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His conscience, unless "seared with | ed soul with their accusing fingers. Mada hot iron," keeps on pricking him, and willness in its most dreadful form were happinot suffer him to have a moment's ease. Go ness compared with this state. For, when a where he will, do what he will, he cannot poor creature is deprived of his senses, he is escape from this inward accuser, this bosom- spared one pang, we may believe, and that tormentor. Like the unclean spirit, he goes is a consciousness of self. But in hell there about "seeking rest, and findeth none." Now will be no such forgetfulness. Those dismal this is only a slight foretaste of part of the regions will echo with the wailings of selfpunishment which the lost soul will have to accusation. And not only will the lost soul suffer. It is a "lesser stripe of hell." Our keep on accusing itself, as being the author Lord, in another passage, when speaking of of its own misery, but that misery will be the unprofitable servant that shall be cast into increased one hundred fold, by the consciousouter darkness, adds these words (Matt. xxv. ness of having involved others, perhaps some 30), "There shall be weeping and gnashing near and dear relative, in the same dreadful of teeth." "Weeping!" and what for? not doom. Surely we have grounds for supposso much on account of bodily pain, we may ing this, when we remember the anxiety of presume, as for anguish of spirit, whose the rich man in hell concerning his five bresharpest pang is self-reproach. It has been thren, lest they should come to the same truly said, "hell is truth seen too late." Not place of torment! Is there a parent present only will the lost soul see and feel the deadly, who can bear the horrid thought of hearing the destructive, nature of sin; not only will it his children's shrieks, accusing him or her experience the truth of what it once doubted in these heart-rending words, "Father, or disbelieved, that "the wages of sin is it was you who brought me here; Mother, death,"-death temporal, death eternal-but see what you have done! had you brought it will be awakened too late for its peace, me up differently, had you set me a better that "the gift of God is eternal life through example, I had never been here!" Oh! Jesus Christ our Lord." It was great tor- think of this, I entreat you, ye who are conment for the rich man to be tormented in that scious that your children have aught to achorrible flame; but how was that torment cuse you of! Think what an horrid end you increased, when he saw Lazarus afar off, may perhaps be training them up for. I do and in Abraham's bosom! So will the lost not believe that such know what they are soul be doomed not only to feel the horrors doing-they would, I am sure, shrink from of hell in which he is shut, without the the thought of bringing up their children for possibility of escape, but he will have, so hell! But, believe me, they are in effect to speak, a glimpse of that heaven with all doing so, unless "God, peradventure, give its glories, and all its happiness, from which them repentance to the acknowledging of the he is shut out. It is particularly said truth." I am persuaded they would not of our Saviour, when he cometh to judg- poison their children; but oh! every blasment (Rev. i. 7), "Every eye shall see him, phemous oath which children hear, and which and they also which pierced him;" yes, they they are quick enough in learning from the who "would not have him to reign over lips of a parent, every act of wickedness that them," will be forced to acknowledge him they see, is poison to their souls! In vain at last, not as their Saviour to save them, do we teach them different lessons at school, but as their Judge to condemn them! Nay, if their parents teach them these dreadful they are represented (Rev. vi. 16) as re- lessons at home! If any of you then care cognizing him in his atoning character as not for yourselves, care, at least, for others! the Lamb of God, not as exercising mercy, Spare yourselves one pang at least, viz., the but as executing wrath; "Hide us from the accusing yourselves of being the helpers toface of him that sitteth on the throne, and wards the everlasting destruction of others, from the wrath of the Lamb." Oh! what as well as being the authors of your own. agony to acknowledge him as the Lamb that was slain, but not slain for them! Oh! when hurled from his presence, with these withering words, into the burning lake, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," how busy, how keen will be the memory then! The day of grace gone, opportunities of instruction lost, warnings slighted, judgments unheeded, mercies thrown away, will rise up as so many spectres, and point at the wretch* Bp. Taylor.

I have dwelt the longer upon this painful part of my subject, because there is too much reason to fear, it is but little thought of by many. Hell is uttered by many a thoughtless and ungodly person, who perhaps hardly knows what he is uttering. Even if he dare not altogether deny that there is such a place, he has such an indistinct notion of it, that he is regardless about it. But now that you have been told partly, and only in part, what hell is, and what the sufferings of a lost soul are, viz., accusing and reproaching itself, and

all without avail; owning, but too late, the truth of what it once denied; wishing for, but in vain, what it once never cared to get, when it had the opportunity-let me hope, that, by the grace of God, you will not henceforth lightly, or profanely, use the dreadful word again; or if you do, may the Spirit of God bring some of my words to your remembrance.

vouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"

II. This will lead me to notice very shortly, as I proposed, the eternity of the punishment which the lost soul will have to endure in hell.

