Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

does it import to the personal salvation of the governor hat he affords a political protection to the professors of religion. This is indeed the order of the day; not from the principle of encouraging the gospel, but from a certain indifference which considers all religions equally absurd, at the same time that they are equally useful. This, then, brings us to the alternative of dealing seriously with our own hearts, that we may not live out our days as the amiable protectors and patronisers only of those who follow the gospel; but as having also a deep concern in it ourselves; and moreover, to learn from the examples which are left on record (the proper use of history), that, without the grace of God to soften the heart, and His spirit to illuminate all our attainments, yea, all our efforts, will be in vain, and it is only after that we are illuminated, that, like those Christians of early times, we shall be able to endure the fight of afflictions, which, in some shape or other appears to be awaiting us.

The Cabinet.

CHRISTIAN FAITH AN OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE. -Without obedience, our knowledge is but ignorance, our wisdom, folly; and our belief no better, nay it is worse, than infidelity. The more we know of our Maker's will, if we do it not, we shall be beaten with the more stripes. Orthodox opinions, unaccompanied with a good life, like blossoms without fruit, by promising fairly, but aggravate the disappointment. A Christian stands not on the same level with other men: his advantages are more eminent; what he does amiss is more criminal. God has provided for him the highest mansions in the kingdom of glory, and is desirous to place him nearest to himself in heaven; but if he resist the means of grace, and reject the offers of salvation, his punishment will be as dreadful as his hopes are glorious. All the doctrines of our most holy faith are according to godliness-all the capital articles of it enforcing most strongly a virtuons and a holy life. We, who profess to be Christians, who call ourselves after the blessed name of our adorable Redeemer, have all the great reasons to walk holily which are common to others, and we have unspeakably more, and unspeakably greater. O let us not suffer them to be lost upon us ; let them not witness against us at the great day of account! Let our lives be answerable to those vast and accumulated obligations! And if our own solemn promises, if the precepts, or the doctrines, or the love of our Redeemer, if the example of his life, the propitiation of his death, the sanctification of his Spirit, if his promise of rewards which are unspeakable, and his threatenings of unutterable punishments, will not move us to repentanee and amendment of life, his justice will triumph over us, who might have been monuments of his mercy!-Ogden.

Poetry.

THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. Nothing can be more picturesque or more melancholy than the view of this ancient field of the dead, the burying place of the chief people of Jerusalem for ages. The Jewish Kings here found tombs, of which striking remnants are to be seen even at this day. Tradition gives the sepulchres the names of Jewish chieftains, and even of Christian saints. But the features of nature are still more interesting; through the valley flows the brook Cedron, still of a purple tinge; above it rises Mount Olivet, and within view are the towers of unhappy Jerusalem.”— (For the Church of England Magazine.) COME, gaze with me upon this vale,

See yonder cypress wave,

Hear yonder mourner's lonely wail

Above the new-made grave;

Mark yonder sanguine-tinted stream, -*-
So slowly gliding by,

All strange and solemn as a dream,
That dream mortality.

Yet in that vale's forgotten bed

Lies many a glorious name,
The hero's heart, the sage's head,
The prophet's eye of flame.
There kings the diadem laid down,

There royal beauties sleep,
The simple turf alone their own,
Where yonder willows weep.
Beneath that scnlptured grotto-tomb,
Lies David bold and brave,
The son of beauty, Absalom;

There Zechariah's grave.
A violet bed beside a spring,

Where Israel's pilgrims tell,
From many an angel's golden string
The midnight anthems swell.
But, in the sunbeams' purple set,

What mount shines bright above?
There stands mount OLIVET,

Thou scene of more than love!
Thou scene of more than mortal pain,
Mountain of agony!

Where freedom's Lord embraced the chain,
Death's Conqueror came to die!

Miscellaneous.

BUNYAN.He took a journey in very bad weather from London to Reading, Berks, to make up a breach between a father and a son, with whom he had some acquaintance; and having happily effected his last work and labour of love, he returned to his lodgings on Snow-hill apparently in good health, but very wet with the heavy rain that was then falling; and soon after he was seized with a fever which in ten days terminated his useful life.

