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the Christian, however, though the loss of friends may bring sorrow, it can never inspire despair. He mourns not as those who have no hope. In the full confidence of an exalted faith, he looks on the dissolution of mortal ties, the final extinction of earthly affections, as but the prelude to a glorious existence; where the disembodied spirit, resolved into its elemental freedom, shall bask in the beatific rays of uncreated day, and hold high converse with its God.

Life is but a dream, a transitory illusion which death soon dispels; but the eternity of the soul is a duration which knows no mutability!

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years,
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds!

D.

THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTIC OF

GOD'S WORKS.*

The first part of this proposition-that the hand is exquisitely constructed to be the servant of the intellectual mind-is very obvious, and can be overlooked by none who reflect for one moment upon the subject. If man had no organ of the body better adapted to execute the designs of the intellect than the hoof of an animal, it is evident that he would long in vain for such instruments as the chronometer, the printing press, and the steam engine-even supposing him capable of conceiving such ideas. But it is easy to show that if man had been created without that beautiful instrument, the hand, he would have been utterly incapable of ever conceiving such ideas. The intellectual soul of man is continually expanded and enlarged in contemplating the works of her own hands; or in using these again as instruments to examine the works of nature, she imbibes countless millions of ideas. History informs us in what a rude and barbarous state the most enlightened nations once have been, and what once was the barrenness and paucity of their ideas. Suppose, then, our savage forefathers, the naked Druids in the woods, had been created with the hoof of an animal instead of the human hand, will any man say that such beings would ever have formed a nation of mighty and gigantic intellect such as Britain now is? On the contrary, such a supposition must carry us far below the most barbarous nation upon earth; for even our rude forefathers derived the few ideas they had from contemplating the works of their own hands. They could make huts of the boughs of trees, and clothing of the skins of beasts; and, in killing these, or making those, they would acquire a variety of ideas, besides the moral ideas of property. But we may go backwards yet again to a still earlier stage of this beautiful process. Every observing man may see it with his own eyes, without going among savage nations for an example. There probably is not a creature upon earth so utterly destitute of ideas as the new-born offspring of man. But let any observer mark it well, and notice it as soon as it begins to make use of its little hands-say, from ten months old and upwardslet him mark the eagerness with which it seizes, examines, and handles things; let him mark how soon it begins to be busy and troublesome with its hands in a thousand ways, pulling everything out of its place and order, examining, tearing, destroying, and here he will behold Adam acquiring ideas. Its little hands never rest, no, not one moment of its waking hours. Young Adam, in his eagerness to acquire ideas, often pulls down mischief on his own head. Thus in th new-born infant and the savage, and in man in every stage of culture, the hands mightily increase the rapidity and power with which ideas are acquired; and the intellectual soul expands more and more continually, and multiplies her ideas in proportion as the works of The distinctive characteristic of God's works illus- her own hands increase in number, variety, and beauty. trated in the human hand.

THE line of demarcation which separates the works
of man from the works of God, and constitutes the
peculiar feature of each, is this-In the works of man,
and in all human machinery, the effect never can be
made either to reproduce or repair its own cause. The
cause acts for a time; its energy dies away, and the
effect ceases.
Men can never make a watch which,
having gone down, will wind up itself again. Here is
the limit over which man can never pass. Thousands
of other instances might be adduced, but this one is
characteristic of them all. But, in the works of God,
the effect comes round again, and acts upon its own
cause, repairs it, sustains its energy, often aggravates
and increases it, and, if necessary, reproduces it alto-
gether. Thus, in the works of God, the cause and the
effect act and re-act, generate and re-generate each
other, till it often becomes difficult for man to say
which is the cause and which is the effect. Thus the
Almighty acts in everlasting circles, and his works
contain within themselves a self-restoring energy, or a
self-reproducing power, capable of enduring for ever
and for ever. This is true in every variety of his
works, and in all his appointments, without one soli-
tary exception. It is true in the whole kingdom of
matter; it is true in the whole region of mind;
it is true in all those wonderful works of the
Almighty where both mind and matter are concerned,
where mind acts upon matter, and matter upon mind.
It is true in morals, it is true in physics; it is true in
all that relates to time, as well as all that concerns
eternity. It is true in religion, and all the Christian
graces of the soul. It is true in politics, political eco-
nomy, and the causes of the wealth of nations, and of
the rise and fall of empires. It is true in health, it
is true in disease; it is an everlasting energy for ever-
increasing good, or (horrible reflection!) it is an ever-
lasting energy for ever-accumulating evil.

