Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

those who are under our control, as illiberal and bigoted. Toleration and liberality have their place; but I have no idea of these being urged as a reason why the different members of our families and households may choose their own sect or party, or place of worship. This is a free country, in which every one may worship God in the way he prefers; but the longer I live, the more fully am I persuaded that it is the imperative duty of every parent and head of a household to keep to his proper place of worship; and see that his children, pupils, servants, apprentices, and all who sojourn under his roof, do the same. The small beginnings of a wandering spirit and a roving practice too generally terminate in infidelity and ruin; and if we forsake the place where our God has recorded his name to bless-if we sacrifice the simple yet holy end of worshipping our Creator, for the sinful gratification of curiosity, if we prefer hearing what Mr. S. says, or how Mr. M. treats his subject-or how a third or fourth Mr. prays or expounds, to "what God the Lord will speak;" we need not wonder that our progress in holiness and our growth in grace is thwarted and blighted, and that our latter end is worse than the beginning. If we do not profit from a regular attendance at our proper place of worship, we may be sure that wandering will not mend the matter. The mind becomes so unsettled, the taste so capricious, the spirit so critical, the judgment so vitiated, that we are in danger of being as wells without water, carried about with every wind of doctrine; and, ere long, we shall feel the truth of the vulgar adage; like rolling stones, we shall continue destitute of that which would be a stay and support, as well as an ornamental covering.

We may not like the minister God has placed over us so well as some more highly gifted or popular person; or, he may be defective in some part of his ministrations; but yet he is our minister, and, as such, it is our bounden duty to pray for him, to strengthen his hands, to receive his counsels and exhortations with attention and meekness; and then we may confidently expect that those things which seem to us weak, or lame, or defective, will be healed. If we prayed more for our ministers, we should hear to greater profit, and derive much more benefit from their ministry. This is one of the many instances in which we have not, because we ask not.

The Cabinet.

NEGLECT OF RELIGIOUS ORDINANCES.-There is a danger peculiarly incident to the times in which we live. It is that of the disparagement or total neglect of those ordinances of divine appointment, as if they were so many beggarly elements, unworthy of an age of reason and liberty-of philosophy and science. There is doubtless much of this spirit abroad in the world at the present moment. With the abandonment of the superstitious or unmeaning rites and observances of ecclesiastical imposition, men have lost much of that deep-felt veneration with which it is necessary that divine institutions and wholesome usages, though of human origin and arrangement, should be regarded. Besides those who neglect the appointed channels of divine grace, the sacramental and symbolic ordinances of piety, through mere recklessness and a desire to be free from their restraints, there is a large class of persons, of a more intellectual cast of character, who would reduce Christianity into a religion of mere sentiment. Professing to separate it from extraneous circumstances and adhesions, they would define it as a deep feeling of the heart; and they indulge in much illusive reverie, while they attempt to develop this vague abstraction. That philosophy, however, is spurious which confines to one department of human nature that which is required to extend over the whole That science is empirical and unsound which

I would destroy the body under pretence of obtaining, by that means, a clearer and more distinct view of the spirit. That religion is false which professes to rise above ordinances, and would expect the end without using the means. That alone is true to the wisdom of God and to the nature of man, which adapts itself to the various susceptibilities and requirements of the being with whom it has to deal. Christianity is not a religion of formality, but, in a proper sense and within due limitations, it is unquestionably a religion of forms; and the period is yet unknown, when it was practically influential upon the character, while its rites and sacramental institutions were totally neglected. Independently of other considerations, it seems to be paying the human heart a compliment to which it is by no means entitled, to suppose it capable of maintaining the religious sentiment in all its warmth and energy of action, without any aid from external and ceremonial excitement. It is true, indeed, that the law of the covenant must be enclosed within this sacred ark; but this by no means supersedes the necessity of those symbols of the Divine presence, and of those acts of ritual observance, which form essential and ostensible constituents of the sublime service of the sanctuary. They who wilfully and obstinately neglect the ordinances of religion, therefore, to all purposes of devotional obedience, neglect religion itself. From the Ordinances of Religion practically illustrated and applied, by the Rev. J. Davies, of Chichester.

