who translated several of them into Latin. There is strong reason to believe that all these books were composed originally in the Greek language, which was unknown to the Jews until after the canon of the Old Testament was closed. It has been always the current opinion, both among Jews and Christians, that Malachi was the last of the Old Testament writers; and books written by uncertain authors after the spirit of prophecy had ceased, have no just claim to a place in the sacred canon. The date of the composition of these books cannot be accurately fixed; but that it occurred long after the time of Ezra and Malachi, there can be no ground of reasonable doubt.

2. A second argument is, that these disputed books have never been acknowledged by the Jews to be of divine authority, nor have by them been admitted into the canon; and they are the best judges of what books properly belonged to their Sacred Scriptures. If these books had been of divine authority, the fact would have been known to the Jewish Church, to which "the oracles of God were committed." And if they had ever belonged to the canon, they would not have been left out afterwards.

The opinion of the ancient and modern Jews on this point is the same; and there is among them no diversity of opinion respecting this matter. Josephus, in a passage already quoted, declares, “that no more than twenty-two books were received as inspired by his nation." And although Philo Judæus refers often to the Old Testament, and comments largely on its contents in his writings, he never makes the least mention of any one of these books.

But if the ancient Jews knew anything of these books as a part of their sacred canon, we should certainly find it in the voluminous writings of the Talmud; but not one of these books is recognised as canonical in this great body of Jewish traditions. It may certainly be inferred, therefore, that they were not considered canonical by the ancient Jews.

And the more modern Jews are so far from acknowledging them, that their testimony is expressly against them. Rabbi Azariah says: "They are received by Christians, not by us." He means Romanists, who acknowledged them, as we have seen. And Rabbi Gedaliah, as quoted by Hottinger, has the following testimony. After giving a catalogue of inspired books received by the Jews, he goes on to say: "It is worth while to know, that the nations of the world wrote many other books which are included in their systems of sacred books, but are not in our hands." To which he adds: "They say that some of these are found in the Chaldee, some in the Arabic, and some in the Greek language."

Rabbi Azariah, before mentioned, ascribes THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON to Philo. And Rabbi Gedaliah observes: "That if Solomon ever wrote it, it must have been in the Syriac language, to send it to some of the kings in the remotest part of the East." "But," says he, "Ezra only put his hand to such books as were published by the prophets under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and written in the sacred language. And our wise men prudently and deliberately resolved to sanction none but such as

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were established by him." "Their wise men," says Buxtorf, "pronounced this book to be apocryphal.”

The book called ECCLESIASTICUS, is expressly numbered among apocryphal books in the Talmud; where it is said, "In the book of the son of Sirach it is forbidden to read." And Manasseh ben Israel, one of the most learned of the modern Jews, observes, "that those things which are alleged from a verse in Ecclesiasticus, are nothing to the purpose, because this is an apocryphal book." In the same way, they are wont to speak of all these books; and Jerome informs us, that he "heard one of the Jews deriding the history of Susannah, who said it was invented by some Greek he knew not whom." It is unnecessary to add further testimonies, because the fact that the Jews never did receive the Apocrypha as a part of their canon, cannot be denied.

3. The third argument against the canonical authority of the afore-mentioned books is, that they are never cited or referred to as a part of Sacred Scripture, in the whole of the New Testament. We are aware that on this point we are at issue with the Roman Catholics. They even pretend to prove their right to a place in the canon, from quotations said to be made from them by Paul. One of the passages alleged is, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor ? (Rom. xi. 34.) And the other is, "For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Heb. xi. 5.) But both these passages are taken from the canonical books of the Old Testament; and there is no reason to think that the apostle had any thought of the Apocrypha when he cited these texts.

