Shot through vast masses of enormous weight?
Who bade brute matter's restive lump assume
Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly?
Has matter innate motion? Then each atom,
Asserting its indisputable right

To dance, would form an universe of dust.
Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms
And boundless lights from shapeless and reposed?
Has matter more than motion? Has it thought,
Judgment, and genius? Is it deeply learned
In mathematics? Has it framed such laws
Which but to guess a Newton made immortal?
If so, how each sage alone laughs at me,
Who thinks a clod inferior to a man!
If art to form and counsel to conduct,
And that with greater far than human skill,
Resides not in each block-a Godhead reigns.
Grant then invisible, eternal Mind;

That granted, all is solved. But granting that,
Draw I not o'er me still a darker cloud?
Grant I not that which I can ne'er conceive?-
A Being without origin or end!
Hail, human liberty!-there is no God.
Yet why? on either scheme the knot subsists:
Subsist it must in God, or human race.
If in the last, how many knots besides,
Indissoluble all? Why choose it there,
Where, chosen, still subsist ten thousand more?
Reject it; where that chosen, all the rest
Dispersed, leaves reason's whole horizon clear?
What vast preponderance is here! Can reason
With louder voice exclaim, Believe a God?
What things impossible must man think true,
On any other system! and how strange
To disbelieve through mere credulity.

YOUNG.

THE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS.

BY THE REV. JONATHAN WATSON, EDINBURGH.

CALAMITIES frequently cloud the brightest day of the seven, and render that a season of weeping which had else proved an occasion of purest joy. Who has not known tribulation come in with the week, which has augmented as it rolled on, every new day deepening the gloom, and cach night exasperating the affliction the sufferer's eyes refusing to be closed, till death at length shut them in everlasting repose? And then has come the Sabbath-day to the bereaved survivors dark, silent, ever memorable day-spent, not in the courts of Zion, but in the chamber of grief and bitter mourning. To the disciples of Christ what a week was this! The farewell discourse had been pronounced the betrayal, the agony, the seizure, the mock trial, the crucifixion, the death and burial of their Master, had all been pressed into this one eventful period of time. And what a Sabbath was that which succeeded! Their Lord lay dead in Joseph's tomb, and with him were buried all their hopes, their confidence, and their joy. It proved no day of rest to them, but one of restlessness, anxiety, and despondency.

But misfortunes usually draw closer to each other the children of grief. In the softening of the heart, its bursting griefs seek relief in association with kindred spirits. The disconsolate widow seeks not to the gay and the prosperous in her day of calamity; but to a sister who has passed, or is passing, through deep waters like herself. So the two disciples get together, that they might debate the matter of their

Master's fortunes-that they might mourn and weep in company-that they might have the luxury of fellowship in sorrow, such as they only can know who have drunk of the waters of Marah. And now they go from Jerusalem, the accursed city, where the spotless victim had been cruelly put to death. A temporary absence from the scene of never-to-be-forgotten barbarity and nameless crime, might appear to offer a particle of relief to their wounded hearts. They selected Emmaus, probably because a convenient distance of seven to eight miles off, and also, that they might relate to deeply sympathizing spirits in the country the heart-harrowing tale which had trans pired in the city; or that they might indulge grief amid the stillness and solitude of rural scenery.

Our blessed Lord, who was accessory to their plans, alive to their pitiable ignorance and their overwhelming griefs, resolved to embrace this as a fitting opportunity for revealing himself, and putting a period to their acute sufferings. And, truly, he is wont to reserve his richest consolations to the hour of our deepest distress. Does he intend good to the widow of Nain?-he waits till the mourners were actually bearing her dead son to the silent grave. Does he sympathize in the sorrows of the family at Bethany?-but he delays his visit till Lazarus has been dead three days. Or does he design to rescue Paul and his company from impending destruction ?— he brings out his gracious purpose "when all hope that we should be saved was taken away." So here, Cleopas and his brother walked forward to Emmaus, ' and were "sad," too sad for aught on earth to upraise or to draw off their drooping spirits from the one object of intense interest on which their concentrated affections loved to settle-the death of their Master! In such circumstances, like water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Light to newly opened eyes, or healing to the diseased, and health to the hopelessly incurable, could not be more welcome than the discovery which was now to burst upon these wo-begone travellers.