DIFFIDENCE. A meek, humble, modest surrender of our own judgment in doubtful cases will tend greatly to the improvement of our own spirit, and to the advancement of peace and piety in all around us.

Rev. C. Simeon.

APPROACHES TO GOD.-The mother of Artaxerxes was wont to say, that they who would address themselves unto princes must use silken words: surely he that would approach unto God must consider, and look as well to his words as to his feet. He is so holy and jealous of his worship, that he expects that there should be preparation in our accesses unto him: preparation of our persons by purity of life (Job, xi. 13); preparation of our services by choice of matter (John, ix. 1); preparation of our hearts by finding them out, stirring them up, fixing them, fetching them in, and calling together all that is within us to prevail with God.-Bp. Reynolds': Select Meditations.

Poetry. WATCHFULNESS.

"Couldst thou not watch one hour?"-Mark, xiv. 37.
(For the Church of England Magazine.)
My weary soul, with patience wait,
Be watchful in thy fall'n estate!
Thou hast an anxious charge to keep,
Thou shalt not rest, thou must not sleep:
Withstand awhile the tempter's power-
Canst thou not watch one little hour?

Thy lovely home lies far away,
Midst regions of perpetual day,
And never toil, and never care,
Shall break thy glorious Sabbath there;
But watching at thy post below,
No hour of respite canst thou know.
Lest some lov'd sin, in soft disguise,
Should cheat thy tir'd and listless eyes,
And some low whisper faintly say,
Thy Lord his coming does delay,-

[blocks in formation]

The slave who ploughs the main, Or him who hopeless tills the soil

Beneath the stripe and chain;

For those who, in the world's hard race
O'erwearied and unblest,

A host of restless phantoms chase,-
Why mourn for those who rest?

We mourn for those who sin,

Bound in te tempter's snare,

Whom syren Pleasure beckons in

To prisons of despair;

Whose hearts, by whirlwind passions torn, Are reck'd on folly's shore;

But why in sorrow should we mourn

For those who sin no more?

We mourn for those who weep,
Whom stern afflictions bend
With anguish o'er the lowly sleep
Of lover or of friend;

But they to whom the sway

Of pain and grief is o'er,

Whose tears our God hath wiped awayO mourn for them no more!

MRS. SIGOURNEY.

Miscellaneous.

THE RED SEA.-After a tedious passage from India, we entered the straits of Jabel; and few countries present themselves to the imagination of the traveller under circumstances so well calculated to awaken a deep and lasting interest as those around us. From the earliest dawn of history, the nether shores of the Red Sea have figured as the scene of events which both religious and civil records have united to render memorable. Here Moses and the patriarchs tended their flocks, and put in motion those springs of civilisation which from that period have never ceased to urge forward the human race in the career of improvement. On the one hand, the Valley of the Wanderings commenced near the site of Memphis, and opening upon the Red Sea conducts the fancy along the track pursued by the Hebrews during their flight out of Egypt. On the other hand are Mount Sinai, bearing still upon its face the impress of miraculous events; and beyond it that strange, stormy, and gloomy-looking sea, once frequented by Phoenician merchants' ships, by the fleets of Solomon and Pharaoh, and those barks of later times which bore the incense, the gold, the gems, and spices of the East, to be consumed, or lavishly squandered upon favourites at the courts of Macedonia or Rome. But the countries lying along this offshoot of the Indian ocean have another kind of interest, peculiar perhaps to

themselves. On the Arabian side we find society much what it was four thousand years ago; for, amidst the children of Ishmael it has undergone but trifling modifications. Their tents are neither better nor worse than they were when they purchased Joseph of his brethren on their way to Egypt; the sheikhs possess no other power or influence than they possessed then ; the relations of the sexes have suffered little or no changes; they eat, drink, clothe themselves, educate their children, make war and peace, just as they did in the day of the exodus. But on the opposite shores all has been change, fluctuation, and decay. While the Bedouins have wandered with their camels and their flocks, unaspiring, unimproving, they have looked across the gulf, and beheld the Egyptian overthrown by the Persian; the Persian by the Greek; the Greek by the Roman; and the Roman in his turn by a daring band from their own burning deserts. They have seen empires grow up like Jonah's gourd. War has swept away some; the vanities and luxuries of peace have undermined and brought others to the ground; and every spot along these shores is celebrated.-Lieut. Wellsted's Travels in Arabia.

