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all his wants and necessities, his shame and reproaches, his stripes and imprisonments, his watchings and fastings, his cold and nakedness (2 Cor. i. 23, 27), we should not have thought highly of his office: but these things were far from lowering him in the sight of God, or in the estimation of the Church; and even we, in reference to him, adopt a sounder mode of judging, by accounting him eminent in proportion as he abounded beyond others in labours and sufferings for Christ's sake.-Rev. C. Simeon.

It is

CONVERSION. If conversion be a work supernatural in its origin, and decisive in its effects, then, most assuredly, a bare profession of religion and a casual attention to its duties is not conversion. All is natural, perfectly natural-nothing supernatural, here. natural that every individual should desire just as much religion as he imagines will satisfy God, and keep himself from "the worm that never dies, and the fire that never shall be quenched." The supernatural effect begins when the love of God, and the delight in Christ, and the desire for heaven, are all springing up as powerfully influential in the heart as the love of sin, and the delight in this world's pleasures, and the desire for this world's advantages, once were. supernatural effect begins, when the realities of an unseen world more powerfully influence every thought, and motive, and desire, than the far closer and more pressing realities of time and sense; when sin becomes absolutely hateful to us, and Christ proportionably precious, and holiness in all our ways and all our works unceasingly desired; when the love of God and obedience to his commands is the one great object of the renewed heart, the convinced conscience,

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the spiritually enfranchised will. But if such a course of half-religion, as I have just referred to, cannot be called a supernatural work, as little can it be called a decisive work. Where is the decision of that man's mind who lives for both worlds, perhaps throughout a long life, vibrating like a pendulum between heaven and hell; not knowing himself, unknown to all around him, to which of those two widely different eternities the last vibration of the pendulum shall incline?—

Rev. H. Blunt.

Poetry.

STANZAS.

BY MISS EMRA.

(For the Church of England Magazine.)

"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."-Gen. xxxii. 26. "I WILL not let thec go,"

Though countless ones, I know,

Are thronging now within thy house of prayer;
And thou, from heaven's high throne,
Dost bend thy saints to own,

In all thy grace and love with each one there.

"I will not let thee go,"
Though thousand saints fall low

Yes, thousands by ten thousands counted o'er,
On yonder holy hill,

Sounding thy praises still,

Or casting low their crowns on heaven's bright floor.

They wave the verdant palm,

They breathe heaven's own pure calm; Its perfect, never-ending bliss they know,

And thou art with them all,

As at thy feet they fall:

And yet I claim thee," will not let thee go."

"I will not let thee go,"

Though thou dost love them so,

That thou dost leave them never day nor night; Yet turn not thou away,

Hear thy weak servant pray,

And shield and bless me with thy saving might.

"I will not let thee go"

A leaf tossed to and fro;

A drop, a spark, an atom, emblems me;
Yet am I not too mean

For Jesus to redeem,

And from myself and sin to set me free.

"I will not let thee go"

Until thine hands bestow

Blessings that earthly language cannot name; Until thy saving grace

This humbled soul embrace,

And lift my thoughts to heaven from whence it came.

"I will not let thee go"

Till all thy love I know,

Till thou hast landed me on heaven's safe shore;
Till, in thy temple plac'd,
With thy perfection grac'd,

I stand-a pillar to go out no more.

THE BURIAL.*

"We therefore commit his body to the ground."-Burial Service.
THE earth has fallen cold and deep
Above his narrow bier;

No wintry winds can break his sleep,
No thunders reach his ear.

The mourner's parting steps are gone,
Gone the last echoing sound;
And night's dark shadows, stealing on,
Spread solemn gloom around.

And he whose heart was wont to glow

With joy, when hastening home,
Here must he lie, cold, silent now,
And mouldering in the tomb,-
Till time itself, and days, and years,
Shall all have pass'd away;

In that cold heart no hopes nor fears
Shall hold their dubious sway.
Though deep the slumbers of the tomb,
Though dark that bed of clay,
Yet shall he wake, and leave that gloom
For everlasting day.

THE CHURCH BELLS.†

I HEARD the chime of the merry bell
On the breeze of the forest flowing;
And as I listen'd to each full swell,

I thought on the hearts that were glowing.
But the wind soon chang'd, and bore away
The happy sounds of pleasure,

And I thought how the heart must often stray
Without its most valued treasure.

