LINES,

Suggested by the Sudden Death of the Rev. William Nunn, Minister of St. Clement's Church, Manchester.

Commissioned by the court of heaven,
The pallid monarch see;
Disciple of the Crucified,
His message is to thee.

Fear not his rude and boisterous touch,
His dart is stingless now;
Nor tremble at the freezing dews,
He scatters on thy brow.

He but unlocks thy mortal cage,
That fresh, and glad, and free;
Thy long imprisoned spirit may,
Enjoy its liberty.

Plunge dauntless in the sable stream,
To which he leads thee on :

Its cold dark tide will waft thee safe, To the celestial throne

See, at the foot of Zion's hill,

A white-robed convoy waits;
Sent by the Lord of Zion's towers,
To guide through Zion's gates.

They bear the harp, the golden crown,
The stainless robe they bring;
The palm branch, and the jewels, sent
Express from Zion's King.

Go bright one! from a withered world,
To thine own mansion go;

When we would fain thine absence mourn,
The tears refuse to flow.

How can we grieve, though valued much,
That thou art gone to Him;
Whose love, and truth, and faithfulness,
Were here thy constant theme.

That faithful God who called thee hence,
A jewel for his crown;
Remembering his inheritance,

Will send fresh blessings down.

He will the orphans' tears regard,
The lonely widow's sigh;

The sorrowing people's deep lament,
Shall reach his throne on high.

To all the promise still remains,→→
Sufficient is my grace;

Lord, didst thou love for aught in me,
Were not thy grace both rich and free,
I must, I should be lost;
But 't is the empty, needy, blind,
Who nothing in themselves can find,
Thou cam'st to save, this cheers my mind,
Oft when 't is tempest-tost.

For lo, a beggar at thy feet,-
A suppliant at thy mercy seat,
Dear Lord I'd ever be;
I can do nought, unless thine aid,
In pity and in love 's displayed
Upholding, Lord by sin betrayed
I wander far from thee.

Where, with the worm, corruption dwells;
Lord! let my spirit be with thee.

The thought would rend my fainting heart,
If I had not some hope in thee;
That thou for me didst bear the smart,-
The agonies of Calvary.

But stay, my soul, these raptures stay,
Sin rules with such triumphant power;
That faith and hope seem gone away,

Like sunbeams of a wintry hour.

Why am I thus? why transient shine, Those joys that make my spirit blest? But Lord I fain would not repine,

Thou know'st what joys are for me best.

One thing I ask of thee, O God,

Deny me not while thus I pray; Whatever else may intervene,

Still keep me in the heavenly way.

From pride and envy keep me Lord,
With humble christians let me dwell;
To such, though by the proud abhorred,
Though dost thy preciousness reveal.
Bristol.

A. H.

THE RESTORATION TO LIFE OF JAIRUS'

DAUGHTER.

Mark v. 23.

And will the glorious Lord of life,
Incline to hear a father's plea ?
Will Jesus calm the bitter strife,
And from its bands the lovely captive free?
Might plaintive tones his step suspend,
Most piteous pleads her suppliant sire,
His mournful suit to recommend;

Ere the young plant, and all his hopes expire.
Do tender passions move Christ's heart?
Can he a parent's anguish feel,
What with an only child to part?
Yes, nature's God will hear the strong appeal.

Know, what a quickening word has past
His lips, t' arrest the spirit fled :
Only believe; my truth stands fast;
The child shall live, tho' numbered with

the dead!

Now doubts no more distract his mind; With faith inspiring peace serene, Jairus comes, the train behind, With Jesus on, t' attend the trial-scene.

Cease, cease, exclaims the Lord, those cries, How calmly does the damsel sleep; To him a shout of scorn replies, We for the dead feel cause to wail and weep. Another call,-Young maid arise,

Reanimates the virgin's breast: From friend to friend the rumour flies;

She lives, she lives, the chosen three attest. Her parents' looks their joy declare,

Bright beaming in each grateful eye; While to the maid, her soul to cheer, Christ grants the smile of his divinity. Glastonbury.

STANZAS.

A dweller in the wilderness,
By Marah's bitter wave;
Almighty God, in each distress,
I look to thee to save:

E. F. H.

Thou hast, when former fears rose high, Bade every fear begone;

Lord of the desert equally,

As of the great white throne.

