tion, no duty, no care, then must I still my thoughts, meditate, question, make diligent search. May the Holy Spirit aid me to search my heart, as in the presence of the Searcher of all hearts, that so I may be able to pray "Search me, O God, and know my heart, and try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Next follows a counsel for the life. "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord." What lessons are here? "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?" I must not offer such sacrifice therefore, and then put my trust in the Lord. That would be presumption indeed. Nor must I even assume my security because of my righteousness, for though the sacrifices be of righteousness I must "put my trust in the Lord." Elsewhere he says: "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness." O for more reliance on this Divine guidance. These are paths in which corrupt nature can never tread till regenerating grace effect its great change, so that this very guidance becomes a pledge that I may "put my trust in the Lord." This the godless cannot do. In their distress they have no precedents to plead, no promise to sustain. The language of their despair is "Who will show us any good?" But while the dark cloud of affliction lowers and they thus bewail themselves, the believer can look heavenward and say: "This God is our God for ever and ever, he will be our guide even unto death;" or, he exclaims with David here, "Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us."

And how does the Psalmist sustain himself in the remembrance of the Lord's past goodness? "Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased." As the distress of the wicked is uncheered, so is his prosperity unblessed The corn and wine may have increased; but what is that compared with this "Thou hast put gladness in my heart?" Earthly prosperity can never put gladness there, but the consciousness of God's favour and protection, the light of his countenance-give me these; and then, though there be neither wine in the vineyard,

nor

corn in the store, there will be heavenly gladness in the heart. And what is all else compared with this?

In reassured confidence, and deep repose in the merciful purposes of the Lord, the Psalmist concludes: "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." Oh! ever thus to close the day with God. How tranquil, how genuine, how deep the repose of this passage. How was it obtained, and how may I obtain it? This beautiful reliance on God, this child-like resignation into His hands, resulted from a contemplation of past mercy, a recognition of human helplessness, and was immediately prefaced by a direct prayer for the blessing conferred. Bath.

J. M.

VERBAL INSPIRATION. It has been matter of warm dispute whether "all Scripture," the very words, are inspired. Dr. Pye Smith, who was unwilling to admit the authority of the Song of Solomon, and therefore sought to qualify the affirmation of St. Paul as to the profitableness of the "holy writings," rendered the passage in 2 Tim. iii. 16, "Every writing, divinely inspired, (is) also profitable." But if his rendering is correct, then, it has been well observed, Heb. iv. 13, must be rendered, "Alí naked things are also open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do," which is to limit the all-searching eye of God to a discernment of things exposed to the sight of all mankind. Even De Wette renders the passage in dispute, "Every (holy) writing, (or Scripture) is Godinspired and useful for instruction." And who can fairly doubt that when St. Paul employed the word, he meant Timothy to understand by the phrase Scripture" all those sacred writings which were at that time regarded by both Christians and Jews as the Word of God? If so we have no right to question the subject of the inspiration of the entire Bible. An inspired man has uttered his dictum and we must submit. Strange, indeed, had he uttered a statement so bold and needless as this. "All Scripture that is divinely inspired is also useful." We do not need to be assured that inspired writings are useful, and to say that all that is inspired is useful, is to intimate that all the holy writings are not inspired. The very opposite of all this appears to have been the Apostle's object in commending to Timothy the entire oracles of God.

We have quoted already the substance of what Dr. Tregelles has written on the text under consideration. He has other observations in his work on Daniel, which are well worthy of being pondered. His notion of inspiration is, that it includes whatever power exercised over the writers by the Holy Ghost to cause the things which they wrote to be of absolute authority, whether accompanied by a revelation of facts, a principle, or not. That this exercise of power extended to the words of Scripture may be argued from this fact, that otherwise it would not be possible to employ the Bible with anything like certainty or authority. Much as Dr. Pye Smith opposed verbal inspiration in his discussion of the subject, whenever arguing for evangelical doctrines against Socinius he upholds the force of words as strongly as if his theory of Inspiration had been the very reverse of what it was. As an example, in his argument from the words in the 1st Gen. 26, "let us make man in our image," he makes its whole burden to depend on verbal_exactness. And how often when the New Testament writers quote from the Old, all the force of the quotation rests on a single word? As in 10 Rom. 12, 13, for "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved," quoted from 2 Joel 32; and Gal. iii. 11, 12, quoted from 2 Hab. 4, "the just shall live by faith." Sometimes quotations are not given with exactness, but even then they were always sufficiently accurate for the matter in hand. Dr. Pye Smith admits "The divine influence on the writer would as

certainly guide him to the best terms as if the words were dictated to a mere amanuensis." (Scripture Testimony, vol. 1. p. 62.) There are acknowledged various readings of the same text, but these do not invalidate the notion of plenary inspiration, for the present state of the text is no ground for concluding that the writer did not originally write just what he intended; it is only a reason why we should use all diligence to learn what were the words he employed.