I heard and the note was chang'd to woe,
And the funeral peal was knelling;

And I thought of the tears that were doom'd to flow,
And the hearts that grief was swelling.

From Gems from American Poets.

+ From the Sunday Reader.

But again the wind blew the sounds afar,
And I thought how soon ends sorrow;
'Tis a tear in the morn, and a sigh in the eye,
And a smile perhaps to-morrow.

And I heard-and the bells rang the Sabbath peal,
Which nor merry chim'd nor sadly,

And the steady wind did no change reveal,
As when notes were mix'd more gladly.
There was no change, as when woe had been
The burden'd music's measure:

And I thought that peace lies more between
The extremes of pain and pleasure.

Miscellaneous.

PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO THE EAST.-If it be a painful reflection, that during the silence of ages the trumpet of the Gospel was unblown, the notes of salvation unheard, in that very land to which the first intelligence of Divine mercy was communicated, is it not a delightful consideration, that, by means of efforts from Great Britain, once more the language is beginning to be applicable to the theatre of apostolic labour, "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound?" If it be painful, that for centuries the banner of the cross was unlifted, undisplayed in those regions where first it was unfurled-that it lay buried in the very tomb from whence the Redeemer rose triumphant; nay, was trampled in the dust, and in the very dust of Mount Calvary, -is it not joyful that once more it is exhibited as an ensign to those nations, by the Christians of our country? If we find cause for sorrow in the fact, that in the very countries where redemption was first effected, redemption should be unknown for ages,- that where "the fountain for sin and for uncleanness" was first opened, its efficacy should be wholly untried, that where the influences of the Holy Ghost first descended, they should now be withheld, -we shall find cause for gratitude and joy, that in our day, and in connexion with labours from our country, once more, " to the poor" and to the rich "the Gospel is preached." Last of all, if we mourn that generation after generation has sunk into the very dust-of Judea, of Corinth, of Ephesus, of Macedoniaunwarned, uninvited, unenlightened, unsanctified,let us rejoice that now, at length, we have been permitted to resume the work of apostles and evangelists, to carry on the labour which they so auspiciously commenced; because we have been sent to those very lands, "to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to comfort all that mourn, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."— Rev. J. Hartley.

EDUCATION IN AUSTRIA.-It has been the fate of Austria hitherto to have been described almost exclusively by writers who have taken a prejudiced and onesided view of her government and institutions; and who have not even done justice to the beauties of the country, the flourishing condition of her manufactures, the bravery and loyal spirit of her inhabitants, and the happy condition of the majority of the population. In stigmatising the government as the most tyrannical of despotisms, they have overlooked the fact, that the subjects living under it, especially the lower orders, are the most contented and joyous in Europe, because actually the best off in worldly matters, the least taxed or oppressed by fiscal burdens of any kind. They have represented Austria as a land of darkness and ignorance, as the Boeotia of Europe, forgetting that education is more widely extended among the common people than in any other country of Europe except Prussia, and this entirely by the government itself, for the Austrian rulers turned their attention earlier than

those of most other countries, and have been ceaselessly employed for the last century in establishing schools in every part of their dominions. The Englishman may learn with surprise, and no little shame, that the number of persons who can read, write, and understand the elements of arithmetic, is beyond comparison greater in the hereditary states of Austria than in his own enlightened country, or in France. In Austria proper, every child must go to school for a certain number of years; even poverty is no excuse, since schools are provided in every parish, with such endowments as to enable those who cannot pay the very small sum required, to obtain gratuitous instruction. No person can marry, or set up any trade, without producing a written certificate of their attendance at school. Numerous normal or pattern schools, in different parts of the country, furnish a supply of teachers; that of Vienna alone sends out between 1,600 and 1,700 annually. Though it is deemed sufficient that the great mass of the lower classes should possess the mere rudiments of knowledge, or such good and practical information as shall fit them for their station in life, without rendering them dissatisfied with it, those among them whose talents or intended

profession render further intellectual improvements (gymnasia), and universities, to complete their educadesirable, are sent to grammar schools, high schools tion; with the prospect, if they distinguish themselves, of afterwards being placed in one of the public offices, and of certain promotion, if their talents and conduct attract the attention of their superiors, who are always on the look-out for rising merit, and anxious to gain it over to the side of the government. Within the last fifteen years schools have been established in every parish of Venetian Lombardy, so that the despotic government of Austria is bestowing upon its Italian subjects a boon denied them by all previous rulers. Public instruction is also making progress in the more remote provinces, in Illyria, Gallicia, and even in Bohemia and Hungary. Here, indeed, the number and differences of race and language among the subjects of Austria interpose very serious difficulties. Out of a population of nearly thirty-four millions, only six millions are German; the rest are, Sclavonians (16,000,000); Hungarians (4,500,000); for Travellers in South Germany. Italians, Wallachians, Jews, Gipsies, &c.—Handbook

