might add, beauty and elegance, will be promoted by attention to its rules. It has been remarked, that we have no cause to set any great value upon dress, since How should this it is an evidence of lost innocence. idea operate to render all watchful and apprehensive, lest the very badge of woman's transgression should be made instrumental to her further disgrace!

FAITH.-We must be content to be learners, not discoverers, in the school of faith; receiving a revelation, not reasoning out conclusions: and this temper we cannot maintain, unless we come into God's presence remembering that, so far only as he gives us to know him, can we know aright; for that we need perfect purity to see him as he is, and that we are compassed about with infirmity. Then only, when the thought of his holiness and our corruption bows us to the earth, shall we receive his teaching with the simplicity of children, fixing on the ground those eyes which were ready to gaze too rashly at the wonders of his presence, and be ready indeed to put off our shoes from our feet, feeling that the place whereon we stand is holy ground.—Rev. S. Wilberforce.

GOD'S PEOPLE.-God, intending to shew that he could form a holy people of invisible sanctity, and conduct them to eternal glory, bestowed temporal blessings, as he intended to dispense spiritual blessings, that men might judge, by what he performed with visible objects, of his power over invisible things. He saved his chosen people from the deluge in the person of Noah; he caused them to spring from Abraham; he redeemed them from their enemies, and gave them rest in the promised land. The design of God was not simply to save from the deluge, and to raise from the stock of Abraham a whole people, in order to bring them into a fruitful land; but as nature is an image of grace, so these visible miracles were images of those invisible ones which he intended to perform.—Pascal.

Poetry.

NATIONAL BALLADS.-No. VIII. PRESENT POSITION AND EFFORTS OF POPERY.

BY MISS M. A. STODART.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)
WHEN shadows float across the mind,
As sink its powers to rest,
With form distinct, with tints defin'd,
Rome stands full oft express'd.

I see her in her scarlet pride,

With clotted gore her right hand dy'd, Her robe with blood defil'd; She holds a cup, but not of wine, Her brow is stamp'd with fearful sign, Her eye is fierce and wild.

Near her a mingled heap I mark

Of faggots, racks, and chains;

But there the light falls faint and dark,
And shrouding veil remains :
Ofttimes, 'mid her familiar friends,
Her eye that way the harlot bends

With dark and devilish smile;
Yet when a stranger's glance is cast,
Like misty dream unbas'd, long past,
Appears that fearful pile.

She sits not still in idle state;
She rides upon her beast,
While thousands at her bidding wait
To do each high behest.

We see her working in the land;
Temples arise at her command,

In idol-splendour dight;
She's in the senate, near the throne,
In seats of learning is she known-
We shudder at the sight.

We see her take God's holy book

With firm, determin'd grasp,
And swear that none therein shall look,
And none the seals unclasp.
With rapid pen, with steady eye,
Changing God's truth into a lie,

She takes the teacher's seat;

While famish'd babes, that pine for bread,
With her vile stones are chok'd, not fed,
And perish at her feet.

It is no dream-'tis true-'tis true—
I would it were a dream!
The facts are glaring in our view;

But truths like falsehoods seem.
A puny crippled dwarf we thought
Safely from prison might be brought;

And in an evil hour

Her limbs we chafed-her chains we broke,
And pitying words of kindness spoke ;
-She sprung to giant-power.
Ay-and the chain her limbs that bound
She grasps with despot-hand;
Upon the souls of men 'tis found,

It glides around the land:
Force, movement, vigour in her glow-
Her might-our sin too late we know,
And lift our eye to Heaven:

O, for a firm, united cry,

From all our land to God most high,
That we may be forgiven!

TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL.* AND yet the triumph is but half achieved! Millions, from savage darkness unretrieved, Still wait the signal that shall close their night, Exalt the soul, and purify the sight!

A thousand isles still teem with barbarous life,
Enslaved by idols, nursed in blood and strife-
Where, prowling like ferocious beasts of prey,
Man's only science is the art to slay!
Where tribes with tribes incessant warfare wage,
And death is fed with carnage, not by age!
Where poison'd shafts from every ambush fly,
And human sacrifice pollutes the sky!

