some think that such names as 99 66 Nehiloth," Neginoth," &c., refer to the instrument to be used; in the first instance, a stringed, and in the last a wind instrument being meant. Some of the titles, such as "Muthlabben" (Psa. ix.), or simply "Almuth" (Psa. xlv.), are thought to refer to the mode of performance, and these two especially to the responses given by a band of "damsels" or "virgins" (the meaning of "Almuth"), who answered the Levites in their song of praise. Not a few of the titles are believed by many to point to Christ, and to bear reference to the contents of the psalms they head, as having such bearing on him. Thus with the title referred to by "D. D.," "Aijeleth Shahar," ""The Hind of the Morning." This is thought to have a mystical reference to Christ, to whom undoubtedly the psalm points, and is to be understood as denoting him as the "Hind of the Morning," roused early from his sleep, and hunted through the live-long day by his cruel pursuers.

By others, again, "Aijeleth Shahar" and some other titles are made to refer to the time at which the psalm was to be sung; and Boothroyd thus explains the above words,

"at the dawn of day." In this way the "Hind of the Morning" would be the sun, and the psalm a morning hymn.

One other view of these titles must be taken; it is, that they are purely fanciful and irrelevant titles, given in true oriental style. This is the view of Harmer, and he gives several instances of oriental titles to illustrate it. Thus a Persian metaphysical poem is called "The Rose Bush;" a collection of moral essays, "A Garden of Anemones;" and another eastern book, "The Lion of the Forest."

These notes in reply to "D. D.," will perhaps be more satisfactory to him than a mere dry list of the words referred to, and their supposed meaning. He can find such meanings in almost any marginal bible, to which we refer him.

SIXTH QUESTION.

"Are there two Kadeshes mentioned in the Bible, or only one? If only one, where is its right position? (See Numb. xiii. 26; xx. 1; Josh. xv. 1-3.)"

ANSWER BY F. L.

The editor of the "Pictorial Bible" has shown in his note on Numb. xx. 1, that there is only one Kadesh, and that its true position is near Mount Hor. It is put down in this position in the "Illuminated Atlas,” which has since been confirmed as very nearly correct by the actual observation of Dr. Robinson. The reader is referred to the note in the "Pictorial Bible" on Numb. xx. 1, as it is too long for extract here.

cords his death?

T. H.

T. H.