supported by the tenor of every part of it. To no other events can it be referred; no other person but Jesus of Nazareth can lay claim to offices so splendid, to characteristics so illustrious, to a kingdom so triumphant and imperishable. I cannot, however, allow myself to extend these observations, but shall subscribe myself,

INSCRIPTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE CHARACTER AND MEMORY OF THE LATE REV. JOB WILSON, OF NORTHWICH. THE writer of the Memoir of the Rev. Job Wilson, which appeared in the number of the Congregational Magazine for March, has been reminded of various omissions in that article, some of which he cannot but regard with regret: he therefore requests the Editor to gratify some of his friends by the insertion of the Inscriptions now sent. As to the one upon the tablet, Dr. Raffles must allow it to be told, that it was from his pen, and that the sentiments it expresses are but in strict accordance with the many proofs of friendship and esteem which he had manifested towards Mr. W. during an acquaintance of nearly thirty years. On these accounts Dr. R. was very naturally looked to as the proper person to preach the funeral sermon, at Northwich, on occasion of Mr. W.'s death, which he did in a manner long to be remembered by those who heard it. In connexion with the other inscription it may be mentioned, that the cup upon which it was engraved, contained, when presented to Mr. W., fifty sovereigns, as a farther expression of the esteem in which he was held; and it ought, perhaps, to be told, that the present was made at the suggestion of respectable persons in Northwich, not belonging to the church or congregation of Mr. W., who were also main contributors to the object. The apparent discrepance as to the duration of the labours of Mr. W. will be understood when it is stated, that one inscription dates from the time when he came first to reside at Northwich; the other, from the time of his ordination.

On a Tablet erected in the Chapel at Northwich is the following inscription:

Sacred to the Memory of

The Reverend JOB WILSON,
For the period of forty-one years

The beloved and honoured Pastor of this Church;
A man of primitive simplicity and apostolic zeal,
Of unblemished reputation and unwearied benevolence.
He lived not for himself, but for the glory of God
And the best interests of his fellow men.
Of his persevering and successful labours
This Edifice, erected through his instrumentality,
Is a lasting memorial:

Whilst, not in this place only,

But throughout the whole of the surrounding district,
He has left behind him

A fragrant name and a blessed memory.
He was born at Sowerby in Yorkshire, Feb. 16th, 1765,
And entered into his rest, June 28th, 1838.

On a Silver Cup, presented to Mr. Wilson at a public meeting held for the purpose, is engraved :

BY THE REV. RALPH WARDLAW, D.D., GLASGOW.

IV. THE last of our four inquiries related to the leading designthe principal lesson or lessons of the Book; and the corresponding purpose of its introduction into the Sacred Canon.

In order to our arriving at a satisfactory answer to this inquiry, we shall attempt to present the reader with a brief sketch, or analysis, of the plan and contents of the poem. In doing this, we shall refrain from all discussion of those questions of curiosity, and difficulty, which are suggested by some particulars in the opening narrative; those especially which relate to Satanic appearances and agency. We take the facts for the present, simply as they stand be fore us in the record. Job is the hero of the piece. His character is given in the outset in the highest terms of approbation, as "a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil." Chap. i. 1. The same account of him is repeated by the lips of Jehovah himself, chap. i. 8. in the very same terms, only with the addition, which represents the character as unrivalled in excellence,"that there was none like him in the earth." In reply to this divine eulogy, Satan, to whom an appeal had been made for its truth, imputes the seeming devotion of the patriarch to the spirit of selfish

ness; and, in perfect keeping with his character as "the accuser of the brethren" and "a liar from the beginning," more than insinuates, that, were the benefits arising to him from his piety taken away, there would be an end of it; that a change of circumstances would soon produce a change of principle,-that he would curse God instead of blessing, and, instead of serving, abandon him. He receives from the divine Ruler permission to bring this charge to the test of experiment; to make trial of Job in whatever way he pleased, with the exception of any direct injury to his person. In fulfilment of this permission, most acceptable to the malignity of Satan, and yet, as will afterwards appear, perfectly consistent with the righteousness and the goodness of Jehovah, the patriarch, while in the full and unapprehensive enjoyment of his prosperity, is, in one sad day, by successive strokes, bereaved of all his property, and of all his family; the agency employed being the violence of marauding freebooters, the fire of heaven, and the desolating hurricane. The trial was severe, the temptation strong; but it issued in the manifestation of the steadfastness of the saint's faith and piety, and of the slanderous falsehood of the first of liars. An example of meek submission was elicited, which stands on record for the imitation of the people of God in every succeeding age :-"Job arose and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" Chap. i. 20, 21. Though his charge was thus falsified, Satan renews it. He was not to be thus easily abashed or foiled. Permission is then given him to inflict, in addition to the former trials, that of personal suffering, in any kind, or in any degree, short of death. This too is done, by the infliction of one of the most loathsome and torturing distempers; but this also proves in vain, even although embittered and aggravated by the unnatural and ungodly remonstrances of one who, instead of stimulating him to the spirit of rebellion, ought to have been his counsellor, and his comforter. Chap. ii. 9, 10.