The human hand is both the servant and schoolmaster of the soul. It is the servant to obey its commands, and to execute all its vast designs; but it is also the tutor to expand and enlarge the ideas of the soul a thousand-fold, and is itself the cause and origin of millions of those very commands which itself obeys.

From "The Almighty's Everlasting Circles," By the Ven. H. Jeffreys, Archdeacon of Bombay.

But if mankind never had members capable of making these things, they never would have conceived these ideas-and this not from any defect in the capacity for acquiring knowledge; for (to come to our conclusion at once) I assert, that, if such creatures as these had the brain so constructed as to have the largest capacity for acquiring knowledge that nation ever had, their actual knowledge and the scope of their reasoning powers would have scarcely extended beyond those of a cun

am enamoured with it, though I attain it not; and how little soever I attain, would rather live and die in the pursuit of it, than in the pursuit, yea, or in the possession or enjoyment, though unpursued, of all the advantages that this world affords. And I trust, dear brethren, you are of the same opinion, and have the same desire and design, and follow it both more diligently and with better success. But I will stop here, lest I should forget myself, and possibly run on till I have wearied you, if I have not done that already; and yet, if it be so, I shall hope for easy pardon at

ning animal. Thus the hand is the schoolmaster of the soul; expands and enlarges her ideas, and is the cause and origin of millions of commands froin the soul, which the hand itself is the servant to obey. There are now in this world millions of ideas and things which, if it had not been for the human hand, "eye would have never seen, nor ear heard, neither would they have entered into the heart of man to conceive." Here is a beautiful instance of the Almighty's everlasting circles. The cause commands the effect; the effect expands the cause and unfolds its energy; and how far this may go, what wonders the hand may further exe-your hands, as of a fault I have not been accustomed cute at the command of the soul, and what amazing powers the soul may yet develope, what new ideas she may yet acquire in contemplating the works of her own hands, none but the Creator himself can tell.

PASTORAL LETTER FROM ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON TO THE SYNOD OF DUNBLANE.

"GLASGOW, April 6, 1671.-Reverend BrethrenThe superadded burden that I have here, sits so heavy upon me, that I cannot escape from under it to be with you at this time; but my heart and desires shall be with you for a blessing from above upon your meeting. I have nothing to recommend to you, but (if you please) to take a review of things formerly agreed upon; and such as you judge most useful, to renew the appointment of putting them in practice; and to add whatsoever farther shall occur to your thoughts that may promote the happy discharge of

your ministry, and the good of your people's souls. I know I need not remind you, for I am confident you daily think of it, that the great principle of fidelity and diligence, and good success, in that great work, is love, and the great spring of love to souls is love to him that bought them. He knew it well himself, and gave us to know it, when he said, "Simon, lovest thou me? Feed my sheep, feed my lambs." Deep impressions of his blessed name upon our hearts will not fail to produce lively expressions of it, not only in our words and discourses, in private and public, but will make the whole track of our lives to be a true copy and transcript of his holy life. And if there be within us any sparks of that divine love, you know the best way, not only to preserve them, but to excite them, to blow them up into a flame, is by the breath of prayer. O prayer-the converse of the soul with God, the breath of God in man returning to its original; frequent and fervent prayer, the better half of our whole work, and that which makes the other half lively and effectual; as that holy company tells us, when, appointing deacons to serve the tables, they add, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the

to heretofore, nor am likely hereafter to commit. To
the all-powerful grace of our great Lord and Master I
recommend you and your flocks, and your whole
work among them, and do earnestly entreat your
prayers for your unworthiest, but most affectionate
brother and servant,
R. LEIGHTON."

THE NAME OF THE LORD A STRONG
TOWER:

A Sermon,

BY THE REV I. R. SHURLOCK, M.A.,
Curate of Witney, Oxfordshire.

PROV. Xviii. 10.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe."

