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THE CHRISTIAN'S LAST FAREWELL.
ADIEU! vain world; no tear of fond regret
Around our parting scene shall cast a gloom;
On brighter propects far my hopes are set-

I feel no terrors at the cold, dark tomb.
Not all the golden stores should bid me stay,
Held by Golconda, or remotest Ind:
Ye, who to Mammon bend, ye best can say

What are the comforts which in wealth ye find? And pleasures, what have they the heart to cheer? Lurks there no poisonous dreg within their cup? Are they not found vain, empty, insincere ?

It shall not cost a sigh to give them up.
Yes! world of nothingness-of shade-farewell!
Adieu, ye scenes of sorrow, sin, and woe!
There is a blessed land, where angels dwell,
And to its glories willingly I go.

Oh! stay me not, but rather speed my flight,-
Burst every bond which binds me still to earth;
My soul desires-yea, longs to soar to light-

Anticipates a new and heavenly birth.

Then stay me not: I hear the voice of love-
The summons of my Saviour from on high;
Angels wait to receive me from above,-

I must depart ;-Adieu! vain world !-I die.
THE WORLDLING'S LAST FAREWELL.
Dear world and must we part?-it cannot be
My eyes must close on all thy varied charms!
This pain-this sickness-how they harass me ;-
Save me, or death will seize me in his arms.
Have I not serv'd thee early, long, and late?
A faithful votary at thy altar been?
Why dost thou leave me now the prey of fate?
Why hast thou changed-alas! so changed the
scene?

Where was the honour that I did not seek?

Where was the pleasure which I did not share? Did not the gayest circles, week by week,

Find me a willing, sure attendant there? I've lov'd thee much; but I will love thee more, If thou wilt raise me from this bed of painMy wasted frame renew-my strength restore,Grant this, and who shall dare to call thee vain ? But why art thou so slow to lend thy aid?

Haste, for I feel my exit drawing nigh; Haste, for the thoughts of death make me afraidAn awful gloom surrounds futurity! What, then, must I denounce thee vain to save? Fool, to have ever sought thy sympathy! But 'tis too late ;-before me opes the grave :— Thou hast deceived me, world !-deceived, I die.

Miscellaneous.

DANGERS OF THE YOUNG.-The mental and moral training of youth is, at all times, a question of the very highest interest and importance; but if ever there can be a period when the future course and conduct of the rising generation ought to become a matter of deeper and more anxious thought than at any other, it is the present, that stage of our history through which we are now passing. The spirit of inquiry, the intellectual excitement, the increased and increasing intelligence by which all classes, and more

especially the lower and labouring classes, are distinguished in these days, beyond all former experience, would, if rightly directed, tend to good, both as it respects the community at large, and the individuals of which it consists. But the agents of insubordination and of infidelity are diligently at work, in poisoning the popular mind, in shaking its confidence, even as to the very first principles of morality and religion, and its attachment to our established institutions, both in church and state; and in emboldening that class of society in which the physical strength of a nation lies, to cast off all fear of God and man, and to set at defiance, as far as may be, all laws, human and divine. Socialism is pandering to the lowest and most licentious propensities of human nature; while, by its impieties and blasphemies, it is endeavouring to destroy that sense of moral responsibility which serves as a wholesome check upon man's sensual appetites and passions. Chartism is addressing itself to that spirit of insubjection to constituted anthority -that impatience of control and restraint-that dissatisfaction with what is regarded as an inferior lot, and that envy of the higher conditions of life, which are so natural to fallen man. Popery also is spreading its snares; it is skilfully adapting its devices to the popular bias; it is striking in with the current of prevailing opinions, availing itself of every means of furthering its designs, and with ceaseless insinuation, working, and winding, and winning its way into the very heart of our Protestant constitution, and cloaking and concealing under fair professions of liberality, its inseparable intolerance, and its innate despotism, till it can throw off the mask with safety and success. Rationalism, meanwhile, in its various forms and phases, is degrading divine revelation, and deifying human reason; teaching, like the tempter of old, that by eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, men will be as gods-setting up its intellectual idol, and persuading poor blind creatures of a day to expect from their own mental powers and moral resources what nothing but the grace of God can effect. The agents of the wicked one are thus assailing the rising generation with every kind of solicitation to evil, by which man may be drawn away and enticed, whether it be the filthiness of the flesh or the filthiness of the spirit. And it is a truth of which we cannot be too mindful, that the process by which the human character is formed, and at length fixed, is continually progressing either for good or for evil, according to the influences under which each individual is placed. You cannot stop the education of the youthful mind. It will take its form and pressure from the circumstances by which it is surrounded, and the communication which it is continually receiving. The young are learning every day what is profitable or what is prejudicial. Their habits of thought and action are gradually acquiring strength and establishing their power and prevalency. And you might as well attempt to arrest the wheels of time, and stop the course of nature, as to prevent the plastic influence of the acquisitions and associations which the expanding and active mind of a rational being is continually making in the daily intercourse of life.*