But we must attend to the manner of his manifesting himself. The Lord joins them in the way, in the form of a fellow-traveller. Having first stole upon them unperceived, and listened to their tale, he enters familiarly into conversation, as one who heretofore had been a perfect stranger to the tragic events that had taken place in Jerusalem. He makes himself strange to them. Whom do you speak of?— who is Jesus of Nazareth?-what things have taken place with respect to him? Who does not see in all this the art of Joseph, his once lively and beautiful type? "Have you a father?-is he alive, the old man of whom ye spake?-have you another brother?" Thus did the governor of the land of Egypt prepare his brethren for the disclosure of the mysterious riddle of his own life and labours; and just as Joseph's bowels yearned over his brothers, did Jesus' heart yearn over the sorrowing brotherhood, while he made haste to divulge the secret in the manner most effectually to impress and convince, and best calculated to drown them in rapturous joy. He discourses on the Scripture account of Messiah; he is the texthimself the man; and, charmed with the unfolding of the sacred page, and with the new and wonderful

sand blacks present. The officiating minister was a white man, who, two years before, had been their pastor, and was now only on a visit. His sermon was sensible and affectionate. The Negroes echoed every sentiment that pleased them by an audible "Amen!" or "Glory be to thy name!" or "Truth, Lord!" When he alluded, towards the close of the discourse, to his former labours amongst them, the females, who sat on one side of the church by themselves, began to weep; when he warned them against backsliding, and alluded to some of whose evil courses he had learned, to his great sorrow, and from whom he had hoped better things, the weeping waxed louder and louder. The communion was then celebrated; the communicants coming up to the rails enclosing the table, or, as they call it, allar. The females knelt on one side of the railing, and the men on the other-thirty coming up at a time to receive the sacrament. The minister stood within the rail, before the communion table. The black deacons of the church stood around, ready to assist the pastor in distributing the elements. We were requested to act for the time as deacons; and being told by the pastor that this would be expected, we cheerfully complied; and the black deacons attended to the marshalling of the communicants as they came up and retired. All received the elements kneeling, with much solemnity, and few without tears in their eyes, or running down their dark cheeks. The interval between each service was occupied by singing hymns, as in Scotland, by the congregation; and the singing was so full of heart, and so sweet, that the melody, and the sight of their earnestness of soul, melted me into tears. I sat down with them to celebrate the love of Him whose love knows no colour-before whom all are black and need washing in the same blood. Dr Hamilton was asked to close the service as it had begun, with prayer, when we all knelt. In a few touching words he gave thanks for the unspeakable gift of Christ, which drew forth a universal echo from the congregation. When he gave thanks that in Christ Jesus there was neither black nor white, bond nor free, master nor servant, that all were one in him, the whole congregation burst forth in a voice of mournful joy: "God be praised! Glory be to thy name!"

The sacrament of the supper was followed by the baptism of about thirty children and adults. The pastor made an exhortation, and put some questions, to which the parties bowed or curtsied assent. The adults then knelt down, and water was poured on their heads, with the usual words. The parents and relatives then brought the children, whom the minister took, one after another, in his arms, after the manner of the Church of England; and without any sign of the cross, or any other ceremony than the words of the institution, poured water upon each child. I saw a young man that looked as white as a European, and whose features were also European, come up with his wife and child. I thought at first that he was an American, until on inquiry I learned that both he and his wife were slaves, and that the little one they brought to dedicate to Christ was the property of their master, as much as their own flesh, blood, and bones.

The deacons in the African Church act as our Scotch elders, not only waiting on the members at the communion, but holding prayer-meetings.

A FAMILY OF SCOTCH EMIGRANTS.

