disclosed, and freed, and excited, and purified, and sanctified for the service of holiness! The acuteness, the wit, the fancy, the ingenuity, the power of language, all purified by the Spirit of holiness, and subject to the peaceful sceptre of the at-length-known King of Israel after repentance; for the transgression of two thousand years has broken the heart of the people, after that Israel, among the thunders of Sinai, before the tables of Moses, and in presence of the revelations of their prophets, to whom, with a giant unbelief, they have shut their hearts, when they shall have bathed themselves in a flood of tears. O Zechariah, I know, even without thy announcement, that in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have seen that God is with you.' O Ezekiel, thou needest not assure me that the heathen will then discover that Jehovah is the Lord who maketh Israel blessed, when His sanctuary shall be among them for ever. We believe, even without thee, O Paul, that the conversion of Israel will be a resurrection festivalage, life from the dead. We know and believe, that the man-child, born of the fleeing woman, clothed with the sun, and of whom it is declared, (Rev. xii. 5,), that he will rule all nations with a rod of iron,—that is, as a missionary, subject them to Christ,-is none other than Israel in the time of his restoration. Israel returns back to his land under the banner of the heavenly Jerusalem, and henceforth fulfils his high calling as the missionary With what marvellous effect did not the first assembly at Jerusalem influence all around! But think of all Israel filled with the Holy Spirit, and arrayed on the Lord's side! That will be the glorious legion-that the phalanx of God, that will subdue the world! "Thus it is a noble work to which we dedicate our exertions, and a burning light of mighty expectations in which we accomplish our labour. Oh! help us! We are building the fairest temple that the world ever saw. Let Israel have a place in your hearts, he is worthy of your inmost adoption, and of your warmest love. Prophecy unweariedly to the wind, that He may come from the four winds, and breathe upon the slain. Assuredly He will not delay. Yes, the time approaches, it is nigh at hand, when Israel, in a still more noble sense, will say with the Roman emperor Julian, O Galilean, thou hast vanquished at last! Blessed be the King of Israel! Amen." of the east. IRELAND. OPERATIONS OF THE IRISH SOCIETY. WE rejoice in publishing the following statement regarding the Irish Society of London, instituted in 1822, for promoting the Education and Religious Instruction of the Native Irish, through the medium of their own language. Though widely circulated, it may be new to many of our readers :— The Irish Society labours in the native districts, where upwards of 3,000,000 of the population speak the Irish language. Its operations are carried on in almost every county in Ireland. Seven Irish-speaking clergymen are in connection with it, who read the Liturgy, and preach the Gospel in the native tongue. Ten congregations of converts have through the instrumentality of the Sobeen raised up, or are now ministered to ciety, Two of these are in the county of Galway-two in the county of Corkand six in Kerry. in those distinct congregations, have been Many Roman Catholics, not included brought, through the blessing of Almighty God, upon the Society's labours, to reincorporated with old Protestant congrenounce the errors of Rome, and are now gations. Some groups of converts, who have been instructed by the Society, are asking for Irish clergymen to be located amongst them. The Bible in the Irish language is extensively circulated by means of the Society. Several applications have been made for the Book of Common Prayer in the native tongue, for the use of the more advanced converts. There are now 800 teachers connected with it, who instruct the native Irish in reading the Word of God. Since the commencement, 300,000 individuals, chiefly adults, have thus been taught to read the Scriptures, many of whom embraced the Protestant faith. The cost of instructing each pupil is ten shillings and sixpence. The Superintendent of the Clonmel district states : "Within the last twelve months, the spread of the Scriptures among the peasantry of my district, has been such as greatly to astonish me. The number of schools increased from about 20 to 92, and the pupils in proportion, and the circulation of the Scriptures accordingly." More than 100 Scripture Readers are employed, who read the Irish Bible in the cabins, or to groups of the peasantry at work in their fields, or by the roadside. Several Roman Catholics, who have been taught to read the Irish Bible, have not, during life, had sufficient courage to come out from the Church of Rome, and yet, when dying, have received grace "earnestly