that the duty of hospitality to strangers seems to have been as well and as mutually understood in the earliest days as it is in the same country at present.

"The form of Abraham's tent, as thus described, seems to have been exactly like the one in which we sit; for in both there was a shaded open front, in which he could sit in the heat of the day, and yet be seen from afar off; and the apartment of the females, where Sarah was when he stated her to be within the tent, was immediately behind this, wherein she prepared the meal for the guests, and from whence she listened to their prophetic declaration.

"I have noted these points of resemblance, chiefly because the tents of the Turcomans here are different from all those of the Arabs that I have ever seen in the countries of the south; these latter being of an oblong form, and divided in the middle, so as to form two compartments by the side of each other, both of them open in front, and closed at the back and sides, but without either a shaded porch or door before them, or an apartment of any kind behind."

Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs," says, Hospitality to travellers prevails throughout Guzerat: a person of any consideration passing through the province, is presented at the entrance of a village with fruit, milk, butter, fire-wood, and earthen pots for cookery; the women and children offer him wreaths of flowers. Small bowers are constructed on convenient spots, at a distance from a well or lake, where a person is maintained by the nearest villages to take care of the water-jars, and supply all travellers gratis. There are particular villages where the inhabitants compel all travellers to accept of one day's provisions; whether they may be many or few, rich or poor, European or native, they must not refuse the offered bounty. "The modern Arabians also practise the same hospitality as Abraham and the ancient patriarchs. A party travelling in Arabia halted to dine under a tree at the entrance of a village; the Sheikh scnt them eggs, butter, curds, honey, olives, and fruit. Where they passed the night they were supplied with poultry, sheep, or lambs, according to their number, sometimes alive, oftener dressed, in pilaus, stews, kabob, or kabab, which is meat cut into small pieces, and placed on thin skewers alternately between slices of onion and green ginger, seasoned with pepper, salt, and kian, fried in ghee, or clarified butter, to be ate with rice and dholl, a sort of split pea, boiled with the rice. This is a savoury dish, generally liked by the English, of which I often partook with my Arabs; and sometimes, as a great delicacy, they roast a lamb or kid whole, stuffed with almonds, raisins, and spices, or pistachio-nuts only, highly seasoned."*

The Cabinet.

UNPARDONABLE SIN.-There is no guilt too great to be forgiven, no stain of transgression which the blood of Jesus Christ cannot wash away. It was not a partial deliverance from death, it was not a limited atonement for sin, he came to effect, but a full and sufficient work,-to" taste of death for every man;" so that all who believe in Christ shall have eternal life. And therefore, if any individuals be still guilty and condemned, it is not for deficiency of virtue in Christ's From Scripture Elucidations.

sacrifice his resurrection and ascension prove that he completed the expiation of the world,-but for want of their applying to it, that they perish. This consideration may serve to quiet the minds of those who alarm themselves lest they have committed the unpardonable sin. The essence of that sin consists, I would venture to urge, in an immovable refusal to look to Christ for pardon: and surely if his cross be trampled on, if the blood of his covenant be counted an unholy thing, there remains no other sacrifice, no further means by which to escape destruction. It is not, therefore, that any one anxiously draws near to God, and is thrust away; that he in earnest pleads Christ's merits, and has that plea disallowed; that he strives to wash, and finds the wells of salvation dry, the living streams exhausted; — rather, he comes not, pleads not, desires not to be cleansed, and thus seals to himself his doom. And he is properly by this obstinacy said to sin against the Holy Ghost. For the office of that Spirit is to render the blood of Christ really effectual, to lead sinners to his cross, to apply to individuals the purifying virtue of the fountain he has opened. Hence such a sinner against his own soul as I have just described resists the Spirit, refuses his leadings, quenches his motions, in the energetic language of the apostle he "hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace." What other guide will he tind? He has put away the hand that would have pointed him to mercy; he has dismissed the instructor who would have taught him holy things; he has shaken away the gentle influences descending and genial as the dew of heaven; and now his conscience is become seared, and his heart as hard as the nethermost mill-stone. He perishes, but it is by his own fault; he perishes, but it is his own perverse will that has ruined him; he would not come to Christ, that he "might have life." Let those, then, who are warned be wise in time, lest they be justly left to themselves: but never let the humble penitent imagine that he is condemned to find "no place of repentance," or fear that Christ's atonement will not reach his case.-Ayre's Mystery of Godliness.

