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THE

CHRISTIAN RECORDER,

Vol. I. FEBRUARY, 1820. No. 12.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION
IN LOWER-CANADA.

One of the most striking features of the present age is the increasing attention paid to the religious and moral instruction of youth. That spirit of innovation which was introduced by the French revolution, and which, guided by a relentless scepticism, sought to destroy our morals and religion, has been arrested in its bloody progress, and mankind are returning fast to common sense, and to the worship of their Creator. Sad experience has proved that he who has denied his God cannot be trusted by man; that he is the victim of unbridled passions, and insatiable appetites, which inflame and hurry him down the stream of wickedness, and at length plunge him into the gulph of despair. To doubt of the truths of religion, is no longer deemed a proof of acuteness and liberality; the veil which a false prophecy had thrown over the understanding of so great a portion of mankind, has been rent asunder by the horrible fruits which it has produced, and it has been found that the worst Christian is far superior in a moral point of view, to the hardened unbeliever. The former is checked in every act of disobedience to God; his conscience rises up against him; he sees the day of retribution, and feels the sentence of condemnation already imprinted on his heart. Finding, therefore, that vice offers no pleasure,[Pg 444] but the greatest misery, there is reason for hoping that he may reform—that he will recoil from the commission of new crimes, and having an unerring rule to direct his judgment, seek for comfort in that religion, from the directions of which, he has so long strayed, but which he has never ceased inwardly to revere.

The unbeliever, on the contrary, has no check, he knows not where to stop, and there is no excess, no enormity, to which he will not proceed. A sense of goodness and rectitude may for a time preserve some delicate minds, but not long; for such sentiments stand themselves in need of that very support which the sceptic has rejected. If, then, a Christian of the most indifferent description has so much the advantage of the infidel, how much more he who delights in doing the will of God, and experiences in his bosom that sublime affection which connects him with this eternal Being. The life of such a person is the strongest refutation of infidelity. The best evidence, says an eminent writer, against an unbeliever is to touch his heart, to show him an example of religion so engaging, as to deprive him of the power of resistance. What a sight, to behold the Christian surrounded by his friends, his children, his wife, all concurring to instruct and edify him, and without preaching God to him by words, shewing him visibly in the actions he inspires, in the virtues he produces, to behold the image of heaven shining in his house, and once every day hearing him exclaim something more than human reigns in this place. Above all to witness the exquisite delight which the Christian derives from his glorious connexion with Jesus Christ and from being adopted among his disciples.

The days of seduction having passed away, the best method of guarding against their return is to give our children a religious education; for who that is fully aware of the vast importance of early habits, and how powerfully they influence the conduct of the man, does not feel the strongest anxiety that they may be founded in principles of the purest kind? When we are once convinced that we profess the true religion, we cannot begin too early to teach it to our children; for those who are brought up in forgetfulness of God, and left to the dominion of their own passions, are sure to become wicked and miserable. Vice, says Seneca, wants no teacher, as briars and brambles want no cultivation; but the seeds of virtue require instruction[Pg 445] and a wise education to make them bud, and without which you may never expect to see them bloom. Those happy dispositions which are seen and admired in youth, are but a slight and feeble spark just ready to go out for ever, unless he to whom it is entrusted takes care by his breath to keep it alive, and helps it to open and expand. But many of those who are entrusted with the education of children, are not sufficiently alive to the value of the charge. How seldom do parents themselves consider that in teaching their offspring they are directing immortal spirits. Instead of delighting to train them up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, they are anxious to be relieved from the burden, and to consign them into the hands of strangers to receive that mental and spiritual nourishment, which it is their duty to bestow. Is it then to be wondered, that while the children make sufficient progress in the arts and sciences, and such branches of knowledge as may qualify them for the stations in society which they are designed to fill, their hearts are not cultivated, nor are they made lovers of religion.

Not that religious instruction should be forced upon children without attending to the freedom and indulgence so necessary at their age, or that we should expect from them an accurate knowledge of its various truths, it is sufficient that their views, so far as they extend, be sound and scriptural, and so communicated as to touch the heart.

We are aware that great tenderness and delicacy are necessary to bring the truths of the Gospel home to their youthful minds; and this may be the reason why so many parents shrink from the task; but let such remember that religious instruction and religious habits must go together, and though the former may be acquired from public teachers, the latter can only be formed at home. In communicating the truths of revelation to the young, we must give them food convenient for them; nourishing them, not with strong meat, but with the sincere milk of the word, and exciting their attention by frequent and elegant allusions to those images which are the most likely to charm their fancies and interest their hearts.

Since, then, religious and moral instruction are so valuable, it ought to form the basis of every public system of education. Knowledge without religion is dangerous; it is like the reflected light of the moon, distorting the objects which it renders visible.

[Pg 446]The short time that the children of the poor can devote to instruction, ought surely to be directed to the acquisition of that information which will render them content with their situation, and at the same time, prepare them for a purer state of existence. To read and write their own language, and to cast accounts, in addition to religious instruction, comprehend all that can be really advantageous to the mass of society. Not that any obstacle should be thrown in the way of those who are desirous of making further progress, but their religious knowledge should be made to keep pace with their advancement in other things, for without the meek and charitable influence of Christianity upon their hearts, their superior information will only render them more obstinate and untractable. To the children of the higher and more opulent classes of society, a more liberal course of instruction may be given; for aristocracy in literature is as natural and certain to be formed, as one of wealth and power. It is impossible for all men to become equally learned; some are slow and some quick in apprehension; some are qualified for one profession and others for another; nor can any complain so long as there is no positive exclusion, but that of natural ability, from the most extensive plan of education, and no distinction admitted, but that of superior wisdom—a wisdom which, if it emanate from pure religious knowledge strengthened by science, never fails of promoting the good of society.

In every point of view, ignorance is a dreadful evil, which alike palsies body and mind; for he who is without knowledge, can scarcely be ranked among the human species—unable to reflect upon passing events, he becomes an insulated being in the midst of society, and blind to the book of nature, which lies open before him, he may be said to die without having lived.

These desultory remarks have been suggested from reading in the Newspapers a list of Trustees of the Royal Institution for the advancement of learning in Lower-Canada. These gentlemen have indeed an arduous task to perform; but, from their rank and abilities, the most pleasing anticipations of the success of their labours may be reasonably indulged. Little has yet been done towards instructing the people of that Province; but it may gratify your readers, as a new æra upon this subject is commencing, to give you such an account of that little, as may serve as a counterpart to the history and present state of Education in Upper-Canada, recorded in your second number.

[Pg 447]The first seminary for public instruction established in Lower-Canada, was that of Quebec, founded and endowed by Francis D'Laval de Montmorencie, first Bishop of Canada. By its constitution this academy is only held to instruct young clergymen for the service of the Diocese; but since the conquest of the Province, public instruction has been voluntarily and gratuitously given in Theology, the Classics, Rhetoric, Moral and Natural Philosophy, Geography, Arithmetic, and all the different branches of Mathematics. It has produced, and produces daily, learned men, capable of doing honor to their education and to their country.

When young Englishmen have desired to come into the seminary, they have been admitted upon the same footing as Canadians, without any distinction or partiality, and they are exempted from attending religious duties differing from the principles of their belief.

The next is a college at Montreal, where classical learning and Rhetoric have been publicly taught, and several other branches of education are now introduced. It has a large school attached to it, where children of all ranks are taught reading and writing.

These with a few inferior schools in Quebec, and some of the country villages, comprised all the means of instruction afforded to the Canadians. From the conquest of the Province till 1787, the Government paid no attention to the subject of public instruction; but on the 31st May, in that year, Lord Dorchester called the attention of the Council to the great object of the education of youth through all the extent of the Province, and appointed a Committee of nine gentlemen to report with all convenient speed, the best mode of remedying the defect, an estimate of the expence, and by what means it may be defrayed. This Committee after considering the subject two years and six months, agreed upon a report which was ordered by Lord Dorchester on the 24th December, to be printed in both languages and published and distributed throughout the Province, that a subject so intimately connected with the interests of the people, might be generally understood. The report consists of an answer to a series of questions by the Catholic Bishop of Quebec, which had been put to him by the Chief Justice, chairman of the Committee in which some good sense and not a little jealousy is displayed by the Prelate. The report concludes with the following resolutions, which[Pg 448] being previously put by the chairman, and each of them supported by a variety of reasons, were carried unanimously.

"1st—That it is expedient without delay, to erect parish or village Free-Schools, in every District of the Province, at the determination of the Magistrates of the District in their Quarter Sessions of the Peace.

"2d—That it is also expedient that each District have a Free-School in the central or County Town of the District.

"3d—That the tuition of the village Schools be limited to reading, writing, and cyphering.