It is essential that a man's hopes should rest on a firm basis, on a basis as firm as the throne of the Almighty, that when he comes to depart out of time into eternity he may not have his views clouded, or his mind perplexed with uncertainty. Nor is this a consummation which cannot be realised. The bible, which is given us to be a "light to our feet," directs us where to place our hopes of safety, and points out the means of arriving at complete security. It supplies us with the "means of grace" here, and imparts to us "the hope of glory" hereafter.

Our text is one of those beautiful sayings, scattered about the writings of Solomon, which deserves as a rich jewel to be deposited in the cabinet of all our memories. Adopting the division which the text naturally suggests, we shall notice

I. That the name of the Lord is a strong

tower.

II. The righteous runneth into it.
III. His safety.

word." And is it not, brethren, an unspeakable ad- Lord," is not unusual in the scriptures. I. This expression, the "name of the

vantage, beyond all the gainful and honourable employments of this world, that the whole work of our particular calling is a kind of living in heaven, and, besides its tendency to the saving of the souls of others, is all along so proper and adapted to the purifying and saving of our own? But you will possibly say, what does he himself that speaks these things to us? Alas! I am ashamed to tell you. All I dare say is this-I think I see the beauty of holiness, and

"They that know thy name," says David, "will put their trust in thee (Ps. ix. 10); and in Ps. xci. 14, it again occurs, "I will set him on high, because he hath known my name." What is a name? Names have a two-fold use, to distinguish and describe. We have all two names at least a Christian and a surname. Our names in general serve only

the former purpose, viz., to distinguish the individual. Sometimes, however, they carry more force with them, and describe as well as distinguish; and when this is the case, their significancy is greatly increased. Thus Alexander the Great, John the Baptist, William the Conqueror, are names familiar to us; names which describe the person mentioned in terms which cannot be mistaken. Now the name of God is descriptive; it describes the attributes of his character as revealed to us. And this his character we may consider in various views; as he is in himself, as he is to the holy angels, to the fallen angels, and to ourselves.

1. What God is in himself is implied in his very name, a name of peculiar import, and incommunicable to the most exalted creature, the Lord, or Jehovah-as indeed, wherever in our bibles the word Lord is printed in large letters, it always is in the original. Now St. Paul tells us there are "gods many, and lords many;" but this name Jehovah is appropriated to the Supreme Being, and never applied to any other. He claims it to himself as his peculiar glory, "I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another." The word Jehovah means the existent, or he that is; so we have it explained to Moses (Exod. iii. 14), "I am that I am," i. e., I exist, and have my being in and of myself, without dependence on any other cause; and my existence is always the same, unchangeable and eternal. And by St. John (Rev. i. 8), "Who is, who was, and who is to come".

i.

e., the perpetual, the eternal, and unchangeable Being.

2. What God is the holy angels, we may collect from their ascriptions of praise which are recorded in various parts of holy writ. In the vision presented to the prophet Isaiah (vi.), the seraphims are described as crying one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." St. John, too, tells (6 us, they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when they give glory, and honour, and thanks, to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive honour and glory and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." From these and similar passages we may gather that God is to them an object of reverend awe, holy love, and ceaseless adoration.

3. As for the angels that kept not their first estate, them he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judg

ment of the great day." He is therefore to them an implacable enemy, his fierce wrath burns unceasingly against them.

4. What this Almighty God is to his sinful and rebellious creatures, becomes, my brethren, an important consideration to you and me, and ought to be a matter of anxious inquiry. And it has pleased God in his infinite condescension to give us all the information which we can require. On this point I would direct your attention to a portion of the book of Exodus. In chapter xxxiii. we find that the people of Israel had been guilty of the most gross idolatry, and had incurred the just displeasure of God; but Moses had, by his earnest intercessions, prevailed to turn away God's anger. Encouraged by God's kindness, he uses it as a plea to ask a further favour; "Shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, and that I may find grace in thy sight." The Lord complies with his request; "I will," says he, "do this thing that thor hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight." Remark, then, the advantage Moses takes to gain a further favour; "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." Now, this being the request of a pious mind, God graciously condescends to accede to it, so far as it was proper; "I will make" (said he, v. 19), all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee." In xxxiv. 5, we read that at the appointed place," the Lord descended in the cloud, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon children, unto the third and fourth generation." The effect this had on Moses we are informed in verse 8; "And Moses made haste and bowed his head, and worshipped." In this sublime passage we have described, in the brightest colours, God's unbounded love and mercy, and his inflexible justice and holiness; in it God declares his mercy and grace in which all, as sinners, are concerned, that they may know there is hope for them, and learn from whence that hope arises. He represents himself as condescending, full of compassion, ready to forgive, slow to anger, bearing the provocations of his rebellious creatures with patience, affording space for repentance. Yet will he by no means clear the guilty. All this mercy and grace are united with the most entire hatred of all moral evil and absolute determination to punish it.