HUMANITY OF OUR GREAT HIGH-PRIEST.—I cannot introduce the subject with any thing more excellent than we find in the Athanasian Creed; a creed opposed by many, only because they do not understand it. If I know any thing of the revealed will of God, this creed fully and faithfully echoes its truth. I would only make one observation, which is, that none of its damnatory clauses can possibly be levelled at any of those who are desirous-honestly desirous-of knowing the truth, whatever difficulties they may experience at the present moment. "For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man: God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect man; of a reasonable soul, and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood. Who, although he be God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ;-one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God;-one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person; for, as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ."-One of the finest pieces of divinity that ever flowed from the pen of man!-Rev. W. Howels.

PROCRASTINATION.-My meditations of Thee were like the attempts of men desirous of awaking, but sinking again into sleep. I had not a heart to answer Thee, saying, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." "By and by,"—" shortly,"-" let me alone a little,"-these were the answers of my heart. But by and by"

had no bounds, and "let me alone a little" went to a great length.-St. Augustin.

THE NATIONAL CHURCH.-" Go round about Sion, tell the towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks," for in Christ are their foundations laid. When, as Christians, we assent to her articles, we assent to them, not as the constitutions of fallible man, but as the sum and substance of the Christian faith, deduced through the clearest channels from the living fountain of all truth, to reconcile the jarring opinions of self-created teachers, to correct the perversions of presumptuous ignorance, to guide the footsteps of the thousands that cannot guide themselves into the paths of purity and peace; when, as sons of our Church, we conform to her worship, obey her ordinances, and submit to her discipline, we subject ourselves not to the government of man, but to the authority of Christ, deputed by himself most solemnly to this his representative on earth. We have a standard to which we can refer her injunctions as to a criterion of their justice and purity. There is an ordeal of truth through which all her ordinances must publicly pass; and when they shall have risen from this severe and open examination, untouched by the flame, they demand our obedience, not in the name of man, but in the name of the Lord Jesus. When we refuse to sacrifice the high and holy cause of our ancient establishment to the gratification of a momentary popularity, in flattering the prejudices and assisting the projects of her adversaries, we refuse it in the name of Christ; we refuse to propagate those principles of disunion, which, as we learn from the history of all nations, has interposed the most formidable obstacle to the general reception of Christianity; we are persuaded of the impracticability of their pretensions who preach and profess the unity of the Spirit, not in the bond of peace, but in the turbulence of confusion. When we consider the connexion of our national Church with the constitution of our country, when we view its spirit inspired and infused throughout every ramification of the body politic; when we see the bonds of their union so powerfully cemented as to defy the ingenuity of man to injure the one without the dismemberment and destruction of the other, we do not therefore look on our Church as a creature of the State, or an engine of civil authority; we trace their union to a higher power and to a nobler purpose; to preserve in every branch of our various and complicated system of government, that unity of religious faith so essential to the order, the peace, the very existence of the whole; to display the Christian faith in all its native purity, as the animating and actuating principle of every duty which we owe both to God and to our country, not to make the Church political, but the State religious.—Sermons by the late Rev. Thomas Rennell, Vicar of Kensington.

WANT OF COMMUNION WITH GOD.-Why is our knowledge of Divine truth so often, at best, but as the moonlight of a frosty night, clear, but cold, very cold; instead of resembling the cheering, warming, gladdening, as well as brightening radiance of the summer sun? Why does our professed love to the Saviour produce so little self-denial or sacrifice for his sake so little devotedness to his service, and yet still less conformity to his example? Why have we so little, if any thing, of the mind and temper that was in Christ Jesus? Why do we search the Scriptures, and attend all the ordinances of Divine grace, and run from lecture to lecture, and sermon to sermon, with so little profit-so little visible growth in grace, or progress in holiness? Why, in a word, is there so little of separation from the spirit as well as the society of the world; so little of the life of God in our souls, or the love of God in our hearts, or the peace of God in our bosoms, or the image of God in our lives? To all this I answer: Chiefly because we are so little in prayercordial, humble, fervent, persevering prayer; because

we talk so much about God in public, but so little with God in private; because we are so much more every where than in our closets, and in every exercise than in devotion, and in every attitude than on our knees; and thus the blessing of the Holy Spirit not being abundantly vouchsafed, because not fervently implored, a withering blight comes over all our doings, and we read, and hear, and talk, and labour so almost, if not altogether, in vain.-Rev. H. White.

