sending of the Son was the effect of his love. Both these points are contained in the declaration of St. John; "In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him: herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (2.) To take upon him our flesh. Christ came in man's nature, "not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by taking of the manhood into God." The Godhead was not lowered by Christ's incarnation, but the manhood was lifted up. The Deity did not "become flesh," but came in the likeness of sinful flesh; "as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham." Heb. ii. 14-16. (3.) And to suffer death upon the cross. This expresses Christ's voluntary submission to that which he underwent. It was purposely with a view to this suffering that he passed by the nature of angels, and took the lower nature of man; we see Jesus," it is written, Heb. ii. 9, "who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." "Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. ii. 8. (4.) That all mankind should follow the example of his great humility. It is not the example of Christ generally, which we here pray to follow, but specially his humility, as manifested in stooping to the ignominy of the cross. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example," in thus suffering; "that ye should follow his steps," in a willingness to suffer. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who-humbled himself," &c. Phil. ii. 4, 5. For, it is this " fellowship with Christ in "his suffering," that will alone form the ground of confidence that we shall be " glorified together :" and therefore we unite the two particulars in the prayer that follows. (5.) Mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection. The duty of thus following the patience of Christ, and how we may perform it, we are taught by the apostle: "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us;" here is the duty: the means, we are told in what follows; "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame ;-consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Heb. ii. 1-3. If thus made "conformable unto Christ's death," we have good ground to trust that we shall be partakers of his resurrection: "it is a faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." The Church, in this Collect, unites the death and resurrection of Christ, both which she is about to commemorate; because, though as facts they are separate, they can never be dissevered in the faith and hope of a believer.

In the EPISTLE, Philip. ii. 5-12, the example of Christ's voluntary humiliation is set forth for our imitation. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:" we must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps with the Lord Jesus, who humbled himself to suffering and death for us; not only to satisfy God's justice, but to set us an example, and that we might follow his steps. Though he was a partaker of the Divine nature, he did not think himself guilty of any invasion of the right of Jehovah, to make himself equal to God; but voluntarily divested himself of his glory, submitted to a life of humiliation, and finally to the extremity of the cross. Wherefore God exalted him highly, as the reward of his having humbled himself; and has given him a title of dignity above all creatures, whether human or angelic; that

to the authority of Jesus all creation should bow; and that every nation and language should publicly own the universal empire of the exalted Redeemer.

The GOSPEL for this Sunday is substantially the same with those appointed for the four holydays of the ensuing week, and for Good Friday. The narrative being very long, and consisting of historical detail, does not admit of particular exposition. It relates the prosecution of our Lord, and his execution. Under the former head, we have the delivering of him to Pilate the despair of Judas-the arraignment and trial of Christ before Pilate-the clamours of the people against him-the passing of the sentence-and the warrant signed for his death. In the scene of his execution, we have the account how he was barbarously used-led to the place of suffering-treated with all kinds of reproach and indignity: we read also how he was forsaken by God for a time; and of the preternatural occurrences that took place about the moment of his death. This is a tragical tale; and humanity shudders to find one so "holy and harmless" thus ill-treated. But sorrow is turned into triumphant joy, when we consider for what "cause he came unto this hour;" for this hour saw the consummation of all God's purposes. Jesus, though "crucified through weakness," was yet "delivered for our offences." God forbid that we should glory in any thing but this same cross of Christ." Let us strive to have fellowship with his sufferings, by being made conformable to his death.

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GOOD FRIDAY.

This day received its name from the blessed effects of our Saviour's sufferings, which are the ground of all our joy, and from those unspeakable good things he hath purchased for us by his death, whereby the blessed Jesus made expiation for the sins of the whole world, and, by the shedding his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for us. Among the Saxons it was called Long Friday; but for what reasons (excepting for the long fastings and offices they then used) does not appear. The commemoration of our Saviour's sufferings hath been kept from the very first age of Christianity, and was always observed as a day of the strictest fasting and humiliation; not that the grief and affliction they then expressed did arise from the loss they sustained, but from a sense of the guilt of the sins of the whole world, which drew upon our blessed Redeemer that painful and shameful death of

the cross.

There are three COLLECTS appointed for this day: the first two are prayers for the universal Church: the third is a prayer for the conversion of Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics. The following is the translation of the original Latin form of each collect. They are found in all ancient offices with little variation, but are left out of the breviaries of Pius V. and Clement VIII.