"4th—That the instruction in the District or County Schools extend to all the rules of arithmetic, the languages, grammar, bookkeeping, gauging, navigation, surveying, and the practical branches of the mathematics.

"5th—That it is expedient to erect a Collegiate institution for cultivating the liberal arts and sciences usually taught in the European universities, the theology of Christians excepted, on account of the mixture of two communions, whose joint aid is desirable, as far as they agree, and who ought to be left to find a separate provision for the candidates in the ministry of their respective churches.

"6th—That it is essential to the origin and success of such an institution, that a society be incorporated for the purpose, and that the charter wisely provide against the perversion of the institution to any sectarian peculiarities; leaving free scope for cultivating the circle of the sciences."

Although this report and concluding resolutions seem to have been approved of by His Excellency Lord Dorchester, no attempts, as far as the writer of this is informed, have been made by the Crown till lately, to bring the plans suggested into actual operation. In 1801, the principal resolutions were indeed embodied in an Act which passed into a Law for the establishment of a Royal Institution for the promotion of learning, and the establishment of Free-Schools throughout the Province; but feeble has been the operation of this excellent Law; in nineteen years a few schools only have been established agreeable to its provisions, and the Province is still without a seminary capable of affording the youth the elements of a liberal education. What neither the Imperial nor Provincial Legislatures have done, the Province owes to the munificence of a private individual.[Pg 449] In other countries the greater number of the colleges and seminaries of instruction have been established by the gifts of individuals; but in colonies this can seldom happen. Those who acquire wealth go generally home to spend it in the decline of life; others are always going to return, but before they have actually decided, they are arrested by the hand of death. Some who have no intention of leaving the country, bequeath large fortunes to distant relations, whom they have never seen, and with whom they had never exchanged marks of kindness and affection, and never think of endowing charitable foundations. In fifty years not a shilling had been left for the purpose of instruction among the English part of the population. The reproach which this indication of illiberality and avarice had cast upon the Province, has been removed by the late Hon. James M'Gill, who has left a noble legacy for the purpose of erecting a college to be called by his name. I shall claim at no distant period a place in your Journal for a particular notice of this excellent man, the most grateful son that Lower-Canada numbers among her children, contenting myself at present with noticing the value of the bequest and the conditions on which it is given. The legacy consists of the Farm of Burnside in the neighbourhood of Montreal, with the dwelling house and buildings thereon erected, as the site of the university or college, and of ten thousand pounds, to be paid to the Trustees of the Royal Institution, so soon as they shall have erected a university or college on the lands of Burnside. The conditions annexed to this legacy, are two: 1st—that if a college only be established it be named M'Gill College—if a university, that one of the colleges of which it is composed be called after his name. 2d—That the necessary steps be taken for establishing the college or university within ten years after the testator's decease; should nothing be done in this time, the whole of the legacy lapses to the residuary legatee.—The Hon. James M'Gill died in December, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, so that more than six of the ten years have elapsed and nothing has been yet done. It is to be hoped that the Trustees to whom the execution of this part of the will is particularly intrusted, will be able to show that they have not been remiss in their duty, and have not failed to make the requisite representation to His Majesty's Government of the necessity of taking proper steps for carrying into effect the laudable intentions of the[Pg 450] deceased. Mr. M'Gill's reason for fixing upon ten years, was to hasten the establishment of a seminary from which the most beneficial results might be expected; for he never anticipated the possibility that so long a period would be suffered to pass away without making the required arrangements.

The central position of Montreal points it out as the proper place for a university. It is convenient for many students from Upper-Canada; it is better adapted for a botanical garden than any other place in Lower Canada, and the only town where a medical school can be successfully established, which is not only a necessary, but an indispensable appendage to such a seminary. When to these advantages we add the beautiful estate given for the express purpose, all room for dispute as to the situation of the university is removed.

For the Christian Recorder.

I commenced the present year with reading to my family every evening a chapter in the Bible, wishing to increase their knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and to refresh my own memory by again pursuing the sublime history of God's transactions with men. My intention was to proceed regularly through the books of the Old and New Testament, announcing to my household my readiness to explain any difficulties which might occur in the course of our reading. This foolish offer has involved me in endless perplexities. Questions have been asked which I am altogether unable to resolve.

My vanity, Mr. Editor, has been severely mortified by this exposure of my ignorance, and I have been seriously reflecting upon the propriety of altering our plan; but before taking this resolution, it has struck me that the task of answering such questions as I do not fully comprehend, belongs to you.

[Pg 451]Last night I read the seventh chapter of Genesis, and was assailed as usual with a multitude of questions about Noah's ark. One wished to know which of our months is meant by the second month; another, how so many animals could be accommodated in so small a building; how they were fed and kept clean, &c. Finding myself totally incapable of giving them satisfactory answers, I promised to ask your assistance. Have the condescension, then, Sir, to give us some account of the ark in your next number, and if it be not considered troublesome, we shall beg explanations of such other difficulties as we may encounter.

Your compliance with this request, will oblige many of your readers as well as the members of this family.

Sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after the creation, the earth was overflowed and destroyed by a deluge of water, which overspread the face of the whole globe, from pole to pole, and from east to west; so that the floods covered the tops of the highest mountains, to the depth of twenty-seven feet. The rains descended after an unusual manner, and the fountains of the great deep being broken open, a general destruction and devastation was brought upon the earth, and all things in it, mankind and other living creatures, excepting Noah and his family, who, by a special providence of God, were preserved in an ark or vessel, with such kinds of living creatures as he took on board. On the tenth day of the second month, which was Sunday the 30th of November, God commanded Noah to enter the ark with his family, and on December 7th it began to rain, and rained forty days, and the deluge continued 150 days. The ark rested on Mount Ararat, on Wednesday May the 6th. On July the 19th the tops of the mountains became visible, and on Friday December 18th, Noah came forth out of the ark, with all that were with him. The waters gradually retired into their former channels and caverns within the earth, the mountains and fields began to appear, and the whole habitable earth assumed that form and shape which it now presents to the eye. From the little remnant preserved in the ark, the present race of mankind, and of animals, have been propagated.

The place where Noah and his family built the ark, was[Pg 452] most probably on the banks of the Tigris in the neighbourhood of Babylon; for in that country the Gopher wood or Cypress, of which it was commanded to be built, grew in abundance, and likewise, the Bitumen or pitch with which it was covered, within and without, is found there in any quantity.

The ark resembled a large trunk or chest, three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits broad, and thirty cubits high, and drew fifteen cubits of water. It had neither keel to cut the waves, nor rudder to guide it, nor sails to take advantage of the wind, so it lay floating like a great log upon the water, at the mercy of the winds and currents.

ON THE INCREASE OF THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT.

If you think the following remarks on the prophecy, "And there shall be one fold and one shepherd," worthy of a place in the Recorder, they are at your service.

No serious person can reflect upon the wonderful events which have taken place during the last forty years, without being struck with their effect in explaining and supporting that vast scheme for the salvation of mankind, which the whole providence of God is gradually promoting.

Were these events carefully collected without any particular reference to their local and political tendency, but merely to their influence on the progress of good principles and the eternal happiness of man, it would form a work highly interesting to the pious, and of the greatest importance to the Christian religion. We should not only discover the fulfillment of many prophecies, and thus enjoy the satisfaction of beholding one of the most convincing proofs of the truth of revelation, cloathed with increasing strength; but we should likewise find Christianity triumphing over new dangers and temptations, and evincing its intrinsic purity and excellence under the most afflicting trials.

We are aware that to the unreflecting mind, no period of history affords so many proofs of the corruption of human nature, and the active wickedness of man—none which afford[Pg 453] less room to anticipate the accomplishment of the glorious prophecy, "when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"—none which give less room to hope for the accomplishment of the divine promise of our blessed Saviour, "And there shall be one fold and one Shepherd."

But very different will be the conclusions of the devout and intelligent Christian, who is accustomed to reflect upon events, and to refer all things to God. He will perceive that the passing times have caused the truth and spirit of our holy religion to be more clearly explained and understood; that the numerous enemies who have assailed the faith, by giving rise to the most important inquiries have roused Christians from their carelessness and sloth, and obliged them to examine the grounds of their belief with greater diligence, and more anxious care; and he will find that their success has been commensurate with their industry and zeal. In their hands, new force has been given to the evidences of Christianity. The different arguments for its truth, have been placed in a clear point of view, and the most plausible objections triumphantly refuted.

It was naturally to be expected, that amidst the amazing progress of the arts and sciences, the greater knowledge of human nature, and the more accurate information which has been obtained concerning the manners and customs of ancient and modern nations, something might be done towards a clearer elucidation of the holy Scriptures. The reformers had indeed done much, but not every thing. Their explanation of the Bible was not always infallible, nor their commentaries free from error. The times in which they lived, and the passions by which they were agitated, exposed them to erroneous judgments, and frequently prevented them from stating the truth in the happiest manner. There was much therefore to be done in attaining a purer religious knowledge.