A LIVING HOPE, LIVING IN DEATH ITSELF.-The world dares say no more for its device than, Dum spiro spero (whilst I breathe I hope); but the children of God can add, by virtue of this living hope, Dum exspiro spero (whilst I expire I hope).-Leighton.

BRAYING IN A MORTAR. "Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him" (Prov. xxvii. 22).That such a punishment as this was used in the East will clearly appear from the following testimonies: Baron de Tott says, "Fanaticism has enacted in Turkey, in favour of the Ulemats (or body of lawyers), that their goods shall never be confiscated, nor themselves put to death but by being bruised in a mortar. The guards of the towers who let Prince Coreskie (a prisoner) escape, were some of them empaled, and some were pounded or beaten to pieces in great iron mortars, in which they pounded their rice." Hamilton, in his account of the East Indies, in speaking of the King of Siam, who reigned in the year 1688, and who made war with his neighbours the kings of Cambodia and Cochin-China, against whom he sent an army by land and a fleet by sea, but without success, says, "However, in the land army there was a mean person, a citizen of Siam, who kept a fruit-shop; he had a bold, daring spirit, and behaved so well on all occasions during the war that he came to great preferment, and at last was made generalissimo, and he ended the war to the satisfaction of the whole army abroad, and his prince at home. But when he brought back the army to Siam, seeing the king wrapt up in the opinion he had of the Jesuits' counsels, and the management they had in the affairs of state, by the countenance of the king and my Lord Falcon, he picked a quarrel with the king; and having most of the army at his devotion, he seized his master, and put him to death after the manner of royal criminals, or as princes of the blood are treated when convicted of capital crimes, which is by putting them into a large iron cauldron and pounding them to pieces with wooden pestles, because none of their royal blood must be spilt on the ground, it being, by their religion, thought great impiety to contaminate the divine blood by mixing it with earth."-Scripture Elucidations.

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

ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN, 46 ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

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

HOLY SCRIPTURE THE TEST OF PUBLIC TEACHING.

BY THE REV. EDWARDS PEACOCK, M.A. Late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. WHEN we consider the activity of the human mind, the eagerness with which it pushes its inquiries into the vast variety of subjects that attract its attention, and the energy withi which it grapples with and overcomes the difficulties that oppose the course of its discoveries,- we may be inclined to ask, What is to arrest its progress? The worldly man does, in fact, arrogantly expect every thing on earth to yield to the power of his genius; nay, not content with mastering these, like the giants of old, he fain would scale the heavens, penetrating their mysteries with curious and irreverent eye, and seeking to bring them within the range and dominion of his reasoning faculties. But there his boasted powers fail; confusion and disappointment, like that of Babel, follow the attempts of mere worldly wisdom to scan the things of God. The children of this world are wiser than the children of light, but in their generation only; their wisdom is earthly, and would reduce heavenly things to the level of their earthborn minds. Their conceptions, though acute enough in the apprehension of all things that concern them as occupants of the world, are unequal to the attainment of any correct view of what should more deeply interest them in their other and higher relation of creatures formed for eternity.

How far, or rather how short a way human wisdom can go in the discovery of what respects the soul, may be judged from the doctrines of the old philosophers, who, in their

VOL. V.-NO. CXVIII.

PRICE 1d.

approaches to the truth, were led aside by so many absurd fictions, as to render it more than probable that the gleams of truth apparent in their theories were not the genuine discoveries of their own genius, but are rather to be regarded as rays dispersed abroad from the fountain of light and knowledge that illuminated Zion.

While the natural mind thus shews its insufficiency for the establishment of any sound theoretical knowledge of divine things, its notions of morality prove it to be no better guide in matters of a practical kind. For do we not see different vices directly countenanced, some by one, others by another set of philosophers among the ancients? And in countries where the Gospel has not shed its light, do we not see the worst crimes not only of continual occurrence, but even held up as virtuous acts; revenge, for instance, regarded as a duty, and all the bad passions of our nature reigning uncontrolled; bearing altogether an ample but melancholy testimony to St. Paul's forcible and awful picture of man's natural state?