4. The fourth argument against the divine authority of these books is, that they were not received as inspired by the Christian fathers; but were expressly rejected from the sacred canon, almost with one consent, by those who were best qualified to judge of their claims. In all the catalogues drawn up by fathers and councils, for the very purpose of teaching the Church what books should be received as of divine authority, these are uniformly omitted. Justyn Martyr, Origen, Athanasius, Hilary, Gregory Nazianzen, Jerome, Epiphanius, and Cyril, together with the Councils of Laodicea and Carthage, have left catalogues of the canonical books of the Old Testament, among which not one of these is to be found. And they almost all number the books agreeably to the Jewish custom, and make the number twentytwo, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. And not only so, but many of these learned fathers make express mention of these books, and explicitly reject them from the sacred canon. This is especially the case in regard to Jerome, who wrote prefaces to most of the books of the Old Testament, and in these he takes occasion to mention those now in question, and declares them all to be apocryphal. And this continued to be the common opinion among the most learned theologians down to the time of the Reformation, as Dr. Cosins has abundantly shown in his "Scholastic History of the Canon of the Old Testament."

5. As the external evidence is unfavourable to the

Books which contain palpable falsehoods, abound in ridiculous and incredible stories, which contradict the plain acknowledged doctrines of the Bible, and which can by no means be reconciled with the recorded history of the Jews, cannot be a part of the sacred volume. And when the books under consideration are tried by these principles, they manifestly appear to be apocryphal.

In the Book of Tobit an angel of God is made to tell a downright falsehood, by declaring that he was Azarias the son of Ananias; " and in the same book, he declares, that he was "Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and go in and out before the glory of the Holy One."

Although Judith is celebrated for her devoted piety, and the book under her name was intended to exhibit her as a bright example of a person wholly consecrated to God, yet she is represented as speaking scarcely anything else but falsehoods to Holofernes; but what is still more inconsistent, she is made to pray to the God of truth, "Smite by the deceit of my lips, the servant with the prince, and the prince with the servant." She also commends the conduct of Simeon in the cruel slaughter of the Shechemites, of which God has expressed his strong disapprobation in various ways. Besides the objections to the Book of Judith, already mentioned, there is another of great weight, arising from the difficulty of finding any room for such transactions, and such a state of things as are therein described, in any period of the Jewish history; nor is it easy to identify the places mentioned in this book. These difficulties have led some of its advocates to maintain, that the whole is an allegory; and that by BETHULIA, we should understand the Church of God, and by Nebuchadnezzar, the enemies of the Church; and that the victory achieved by the courage and address of Judith, is intended to teach us, that the Church's deliverance is not to be accomplished by human power, &c. This perhaps is as favourable a view as can be taken of this extraordinary story; but no one ought any longer to claim a place for this book in the sacred

canon.

In the Second Book of Maccabees, Razis, an elder of Jerusalem, is much commended for destroying his own life, to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies; but surely suicide has not the approbation of God.

Between the two Books of Maccabees there are irreconcilable discrepencies; and some statements respecting Jeremiah's taking the ark and the golden altar to Mount Pisgah, and hiding them in a cave, are manifestly fabulous.

The Book of Wisdom is written under the name of Solomon, the son of David, and he talks about his being appointed to build the temple of the Lord; whereas it has been clearly shown by Jerome, that this book never could have been written by Solo

mon.

The absurd story in Tobit, of driving away the devil by the smoke of the liver af a certain fish, and

given by divine inspiration.

There are several things in the Book of Baruch, not reconcilable with the sacred record; and the account given of Mardocheus, in the chapters annexed to Esther, is not consistent with what is said of Mordecai in the genuine parts of that book; and in this apocryphal writing, Haman is declared to be a Macedonian, whereas in the canonical book of Esther, he is called an Agagite; and he is represented in the former to have entertained a design of transferring the kingdom of Persia to the Macedonians-which is utterly incredible-for at that time the kingdom of Macedon, if it existed, must have been most obscure, and, in all probability, unknown at the Persian court.

6. And finally, these books are not canonical, because they were not written by prophets, or inspired men; but by writers who speak of their labours in a way wholly incompatible with divine inspiration.