to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints," and have departed rejoicing in Christ Jesus the Lord, the only name "under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." There are not a few instances of members of ribbon or other illegal associations having been converted through the instrumentality of the Society, and now employed in teaching their countrymen to read the Word of God. Wherever the native Irish have been instructed by the Society, they have become loyal subjects of our Queen, and abstain from all connection with the treasonable practices and illegal associations, which are so hostile to the peace and prosperity of the kingdom. By means of the Society, a professorship of the Irish language has been established in Trinity College, Dublin; and exhibitions have been founded for Irish divinity students. The following extracts from a letter from the Rev. D. Foley, who has recently visited Ventry, in the county of Kerry, an interesting field of the Society's labours, will show the change which, through God's blessing upon His own Word, in the tongue understanded of the people," has taken place there :"In the year 1836, there was not a single Protestant in Ventry, - neither school, nor church, nor parsonage, nor minister, nor congregation; there were numbers, indeed, who had long been taught the Word of God in their own tongue, and who were Protestants in everything essential but the profession, which they had no opportunity to make. "I beheld, also, with no small interest, the tottering old Romish chapel, standing in gloom and solitude, the only disagreeable object in view. There was a time when its holy water was the ablution the villagers of Ventry sought when its Latin mass and Irish impre cation were charged to them with all the awe and terrors of superstition-when its pair of lighted candles on the altar were to them instead of the lamp of God's Anointed, now brightly elevated in the adjoining church—and when the little bell, shaken at intervals, was to them in place of the joyful sound;' and where the awful curse went forth from embroidered vestments against the converts, and those who should hold intercourse with them-'God scatter them as small birds before the hawk,'-' God melt them as snow before the rising sun.' But, behold, how changed now! There is not a single individual resident in the village who is not a Protestant, save one old woman." The inhabitants of England, Wales, the Highlands of Scotland, and of the distant colonies, all hear, in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God; and the Committee lay the above statements before the Christian and benevolent public, that the means may be afforded them to send clergymen and teachers to the 3,000,000 of the native Irish, to give them religious instruction in the language which they can understand. Notices of Books. tural are the views of those who look upon God as a being "Of whose omniscient and all-spreading love, Ought to implore were impotence of mind." Intercessory Prayer; its Duties and Effects. the fervent effectual prayer of the righ By G. W. MYLNE. London: Wer-teous man, he demonstrates how unscriptheim and Macintosh, 1849. Pp. 101. We have been much pleased with this little volume. The object of its author is to enforce the duty of prayer; and this he does by adducing from the Scriptures a carefully arranged selection of proofs, that God is not merely the hearer, but also the answerer of prayer. Shewing the blessings that have always attended upon Our limits will not permit us to give any extracts; but we can promise, that those who consult the work, will find in it ample scriptural proof of the promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you." Grace and Truth. By OCTAVIUS WINSLOW, M.A. London G. F. SHAW, 1849. Pp. 343. THE work before us, which is designed to form a companion to the "Glimpses of the Truth as it is in Jesus," consists of a series of discourses on some of the most momentous topics of Christianity. Without aiming at being anything like a systematic treatise on the themes of the title-page, it enlarges upon, and illustrates the Grace and Truth of Him who, though the only-begotten of the Father, yet condescended to dwell among us. We do not, however, mean to review the work, for Mr. Winslow is too well known, and too much appreciated, to need any commendation of ours. Like all his other writings, the one before us is of an eminently practical character. Perhaps the style may be objected to as somewhat too diffuse; but the author is so evidently speaking out of the fulness of his heart, and with so deep a sense of the importance of the message entrusted to him, that we can hardly look upon this as a fault in a work of this nature. The deeptoned piety that prevades the volume, shews that the writer is speaking from his own experience, while the frequency and the fervour of his appeals