Besides, the manner of attacking religion varies in every age, and so must the manner of defence. Accordingly the friends of Christianity, being assailed by hosts of enemies, defended with redoubled vigilance the citadel of their faith, and laid open the whole truth. The trappings with which ignorance, prejudice, or mistaken zeal had incumbered the pure uncorrupted word, have been swept away, and the religion of the blessed Jesus presented in its native simplicity and beauty. It is thus that the enemies of the truth have[Pg 454] done it the most essential service. Christians are now ashamed not to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in them.

Still the beautiful image of tranquillity and simplicity of heart which the prophecy presents to the soul, seems not to accord with the convulsions of the passing age. The malignant passions which have been excited, and which have been too often embodied in the most dreadful crimes, rather prove the total want of religion, than its rapid progress; but, here we must observe, that benefits arising from the storms and tempests which frequently deform the face of nature, are forgotten or disregarded during their continuance, and are only felt when they have ceased to rage. In the same way, the convulsions of the moral world do not always present their advantages for a time, and it is often long before our feeble intellects are able to perceive the good which they have produced. On the present occasion, however, we are not left in doubt, for in the very midst of the wars which agitated Europe, the benign spirit of Christianity burst forth with glorious effulgence; even then indications were given of the final accomplishment of the blessed promise—"There shall be one fold and one Shepherd." The endearing title which our Saviour here assumes, and which calls forth the best affections of the heart, for a time subsisted only between him and the Jews: they were his sheep—them he preserved from danger, and conducted to wholesome pastures—taught the doctrine of the Gospel and the kingdom of God; but the period was at hand when he was to have other sheep, not of this fold; when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was to be broken down, and the latter admitted to the same privileges with the believing Jews; and when this is fully accomplished, they shall be one sheep-fold. It is therefore evident, that the fulfillment of this gracious promise is now in process, and though the time of its full accomplishment be unrevealed and unknown, we may look forward with joy and confidence to its glorious consummation; and, in order to strengthen this joy, let us inquire what indications the Christian world presents of its final accomplishment; and when the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The first proof of the progressive accomplishment of the promise—"There shall be one fold and one Shepherd," may be seen in the greater harmony which prevails among all denominations of Christians.

[Pg 455]This naturally follows more enlarged views of the Scriptures, and a stricter attention to the Divine Spirit, which they inculcate, the fruits of which are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperence: for, notwithstanding the diversities of opinion among Christians, the great essentials of our religion are comprised in a small compass: the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, of infinite perfections; in the future state adapted to the moral habits of intelligent beings; that the Scriptures contain the will of the Almighty, revealed to man; that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, through whom alone we can obtain salvation; are a sufficient foundation for our religion. But when we proceed to the minute explication of the essential points, small differences of opinion will arise.

Such indeed might be anticipated, for it is no more in nature for all men to be of the same opinion, than to be of the same form, size, and features. But though unanimity of opinion be not attainable, yet nearer and nearer approaches to unanimity of spirit may be made.

It has, however, unfortunately happened, that the unity sought for has been that of opinion; and though much learning has been exerted to produce it, little progress has been made. In vain has it been said, that the time will come when all will be of one mind, and when divisions, like the world that fosters them, shall disappear; that when the kingdoms of the world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, one faith must finally prevail; for as every one supposes his own belief the true, such reasonings can have little present effect. That the sameness of opinion will ever be required in this state of existence, may be reasonably doubted; and that it cannot be produced by human exertions, experience clearly proves. For, in our attempts to ascertain the faith that shall continue for ever, though we may consider ourselves successful, it will still partake of human infirmity, and the attempts of others, from the same infirmity, will frequently lead to different results.

Endeavours, then, by reasoning, to bring others to a uniformity of faith, can never be extensively successful. Controversy is engendered, rancour grows up, pride is awakened, self-conceit, hatred, and contempt are employed, and then conviction is impossible. The history of the church proves, from many facts, that even the best of men, when heated by dispute, forget that charity which thinketh no evil.

Another method of producing that unanimity among[Pg 456] Christians, so desirable, promises more success, as it is not founded on the infallibility of the opinions, tenets, doctrines, and decisions of any church, or set of men, but on that peace and charity, that pure and sublime morality taught in the Gospel. The natural tendency of this truly Christian spirit is, to banish all rancor and hatred, pride and arrogance, and to cherish mildness and humility. Hence the spirit of meekness, forbearance, and brotherly love, taking place of violence, insult, and oppression, will produce that unity which the strongest arguments fail to accomplish; and if it do not produce the same unity of mind, it narrows the differences, wears off asperities, and promotes mutual esteem. It must happen that amidst the growth of the benevolent affections, the numerous points of argument among all, that name, the name of Jesus, must frequently occur, while little differences are forgotten; and if all present themselves before the Supreme Being, according to the best lights vouchsafed to each, with humble and contrite spirits, and are accepted, they surely ought to bear with one another.

Since, then, the experience of two thousand years proves that mankind will never be of one faith, and that all attempts to bring it about have produced dissention instead of harmony, it is time to try the method which, cherishing the benevolent affections and the practice of the sublime principles inculcated by our Saviour, will bring about that Christian temper, which, infinitely more than sameness of belief, manifests the true disciples. In this sense only, unless human nature be entirely changed, can we look for the fulfillment of the prophecy—the kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ—he shall reign for ever and ever. And will not this harmony, preceded as it must be, by purity, justice, and beneficence, lessen all the evils of life, and render governments themselves more just, free and enlightened, or are we to expect these happy results from profligacy, malignity, and profaneness?

When all denominations are thus bound in brotherly love, and unite in promoting the temporal and spiritual good of mankind, there are no difficulties which they may not, through the favour of God, surmount. A blessing seems to rest upon all their exertions, and the most astonishing events are frequently brought about by means which to the natural man appear altogether inadequate. This truth has been memorably illustrated in the present age, by the abolition of the Slave Trade. Who could have supposed, that a single[Pg 457] obscure individual would have in twenty years destroyed this detestable traffic, though supported by wealth, avarice, and power? Yet by pursuing the line of conduct which religion prescribes—that holy and pure religion, which breathes peace, harmony, and love, among the children of men, he became the instrument, in the hands of God, of disseminating among all denominations of Christians, such a zeal against the supporters of this infamous commerce, as obliged them at length to yield. It is, indeed, astonishing that persons professing a belief in Christianity, could have possibly reconciled a traffic so nefarious to their consciences, since it evidently tramples upon every moral and religious obligation. So long as this trade continued, it was impossible to extend to Africa the benefits of religion or civilization.—This public detestation and abolition of slavery, is a noble triumph of the Christian spirit over avarice, and is hailed by her friends as the precursor of still greater victories.

It must ever remain a source of the greatest encouragement to all those Christians who are anxious to promote the amelioration of mankind, in supporting them under new labours. When lately a person eminent for his talents and extensive information, was expressing his doubts as to the ultimate success of an association recently formed in England, for the promotion of universal peace, he was reminded of the feeble means which, through the divine assistance, accomplished the abolition of the Slave Trade. In 1785, only one obscure individual was found lifting up his voice against this traffic in human blood. In 1787, the first Committee, consisting of twelve persons, was formed to promote this great object—and in 1807, it was accomplished by a law which covered the British Parliament with glory.

This fact made a strong impression on the mind of the person alluded to, and although it might not remove his doubts, presented ground for encouragement and hope. And here I cannot refuse myself the satisfaction of testifying to the sublime triumph which Mr. Clarkson who first commenced this Christian work, Mr. Wilberforce, without whose active and benevolent assistance he must have failed, and their noble associates in this glorious undertaking, must have felt, when they beheld, on the 25th day of March 1807, just as the clock struck twelve, and the sun was in his meridian splendour, their great object finally accomplished.

Who is there that does not sympathize in their sublime enjoyment on this occasion—who does not acknowledge that[Pg 458] it was a reward to which they were completely entitled? Never surely, in modern times has the Christian character appeared to more advantage.—Such feeling, such greatness of mind, such disinterested, active, and persevering benevolence as those persons evinced, merit the most ample and permanent record, and all must feel a pleasure in offering them the tribute of praise in terms of the warmest enthusiasm.

DISSERTATIONS on the CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

No. 8.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

We are accustomed in early infancy to believe implicitly whatever we are told by those around us, because we cannot conceive the necessity of falsehood. Experience renders us more circumspect as we grow older; but still we are more willing to credit than disbelieve; we feel it disagreeable even to detect falsehood and shrink from the baseness of assisting in its propagation. Our first impulse is always on the side of truth, and long care and practice are requisite to train the young to habitual deceit. Happily for mankind the truth on most occasions can be easily discovered; but in some cases, attention and careful examination are necessary; for though many, without much reflection, proceed in their journey through life, merely from copying after others, this is not to be imitated by those who wish to act with consistency, and to improve, in a becoming manner, the faculties given them by God.