The uniform belief of Jews and Christians is, that the spirit of prophecy ceased among the Jews after the time of Malachi. He has, therefore, been denominated the seal of the prophets.

We know not the author of the Books of Maccabees. Both Jerome and Eusebius ascribe them to Josephus; but they can scarcely be believed to have the same author, as they contradict one another. By the "Compiler of Jewish History," quoted by Drusius, these books are placed after the writings of Josephus. The Second Book of Maccabees is professedly an abridgment of the work of one Jason of Cyrene, in which five volumes are reduced to one. If the original work of Jason was not inspired, neither is this abridgment.

The Book of WISDOM is the only one which claims to have been written by an inspired man. But this very claim condemns it; for it may be demonstrated that it was composed long after the death of king Solomon. It contains manifest allusions to Grecian customs and to Grecian philosophy. The author praises himself, and flatters the Jewish nation, in a style entirely foreign to that of the inspired prophets. It has been by some ascribed to Philo Judæus; but it is more probably the work of some other Jew. If Solomon had written it, it would have been in the Hebrew, and always inserted in the Jewish canon.

The Book of ECCLESIASTICUS is the most valuable of those denominated apocryphal, and would have the best claim,as far as internal evidence is concerned, to a place in the cannon; but the modest writer of this book is so far from pretending to be inspired, that he professes merely to have reduced to order & work of his grandfather, which he received from Sirach his father. And he entreats the reader to peruse his work with indulgence, and to pardon him if he should be found coming short in some words which he attempted to interpret. Evidently the writer was conscious of no divine inspiration. To evade the force of the above arguments, the Roman Catholic writers have invented a distinction between primary and secondary canonical books; but this is a delusive distinction. A book is either

inspired, or it is not; it belongs to the canon, or it does not. There is no conceivable medium in this

case. There may be an intermediate class of books, Letween the canonical and spurious; that is, human compositions, which though not inspired, nor claiming a place in the canon, may be read with profit, on account of the history or moral lessons which they contain. Some of the fathers made this distinction, and call these ecclesisatical, in contradistinction both from the canonical and supposititious. Such books, too, were read in some churches in the early ages, not as of authority, but merely for edifiention; and thus they became mingled with the canonical books. The Greek fathers were accustomed to use the Septuagint version of the Old Testament; and several of these books, now in question,

ing also in Greek, became mixed with the canoniel books in the copies of this version. The oldest Greek MSS. of the LXX. contain them intermingled with the other books, so that they must have become so at an early period. But from the testimonies of the fathers, and the catalogues of canonical books vhich they have left, these books do not appear to ave been included in the Sacred Volume, in the very carliest ages of the Christian Church. These books, indeed, were known to the fathers; but they were 'careful to distinguish them from the canonical books. And as some of them even disapproved of their being read, and warned their hearers against them, it cannot reasonably be supposed that they were then included in the volume of Holy Scripture.

"EVER WITH THE LORD."

"Ever

"EVER with the Lord;" this puts lilies and roses into the ghastly face of death, and makes the king of terrors to outshine Solomon in all his glory. with the Lord "--this makes death not only tolerable, but amiable, desirable; for in this we groan, in this tabernacle, for this is earthly, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven; the reason is, because that house is eternal in the heavens. A saint looks out of the windows of this earthly tabernacle, and crieth out, as the mother of Sisera: "Why stay the wheels of his chariot thus long? When shall I be carried to those eternal mansions, where I shall ever be with my Lord and Bridegroom?

