that believeth not shall be damned!" Whether, or not, these words affect those who never can have heard them, is not a question with which we have much, or perhaps, any concern. We may rest assured that they ARE addressed to us!! With such momentous possibilities impending, what intelligent mind can be at rest? Who, but a madman, can suffer himself to be so trifled with, and engaged by the toils and pleasures of a transitory state as to neglect the investigation of those things which are, comparatively, alone deserving his consideration! Were life to close this instant, and the truth of revelation to stand before our startled view, in all its terrible reality, with what intense gratitude should we accept the offer of one of those hours, for the exercise of a probational inquiry, which so many of us have impiously squandered! The evidence would, then indeed, be stronger than it is now; but can a rational being need such awful incitements; can he THE MESSIAH. our venture to hope for them? If we desire conviction, we must devoutly "read, mark, learn, and pray;" for this is the only medium through which it can possibly be obtained! The offer of eternal happiness must be embraced with gratitude, and the means of escape from endless misery be seized as a hand extended to a drowning man! The mysteries of Scripture will then, indeed, offer no obstruction to faith. We shall receive them thankfully and willingly upon trust, shall then, assuredly, be ready to exclaim, in the language of the inspired Psalmist, that "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him; yea, unto all such as call upon Him faithfully. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him; He, also, will hear their cry and help them! The righteous will consider this and rejoice; and the mouth of all wickedness shall be stopped! Whoso is wise will ponder We NOTES. A. (Page 159.) EXTRACT from "a letter to Gilbert West, Esq." (by Lord Littleton.) 66 Sir, In a late conversation we had together on the subject of the christian religion, I told you, that besides the proofs of it which may be drawn from the Prophecies of the Old Testament, from the necessary connection it has with the whole system of the Jewish religion, from the miracles of Christ, and from the evidence given of his resurrection by all the other Apostles, I thought the conversion of St. Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself, a demonstration sufficient to prove christianity a divine revelation!" &c. (See page 3 of this work.) B. (Page 166.) "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life!" See 21st chapter of Numbers, 9th verse. Also 3rd chapter of St. John's Gospel, 14th and 15th verses. "There is a wonderful peculiarity in this emblem, which seems worthy of notice, since it tends directly to prove the divinity of Christ. It has been well remarked by Bishop Warburton, That the Jewish people were extremely fond of Egyptian manners, and did frequently fall into Egyptian superstitions; and that many of the laws given to them by the ministry of Moses, were instituted, partly in compliance to their prejudices, and partly in opposition to their superstitions.' The same author shews, that the figurative language of the Prophets, was in fact, an application of the Egyptian hierogliphics; God not disdaining to convey knowledge to mankind by that mode of speech to which they had been accustomed, and which was, therefore, most intelligible to them. This being premised, it only remains to be inquired, What the Egyptians, and it may be added, the whole |