Poetry.

VISION OF THE TRINITY.
BEFORE th' eternal throne

The rapt apostle stood,
While visions, seen by him alone,

Pour'd their o'erwhelming flood:
He heard th' angelic trumpet sound,
And mighty thunders roll around:
At Sinai's base of old

This charge did Moses give"Raise an impervious fence around; None can see God and live."

But John might gaze; for round the throne The rainbow's emerald lustre shone.

In form ineffable

He saw the Uncreate,

Nor could the jasper's brightness tell
The glories of his state;

Elders around, in white array'd,
Their golden crowns and harps display'd.

While the wing'd cherubim

Chant the thrice-holy Lord,
The elders cast their crowns to Him

Who gave them that reward;
Of all perfection source and sum,
Who is, and was, and is to come.

Yet did his grace divine,

To save a world undone,
In man's terrestrial form enshrine
The godhead of the Son;
And then the Spirit's gifts supplied
Those sevenfold lamps that light and guide.
Thus John with wonder saw,

In the celestial choir,
The terrors of the ancient law,

The thunder and the fire;
While the slain Lamb, the lamps, and bow,
The covenant of mercy shew.
MRS. WEST.

Say, have kings more wholesome fare
Than we poor citizens of air?
、Barns nor hoarded grain have we,
Yet we carol merrily."

Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow ;
God provideth for the morrow.

"One there lives, whose guardian eye
Guides our humble destiny;
One there lives, who, Lord of all,
Keeps our feathers lest they fall:
Pass we blithely, then, the time,
Fearless of the snare and lime,

Free from doubt and faithless sorrow;
God provideth for the morrow."

Miscellaneous.

HEBER.

ST. GILES'S CRIPPLEGATE.-In this church rest the remains of several persons whose names are familiar to the world: among these were the pious John Fox, who wrote the "Acts and Monuments of the Church;" John Speed, the historian; and John Milton, author of "Paradise Lost." In memory of Fox, there is merely a plain tablet against the south wall of the chancel, which bore a Latin inscription, now partly removed. Fox was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1517, and was entered at Brazennose college, Oxford, where he attained the degree of master of arts in 1543. He was at first strongly attached to the popish religion, but, becoming disgusted by the errors which he observed in it, entered into an investigation of the doctrines of the Reformation, with a view to satisfy his own mind. Absenting himself from the church during this inquiry, he was accused of heresy, and was expelled the university; and when he openly professed the reformed religion, which he did soon afterwards, his friends immediately disavowed him, and his means of living were much reduced. Sir Thomas Lucy of Warwickshire, however, received him into his house as tutor to his children; and here he remained for some time. When his pupils no longer needed instruction, he visited London, and becoming greatly distressed, was relieved by a stranger in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Duke of Norfolk after this circumstance was his pupil, and became a great friend to him in after-life; but bishop Gardiner, who was violently opposed to Fox, formed designs against his safety; and Fox was obliged to fly to Basil, where he maintained himself by correcting the press. It was here that he planned his "Book of Martyrs," which exposed the persecuting spirit that characterises the Romish Church, and which, unquestionably, had great and good effect in confirming the principles of the Reformation. He returned to England after the death of Queen Mary, and might have received preferment, but refused, on principle, to conform to the established articles of faith. He died in the year 1587, aged 70.†

EPISCOPACY.-The Rev. T. S. Brittan (now a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the diocese and state of New York) has published his reasons for embracing the Protestant Episcopal communion, in "An apology for conforming to the Pro

The entry in the register stands thus:-" John Ffox, househoulder, preachar." April 20th, 1587. [We recommend the ff to the adoption of those who, we observe, choose to spell Fox's name with an e, Foxe.]

From No. XV. of the Churches of London. Tilt, 1838. We anew direct our readers' attention to this very interesting work, which appears in monthly Numbers.

