Of the value of such consolation, all of us can form some conception; but they only can truly estimate it who have been actually placed in a situation to experience all its efficacy. Are there any such here? Are there any who have hung in despair over the deathbed of him they loved; have gazed on his wasted and anxious countenance caught his last glance, fondly turned on them; seen his pale lips move, wishing, but unable, to utter the accents of love and consolation; watching his faint attempt to smile, to express resignation, and impart comfort; felt the chill and feeble pressure of his hand, striving to assure them, that the heart, in which the last pulse is beating, still feels the warmth of affection;-if there be any here who have known the agonising feelings of the human soul at this trying moment, to them I appeal; them I call upon to estimate the value of the "hope that is in Christ Jesus." What can console, what can support them through this heart-rending scene? What but that holy religion, whose "still small voice" is gradually heard amidst the fiercest conflict of the passions, which whispers "Weep not!" Jesus Christ is "the resurrection and the life;" he raised the widow's son ; he will raise him whom ye mourn; ye part not for ever. Ye may meet again in a world where "all tears shall be wiped away ;" and where hearts, united in the bonds of affection, shall never again be torn asunder. These are some of the consolations which belong to those who have hope in Christ Jesus. These are, I say, some of the consolations; for in every situation of life, in which consolation or encouragement can be required, it may be derived from hope. Frequently, then, habitually, reflect upon that glorious resurrection, which is the assurance and the first-fruits of our resurrection. Call to mind the unspeakable love of that gracious Redeemer, by whose sufferings and sacrifice this blessed hope was purchased for us. Let the remembrance of these mercies accompany us in every scene, in every situation of this eventful life. Let it not be lost even amidst the anxious cares and the urgent duties of our respective stations in the world; let it be ever present, to excite us to shew forth the praises of our merciful Lord, "not only with our lips, but in our lives." And, above all, let it occupy our thoughts, when soever we join the congregation of our fellow-Christians, whether to lift up our voice in prayer and in praise, or to approach the altar in grateful commemoration of Christ's death, and of the inestimable benefits which he has conferred upon us. Those especially who have known griefs such as we have alluded to, and have experienced the consolation of this hope; those whose tears have been wiped away, and whose sorrows have been healed; let those ever preserve the recollection of these things when they kneel at the Lord's table. Then let the influence of this recollection have its fullest sway. The heart that was once bursting with grief, let it now swell with gratitude; the eyes that were dim with tears, let them now beam with faith and joy; the voice that was broken with sobs, be it now raised in the accents of praise; the hands that were clasped in despair, be they now uplifted in hope; the knees that once sunk beneath the pressure of a broken spirit, be they now bent in holy reverence, in heartfelt devotion. Behold, Jesus still bids us, "Weep not! weep not!" "for the Lord is risen indeed" (Luke xxiv. 34). "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. xv. 20). "Weep not," then; but "praise the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, praise his holy name."-Rev. Dr. Molesworth.

believe are said to be given by the Father to the Son as the purchase of his sufferings. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and whosoever cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out;"" of those whom thou hast given me, have I lost none." God must be, he was, and ever will be,-the Author of every good and perfect gift; and, amongst these, gifts of faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As then by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Lay the whole of Scripture together, as it speaks of the efficacy of the Redeemer's sacrifice for sin, and you will find that he offers you this greatest and best of gifts, salvation, without money and without price. In this manner "the love of Christ will constrain you to be obedient, because you will thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" you will rejoice in a new principle of life thus conferred upon you; you will remember that he died, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them and rose again. Rev. R. P. Beachcroft.

Poetry. CHARITY.

"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."—1 Cor. xiii. 4.

BY THE REV. E. B. WERE.