The power of distinguishing truth from error, is not conferred upon us to remain dormant, but to be diligently employed;—for, what shall we answer in the great day of retribution, if we be found guilty of denying truths, because we have never taken the trouble to examine them? It is indeed amazing, how few of our opinions are built upon[Pg 459] accurate investigation, and how many originate in caprice, or spring from authority?

But as truth is always pleasant to the mind, so those are the most agreeable which have cost us some trouble in the discovery; because we have a more lively sense of the foundation on which they stand, and become more interested in their dissemination. The pleasure enjoyed in the discovery of truth may be very properly considered one of the many reasons why the Christian religion challenges investigation, confident in her strength; she pleases the more the better she is known.

The solidity of this remark is no less manifest in its application to one doctrine, than when applied to the whole of Christianity, as will appear in our examination of the doctrine of Christ risen from the dead, the most important which our religion teaches. We begin with a brief narration of its accomplishment, extracted from the four Evangelists, and from this we shall point out the arguments which establish its truth.

We are informed that the body of our Lord after his crucifixion, was given to Joseph of Arimathea, the soldiers and even Pilate himself being convinced that it was dead.—This disciple, on receiving it, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a new sepulchre, hewn out of a rock, wherein never man lay, and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb. The Jews, remembering our Saviour's prophecy, that he would rise again on the third day, requested Pilate, the Roman governor, to grant them a band of soldiers to guard the sepulchre, lest, as they said, the disciples should come by night, and steal the corpse away. Pilate answered, "Ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can;" so they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch.

The nearness of the Sabbath prevented Joseph from embalming the body with precious ointments as was at that time customary among the Jews. To supply this omission, or rather to prove their own veneration for their beloved teacher, the women who had followed our Lord from Galilee, after beholding where he was laid, returned to prepare spices and ointments to embalm the body, when the Sabbath was past.—So anxious were they to perform this last friendly but melancholy duty, that they came to the sepulchre while it was yet dark. When they reached the[Pg 460] tomb, followed by others, and bearing the spices, they were astonished to find it empty, and the stone rolled away which the Pharisees had taken so much pains to seal and guard—and behold, says St. Matthew, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it—his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow; and for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the Angel answered, and said unto the women, fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus that was crucified—he is not here; he has risen, as he said; come see the place where the Lord lay; and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying, All hail; and they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid; go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

And some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the Chief Priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the Elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept; and if this come to the Governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Jesus, as St. Luke informs us, appeared next to two disciples going to the village Emmaus, to whom he became known in the breaking of bread. These having returned to Jerusalem, to inform the brethren, found them all gathered together, saying, the Lord had appeared unto Simon. While they were speaking, Jesus stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. St. Mark tells us, that he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed them who had seen him after he was risen; from which it appears, that the apostles had not only rejected the testimony of the women, but of the two disciples, and Peter also. Thomas happening to be absent, persisted with unaccountable obstinacy, to disbelieve the Resurrection, till at last Jesus appeared again, and convinced him by the most undeniable tokens. He[Pg 461] was afterwards seen of Peter and other apostles at the sea of Tiberias, and last of all at the mountain which he had appointed in Galilee, where he remained forty days, teaching his disciples the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and was at length received into the kingdom of heaven in the presence of a crowd of witnesses.

Such are the facts revealed in Scripture concerning the Resurrection of Christ, simply told, without art or embellishment. We now proceed to examine what evidence this narrative affords of the truth of the Resurrection, and it appears to be of two kinds, presumptive and direct:

1st—Presumptive; it is evident that if our Saviour's body was not found in the tomb a few days after its burial, it must have arisen or been carried away. If carried away, it must have been by friends or enemies. Had the Pharisees taken him away they would have produced the body to prove the imposture of the disciples, who did not fail to preach the doctrine of the Resurrection to the people.—Could this have been done, the disciples of Jesus must have lost all credit with their followers, and ruined the cause in which they were embarked. Indeed the Pharisees had taken every precaution, as we have seen, to preserve the body, and as they were unable to produce it to the confusion of the disciples; it is most decisive that they did not take it away.

And it will appear no less evident that the disciples did not take the body out of the tomb: to suppose the contrary would imply a concerted plan, for which there is not the smallest evidence. Who were the men, and against whom were they to contend? Eleven poor fishermen were to break the seal of the Priests and Pharisees whom they dreaded, and put to flight a Roman guard. This was too incredible a supposition, even for the Pharisees to set up, and therefore they covenanted with the soldiers, giving them money to say that the body was carried away while they slept. Those acquainted with the manners of antiquity, find some difficulty in accounting for the excuse suggested by the Pharisees and adopted by the soldiers, because it was death by the Roman law for a soldier to sleep on guard. But many considerations in the present case remove this difficulty. The death of Christ was to all visible appearance, a matter of small importance to the Romans; his accusations were not of a civil nature, but respected the Jewish religion, which that haughty nation[Pg 462] thought the vilest superstition; and Pilate, though convinced of Jesus' innocence, delivered him to death merely to gratify the malevolence of the Jews. It was not probable therefore that he would make any strict inquiry about the dead body of a person whom he had condemned to a death so ignominious, and the more particularly, as he regarded the fears of the rulers a fresh mark of their superstition.

If, indeed, the matter had concerned the civil peace of the Province, Pilate would have been more strict, and by taking a bribe, the soldiers would have risqued their lives; but in this affair which involved no political interests, and which was done in complaisance to the Pharisees, the governor would be pleased if they were. But notwithstanding these things, which all concurred to render the governor lenient should he become acquainted with their misconduct, the soldiers hesitated till they were assured by the council, that if it came to Pilate's ears, they would be protected.

Had the disciples really attempted to take away the body, the guard would have repulsed them with the greatest ease. If, indeed, it should be said that a watch so venal were as ready to sell the body to the disciples, as to swear falsely that it was taken away, we admit the full force of the remark. The guard were very ready to take a bribe, but who was to give it? The apostles were selected from the poorest of the people; they knew nothing of the Lord's Resurrection, and they disbelieved it till the strongest evidence was given. They had no money to give, for they possessed not even the common necessaries of life; but suppose, for a moment, that the scheme had been concerted, and the money paid to gain the concurrence of the soldiers, is it possible that an imposture to which so many had been privy, could have been long concealed? The Pharisees had too many friends and emissaries not to have detected the deception, had there been grounds for suspicion, and held it up to general derision.

Moreover, had the disciples been really in possession of the body, it would have been a source of grief and mortification, instead of joy; for, instead of proving that their master had risen from the dead, according to his promise, it would have been a visible proof of the contrary, and they would have been convinced that instead of Jesus being the deliverer they expected, he was an impostor, and they cruelly deceived.

[Pg 463]It may appear strange that the guard were capable of being suborned by the Pharisees after witnessing the earthquake and vision of the Angel. But to clear this, we have only to reflect upon the prejudices of that age. It was customary at that time to believe, that the different appearances of nature were connected with human events; and that at the death or birth of any extraordinary personage, prodigies were seen or heard. The soldiers, as they could not be ignorant of the fame of Jesus, according to this belief, looked upon the earthquake and Angel as a compliment paid by nature to the death of such an illustrious character. The impression made upon them was therefore only momentary; they trembled in the presence of the Angel, but in the morning it was forgotten. Since, then, the Pharisees would have produced the body to silence the apostles, had they taken it away, and since it was impossible for the disciples to have taken the body away, the conclusion is, that Jesus arose from the dead.

Another presumptive proof may be deduced from the manner in which the Evangelists relate this remarkable event. The most shallow reasoners must admit, that there would have been a striking similarity, had there been any collusion among the writers; their story would have been exactly the same, or at any rate with little or no variation. On the contrary, if we suppose four honest men, at different times and at different places writing the history of the same event, each will introduce something new or different from the rest; one will be copious where another is concise; the third will mention some circumstance which the fourth will omit. But these little variations, instead of militating against the general truth of the whole, strongly confirm it, by proving that the authors had no intention to deceive. Such is the presumptive evidence of the Resurrection of Christ.

INFANT BAPTISM.

The very friendly notice which you took of my Letter in your number for June, and the excellent prayer given us[Pg 464] for Sunday morning, encouraged us exceedingly. The attendance at our cottage increased so much, that we could scarcely accommodate all who wished to worship with us, and the beautiful prayers of our liturgy seemed to have a beneficial effect; but, there has been a sad falling off, owing to a Baptist, who settled in this neighbourhood.