Then tremble thou not, believer, at the approach of death, but go forth and meet him with this friendly salutation, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; art thou come to fetch me to my Father? Welcome death! thou art my best friend next to Jesus Christ; death is only my passage into a blessed eternity." Death is Joseph's chariot, not to carry the saints down into Egypt, but up into Canaan; and how quickly doth he carry a believer thither! It is but winking, and he is at home; as soon as the eye of the body is closed here, the eye of the soul is open there! O blessed vision! to behold at once all the glories of eternity! Say then, with Jacob, Jesus, my Lord and Redeemer, is yet alive, and seated on the throne at the right hand of the Majesty on high, there proclaiming in the ears of all his trembling followers. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I live for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death." (Rev. i. 18.) Fear not, O thou believer, to say with Jacob, "I will go and see him," not before I die, but I will

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die, that I may go and see him. Death is but the flame that must singe asunder the cords of thy mortality-the hand that shall open the cage, that thy soul may get locse, and take her flight for the mountain of spices, the glorious immortality and liberty of the sons of God.-Case.

SINFUL SHIFTS.

SINFUL shifts and means God hath always cursed and blasted. Achan's golden wedge was but a wedge to cleave him, and his garment a shroud to shroud him. Ahab purchases a vineyard with the blood of the owner, but presently it was watered with his own blood, according to the word of the Lord. Gehazi must needs have a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment, and that with a lie. Well, he hath them, and he hath with them a leprosy that cleaved to him and his seed for ever. (2 Kings v. 20-27.) With those very hands that Judas took money to betray his Master he fitted a halter to hang himself. The rich and wretched glutton fared delicately, and went bravely every day; but the next news you hear of him is of his being in hell, crying out for a drop, who, when he was on earth, would not give a crumb.Brooks.

NAMES OF HEAVEN.

LET us take notice of some names, titles, and epithets attributed to heavenly joys, eternal glory, which may yet further represent to us their incomparable sweet-ness and excellency. They are called

1. A kingdom. (Matt. xxv. 34; Luke xii. 32.) Now a kingly throne is considered the top and crown of all earthly happiness; the highest aim of the most eager and restless aspirations and ambitions of men; a confluence it is of riches, pleasures, glory, all royal bravery, or what man's heart can wish for outward welfare and felicity. What stirs and stratagems, what murders and mischiefs, what mining and countermining, what mysterious plots and machia velian depths, what strange adventures and effusions, sometimes even of bloody seas, to catch a crown! Witness Lancaster and York, nay, all habitable parts of the earth, which from time to time have become bloody cock-pits in this kind.

2. A heavenly kingdom (Matt. vii. 21, xviii. 3), to intimate, that it surpasses in glory and excellency all earthly kingdoms, as far as heaven transcends earth, and inconceivably more.

3. The kingdom of God. (Acts xiv. 22.) A kingdom of God's own making, beautifying, and blessing, who doth all things like himself; replenished and shining with majesty, pleasures, and ineffable felicities, becoming the glorious residence of the King of kings.

4. An inheritance. (Acts xx. 32.) Not a tenement at will, to be possessed or left at the landlord's pleasure; but an inheritance settled upon us, and sealed unto us by the dearest and highest price that ever was paid, which will be as orient, precious, and acceptable, after as many millions of years as you can think, as it was the very first day it was poured out and paid.

for the majesty and mercy of Almighty God to be5. A rich and glorious inheritance (Eph. i. 18), fit the dearly beloved of his soul to enjoy. stow, the invaluable blood of his Son to purchase, and i

6. An inheritance of the saints in light." (Col. i. 12.) Every word sounds a world of sweetness.

7. "An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." (1 Pet. i. 4.) There can never possibly be the least diminution, much less any abolishment, of the least glimpse of heavenly glory. But all bliss above will be as fresh and full, innumerable years hence, as at our first entrance, and so through all eternity.

8. A crown of righteousness." (2 Tim. iv. 8.) Fairly come by, and full dearly bought. "A crown of life." (James i 12.) "A crown of glory." (1 Pet. v. 4.) Glory itself. (Rom. ix. 23.) Nay, a far more "exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. iv. 17), which crowns, kingdoms, pearls, jewels, feasts, &c., do but weakly shadow out unto us. superlative transcendent phrase," saith one, "such as is not to be found in all the rhetoric of the heathens, because they never wrote of such a theme, nor with such a spirit."