(For the Church of England Magazing)

O FAIREST of the sisterhood
Of graces heavenly, fair, and good!
Image of God, celestial birth,

Sent down to bless our wretched earth,-
Dear Charity, I love thy name,
And fain would burn with thy seraphic flame.
Thou dost the bosom sweetly warm,
And art of life the hidden charm;
Thou art the source of sacred joy,
Of pleasures pure without alloy;
Thou art the bliss of saints above,-
They dwell in God, and God himself is love.
Where'er thy footsteps touch the ground,
Thou scatterest peace and blessing round;
The sick and wretched hail thy feet,
And old and young thy presence greet;
Wide-open stands each cottage-door
To welcome thee, the guardian of the poor.
Thou dwell'st not with the haughty crowd,
Who boast their alms and offerings proud;
The ostentatious sacrifice

Shall find no favour in thine eyes;
The humble man is thy delight,
Giving for love of God his last poor mite.

I see thy cheek bedew'd with tears,
Not for thine own, but others' fears;
At sorrow's call I see thee fly

On wings of tend'rest sympathy;
Like Him, indeed, from whom thou art,
Thou com'st to bind and heal the broken heart.

I see thee by the bed of death
Cheering with hope the parting breath;
I see thee in the squalid shed
Feeding pale penury with bread,
And comforting the mourner's breast;
Blessed thyself in making others blest.

I see thee on the ocean stand,
Bidding farewell to native land,
About to brave the tempest's roar,
For some far-distant, barb'rous shore;
Bearing to many a heathen race
The blessed news afar of Gospel-grace.

Oh! may thy banner be unfurl'd,
And float in love o'er all the world-
Our sinful world, which, without thee,
Were one wide waste of misery!
'Tis thou alone can'st heal our woes,
And make the desert blossom as the rose.

Miscellaneous.

INFLUENCE OF MENTAL EMOTION ON HEALTH.-It is well known that the depressing emotions of fear, despair, &c. produce a liability to disease in circumstances otherwise harmless. For example: persons who entertain great apprehension of the cholera are very likely to be seized by it; and it is the same with other diseases. Sir George Ballingall, in his valuable work on Military Surgery, states about five per cent as the usual portion of sick in garrison healthily and favourably situated; while during a campaign it is ten per cent. But such are the beneficial effects of success and cheerfulness, that in the French army, after the battle of Austerlitz, there were only 100 invalids in a division of 8000, or only one in eighty.-Curtis on Health.

THE HOLY LAND.-No carriages of any description or horses being in this country, we travelled on mules, which were of so much service here in the early ages (2 Sam. xiii. 29; 1 Kings, i. 33; Judges, x. 4; 2 Sam. xvi. 2); they had no saddles or stirrups, but cloths, or the Arab jackets thrown on their backs (Ex. xxii. 27; Matt. ii. 1). We had in large sacks our bedclothes, provisions (Joshua, ix. 11), culinary articles, with water in vessels like bladders, which have the property of distending, and resembling a bottle (Gen. xxi. 14; Judg. xliv. 1-3); these are made of skin, chiefly of a red colour (Ex. xxv. 5; Joshua, ix. 4), but often black with smoke from being hung up in houses (Ps. cxix. 83); and the children of Israel used them in their journey through the wilderness (Lev. xi. 32); when rent, they are patched and sewed up (Joshua, ix. 4, 5): indeed, of such materials we find the raiment of our first parents was formed (Gen. iii. 21); and those saints who wandered about were clothed in like manner (Heb. xi. 37). On many occasions these vessels burst, when wine poured into them is in a state of fermentation, confirming the truth of Scripture.-Travels of Rae Wilson, Esq.

NATIONAL CHURCH.-Dr. Jarvis, of Boston, United States, alluding to the provision of the federal constitution for the toleration, but not the support, of Christianity, has the following beautiful observations, illustrative of the effects of such a system :-"The sound of the axe may ring through the forest; the plough may pierce the sod which had been before undisturbed for centuries, excepting by the hunter's tread; the streams may be pent up in their narrow bed, and powers, not their own, given them to turn the millwheel, and afford nourishment and protection to man ; villages, and towns, and cities, may spring up and flourish. But while the smoke is seen to curl from many a domestic hearth, where, alas! are the altars? Where is the village-spire, pointing to heaven, and telling to the distant traveller, that he is approaching the abode of Christians, as well as of civilised men?" EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS.-Schools are very numerous, not only in the metropolis, but in every large town; and there is one at least in every considerable village.