Here I have met an interesting Scotch family from he neighbourhood of Glasgow, consisting of the worthy parents, now turning down the hill, and a family of four sons and a daughter. The history of their migrations afforded me much interest. They landed, with their infant children, at New York, and there made their first essay in the New World. After be

ginning to take root, they were torn up by misfortunes. They then packed up all the family and all their goods in a waggon, and proceeded southward, all the world before them, not knowing whither they were going. In Virginia they settled a while, and made their early Scottish school education available in teaching the children of the planters, from whom they experienced much kindness, and were entreated to settle amongst them. But again they betook themselves to their waggon, possessed by that wandering spirit which, once indulged by a Scotchman, though the most difficult of all men to uproot from his native soil, makes him roll on in search of adventures, and of a happiness which, like the horizon, flies from him as he approaches. At length this worthy pair, with their waggon and family, reached Mobile, settled, and were beginning to take root, when the fire of 1839 burned the house they had built, and consumed all the earnings of several years' industry. Nothing dismayed, instead of "folding their hands, and eating their own flesh" like the fool, they put their trust in Him who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. Amidst the plague which then desolated Mobile, they set about repairing their misfortunes, and have been enabled, through industry and economy, to save a few thousand dollars, with which they have purchased a dwelling-house and workshop, and with their family around them, promise again, by the blessing of God, to thrive and take root in this southern region. I was gratified to find the old man had assembled his children, after the Scottish fashion, "to worship God." Both parents could enumerate Scottish martyrs among their ancestors in Lanarksnire, and rejoiced to speak of their memory, and of the spirit of the martyrs that seemed to animate the Free Church of Scotland. I feit quite at home at their table, and in their society; and was pleased to learn from an American lady, that the mother of this promising family, while a notable woman at home, took her part zealously and heartily in every good work in the Church, and was never to be missed at the meetings and conferences of the Church for prayer. This family is one of the best specimens of our Scottish emigrants that I have met with. They emigrated before they lost all-when their fortunes were falling rather than fallen-before adversity had impaired their spirit and courage, soured their tempers, or reduced them to despair. With spirits un- | broken-with the best principles, and the best training of the sons and daughters of Scotland-they entered the New World, and, amidst all their ups and downs, they never lost their first love and early principles. Their misfortunes have only softened their hearts, and made them more feelingly alive to the goodness of God and the misfortunes of others. A colony of such families, so taught and trained, and so disciplined by misfortune, would make a noble nation.

HOW TO SPEAK TO THE HEART.

A Presbyterian minister of the United States, an American by birth, but of Scottish parentage, happening to be in the city of New Orleans, was requested to visit an old Scottish soldier who had wandered thither, and having been attacked by the yellow fever, was conveyed to the hospital in a dying state. On announcing his errand, the sick soldier told him in a surly tone that he desired none of his visits that he knew how to die without a priest. The minister replied that he was no priest, but a Presbyterian clergyman come to read to him the Word of God, and to speak of that eternity to which he seemed drawing near. The Scot doggedly refused all conversation, and after lingering a few minutes, the minister was reluctantly compelled to take his leave. Next day, however, he called again, thinking the reflections of the man on his own rude

ness might secure a better reception on a second visit. But the soldier's tone and manner were equally rude and repulsive. He turned himself in bed, with his face to the wall, as if determined to hear nothing and relent nothing. As a last effort to gain attention, he bethought himself of the hymn, well known in Scotland, the composition, it is supposed, of David Dickson of Irvine, one of the worthies of Scotland:

O mother dear, Jerusalem!

When shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end?-
Thy joys when shall I see?

This hymn his Scottish mother had taught him to sing, when a child, to the tune of "Dundee." He began to hum his mother's hymn to his mother's tune. The soldier listened for a few moments in silence, but gradually turning himself round, his countenance reLaxed, and the tear in his eye, he inquired, "Wha learned you that ?” “ My mother," said the minister; "And so did mine," replied the now softened and relenting soldier, whose heart was melted by the recollections of infancy, and who was now prepared to give a willing ear to the man that had found the key to his Scottish heart.

FROM a tract lately published, entitled "The Romanism of Italy," by Sir Culling Eardley Smith, we extract the statement which follows, and which will speak for itself:

During the last winter, weekly meetings of English Protestants were held in my lodgings in the Via Gregoriana, for reading the Epistle to the Romans and for worship.