You know, Sir, that great carelessness prevails respecting Baptism. Children are allowed to grow up—to become young men and women, and even to enter the married state, before they are baptised. Hundreds of old people are to be found in the Province, who have never been admitted into the church of Christ by this holy ordinance. Knowing this to be the case, I frequently pressed upon the minds of my neighbours, to the best of my abilities, the great importance of this sacrament, and the serious obligation that lay upon them to make their children as soon as possible members of Christ's church. I mentioned the solicitude of parents in Great Britain to have their children baptised, and how eager we ought to be to imitate their example. These frequent admonitions were not without considerable effect.—The sacrament of Baptism began to be considered among us in a very different light—not as a matter of form, but a solemn ordinance appointed by our Saviour himself, and the door by which we are to enter his fold.

I shewed my hearers as clearly as I was able from the Scriptures, that children were admitted to become partakers of religious ordinances, and that God shewed particular tenderness and condescension towards them; that circumcision was evidently a type of Baptism; that the Jews were solemnly enjoined to instruct their children in the truth of their religion, and that they were partakers of the covenant made by their parents.

I noticed that God revealed himself to Samuel in his infancy; that the Divine Spirit fell upon David at an early age; that the prophet Joel commands children and even infants to be present at the solemn meetings; and that our Saviour reproached those who were preventing little children from coming to him, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God: Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." And he took them up in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

The apostles were directed to go and teach all nations,[Pg 465] baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Now a third, perhaps two thirds, of the inhabitants of every country, are below what is legally called the age of discretion, and therefore, children.

With these and such like arguments my neighbours had become anxious to get their children baptised; but since the arrival of this Baptist, their eagerness has been somewhat checked by the contemptuous way in which he speaks of infant Baptism, and his bold and forward manner of declaring it contrary to Scripture, and that all who receive it in their infancy must be baptised again before they can be admitted into the true church.

Hardly one is convinced by his arguments, and most of them perceive the privileges which Baptism confers upon their offspring; but such is the corruption of human nature that they allow themselves to procrastinate, and reasons which they acknowledge to have no force, co-operating with their own indolence, blind their consciences, first make them acquiesce in a delay, and at length dismiss the matter wholly from their minds.

Now, Sir, my motive for writing this Letter is to request you to give us your thoughts on the subject of infant Baptism, as they will have great influence in this circle, and restore that healthy state to our feelings which they once enjoyed.

LETTERS OF HENRY KIRK WHITE.

To his Brother Neville.

I sit down with unfeigned pleasure to write, in compliance with your request, that I would explain to you the real doctrines of the Church of England, or which is the same thing, of the Bible. The subject is most important,[Pg 466] inasmuch as it affects that part of man which is incorruptible, and which must exist for ever—his soul. When God made the brute creation, he merely embodied the dust of the earth, and gave it power of locomotion, or of moving about, and of existing in a certain sphere. In order to afford mute animals a rule of action, by which they might be kept alive, he implanted in them certain instincts, from which they can never depart. Such is that of self-preservation, and the selection of proper food. But he not only endued man with these powers, but he gave him a mind, or spirit, a faculty which enables him to ruminate on the objects which he does not see—to compare impressions—to invent, and to feel pleasure and pain, when their causes are either gone or past, or lie in the future. This is what constituted the human soul. It is an immaterial essence; no one knows what it consists of, or where it resides; the brain and heart are the organs which it most seems to effect; but it would be absurd to infer therefrom, that the material organs of the heart and brain constitute the soul; seeing that the impressions of the mind sometimes affect one organ, and sometimes the other. Thus, when any of the passions—love, hope, fear, pleasure, or pain, are excited, we feel them at our heart: when we discuss a topic of cool reasoning, the process is carried on in the brain; yet both parts are in a greater or less degree acted upon on all occasions, and we may therefore conclude, that the soul resides in neither individually, but in an immaterial spirit, which occasionally impresses the one, and occasionally the other. That the soul is immaterial, has been proved to a mathematical demonstration. When we strike, we lift up our arm; when we walk, we protrude our legs alternately; but when we think, we move no organ: the reason depends on no action of matter, but seems as it were, to cover us, to regulate the machine of our bodies, and to meditate and speculate upon things abstract as well as simple, extraneous as well as connected with our individual welfare, without having any bond which can unite it with our gross corporeal bodies. The flesh is like the temporary tabernacle which the soul inhabits, governs, and regulates; but as it does not consist in any organization of matter, our bodies may die, and return to the dust from whence they were taken; while our souls, incorporeal essences, are incapable of death and annihilation. The spirit is that portion of God's own immortal nature, which he breathed into[Pg 467] our clay at our birth, and which therefore cannot be destroyed, but will continue to exist when its earthly habitation is mingled with its parent dust. We must admit, therefore, what all ages and nations, savages as well as civilized, have acknowledged, that we have souls, and that as they are incorporeal, they do not die with our bodies, but are necessarily immortal. The question, then, naturally arises, what becomes of them after death? Here man, of his own wisdom, must stop: but God has thought fit, in his mercy, to reveal to us in a great measure, the secret of our natures, and in the Holy Scriptures we find a plain and intelligible account of the purposes of our existence, and the things we have to expect in the world to come. And here I shall just remark, that the authenticity and divine inspiration of Moses are established beyond a doubt, and that no learned man can possibly deny their authority. Over all nations, even among the savages of America, cut out as it were from the eastern world, there are traditions extant of the flood, of Noah, of Moses, and other patriarchs, by names which come so near the proper ones, as to remove all doubt of their identity. You know mankind is continually increasing in number; and consequently, if you make a calculation backwards, the numbers must continue lessening and lessening, until you come to a point where there was only one man. Well, according to the most probable calculation, this point will be found to be about 5800 years back, viz. the creation, making allowance for the flood. Moreover, there are appearances upon the surface of the globe, which denote the manner in which it was founded, and the process thus developed will be found to agree very exactly with the figurative account of Moses. (Of this I shall treat in a subsequent Letter.) Admitting, then, that the books of the Pentateuch were written by divine inspiration, we see laid before us the whole history of our race, and including the Prophets and the New Testament, the whole scheme of our future existence. We learn in the first place, that God created man in a state of perfect happiness; that he was placed in the midst of every thing that could delight the eye or fascinate the mind; and that he had only one command imposed on him, which he was to keep under the penalty of death. This command God has been pleased to cover with impenetrable obscurity. Moses, in the figurative language of the East, calls it eating[Pg 468] the fruit of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." But this we can understand, that man rebelled against the command of his Maker, and plunged himself by that crime from a state of bliss to a state of sorrow, and in the end, of death. By death here is meant, the exclusion of the soul from future happiness. It followed, that if Adam fell from bliss, his posterity must fall, for the fruit must be like the parent stock; and a man made as it were dead, must likewise bring forth children under the same curse; evil cannot beget good.

But the benign Father of the universe had pity upon Adam and his posterity, and, knowing the frailty of our nature, he did not wish to assume the whole terrors of his just vengeance. Still God is a being who is infinitely just as well as infinitely merciful, and therefore, his decrees are not to be dispensed with, and his offended justice must have expiation. The case of mankind was deplorable; myriads yet unborn were implicated by the crime of their common progenitor, in general ruin.—But the mercy of God prevailed, and Jesus Christ, the Messias, of whom all ages talked before he came down among men, offered himself up as an atonement for man's crimes. The Son of God himself, infinite in mercy, offered to take up the human form, to undergo the severest pains of human life, and the severest pangs of death; he offered to lie under the power of the grave for a certain period, and in a word, to sustain all the punishment of our primitive disobedience, in the stead of man. The atonement was infinite, because God's justice was infinite; and nothing but such an atonement could have saved the fallen race.

The death of Christ, then, takes away the stain of original sin, and gives man at least the power of attaining eternal bliss. Still our salvation is conditional, and we have certain requisitions to comply with, ere we can be secure of heaven. The next question then is, what are the conditions on which we are to be saved? The word of God here comes in again in elucidation of our duty; the chief point insisted upon is, that we should keep God's law, contained in the Ten Commandments; but, as the omission or breach of one article of the twelve tables is a crime just of as great magnitude as the original sin, and entails the penalty on us, as much as if we had infringed the whole, God, seeing our frailty, provided a means of effecting our salvation, in which nothing should be required of us but reliance on his truth. God sent the[Pg 469] Saviour to bear the weight of our sins; he, therefore, requires us to believe implicitly, that through his blood we shall be accepted. This is the succedaneum which he imposed in lieu of the observance of the moral law, Faith! Believe, and ye shall be saved.—He requires from us to throw ourselves upon the Redeemer, to look for acceptance through him alone, to regard ourselves as depraved, debased, fallen creatures, who can do nothing worthy in his sight, and who only hope for mercy through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Faith is the foundation stone; Faith is the superstructure; Faith is all in all. "By Faith are ye saved; by Faith are ye justified."