These are the strongholds which our faith must storm!
Regions-where man has lost his pristine form.
But once the standard of the Prince of Peace
Unfurl'd amongst them-horror's reign shall cease;
The plough shall pass o'er Moloch's shrine abhorred,
That faith may found new temples to the Lord!
Hymns shall suppress the barbarous song and dance;
The crook of peace supplant the poison'd lance;
The babe shall own a mother's fostering name,
And fathers from their children reverence claim!

• From "Polynesia, or Missionary Toils and Triumphs in the South Seas." Snow, 1839.-The profits of this little work are, we understand, to be given to missionary societies.-ED.

MISSIONARY DISCOURAGEMENT.- As we have no reason to hope that God will bless the labours of an unfaithful servant, neither have we reason to expect that the efforts of the diligent and faithful missionary will in all cases be attended with success. Hinderances may arise from the impenetrable ignorance, the corruption and wickedness of the heathen, and from the moral sense having become dormant; there may be many circumstances, having a bearing upon the progress of the Gospel, of which we can form no judgment; not to mention the inscrutable decrees of the Almighty, who doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. The duty of the missionary is plain-whether he experience visible success or not, he must labour, according to his ability, for the salvation of souls, depending entirely upon the influences of God's Spirit for his success. He is apt to be depressed and ready to sink for want of encouragement: he is also liable to go through a beaten path from a conscientious regard to duty, without being duly anxious about the result of his labours. These are the Scylla and Charybdis on either hand, that beset his path; and it requires much wisdom, and piety, and strong faith, to preserve one's self from falling into the one or other. The case of Babaji and others that we could name are remarkable proofs of the practicability of bringing the Hindu under the benign influence of the Gospel. These are proofs which ought to convince every opponent, that the Gospel has a mighty influence over the dispositions of the worst specimens of human nature they are proofs which ought to shew our modern school of prophets and miracle-mongers, that notwithstanding their uncharitableness, the Lord is still with his Church, and continues to accompany his word with power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. We have candidly acknowledged, that as far as real conversions are concerned, little has been yet effected. We have fairly noted, as far as our knowledge extends, the state of the native Christian Churches. And although some may be disposed to think that a very discouraging picture has been drawn, we are still persuaded that quite as much has been done as was to be expected from the amount of means employed and the character of the Hindus; much more than those who are unacquainted with missionary operations are willing to allow. It would be very easy, were it necessary, to shew, both from sacred and ecclesiastical history, that no great change was ever suddenly brought about in the moral and religious habits of any nation. The remarkable and rapid progress of the Gospel after the day of Pentecost was preceded by the preaching of John the Baptist, the miracles of the Saviour, and the teachings of his disciples; and many circumstances in providence had prepared the minds of men for some great change. The principles of the Reformation, which burst forth in such splendour in Luther's time, were felt and cherished, and were secretly spreading their influence, in many parts of Europe, long before he was born. Why should we expect to see light suddenly spring

out of darkness? Why should we look for order and harmony to arise of a sudden out of confusion? In the plan of redemption God does not so deal with the souls of men, in ordinary cases. There is a seedtime, as well as a harvest, in the missionary field; some must sow with tears, and others who enter into their labours will reap with joy; but the Lord of the harvest will cause "both him that soweth and him that reapeth to rejoice together." India has heretofore had but its sowing-time. The seed of the kingdom has been scattered far and wide. The strong chains of superstition are falling off, and the people are inquiring. The Hindu begins to shew some signs of possessing a conscience susceptible of serious impressions. Many are intellectually convinced of the superior claims of Christianity, and still more expect some great change. These are highly important effects; and those who have been instrumental in bringing them about ought not to be discouraged; for their part of the work is necessary and promotive of the great consummation- the regeneration of India; and their labour will not be in vain in the Lord."- South India Christian Repository.

IDLENESS.-Idleness is called "the sin of Sodom and her daughters," and indeed is "the burial of a living man;" an idle person being so useless to any purposes of God and man, that he is like one that is dead, unconcerned in the changes and necessities of the world; and he only lives to spend his time, and eat the fruits of the earth: like a vermin or a wolf, when their time comes, they die and perish, and in the meantime do no good; they neither plough nor carry burdens; all that they do either is unprofitable or mischievous. Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world; it throws away that which is invaluable in its present use, and irreparable when it is past, being to be recovered by no power of art or nature.—Bp. Taylor.