A dignitary of the Church of England presided, and members and ministers of many denominations, British, Swiss, and German, were occasionally preBent. One meeting, rather more numerous than the rest, was held on the 20th March last, at which a collection was made for the Church and London Missionary Societies. On the 6th of April, my landlord, Signor Giuseppe Dies, was summoned before the police, when a precept (so called) was given to him

niva voce.

This was afterwards reduced to writing, and he was required to sign it, in acknowledgment of having received the intimation. No copy was furnished him, and I am therefore dependant on his memory for its contents. As, however, I saw him very shortly after his return from the police, and took

59

down the words from his own lips, I have no doubt that his version is substantially correct. The document, as far as he could recollect it, ran as follows:

TRANSLATION.

"Joseph Dies, son of the late Ignazio, a Roman, lioni; and it was given to him as a precept, that he was summoned before the High Police by me, Bugwas not at liberty to let his lodging-house to persons of any nation that may be Methodists; with the prohibition, moreover, of the use of his kitchen (esercizio della cucina). If he does not observe the aforesaid percept, Signor Dies will be subjected to the closing of his lodging-house (inabilitazione della locanda). JOSEPH DIES."

Two Witnesses.

I should mention that Signor Dies's lodging-house is one of the largest in Rome, and is let out in floors, or suites of rooms, to several families. The kitchen is a separate enterprise, and supplies not only the families in the house, but any others who may wish to use it. Signor Dies was given to understand that he would be at liberty, under this order, to continue to supply families actually residing at that time under his roof, until they should leave Rome; but, with this exception, the order would take full effect.

Signor Dies informed me of this proceeding, and consulted me how he should act. He asked me in particular how he was to distinguish a Methodist family. I told him that, as far as I was aware, there were no members of the Methodist denomination of Protestants at that time in Rome, and that, therefore, the word could only be used in the sense of serious Protestants, of whom there were great numbers of various denominations. I added, that it seemed to me a very serious step on the part of the Government, to compel him to inquire into the private and personal religion of foreigners, and that I thought English families who might be disposed to engage rooms in his house, would be justly offended if he asked them questions about their religious opinions before accepting them as tenants. It appeared, in fact, to be an extension of the Inquisition to the Protestant residents in Rome.

The subject, however, of practical and immediate moment to Signor Dies, was the closing of his kitchen.

By the advice of his friends he made a strong representation to the Government, of the ruin which would be thus brought upon himself and his family, and requested the removal of the precept. He received for answer (as he informed me), that the injunction respecting the kitchen would be immediately taken off, provided the meetings in my rooms were discontinued.

On learning this, my friends and myself of course resolved to hold no more meetings. We made the change known to all persons who were in the habit of attending, and whose addresses we knew; and for the information of those friends of whose residence we were ignorant, the following notice was put up at the entrance of the house, on the morning of the next intended meeting:

"The meetings in Sir Culling Smith's rooms are stopped by order of the police. The landlord has received a precetto, not to let his apartments any more to METHODISTS, with a prohibition to have a public kitchen in his house.

"The latter prohibition has been suspended, on condition that there are no more meetings. "Under these circumstances, it has been thought best not to hold the meeting to-day.

April 18th, 1844. The prohibition to let apartments to Methodists, I understand to be still in force.

Daily Bread.

FRIDAY.

"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."-Rom. X. 4.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
When legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety, in self could I see-
Jehovah-Tsidkēnu my Saviour must be.

God showed me I was lost, if I had not Christ, because I had been a sinner; I saw that I wanted a perfect righteousness to present me without fault before God, and this righteousness was nowhere to be found but in the person of Jesus Christ.-Bunyan.

SATURDAY.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."-MATT. xxii. 37.

O Lord, we cast our care on thee-
We triumph and adore;

Henceforth our great concern shall be,
To love and picase thee more.

The love of God, that supremely glorious and supremely gracious Being, is, of all other tempers, the most delightful and divine; a sacred lower which, in its early bud, is happiness, and in its full bloom, is heaven. To plant this noble principle in the breast to cultivate its growth, and bring it to maturity-is the grand end of all religion, and the genuine fruit of faith unfeigned.-Hervey.

