Plants, trees, and flowers of "blessed forms and dyes," Of all climes native-blooming 'neath all skiesNow feel alike the goodness and the power Of one ALMIGHTY hand, in this enlivening hour! So shall it be with man-whate'er his creed, Nor bound His changeless love, from Indus to the Poles. All, all shall hear the life-reviving strain- There, through our SAVIOUR's love, shall all be made alive. Nor Winter's cold nor Summer's scorching heat, Nor Autumn's blast, shall reach that blest retreat; Calmly serene, 'mid joys that ne'er can pall, One bright, unbounded spring, shall then encircle all.* Then hail! sweet herald of returning Spring! I love to hear thee, as on outstretched wing, Thou mind'st me of the time when MAN shall rise To light, and life, and joy, eternal in the skies! W. EARL. BRISTOL ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. * "And one unbounded spring encircle all."-THOMSON. THE OBJECTS OF THE MISSION, THE DEATH, AND THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, CONSIDERED; In which the received notions concerning Atonement, Supernatural Conversion, &c. are shown to be foreign from their design, and the effects they actually produce. (Concluded from p. 117.) It was no other than the natural operation of the external miracles performed at the word of Jesus, and of his doctrine and example, but more especially of his re surrection to immortality, with the many interesting and impressive traits of character shewn by him in his suffering and dying moments, that wrought so powerfully on the minds of his first Jewish followers. No internal miracles were wrought upon the minds of any of them, till ten days subsequent to his " parting from them," by an ascension towards the visible heavens. As they were distinguished from the great body of the Jews, by their continued warm attachment to him up to the day of his resurrection, whereas the great mass of that nation had concurred with their rulers in causing his cruel and ignominious sufferings, and death, so they were in a far better state of mind for receiving the light, and the ameliorating influences afforded both by these events, and by those of his glorious resurrection; and accordingly they were selected as the immediate witnesses of this most important, and heart-cheering, soul-ennobling fact. All these particulars drew, indeed, a clear and broad line of distinction between the friends and the adversaries of the Saviour. From the day of his ascension, we find the disciples, who formed together about a hundred and twenty, uniting in the exercises of devotion, and the cultivation of friendship as fellow disciples of Jesus, prepared to hold forth his name as the risen Messiah, in the face of his potent destroyers, as soon as a favourable opportunity should be afforded, and the assistance which had been promised to them by their master, as being requisite to qualify them for the successful discharge of so great an undertaking, should have been granted them. Thus, it is clear, that it was by the influence of external facts and instructions operating upon the natural powers, and previously acquired mental and moral attainments of men, and not by any internal miracles effecting a change in human nature, that Christianity made its first converts. No " holy spirit," or internal miraculous gifts had yet been imparted, except to the Messiah himself; but a small number of the Jewish nation had espoused the faith, that through suffering he had entered into his glory, and it had already produced the most favourable effects on their dispositions and conduct. His previous miracles, instructions, and ex ample, had strongly attracted this small number to him, and, no doubt had diffused some of its salutary leaven among many others; but it was his resurrection that had inspired them with hope and joy in believing, and had enabled them to regard his sufferings and death, with his free submission to these great evils, and the preeminently pious and benevolent spirit which he manifested under them, in their just point of view. As sudden changes of sentiment and character cannot, however, be effected without some violence to our nature, it appears that, up to the very day of his ascension, the disciples had by no means arrived at correct ideas concerning the course which either Jesus or themselves were about to pursue in establishing his kingdom. "Wilt thou," said they, "at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" His final removal from them to the celestial and angelic state, with his parting address on that occasion, seems to have put them upon a train of reflections, and a course of conduct, which contributed in a great degree to open and prepare their minds for their new and arduous undertaking; and Peter appears to have made a commencement of that bold and natural elocution in the cause of his master, and of that promptitude of action which he was enabled to exert with so much greater advantage, on occasion of the supernatural gifts with which, in common with his fellow disciples, he was first favoured at the