When in wild regions, dark and drear,
Thine ancient people trod ;

The fire and cloud were always near,
To mark a present God:

Guide and protect as thou didst them,
Thy suppliant wandering lone;
Lord of the desert, as supreme,

As of the great white throne.
When hosts of threatening foes pursue,
Their stern careering break;
As when of old thou didst subdue,

The might of Amalek: Dauntless, if thou art by my side,

I'll hear their boasting tone; Lord of the desert large and wide,

As of the great white throne,

And do thou, from yon sparkling home,
Some beams celestial give;
Foretastes, while I in Mesech roam,
Of where I soon shall live ;-
Live, praising Thee, all wise, all good,
Who hath such mercy shewn ;
Lord of the desert's solitude,
As of the great white throne.

REZENEB.

SUBMISSION UNDER AFFLICTION.
Dost thou my profit seek,

And chasten as a friend?
O God, I'll kiss the smarting rod,
There 's honey at the end.

Dost thou through death's dark vale,
Conduct to heaven at last?
The future good will make amends,
For all the evil past.

Lord, I would not repine,
At strokes in mercy sent;
If the chastisement comes in love,
My soul shall be content.

A. M. T.

THE COUNTERFEIT AMBASSADORS AND THEIR FALSE CREDENTIALS.

"And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision was mouldy and dry."-Joshua ix. 8.

THERE is not a subject in the word of God of greater importance, nor more clearly revealed, than the will of God in its divine sovereignty, manifested in free grace, and awful judgments. The Lord determined in himself from all eternity, to glorify the riches of his grace, in the salvation of his own chosen people; and the judgments of his hands, in the punishing obstinate sinners, and who hath resisted his will. Behold, there fore, the goodness and severity of God: goodness, in choosing, calling, and saving those whom he designed; and severity, in objecting those who wilfully reject his word, his Son, his people, and his ways. The sacred, scriptures are an exhibition of these glorious yet awful subjects; sometimes in histories of the marvellous works of the great God our Saviour. That merciful yet sovereign will that purposed our salvation, is manifested in bringing us to the knowledge and enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ, May, 1840.]

whom to know is life eternal; and whose highest glory is to pardon, save, receive, and bless all who come to him from a feeling sense of need.

We are led into these remarks, in reading the very interesting connection of the text before us. The Israelites had reached the land of Canaan, according to the promise of God to Abraham; Moses was dead, and Joshua had the leading of the host through Jordan to the promised land; for indeed there is no coming into the en. joyment of the liberty of the children of God, until we become dead to the law: then we bring forth fruit unto God acceptably. Joshua, the eminent type of the Captain of our salvation, had led the Hebrews to Jericho, which we read was captured in a very niraculous manner. After this, God or dered them to seize a famous city, which was done accordingly, as we read in the sixth chapter. These great exploits and wonderful victories of the Hebrews, or rather of the God of the Hebrews, had a two-fold effect on those that heard them: they only hardened the hearts of some, while they produced a good effect on others; the former gathered themselves toge ther to fight against Joshua, and israel, and no doubt against the God of

Israel

their hearts were hardened

to their destruction.

These men, perhaps, had many animosities among themselves before, but now, like Herod and Pontius Pilate, they were made friends to oppose the God of Israel: but he that dwelleth in the heavens, laughed at their confederacy with Satan, their agreement with hell, and their union with each other, to oppose the purposes and the plans of Jehovah. Foolish, hardened, ambitious characters: how much better, humanly speaking, would it have been, to have thrown down the arms of their rebellion, and yielded themselves to the Lord and his people. But no, they will stand it out to the last, to their ruin. Behold, therefore, the severity of God in them that fell. And is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance. They were without excuse; they had heard of the judgments on Pharoah, the dividing the Red Sea, the march of the Israelites, the astonishing manner they were supported, the parting of Jordan, the downfall of Jericho, and the destruction of a neighbouring city they had heard of the name of the God of Israel, and perhaps, like many of the present day, only turned it into banter and ridicule. It has been long said of afflictions, if they do not soften, they generally harden. The like has been said of the gospel, and it is evidently true of the judgments of God. This was the case of the Jewish nation, which beheld the mighty works of Jehovah Jesus: they saw his wonders in opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, raising the dead, casting out devils, and stilling the sea with a word :-they saw his glory, and fought against the natural light of natural conscience, until God gave them up to judicial blindness, and their nation to ruin. It is awful to fight against God and conscience, against truth and the people of God. How wretched your state, ye infidels, who oppose the religion of Jesus; whether ye fly to the

