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CHRISTIAN PRAISE.

THE NEW HYMN BOOK.

THE following facts led to the determination of publishing an enlarged and much improved collection of hymns for Christian praise. 1. The book hitherto in use among the brethren has been out of print some time past, and consequently the demand could not be supplied even to those who had been recently added to our number. This has been attended with great inconvenience, and caused much discouragement in some districts. 2. It was deemed exceedingly desirable that another edition should not be equally small and incomplete with the one now in use, provided only that an additional number of hymns, embodying truth, could be selected and added to the work, arranging each bymn, as far as possible, under its appropriate head. These desires have been attended to, and we hope with considerable success. Not that every hymn will be approved entirely by the brethren this was not to be expected. Still, the book, considered as a whole-containing as it does most of the hymns sung from the previous edition, with upwards of three hundred additional-cannot, we conceive, prove otherwise than satisfactory to all.

To sing the truth only, expressed in suitable language, and as much as possible in the first person, is very important-nay, indispensably necessary to personal edification and the glory of God. To sing language which is merely imaginary or poetical, may gratify temporary feelings, but will not build up the renewed mind in the faith and hope of the gospel.

There are some who object to hymns in the first person: but, in our opinion, their reasons do not appear either valid or cogent. It must be remembered that while we are commanded to offer prayers, supplications, and thanksgivings for all men, singing is of personal application, and cannot, with equal propriety, be presented with reference to others. We should be happy to see the day when the disciples of Jesus, having one bible -and no other bond of union, written or unwritten-shall also have one hymn book, from which to make melody in their hearts unto the Lord.--J. W.

OBITUARY.

Huddersfield, May 23, 1848.-The family of our beloved Brother Shaw have met with a heavy affliction in the sudden death of Mary Elizabeth Shaw, in her 12th year. She expired on Wednesday night, the 17th instant, at half-past seven o'clock,

after an illness of a few days, never considered serious until the noon of the day on which she died. On the Lord's day previous, there was a large gathering of Christian brethren from the adjacent churches to bid farewell to our respected Brother Thomson. In the festival held on that occasion, she was conspicuous for vivacity, freedom, and service of love, manifesting all the amiability of her nature. A few days after we sadly committed her to that dark and silent cave where the young and the old, the great and the mean, the rich and the poor, lie side by side without any ceremony. She was remarkable for gentleness of spirit, submission to her parents, and beaming love towards her friends generally. Latterly she was becoming much interested in the scriptures of truth, frequently reading, and often earnestly seeking the meaning by proposing questions. It was expected that she would, in a short time, freely and publicly devote herself to the Lord and his people in the ancient manner-that she would enter the fold kept by the shepherd of souls as one of those who might be carried in his bosom. But so far as our earthly congregation is concerned, our hopes have been suddenly blighted. The angel of death has no pity and no remorse, but carries desolation alike through the haunts of sin and misery, and the dwellings of peace and prospective glory. We have, however, no doubts concerning the state of our dear departed young friend. She reposes serenely in the fatherly arms of him who will safely keep all committed to he brings them from the dust and corruphis charge until the auspicious period when tion of the earth, into the condition of immortal youth and unfading beauty. Blessed be God that there is one stronger than death and mightier than the grave, whose love is equal to his power-both being so large and so steadfast as to admit of no increase and no diminution. The parents and friends of the dear departed girl, though not so stoical as to forbid the fountains of nature to flow when the heart swells, are, nevertheless, perfectly resigned to the will and the wisdom of God, being assured that his pleasure and our happiness are strictly combined, though weakness and tears may often prevent us from seeing the immediate connection. May the sympathies of the brethren and the consolations of the truth support our dear brother and sister in their bereavement; and may we all reflect more solemnly and more frequently on the uncertainty of this life, and on the necessity of preparation for the city of God, where rivers of pleasure will roll unceasing among the pure and undefiled. G. G.

THE CHRISTIAN'S RESIGNATION.

FATHER, thy will on earth be done
As it is done in heaven,

Be all our daily wants supplied,
And all our sins forgiven.

When dearest friends are snatched away,
And we are left alone,

May we in sweet submission say,
Father, thy will be done.
Oft have we felt affliction's rod;
But when the blow was given,
We meekly said, thy will on earth
Be done as 'tis in heaven.