How easy, my dear Neville, are the conditions God imposes upon us! He only commands us to feel the tie of common gratitude, to trust in the mediation of his Son, and all shall be forgiven us. And shall our pride, our deluded imaginations, our false philosophy, interfere to blind our eyes to the beauties of so benevolent, so benign a system! or shall earthly pleasures engross all our thoughts, nor leave space for a care for our souls! God forbid. As for our faith, if our hearts are hardened, and we cannot feel that implicit, that fervent belief, which the Scripture requires, let us pray to God, that he will send his Holy Spirit down upon us, that he will enlighten our understanding with the knowledge of that truth, which is too vast, too sublime for human understandings, unassisted by Divine Grace, to comprehend.

I have here drawn a hasty outline of the Gospel plan of salvation. In a future Letter, I shall endeavour to fill it up. At present I shall only say, think on these things! They are of moment inconceivable. Read your Bible, in order to confirm yourself in their sublime truths, and pray to God to sanctify to you the instruction it contains. At present, I would turn your attention exclusively to the New Testament. Read also the book which accompanies this Letter; it is by the great Locke, and will serve to show you what so illustrious a philosopher thought of revelation.

THE MORAL TENDENCY OF INFIDELITY.

AN ANECDOTE.

The late Mr. Mallet was a great freethinker, and a very free speaker of his free thoughts. He made no scruple to disseminate his opinions wherever he could introduce them. At his own table, the lady of the house, who was a staunch advocate for her husband's opinions, would often, in the warmth of argument, say, "Sir, we Deists."

The lecture upon the non credenda of the Freethinkers was repeated so often, and argued with so much earnestness, that the inferior domestics soon became as able disputants as the heads of the family. The fellow who waited at table, being thoroughly convinced, that for any of his misdeeds he should have no account to make, was resolved to profit by the doctrine, and made off with many things of value, particularly the plate. Luckily he was so closely pursued, that he was brought back with his prey to his master's house, who examined him before some select friends. At first the man was sullen, and would answer no questions; but being urged to give a reason for his infamous behaviour, he resolutely said, "I had heard you so often talk of the impossibility of a future state, and that after death there was no reward for virtue, nor punishment for vice, that I was tempted to commit the robbery." "Well, but, you rascal," replied Mallet, "had you no fear of the gallows?" "Sir," said the fellow, looking sternly at his master, "What is that to you, if I had a mind to risk that? You had removed my greatest terror, why should I fear the less?"—Adam's elegant Anecdotes.

THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN JERUSALEM.

(Continued from page 435.)

The crusaders having gained possession of Jerusalem the 15th July, 1099, wrested the tomb of Christ from the hands of the Infidels. It remained eighty-eight years in the power of the successors of Godfrey of Bouillon. When Jerusalem again fell under the Mahometan yoke, the Syrians ransomed the church of the Holy Sepulchre with a considerable sum of money, and monks repaired to defend with[Pg 471] their prayers a spot entrusted in vain to the arms of kings. Thus, amid a thousand revolutions, the piety of the early Christians preserved a church of which the present age was destined to witness the destruction.

The ancient travellers were extremely fortunate: they were not obliged to enter into all these critical disquisitions; in the first place, because they found in their readers that religion which never contends against truth; and secondly, because every mind was convinced that the only way of seeing a country as it is, must be to see it with all its traditions and recollections. It is in fact with the Bible in his hand that a traveller ought to visit the Holy Land. If we are determined to carry with us a spirit of cavil and contradiction, Judea is not worth our going far to examine it. What should we say to a man who, in traversing Greece and Italy, should think of nothing but contradicting Homer and Virgil? Such, however, is the course adopted by modern travellers; evidently the effect of our vanity, which would excite a high idea of our own abilities, and at the same time fill us with disdain for those of other people.

Christian readers will perhaps inquire, what were my feelings on entering this awful place. I really cannot tell. So many reflections rushed at once upon my mind, that I was unable to dwell upon any particular idea. I continued near half an hour upon my knees in the little chamber of the Holy Sepulchre, with my eyes rivetted on the stone, from which I had not the power to turn them. One of the two religious who accompanied me remained prostrate on the marble by my side, while the other, with the Testament in his hand, read to me by the light of the lamps, the passages relating to the sacred tomb. Between each verse he repeated a prayer: Domine Jesu Christe, qui in hora diei vespertina de cruce depositus, in brachiis dulcissimæ matris tuæ reclinatus fuisti, horaque ultima in hoc sanctissimo monumento corpus tuum examine contulisti, &c. All I can say is, that when I beheld this triumphant sepulchre, I felt nothing but my own weakness; and that when my guide exclaimed with St. Paul, "O death, where is thy victory! O grave, where is thy sting!" I listened as if death were about to reply, that he was conquered, and enchained in this monument.

We visited all the stations till we came to the summit of Calvary. Where shall we look in antiquity for any thing so impressive, so wonderful, as the last scenes described by the evangelists? These are not the absurd adventures[Pg 472] of a deity foreign to human nature: it is the most pathetic history—a history, which not only extorts tears by its beauty, but whose consequences, applied to the universe, have changed the face of the earth. I had just beheld the monuments of Greece, and my mind was still profoundly impressed with their grandeur; but how far inferior were the sensations which they excited, to those which I felt at the sight of the places commemorated in the Gospel!

The church of the Holy Sepulchre, composed of several churches, erected upon an equal surface, illuminated by a multitude of lamps, is singularly mysterious; a sombre light pervades it, favourable to piety and profound devotion. Christian priests, of various sects, inhabit different parts of the edifice. From the arches above, where they nestle like pigeons, from the chapels below, and subterraneous vaults, their songs are heard at all hours both of the day and night. The organ of the Latin monks, the cymbals of the Abyssinian priest, the voice of the Greek caloyer, the prayer of the solitary Armenian, the plaintiff accents of the Coptic friar, alternately, or all at once, assail your ear: you know not whence these concerts proceed; you inhale the perfume of incense, without perceiving the hand that burns it; you merely perceive the pontiff who is going to celebrate the most awful of mysteries, on the very spot where they were accomplished, pass quickly by, glide behind the columns, and vanish in the gloom of the temple.

I did not leave the sacred structure without stopping at the monuments of Godfrey and Baldwin. They face the entrance of the church, and stand against the wall of the choir. I saluted the ashes of these royal chevaliers, who were worthy of reposing near the tomb which they rescued. These ashes are those of Frenchmen, and they are the only mortal remains interred beneath the shadow of the tomb of Christ. What an honourable distinction for my country!

I returned to the convent at eleven o'clock, and an hour afterwards I again left it to follow the Via Dolorosa. This is the name given to the way by which the Saviour of the world passed from the residence of Pilate to Calvary.

Pilate's house [1] is a ruin, from which you survey the extensive site of Solomon's temple, and the mosque erected on that site.

[Pg 473]Christ, having been scourged with rods, crowned with thorns, and dressed in a purple robe, was presented to the Jews by Pilate. Ecce Homo! exclaimed the judge, and you still see the window from which these memorable words were pronounced.

According to the tradition current among the Latins at Jerusalem, the crown of Jesus Christ was taken from the thorny tree called Lycium Spinosum. Hasselquist, a skilful botanist, is, however, of opinion, that the nabka of the Arabs was employed for that purpose. The reason which he gives for this deserves to be mentioned.

"It is highly probable," says he, "that the nabka furnished the crown which was put on the head of our Saviour. It is common in the east. A plant better adapted for this purpose could not have been selected; for it is armed with thorns, its branches are supple and pliant, and its leaf is of a dark green, like that of ivy. Perhaps, in order to add insult to punishment, the enemies of Christ chose a plant nearly resembling that made use of to crown the emperors and generals of armies."

ACCOUNT OF WM. COWPER, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF THE TASK, &C.

[Chiefly extracted from Mr. Greatheed's Sermon, preached on occasion of his death.]