We

It is not necessary, however, to go back to ancient times, or travel to unenlightened lands, to be satisfied that the mind uninfluenced by Gospel truth can never attain to a right judgment on things relating to the soul-that such knowledge is too excellent for man. need not go beyond our own shores, to see the insufficiency of human wisdom for heavenly acquirements, and the consequent need of divine revelation. Amid the conflict of opinions on all, and particularly on religious subjects, and where so many loose and illdefined ideas are expressed into the moral and practical duties of life, it is easy to per

H

ceive the value of a certain standard to refer to. And we should make it a ground of unceasing thankfulness to the Father of lights, that he has not left us to tread our uncertain | way through a benighted world, but has made known to us our actual state, his own will, and our duty. "To the law," then, "and to the testimony," let us resort with grateful hearts, convinced that, without their teaching, we should be ignorant of all that is most valuable; that without such a standard, morality would soon sink to a low state of degradation.

Whatever success may crown the skill and exertions of men in the pursuit of worldly objects, however we may admire the talents they thus display, we have not to regard mankind as creatures of this earth only, whose faculties are to be expended on things below, but as endued with immortal souls, as placed here in a probationary state to prepare for eternity. In this view of their case, the very activity of mind which they display renders the necessity of a guide of reason, a director of opinion, and a standard of action, the more apparent. This we have in the holy Scripture; and it is the bounden duty, not only of the ministers of religion, but of all who value religion, to hold up this rule and standard continually, both to themselves, and to all over whom their influence extends; that this may form as it were a rallying point, and that a frequent reference to its doctrines and precepts may check the tide of novel and random opinions and lax principles.

To this conclusion, then, we come, that the holy Scriptures must be at once the subject and the test of all instruction—which term I am far from intending to confine to mere teaching in schools. General instruction comprehends at once the preaching of the Gospel, the education of the young, and all those publications which are designed to promote religious and useful knowledge. In these various branches the test must be the same; we should remember that we are to instruct, not only for time, but also for eternity those for whose good we preach, or teach, or write, have immortal souls; and it is of far more consequence that these should be trained for the enjoyment of endless happiness, than that the mind be only stored with such knowledge as will cease to be of use when eternity begins.

The main point with the preacher of the Gospel must be to declare and enforce the simple word of God, that they who hear may recognise the authority on which he speaks, and receive the message as from Him whose word is power. It is not 66 by the enticing words of man's wisdom" that an impression can be made on the heart, for these may be

| fallacious; but "the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword." In the performance of his duty the minister will bear in mind that he is the minister of God for the good of souls; that he is, at the same time, the messenger of the awful Being who abhorreth iniquity, and will assuredly punish sin, and the servant of the mild and gentle Jesus, who would not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax: while, by the earnestness with which he calls sinners to repentance, and strives to keep clear of the judgment passed on those priests who looked carelessly on sin, "healing the hurt of the people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace" (Jer. vi. 14); while he warns the wicked of their evil way, and the end to which they are hastening,―he must beware of checking the growth of faith by unnecessary harshness of manner or of language. Faith is a tender plant, and requires to be drawn forth with care and culture; God alone can give the increase; but we may, under his grace, aid its growth, refreshing it with the messages of love, and feeding it with the hope of mercy and pardon. The voice of tenderness has oftentimes more effect in religion than the expression of anger; and the sinner, however hardened, is generally more readily touched by the news of his Saviour's love than by the utmost threatenings of judgment to come. The minister's work is a difficult one, beyond all doubt, far exceeding any powers he could bring into action; he must therefore pray for the assistance of God's Holy Spirit to direct his exertions, and to prosper his work in his hands. In all doubts and difficulties, the Bible must be his resource, the groundwork of his preaching, and the strength of his arguments. This, we may rest assured, will prove a never-failing fountain of wisdom; so that the diligent reader of Scripture, at the end of a long life will still find something new, some promise or invitation which before had escaped his attention, but which brings God's love home to his feelings with renewed force. It is a treasure from which, like the scribe, we may bring forth things new and old, fit to minister grace to the hearers; adapted to every case, whether to encourage the timid, comfort the afflicted, alarm the careless, convince the wavering, or put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who do err, not knowing the truth. It is in this way only that we can hope for success; resting on this ground alone can we appeal with confidence to the hearts and consciences of men, that we do "not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Cor. iv. 5); in this way only can we look for the favour of God, or hope to share in the triumph,

when" they that turn many to righteousness | cerned in education, that those under their shall shine as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. xii. 3).