INDIAN TRIBES.-The following interesting anecdote is given by N. Gould, Esq., in his Notes on America and Canada, made during a visit in 1828. Speaking of some Indians who had been converted to Christianity, he says: "These Indians belong to the Missasaugis, one of the dirtiest and most abject of the tribes. They have now left off their dirt, and put on European garments, and with their new garments, have put on new habits: many of them are known to have gone considerable distances to pay old-contracted debts, for conscience' sake. One story of a converted youth is too affecting to be left unnoticed. He had embraced Christianity, and after a short time returned home, where he found his parents debased by filthy drunkenness. He endeavoured in vain to persuade them to give up the use of ardent spirits, and become Christians. After residing with them a short time, he sickened and died. His parents then thought of his dying exhortations, and, among their first acts, applied to the Rev. Archdeacon Strachan, of York (Upper Canada), to give their son Christian burial, which was granted, the archdeacon himself reading the service. They afterwards embraced Christianity."

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

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PREPARATION FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER.
BY THE REV. RICHARD HARVEY, M.A.
Rector of Hornsey.

No. I.

THERE is a very remarkable difference as to the manner in which the two sacraments, which Christ himself ordained, are observed by those who rank themselves among his followers. There is a very singular contrast as to the method in which professing Christians regard these two most sacred ordinances of their blessed Master. They all partake of the sacrament of baptism, although many are utterly insensible to the privileges which it confers, and perfectly indifferent to the responsibilities which it entails. They proThey promise what they do not intend, or desire, or try to perform; and if they think of their baptismal engagements, it is rather with a wish to qualify them than to keep them: they labour to explain away much of what they undertake, rather than to conform their practice to their professions. On the contrary, very few comparatively partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. They abstain from it as if it bound them to promises which they were quite unable to fulfil, and they are sensibly alive to the very possibility of breaking them: they imagine that it ties them to engagements which it is quite impossible to observe; that it compels them to promise what they must be hopeless of performing. They therefore decline the means, as if that would free them from responsibility as to the end. Thus, to a certain extent, are the two sacraments entirely misconceived; and men seem to act as if baptism contained

VOL. Y.-NO. CXV.

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no promises on their part, and as if the Lord's supper comprised nothing else.

This, however, is manifestly not the case. The most solemn promises which can possibly be made are entered into by all who are baptized-promises of the most sacred character to Almighty God, which will rise up to condemn the breaker of them at the last day. Our baptismal vows may, and ought to be, called to mind and renewed whenever we approach the table of the Lord; we are to examine ourselves, and see how far we may have kept them; but the great feature of the Lord's supper is not an entrance upon fresh engagements so much as a means of seeking grace to keep those which were already made. It is not an entrance upon a new covenant, but a ratification of one that is past-a season of calling to mind our opportunities, our obligations, and our observances; of holding spiritual communion with our absent Lord; of renewing, from time to time, the vows that have long since been upon us. If, then, men fancy that by not partaking of the holy communion they avoid any dangerif they think, that by absenting themselves. from the Lord's table they escape any responsibility, they are, most assuredly, speaking peace to themselves which is not warranted by Scripture, which is not according to reason. As well might they express their fear of praying to God, because "the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord;" as well might they object to being made acquainted with the Gospel of truth, because it will prove to some a savour of death unto death." Every talent may be usefully employed, every means of grace may be turned to a good account: if every thing

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which may be abused is to be rejected, there is little, if any thing, which we can attempt with safety. The common necessaries of this life must be declined; its occupations and pursuits must be foregone; even the various exercises of religion must be omitted; and man, who is formed for high and holy purposes, must give up the purpose of his being, and be brought to the level of the brutes that perish. No argument, therefore, is to be drawn from its possible abuse for our neglect of the holy communion. The same apostle who declared (1 Cor. xi. 29), “ He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself," had immediately before said, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."