1. "We beseech thee, O Lord, look upon this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be delivered into the hands of wicked men, and to undergo the torment of the cross; who liveth," &c.

2. "Almighty, everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is sanctified and governed; hear us whilst we supplicate for all orders; that by the bounty of thy grace, faithful service may be rendered unto thee by all degrees [of men]; through Jesus Christ."

3. "Almighty, everlasting God, who willest that all men should be saved, and that none should perish; look upon the souls that are deceived by the fraud of the devil; that the hearts of the erring, laying aside all heretical corruption, may come back to their senses, and return to the unity of thy truth."

we offer in behalf of the blindness of that people; that, acknowledging the light of thy truth, which is Christ, they may be brought out from their darkness."

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Almighty, everlasting God, who willest not the death of sinners, but always seekest for their life; mercifully receive our prayer, and deliver them [the pagans] from the worship of idols, and bring them into the fold of thy holy Church, to the praise and glory of thy name; through our Lord."

In the EPISTLE, it is shewn that the legal ceremonies could not by any means purify the conscience; and from thence is argued the insufficiency of the Mosaic law, and the necessity of looking beyond it. The impotency of the Levitical sacrifices is seen first in their nature-they were but "shadows;" then from their plurality-they were many;" then, by their repetition-they "were offered year by year continually;" and again, from their inefficacy-they could never take away sins." It is, in the nature of things, "impossible" that such sacrifices should make a real atonement to God, as the Governor of the world, for the moral guilt of any transgression. Therefore it is that the Messiah is described in David, as saying (upon his entrance into the world) to God the Father, since all other sacrifices are in vain, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." The apostle then urges Christians to improve the privileges which such a HighPriest and covenant gave them, to the purposes of a confiding approach to God, a constant attendance on his worship, and a disposition to stimulate others, by our exhortation and example, to all the duties of the Christian profession; and the greater diligence is to be shewn in these duties, because we see "the day approaching;" to the Jews, the day of Jerusalem's approaching destruction: to us, the day of death and judgment hastening towards us.

For an account of the subject of the GOSPEL, see the preceding Sunday.

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The Cabinet.

THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.-This sacrament doth not only represent a wonder that is already past, but exhibits one anew. The bread and wine that we receive are not bare and empty signs, to put us in mind of the death and sufferings of Christ. Our Saviour calls them his body and blood; and such, without question, they are to all spiritual purposes and advantages. We are not obliged to believe, that after consecration the bread and wine do vanish, and the body and blood of Christ succeed in their room: our sense and reason do assure us of the contrary; the Scripture doth no where affirm it, nor did ever the ancient Church believe it: nor is it possible to conceive the use or benefit of this strange and unintelligible change. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing." These words of our Saviour are spirit and life," are to be understood in a vital and spiritual sense. But though these elements be not changed in their nature and substance, yet they undergo a mighty change as to their efficacy and use; and that food, which before could yield but little refreshment to the body, is now become a mean to nourish and strengthen the soul, an instrument to convey unto us all those blessings that the body and blood of our Saviour can afford us. As under the law, a part of some sacrifices was burnt on the altar, and a part was eaten by those for whom they were offered; so our blessed Saviour, having offered up himself on the altar of the cross as a propitiation for the sins of men, did substitute these holy symbols in place of his body and blood; that we, by feasting on them, might get an interest in that sacrifice, and be partakers of the atonement that was made, and the pardon that was purchased, by him. -Rev. II. Scougal, The frequent and conscientious use of that holy

sacrament is peculiarly appointed to nourish and increase the spiritual life, when once it is begotten in the soul. All the instruments of religion do meet together in this ordinance; and while we address ourselves unto it, we are put to practise all the rules which are mentioned before. Then it is that we make the severest survey of our actions, and lay the strictest obligations on ourselves; then are our minds raised to the highest contempt of the world, and every grace doth exercise itself with the greatest advantage; and then, if ever, doth the soul make its most powerful sallies toward heaven, and assault it with a holy and acceptable force. And, certainly, the neglect or careless performance of this duty is one of the chief causes that bedwarfs our religion, and makes us continue of so low a size. Ibid.

SALVATION. The term "salvation" implies a connexion with some great evil, in order to give it a Thus, "salvation from famine," specific import. "salvation from shipwreck;" and as God is the great Arbiter of human destiny and events, and as earthly agents are but the machinery in his hands, by which he allots good, or permits evil to his creatures, so every deliverance wrought for individuals or nations, may be properly called God's salvation; but in the history of the world there is one paramount calamity, one overwhelming disaster, which, as it mocks the power and defies the instrumentality of man to heal or to mitigate, so it has called forth the pity and invited the agency of God himself to effect its removal; and it is the actual deliverance from this one awful

catastrophe, which is called, emphatically and exclusively, "his salvation."-Hon. and Rev. G. T. Noel.