THE Christian life is a state of perpetual warfare : the child of God, as he pursues his way through the rough and dreary desert, encounters many difficulties in his course, and finds many obstacles to impede his progress; without are fightings, and within are fears; without are the snares and devices of Satan, within are the sins and corruptions of his own heart. Many are the trials of his faith; many and sore his conflicts. "Lord, save me or I perish,' is very often the language of his heart, as the tempestuous waves beat around him, and the storm rages terribly. But what saith the Saviour? "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not."-Brief Records of Meditative Hours.

From "The Pilgrim's Progress," by John Bunyan, with original notes, by the Rev. T. Scott, London, Seeley, 1840. | Bunyan's Pilgrim is a work which will always keep its popularity. Its readers will thank us for directing their attention to this beautiful edition; it is printed in a most elegant style, with a profusion of fine illustrations. We doubt not that it will command a most extensive sale as the edition of all others to adorn a library. We thank Messrs. Seeley for presenting the wellremembered favourite of our childhood in such an attractive form.

London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square: W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.

PRINTED BY

JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON.

[merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

ON LETTER WRITING:

MAY 16, 1840.

BY THE REV. CHARLES TERROT, M.A.,

Vicar of Wispington, Lincolnshire.

IT is a lamentable fact that men in general are utterly ignorant of their own state, their eyes being completely blind to their guilt and danger; strangers to the spiritual meaning of the law, they are not aware how far short they have fallen from the obedience it enjoins; ignorant of the perfections of God, they little know how deeply they have offended him; measuring themselves by a wrong standard, they cannot admit themselves to be such corrupt and fallen creatures as the scriptures represent them. In this way they deceive themselves, and trust for acceptance with God on the ground of their own fancied merits; righteous in their own eyes, and pure in their own sight, they cannot see the necessity of that way of salvation which the gospel insists upon, nor understand why such deep repentance should be required in them, who have never, as they conceive, done any harm. They expect to lift up their heads without fear or shame, but when the day of judgment actually comes how will they then feel? Then these delusions will continue no longer; then the veil of self-conceit will be torn from their eyes; the emptiness of their hopes, the vanity of those false foundations will then be clearly unfolded to them; they will then distinctly see, what they never could see before, that Christ is all in all, that there is salvation in no other.

The following reflections, it is hoped, may be serviceable in removing the veil from the self-righteous, in checking the thoughtless professor, and in humbling the most advanced Christian. On that awful day, then, when every son and daughter of Adam

VOL. VIII. NO. CCXXIV.

PRICE 1d.

shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the body according to that they have done, whether good or bad, let us imagine the whole correspondence of our life to be produced in evidence against us. At that solemn season, when the dispersed particles of our bodies shall be reunited, let us suppose our letters (whether reduced to ashes in the flames, or torn into atoms and scattered to the winds), to be collected and confronted with us; no other evidence will be needed of what the heart has been. The reality of our faith, the soundness of our principles is proved by the fruits, and among the fruits by our words, for "by our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned." How grievous would be our case; who could bear to let his final condition stand or fall by his written words? Sinful thoughts, words, and actions, may have escaped the memory, or be denied, but here are our sins in black and white, as it were, signed and sealed, staring us in the face. Many of the letters would be found dated on the sabbath, that day which ought to be devoted to holy purposes, according to the appointment of Almighty God. Slanderous tales, not duly inquired into, written to amuse and fill the sheet, would form the materials of some, and, as a quaint writer observes, "The fangs of a bear, and the tusks of a wild boar, do not bite worse, or make deeper gashes than a goosequill sometimes does." What wilful falsehoods, what equivocations, what contradictions, what hypocritical professions of attachment would be found! What a culpable silence from good words when addressing the profane, and what a profusion of unfelt seriousness when communicating with the pious! The effusions of a faithless lover, the base proposals of the intriguer, the challenge of the

(London: Joseph Rogerson 24 Norfolk-street, Strand.)