the

Such is the character of God as it is

the sword of the avenger of blood. So the Christian is urged forward by a sense of his danger. He feels that his sins have provoked the vengeance of an offended God, and he is anxious to flee for refuge, somewhere for shelter, from the storm which he is sensible must sooner or later overwhelm him if he remain in his present condition. Observe the language of the text, "The righteous runneth into it;" very different this from the loitering careless way in which too many professing Christians are seeking for that

revealed to us; such are his gracious attributes; such is the name of the Lord which my text reminds us is a "strong tower." Now a tower is a place built for shelter and security, to serve as a bulwark against the attacks of an enemy; and its strength consists in the durability of the materials of which it is composed. This, then, is the figure under which infinite wisdom has in grace and mercy disclosed himself to sinful mortals, in order to encourage them to put their trust in him, to flee for refuge from the consequences brought on them by their ori-"rest which remaineth for the people of ginal and actual guilt. This name is called a strong tower, on account of the strength of the foundation on which they build who are sheltered within it; for they trust on no less a foundation than the promise and oath of the Eternal. History furnishes us with instances in which the merciful disposition of one king, has been a source of deferice to a whole nation. We have one recorded (1 Kings xx.). Ahab, king of Israel, had discomfited the host of the Syrians, with their king Benhadad at their head. In v. 30 we read, "Benhadad fled and came into the city; and his servants said unto him, Behold now we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life." In the sequel of the history we find that this expedient had the desired effect; for Ahab consented to enter into a convenant with the king of Syria. Thus the merciful disposition of Ahab was a tower, or means of preservation, to the Syrians.

God." He sees in all its fiery vengeance the terrors of God's broken law, and that dreadful sentence pronounced by a God of truth, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." But the Christian is also animated by the hope of safety. The law of God proclaims his danger, and warns him to flee from the wrath to come. The gospel points out Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Aware of his danger, and perceiv ing by faith the refuge before him, he makes no delay, leaves all behind him that would impede his progress. With the apostle he learns to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord." He sees the " glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ:" he discovers in him a suitableness and sufficiency: and that the salvation which he has brought nigh is exactly the salvation adapted to his wants. And

III. "He is safe." "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." The righteous-he who has made the name of the Lord his refuge, is safe from the assaults of every enemy. He is safe from

II. We have pointed out to us the conduct of the righteous-he "runneth into it." The real Christian, my brethren, is one who is in earnest in the pursuit of everlasting life. He is one who, by divine grace, has felt the vital importance of that question, "What shall I do to be saved?" He is influenced by those two motives which most powerfully acthe mind of man--fear and hope. He is urged forward by a sense of danger: he is animated by the hope of safety. I say, he is impelled by a sense of danger. He feels himself in the situation of the inadvertent manslayer, who knows that the nearest kinsman of the person slain is in hot pursuit of him, that to delay is dangerous, that to stop still must subject him to death, and that he cannot be safe till he is arrived within the walls of the city of refuge, appointed for that purpose by a merciful God. The sense of his danger prompts him to use all his speed," this present evil world." and he is animated by the hope of reaching it, knowing that then he shall be secure from

1. The assaults of the devil. The Christian has to wrestle, not against flesh and blood only, but against the powers of darkness; his adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, seeks to ensnare and devour him; but though Satan" desire to have him," his great Advecate will pray for him that his faith fail not; and when this accuser of the brethren brings his charge against the righteous man, Jesus will say, "The Lord rebuke thee, Satan; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" He is safe from

2. The world, an enemy greatly to be dreaded, whether it smile on him or frown; whether it seek to draw him from the path of duty by the prospect of pleasure, wealth, and power; or whether it strive to shake his firmness by the dread of poverty, shame, or persecution. But he shall be delivered from "Be of good cheer," says our Lord to his disciples, "I have overcome the world."