From an introductory Lecture delivered to the members and friends of the Sheffield Church of England Instruction Society. By the Rev. T. Best, M. A.-Sheffield, Ridge and Jackson-London, Groombridge, 1840, pp. 16. This is a valuable address; and its wide circulation among all classes cannot fail to do good. The society before which it was delivered, was insti tuted to promote the glory of God, in accordance with that form of sound doctrine taught in the established church, by the reli gious and intellectual instruction and edification of its members. It is to bedesired, that such institutions were formed -in all our towns.

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A PERSUASIVE TO THE DUTY OF SAYING GRACE AT MEALS.

No. II.

BY THE REV HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT,

upon

Curate of Eldersfield, Worcestershire. HAVING Considered, in a former essay, the obligation of saying grace at meals, I shall now recommend the practice of this duty by stating a few of its manifold advantages; for what branch of religion could have been more wisely ordered, or can be better calculated to keep up a constant awe of our Maker and Preserver in our minds, which are naturally too apt, but will scarcely find it possible, to forget him, when habituated through the medium of the voice to "call and to "render thanks unto his name at every fresh supply of our necessities? What custom can more effectually tend to humble us with a just sense of our dependent and precarious condition? to dispose us to use God's bounties moderately, to enjoy them thankfully, to be content with our portion if it be little, to impart of our abundance if it be much, to compassionate those who want the same comforts, and to recollect that the wealthiest possessors in the land are merely stewards whom the universal proprietor has strictly charged to give freely of what they have freely received? What lastly, is a more likely way to continue, to enlarge, and to multiply our blessings, than to offer so public, so devout, so humble a testimony to our great Benefactor's goodness? "Let the people praise thee O God, yea, let all the people praise thee; then shall the earth bring forth her increase, and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing."

VOL. VIII.-NO. CCXXI.

PRICE 1d.

Indeed, so convinced were the Jews of the obligation and benefit of saying grace, that they made it their constant practice. This we learn from ancient and general tradition. The information which their writers give how their stricter sort observed it, is particularly full and satisfactory. Their celebrated historian, Josephus, in a detailed account of the rites and customs of the Essenes, who were confessedly the most pious professors of the Jewish religion, records their behaviour on this point. "The priest begs a blessing before they presume to receive any nourishment, and it is looked upon as a great sin to take or taste before. Then follows thanksgiving before meat, and when the meal is over, the priest prays again, and the company with him bless and praise God as their preserver and the giver of their life and nourishment." Philo, another Jewish writer, in his description of a still stricter sect, gives this accurate relation of them. "On certain special occasions, before they took their meals, they placed themselves in a proper decent order, when lifting up their hands and eyes to heaven, they prayed to God that he would be pleased to be propitious to them in the use of his good creatures." We read in the apocryphal history of Bel and the Dragon, of a certain prophet, Habbacuc, bringing, by divine direction, an unexpected supply of food to Daniel while confined in the lions' den; but the latter, without paying regard, or even speaking to the bearer of this seasonable refreshment, is described as immediately bending his devout acknowledgments to the heavenly purveyor. "And Habbacuc cried, saying, O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God hath sent thee. Daniel said, thou hast remembered me, O

[London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand.]