If there were no other passage in the bible than the one which we are considering, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," it would be quite sufficient, one would think, to substantiate the point, that the lost soul will be eternally tormented; but there are passages upon passages which confirm this awful truth. It will be enough, and perhaps that is unnecessary, to remind you of what is written in Luke, xvi. 26.

The other image, under which the torments of hell are represented by our Lord in the text, is that of fire. Whilst the former, that of a worm, is to be understood figuratively, the latter, I believe, is to be understood literally. The passages are far too many for me to read to you, in which hell is set forth by the same expression. I would merely" And besides all this, between us and you notice two points connected with it. First, that the fierce and angry element of fire doth denote in a very lively and awful manner the wrath of God against sinners; and secondly, that the pain of burning, it may be conceived, is the sharpest of all bodily pains. We read in the bible of God pouring the "fury of his wrath" (Job xx. 23), and of "his hot displeasure" (Ps. vi. 1), and " fiery indignation that shall devour the adversaries" (Heb. x. 27); all which expressions are borrowed from the character of that raging elements, fire. When it has once got the mastery, how fiercely and uncontrollably does it rage! No image sets forth so awfully the vengeance of the Almighty, as this furious element. Remember, it is written, "Vengence is mine, I will repay" (Rom. xii. 19), and again, "fury to his adversaries." Do any doubt it? Let them listen to this passage (2 Thes. i. 7, 8). "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ;" and again (Jude 7), and again (Jude 7), "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." The dead sea, as it is called, bears, to this very day, evidence of this truth, that God's threatenings are not idle words, but that they will assuredly come to pass. But the element of fire represents most forcibly, not only the vengeance of an angry God. But it also sets before us the actual agonies of burning, when, to the sufferings of the mind, which I have described above, that of the body be added; and when the severity of that suffering is considered, (and which I would rather that you should try to conceive than I attempt to describe,) is there a person present, who is not ready to exclaim in the language of the prophet Isaiah (xxxiii. 14), 66 Who among us shall dwell with the de

there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot; nei-
ther can they pass to us that would come
from thence." Yet, notwithstanding this,
and other passages of the word of God, there
have been and still are some, who do not be-
lieve that the punishment of the lost soul will
be eternal. Some, and learned persons too,
have grounded their opinion on the real mean-
ing and force of the word which is translated
eternal or everlasting, as signifying only the
end of an appointed period. To this it may
be replied, that the very same word in the
original Greek language, is used by our Lord
to denote the endless happiness of the saved,
and the endless misery of the lost soul, in
that passage (Matt. xxv. 46):
"And
these shall go away into everlasting punish-
ment; but the righteous into life eternal:" so
that if the misery of the lost soul be not eter-
nal, neither will the happiness of those that
are saved, be eternal-a conclusion, to which
the advocates of a non-eternity of punishment,
are not, I presume, prepared to subscribe.
But the question does not, as it appears to
me, and as I hope presently to show, depend
upon the precise meaning of the word which
is translated eternal and everlasting;
which, by the way, you will observe, does
not occur in our text. There have been
others who have admitted* " that the fire in-
deed is everlasting, but not all that enters into
it is everlasting, but only the devils for whom
it was prepared, and other more mighty cri-
minals." Our text, however, demolishes this
fanciful view of the matter; for it is espe-
cially written "where their worm dieth not,'
as well as "and the fire is not quenched."
Whilst a third party seem to think that it is
contrary to God's mercy and compassion that
there should be no end to their sufferings.
To such I would only reply, God is just as

and

to judgment," where he notices, and replies to these * See a Sermon of Bp. Taylor " On Christ's advent and other objections.

well as merciful. He must be true to him- | self. He cannot exercise one attribute at the expense of another. He has ordained it in his eternal counsels. He has revealed it in his holy word; and they who doubt it, or disbelieve it, must blot out many passages in the bible, such as that of our text, which is, we conceive, plain and express upon the point, and not of a doubtful character. Observe too what our Lord adds (v. 49)," For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." Salt, as you well know, has a preservative power; and as such, it is an image used by our Lord to denote that there is an undecaying principle in the ever, yet never, consuming tor

ments of the lost soul.