great day of Pentecost, an eloquence and promptitude by which from that time forward he became so distinguished. It is of course out of our power to trace the peculiar manner in which the miraculous gifts operated upon the minds of the new converts; but it is evident that they had the same general design as the external miracles, and being suited to the same peculiar exigences of the world at that period, ceased together with them. Their great object was to proclaim the resurrection of the crucified Jesus with the like publicity with which the crime had been perpetrated, and before the very body of people who had concurred in its perpetration; and on this ground to assert his elevation to the dignity of the Messiah, the conductor to eternal life. For this pur pose the well known despised and hated Galileans, Twelve Lectures, in illustration and defence of Christian Unitarianism, delivered in the Meeting-house of the First Presbyterian Congregation, Belfast. By J. Scott Porter, one of the Pastors of the Congregation. Belfast, J. Hodgson; London, J. Green; Dublin, Hodges & Smith. Pp. 170. In our present Number we have only space to notice the titles of these admirable and convincing lectures, and heartily to commend the work to our readers, as a masterly and truly rational and scriptural exposition of the great principles of Christian Unitarianism, as the religion of love, of power, and of a sound mind. The titles of the lectures, which, in fact, in themselves bespeak favourable consideration for the volume, areUnitarianism, what it is, and what it is not; the faith of the Old Testament; of our Lord Jesus Christ; of the Apostles; of the Primitive Church; a rational, devotional, benevolent, holy, consolatory, progressive faith. We hope to enrich our pages by extracts in future numbers. The Origin of Sunday Schools, with remarks on the New Post- Brougham. The importance of Sunday Schools, and the great and beneficial influence which they have long exercised throughout the community, must be fully admitted by all; any attempt, therefore, to throw light upon their origin, cannot but excite a strong interest in the minds of those who are capable of appreciating the merits of a system of education so eminently calculated to improve the moral and mental condition of the working classes. It has long been the prevailing opinion that Robert Raikes, Esq. of Gloucester, was the founder of the Sunday School system; but the author of the work before us has proved to demonstration that such was not the fact; for he has shown that it had been in operation in various parts of the kingdom, many years before the idea was taken up by Mr Raikes. In short, the author has adduced evidence of the most conclusive character, to show that the first Sunday-School on record was founded in the year 1764 by the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, Vicar of Catterick, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Mr Clark admits, however, that the general extension of the scheme emanated from the city of Gloucester, where the Rev. Thomas Stock, aided by Mr Raikes, established a Sunday School in the parish of St John, A.D. 1780. It is in reference to this fact that the author thus emphatically winds up one of his very interesting letters: "It was reserved for the two latter gentlemen to give that éclat to the scheme through the medium of the press, which was quickly the means of spreading its benign and salutary influence over the whole kingdom; and which, under the Divine Blessing, will go on conquering and to conquer,' till, having achieved the victory over ignorance, and vice, and misery, a new and brighter era will dawn upon the world, and knowledge, virtue and happiness 'will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.' Mr Clark's pamphlet also treats, in a very masterly style, of the operation of the admirable postage plan for which the country is indebted to Mr Rowland Hill, and more especially of its tendency to advance the great cause of education. The author appears to have turned his attention chiefly to the operation of the plan in regard to the various islands annexed to the crown of Great Britain; and after an able enumeration of the benefits which they have derived from it, he thus closes his remarks: "But I will not trust myself to proceed further upon this momentous, this deeply interesting question: the able pamphlet by which Mr Hill first succeeded in awakening public attention to the subject is before the world, and the united voice of the nation has already testified, in terms not to be misunderstood, its entire and unqualified approbation of the plan. France and Belgium have already turned their attention to it, and ere many more years shall have elapsed, I feel confident it will be introduced into every civilized country of the globe; and generations yet unborn will concur in assigning to its estimable and talented author a conspicuous niche in the Temple of Fame, as one of the greatest benefactors of the human race." We would gladly have introduced a few more extracts |