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And

God, neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and love thee." This story (whatever doubts may be thrown out against its truth) must at all hands be admitted to be highly pertinent to the present purpose, inasmuch as it represents the sentiments and practice of the more pious Jews of the age wherein the history was written, and it was doubtless in order to increase their admiration of that eminent prophet's character that the author of it made the duty in question a part and parcel of his conduct; but for full satisfaction let us appeal to the indisputable testimony of the inspired volume. Until the sacrifice was blessed with the prayers of Samuel the people would not eat thereof. Much more, then, does an ordinary meal, possessing no intrinsic holiness whatever, require a like form of consecration to sanctify it to its lawful use. And if St. Paul and his fellow-voyagers would not omit giving thanks over a hasty meal, taken amidst the confusion of a storm and the peril of a shipwreck, inexcusable shall we be if in safety and "wholly at ease and quiet," we seize the gift without once thinking of the giver. Shame on us to be out-done by the simple heathen who, on this point, may teach a lesson to many a Christian! Do we inquire into the usages of the Greeks who persecuted the apostles? These, whenever they met together to refresh themselves, were accustomed to sing a piece of music in imitation of the Hebrew psalms. Amphictyon king of Athens, one of the most renowned cities in that country, required, in a famous regulation made with respect to wine, that both at sacrifices and at home, the name of the greatest of their gods (Jupiter the Sustainer) should be reverently pronounced. Were the Romans, under whose bigotted superstition innumerable martyrs suffered, less observant of the custom? Let a single testimony suffice by way of an answer. "We approach the table and then invoke the gods." Neither did the Egyptians, the task-masters of God's ancient people, disobey this dictate of natural religion. It was the constant practice of their philosophers to pour out libations and make short ejaculations before they sat down to meals. The inhabitants of Naucratis, likewise, a city situated on the mouth of the river Nile, used, on special occasions after they had placed themselves in the posture of eating at table, to rise again and kneel; when the priest, or precentor of the solemnity, began to chaunt a grace according to a stated form amongst them, and when that was over they joined in the meal in a no less reverential manner than if it had been a sacrifice. Even the Chinese, a people of proverbially peculiar habits, exactly agree in this respect with the nations whom I

just have noticed; for thus speaks the Jesuit Trigantius in his narrative of the expedition which the missionaries of that persuasion made amongst them: "Before the guests sit down at table, the host, after various ceremonies, pours wine from a charger on the ground, as a thankful oblation to the Lord of heaven."

Behold here, a conclusive argument to stir us up to this godly practice. Three out of the four quarters of the globe contribute their attestation in its favour; in parts, moreover, unenlightened by revelation or most hostile to its progress; and more instances to the same purpose could easily be adduced.

❝ Out

As to the objections sometimes urged against this observance. Do you alledge that the outward form is immaterial provided you pray and praise in the inner man? Were this plea based on reason, then might you, on equal grounds, decline conforming to the different postures prescribed in our exercises of devotion. Kneeling and standing for instance, possess in themselves no religious virtue, but they are helpful to devotion, and they tend to show forth our "light before men," to let the world around us perceive that our very bodies are actuated by the feelings that animate our souls. of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; a good man, out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things," and gives utterance to the pious thoughts conceived within his bosom. It is therefore greatly to be feared, that those whose consciences condemn them on this head, are strangers to proper sentiments towards him in whom "we live and move and have our being," and raise the alledged objection merely to cloke their sin. I have refrained from making a sweeping_charge of this description, because many, I am convinced, act contrary to their better judgment. Peradventure, shame at being seen with uplifted hands acknowledging the bounties of your God restrains you. O, shake off that, by reflecting how little you deserve, how little you can requite these bounties; and under this conviction strive by every expression of love and gratitude to cause others to know and share in your own religious feelings. Remember "there is a shame that bringeth sin and punishment." "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy angels," and saying grace is as real a confession of this divine Person as the most solemn devotional performance. Or shocked and disgusted at the irreverent behaviour of by far too many, I admit, who notwithstand

ing that they do say grace, care not how they say it, do you wish to show your abhorrence of such formality by never saying grace at all? O "judge righteous judgment" in this matter; learn to distinguish between the use and the abuse of this blessed custom; between a few words hastily and carelessly hurried over, and a solemn and deliberate address to the Most High. The former proceed from the mouth of such unthinking persons, to whom, if you would convincingly prove how totally you differ from them, the most effectual course is to repeat properly what they so lamentably pervert. Let heads of families, once a day at least, when assembled together at the social board, pour forth in their own name and in that of their dependents, the tribute of prayer and praise. Let not your address to God be so long as to degenerate into tediousness, or so short and speedily despatched as to give ground for the suspicion that you wish it over as soon as possible. What the form of it should be it would be presumptuous in me to prescribe, only take care it be so plain that every one at table may understand; so expressive of humility and self-abasement that every one may feel it. Above all, never fail to recommend your supplications and thanksgivings in the all-prevailing name of Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate. Through him only both temporal and spiritual blessings are communicated to man, so that they who never mention him at grace bring no glory to God, nor benefit to themselves by what they say. On the other hand, by observing this among the other directions just prescribed, the practice in question can hardly fail of spreading among your families a truly religious spirit, and calling down the divine blessing on all their occupations. Every day will you love it more and more; and, even in old age, when almost too feeble to rise up or make yourselves heard by those at table, you will still cleave to it, and peradventure in the words of a late pious prelate, reject the warmest solicitations of your friends to officiate in your stead. His chaplain wished him to spare himself that exertion and content himself with a bow of gratitude and reverence. But weak as he was he said, "I know some do content themselves with a bow, and when they say grace do it as if they were ashamed of what they say, but I will say grace as long as I am able to utter it."