to sinners, evinces his earnest desire that others also should see and know the truth as it is in Jesus. We select for quotation a passage from his discourse-God comforting the disconsolate. INDIVIDUAL INFLUENCE. "What an untold blessing to one believer may be the dealings of God with another! As no man liveth to himself,' so no Christian is tried and succoured, wounded and healed, disciplined and taught, for himself alone. God designs, by his personal dealings with us, to expound some law of His government, and to convey some lesson of instruction to the mind, or to pour some stream of consolation into the heart of others. Thus the experience of one child of God may prove the channel of peculiar and immense blessing to many. God, in this arrangement, is but acting in accordance with a law of our nature of His own creating, the law of reciprocal influence. No individual of the human family occupies in the world a position isolated and alone. 237 endless He is a part of an integral system. He of God. When Paul penned the letter "Nevertheless,' writes the apostle, in | recording the fact, 'God, who comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.' He who wrote these words has long since been in glory; and yet the experience he then traced upon the page, has been, and is still, telling upon the instruction, the comfort, and the holiness of millions, and will go on telling until time shall be no more. Remember, my reader, you must quit this world; but your influence will survive you. Your character and works, when dead, will be moulding the living; and they, in their turn, will transmit the lineaments and the form of a mind whose thoughts never perish, to the remotest posterity. 'He, being dead, yet speaketh.' What an expressive epitaph! A truer sentiment, and one more solemn, never breathed from the marble tablet. The dead never die! Their memory speaks! Their character speaks! Their words speak, and speak for ever!" Barnabas; or the Christianly Good Man. Three Discourses. By the Rev. JOHN BROWN, D.D., Senior Minister of the United Presbyterian Congregation, Broughton Place, Edinburgh. Edinburgh: A. FULLARTON & Co.; and W. OLIPHANT and Sons. 1849. We have much pleasure in recommending these discourses for their sound practical views of divine truth; and we consider the circumstances attending their publication, deserving of mention and of commendation. They are "affectionately inscribed by the author to George Stone, Esquire, the faithful friend of more than thirty years, by whose desire they are published, and at whose expense a copy of them is presented as a parting gift to each of his fellow-church-members of the United Presbyterian Congregation of Broughton Place, Edinburgh." It is refreshing, in these days of pertual change and severance, to have the records of "a faithful friendship of more than thirty years' " continuance brought before us; and Mr. Stone has given proofs of an enlightened and Christian regard to his fellow-worshippers, in presenting them with a gift so fitted to do them good. The discourses before us we consider truly seasonable, sound, and judicious, exhibiting a healthful and manly tone of mind in the author. We quote two short passages to justify our favourable opinion of these discourses. The first is on A GOOD MAN. "That the term 'good,' viewed as descriptive of moral character, is, if we judge by the standard of Scripture, currently employed even in Christianized society, in a very lax and reduced sense, is a matter of notoriety. Let a man be but cheerful, harmless, and amusing, and he will pass with many for a good man. If, in addition to this, he is free from open vice, honest in his dealings, frugal and industrious in his habits, a kind relative, and a good neighbour, he will pass for a very good man. If he is still further open-hearted and benevolent, hospitable to his friends, and kind to the poor, he will then be considered as a remarkably good man; and if he crown all by a regular attendance on the public ordinances of religion, and a general conduct, which gives him a fair standing as a member of some respectable ecclesiastical body, he will be thought just as good a man as can reasonably be expected to be inet with in this world; and he would throw out a suspicion, that, after all, it may be doubtful whether such a man be a good man— that in such a character there may be something essential to real goodness lacking, and that the one thing needful, wanting, that there may be something would be almost sure to be set down, as a man who in principle was impractiticably rigid, and, in practice, uncharitably censorious. the qualities, and be distinguished by all "Yet, . a man may possess all the habits we have enumerated, and not be good at all in the only true sense of that term." Let us hear our author further on the character of BARNABAS. "It appears from the statement