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When St. Paul wrote his first letter to the Church at Corinth, he did so for the purpose of noticing many errors into which the members of it had fallen; and also to give them directions in some points wherein they had applied for his advice. On the subject of the Lord's supper he had occasion both to convey reproof and give them instruction. He had to reprove them for the profane and unbecoming manner in which they communicated; and he had to instruct them in the right and profitable manner of partaking of this sacrament. They were accustomed to slight the sacred rite which represented the Saviour's death. Instead of regarding it as a spiritual ordinance, a means of refreshment to their souls, an appointed way of remembering their Redeemer, they treated it as an ordinary banquet, designed to satisfy the common cravings of hunger and thirst. The apostle says, "When ye come together unto one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken." They observed no order or propriety; they paid no heed to any thing but to the satisfying their bodily wants; they made no difference between the holy communion and a common meal, and were guilty of excesses even at the very time of its celebration. For all this want of decency and reverence St. Paul severely reproves them, and proceeds to declare the end and manner of the institution, and to point out the way in which it may be rightly observed. By special revelation from God he had been made acquainted with the method in which this holy sacrament was appointed, and the purposes for which it was designed. Like the sacrament of baptism, it was ordained by our blessed Lord himself, who directed that it should be observed by all his followers. They would need something to remind them of their Saviour's love in dying for them, and

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of the heinousness of sin which required, such an atonement. They would require some memorial to cheer their hopes and animate their faith; and surely nothing could be better than an ordinance which by outward symbols would put them in mind of his sufferings, and were to the believer the means of strength and refreshment to his soul. Accordingly we find that our Saviour said, both after the breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the wine, "This do in remembrance of me." And his apostle afterwards added, " for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."

To the Corinthians, however, a general recommendation like this required some qualification. They treated the supper of the Lord as a mere matter of form; an opportunity of satisfying their hunger as men, instead of a means of supplying their wants as Christians. It was therefore necessary to warn them of the danger of such unbecoming and irreverent conduct, to apprise them of the risk which they incurred by behaviour so unworthy of Christ's followers. If they would partake of this ordinance with the hope of spiritual improvement; if they would obtain the real benefits which this sacrament was designed to convey; if they would inquire into the state of their souls, they would examine into the preparation which they had made for eternity;-they would consider what manner of persons they ought to be, and they would carefully investigate what manner of persons they were. "Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body" (1 Cor. xi. 27-29). He that eateth and drinketh in an unfit and unbecoming manner, a manner unworthy of a Christian, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, draws down upon himself the judgments of God, not discerning the Lord's body, not rightly regarding the death of Christ which it

commemorates.

Such is the manner in which the apostle Paul addressed the Corinthians on the subject of the holy communion. They were accustomed to treat it irreverently, and he warned them that by so doing they would bring upon themselves the judgments of the Almighty. He did not tell them that they might disregard an ordinance of their blessed Master; he did not say that they might observe it as a form, that it would profit them to regard the letter of the command; but while he called their attention to the hazard of partak

ing of this sacrament in an unbecoming manner, he taught them how they might communicate in a way that would be profitable to their souls. "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."

[To be concluded in the next Number.]

THE WISDOM OF GOD TESTIFIED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE EYE.*

THE eye being an organ of the most delicate structure, fitting it to be acted upon by the most subtle of fluids, I shall direct your attention to it, premising a few observations upon the laws of light.

The laws and phenomena of light are of the most interesting character, even when viewed in their simple but grand and intimate arrangement; but in connexion with the organs of vision, no part of the creation is more calculated to excite our astonishment, or more clearly bespeaks the agency of a God.