SABBATH.

"All things work together for good to them that love God."-ROM. vii. 28.

O happy he whose hopes depend

Upon the Lord alone;

The soul that trusts in such a friend
Can ne'er be overthrown.

Though gourds should wither, cisterns break,
And creature-comforts die,

No change his solid hope can shake,
Or stop his sure supply.

The work is on the wheel, and every movement of the wheel is for your benefit. All the events that take place in the world carry on the same work-the glory of the Father and the salvation of his children. Every illness and infirmity that may seize you, every loss you may meet with, every reproach you may endure, every shame that may colour your faces, every sorrow in your hearts, your every agony and pain, every aching in your bones, are for your good; every change in your condition-your fair weather and your rough weather, your sunny and your cloudy weather, your ebbing and your flowing, your liberty and your imprisonment all turn out for your good. The Lord is at work; all creation is at work; men and angels, friends and foes-all are busy, working together for good to you.-Rowlands.

MONDAY.

We would see Jesus."-JOHN xii. 21.
O come, this wondrous one behold-
The promised Saviour; this is he,
Whom ancient prophecies foretold,

Born from our guilt to set us free. Oh! did we but know ourselves and our Saviour! We are poor, but he rich; we are dead, but he is life; we are sin, but he is righteousness; we are guiltiness, but he is grace; we are misery,-but he is mercy; we are lost, but he is salvation. If we are willing, he never was otherwise. He ever lives, ever loves, ever pities, ever pleads. He loves and saves to the uttermost all that come unto him.-Mason.

TUESDAY.

"Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world ?" 1 COR. i. 20.

Men this world's wisdom seek and gain-
That wisdom which God calleth vain;

But, oh! are strangers still;

To that which makes our spirits wise,
And sets before our waiting eyes

What is our Saviour's will.

He

Some may be ready to envy the death of the scholar. His name is announced in the journals with all his honours. Some masterly pen is immediately engaged to publish his life and his works. The marble perpetuates his name, and his bones are entombed by the side of poets and philosophers. But the soul-where is this? Alas! he was great everywhere but in the sight of the Lord. He could speak every language but the language of Canaan. knew everything but the one thing needful. But see that cottager, on yonder pallet of straw. He is dying fameless and unknown; but he knows Christ Jesus the Lord, and knows that in him he has righteousness and strength. And the excellency of this knowledge raises him above the fear of death, refreshes his fainting spirit, opens a heaven in his heart, and brings angels near. Let me go and die with him! Jay

WEDNESDAY.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."—MATT. vi. 33 Poor, weak, and worthless though I am, I have a rich almighty FriendJesus, the Saviour, is his name; He freely loves, and to the end.

Get Christ, and get all; want him, and want all. A man that catches at the shadow, loses the substance; but get the substance, and you get the shadow with it. So long as you look after other things beside Christ, you lose him; but if you get him, you get the shadow of all-you get life, and peace, and comfort, and all that your hearts can desire. Be content to lose all to get him who is so precious, and who, when you have got, you shall be sure never to lose.-Valton.

THURSDAY.

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."-1 Cor. ii. 9.

High in yonder realms of light,
Far above these lower skies,
Fair and exquisitely bright,

Heaven's unfading mansions rise.

Heaven is a place where all joy is enjoyed-mirth without sadness, light without darkness, sweetness without bitterness, life without death, rest without! labour, plenty without poverty. O what joy entereth into a believer, when he enters into the glory of his Master! Who would not look for glory with the greatest patience? O what glories are there in glory! Thrones of glory, crowns of glory, vessels of glory; a weight of glory, a kingdom of glory. Here Christ puts grace upon his spouse; but there he puts his glory upon his spouse. In heaven the crown is made for them, and in heaven the crown shall be worn by them.-Dyer.

A Stamped Edition, for circulation by Post, will in future be published, price 2d. each Number.

Edinburgh: Printed by JouN JOHNSTONE, residing at 2, Windsor Street, and Published by him at 2, Hunter Square. London: R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, Glasgow: J. R. M'NAIR & Co.; and to be had of any Bookseller throughout the Kingdom.