3. He is safe from his own natural depravity. Though the Christian has received a new principle of spiritual life, yet he carries about with him still, and will to his dying day, "a law in his members warring against the law of his mind," so that the flesh, his old carnal nature, does not cease to strive to regain the mastery. He finds occasion to use daily the prayer, "Lead me not into temptation." But against this the Christian is safe; his God will suit his strength to his need; sin shall not "have dominion" over him; he shall not "be tempted above that he is able."

4. He is safe from the accusations of the law. Christ takes him under his protection; he is his Surety, and justice has been fully satisfied by the obedience unto death of the Saviour. When therefore the law accuses him he sends it to his Surety, who has fully complied with all its demands. God looks on the sinner who confides in Christ, as arrayed in the spotless robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, and accepts him.

5. He is safe from the accusations of conscience. When conscience calls up to our recollection the sins of youth, our manifold transgressions against a good and gracious God; when these are presented to the mind in all their heinous and aggravated colours, the stoutest heart must tremble. "The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmities, but a wounded spirit, who can bear?" But it is the office of him in whom the Christian trusts to heal the wounded spirit, and bind up the broken heart." He "speaks peace unto his people;" he gives "the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." He enables the Christian to look up to God, no longer as an offended judge, but as a reconciled and loving Father. Thus is the burden removed from his conscience and all his guilty fears removed.

6. He is safe, finally, from his last enemy the fear of death. Death has a sting, but it is removed. "The sting of death is sin, but (the believer can add) thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord." He can say with St. Paul, "I know in whom I have believed," and having seen the salvation of God, he is enabled to say at the hour of death with Simeon of old, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.'

Let me, in conclusion, my brethren, affectionately, but earnestly, remind you that either you have, or you have not made the name of the Lord your source of confidence. If you have not, on what then are you relying? Men forsake God and construct edifices of their own devising. Some are trusting to the blamelessness of their lives, or they institute a

| comparison between their evil deeds and what they call their good ones, and flatter themselves that the latter preponderate in their favour. Some take a partial view of God's character, and finding him to be (as indeed he is) loving and of tender compassion, they make this part of his character their tower of refuge, and think that God is too merciful to condemn them. Others, seeing the broad and accommodating road to destruction so thronged with travellers, ask, "If I am to be condemned, what will become of all these?" thus they make the bulk of mankind a bulwark, behind which they entrench themselves. But, however secure they may appear, these are not places of security, and, when the great day of trial comes, these towers will fall, and involve those who have fled to them in irretrievable ruin. But, on the other hand, they who have made the name of the Lord their strong tower, shall find, in that day that shall sweep away every "refuge of lies," that this name will be "a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." The rain may descend, the floods come, the winds blow and beat upon that house, but it will not fall, for it is built on a rock-they are safe.

THE SERVICES OF THE CHURCH.

No. VIII.

"Understandest thou what thou readest ?"-ACTS viii. 30. TE DEUM LAUDAMUS.

THE "Te Deum" is so called because in the Latin

form it begins with the words "Thee God," or "Thee as God," we praise. It was composed in Latin about the middle of the fourth century, as some Sa by St. Ambrose, whence it is sometimes called "The hymn of St. Ambrose ;" while others refer its composition to Nicetius, a bishop who lived at that time. It has been used by the whole western church at least 1,200 years; in that of Rome, only on Sun

days and holy-days, and not on all of those; but in ours, every day, as ours, every day, as the singular excellence of it well deserves. It is of so excellent a construction, that the church could not enjoin any better of man's framing; indeed, it is only the structure that is human;

the materials being divine, and derived from the fount of saered truth. Its sentiments being so purely scriptural, and expressing, with strict doctrinal, accuracy, the language of the bible with reference to the several matters on which it touches, the settlement of the true authorship of it is of small importance; but, as a point of general interest, it may be well to mention that the most ancient opinion, and that which has

been the most generally received, is, that it was the joint production of Ambrose and Austin. The circumstances of its extraordinary origin are thus related:-At the baptism of the celebrated convert, Augustin, which office was performed by Ambrose, in the presence of all the faithful in the city, after the ceremony, and before their ascent out of the water, Ambrose uttered the first versicle of the "Te Deum," saying, "We praise thee, O God!" Augustin immediately replied, "We acknowledge thee to be the

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