Mr. Cowper was the son of John Cowper, D. D. rector of Great Berkhamstead, Herts. He was born on the 15th of November, 1731. Descended of amiable and respectable parents, of noble affinity, and connected with persons of great worldly influence, his advancement in temporal affluence and honor seemed to demand no extraordinary mental endowments. His opening genius discovered, however, a capacity for elegant literature; and he enjoyed the best advantages for improvement in so pleasing a pursuit. With uncommon abilities, he possessed a most amiable temper; and he became not only the darling of his relations, but beloved and admired by his associates in education; some of whom, with inferior prospects, have since risen to distinguished reputation, and even to the highest professional[Pg 474] rank. But the towering hopes that were naturally built on so flattering a ground, were undermined at an early period. From childhood, during which he lost a much-loved parent, his spirits were always very tender, and often greatly dejected.[2] His natural diffidence and depression of mind were increased to a most distressing degree, by the turbulence of his elder comrades, at the most celebrated public school in the kingdom. And when, at mature age, he was appointed to a lucrative and honorable station in the law, he shrunk with the greatest terror from the appearance which it required him to make before the Upper House of Parliament. Several affecting circumstances concurred to increase the agony of his mind, while revolving the consequences of relinquishing the post to which he was nominated; and he wished for madness, as the only apparent means by which his perplexity and distress could be terminated. A desperation, of which few among mankind can form a suitable conception, but which, it may be hoped, many will regard with tender pity, drove him to attempt self-murder; and the manner of his preservation in life, or rather of his restoration to it,[Pg 475] indicated an useful interposition of the providence of God. His friends no longer persisted in urging him to retain his office. It was resigned; and with it his flattering prospects vanished, and his connections with the world dissolved: A striking instance of the instability of earthly hopes, and the insufficiency of human accomplishments, to promote even temporal comfort! Far other expectations had been entertained in the circle to which he was at that time known.

At this awful crisis appears to have commenced Mr. Cowper's serious attention to the ways of God. Having been educated in the knowledge of the holy Scriptures, and preserved from that fool-hardy arrogance which urges unhappy youths to infidelity, he had uniformly retained a reverence for the word of God. His manners were, in general, decent and amiable; and the course of pleasure in which he indulged himself, being customary with persons in similar circumstances, he remained insensible of his state as a sinner in the sight of God, till he was brought to reflect upon the guilt of that action by which he had nearly plunged himself into endless perdition. His mind was then, for the first time, convinced of the evil of sin, as a transgression of the law of God; and he was terrified by the apprehension that his late offence was unpardonable in its nature. Instead of finding relief from reading, every book he opened, of whatever kind, seemed to him adapted to increase his distress; which became so pungent as to deprive him of his usual rest, and to render his broken slumbers equally miserable with his waking hours. While in this state, he was visited by the late Rev. Martin Madan, who was related to him. By explaining from the Scriptures the doctrine of original sin, Mr. Madan convinced him that all mankind were on the same level with himself before God; the atonement and righteousness of Christ were set forth to him, as the remedy which his case required; and the necessity of faith in Christ, in order to experience the blessings of this salvation, excited his earnest desire for the attainment. His mind derived present ease from these important truths, but still inclined to the supposition that his faith was in his own power. The following day he again sunk under the horrors of perdition; and that distraction which he had sought as a refuge from the fear of man, now seized him amidst his terrors of eternal judgment! A vein of self-loathing ran through the whole of his insanity; and his faculties were so completely deranged that the attempt which he had lately deplored as an[Pg 476] unpardonable transgression, now appeared to him an indispensible work of piety. He therefore repeated his assault upon his own life, under the dreadful delusion, that it was right to rid the earth of such a sinner; and that the sooner it was accomplished, his future misery would be the more tolerable. His purpose being again mercifully frustrated, he became at length familiar with despair, and suffered it to be alleviated by conversation with Dr. Cotton, a pious and humane physician at St. Alban's, under whose care he had been happily placed. He began to take some pleasure in sharing daily the domestic worship which was laudably practised by the Doctor; and he found relief from his despair by reading in the Scriptures, that "God hath set forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Rom. iii. 25. While meditating upon this passage, he obtained, in a few minutes, a clear view of the Gospel, which was attended with unspeakable joy. Many of his subsequent days were occupied with praise and prayer, and his heart overflowed with love to his crucified Redeemer. With our God there is nothing impossible. A hymn, which he wrote under these delightful impressions, will best describe the comfort he enjoyed.

"How bless'd thy creature is, O God! when with a single eye
He views the lustre of thy word, the day-spring from on high!
Thro' all the storms that veil the skies, and frown on earthly things,
The Sun of righteousness he eyes, with healing in his wings.
Struck by that light, the human heart, a barren soil no more,
Sends the sweet smell of grace abroad, where serpents lurk'd before.
The soul, a dreary province once, of Satan's dark domain,
Feels a new empire form'd within, and owns a heav'nly reign.
The glorious orb, whose golden beams the fruitful year controul,
Since first, obedient to thy word, he started from the goal,
Has cheer'd the nations with the joys his orient beams impart;
But, Jesus! 'tis thy light alone can shine upon the heart."

The first transports of his joy, which almost prevented his necessary sleep, having subsided, were followed by a sweet serenity of spirit, which he was enabled to retain, notwithstanding reviving struggles of corruption. The comfort he enjoyed in the profitable conversation of his beloved physician, induced him to prolong his stay at St. Alban's for twelve months after his recovery.

CARLILE'S Trial.

From a London Paper.
(Continued from page 441.)

The reign of Nero was not farther from their time than the beginning of the French revolution from ours; the origin of the Christian religion was scarcely farther from the moment in which Tacitus was holding the pen, than the accession of his Majesty from the present year. So far as these testimonies go, they prove that Christianity was in existence; that its converts were numerous; that they underwent severe sufferings for their adherence to their religion; that they made no resistance of human power to the violence used against them; and that they might have lived, if they preferred apostacy to death.

There is a desperate wilfulness which shuts the ear against conviction. Its natural progress is to pervert the reason till it has become distorted, and incapable of conceiving truth. When the divine mission was rejected by local partiality, there was room for repentance; when it was rejected by wilful malignity, return was beyond all hope. "Can any good come out of Nazareth," was prejudice, and might be made wise; "He casteth out devils by Belzebub," was lying malignity, and for that crime there was no cure. The object of the men who now insult the laws and the religion of England, is not conviction but conquest; they will engage in no controversy which may issue in the triumph of Christianity; their object is to break down the great barrier between ferocious guilt and the constitution of the land, and before that gorgeous consummation which is to take the crown from the head of monarchy, to give it for a bauble to the hand of revolution; to strike away the altar, which was the cradle of our liberties, and whose ruins will mark the place of their extinction. To such men we will offer no argument; they are urged to their fatal hostility by feelings on which argument can make no impression. The wilful apostate can see nothing in the glories of Christianity, but shame and punishment. A fallen spirit escaped from his dungeon might as well glow into sudden adoration at the grandeur of the heavens, when he knew their mansions closed against him for ever, and their lightnings only the ministers of wrath against his intrusion into the world. But to the multitude who follow in ignorance, we offer the reasonings which have built up the faith of the most powerful and inquiring intellects that ever descended to enlighten mankind. A common objection among the enemies of Christianity is against the authenticity of its records. We must not here detail the evidences which prove that the New Testament was the work of the earliest age of Christianity, and that its books were written by those whose names they bear. But we give the state of the argument, which may be substantiated by any man conversant with history. We can prove, 1st, That the historical books of the New Testament, namely, the four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted or alluded to by a series of Christian writers, beginning with the contemporaries of the Apostles, or their immediate followers, and descending in close and regular succession to the present time.—2. That when quoted or alluded to, it is with peculiar respect as to books of a distinct species, as possessing an authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all controversies among Christians.—3. That they were in very early times collected into a distinct[Pg 478] volume and distinguished with appropriate names and titles of respect—4. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious assemblies of Christians, that commentaries were written upon them, different copies collated, and versions made into different languages.—5. That the Gospels were attacked by the early enemies of Christianity, as books containing the accounts upon which the religion was founded.—6. That formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published, in all which our present Scripture histories were included, and that those propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books claiming to be books of Scripture.

