appearance with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

That repentance and faith, as thus argued and defined, must, where they exist, be of divine operation, can scarcely be doubted. We find nothing like these in the capricious effusions of natural sensibility, or the unsteady determinations of reason and judgment. We can discover no cause equal to their production, but that to which they are in scripture attributed-the grace of God. The distinctions which have been laid down are materially illustrated by the account of Simon Magus, and the judgment of the illustrious apostle upon his misconception of the gospel. Simon had professed repentance and faith, for he had been baptized; and these were the pre-requisites to receiving this rite. Nor is there room for supposing that his professions of the one or the other were dissembled. He was probably affected, and thought he had repented; was convinced, and supposed he had faith. Yet the reproof he received from Peter, upon the indication he gave of an unregenerate heart, decisively proves that professions of repentance and faith may be made-and that, upon our supposition, without the intention to deceive-while the party making such professions is in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. Upon repentance and faith, baptism was to be administered; for those who repented and believed in Christ were required to be baptized. In demanding this, the apostle exacted an outward demonstration of those inward qualities by a compliance with a rite sublimely significant and spiritual. It implied at that time, it implies at all times, a decease to old affections, and a resurrection to newness of life: it indicates an union with Christ by sympathy of suffering, a burial with him in baptism, and is to the world the visible mark of distinction between those who serve the flesh, and those who, having put off the old man with his deeds, will henceforth walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The terms and instruments being thus stated, as they respect the candidate for salvation, it remains to be seen what subsequent sign on the part of Christ completes the covenant into which the disciple enters, and renders his hope of salvation secure. This the apostle has fixed to be the gift of the Holy Ghost: "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." That this promise was general has been already concluded from the terms in which the engagement is expressed; and it would further appear, from a perusal of the epistles at large, that the Holy Spirit was designed to be a general Christian grace, and by no means confined either to the apostolic age or to the functions of the church in any age. The object of this gift is various; and hence it is variously spoken of by the apostles, when discoursing of its nature and its graces: it furnishes the inward testimony of acceptance, destroying the spirit of bondage which would lead to fear, and begetting a sense of adoption, whereby the Christian cries, Abba, Father. It is the effective cause of that transformation in the spirit of the mind, by which, old things passing away, and all things becoming new, man is said to be, and, in a spiritual acceptation, strictly is, "born again." It kindles all those lively affections which show them

selves in mature and solid graces, producing the fruits of righteousness and peace, of love and joy, and all the attainments of holiness and virtue, which fit the soul for the enjoyment of God. Lastly, it stands, in the Christian's estimate, in the stead of his promised recompence, and is communicated to him as a pledge of future delights. It is and he considers it-as the first-fruits of that harvest which, in the maturity of the divine purposes, he shall reap, and the earnest of that inheritance which he shall eventually receive, upon the redemption of his body from the bondage of corrup tion, and his final translation into the kingdom of God.

The preceding reasoning may be summed up in the following propositions :

1. That Christ, the Son of God, and the desire of nations, was come; and that Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified, whom God had raised, and whom Peter preached, was the Christ.

2. That the design of his coming was, in compliance with the necessities of man, the councils of his Father, and the assurances of the prophets, as a Sacrifice to atone for, a Saviour to remit, an Advocate to extenuate, a Ruler to subdue, and a Judge to punish the sins of the world.

3. That the benefits of his mission were only to be received instrumentally by an union with the visible church, really by the inward and spiritual graces of repentance and faith.

4. That, in order to render this faith and repentance valid and efficacious to the purposes of salvation, the Holy Spirit should be dispensed to the believing member, as a seal of acceptance, a source of sanctity, a cause of fruitfulness, and a pledge of eternal life.

Such is the substance of that doctrine which rises out of St. Peter's discourse, and which appears to have constituted the rule of faith in the least corrupted state of the Christian church. The same conclusion, would, in fact, have resulted from the whole or any part of the apostolic writings for their faith stood not in the wisdom of men,

which is variable, but in the power of God, which is uniform; and however their modes of expres sion may differ, the sense and the spirit are in all

the same.

The Cabinet.