"A

9. "Fulness of joy, everlasting pleasures." (Ps. xvi. 11.) A swift flowing river and torrent of pleasures. (Ps. xxxvi. 8.) The very joy of our Lord and Master. (Matt. xxv. 21.)-Bolton.

VIEWS OF THE BALL-ROOM. JEREMIAH EVARTS, in answer to an argument in favour of dancing, says: "Sir, can you say to the youth in this community anything which shall encourage them in their fondness for the frivolities of the ball-room, that shall blind them to the vices and the many dangers of this scene of delusive charms and merriment? Can you do this, when rising from your knees in prayer, having offered the petition, Lead us not into temptation, and, with the sound of this request still vibrating on the ear, enter the ballroom; or direct your pupils to offer this prayer, and then tell them that they can with safety, or with innocence, resort to the ball-room and lead the dance?

Legh Richmond remarks: "Serious consistent Christians must resist these things, because the dangerous spirit of the world and the flesh is in them all; they are the pomps and vanities of the world renounced at baptism. To be conformed to these seductive and more than frivolous scenes, is to be conformed to this world, or to be opposed to the haracter and precepts of Christ. They who see no harm in these things are spiritually blind, and they who will not bear friendly admonition against them are spiritually deaf."

Again he says: "There may be no sin in dancing, but it is a preparation for appearing hereafter where, I think, there is scarcely any thing but sin."

Wilberforce has this language: "Must it not, hen, excite our grief and indignation, when we beold mothers, forgetful at once of their own peculiar luties, and of the high office which Providence lesigned their daughters to fulfil, exciting, instead of endeavouring to moderate in them the natural sanguineness of youth, hurrying them night after Bight to the resorts of dissipation, thus teaching them co despise the common comforts of the family circle; and instead of striving to raise their views, and to lirect their affections to their true object, acting as f with the express design studiously to extinguish every spark of devotional spirit, and to kindle in its stead an excessive love of pleasure ?"

J. A. James says: "Circumstances are connected

with this amusement, the tendency of which is more than questionable. The mode of dress adopted at the fashionable resorts; the nature of the employment; the dissipating tendency of the music; the conversation, and the elegant uproar; the lateness of the hour to which the dazzling scene is protracted; the love of display which is produced; the false varnish which is thrown over many a worthless character, by the fascinating exterior which he assumes in a ball-room, have a tendency to break down the mounds of virtue, and expose the character to the encroachments of vice. I look upon dancing, among some classes, to be a practice fraught with immorality: it dissipates the mind, and poisons it with a vain and frivolous taste for dress and personal decoration, and completely unfits the soul for piety, or even the necessary occupations of domestic life."

Hannah More, in speaking of this subject, says: "Who, seeing the almost infant daughters, even of wise and virtuous mothers, carried with most unthrifty anticipation to the frequent and late protracted ball, would believe that we were of a religion which has required from those very parents a solemn vow, that these children should be reared up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ?"

Miss Beecher, in an article on dancing, says she was once inclined to the common opinion, that dancing was harmless, and might be properly regulated; and she allowed a fair trial to be made under her auspices by its advocates. The result was a full con

viction that it secured no effect which could not be better gained another way; that it involved the most pernicious evils to health, character, and happiness; and that those parents were wise who brought up their children with the full understanding that they were neither to learn nor to practise the art. In the fifteen years during which she has had the care of young ladies, she has never known any case, where learning this art, and following the amusement, did not have a bad effect, either on the habits, the intellect, the feelings, or the health.

"STRENGTHENED WITH ALL MIGHT."