But a very important point remains to be considered, which is this. How is the lost soul to be released from its pains? How is it to escape from its horrid prison? Are we not told (Heb. x. 26), "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins?" The only door, by which sinners can escape, is closed, eternally closed! Is Christ to suffer again? The scriptures expressly deny this. And can any be saved without Christ? (John xiv. 6) "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John x. 9) "I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." Such an opinion as that which I have endeavoured, and I hope successfully, to refute, savours, I cannot but think of that dreadful doctrine of popery, viz. purgatory, which is, in few and plain words, as follows, that after the soul has suffered a certain quantity of punishment, it will be let free! thus making our sufferings the part-price, at any rate, of our pardon; whereas the sufferings of Christ, can alone procure our salvation.

I would have you all then form an opinion, as well as you can, of a state of endless suffering, both of mind and body! Even here, in this suffering state, it is some relief to look forward to an interval, however short, of ease and of rest. Ye who know what sickness and what pain are, ye know what a blessed balm even one hour's sleep is, "when wearisome nights have been appointed you, and you are full of tossings to and fro" (Job. vii. 3,4). Try then to conceive the indescribable sufferings of the lost soul, of which there will not be one moment's intermission; when there will be no period to which it can look forward when those sufferings will end. Here, in this life, the poor sufferer, even if he have no respite from his pain, knows that it cannot last very long; the sharper it is, it has been mercifully ordered, the shorter it is; he knows that death will put an end to his sufferings, and if he dies in the Lord, he will never know again what suffering is. But there is

no such expectation, no such comfort in prospect for the lost soul! Eternity! Oh! dwell for a moment on that word, eternity; never never ending eternity! ages upon ages! ages upon ages! and still it is eternity! Again I ask the question, and may the Holy Spirit bring it home to the hearts of you all, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"

The subject to which I have now called your attention, is no doubt a most awful, as it is a painful one; but it is a most necessary one to be brought before us occasionally. " Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. v. 11). Fully believing ourselves the fearful threatenings which are written in the bible, we, who have" charge over you in the Lord," cannot but feel most anxious, that you may, through God's mercy in Christ, escape them. Believe me, we do not delight to dwell upon the terrors of an angry God; we would rather be showing forth the tender mercies of a reconciled God and Father in Christ Jesus. But we must do both, in the hope that we may be the honoured, but humble, instruments in the Lord's hands, of persuading sinners" to flee from the wrath to come." We cannot compel you to come to God by Christ in faith and in penitence; we cannot drive you into his fold, but we would try to persuade you. If we were at any time lifted up to any conceit of our own power to make you what we wish you to be, the recollection that even Paul himself failed in effectually convincing and converting a Felix and an Agrippa, would bring our lofty thoughts down. When "he reasoned" with the former, " of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, he trembled." And when he defended himself before Agrippa, that king not only declared the innocence of the apostle, but also made this remarkable acknowledgment of the partial effect which St. Paul's address had made

upon himself. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian!" Almost! And may not some among you have been a little touched by the subject which has now been addressed to you, may not the glimpse which you have had of the burning and bottomless pit, have made some of you slightly shudder at the bare possibility lest you may come to that place of torment? Oh! be not satisfied with having your feelings roused for a few moments, when your sufferings through all eternity may be at stake. Rather, follow those feelings up. Pray to God, when you get to your homes, to bless what you have heard. Lay not yourselves down to rest this night with a guilty conscience, or a careless heart;careless, I mean, whether your eternal por

power

dear brother Ferrar, and tell him, he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master, in whose service I have now found perfect freedom. Desire him to read it; and then, if he can think it may turn to the advantage of any poor, dejected soul, let it be made

public, if not let him burn it, for I and it are less than the least of God's mercies.'"

In the following stanzas, which are a fair example of the contents of this volume, the first is as exqui

tion be that of Lazarus, who knows not now what want is; or that of the rich man, who begs, but in vain, for a drop of water to cool his tongue! Oh! as you would by God's mercy through Christ, avoid the dreadful doom of the lost soul," where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," pray to God to "begin the good work," ye who are conscious that it is not yet begun! May he carry it on with where it is! May he cause you to repent you deeply of your sitely sweet and natural, as the last is harsh and artipast sins, and bring you broken-hearted and contrite to a Saviour's cross, that only refuge for a guilty soul! Oh! that you may all be led to seek and obtain an interest in that Saviour, "whom to know," spiritually, experimentally, practically, and savingly, "is life eternal!" "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John ii. 25, 26).