GROWTH IN GRACE.-The Christian is obtaining a daily and visible conquest over his corruptions. He is daily pressing toward the mark; "going on unto perfection;""abounding more and more;" approaching nearer to the "measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" rescuing at every step of his progress a new portion of his character from the waste, and clothing it with verdure and fruitfulness. The corruptions of the men of the world, because left to themselves, or nursed up in the cradle of self-indulgence, are daily gaining strength; and like the cloud seen by the prophet, if at first the size of a man's hand, at length cover and darken the whole sky. The corruptions of the Christian, on the contrary, are like the fig-tree withering under the curse of the Redeemer. Every day sees the servant of the world fitter for perdition; every day sees the believer riper for glory: till at last the voice of judgment is heard, and the one passes away to misery, and the other to unchangeable triumph and joy.-Rev. J. W. Cunningham.

Poetry.

GOOD FRIDAY.

"He is despised and rejected of men."-Isa. liii. 3.

Is it not strange, the darkest hour

That ever dawn'd on sinful earth Should touch the heart with softer power

For comfort, than an angel's mirth? That to the cross the mourner's eye should turn, Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn?

Sooner than where the eastern sun

Shines glorious on yon open grave, And to and fro the tidings run,

"Who died to heal, is risen to save?" Sooner than where upon the Saviour's friends The very Comforter in light and love descends?

Yes, so it is; for duly there

The bitter herbs of earth are set;
Till, temper'd by the Saviour's prayer,
And with the Saviour's life-blood wet,
They turn to sweetness, and drop holy balm,
Soft as imprison'd martyr's death-bed calm.
All turn to sweet; but most of all

That bitterest to the lip of pride,
When hopes presumptuous fade and fall,
Or friendship scorns us, duly tried,
Or love, the flower that closes up for fear,
When rude and selfish spirits breathe too near.
Then, like a long-forgotten strain,

Comes sweeping o'er the heart forlorn,
What sunshine hours had taught in vain
Of Jesus suffering shame and scorn;
As in all lowly hearts he suffers still,

While we triumphant ride, and have the world at will.

His pierced hands in vain would hide

His face from rude reproachful gaze;

His ears are open to abide

The wildest storm the tongue can raise ;

He who with one rough word, some early day, Their idle world and them shall sweep for aye away.

But we by fancy may assuage

The festering sore by fancy made,

Down in some lonely hermitage,

Like wounded pilgrims safely laid,
Where gentlest breezes whisper souls distress'd,
That love yet lives, and patience shall find rest.

O shame beyond the bitterest thought

That evil spirit ever fram'd,

That sinners know what Jesus wrought,

Yet feel their haughty hearts untam'd;
That souls in refuge, holding by the cross,
Should wince and fret at this world's little loss!

Lord of my heart, by thy last cry,

Let not thy blood on earth be spent ;

Lo, at thy feet I fainting lie,

Mine eyes upon thy wounds are bent;
Upon thy streaming wounds my weary eyes
Wait like the parched earth on April skies.

Wash me, and dry these bitter tears;
O let my heart no further roam !
'Tis thine by vows, and hopes, and fears,

Long since-O call thy wanderer home!
To that dear home, safe in thy wounded side,
Where only broken hearts their sin and shame may
hide.
KEBLE.

Miscellaneous.

HABAKKUK. The conclusion of Habakkuk is, in fact, a beginning of Christ's proper doctrine; and whoever will read it, and then pass to the beatitudes of the sermon on the mount, will see in both the sanctions of Canaan recede, and the vision of the better kingdom opened.-Rev. I. Davison.