Thus far I have considered one branch only of general instruction. A second is the education of the young: here the same object must be kept in view, the same test applied. Whoever has experienced the value of the inspired word, must be desirous of imparting its knowledge to all in whose welfare he is concerned. Temptations varied in kind beset the path of all; and there is no period when they are stronger or more fatal than on the first entrance into active life; they have then the charm of novelty, and the mind is not yet in its full strength, nor are its principles confirmed by the experience of their goodness. There is, therefore, at that period the more necessity for a good foundation of Scripture knowledge, that the young may have something to fall back upon; that, though they may not have learned from experience the dangers around, nor the deceitfulness of sin in its various forms, they may yet know the broad distinctions of right and wrong; and when assailed by temptation, may have this answer ready, It is forbidden in the Bible.

It may, perhaps, admit of some doubt, how far the holy Scriptures should be used as a common school-book, from the possibility of its diminishing the respect in which they should be held; but the reading them should certainly form a regular portion of school education, as important texts will thus be impressed on the mind of the child, which may prove of infinite service to the man. Under the present very general establishment of schools, but few children will, in all probability, grow up without being taught to read; and it must be regarded as an unspeakable blessing that they should be able to read the Bible. Happy would it be for many, if this were the only book they ever could read: but as we know that numberless mischievous publications are continually issuing from the press, which may fall in the way of the young, we must endeavour to meet the evil we cannot prevent, by laying a good foundation in Scripture knowledge and sound principles, so that, at any rate, they may be able to refer to their Bibles to ascertain the character of what they read. We must try, if possible, to impart a taste for Scripture reading, and induce a habit of it early; for if not commenced in early life, it will probably be never thought of, till old age or some serious illness force reflection: meanwhile other books meet the eye; and the result is sometimes such as to make it a matter of sorrow, rather than rejoicing, that they ever were taught to read at all. It should be the anxious care of all con

charge may be able to give some reason of the hope that is in them, and know at least the nature and divine authority of the precepts of Christianity. And strong reason there is that they should enter into action thus armed; for, not to mention the allurements to practical sin, they may probably have to encounter the ensnaring theories which, in one shape or other, arrogating to themselves the title of rational religion, raise their head against the truth, and sometimes with fatal success, fatal alike to those who are thus withdrawn from the hope of the Gospel, and fatal to those unhappy men, "who will not enter into the kingdom of God themselves, and seek to prevent those that are entering."

There remains a third point under the head of general instruction, to which the test of Scripture is peculiarly applicable and essential, i. e. publications of an educational character. It need not be remarked how numerous are these, and published by persons of every variety of opinion. In reference to them we see at once the inestimable value of a sure standard wherewith to compare them. "To the law and to the testimony.' We must try them in their doctrines and their morality by the simple word of God; not entering into disputations that cannot profit, but, at the same time, anxious to discover any thing that militates against substantial matters of faith, or tends to lower the standard of Christian practice. Let us make our stand on the broad basis of the Bible: without infringing the duties of Christian charity and brotherly love, we may and must denounce whatever is against the word of truth; nor must we ever, through any plausible view of amalgamating with other creeds, give up a single point of consequence, or fritter down differences, lest all religion sink into a mere form.

We have to thank God that we have the Bible in its purity, and that it is now so widely spread, and so easily purchased, that even the poorest may possess themselves of its treasures.

May He make his word more known and its value more felt; may He send the Bible to those who have not yet known it; may He open its pages to those to whom they are sealed; and may He give a spirit of thankfulness to those who have free access to the sacred volume; may He teach all orders of men amongst us to regard the Bible as our invaluable birthright, from which our ministers may learn wisdom, and our people knowledge; from which our children may imbibe those principles that shall guide them through life, and cheer them at its close.

« AnteriorContinuar »