WALK cheerfully. Troubles around us are many, and likely to be more. Christian's hearts begin to shake and faint. I like it not. I wish I could speak from this point, to the comfort of such; what shall I say? what can I say more than this point bids me? Infinite power is your servant; it is subjected to work strengtheningly in you; it is not for a man to plead his own weakness that hath such an attendant. Every one is to hardship, as the divine power that relieves him: "Out of weakness were made strong.” (Heb. xi.) Relieving power, however it finds a Christian below this work, yet it leaves him above it: "Out of weakness were made strong." What can you say, weak souls, more than this, that you are weak, very weak? Why, it is meet that you should say of yourselves as you are, and it is as meet that you should say of divine power as it is. You are far below your work-your work is farther below that divine power which waits upon you. Come what can, can worse come than what came to these worthies, or can we find men worse? They were weak, yea, weakness itself, and yet out of weakness were made strong, and carried through all, bravely scorning base deliverance.-Lockyer.

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THE day of grace is like to be past, when a professor hath withstood, abused, and worn out God's patience. Then he is in danger; this is a provocation; then God cries, "Cut it down." There are some men who steal in unawares, nobody knows how; even as this fig-tree was brought into the vineyard (Jude 6), by other hands than God's: and there they abide lifeless, graceless, careless, and without any good conscience to God at all. "What have I here?" saith God-"what a fig-tree is this, that hath stood this year in my vineyard, and brought me forth no fruit! I will cry unto him, Professor! barren fig-tree, be fruitful! I look for fruit, I expect fruit, I must have fruit; therefore bethink thyself." At these words the professor pauses; but these are but words, not blows, therefore off goes this consideration from the heart. When God comes next year, he finds him still, as he was, a barren, fruitless cumber-ground. And now again he complains, "Here are two years gone, and no fruit ap. pears; well, for my name's sake, will I defer mine anger; and for my praise, will I refrain from thee that I cut thee not off." (Isa. xlviii. 9.) "I will yet wait to be gracious." But this helps not; this hath not the least influence upon the barren fig-tree. "Tush," said he, "here is no threatening: God is merciful-he will defer his anger-he waits to be gracious." (Isa. xxx. 18.) "I am not yet afraid." O how ungodly men, that have crept unawares into the vineyard, "how do they turn the grace of God into lasciviousness!" (Jude 4.) Well, he comes the third year for fruit, as he did before, but still he finds but a barren fig-tree-no fruit. Now he cries out again, "O thou dresser of my vineyard, come hither: here's a fig tree hath stood these three years in my vineyard, and hath, at every season, disappointed my expectation, for I have looked for fruit in vain. Cut it down; my patience is worn out, I shall wait no longer."

whirls him upon a sick bed, saying, "Take him, death; he hath abused my patience and forbearance, not remembering that it should have led him to repentance, and the fruits thereof. Death, take away this fig-tree to the fire-take this barren professor to hell" At this, death comes, with grim looks, into the chamber; yea, and hell follows with him to the bed-side, and both stare this professor in the face; yea, begin to lay hands upon him; one smiting him with pains in his body, with head-ache, heart-ache, back-ache, shortness of breath, fainting, qualms, trembling of joints, stopping at the chest, and almost all the symptoms of a man past all recovery. Now, while death is thus tormenting the body, hell is doing with the mind and conscience; striking him with its pains, casting brands of fire in thither, wounding, with sorrows and fears of everlasting damnation, the spirit of this poor creature. And now he begins to bethink himself, and to cry to God for mercy: "Lord, spare me! Lord, spare me! O spare me this one time, I beseech thee, and I will be better." Away! away! you will not. I have tried you these three years already: you are nought; if I should recover you again, you would be as bad as you was before" (and all this talk is while death stands by). The sinner cries again, "Good Lord, try me this once; let me get up again this once, and see if I do not mend." "Yes, "But will you promise me to mend ?" indeed, Lord, and vow it too; I will never be so bad again; I will be better." "Well," saith God, "death, let this professor alone for this time. I will try him a while longer; he hath promised, he hath vowed that he will amend his ways. It may be he will mind to keep his promises. Vows are solemn things; it may be he may fear to break his vows. Arise from off thy bed." And now God lays down his axe.

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