Teach us, oh, Father, day by day,
To read thy holy word,

To live, like Christians ought to live,
Like Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Teach us no longer to repine

When earthly ills shall come;
But calmly say, with thy dear Son,
Oh Lord, thy will be done.
Father, thy will on earth be done
As it is done in heaven,
Be all our needful wants supplied,
And all our sins forgiven."

DEATH IN HIGH STATION.

THERE is a peculiar sclemnity and mournful grandeur inspired by death in high station, which adds much to the moral impression made by mere grief or regret. Through such visitations of the mighty ones and rulers of the earth, death speaks to all beneath them, and gives a warning which reaches alike to the humblest subject and the greatest rulers and leaders.

The strange and stately verses of Shirley (which are said to have chilled the heart of Cromwell himself, by moving some mystic sympathy), marked as they are by an obscurity that deepens their gloomy sublimity, suggest themselves here as they often do in similar circumstances.

The glories of our mortal state

Are shadows, not substantial things:
There is no armor against fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings.
Sceptre and crown

Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.
Some men with swords may reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill;
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still.

Early or late

They stoop to fate,

And must give up their conquering breath, When they, pale captives, creep to death. The garlands wither on your brow;

Then boast no more your mighty deeds; Upon death's purple altar now.

See where the victor-victim bleeds!
All heads must come

To the cold tomb;

Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.

WHAT IS NECESSARY?-There are many things that are not necessary. It is not necessary that we should be rich or great in this world; or that we should be gay and gaudy in our dress; or that we should enjoy sensual pleasures. It will not be a pin to choos, ere long, what part we have acted here: when the sceptre and the spade shall have one common grave, and royal dust shall be blended with the beggar's ashes. But it is necessary that we should be born again-it is necessary that we should submit to the yoke of Christ, and own his commands, and live to the Lord. There is nothing necessary but this.-Matthew Mead.

ETERNITY.

THOU rollest on, oh! deep unmeasured sea,
Thy length and depth a mystery profound;
Days, weeks. years, centuries-in inmensity
Pass on, nor leave a footstep nor a sound.
Thon liftest up thy smooth unwrinkled brow
Beyond the limits of our utmost thought,
A shireless space-where ages mutely bow
Like bubbles on thy bosom, and are not!
We hear a tramp of feet, we see a throng

Of generations lashing through the gloom;
They fade, and others rise, and far along

The caverns yawn, and nature finds her tomb In thee-but thou, nor young, nor old, art evermore One all pervading space-a sea without a shore!

THE NEBULE.

THE most remote bodies which the telescopes disclose to us are, probably, the nebulæ. These, as their name imports, are dim and misty-looking objects, very few of which are visible to the unassisted sight. Powerful telescopes resolve most of them into stars, and more in proportion to the force of the instrument, while at the same time every increase of telescopic power brings fresh and unresolved nebula into view. A natural generalization would lead us to conclude that all such objects are nothing but groups of stars, forming systems, different in size, remoteness, and mode of aggregation. This conclusion would, indeed, be almost irresistible, but for a few rare examples, where a single star of considerable brightness appears surrounded with a delicate and extensive atmosphere, offering no indication of its consisting of stars. Such objects have given rise to the conception of a self-luminous nebulous matter, of a vaporous or gaseous nature, of which these photospheres, and per aps some entire nebula may consist, and to the further conception of a gradual subsidence or condensation of such matter into stars and systems. It cannot be denied, however, that the weight of induction appears to be accumulating in the opposite direction, and that such "nebulous stars" may, after all, be only extreme cases of central condensation, such as two or three nebulæ, usually so called, offer a near approach to. Apart, then, from these singu lar bodies, and leaving open the questions they go to raise, and apart from the consideration of such peculiar cases as planetary and annular nebulæ, the great majority of nebulae may be described as globular or spheroidical aggregates of stars arranged about a centre, the interior strata more closely than the exterior, according to the various laws of progressive density, but the strata of equal density being more nearly spherical according to their proximity to the centre. Many of these groups contain hundreds, nay thousands of stars.-Edinburgh Review.