HOWARD AT PRAGUE.-On reaching the convent, he found the holy fathers at dinner, round a table, which, though it was meagre-day with them, was

• Wisdom of Solomon, xii. 9.

sumptuously furnished with all the delicacies the season could afford, of which he was very politely invited to partake. This, however, he not only declined to do, but accompanied his refusal by a pretty severe lecture to the elder monks; in which he told them, that he thought they had retired from the world to live a life of abstemiousness and prayer; but he found their monastery a house of revelling and drunkenness. He added, moreover, that he was going to Rome, and he would take care that the pope should be made acquainted with the impropriety of their conduct. Alarmed at this threat, four or five of these holy friars found their way the next morning to the hotel at which their visitor had taken up his abode, to beg pardon for the offence they had given him by their unseemly mode of living, and to entreat that he would not say any thing of what had passed at the papal see. To this request our countryman replied, that he should make no promise upon the subject; but would merely say, that if he heard that the offence was not repeated, he might probably be silent on what was past. With this sort of half assurance, the monks were compelled to be satisfied; but before they took leave of the heretical reprover of their vices, they gave him a solemn promise that no such violation of their rules should again be permitted, and that they would keep a constant watch over the younger members of their community, to guard them against similar excesses; and here the conference ended.

BISHOP BEVERIDGE. In the fundamental articles of true Christianity, I like none more than good Bishop Beveridge. He forgets not to raise the superstructure of a holy life; but he lays first the foundation, in a true and lively trust in Christ, after the example of Paul.-Swartz.

JER. viii. 7. "The crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming."-The migration and periodical flight of birds, instinctive as they must certainly be considered, are yet peculiarly demonstrative of the providential superintendence of the Creator. The natural history of the crane furnishes striking evidence of this assertion. Immediately after landing, we were surprised and delighted with a flight of birds, which we discerned at first like a thick dark speck in the heavens, which gradually enlarged as it approached, and discovered at length the array and order of their flight. They wheeled along their airy movements in the form of a semicircle, enclosing within itself numbers of smaller circles; the component parts of which were constantly shifting their relative positions, advancing to the front as if by a sudden impulse; then falling back to the rear, alternately occupying and giving place to others. The lively competition was constantly maintained; each of them every instant passing or passed by his fellow. All was grace and harmony, not one discordant movement throughout the whole array; every thing appeared as if regulated by a preconcerted plan, in which every member understood and performed his part with freedom and precision, alike the subordinates and the superiors. They were too high in the air for us to hear any noise from the steerage of their wings, or to know what species of birds they were; but we judged them to be cranes. They held on their steady flight from north to south, following the course of the river as far as the eye could accompany them.-Richardson's Travels.

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THE DEATH OF DEATH.

"SIN entered into the world, and death by sin." The irrevocable sentence was passed upon man, originally created after the Divine image, which doomed him to all the miseries mingled in that bitter cup, of which he is compelled at some period or other to drink; and lastly death itself was to terminate his earthly career. The death to which he was sentenced, when he had eaten of the tree of knowledge, of which he had been charged not to eat, extended further than the dissolution of the body. It comprehended the spiritual death of the soul, in which all the guilty race of Adam are involved, no less than the Ephesians, of whom the apostle speaks as having been dead in trespasses and sins, and it included also everlasting death in the regions of misery. It is to the death of the body, however, that these few remarks are intended to refer; a subject in which we are all deeply and personally interested, and which must necessarily affect every heart which is not hardened by sin, or surfeited with the cares and follies of the world. That hour is rapidly approaching when the writer and the reader shall be numbered with the dead. It is vain, it would be presumptuous, to attempt to investigate the precise period of its arrival; that is among the deep things of God, which are wisely concealed. hold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation."

"Be

How mighty are the triumphs of death! Well may it be described as man's "last enemy." How many, through fear of death, are all their lifetime subject to bondage! How many tears hath it caused to flow! How many

VOL. II.-NO. XLIV.

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once joyous hearts hath it made sorrowful! How many a wanderer has it driven from the delights of a peaceful and happy home to contest with the trials and turmoils of a cold and unfriendly world! The widow and the orphan can tell of the conquests of death; for at this moment thousands are deploring the departure of those to whom they were bound by the closest ties, bewailing the guide of their youth, the companion of their manhood, or the prop of their declining years. Around many a bed of sickness are, at this moment, kneeling those who are bearing their testimony to the advances of the implacable enemy. The glazed eye, the parched lip, the faltering tongue, the ebbing pulse, proclaim, in language not to be mistaken, that the struggle is at hand, in which death will come off the victor. Even since the reader took up this paper, a fellow-mortal hath yielded to death. Man, in the pride of his unsanctified heart, is unwilling to think of death. Man, immersed in the pleasures, or occupied with the business, of an all-absorbing world, seeks to drive all thoughts of the enemy from his mind. Man, stricken with a consciousness of guilt, even while he trembles, puts off all consideration of the subject to a more convenient season. Yet all attempts to arrest the progress of this mighty foe have proved ineffectual. No bribe has induced him to stay his darts: he has broken down every barrier; he has foiled every plan; he has eluded every weapon by which the attempt has been made to arrest his progress.