HOW TO KEEP THE LORD'S DAY.-Avoid all servile work, and expend it only in such actions as tend to the sanctifying thereof. God, the great Landlord of all time, hath let out six days in the week to man to farm them; the seventh day he reserves as a demesne in his own hand: if therefore we would have quiet possession, and comfortable use of what God hath leased out to us, let us not encroach on his demesne. Some popish people make a superstitious almanac of the Sunday, by the fairness or foulness thereof guessing at the weather all the week after. But I dare boldly say, that from our well or ill spending of the Lord's day, a probable conjecture may be made how the following week will be employed. Yea, I conceive we are bound, as matters now stand in England, to a stricter observance of the Lord's day than ever before. That a time was due to God's service, no Christian in our kingdoms ever did deny; that the same was weekly dispersed in the Lord's day, holydays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, some have earnestly maintained; seeing, therefore, all the last are very generally neglected, the former must be more strictly observed; it being otherwise impious that our devotions, having a narrower channel, should also carry a shallower stream.-Fuller's Wounded Conscience.

"If it rains on the Sunday before mess,

It will rain all the week more or less."-Popish Rhyme.

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THE STUDY OF PROPHECY.

I.

THERE are few subjects more interesting to the true believer who is led to adore the goodness of Jehovah, as manifested in the blessings of redemption, than the study of those prophecies which distinctly foretell that most important of events, the advent of the Messiah; important, whether we consider the infinity of blessings which have already flowed from his condescension in taking our nature upon him, or carry our thoughts forward to that glorious appearing for which we commanded to look, when he shall sit a king upon his holy hill of Zion, being made ruler over all his enemies.

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The Christian's faith, indeed, rests not on the declaration of the Almighty as to the fulfilment of future events. The incarnation, sufferings, death, the resurrection, ascension of the Redeemer, are historical facts that he believes on evidence the most incontrovertible; still can he not fail to admire the wisdom and goodness of God in revealing from time to time a knowledge of his will, and of those gracious purposes of mercy by which he deigned to deliver man from the bondage of corruption, to repair the ruins of the fall, to overcome death and him that hath the power of death, and to open to believers in his Son the kingdom of heaven, with all its transcendent glories.

In further directing the reader's attention to this most important subject, the study of Scripture prophecy, the consideration of which is peculiarly adapted to a season when the Church calls for reflection on the advent of VOL. VII.-NO. CXCVIII.

PRICE 1d.

the Redeemer, it may be well to consider, in the present essay, the importance of the study of prophecy to those who lived before his incarnation.

It may be remarked, that it had a direct tendency to console the people of God amidst the various trials and afflictions that befell them. The true servants of the Most High have, generally speaking, been exposed to privations and sufferings. From the time of Abel, throughout the various ages of the Church, of the Scripture prophecies not a few referred to occurrences that took place during the life-time of the persons to whom they were addressed, or at some period soon after. Thus, distinct predictions were set forth of the deluge, of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, of their wanderings and trials in the desert, their admission to, and occupancy of, the land of Canaan. Others referred to events in the histories of the surrounding nations; as the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites; while the ruin of Israel by the Assyrians, and of Judea by the Babylonians, and their return from captivity, were all foretold, with greater or less distinctness. But he who is at all acquainted with the Old Testament, will readily allow that there is a class of prophecies therein contained totally distinct from those now alluded to,

prophecies referring to the advent of One mighty to save-to save from the power, and guilt, and punishment, of sin.

From the first promise given to the guilty pair in paradise, of the seed of the woman that should bruise the head of the serpent, to that made by the mouth of the prophet Malachi, "of the rising of the Son of Righteousness with healing on his wings," to be

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preceded by a messenger who should come in the spirit and power of Elias, we find God at sundry times, and in divers manners, speaking to the fathers by the prophets, of this stupendous instance of his compassion and condescension.