SACRED POETRY.

BY JAMES CHAMBERS, ESQ.
No. VII.

Herbert, Habington, Waller, Vaughan.

Walton's Lives are some of the most beautiful minor biographies in our language: their sweet simplicity and affectionate spirit endear both the writer, and him whose history he records, to the heart of every reader. Their prevailing fault is a diffuseness of detail on unimportant points, while more interesting facts are either altogether omitted, or very briefly mentioned. The inward peace and serenity which this pious angler enjoyed, have produced their mellowing, effects upon his writings. That reader, who, "in the still summer's eve," has spent many a happy hour in company with Izaak Walton, will know how to appreciate Wordsworth's beautiful lines:

"With moistened eye

We read of faith and purest charity,
In statesman, priest, and humble citizen.

Oh! could we copy their mild virtues, then

What joy to live, what happiness to die!

Methinks their very names shine still and bright,
Satellites turning in a lucid ring,

Around meek Walton's heavenly memory.

His memoir of George Herbert (1593-1632) contains all the necessary information respecting the life of this good "Country Parson," and, as all my readers have read, or ought to read it, I shall confine myself to a few extracts from, and remarks on his poetry. Writing to his mother, when in his seventeenth year, he says, "For my own part, my meaning, dear mother, is, in these sonnets, to declare my resolution to be, that my poor abilities in poetry shall be, all and ever, consecrated to God's glory. "The Temple," his only poetical work, certainly exhibits more piety than poetry. Its history was beautifully told by Herbert himself, who, when parting with Mr. Duncan, "did, with so sweet a humility as seemed to exalt him, bow down to Mr. Duncan, and with a thoughtful and contented look say,* Sir, I pray deliver this little book to my * Walton.

ficial:

VIRTUE.

Sweet Day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky,
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night,
For thou must die.

Sweet Rose, whose hue, angry and brave,
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,

And thou must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives;

But tho' the whole world turns to coal,
Then chiefly lives.

Herbert seems to have been extremely deficient in "that intellectual eyesight, to which criticism has given the name of taste." His finest poems are generally disfigured by some unnatural allusion or quaint conceit. Whenever he aims at that eccentric origi

nality, the attainment of which was his darling idol, he invariably becomes ridiculous or obscure. "His piety is unquestionable, but his taste so perverted, that devotion itself is turned into masquerade throughout his writings." The above remark is strikingly illustrated by the following poem:

CONSCIENCE.

Peace! prattler, do not lour!

Not a fair look, but thou dost call it foul;
Not a sweet dish, but thou dost call it sour;
Music to thee doth howl.

By list'ning to thy chatting fears
I have both lost mine eyes and ears.
Prattler, no more, I say

My thoughts must work, but like a noiseless sphere,
Harmonious peace must rock them all the day;

No room for prattlers there.

If thou persistest, I will tell thee
That I have physic to expel thee.

And the receipt shall be

My Saviour's blood. Whenever at his board
I do but taste it, straight it cleanseth me;
And leaves thee not a word,
No, not a tooth or nail to scratch,
And at my actions carp, and catch.

Yet, if thou talkest still,
Besides my physic, know there's some for thee;
Some wood or nails, to make a staff or bill
For those that trouble me.
The bloody cross of my dear Lord
Is both my physic and my sword.

That which pleases us most in Herbert's "Temple" is the evident sincerity of feeling which pervades his devotional poems. The fervour of his supplications, the humble contrition of his repentance, and the holy gladness of his pious raptures, testify that he felt these emotions, and that they were not merely conjured for the purposes of poetic pomp. We see, reflected in his hymns, the image of that holy and devoted life which he passed at Bemerton, in the midst of his family and parishioners.

When Herbert first published his poems, they at↑ James Montgomery.

tained to an amazing popularity, and for some time after they were in much repute. He has since realized the aphorism of Quarles, that "shame is the chronical disease of popularity, and that from fame to infamy is a beaten road."

I will conclude this notice with Walton's eloquent enlogy of the Temple, who, when penning it, must have felt that he was dedicating this tribute to the works of a congenial spirit-one with whom he would have delighted to wander down the river's side, and

extract sweet lessons from the book of Nature. "It is a book," he says, speaking [of the "Temple," "in which, by declaring his own spiritual conflicts, he hath comforted and raised many a dejected and discomposed soul, and charmed them into sweet and quiet thoughts; a book, by the reading whereof, and the assistance of that spirit that seemed to inspire the author, the reader may attain habits of peace and piety, and all the gifts of the Holy Ghost and heaven, and may, by still reading, still keep those sacred fires burning upon the altar of so pure a heart as shall free it from the anxieties of this world, and keep it fixed upon things that are above."