PEACEABLENESS ABOUT QUESTIONS OF FAITH. -The boasted peaceableness about questions of faith too often proceeds from a superficial temper, or from indifference to religion itself. Toleration is a herb of spontaneous growth in the soil of indifference; but the weed has none of the virtues of the medicinal plant reared by humility in the garden of zeal. Much of our common union of minds proceeds, I fear, from no other than the forementioned causes-want of knowledge, and want of affection to religion. You that boast that you live conformably to the appointments of the Church, and that no one hears of your noise, we may thank the ignorance of your minds for that kind of quietness.-Abp. Leighton.

PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY."The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the com munion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Ame

(2 Cor. xiii. 14). We may here see a picture of primi- | no tive, genuine Christianity, what it was in the apostle's time: we see St. Paul holding up to view the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as his best portion, and directing the eyes of the primitive church to the same object. Shall we seek after something new? the very name of new should alarm our suspicions. The apostle seems here to take for granted that the Corinthians would not dispute about the object of their worship, but addresses them as believers baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and then introduces his prayer for them, including an apostolic blessing. We are called to regard the Trinity in unity-the God whom the scriptures declare: we are therein taught that there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead, and that our mere assent to this doctrine is not enough: we must have the love of the Father, the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, and the grace of the Son, or we shall derive little or no advantage from our belief of the doctrine.-Cecil.

GOOD WORKS.-If the gifts of the divine grace are compared one with another, there are some more perfect than others: if the state and the works of men are compared, you will find degrees, even in these, of greater and less perfection noticed; but, if we contrast either the holiness of men, or men themselves, or any of their works, with the perfect and spiritual righteousness which the law of God enjoins, not one of all these comes up to the standard of the divine law, or attains to that perfection which it requires.— Bishop Davenant.

PATIENCE. If I were asked to give an opinion as to what last quality was necessary for one who has the care of children, I should say patience; patience with their tempers, patience with their understandings, patience with their progress. It is not brilliant parts or great acquirements which are necessary for teachers, but patience to go over first principles again and again; steadily to add a little every day; never to be irritated by wilful or accidental hindrance.-Shades of Character.

CHRISTIAN UNION.-In the most perfect society that was ever established upon earth (perfect, I mean, as to its principles), namely, the Christian church, there is a union of all classes, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. This is an institution formed under the immediate direction of him, who is the Fountain of all wisdom. And the more closely any society, formed by men for temporal purposes, imitates the one founded by God himself for the promotion of men's spiritual interests, the more likely will it be to succeed. In order to flourish and be durable, the members should consist of rich and poor. "The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all" (Prov. xxii. 2). Neither class ought to consider itself independent of the other; for "the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you ;" and "if the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body" (1 Cor. xii. 21 15)? Their mutual interests and happiness will be best promoted when they have a feeling of good-will towards each other. They are not selfishly to seek their own prosperity, and to have

Poetry.

ON THE CRUCIFIXION*.

"Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ?"-LAM. Î. AND did the Lord of glory leave

His throne of thrones in yonder heaven,
Come down to earth, and toil and grieve,
That guilty man might be forgiven?
Was Jesus by his own out-cast?

From place to place a wanderer driven?
And was his blessed form, at last,
Upon a tree with torture riven?

At such a prodigy of woe

Well might the sun withdraw his shining; Well might all nature undergo

A pang, in sympathy repining.

And O, is human heart so hard,

Whose weal the Lord was thus designing, As love so vast to disregard,

To sin and folly still inclining?

And does the vengeance still delay ?

Are not the skies yet rent asunder? Does not the righteous Judge display

His wrath in storms of fire and thunder? Still are his mercies round us strew'd: Behold, ye morning stars, and ponder God's love and man's ingratitude; And say, which most excites your wonder?

AFFLICTION+.

AFFLICTION is a teacher:

She teaches heavenly things. O, let us pray we rightly learn

The lessons that she brings.

Affliction is a messenger,

A messenger of good:

O, let us pray her errands be
Both prized and understood.
Affliction is an angel:

She'd bear our souls above,

On the eagle-wings of earnest prayer, To the God of peace and love.

Then fear ye not affliction ;

But, rather, thankful be, Beseeching God that not in vain She e'er shall visit thee.