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THE sun rose brightly on the woods of M on a sweet morning in the early part of June, when the mansion to admit a carriage in which two eminent sursleepy porter opened the gates leading to the splendid geons from the metropolis were hastening to alleviate, if possible, the sufferings of the only daughter and only child of the family. The deer bounded lightly across the pathway, and the turrets of the castle tinged with the rays of the rising sun, and reflected in the calm waters of the peaceful lake, added much to the grandeur of the scene. All around bore testimony to the wealth as well as antiquity of the family, and accustomed as they were to constant contacts with human suffering, even in its most aggravated form, these surgeons could not but feel that their embassy was one of peculiar interest, for the patient was the last of a long line of ancestors, and was the following week to have,been married to a young man of high descent, and of unimpeachable character, whom she had known from infancy. They were received at the door of the mansion by the medical man of the family, whose anxious looks betrayed at once that he regarded the case as one of imminent danger-and as they passed through the hall, hung on all sides with portraits of noble and gallant knights, they were nearly overpowered by the sobs and wailings of the the afflicted parents, who accompanied them. Enthe wounds, both came to the decision that cure tering the patient's room, and carefully examining was hopeless, that any attempt at an operation could only inflict suffering, and that in a very short time death must ensue. The surgeons returned to town, went down brilliantly in the west, its parting rays for their longer stay could be of no avail. The sun fell on the pallid corpse of the much loved Editha, and the knell from the church tower that stood in the of M had no longer an heiress, and that it must park proclaimed, as evening closed, that the domain pass into other hands in a few years.

The case was indeed peculiarly melancholy and excited the deepest sympathy in the neighbourhood. Editha, on the previous day, had been riding in the park with her betrothed, the horse, though generally very quiet, took fright, and threw her on the stump of an old oak tree; she was carried home senseless, but soon came to herself; the wounds were not so

painful as might have been expected, and no danger was apprehended until the family surgeon, perceiving cause for alarm, desired that further aid might be instantly had recourse to. It was her wish to know precisely what the opinion was as to her state, and the danger was announced to her by the venerable rector of the parish, for whom she had always entertained the most affectionate regard. She heard the medical decision with composure. "Poor, poor, darling Frederick," was her sole remark, "God bless and comfort him, he'll never forget his Editha." Her frame of mind was tranquil-she retained her faculties to the last, and bore decisive proofs that vital religion had been deeply rooted in the heart, and that even amidst much worldly allurements to lead the thoughts from God, the faithful admonitions of her beloved pastor, and his earnest prayers on her behalf, had not been in vain. He had baptized her in infancy, and first placed in her hand the symbols of a Saviour's broken body and shed blood. She was one of the most hopeful of his little flock, and often he had anticipated the blessings she would confer on

all around her. Grace was in the heart, and with advancing years its blessed fruits were more and more apparent. But it pleased him who doeth all things well, to destroy the hopes entertained of her future usefulness, and while the good old man wept her early removal, he felt assured that she was eternally safe in the keeping of the heavenly shepherd, and would be found at last one of that blessed company on whom it is the Father's good pleasure to bestow his kingdom. How different had been his feelings had she been an alien from her God!what spectacle more distressing than that of a young female accomplished in every thing, but utterly destitute of the saving power of religion! Around the dying bed of Editha stood her agonized parents, and with her hand grasped in his knelt the dearest earthly object of her affections. The rector was in the act of praying that her soul, washed in the blood of Jesus, might stand pure before the throne-one sentence only she uttered-" Safety! safety !"—and the ransomed spirit bade an eternal adieu to the objects of earth. Her betrothed swooned, and in this state was carried from the chamber. The funeral preparations were costly; a vast concourse of all grades attended to testify their respect to the memory of the deceased. The old church was crowded by persons anxious to witness the melancholy ceremony. The muffled peal struck heavily on the ear; far different sounds were that morning expected to have been heard from the belfry, for on the same hour at which it was arranged that the nuptials should be celebrated, the coffin was lowered to the chancel vault, on the spot where the young couple would have stood mutually to plight their troth. The old rector faltered as he read the service; he had himself experienced the departure -we dare not say loss-of those to whom he was bound by the most endearing ties, and he had hoped at that very moment to be uniting her in matrimony.