Almost every mosque, sebee'l (or public fountain), and hho'd (or drinking-place for cattle) in the metropolis has a kootta'b (or school) attached to it, in which children are instructed for a very trifling expense; the sheykh or fick'ee (the master of the school) receiving from the parent of each pupil half a piaster (about five farthings of our money), or something more or less, every Thursday. The master of a school attached to a mosque or other public buildings in Cairo also generally receives yearly a turboo'sh, a piece of white muslin for a turban, a piece of linen, and a pair of shoes; and each boy receives, at the same time, a linen skull-cap four or five cubits of cotton cloth, and perhaps half a picce (ten or twelve cubits) of linen, and a pair of shoes, and, in some cases, half a piaster or a piaster. These presents are supplied by funds bequeathed to the school, and are given in the month of Ram'ada'n. The boys attend only during the hours of instruction, and then return to their homes. The lessons are generally written upon tablets of wood, painted white; and when one lesson is learnt, the tablet is washed, and another is written. They also practise writing upon the same tablet. The schoolmaster and his pupils sit upon the ground, and each boy has his tablet in his hands, or a copy of the Koran, or of one of its thirty sections, on a little kind of desk of palm-sticks. All who are learning to read recite their lessons aloud, at the same time rocking their heads and bodies incessantly backwards and forwards; which practice is observed by almost all persons in reading the Koran, being thought to assist the memory. The noise may be imagined. The boys first learn the letters of the alphabet; next, the vowel-points and other orthographical marks; and then the numerical value of each letter of the alphabet. Previously to this third stage of the pupil's progress, it is customary for the master to ornament the tablet with black and red ink, and green paint, and to write upon it the letters of the alphabet in the order of their respective numerical values, and convey it to the father, who returns it with a piaster or two placed upon it. The like is also done at several subsequent stages of the boy's progress, as when he begins to learn the Koran, and six or seven times as he proceeds in learning the sacred book, each time the next lesson being written on the tablet. When he has become acquainted with the numerical values of the letters, the master writes for him some simple words, as the names of men, then the ninety-nine names or epithets of God; next the fa''hhal (or opening chapter of the Koran) is written upon his tablet, and he reads it repeatedly, until he has perfectly committed it to memory. He then proceeds to learn the other chapters of the Koran: after the first chapter, he learns the last; then the last but one; next the last but two; and so on, in inverted order, ending with the second, as the chapters in general successively decrease in length from the second to the last inclusively. It is seldom that the master of a school teaches writing, and few boys learn to write unless destined for some employment which absolutely requires that they should do so, in which latter case they are generally taught the art of writing, and likewise arithmetic, by a ckabba'nee, who is a person employed to weigh goods in a market or bazar with the steelyard. Those who are to devote themselves to religion, or to any of the learned professions, mostly pursue a regular course of study in the great mosque El-Az'bar.-Lane's Modern Egyptians.

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THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
BY THE REV. J. FAWCETT, M.A.
Perpetual Curate of St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle.
I.

MAN naturally pants after knowledge: there is a pleasure even in the pursuit of it; and the discovering of any thing new, or wonderful, or great, creates a delightful emotion in the mind. The objects of science, therefore, are worthy of a considerate man's pursuit. According to his success, his labour will be repaid, both by the satisfaction he will reap from the knowledge itself, and by the useful purposes to which it can be applied.

This is known and felt; and therefore many are they who labour in the varied field of knowledge; much diligence is used, much research made, and many valuable results follow. But useful as are the contrivances of art, and sublime as are the discoveries of science, they all shrink into insignificance when compared with the knowledge of the glory of God. The most ingenious works of art are but the contrivances of man, and not to be compared with one work of God. And though science is employed about the works of God, and makes her discoveries on the field of his operations,-still, what are the works of God to God himself? If we do not see him in his works, we lose the highest instruction which it is in their power to give. And, alas, this highest instruction very frequently is lost; for, while men would be wise, and seek variety of knowledge, this best knowledge is overlooked; and they see the works of God, but see not his glory in them.

This ignorance of God, as far as relates to

VOL. VII.-NO. CLXXXVII.