ORGANS OF PERSPIRATION.-The perspiratory pores on the palm of the hand are 3528 in a square inch. Each of these pores being the aperture of a little tube of about a quarter of an inch long, it follows that in a square inch of skin on the palm of the hand, there exists a length of tube equal to 882 inches, or 73 feet. Surely such an amount of drainage as 75 feet in every square inch of skin, assuming this to be the average for the whole body, is something wonderful, and the thought naturally obtrudes itself, what if this drainage were obstructed? Could we need a stronger argument for enforcing the necessity of attention to the skin? On the pulps of the fingers, where the ridges of the sensitive layer of the true skin are somewhat finer than in the palm of the hand, the number of pores on a square inch a little exceed that of the palm, and on the heel, where the ridges are coarser, the pores on a square inch was 2268. The average number of perspiratory pores on the whole surface of the body, may be taken as 2800 to the square inch!

Printed by Edmund Renals, at his Office, No. 2, South-parade, in the parish of Saint Peter, Nottingham, and published by the Proprietor, JAMES WALLIS, of Park-terrace, at No. 12, Peck-lane, in the said Parish.-Saturday, July 1, 1848.

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THE QUESTIONS OF THE
PRESENT AGE,

CONSIDERED IN THEIR RELATION TO
DIVINE TRUTH.

NO II. CONTINUED THE CHRISTIAN'S
MISSION: MOTIVES FOR ACTION.

It is in the exercise of the moral energies that we find the true guardian against the supremacy of sin and sorrow. The enthusiasts of the early Christian ages, who sought in the deep silence of the woodland shades or the trackless wilderness to subdue the passions of their own souls, found that they were there assailed with sin in its most revolting forms; they found that the godlike energies of the mind, which require an eternity for their development, could only acquire dominion, could only triumph over passion, by stern and constant conflict for God and for his truth. It was only by wrestling with the angel that the Patriarch could obtain the blessing; and he, crippled by the angel's stroke, yet elevated above all mankind by the blessing he had gained, is but the type of the Christian's labour and his lot.

VOL. I.

Though the soul of the Christian soar heavenward, yet the feelings and passions of humanity will often drag it down, even in its loftiest flight, and trail its weak wings in the dust; and the very extremity of its weakness shows the grandeur of energy, the marvellous denial of self, by which it has often manifested the power and beauty of Christianity. If we are to comprehend the triumph of our own Lord, we must turn to the garden of Gethsemane; we hear the voices of the Spirit and the Flesh. The Spirit says, "Not my will, but thine, be done." The agonized man says, "Oh! my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." The agony of the body bears witness to the greatness of the soul; and it is not till we have laboured for one great end, with a willing spirit, yet a weak nature, and still conquered, that we can truly say, "We have overcome the world." We need not repine because this world is to most of us a vale of tears, or that death has often rent asunder the tendrils by which kindred hearts were bound together; for as the æolian harp never gives

forth its sweet and dirge-like notes till it is swept by the wandering winds, so Christian character never manifests its strongest and noblest faculties till sorrow, oppression, or temptation, have roused the immortal powers which so often slumber within us.

Time, who robs us of so much, is not wholly unkind. If we have no longer the buoyant and trusting feeling of youth-if we have passed the period when

"Sweet thoughts, like summer buds unfolding, Waken rich feelings in the careless breast," we are no longer so prone to trust, or so easily deceived. As our feelings deepen in their character, we acquire the cold wisdom of distrust, and this is the most dangerous period of our lives. Our destinies here hang in the balances; our earliest impressions were as flowers thrown on a swiftly gliding river-they float for a few moments on the surface, and then sink for ever; but when manhood arrives, the impressions are engraven on our hearts as on the granite rock. It is then that a few, nay, even one circumstance will change the whole character. Many a gifted spirit has sunk into misanthrophy and indolence, gnawing his own heart, whom an extended sphere of conscientions action might have rendered happy in himself, and useful to mankind.

""Tis when the rose is wrapt in many a fold, Close to the heart, the worm is wasting there Its life and beauty: not when all unrolled, Leaf after leaf, its bosom, rich and fair, Breathes freely its perfumes throughout the ambient air."

But on the mind and heart of the Christian, Time has lost his corroding power. By communion with the Divinity, the Christian has renewed the purity of his own soul; he has realized the old Greek legend; he has bathed in the fountain of eternal youth. Happy, thrice happy, is he who, from earliest youth, has bowed under the sway of Christ; he has

"Made a posey while the time ran by." His life is but as the changing sea

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sons: he gathered the rose without feeling the thorns. The pleasures of youth have not been attended with its crimes. Like the sun-dial, he has marked only the bright hours; and when he arrives at the period in which the hopes and aspirations of manhood crowd over his mind, and Ambition raises her trumpet voice, the transition is attended with no pain.