A A

duellist, the stern refusal to the request of poverty, the threatenings of the merciless prosecutor, the profane oaths and irreverent expressions-signs of delight in the pomps and vanities of the world-all would rise up like the ghosts of murdered victims to bear witness against us, and declare that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,"-" that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. The letters of David to Joab, sent by the hand of Uriah, saying, (6 set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die:" the letters written by Jezebel, in Ahab's name, to cause the death of Naboth, in order to procure his vineyard: the letters which Sennacherib wrote "to rail on the God of Israel:" the letter of Ahasuerus "sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, in one day :" and the letters of the high priest, to the synagogues of Damascus, like Saul himself, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Christians-all will come forth and shame and convict their respective authors.

It once occurred during a trial of a civil nature (the particulars of which it is unnecessary to relate) that a letter which had been forgotten, or which it was presumed had been destroyed, was suddenly produced. This unexpected document exposed the perjury of the defendant, filled him with astonishment and shame, and reversed the decision of the court. This, however, is a feeble illustration of the consternation of a sinner at the bar of God. The handwriting on the wall struck not more terror into the soul of Belshazzar than will his own production into that of the unrepentant, unrenewed transgressor. His epistles will cry out against him, and he will stand speechless, convicted, self-condemned as the intrusive guest at the marriage feast. Happy will it be for those who have embraced the terms of the gospel in time, and believed in him who "blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contraryto us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Our Judge has declared that men shall give an account of every idle word, at the last day; and his epistles may be considered decisive evidences of a man's character, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, or, as we might add, the pen writeth. If, then, there were nothing else to be produced against us, "when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed," this alone would suffice to leave us without excuse. We ought, therefore, constantly to examine ourselves, seek forgiveness of the vast, keep a constant watch over our thoughts,

and improve this important talent, that we may for the future habitually write such words as are consistent with the Christian's character, are suited to minister grace unto the "readers,' and may be brought forward as fruits of our faith and love in the day of judgment.

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.*

VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF AUSTRALIA TO THE

SOCIETY'S MISSION IN NEW ZEALAND.

INFORMATION of various particulars relative to this visit had reached the committee direct from New Zeathe report from the bishop himself should have been land; but they refrained from publishing any thing, till received. This important and valuable communication has recently arrived. With the exception of what is confidential, the whole of it is here given.

"Sydney, New South Wales,
March 28, 1839.

"Rev. Sir,-Although several weeks have elapsed since my return from my late voyage, in the course of which I fulfilled my long cherished intention of visiting the missionary settlements in New Zealand, the constant occupation which I have since found in discharging the arrears which had accumulated during my absence, and the necessity of keeping up a correspondence with all parts of the diocese, have hitherto prevented my forwarding that report of my proceedings which, I am persuaded, the society will be anxious to receive.

"I employ my first interval of comparative leisure in acquainting you, for the society's information, that I embarked on Wednesday, December 12, 1838, on board H. M. S. Pelorus, commanded by Captain consented to afford me a passage to the various points Francis Harding, who, at my request, had obligingly which I was desirous of visiting. On the following day we left this harbour; and, on the morning of Friday, 21st December, anchored in the Bay of Islands, during the passage. The rev. O. Hadfield, whom, on having experienced no incident worthy of observation the recommendation of the society, I had, at my late ordination, admitted to deacon's orders, accompanied me; and I was gratified by observing the perceptible change of climate. The rev. R. Maunsell, whose stabenefit which his health had already derived frem tion is at Manukau, to the southward, happened at this time to be at the Bay of Islands, on account of the state of Mrs. Maunsell's health, and was so kind the house of the resident, James Busby, Esq. Several as to receive me on my landing, the day following, at other members of the mission were also present on the occasion; and I received from all a friendly reception and cordial welcome, which afforded me great encouragement. The rev. Henry Williams, I found, was absent, having undertaken a voyage to the neighbourhood of East Cape, in the hope of composing some serious differences which had arisen among the tribes there, and of preventing their proceeding to extremiattached to the missionary stations in the neighbourties, and thereby alarming or endangering the residents hood of those contests. The rev. W. Williams came over from Waimate, as soon as the intelligence of our arrival reached him.