I Note to an "Address delivered by Rev. T. H. Horne, previous to reading the Thirty-nine Articles, on his preferment to the rectory of St, Edmund's the King, and St. Nicholas Acons, London."

testant Episcopal Church, contained in a series of letters addressed to the Right Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of New York." In these letters he states that he had been educated in England, among the congregationalists or independ ents; that," at a very early age his mind had imbibed the strongest and most obnoxious prejudices against Episcopacy, which, as he advanced in years, became more deeply rooted."... He "had learned to regard the established Church as the beast in the Apocalypse, of which it is said, it had horns like a lamb, but it spake like a dragon.. This prejudice extended itself to its ritual, its ceremonies, and even its sanctuaries; these were frequently the objects of his derision." Two circumstances, however, concurred to make him pause. The first was a serious caution against the evils of division, which he heard in his twentieth year from a dissenting minister in London, who at an ordination addressed a charge to the assembled people. "In the course of his sermon," Mr. B. continues," he admonished them of the evils of division-lamented the numerous quarrels and separations constantly occurring in their churches,―stating that such events gave too much appearance of reason for the observation of an old bishop, who had said of the dissenters, that ، division is their sin, and division is their punishment.' This expression struck me with I looked around me, and saw that peculiar force. these churches were every where split into parties and factions. Subsequent observation has brought further confirmation on the point. Every where the ministers of that [the independent] denomination lament the fact: no where is there a congregation of them for any considerable time in a state of peace. Turbulent spirits are every where struggling for the mastery, and throwing societies into a state of collision and confusion. The only exceptions are those in which the pastor, either by the weight of his property or the skilfulness of his policy, can exercise despotic power. Discipline cannot be maintained. Few of these churches persevere for any considerable period in the doctrines of their founders. Multitudes have departed from the most rigid Calvinism, and have gone over into Secinianism. Their own histories afford the strongest proof of this assertion. Among this class of dissenters I was ordained: in the course, however, of my ministry, I was brought into contact with some clergymen of the established Church; I found them to be men not only of decided, but of exalted piety. By intercourse with them my antipathies were softened; my prejudices were gradually removed; my mind was rendered pervious to truth; and I became convinced that episcopacy was not the horrid creature I had fancied it to be! nay, that a moderate episcopacy carried with it all the marks of apostolicity." Having emigrated to America, and "carefully examined the best writers on the side of presbyterianism, and found them utterly unsatisfactory," he yielded to the force of conviction, and received ordination from Bishop Onderdonk, to whom he has addressed his Apology. The mature testimony of such a writer in behalf of episcopacy will doubtless have the greater weight with every candid and reflecting reader.

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MEETNESS FOR HEAVEN.
BY THE REV. JOHN AYRE, M.A.

Minister of St. John's Chapel, Downshire Hill, Hampstead.
VERY vague and unsatisfactory notions are
often entertained in respect to the happiness
of heaven. Persons imbibe generally the
idea, that it is a place of happiness, and
imagine, though they stop not to think upon
the nature of its blessedness, that they, when
they arrive there, shall certainly enjoy it.
He that dislikes the service of God in this
world, he that delights in sensual indulgence,
he that lives under the dominion of sin, flat-
ters himself, nevertheless, that he shall be
happy in a condition where he must know, if
he thinks at all, the praise of God never
ceases; where every pleasure is spiritual;
where sin, in all its forms, is entirely and
eternally excluded. To live a life on earth
in any degree conformed to that of heaven,
he regards as
an intolerable burden; and
yet he proposes gratification to himself here-
after from the employment which here he
abhors. This is one of those remarkable in-
consistencies into which the perverted judg-
ment of man is so apt to fall.

It ought to be considered, that happiness is caused not so much by the presence, in any particular state, of certain blessings, as by the adaptation of the mind to the circumstances in which it is placed. The change which came upon our first parents at the fall will illustrate my meaning. There were the same external glories still surrounding them. There were the beauties of creation still glowing and fresh from the Maker's hand. There was the garden as lovely as it had been; the tints of its flowers had not yet faded; nor

VOL. IV.-NO, CIX.

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had the ground, cursed with sterility, yet mingled with them the thistles and the thorns. But with their innocence Adam and Eve had lost their relish for their former enjoymentsinstead of pleasure they felt in their paradise the gnawings of pain; and before their Judge had spoken one word of condemnation, they strove in terror to hide themselves from the presence they heretofore had welcomed. Now, let it be considered whether the heavenly state be at all congenial to the propensities of the natural heart; whether man, as he is born into the world, possesses any adaptation of principles and affections to the scenes and employments he would find there. In heaven, to take up but a single topic, it must be allowed, there is no sin; no food for the unquiet passions, which here bear sway. The selfish man would meet with nothing in heaven to minister to his unamiable wishes. The miser could find no gold to heap into his coffers. The ambitious man could form no schemes of extensive conquest. The profligate must check there the indulgence of his lusts. All these classes, then, by the exclusion of sin, would find their favourite pursuits interrupted; and how, with minds devoted to those pursuits, could they be content under the privation? Just as an inhabitant of savage lands will pine, if removed to the scenes of civilised and refined life, for the habits and pleasures he has left, and take the first opportunity of throwing off the trammels which the change has imposed on him-just as the alpine shrub, torn from its native rocks, even though it be planted in a richer soil, soon fades and dies,— so, amid the pure delights of heaven, would the sinner be miserable, and desire to escape