"Time did beckon to the flowers, and they By noon most cunningly did steal away, And wither in his hand."

And as he gazes on the track he has wandered over, he can, indeed, say, when he thinks on a pure childhood, "Farewell, dear flowers, sweetly your time ye spent."

The Christian, clinging by faith to the precepts of his master, enters the field of action endowed with that experience which is supposed to be the prerogative of old age. In his character alone are combined the two great qualifications for success-the energies and aspirations of youth, and more than the wisdom of age, inasmuch as his teacher of wisdom is divine; so that, while his promised reward is greater, his task is no heavier, for with extended labour he has extended powers.

In reviewing the springs of action which Christianity discloses, there is one still more holy and lasting in its influence; it is the memory of the righteous dead-those pure spirits that have diffused peace and love over the household hearth. They mark for us on the dial of time the years that have gone by, admonishing us of our errors by the remembrance of their virtues, telling us that we, too, shall soon struggle in the dark sea; and that if we are to meet them where there is joy for evermore, our hearts must be meet for the dwellingplace of the Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and how few there are who have not this remembrance serving as a guardian angel!

"And for the loved and lost,

Their memory moves us as naught else may move, When wildly tempest tost,

They to the soul as guiding stars may prove.

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A traveller was one day wandering through the valley of the Nile, and as the setting sun caused the pyramids to cast their dark shadows over the plains, his eyes fell on those wonderful edifices, which have defied the hand of Time; and while he wondered at the intellect which was capable of such vast designs, he sighed as he confessed the littleness of their aim. He turned aside to a column on which was curiously carved a representation of royal life: here was the monarch returning from his conquests, crowned

So sang one whose strains have awakened a responsive chord in every heart; and while the solemn cadences of her verses have not yet died away, our spirits bow in love and wonder before the all-wise Being who has caused Christianity to appeal to this, as to every other feeling, for our Redeemer, our elder brother, is re-kings of the Eastern nations following membered by us as one who, "being dead, yet speaketh.”

Another powerful motive for the exercise of the moral energies is, that the Christian can attain the purest earthly fame. There are some names which are enshrined in the hearts of all men, whose glory is known, like the comet, by the light which remains long after they have passed away; at whose words the eye flashes, the cheek warms, and the blood runs through our veins like electric fire; and who are these mighty ones? The successful speculator? the greedy capitalist? the proud despot? the sanguinary revolutionist? Ah, no! They are such as Hampden, who for his country's liberty braved the most daring monarch that ever sat on the English throne; such as Ridley and Latimer, who promulgated the great principles of Protestantism when in the midst of the consuming fire; such as Milton, who deliberately relinquished his sight rather than desert his country in the hour of her need. They are the whole band of lofty spirits, whose graves are the shrines to which the noblest of every land wend their way as pilgrims. And wherein lies the power of their names? It is that they were identified with some great principle; they were the originators, or auxiliaries, of some great intellectual and social movement; they were the benefactors of mankind.

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as captives behind his chariot; further up the column were the warriors and priests, the ministers of murder and superstition, following their dreadful avocations; and on the pedestal was inscribed the sentence, Behold, O stranger! and tremble at the name of Osymandyas the Great, the ruler of a hundred kingdoms !" And the traveller asked History if she could narrate the tale of triumph and of blood; but she was silent-she had forgotten Osymandyas. He asked Science if she knew aught of the king? and she only answered, "He was the inventor of the sun-dial." Yes, as the hero of a hundred battles, he had been forgotten; but as the benefactor of his race by one single gift, he had been remembered nearly three thousand years. But the Christian has a greater triumph. Deputed to present to mankind the fairest offspring of divine love, he knows that, if he even be forgotten by man, he shall be remembered by God, and “shall shine as the stars of heaven for ever and ever." He shall possess a happiness which the world cannot give, and which it shall never take away; he shall be as the water-lilies, which, whether in the calm or storm, still float tranquilly on the surface of the waves; and when the tide of life is fast receding, leaving him on Death's dark shore, then, oh! then, how greatly shall he rejoice that he has served his Lord. And the last

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