"On Sunday, the 23rd, the captain of the Pelorus scut his boat to convey me to the chapel at Paihia. It is merely a cottage of unpretending appearance; but not incommodiously fitted up. The very appearance of a place of Christian worship on those shores was marvellous in my eyes, and excited feelings and thoughts of peculiar and earnest interest. There was

* The extreme importance and interesting details connected

with the bishop of Australia's visit to New Zealand, induce us than in the Ecclesiastical Register.

to insert his lordship's letter in the body of the Magazine, rather

a' degree of repose and quietness in the scene, which seemed to betoken that this was indeed the sabbathday; and I am not ashamed of acknowledging myself to be so much under the influence of external objects, as to have felt a calm shed over my mind by the sight of the green turf, and the scent of the sweetbriar hedges which surround this humble temple; and I took part in the service, and preached there, much supported by hopes, which I pray to a God of infinite mercy may be realized, on behalf of the hitherto ignorant and barbarous natives of this land, many of whom attended the service. The numbers, however, both of natives and Europeans present on this occasion, were considerably under the usual average, as I understood; so many being prevented attending as usual by the general prevalence of a disease termed influenza, which, when we quitted Port Jackson, was raging in most parts of New South Wales, and in an equal degree throughout the island of Van Diemen's Land. Its effect upon the constitution of the natives in New Zealand appears to exceed in virulence even that to which the Europeans are exposed; although in the families of the missionaries, and of the English settlers in general, very great distress and suffering are occasioned by this very prevalent disorder. In every house there were some disabled; and in some families every individual was attacked, so as to put a stop to every ordinary domestic proceeding. As it affects the natives, I shall have further observations to offer upon the subject oft his disease, before¡l 'conclude this letter. "It will be unnecessary to trouble the Society with a detail of my personal proceedings, further than by stating, that, during my stay in the Bay of Islands, I made excursions to visit the settlements at Kerikeri and Waimate; and also to the Kauakaua, where there is a large assemblage of converted natives. I officiated again at Paihia on Christmas Day, which completed the twenty-fourth year of the establishment of the mission; my venerated friend, Mr. Marsden, having landed on the 24th December, 1814, and preached his first sermon, on the beach, on the day following,-the festival of the nativity. Mr. King, who was then present, is still alive, and in the enjoyment of good health, and recalled that impressive scene with animated recollection. On Sundays, 30th December and 6th January, I also took part in the services of the missionary chapel; and on the last of these days, being the day of the Epiphany, and therefore a most appropriate occasion, I, in the same place, conferred priest's orders on Mr. Hadfield. * * *** In the ordination service I was assisted by the rev. Henry Williams, who had arrived at home after an absence of two months, the rev. W. Williams, and the rev. R. Maunsell. The feelings excited in the minds of all present, on this solemn occasion, were most gratifying; and to themselves, I trust, would afford permanent benefit. I was thankful to have such an opportunity given of showing them the nature of our orders, and our apostolical mode of conveying the ministerial office.

"Another duty, scarcely less edifying, devolved on me, in administering the ordinance of confirmation to about twenty young persons of European parentage, and to double that number of adult New Zealanders, converts of the missionaries. In the case of the former class, there could be no doubt of their being suitably prepared, and grounded in the rudiments of religious knowledge, as required by our rubrics; consisting, as they did principally, of children of the missionaries themselves, or of those who were living in habits of close intimacy and intercourse with them. The appearance of these young persons was pleasing and interesting; their demeanour unassuming; becomingly serious, without any mixture of affectation; and their almost total unacquaintance with the world giving them a simplicity of manner which forcibly attracts esteem. It was also gratifying to observe the readiness of the parents to present their children for the