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his natural perfections, is the effect of inattention; men are ignorant, because they do not seek to know. As far as relates to his moral perfections, it is owing to the blindness. of their minds; they are ignorant, because their understandings are darkened.

That in thus speaking of man's ignorance of God, I may protect myself from the imputation of vague and ungrounded invective, I shall make my appeal to every man's heart and conscience, while I state in this essay the fact of human ignorance, and the means by which it is to be remedied.

I have already made a distinction between the natural and the moral attributes of God: the natural attributes being his power and wisdom; his moral attributes, his justice, truth, goodness, and mercy.

Now the natural attributes of God, every man, who possesses the ordinary understanding of a man, may know. Indeed, no man who will exercise his understanding can fail of knowing them; they are so palpably visible in the things that are made, that we cannot view a single object which does not testify of its Maker. If we would but look into it with open eyes and attentive minds, the whole creation is a mirror which reflects to us the glory of its Creator; and the reason why we do not see and admire that glory is, not that we cannot perceive it, but that we do not attend to it. The world is full of wonders; but is it not true that men see them without one feeling of admiration, or one thought of their Author? All nature teems with instruction; and men have capacities to comprehend that instruction, but they disregard it. It meets them at every turn, but they pass it without notice;

R

and thus while there is a voice in every thing testifying of God, they remain in ignorance of him. There is not a tree, or shrub, or fruit, or flower, which does not proclaim the handiwork of its Maker; but the greatest wonder is in living beings. We admire mechanism; and when human ingenuity has constructed an engine so happily that it performs its operations with great power and complete success, we are delighted with it as a work of surpassing skill; but what is the most surprising performance of human art, compared with the meanest living creature? Look at the smallest bird upon the wing, or a dog running in the streets; see how easy and how successful their motions are; how swiftly the one cuts through the air how rapidly the other darts along the ground! And their motions, so natural, and so completely answering their end, are self-exerted. No power out of themselves works these living machines; they have the principle of motion in themselves, which they direct, regulate, stop, or continue, at their pleasure. O, if our hearts were right, we could never behold the meanest creature without admiration. Familiarity must indeed, in some measure, weaken the emotion; but, on the other hand, if we often turned our attention to these things, our thoughts would almost naturally run in this channel, it would become habitual to us so to think and feel; especially when we surveyed our own bodies, and contemplated our own powers, we should confess that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the works of God are marvellous.

But what is the fact? Do we thus see the glory of God in every thing? or, surrounded as we are by innumerable and daily witnesses, do we love the instruction? Can the truth be denied, that though the works of God testify of him, we receive not their testimony, but remain in our ignorance? And if such ignorance prevails respecting the natural attributes of God, which are so legibly written on the very surface of creation, that he who runs may read them, how much deeper must be the ignorance respecting his moral attributes, on which, we must confess, creation and providence give no very certain sound! Here there are difficulties which have perplexed good men in every age. If, on the one hand, there are many things which shew on the part of God a disposition to make men happy, there are other things of a contrary character. If there are the sun, and the rain, and the fruitful seasons, filling men's hearts with food and gladness, there are also the droughts and excessive rains, dearth and scarceness, sometimes even famines and earthquakes, in divers places.

The righteous judgments of God also must be manifested very obscurely in a world in which wickedness often triumphs, and innocence is oppressed; thus a fainter light shines on these moral perfections than on the natural attributes of wisdom and power. And moreover, as to the moral attributes, sin has darkened our understandings and corrupted our judgments; so that here God is verily a God that hideth himself; and in these things our spiritual sight is very dim. Not only are we ignorant because we do not care to know, but even when we do care and inquire, we are still puzzled and perplexed: hence "a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it" (Eccles. viii. 17).

Is there, then, no remedy in this case? does there remain nothing for man but to pass his days in a fruitless search after God; and not being able to find him, to lie down in sorrow? No; this ignorance may be remedied. If not wholly taken away, it may at least be in a great measure relieved, and the glory of God be manifested to the soul.