The castle was for many years closed. The afflicted parents left it almost immediately and could never be induced to reside there. At the father's decease the estate passed to the hands of a very distant relative, totally unacquainted with his predecessor. The castle once more became the scene of festivity, but the old persons of the village drop a tear at the recollection of the early removal of their young mistress, and stand to look at the splendid tablets in the chancel, which records the sad event. "She was an angel, Sir," said an aged woman, "beloved by all, rich and poor. I think I see her now calling at the cottages; a kind word she had for every one-there was no pride there. I passed her with Mr. Frederick, as they were riding in the park-the very day she was thrown off. It is a long long time ago; I was then but a girl. She spoke to me, and told me to come to the castle in the morning, for my clothes for her wedding, for all the village children were to attend her to church. Alas! 1 never saw her again-we all went to the funeral, but the white robes were changed. Did you see the black marble pillar in the park, Sir? There the old oak stump stood. It is said that the squire and his lady sometimes visited the spot in the early morning, and from it went to the church, but old Joseph the park-keeper, would never answer any question on the subject. They came from a long way off, and never called on any one. They are now lying quietly beside her in the chancel. The new folks at the castle are very kind to us poor, but they are not just the same. Do you see that little picture, Sir? It was Miss Editha's drawing."

Naturally of a weak constitution, the shock was too much for the bereaved Frederick; his health gradually declined. Contrary to the advice, and in opposition to the requests of his friends, he had attended the funeral, and returned from consigning the ashes to the grave in a frame of mind amounting to agony. In a southern clime he sought

recovery, but in vain. His spirit though resigned to the divine will was broken. The light of his eyes was removed; all around him on earth wore a sombre hue, but he could look beyond it, to the land of everlasting light and unchanging love. He quietly sank into the sleep of death-his withered hands extended as if to grasp some image before him. The last word but one which he uttered was Edithathe last Jesus. By his bed stood the minister or priest of an apostate church, anxious, if possible, to lure him into that church's embrace; but in vain. He died in the faith. His remains were not without difficulty suffered to be interred in consecrated ground, for he was deemed of course a heretic. Still in a remote corner a grave may be traced, in which, awaiting the morning of the resurrection, are mouldering the ashes of the much-loved Frederick.

THOUGHTS ON HISTORICAL PASSAGES OF

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.
No. XIV.

THE ARK A TYPE OF THE Believer's SECURITY IN
JESUS.

BY THE REV. CHARLES ARNOLD, M.A.

Rector of Tinwell, Rutland.

OUR Lord has taught us that there is a depth of meaning in the sacred scriptures, which cannot be fathomed by the natural man. Reasoning with the Pharisees on the resurrection, he asked them "have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" To an ordinary reader his application of the passage would not have appeared. The plain and simple context would have led him to suppose that God, in revealing himself to the Israelites, had represented himself as the God whom their fathers had worshipped, and by whom they had been protected and blessed. This is all that he would have understood from it. But, by stating that " God is not the God of the dead, but of the living," our Lord shewed, that, in using this form of speech, God intimated that the patriarchs were living; and in fact bore testimony to the truth of the resurrection. Thus taught to look deeply into scripture, we attain a degree of knowledge which would otherwise have been withheld, and see what otherwise would have been concealed. rest no longer on the surface, but dive into hidden mysteries; and, in many passages, which, to a careless reader, appear unimportant, we see God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing unto men their sins. And when to the scriptures of the Old Testament we bring the knowlege acquired from the study of the New-when we read with minds enlightened and renewed by the Spirit of God-we see in the occurrences of former days, in the dispensations of Providence, in God's government of the world, in his acts of judgment and of mercy, a shadowing out of the salvation to be wrought by Christ, and of the final ordering of his spiritual kingdom. And we fully agree with the apostle, "that the scriptures of the Old Testament are able to make us wise unto salvation by faith which is in Christ Jesus."

We

Thus, in the saving of Noah and his family in the ark, we see something of the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ; and, if not ready to acknowledge that extraordinary deliverance as a type of eternal salvation, we are, at least, reminded of many points in which there is a close resemblance. When men began to multiply in the earth, sin multiplied too. And so rapidly and widely did its influence spread, that all mankind were not only contaminated, but

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