|

reception of this becoming ordinance; proving that they had not, through long disuse, lost their feeling of the advantage which even the most spiritually-minded may derive from the faithful and pious use of external services. It was not possible for me to decide, with equal certainty or confidence, upon the actual fitness, in point of preparation, of the native candidates; but they were carefully and perseveringly examined by the clergymen as to their degree of acquaintance with the creed, the Lord's prayer, and the commandments. They were living in all apparent godliness and honesty, under tlie constant observation, it may be said, of the entire mission; and no evil heart of unbelief had betrayed itself among them; and they drew near in a very earnest and humble spirit, desiring to partake of this rite as a means of grace; the nature of it having been previously explained to them in the fullest terms. I therefore, with, I trust, not a misplaced confidence, laid my hands on them, receiving from them the personal ratification of the promises made in their baptism; and I regard the day on which this full admission of them into the fold of Christ took place, as marking a very memorable era, both in my own life, and in the annals of the New Zealand church. grant that they may indeed daily increase in his holy Spirit more and more, until they come to his everlasting kingdom! The service of confirmation was translated into the New Zealand language, and a sufficient number of copies printed at the mission press, preparatory to the day of that ceremonial. The same was done with regard to the form for consecrating a churchyard; and I employed it in the consecration of the burial-grounds, both at Paihía and Kororarika. likewise appointed the rev. Messrs. Williams to act as my surrogates, for granting marriage-licenses; the want of which is very inconveniently felt, and affords encouragement to the irregular celebration of marriage-rites, which it is desirable not to have introduced.

God

I

"After departing from the Bay of Islands, we proceeded to the river Thames, where I found Mr. Fairburn established as a missionary, and, with the aid of his wife and daughter, imparting instruction to a large number of natives, both male and female. At the particular desire of Mr. Fairburn I confirmed his children. I also baptized an infant born of New Zealand parents, who had been given by its mother, before her death, to the charge of Mrs. Fairburn, and a middle-aged native woman, then lying in a state of great exhaustion and apparent danger on a sick bed: she had long known the way of salvation, and had much desired the privilege of baptism, which she now received with a meek and quiet spirit. The hut in which this took place was pretty full of natives, who appeared to look with much interest on what was being done; they were very quiet and respectful. I read the baptismal service in their own tongue; with sufficient correctness, I trust, to make myself intelligible among them; and if so, God may graciously permit their remembrance of that occurrence to turn hereafter to a profitable account in his service. It was my earnest wish to have visited Tauranga, where the rev. A. N. Brown is stationed; as well as Manukau, Waikato, and other stations to the southward, including the East Cape, where it is proposed, on the arrival of the rev. R. Taylor from Sydney, to form a new establishment; but Captain Harding felt, that from the nature of the service he was upon, he could not with propriety prolong his absence from Sydney to the extent that would be necessary to accomplish all this; and therefore, on the 11th of January, we sailed from the Thames for Norfolk Island, which also I proposed to visit.

66

Having rendered this short account of the principal incidents during my residence in New Zealand, I shall now offer to the notice of the society those conclusions, with regard to the present state and futur

prospects of their mission, which I was enabled to form, through the cxercise of my judgment upon all which presented itself to my observation. In thus proceeding, I shall use great plainness of speech. It is in my power, I think, effectually to contradict the the assertions of the adversary and the scoffer, who have sometimes gone the length of affirming that the attempt to Christianize the people of this nation has been a failure, that nothing has been done. On the other hand, I shall not suffer my admiration of that which has really been effected, to hurry me into an unqualified approval of every thing connected with the establishment of the mission, or the operations of the missionaries; nor to deter me from pointing out any particulars in which I think there is room for improvement.

First, with regard to the missionaries of the society, I must offer a very sincere and willing testimony of their maintaining a conservation such as becomes the gospel of Christ, and the relation in which they stand to it, as the professed guides and instructors of those who are, by their agency, to be retrieved from the service of sin. Their habits of life are devotional: they are not puffed up with self-estimation; but appeared to me willing to learn, as well as apt to teach and among themselves they appear to be drawn together by a spirit of harmony, which is, I hope, the sincere effusion of their hearts, prompted by that Spirit, of which love, gentleness, and goodness are among the most delightful fruits. It is upon the continuance of this spirit among themselves that I raise my principal expectations of their continued success among the natives. Without unanimity there can be no successful combination of their exertions, nor is any blessing upon them to be hoped for, such as has hitherto visibly attended them, and in a very ample

measure.