According to the view of inspiration which we hold, to use the words of Dr. Tregelles, Inspiration is as much needed for writing known facts or doctrines authoritatively, as for the revelation or communication of any new truth. Modern theories of inspiration are doing not a little to exclude the Holy Ghost altogether, and to reduce the Book of God to the level of Milton or Shakspeare.

This shews the great solicitude which Jesus had to adapt his instructions to the capacity of his disciples. He sought out the most plain and striking illustrations- an example which should be followed by all the ministers of the At the same time that the instructions of the pulpit should be gospel. dignified-as our Saviour's always were-they should be plain, adapted to the capacity of the audience, and easily understood. To do this, the following things are necessary in a minister: 1st. Humility. -A freedom from a desire to shine, and astonish the world by the splendour of his talents, and by his learning and eloquence. 2nd. Good sense.-A satisfaction in being understood. Acquaintance with the habit of thought and manner of speaking among the people. To do this, frequent intercourse with them is necessary. 4th. A good sound education. It is the men of ignorance, with some smattering of learning, and

3rd.

with a desire to confound and astonish men by the use of unintelligible words, and by the introduction of matter that is wholly unconnected with the subject, that most often shoot over the heads of

the people. Preachers of humility, good being understood, and free from the sense, and education, are content with affectation of saying things to amaze and confound their auditors.-Barnes.

Things Lew and Old.

and if you think of any better expedient, remember that God is the author of that expedient, and gives it all its efficacy and all its operation. Wisdom calculates upon the expediency of means, but Prayer appears to me to be a brighter reach of wisdom, inasmuch as it remounts to the upper principle which gives birth, and movement, and energy, to all things." "It is good for me to draw near to God."

SWEDENBORGIAN VIEWS OF THE TRINITY. A follower of Swedenborg says, Many are puzzled with the mystery of the Trinity; but there is no mystery if we leave out the unscriptural word person. There is a Trinity but not a Trinity of persons. What is called Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, means the Great God acting under three different characters. The doctrine of the three persons of the Godhead is absurd."

Dr. Adam Clarke thus replied: "This notion of a Trinity is absurd, for there is a multitude of characters under which God acts, and not three only. If he is to be designated from such characters as to his Godhead, his Godhead might as well be called a denity, a quadragentenity, yea, a centenity-as a Trinity, for God acts under a hundred different characters towards man. Besides, in our Lord's baptism three distinct persons occupy three distinct places; it is not one God acting under three different characters. The angels worship" God and the Lamb" -not God under the character of the Lamb; and we are told to "worship the Son even as we worship the Father." But if the Son is only one of the characters of God, then we do not worship God, but one of the characters only under which he acts. This is idolatry and nonsense!" "Hold fast that which is good."

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST: 2 Titus, 13. -Mr. H. S. Boyd, in a letter to the late Dr. Adam Clarke, relates an interview he had with an old gentleman at Chelsea, named Lusignan, who came from Cyprus, and understood Greek as we do English, it being his mother tongue. He lived a secluded life, and knew nothing of literature, and was quite ignorant of any dispute respecting the Greek article. He was asked to construe the passage in 2 Titus, 13. He read it "Our great God and Saviour." Mr. Boyd said: "Does God (Theon) here mean the Father, or Christ?'' "Christ" he replied. "May

it not mean the Father?" said Mr. Boyd "No, the construction will not admit of it." "Why not?" Because the article is not prefixed to "Saviour." (Soteros) If God and Saviour had meant two different persons the article would have been prefixed to each. Whenever two personal nouns are thus joined and the article is placed before the first only, one person only is intended.-Life of Dr. A. Clarke, 2 Vol. 321.

Review of Books.

A SHORT MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN FINLEY, late ministerial Trustee of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, with a brief account of two of his Sons, who died before him, and Notes of a few of his Sermons, by his Widow, dedicated by permission to the Earl of Gainsborough, with an introductory preface by the Rev. Octavius Winslow, D.D. London: Nisbet & Co.