Our gracious Lord, with the manifold blessings which he hath procured for his Church, is spoken of indeed as the "mystery" which had been "hid from ages and generations," but which was at length made manifest to the saints, for he is thus represented in the epistle to the Colossians; but the apostle would have us to understand, not that God's purposes of mercy were wholly unknown previous to our Lord's advent, but merely that they were indistinctly understood. Jesus is particularly styled the "desire" of all nations. At the period of his birth, many were waiting for the consolation of Israel, for the fulfilment, in fact, of those prophecies which had foretold a Redeemer; and we are expressly assured, that into the blessings connected with the incarnation of the Son of God "the prophets inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come; searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified before the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that should follow."

The tendency, and doubtless one important object, of God's revelation was unquestionably to support his servants by the promise of a Deliverer; and its influence was beautifully illustrated by the effect produced on the mind of Abraham, who, on our Lord's own testimony, rejoiced when he beheld his day afar off; and on that of the Psalmist, whose compositions breathe the spirit of a holy joy, from the anticipation of the advent of that King of Zion who was all his "salvation and all his desire."

How animating were the prophetical descriptions of the blessings which should accompany the appearing of the Son of the Most High! Did the people of God mourn their desolations, their oppression by their enemies? They were thus cheered by the language of Isaiah : 66 Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and say unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,

for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." "O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain, and thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength,-lift it up,-be not afraid; say to the cities of Judea, Behold your God." Were they distracted by internal broils, and wearied and harassed by perpetual strifes

and commotions? They were taught to anticipate the arrival of a period when a King should reign in righteousness, and princes rule in judgment; when God's people should dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings and quiet resting-places. Did they deplore the darkness in which they were enveloped? "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is arisen upon thee," was to be the comfortable, the animating language addressed to the Church. Did they mourn inferiority of the latter temple to the former, to that holy and beautiful house where their fathers praised God? The prophet Haggai assured them, "That the glory of the latter house should be greater than of the former, and that in this place the Lord of Hosts would give peace." Did they deplore their spiritual maladies? The assurance of Malachi was that the Sun of Righteousness should arise with healing on his wings.

We cannot doubt that this language had a most cheering influence on the minds of the true servants of Jehovah, that by such promises they were animated to patient perseverance in well-doing, to implicit trust and confidence in the Most High, and that they were enabled to anticipate that day, when the Word should become flesh and dwell among men, and they should behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, "when from the time of Moses to Ezra, there passed not a single generation without the accomplishment of some prophecy, delivered by Moses and his successors."

The design of the Almighty, then, in revealing from time to time the advent of the Messiah, was not simply with a view to prove that Messiah to be his well-beloved Son, and to afford many incontrovertible proofs that Jesus was he, but to comfort his servants, and to call their faith and hope into exercise.

his grace, and Spirit, we should, in law and nature, all be dead towards God, and certainly shut out from eternal life. We have reason, then, to love and value him

-to stand up for his Deity and divine personality; for take away these, and we lose our God, and our salvation; and what have we more?"

The name Immanuel occurs only three times in the Bible, viz. in Isaiah, vii. 14, where the miraculous conception of the Saviour is foretold, "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel;" in the chapter following, where the land which had been so long under the rule and protection of the Son of God, and which was to be honoured with his personal presence as God-man, is called Immanuel's land (Is. viii. 8); and in the first of Matthew, where the former prediction is directly applied to the infant Saviour, and the name interpreted: "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which, being interpreted, is God with us" (Matt. i. 22, 23).

This name Immanuel might stand for the general title of the work in which we are engaged. It embraces the whole substance of what we endeavoured, in the first part, to prove, viz. that our Redeemer being God, all the attributes of the Godhead, which must otherwise have been against us, are, if by faith we are united to him, engaged on our side. It embraces also all we have been endeavouring to prove in this second part, viz. that the second Person of the holy Trinity has been from the beginning God with men; the Agent of revelation, counsel, guidance, protection, government, and salvation, to the people of God. And this blessed name embraces also all we have to say of Christ to his people in the remainder of our work; for every office he sustains, every grace he bestows, derives its power, value, and efficacy, from his being Immanuel. Since, then, it is the design of this whole work to shew forth the glories of Immanuel, we shall be the more brief in the particular consideration of the title, merely offering a few remarks on the three senses in which it may be taken: 1st, as God with us, or God in our nature; 2d, as God with us, or God on our side; 3d, as God with us, or God dwelling with us.