CC

from its dazzling holiness back into the vicious haunts of worldly gratification. His heart is not in unison with the harps of the angelic choir, and their strains would jar upon his ear.

It is no answer to this argument to say, that in the course of time men may, as we see, habituate themselves to any mode of life; and therefore that he who is admitted into heaven would soon learn to appreciate the blessedness of that condition. On such a supposition, heaven, and not earth, would be made the place of discipline and spiritual training; whereas it is here, to use a common Scripture illustration, that the seed is represented to be sown, and the corn to grow and ripen; and it is not till fully matured, that it is said to be gathered into the eternal garner. Another notion equally untenable is sometimes held, that death works a change in the disposition so that the individual who quits this world with worldly affections enters immediately the next with affections that are heavenly. It is true that death does make a change; but that change consists in the putting off this body of corruption, and thus leaving the spirit free from its mortal clog to soar with outstretched pinions to the presence of Him whom not having seen it has loved. Death is rather the consummation than the commencement of that spiritual process by which the evil heart is removed, and a new heart, with new affections, created. It has, therefore, no power to alter the disposition and change the bent of the desires; so that, to adopt the words of Scripture," he that is filthy" up to death, must remain for ever" filthy still." The habitation of infirmity is quitted; the temptations of Satan have an end; the "old man," long crucified, expires; the graces of the Spirit, heretofore checked and partial, bloom forth in perfect beauty but there is no revolution then effected in the principles and character of the soul; the change is one merely of degree, just as when an heir, whose inheritance has long been held in trust for him, comes at length into the full possession and administration of it. "Now," says the apostle, are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

The vast importance of a change of heart will readily be seen from the preceding argument. That sinful man may attain happiness in heaven, it is necessary not only that God in mercy forgive the sin through faith in Christ, but also that by his Spirit he newcreate the sinner; and those who imagine that mere repentance can procure his favour leave altogether out of sight the fact, that

that favour must be duly appreciated and properly enjoyed by a renovation of the mind, else it would fail to communicate pleasure to him on whom it was bestowed. The remission of a sentence pronounced upon a murderer restores not to his soul the peace which he felt before he shed his brother's blood: you may open his prison-doors; you may bid him walk forth in security, unharmed by the sword of justice; but you cannot so still the voice of conscience which torments him with the remembrance of his crime; you cannot so cleanse his thoughts from the pangs with which evil, wherever it has gained the mastery, is sure to afflict its miserable slaves. He carries his punishment about with him, even the worm in his breast that dieth not.

And thus, even if God were inclined to let a man without holiness see his face, that man's own corrupted heart would effectually prevent his happiness. He would be no meet guest at the marriage-supper of the Lamb; he would scorn the bread of heaven; he would long, if it were possible, to taste once more the flesh-pots of Egypt. Till conformed to the image of Christ, till inspired with a relish for the pleasures of his house, till assimilated to the pure society of just men made perfect,- he would be sure, like the spies of Israel, to bear forth an evil report of the good land.

66

Hence, then, I would argue the imperative necessity of that change of heart, which, as I have said, must be effected, if at all, before the arrival of death. And hence our Saviour's words receive a striking illustration: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Persons will do well to compare their own propensities and pursuits with that which the Scripture exhibits as the character of the heavenly rest. Thoseto pass by open and notorious sinners — who make the world their home, who are guided by its maxims, absorbed in its delights, anxious for its favours,-may thus see how unfit they are for the spiritual glories of heaven. Those who brand religion as a melancholy service, and would put off the thoughts of eternity, as too mournful to be indulged, till disease or age has placed them at its portals, will perceive hence, how by this conduct they condemn themselves, and proclaim that they are not fitted for the paradise of God. Let us, then, as the apostle instructs us, seek to have now our conversation in heaven, that we may be formed and fashioned into vessels meet for the Master's use, becoming recipients of the glory with which he has promised to fill his chosen people.