We have great pleasure in seeing this Memoir in its present agreeable and permanent form. There is something very touching in reading such a volume, written by such a pen, it seems to carry us back to days of great simplicity, when the grave of the dead was rendered odorous with the flowers planted by the hand and watered by the tears of the living-"thy dew is the dew of herbs."

The work is got up well, and illustrated with a portrait of Mr. Finley in his advanced age, a view of the chapel in which he successfully laboured for 41 years, and of the church of Southborough, the place of resting from his labours, but not of ceasing from his triumphs. The Memoir of Alfred Hide Finley, and that of Edward Henry Finley, his two sons of endearing promise, who were removed to a better world in early manhood, are drawn up in a way calculated to interest and to bless youthful readers, and give value to the work; and, thus while the father being dead he yet speaketh to the hearts of the more aged disciples of our Lord, the sons will eloquently address the young, convince them of the practicability of early, earnest, heavenly piety, and induce them to hear the voice which says " My son, give me thine heart."

The sketches of sermons, will be appreciated by many of our older friends, whose memories will furnish them with hallowed and impressive recollections of the heart and unction which attended their delivery.

results from love consecrated by devotion. The Institution has done well to appropriate £100 of the munificent donation of £300 contributed by Thomas Farmer, Esq., to call forth such an essay as this; and we trust the cheapness of this edition will obtain for it a very extensive circulation, and its worth and importance a serious and profitable reading.

We have arrived at a crisis in our national religious history, the vessel has to be steered between the Scylla of Atheism and the Charybdis of Popery; and it is appaling to witness the wrecks either split against the rock or absorbed in the whirlpool.

How fearfully instructive the following, "And, to come home, what have we in the Oxford School,' but a source of corruption, one stream of which is continually running to Rome, and another going off to scepticism. Mr. Henry Rogers affirmed, in 1843, in an article in the Edinburgh Review, that "the desperate assertion" that the "evidence for christianity" was no stronger than that for "church principles," must by reaction lead on to an outbreak of infidelity. And he can now say, "that prophecy has been to the letter accomplished, Newman, Foxton, Fronde, and others, who are waging war with christianity, are the result.'

"The present Archbishop of Dublin devotes several numbers of his "Cautions for the Times," to shew that the Tractate party in deprecating the investigation of christian evidence, and insisting on an implicit faith in what is taught; in putting the Scripture miracles on a level with the absurd miracles of later times; in covertly and by implication discouraging the study of the Scriptures, and exalting the authority of "traditionary revelation;" in earnestly deprecating the exercise of private judgment in religious matters; and in making christianity assume the form of a religion of mere outward rites and observances; -are doing "more to shake the authority of Scripture than all the attacks made by Infidels directly upon it, ever have done, or ever can do. For Scripture is, in itself, invulnerable; and they who attack it, do but dash themselves to pieces against a rock."

"We need not enter into the minute details of the Tractarian heresy. It is

In the book spelt Tractite. Qy.

not a system shrouded in mystery. The Oxford writers have fully enunciated it in tract after tract. Their disciples promulgate it week after week from many of the pulpits of the land. It has been battled with both by great men and small. The goodly octavo volume, the brilliant review, the little pamphlet, have exposed the great foe of Scriptural Christianity, driven it crest fallen from the pre-eminence to which it was aspiring in literature; if not in other respects, having checked its march. It is a corrupting and distructive bastard in the church of the Reformation—a system of spiritual despotism, of awful delusion, tending to undermine the very foundations of evangelical truth, and social morality. The spirit of her reformers frowns upon it. It gives the lie to her doctrinal articles, and is much more to be dreaded than an avowed infidel enemy. not have been one of the forms of reaction against the materialism of the age, but compared with the spiritual christianity of the New Testament, it is gross materialism itself. It may have originated in a reviving earnestness, and, as the author of the "Nemisis of Faith" declares, in a desire of the church to win back the love of her children, to draw them from doing to praying, from early hours in the office, or in the field, to matins and daily service. But like every form of corrupt christianity, it is likely to foster infidelity under its ecclesiastical pageantry, and provoke the spirit of an infidel reaction against the despotism which it imposes.

It may

"It is a striking fact, and tells on what side our old English Universities are doing service, that within a short period, about a hundred members of Oxford and fifty of Cambridge have passed over to the Romish communion. The great modern satirist has said, according to the ancient proverb, 'every road leads to Rome,' but the nearest way is the tracts through Oxford." (Page 219.)

We should be happy to quote a large part of this volume, but can only urge upon all who desire to see, in a small