Reader! thou art a child of sin, and therefore a child of death. Thy beating heart must soon be still; thy beaming

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eye must soon be closed; thy warm blood must soon be cold. Hale and hearty as thou now art, disease is lurking in thy veins. The grave shall be thy chamber, the shroud thy apparel. The worm shall feed daintily upon thy now fair form. Thy name shall be speedily forgotten, when thou dwellest with the men that are long dead.

But for ever adored and blessed be that eternal Jehovah who hath not left his believing people without hope. The Gospel proclaims, in the most cheering language, that death has been deprived of its sting, and the grave shorn of its triumphs. The great event which the Church calls us at this season to commemorate, is not only the death of the Lord Jesus, but the victory achieved by the Prince of life over man's last enemy; and the eye of faith is directed to the contemplation of that last record in the world's obituary-the Death of Death:

For pains and groans, and griefs and fears,
And death itself shall die.

Jesus went down to the dark chambers of the grave; "his crucified and pierced" body was laid in the rich man's tomb; but there, in the regions of death's dreary dominion, he struggled with the adversary, the strong man armed; and he arose a conqueror from the grave, and he ascended on the wings of victory, and the eternal gates were lifted up, and the everlasting doors of heaven were opened, and he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, invested with the keys of hell and of death.

As yet, indeed, we see not all things put under the exalted Jesus. Satan is still permitted to exercise sway; Death still hurries his victims from the busy bustling scene of this world but Jesus shall ultimately subdue all things to himself; and the last knell that shall be rung shall be the knell of death, sounded by the trump of the archangel, which shall call to judgment.

This is the triumph the Church calls us at this season more especially to anticipate. This is the event to which the eye of faith is to look forward-the complete and eternal overthrow of him who hath the power of death.

Happy indeed are they who, amidst the bereavements of a perishing world-amidst the monuments of death which present themselves on every side-can exclaim, in the emphatic language of the apostle, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away," Happy

are they who unreservedly look for pardon through that Saviour who hath made peace by the blood of his cross, and is become the author of eternal salvation to all that obey

him.

Blessed, and for ever blessed, are they who have fallen asleep in Jesus, are sheltered in his bosom from every blast, and dwell with him under his gracious keeping until the end shall come; whose warfare is accomplished, whose iniquity is pardoned, and who have reached the peaceful haven of unceasing rest. Unspeakably glorious shall they be. Reader! through the blood of Jesus, may their abiding portion be thine, who, raised by the power of death's destroyer, shall share in the inheritance which he purchased, and the triumphs which he achieved, in that paradise which shall never be blighted by the curse, for there is never-ending blessing; in that garden of unfading flowers, where there shall be no sepulchre, for there shall be no death; but where the tree of life shall flourish with unfading verdure, and the pure river of the water of life for ever flow, and where, through a bright and blessed eternity, shall be celebrated, in never-ending songs of praise, the mercy and the grace of the triumphant Emmanuel, who, with his own right hand and holy arm, achieved the DEATH OF DEATH,

Biography.

MEMOIR OF C. GRANT, ESQ.

T.

THE spiritual improvement of the British empire in the East is a subject so deeply interesting to all who have at heart the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, that it has been the intention of the Editors, graphical sketch of the four prelates who have filled the since the commencement of this work, to give a biosee of Calcutta; of some of the most eminent chaplains and missionaries in India; and of those laymen, who, while filling high official situations, used their influence to promote the cause of true religion. There is, perhaps, no name connected with this most important object, to which the reader will revert with more entire satisfaction, than that of the subject of the present memoir; who, himself having tasted of the sweets of religion, and experienced its richest consolations, was anxious that others should participate in the same unspeakable benefits. The whole public and private life of Mr. Grant appears to have been spent with the earnest desire for the furtherance of the glory of God, and the truest interests of man; and it is not too much to say, that had it not been for his steady, unflinching, and straightforward conduct, the establishment of a bishop in India could not have taken place at the time it did. For it must be recollected (the subject has already been adverted to in the memoir of Bishop Middleton) that there was not only supineness or indifference on the subject, but absolute hostility. There was a strong party vehemently opposed to the propagation of the Gospel amongst the natives of our eastern empire; who regarded such a measure as fraught with incalculable mischief to the interests of Great Britain in that

country. It is difficult to conceive upon what prin