"At every station which I personally visited, the converts were so numerous as to bear a very visible and considerable proportion to the entire population; and I had sufficient testimony to convince me that the same state of things prevailed at other places, which t was not in my power to reach. As the result of imy inspection, I should state, that in most of the native villages, called Pas, in which the missionaries have a footing, there is a building, containing one room, superior in fabric and dimensions to the native residences, which appears to be set apart as their place for assembling for religious worship, or to read the scriptures, or to receive the exhortations of the missionaries. In these buildings generally, but sometimes in the open air, the Christian classes were assembled before me. The grey-haired man and the aged woman took their places, to read and to undergo examination, among their descendants of the second and third generations. The chief and the slave stood side by side, with the same holy volume in their hands, and exerted their endeavours each to surpass the other in returning proper answers to the questions put to them concerning what they had been reading. These assemblages I encouraged on all occasions, not only from the pleasure which the exhibition itself afforded, but because I was thus enabled, in the most certain and satisfactory way, to probe the extent of their attainments and improvements. The experience thus acquired has induced me to adopt the habit of applying the term converts' to those alone, for many such I found there were, who, in the apparent sincerity of their convictions, and in the sufficiency of their information, compared with their opportunities of acquiring it, may be considered Christians indeed. They have, as the society is probably informed, the whole, I believe, of the liturgy in their own language, accompanied, for several years past, with portions of the New Testament.

"But a very great work has been accomplished, in now providing them with a translation of the whole

volume; copies of which are distributed to such as are likely to employ them well, as rapidly as, with the limited means in their possession, the missionaries are able to have them bound. This translation will ever remain a monument of laborious and well-directed piety. My acquaintance with the language was not sufficient to enable me critically to judge of its fidelity to the original; but, in my conversations with the rev. W. Williams, the principal agent in this great work, I availed myself of every opportunity to ascertain the exact literal rendering of any passages which chanced to be the subjects of our immediate attention; and upon inquiring, which I did very closely, into his reasons for adopting particular words or phrases to express the sense of the original, I was gratified to find that he was invariably prepared with a reason; and my impression is, that where there were conflicting reasons, each carrying weight, he had generally given the preference to that which deserved it.

"In speaking of the character of the converted natives, I express most unequivocally my persuasion, that it has been improved, in comparison with the original disposition, by their acquaintance with the truths of the gospel. Their haughty self-will, their rapacity, furiousness, and sanguinary inclination have been softened, I may even say eradicated; and their superstitious opinions have given place, in many instances, to a correct apprehension of the spiritual tendencies of the gospel. Their chief remaining vices appeared to me, to be indolence, duplicity, and covetousness. The source of all these may probably be found in the ability of the missionaries and other Europeans to supply their limited wants in return for a very moderate amount of labour; and it is a natural, perhaps necessary consequence, that they should anxiously desire the possession of articles so strange, and at the same time so valuable to them, as the Europeans have to offer; as well as that, through their prevailing anxiety to obtain those much-coveted conveniences, they should adopt a fawning and submissive air toward those who have the means of bestowing them. They retain too much, considering what intercourse they have enjoyed with the English, of their native lounging and dirty habits. I do not think that we met with a single instance, during our stay, of one man who had done a fair day's work, according to an Englishman's reckoning; but they sit about from morning till night-1 am speaking of the neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands,-and occupy themselves most perseveringly in doing nothing. In the Thames, I thought, or hoped, that I saw symptoms of a more industrious disposition. I did not scruple to inform the missionaries of my opinion, that they were to blame in suffering their followers to continue this degrading and mischievous course. Their disposition to allow slovenliness and neglect to prevail, was manifested even in some of the places of worship, and in their native villages, which were slovenly, and even filthy, in a degree which excited my regret and displeasure. The missionaries allege, that they cannot insist upon a reform of these admitted blemishes, without a risk of disgusting and alienating the natives, who delight in dirt and disorder. But it appears to me that this is a short-sighted policy, more likely than not, to confirm the nation in habits of the kind here alluded to; and which must be broken off before the New Zealanders can ever form a community worthy to be ranked among civilized Christian nations. They can labour well, it is evident, if properly trained by the influence of superior understandings, and encouraged by the personal example of those to whom they look almost as beings of a superior race. They are of a joyous, yet reflective turn; pleased to be instructed; humble in listening to exhortation; very quick and ingenious in tracing the analogies of religion by comparing spiritual things with spiritual; amenable, apparently, to the use of those outward forms which are

« FöregåendeFortsätt »