When Cowper experienced his first eclipse of the light of God's countenance, the bible and this volume were his sole companions.

William Habington (1605—1645) is the author of a volume of poems, entitled "Castara," remarkable for their unaffected simplicity. They have been several times reprinted. The following stanzas on Retrospec

tion are very pleasing:

TIME! where didst thou those years inter
Which I have seen decease?
My soul's at war, and truth bids her
Finde out their hidden sepulchre,

To give her troubles peace.

Pregnant with flowers, doth not the spring
Like a late bride appeare?
Whose fether'd musicke onely bring
Caresses, and no requiem sing
On the departed yeare?

The idea of Time as the sexton of "departed years," in the first stanza, and the "requiem on the departed yeare," in the second, has been frequently borrowed.

The divine poems of Edmund Waller (1605-1687) deserve but a brief notice. Elaborate and verbose, they afford little material for thought, and are destitute of that originality and terseness which atone for the faults of a Quarles or Herbert. Dr. Samuel Johnson could not have chosen a more fit time to give utterance to his philippic against Sacred Poetry, than when reviewing the "Divine Poems" of Waller.

Henry Vaughan (1614–1695) belongs to that school of which Herbert may be called the founder. Passages of rare excellence might be selected from his poems. Mr. Campbell has unjustly pronounced him to be one of the harshest of the inferior order of the school of conceit. I firmly believe that the germ of this critic's magnificent poem on the rainbow may be traced in the following lines on the same subject, by the scorned Vaughan.

Still young and fine! but what is still in view

We slight as old and soiled, though fresh and fiew;
How bright wert thou, when Shem's admiring eye
Thy burning, flaming arch didst first descry;
When Terah, Nahor, Haran, Abram, Lot,
The youthful world's grey fathers, in one knot,

"Twenty thousand copies of the Temple' were sold in a few years after its publication,"-WALTON.

Did, with attentive looks, watch every hour
For thy new light, and trembled at each shower.

Bright pledge of peace and sunshine! the sure tie
Of thy Lord's hand, the object of his eye!
When I behold thee, though my light be dim,
Distant and low, I can in thine see Him,
Who looks upon thee from his glorious throne,
And minds the covenant betwixt ALL and ONE.

If the idea of the following stanza be not taken from the sixth of the above lines, a striking coincidence at least may be observed between them:

When o'er the green undeluged earth,

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine; How came the world's grey fathers forth To watch thy sacred sign.-CAMPBELL. Those who have explored the remains of ancient English poetry well know how often the most beautiful image or expression in the works of modern authors proves, upon examination, to be but old gold, cast into a more modern shape. These similarities frequently arise from unconscious imitation, perhaps still oftener they are mere coincidences.

The Cabinet.

JUDGMENT.-Will God judge men at the great day for not believing those things which they could not the scripture obscure in matters necessary, when the understand? Strange that ever men should judge scripture accounts it so great a judgment for men not to understand them. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.-Bp. Stillingfleet.

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INFLUENCE. Almost every individual, however inferior in talent, or obscure his station in life may be, has a certain portion of influence in the circle of which he may form a part, if it be but the influence of example. Poverty may have placed him among the most destitute of his fellow-creatures, and disease or accident may have rendered him one of the most helpless; still, even under such circumstances, he may have it in his power to glorify God by his patience, his meekness, his cheerful resignation, and by showing his confidence in the divine promises of support and comfort to all who seek it through their Redeemer. Brenton's Hope of the Navy.

in the full sense of the word, includes a subjection HEAVENLY MINDEDNESS.-Heavenly-mindedness, of every thought to the will of God; a surrender of the affections to him; a deliberate preference of an eternal good to temporal advantages; purity of intention; abstraction from the world in the scriptural sense of the term; separation from low and secular ends; in a word, the daily remembrancer of that work, which, though it can only be perfected in another state of being, must have its commencement here-the union of the soul with God.

Bp. Sumner's Ministerial Character of Christ.

Poetry.

THE SECRET OF THE LORD.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant." Psalm xxv. 14.

Behold a pilgrim journeying on,
Through the wide maze of earth;
His staff his prop to lean upon,

-Unknown his place of birth,-
Ask whence the smiles you see him wear?
"The secret of the Lord" is there!

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