1. First, let us dwell for a moment on the astonishing fact, that the glorious Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, did really assume human nature in conjunction with the divine, and condescend not only to wear it during his state of abasement, and then cast it off as a garb of degradation, but to bear it up with him to the highest heavens as a robe of triumph, which he was to wear for ever. "God! what more glorious? Flesh! what more vile? God dwelling in the flesh what more wonderful?" saith Augustine.* How unspeakable is the honour thus conferred on our fallen race! What a pledge is thus given of God's willingness to restore that race to bliss and to glory!

"It was

2. For, secondly, wherefore did the mighty God become "God manifest in the flesh ?" It was that he might become God on our side; and, as far as we can judge, no other being in the universe could have accomplished the stupendous work of man's redemption but One who was both God and man. impossible for any but a divine Person to be a Mediator, Redeemer, Surety, Prophet, Priest, and King, | to meet the revolted, lost, ignorant, and rebellious condition of fallen man; nor was it less necessary that this divine Person should assume the nature of the transgressors, and therein execute the whole work of their redemption (Rom. viii. 3, 4; Gal. iv. 4, 5). Nothing can be more delightful than to observe in what respects the personal conjunction of the divine

• Hurrion's Sermons.

and human natures is necessary to the exercise of every office, the sustaining of every relation, and the standing in every state proper for our blessed Redeemer." This delightful task is the one we are privileged to undertake; by shewing, in the future parts of this work, in what form and manner the Redeemer appeared on earth, and the offices and relations, to exercise and sustain which, he became "manifest in the flesh."

3. Meantime, there is, thirdly, a delightful sense in which we may take the name Immanuel, viz. as "God dwelling with us." We have seen that from eternity the Word, or Wisdom, had his delights with the sons of men; and that as the Angel-Jehovah he often visited his saints, and admitted them to commune with him with astonishing nearness and freedom; and, to shew his willingness to assume our nature, did frequently appear in the form of a man; but when he actually became incarnate, this communion with men was consequently much more intimate and familiar: Immanuel dwelt with men on the earth, and conversed with them face to face, as a man speaketh with his friend. Are we not sometimes inclined to envy those who had the high honour and privilege of communing with God in our nature? Yet the disciples experienced more blessed communion with their Lord after the withdrawing of his bodily presence, in the rich manifestations of his spiritual presence, which, according to his promise, he vouchsafed to them. And similar manifestations are promised to, and experienced by, the true disciples of Immanuel in every age. Ungodly men may deride as enthusiastic the aspirations of the saints after a lively sense of God's presence, or their devout acknowledginents of the enjoyment of his presence; but that cannot be enthusiasm which agrees exactly with the promises of Christ to his disciples; such as, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John, xiv. 21). "If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John, xiv. 23). Jesus promised to uphold and preserve his disciples, not only by a secret indwelling unknown to themselves, but that they should know that they were in him, and he in them (John, xiv. 20). He invites them to taste the richest delights in communion with himself, saying, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. iii. 20). These promises were abundantly fulfilled in the experience of the early Christians. They knew that Jesus Christ abode in them by the Spirit which he gave them (1 John, iii. 24); they knew that God dwelt in them, and they in him, because he had given them of his Spirit (1 John, iv. 13); they knew that the Son of God was come, and had given them an understanding, that they might know him that was true yea, they knew that they were in him that is true, even in Jesus Christ (1 John, v. 20).

And what wonders has the presence of Immanuel wrought in every succeeding age of the Church! Upheld and supported by him, his people have bravely encountered their fiercest adversaries, and encouraged each other to the conflict, saying, "Their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not" (Numb. xiv. 9). The countenance of Immanuel lifted up upon his people has given light in the darkest dungeon, tranquillity in the raging tempest, dauntless courage and fortitude in the prospect and in the endurance of the most agonising sufferings, whether from the hand of man or of God. Through the strength of their ever-present God, they have

• Brown's Dictionary of the Holy Bible.