One trial yet remains :-and it, coming after the rest, and operating upon a spirit dejected and disquieted, though not yet shaken, goes near to overpower his principles, and to make good the accusation of the adversary. His "three friends" came, by previous mutual appointment between themselves, with the purpose, the narrative tells us, of "mourning with him and comforting him." But while this was their purpose, it must not be forgotten, that they came under the full conviction and settled impression of a certain principle,the principle, namely, that divine Providence regulates the distribution of temporal good and evil according to the characters of men; that prosperity is a mark of godliness and divine favour, and adversity of wickedness and divine displeasure. On this principle they had concluded, that, although the character of Job had stood fair in the eyes of men, and although they themselves, like others, had held him in high and fond estimation, he must, beyond all doubt, have been guilty of unknown evils,-of secret crimes, and, judging by the severity of the divine visitations, crimes of no ordinary turpitude;

that, in other words, he had been one of the most consummate and successful of hypocrites, whom a righteous providence was now detecting and punishing. They come to him under the influence of this conviction; conceiving that, in these circumstances, to take part with him would be to withstand God. And, so far are they from administering consolation, or attempting to soothe his desolate and perturbed spirit, that they more than insinuate dark suspicions; they draw their unfavourable inferences with abundant plainness; they directly, severely, confidently, charge him with base dissimulation and undiscovered wickedness. It seems to me, that by far too favourable an idea has been formed of Job's three friends, from what is said of their purpose in coming to him; of the violence of their emotions when they saw his altered appearance and condition; and of their silence of seven days in supposed accommodation to the intensity of his sorrow,-on which, with a delicate tenderness, they would not too hastily obtrude even the accents of sympathy. From all that passes afterwards, this has ever appeared to me greater charity than they are entitled to. I apprehend, that, although they did come in the capacity of comforters, yet they came with the principle settled in their minds which has just been mentioned,-with the ground thus predetermined on which their consolation was to be administered; that they had jointly resolved, to suspend its administration on the state in which they might find the mind of the patriarch; ready with condolence and encouragement, should they find him an humbled heart-broken penitent, making full confession of his hidden iniquities, and of the justice of Heaven in the vengeance with which they had been visited; but equally ready with faithful expostulation, inquisition, and reproof, should there be no such acknowledgment of his crimes !-crimes of which the existence was assumed by them as a point of indubitable certainty. They came, then, to comfort him; but they came to comfort him on certain conditions. There was more, in my apprehension, than the mere tenderness of sympathy which, during the seven days, put the seal of silence upon their lips. They waited to discover from himself what was the state of his own thoughts and his own feelings respecting himself and the dealings of God. They were silent, not-or not merely at least-because the violence of his grief rendered the attempt to comfort him vain till the agitation of his spirit had subsided,-but because they had no consolation to offer except on certain terms, and these were such as they could not but be reluctant to divulge, till they saw whether his own mind was at all in unison with theirs. If this was the true state of the case, we cannot imagine but that Job must have perceived something of the suspicions that were lurking in their minds. He could not fail to see, that they were under constraint. Looks, and gestures, and general manner, in such circumstances, say a great deal, although not a word escapes the lips. I think it exceedingly probable, that it was the perception or apprehension of this state of feeling towards him entering the mind of the sufferer, that completed the anguish of his previously distracted spirit, and opened his lips in the utterance of those terrific imprecations on the day of his birth, so pregnant with the desperation of a broken heart, which form the in

troduction to the whole of the subsequent controversy. The utterance of these gave opportunity at once, and excitement, to those singular comforters, to speak their mind. And the manner in which they do speak their minds, confirms the conviction of Job's previous surmises. The language of Eliphaz, the first who answers him, is precisely that of a person who had been before under the influence of a strong inclination to speak, but at the same time of reluctance to enter on an ungracious theme. Chap. iv. 2, &c.

The first address of ELIPHAZ, however, is characterised by some appearance of candour and moderation. He sharply reproves Job's impatience; he questions his previous integrity; he admonishes him. to penitence, and to beware of despising the chastening of the Almighty; and, throughout his address, he assumes, nay he distinctly and explicitly states, the principle which himself and his two friends held as governing the procedure of providence. Chap. iv. 7, 8. He enlarges on the principle, and illustrates it with the most impressive sublimity; and, on the assumption of its certainty, he assures the afflicted patriarch of the happy results that should arise to him from the restored exercise towards him of the divine favour, if he acknowledged the sin by which, he takes for granted, it had been forfeited, and returned to seek after God. The principle itself, he affirms to have been the lesson of long, and close, and extensive observation, and of deep research and deliberative wisdom. Chap. v. 27.

Job's first defence is full of the agony of distress. More keenly than all his previous trials does he feel the unfounded and deeply injurious suspicions,-and more than suspicions-thrown out against his character. He begins with some expressions, strong, yet not extravagant, of the weight, the oppressive and overwhelming weight of his calamities, which by his friend Eliphaz had been passed entirely over, without even a word that could indicate his sense of their magnitude, or a single soothing sentence of sympathy! He vehemently wishes that he were at once cut off. Cuttingly, yet tenderly, he expresses his disappointment of the anticipated consolations of friendship,-beautifully comparing his feelings to those of a caravan of travellers in the parched desert, when the stream that has appeared at a distance, giving hope of relief from their burning thirst, has flowed past and left its channel dry, ere they have been able to reach the place. He complains of the unreasonableness of nicely and fastidiously criticising the words of one whom grief has made desperate, and whose impassioned utterance was but like the gusts of the fitful wind. He returns again to the detail of his troubles; and turning away from his friends, he expostulates, in the bitterness of his soul, with his Maker, confessing himself indeed a sinner, but wondering and complaining at the unaccountable hardness of his lot. Chaps. vi. and vii.

We cannot pursue any thing like an analysis of the different speeches, further than merely to give a glance of the comparative characters of the speakers. BILDAD, naturally more warm and impetuous than Eliphaz, is more bluntly severe and intemperate in his address. He assumes the wickedness, not of Job himself merely,