Although we may be said to be ignorant of the nature of light, we can trace its sources with considerable certainty; and of late years many facts have been collected in support of the theory of its extreme tenuity, which is supposed to exceed many times that of air. Its effects, however, are more remarkable, more easily to be detected. We know that it moves with almost inconceivable swiftness, being calculated to travel a distance of 195,000 miles in a second, which brings it to us from the sun in about eight minutes and a quarter;-that it moves in straight lines, if not obstructed by denser bodies than the air ;-that it passes through many bodies, which are thence called transparent; or, if it enters them in an oblique direction, that it passes out in the same manner, and is thus refracted;-that when it falls upon other bodies, it does not enter them, but is reflected from the surface in their natural colours, which renders it invisible ;-that it is composed of seven primary colours, which are those of the rainbow, a fact which Sir Isaac Newton succeeded in discovering by means of a prism (a triangular cube of glass): these colours are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, which are named prismatic colours, because in the spectrum, produced by making a ray of light to pass through a prism, they are seen in the order above mentioned. Each of these colours has a different refractive power-the red being bent the least, and the violet the most, in passing through the prism. It is the nature of most bodies to attract different prismatic rays; the rays which some bodies absorb are reflected by others from their surface; and the colour of bodies depends upon the particular rays which are reflected from them. Having decomposed white light into seven elementary colours, Sir Isaac Newton shewed that they could be put together again to form white light. It is well known, also, that many bodies on which light falls being rough or irregular, or having other properties, assume all those varied and endless shades of beauty and colour which are produced by the transmission of some of these primary colours, and the reflection of those that are not transmitted.

Of the properties of light, none is more important, in relation to our present subject (for I do not here intend to enter more largely into the science of optics than is just sufficient to explain its connexion with the eye), than that law which regulates the bending or refraction of its rays. As different colours have different refractive powers or degrees of refrangibility, so also have all bodies which admit light. When a ray

From "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as displayed in the Animal Creation; shewing the remarkable agreement between this department of Nature and Revelation. In a series of letters. By C. M. Burnett, Esq., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons." 8vo. Burns, 1838.

of light passes from a rarer to a denser medium, or vice versa, its direction is altered, and the degree of refraction depends upon the nature of the body through which it passes. Salt water refracts it at a greater angle than fresh water; spirit of wine still more; oil more than spirit; and glass more than oil.

The eye contains bodies which have different powers of refraction; and it is certain that they could not have been formed and placed in their relative positions in that organ by any other than One who knew most intimately all the laws and properties of light; for it will presently be shewn, that it is to this law of refraction that many of the phenomena of vision are attributable. The various coats, humours, and lenses, contained in the eye, are all arranged for the express purpose of gathering the scattered rays of light which fall upon that organ as they do upon other transparent bodies. "Does not the optician who designedly places his convex lens at the proper distance in a darkened box, for the purpose of obtaining vivid pictures of the external scene, evince his knowledge of the laws of light, of the properties of refracting media, and of the refined combination of those media, by which each pencil is brought to a separate focus, and adjusted to form an image of remote objects? Does it not, in like manner, argue the most profound knowledge and foresight in the divine Artist, who has so admirably hung the crystalline lens of the eye in the axis of a spherical case, in the fore part of which he has made a circular window for the light to enter, and spread out on the opposite side a canvass to receive the picture? Has no thought been exercised in darkening the walls of this camera obscura, and thus preventing all reflection of the scattered rays that might interfere with the distinctness of the image ?"

The position of the eye deserves to be noticed here as indicative of the wisdom of the Creator. Being in all animals which possess it the most important external sense, it is placed in the most commanding and conspicuous position. In warm-blooded animals there are muscles by which the globe of the eye can be turned in any direction, according to the will of the animal, and thus a greater facility of vision is obtained. In fishes, where the eye is more fixed, many means are taken to compensate for the want of mobility.*

I will now enumerate the different parts which compose the eye, in order that when they are spoken of hereafter, the design manifested in their variations, by which they are adapted to the diversified circumstances of animals, may be fully appreciated.

The eye is regarded as an optical instrument consisting of three orders of parts. The first consists of those parts by which the rays of light are received and so far modified as to be rendered subservient to vision; the second, of the nerves which receive the impressions of light, and convey them to the sensorium or brain; and the third, of a number of accessory parts, which preserve the eye in the proper state for the performance of its functions, and enable it to execute them in the most perfect manner.

The globe or ball of the eye is composed of three transparent humours or fluids of various densities, and encased in membranes or coats of different thicknesses. The vitreous humour constitutes the chief bulk of the eye, and is of the consistence of the white of egg. It occupies the back part of the organ. In its anterior part there is a depression which receives another of the humours, called the crystalline lens. This is a body of greater consistence than the vitreous humour, and, having the form of a double convex lens, is placed behind the pupil in a perpendicular direction, so that every ray of light which enters that opening

• Although fishes have as many muscles attached to the eye as man, yet these muscles are employed for altering the axis of the organ more than for motion.

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