Here, then, at the outset, it is to be remarked, that the word of God takes away a great deal of the difficulty; and if it does not remove the darkness, does very greatly mitigate it. The one fact of the fall, which it reveals, goes a great way towards explaining the mystery. If this be a fallen world, no wonder that we see things out of order. Sin has disordered our faculties, made us imperfect judges of right and wrong; and our inordinate self-love renders us partial to ourselves; so that we are slow to trace our sufferings to their true source, and to feel that we suffer because we are evil. What revelation teaches, is not merely that there is such a thing as sin in the world, that wickedness does exist, or even prevail largely. The heathen knew this without revelation; we need no revelation to tell us it-it is notorious, prominent, forcing itself on our observation, But the thing which revelation has taught us is, that this sin is universal-not that there are some good and some bad; but that the disease has spread through the whole family of man, and infected every individual.

Here much that is mysterious receives its explanation. If all are sinners, no wonder that even the best should suffer. Let those who are impatient under suffering, learn to feel their sin; then they will submit, and quietly bear what is laid upon them, and say, "Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?" (Lam. iii. 39.)

But revelation teaches more; it not only reveals the fall, but also makes known the remedy for the fall. Here God shews himself glorious in the method of salvation; holy in forgiving sin; just in the very exercise of mercy. But though all this is revealed in the word, is the glory of it generally seen? Do not many hear of it week after week, and see no glory in it at all? Nay, does not every man need to be taught by the Spirit of God, as well as informed from his word, before he can discern it? Every man who is in earnest to save his soul, is brought to feel this. It is not enough to have the word revealing Christ to the eye-there must be the Spirit revealing Christ to the heart.

How

All good men have been convinced of this, and therefore have been instant in prayer for a manifestation of the divine glory. earnest is the short prayer of Moses, with reference to a knowledge of the divine glory: "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Exod. xxxiii. 18). He had no written word, his own books, except perhaps that of Job, being the earliest; but what he had no opportunity of learning from men or from books, God could teach him; and he prays, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." David prays often to the same purpose: he prays to see the power and glory of God in his sanctuary; he prays for an experimental knowledge of God's glorious loving-kindness; "Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word" (Ps. cxix. 41). St. Paul had very rich discoveries of the glory of God; but how did he obtain them? By reading only? or hearing only?

No; but "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv. 6).

But Paul, it may be said, was an apostle: was there then another way in which those who were not apostles should discern the same glory? Was it enough for Paul to teach them what God had taught him? It was something it was much; but it was not every thing-it was not enough. He therefore prays for those whom he had taught; he prays "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Eph. i. 17, 18). He "bows his knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his

glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph. iii. 14-19). And our Lord represents this as a common privilege, which he will confer on all who obediently wait on him; "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).

In dependence on this promise holy men in every age have called upon him, and havesome in a greater, others in a less, degreebeen favoured with manifestations of his glory. The most remarkable that I have read of is that of Dr. Brainerd, as recorded by Edwards. Edwards was no enthusiast; nor was he slow to discern the symptoms of enthusiasm in others. others. Nor was the missionary Brainerd an enthusiast; he was a sober-minded, as well as a highly spiritual and devoted Christian. This holy man, after giving an account of a very remarkable manifestation with which he was favoured, concludes in these words: My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious divine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied, that he should be God over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in him; at least to that degree, that I had no thought (as I remember) at first about my own salvation, and scarce reflected that there was such a creature as myself."

PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE LORD HIGH-TREASURER OF ETHIOPIA.

Acts, viii. 26-40.

BY THE REV. HENRY GEORGE WATKINS, M.A. Rector of St. Swithin's, London.

No. II.

IN my last paper we left the inquirer and his instructor, the reader of Isaiah and the expositor, riding in the same chariot, on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. If parishioners sought more than they do interviews for religious conversation with their pastors, I am sure both would be more improved. It is because there is so little of pastoral intercourse on purely Christian topics that so few understand or lay to heart the word of God which they hear at church; and because so few read in private the holy Scriptures and religious books, the little preaching that they hear does not profit them as it might.

The place of the Scripture which he was reading while riding in the chariot was quite in unison with what had very lately happened at Jerusalem; and of