FLOWERS.

DAY-STARS! that ope your eyes with man, to twinkle
From rainbow galaxies of earth's creation,
And dew-drops on her lonely altars sprinkle
As a libation!

Ye matin-worshippers! who, bending lowly
Before the risen sun (God's lidless eye),
Throw from your chalices a sweet and holy

Incense on high!

'Neath cloister'd boughs each floral bell that swingeth, And tolls its perfume on the passing air, Makes sabbath in the fields, and ever ringeth

A call to prayer.

There as in solitude and shade I wander

Miscellaneous.

MISAPPLICATION OF A LEGACY.-A very honest and industrious man, whom I knew some years ago, had a legacy of about 301. bequeathed to him. This money proved quite a misfortune. He must needs buy a pony and cart, and turn fish-seller. Now, though he could work well on a farm or in a garden, he was a very bad judge of the quality of the article he undertook to sell; so that frequently, after he had gone many miles to purchase fish, he found in a few hours, or the following day, when he was setting out in quest of customers, that it was good for nothing. Thus he was very often a loser, and was far from making a livelihood by his new employment. His wife told me that she and her husband never knew poverty until this legacy had unfortunately been left them. After trying the fish trade for several years, he was at last persuaded to give it up, and to return to his old occupation on a farm. There he continues working at present; and he is, I believe, about 66 years old. Though he is still healthy, and able to earn good wages, this cannot be the case with him for many years longer, and then he will have only the parish as his resource. If he had happily laid out his legacy in securing a pension at 65, in some good friendly society, what a different prospect would have been before him! He was then 30 years old. Had he paid the money for this object, and continued in the employment for which he was best suited, he would not only have lived more comfortably to the present time, but would now have come into the re

The ways of God,

Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers,
Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book,
Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers
From loneliest nook;

Floral apostles, that, in dewy splendour,
"Weep without woe, and blush without a crime."
O, may I deeply learn, and ne'er surrender
Your love sublime!

"Thou wast not, Solomon, in all thy glory,
Arrayed," the lilies cry," in robes like ours.
How vain your grandeur! ah, how transitory
Are human flowers!"

In the sweet-scented pictures, heavenly Artist!
With which thou paintest nature's wide-spread
hall,

What a delightful lesson thou impartest

Of love to all!

To COOL WATER.-The following is a simple mode of rendering water almost as cold as ice :-Let the jar, pitcher, or vessel used for water be surrounded with one or more folds of coarse cotton, to be constantly wet. The evaporation of the water will carry off the heat from the inside, and reduce it to a freezing point. In India, and other tropical regions, where ice cannot be procured, this is com

mon.

COPPER TANKS.-Copper is not readily attacked by pure water; but under the joint influence of air and moisture it is corroded. By agitation the crust becomes detached, and is diffused through the water. A fresh portion undergoes the same process; and, by a succession of corrosions, &c., the water may become strongly impregnated with a poisonous form of casks, communicated by the motions of the ship, will copper, which, by the agitation of the water in the be mechanically diffused, and persons drinking it almost to a certainty poisoned. During cooking, too, the insoluble oxide may be rendered soluble, and thus

Hence the propriety of doing away with copper tanks, if in use, and their replacement by others of a less deleterious nature.

London: Published for the Proprietors, by EDWARDS and HUGHES, 12, Ave Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be had, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.

PRINTED BY

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MANDRAKES*.

"And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy

son's mandrakes."-GEN. xxx. 14.

THE word DNTT dudaim, in the plural form, occurs only in these verses and in Solomon's Song vii. 13. From the two passages together, we learn that the dudaim were collected in the fields; that they were fit for gathering at the time of the

From the "Pictorial Bible." London: Knight. VOL. XXI.

wheat-harvest in Mesopotamia; that they were found also in Palestine; that they were noted for their peculiar odour; and that they were supposed to possess certain virtues in assisting productive conception. From this it is manifest that there is little to guide us in determining what has been recognized in any of the cognate lanplant is intended, especially as no similar name the interminable conjectures which have been ofguages. Without wasting space in enumerating fered, we may remark that the one which our authorized version offers (mandrakes) exhibits

G G