system of Arianism, or Socinianism, or pre-existerianism: it is infidelity in the essence. Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, for God hath determined a consumption on the earth, he hath set his king on his holy hill. • Be wise, therefore, O ye kings, and be instructed ye judges of the earth;" that is, persons who boast of their power as kings, and set up their judgment in opposition to truth: kiss the Son, embrace the pure One."

But while we deplore this awful circumstance, we are well pleased with the effects these reports of God's name and Israel's fame had on others. This has been the case with the gospel in all ages: we find it was so in Christ's and in the apostles' days; some believed the things that were spoken, and some believed not: and all the ministers of the gospel find it so to this hour. I suppose the prophet Isaiah was led to exclaim on this very account, Who hath believed our report?" that is to any good purpose; but, blessed be God, there are some who are ordained to eternal life, which in God's time shall believe to the saving of the soul.

The Gibeonites heard of these words, and prepared for a surrender; others, we see, heard the same report and made war: thus ministers are to some a savour of life unto life, to others a savour of death unto death:

the same sun softens wax and hardens clay. We do not read there was any king in Gibeon, if there had been, perhaps he would have joined with the rest to his ruin. The Gibeonites might have heard that no mercy was to be shewn to the Canaanites, nor any quarter given to them in battle; therefore they despaired of treating with them publicly, and no other way was now left to save their lives but by art. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they did work wilily, and went and made

as

ambassa

been if they had dors." This was done artfully, and well for them, most successfully: they came under the character of ambassadors from a foreign state, which they thought would please the princes of Israel, and make them think it an honor to be visited, and their friendship courted by foreign states. They took old sacks on their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, and old shoes, and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy, And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country, now therefore make ye a league with us." Thus they pretended to have undergone the fatigues of a very long journey, and produced some apparent demonstrations of it: their provision when they left home was new, now dry, yea mouldy; their sacks were old, the wine all drank, their bottles broken, and their shoes and clothes worn worse than the Israelites' shoes were, who had been forty years in the wilderness.

The Hebrews suspecting a fraud, Joshua put the question to them, Whence came ye?-it is well in all spiritual connections to try before we trust:-they abode in the same story, though they gave no accurate account of themselves, only, they came from a far country, which if Israel had heard the name of they would have been no wiser; however, they respected the name of the God of Israel, they professed to be sincere in that; they acknowledged what God had done in Egypt, but hid what they heard of Jericho and Ai, lest the fraud should have been discovered, they therefore humbly submit themselves to the Israelites :"We are thy servants, make a league with us." We cannot justify the lie these men told to save their lives, for had they acknowledged where they really came from, and having renoun

-

ced the idolatries of the country, and come to Israel and Israel's God, they would have been received, for the Lord casts out none that submit to him, that cleave to his people, his word, and his cause.

After making some objections, the Hebrew princes, without consulting the Lord upon the business, made an agreement with them, and as a proof of friendship, partook of their victuals. Three days afterwards the Israelites found out the fraud, but they pleaded, as an excuse, their impending danger of utter destruction : and after much debate upon this subject, among them, Joshua spared their lives; but, to resent their falsehoods, and to pacify the Hebrews, he seized their liberties, and condemned them to perpetual service. This was the fulfilment of the tepmoral curse long before pronounced on Canaan :

A servant of servants shall ye be," Gen. ix. But this was turned into a blessing to these Gibeonites :

"Ye are therefore bondmen; ye shall be hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of God." And perhaps this act of servitude was a means of their conversion. They had much to do in the service of God, as a vast deal of wood and water was perpetually wanted in the service of the tabernacle and the temple:-much wood must be hewed for fuel to keep the fire constantly burning on the altar, and to boil the flesh of the peace offerings; and much water for their divers washings of persons and vessels: this work devolved on them, which saved the Levites much trouble.

We naturally infer, from this account, how dear is the life of man to himself; hence Satan said to God,