of Luke, here (Acts xi. 24) and elsewhere in this book, that Barnabas was full of the Holy Ghost, that he was full of faith, that he was not a lover of this world, that and the chief enjoyment of life, that he he found in religion the chief business was the object of the dislike and persecution of wicked and worldly men, that he zealously endeavoured to make other men religious, that he sought to relieve the bodily as well as the spiritual necesa good, a very good man, he was not a sities of his fellowmen, and that though perfect man. "These are the leading lineaments in Barnabas' moral character, and while we contemplate these features in succession, let each of us look inward, and see if their counterpart, this family likeness is found there: for assuredly, if it is not, then that individual is not what Barnabas was,-a good man." Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature. We have not, by any means, always been able to coincide with the sentiments ex pressed in this Journal; but as we have deeply at heart the object which it is intended to promote, and as we firmly believe that the more general the support it receives, the more consistent and sound will its views become, we heartily wish it all success, and would recommend it as an important auxiliary to all biblical students. Gleanings. THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST. The crucifixion of Christ stands alone in the history of man. It was the last and darkest depth of human criminality. The original fall, and the rejection of the Redeemer, are the two saddest pages in the story of our race. But mournful as is the former, it has never, probably, left the impression upon the heart which is at once produced by all those dread accompaniments that prepared and embittered the last sufferings of the meek and merciful friend of man. He had been only known as the dispenser of unpurchaseable blessings; as a man patient of suffering beyond the experience of living men,prompt to sacrifice every guiltless comfort to the slightest wish of those around Him -rejoicing with every innocent joy, and weeping with all who wept. His unbounded powers had ever been at the service of humble affliction. No one had ever dared to breathe calumny against the profound purity of His life. None, like Him, had ever united abhorrence of the sin with love and pardon for the returning sinner. In claiming to be the Messiah of prophecy, He disturbed no temporal throne; in claiming to be the Messiah of the heart, He but asked, one would think, what no generous spirit could refuse. Such a being as this was among us to die a death of violence; men framed like you and me destroyed Him. And it is still in man's power to reiterate and prolong His death until He come to judge the long succession of His crucifiers. St. Paul delivers to us the tremendous truth, that there is in man a continued capacity of "crucifying afresh the Son of God;" a power to act over again all the scene of His torture-to league with the malignant priests and the scoffing soldiers-to buffet the unresisting cheek-to bind the crown of thorns.-Professor W. A. Butler. CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. Of Christ's future coming-the true advent-season of eternity-though much is known, much too is hidden. There are secrets the Divine Bridegroom whispers not; that the "Spirit and the bride" may still say, "Come." Between the Church and the Church's Head, there still subsists, even in this intimate union, a mysterious separation; and on the period of that separation, a holy reserve. It has already lasted for ages, and we cannot dare to predict at what epoch it is to close. The veil that hangs before the celestial sanctuary is still undrawn ; and it is vain for us to "marvel," as of old the expectants of Zecharias, that the high priest of our profession "tarrieth so long in the temple." He has willed it, that, certain of His eventful arrival, we should remain in uncertainty as to its destined moment. "The times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power," He would have us desire, and expect, and conjecture, but not dare to define. Every provision of Divine wisdom is liable to human perversion; the more admirable they are in merciful arrangement, the more easily is their delicate mechanism of motives disordered. The very uncertainty respecting the time of Christ's coming, which was meant as a perpetual stimulant to watchfulness, is abused to security; and exactly as the invisibility of the Creator, which is His perfection, produces the miserable creed of the atheist, the obscurity that veils the hour of judgment, though meant in merciful warning, persuades the ungodly heart that none is ever to arrive.-Ibid. The first step towards happiness, is to correct our false opinions concerning it.-Atterburg. One dupe is as impossible as one twin.-John Sterling. |