No man is called to be blindly a Christian. The same Being who gave us revelation gave us reason; and if they cannot agree, reason must be the master. But if we are to bring Christianity on its trial, prejudice must not sit on the tribunal. The true religion appeals to the same judgment on which we decide the common affairs of life; it is no more honoured by a giddy credulity, than it is justified by an ignorant ill-will. It calls for assent on two leading testimonies—prophesy and miracle. If its coming has been proclaimed by the Providence of Heaven, and if its presence has been followed by Heaven's power, it must have come from God; nothing can shake this conclusion. The remoteness of the time; the obscurity of the place; the simplicity of those to whom it was first delegated, are nothing; it might have come forth in gold and glory, and been proclaimed to the world by the thunders—or it might have hung upon the darkness of midnight, and told of its coming only to the wanderers of the desert, and be only heard in songs of peace from its clouds; it was in both the inhabitant of the same high and hallowed region. The argument is irresistible. We have proofs clear as day, that the books of the New Testament contain the truth as it appeared to their writers. We have proof as clear, that the facts of the history of our Lord were declared to mankind by a series of predictions, the latest of which was delivered four hundred years before his coming. Those predictions could not have been falsified, for they were in the hands of the original adversaries of Christianity; they were preserved with even a superstitious scrupulousness; they were the pride, the consolation, and the hope of the Jewish people; but they were their condemnation, and are now the history of their punishment. Isaiah, the great prophet of the Jews, is the great proclaimer of Christianity. Seven hundred years before the advent of Jesus, the prophet declared the coming of a Being, who was to descend from glory in the heavens, to be expected in his supernatural might, and to disappoint expectation: to be a mark for sorrows; to have no pre-eminence upon the earth; to be despised, rejected, and abandoned by men; to be the bearer of the punishment of others, and yet to be stigmatized as if he bore the wrath of heaven for crimes of his own; to be signally resigned under all; to be persecuted and cut off from the land of the living by an ignominious death; to be buried—and thus complete the course of mortal humiliation; to be yet triumphant; to vanquish the grave; to see the mighty purpose for which he came, accomplished in the redemption of a countless multitude from the wrath of heaven; and, finally, to receive a splendid and surpassing reward for his voluntary sacrifice for the sins of men. This is the substance of the fifty-second and fifty-third chapters of Isaiah, and this was the Being to whom all the whole Jewish nation looked forward as to the great deliverer, and the King. But it was to their astonishment and utter doubt declared, that when he came they should reject him; that his glory should not seem glorious to them; that their prejudices would have enfeebled their vision till they shrunk from light; and that they[Pg 479] should madly plunge into unbelief, malice, and murder; that the punishment of their fearful obstinacy should follow upon them like a sudden storm; that the nation of God, after having thus made the last trial of heaven's patience, should be delivered over to unexampled misfortune; the temple to which the Messiah came and was rejected, be made a polluted ruin; their holy soil, the gift of God to their forefathers, a possession for the vile, the ferocious, and the unholy of the earth; all that belonged to their ancient supremacy extinguished, but their nature—and that preserved with a miraculous distinctness for their deeper punishment; the form of their nation subsisting, but in fearful mutilation; the members and instruments of policy all torn away—no king, no legislature, no public force, the head and hands severed, and nothing but the trunk surviving, but that kept alive to feel that it was flung upon the earth and trampled by all nations. In the reign of Augustus, a man burst upon mankind in the land given by God. His birth was announced by the voice of men of public sanctity—he wrought signs and wonders beyond all example, and was rejected. He was rejected by the great as coming to abolish the hereditary worship on which they held their rank. He was rejected by the people as coming to denounce the popular vices—not to break off the Roman yoke. The subtle imputed his miracles to assistant demons; the ignorant alternately worshipped and vilified him, according to the common course of untaught passions; all wondered, and a few were convinced and followed their master. He perished by the hands of the Jews.

He was delivered over to death, with ceremonies of which there was no record among his nation—a singular and solemn devotement of themselves and their posterity to ruin, if he was innocent. Jerusalem was at that moment submissive under the government of Rome. All public disturbance seemed among the most remote probabilities, from the acknowledged and overwhelming power of the empire: the world was at peace. Jesus, in dying, declared the fall of Jerusalem, and the extension of his doctrine through the earth.—Within a few years, Jerusalem, after suffering the most fearful calamities, was laid in ruins by the Romans; the Jews were driven like wild beasts from their country, and Christianity was spread over the whole civilized world. And what are we to think of the dulled and perverted understandings that would call this stupendous consummation chance. How is it to be accounted for that Isaiah should conceive the extraordinary idea that a sovereign whose power was to be displayed, not in the pomps of sovereignty, but in the heart; whose career was to be a combat with the sorrows and evils of human nature; whose majesty was to be lowliness; and whose triumph was to be sacrifice? A king, mighty above all the names of earthly supremacy, and who yet was to die the death of a criminal by the hands of that nation which had been gazing into futurity for him from the days of the Patriarchs.—There is but one being in all time to whom the prophesy will apply, and to him it applies with awful completeness. The Jews who rejected the Messiah, dared not reject the prophecy. They still reverence it as the description by which this great deliverer from the longest of all their exiles—an exile of 1700 years—is to be known. In the sullenness of prejudice, they will declare that he is yet to come. Their own sacred books condemn them. The great King of the Jew and the Gentile was to come within a limited time after the Chaldee captivity—to come while Judah was yet a nation, while her worship, her priesthood, and the body of her government subsisted, and to perish before the subversion which was to lay her in blood and dust. He was to come of a known and royal line. Where now is the genealogy of the house of David; and[Pg 480] is there a single Jewish pedigree existing? It would be as impossible now to trace the blood of the king as of the slave. The Jew shall never see that Messiah till he sees him coming "on his clouds in power," and great glory. The proof from prophecy is unanswerable. The prediction of the Messiah is not a solitary burst of inspiration—not a lonely splendour from one hallowed enlightener of the earth—it flows from the whole starry region of prophecy. "To him all the prophets bear witness." A perpetual stream of prediction rushes down from the first ages, widening and brightening till the moment when its service was complete, and its course was stopped by the same mighty influence that had poured it from the clouds of heaven. From the patriarchal age the hope of the earth was turned on the coming of the Messiah. The simple remoteness of the time precludes deception; but the different aspects of the prophecy, as it rose more broadly on the eye of man, bore the stamp of that wisdom that wastes no miracle. The prediction became distinct as its accomplishment was at hand. Imposture would have dreaded discovery, and made it obscure as it approached the time of trial. The first announcements were little for knowledge, but enough for hope. They declared a combat between the spiritual rulers of human nature, a victory of good over evil, and an everlasting covenant, which was to be formed between God and man; the emblems of the glorious and purified kingdom of the victor were the tree overshadowing the earth, and at once sustaining mankind by its fertility, and sheltering them with its shade; it was to be the mountain rising above the pollution of the world, and approaching towards heaven, only to pour down refreshing showers upon the parched and withered nations. A nearer zone of prophecy contains the declarations of the Messiah's birth, the place of his nativity, the nature of his office; and the power, grandeur, and spirituality of his government are marked out with splendid precision. A third class of prophecy brings all the circumstances of his ministry in living clearness before the eye. He is to be the prophet and the priest; the Moses and the Melchizedec; the promulgator of a new code of laws, and the sanctified king; his power and his meekness; the force of his preaching; his offence to the sordidness of corrupt society; his simple habits; his gentle affections; his triumphant entry into Jerusalem; his divine presence and power in the temple; his death; and his ascent from the grave, are all written in characters of light. As his last sacrifice for man approaches, the prophecy reflects, as in a glass, all the transactions of that mysterious and guilty time. The bargain of his seizure; the dispersion of his disciples; the particulars of his trial; the false testimony; the insults of the soldiery; the manner of his death; the conduct of his prosecutors; the mode of his burial; his glorious resurrection. Could the nearer approach to the time of Jesus have taught this particularity of description? The last prophecy of the Old Testament was 400 years before the event. The argument from prophecy is unanswerable and irresistible, but by desperate malice or brutal obstinacy. But the Jews live for a testimony to the argument. What subterfuge is left for infidelity, when in the great court of reason we can bring this host of witnesses? The Jews, in their day of dominion, preserved the prophecies that told of the Redeemer; in their day of humiliation, they attest the truth of the visitation from God, which threw open the gates of the temple to the Gentiles. They now stand among nations an example contrary to all experience—contrary to all the conceptions of civil polity—contrary to the nature of man; a people scattered through all parts of the world, yet undissolved—a people retaining their religion, their recollections,[Pg 481] their early hopes, yet without a central power on earth—a people voluntarily stooping to the lowest or the most obnoxious occupations of society, every where lying under popular odium and suffering, and stigmatized even less among Christians than among the remote barbarians who never knew the crime that extinguished Judah;—an indelible countenance, aiding an universal law of humiliation, and still the mysterious and mighty sufferer preserved on the rack. Is there no confession in this of the mightier strength that stretched the criminal there? Where is now the Greek, or the Roman, or the Goth, or the Norman? All gone down and mingled with the mass of mankind. What imperial nation of antiquity has retained its laws, or religion, or countenance? The grave has mixed them all in one great decay; and other masters of empire have marched upon the soil, and trampled out their monuments. But in this church-yard of nations, one vault contains a body on which death has been forbidden to pass—a powerless and shattered form, making its companions of the darkness and the worm, but preserved in a strange and unnatural life. The world has been in perpetual change. Conquest has rolled over it from the rising to the setting of the sun—no spot on the surface of society has been unswept by this deluge of blood; and where it has rolled the valley has become the mountain, yet an unstretched hand has preserved one spot from change, now degraded from its ancient glory, but still marked by irresistible identity—the Eden, a seat of desolateness, but still distinguished by its place between the rivers. Is this phenomenon merely to stir a giddy curiosity? Scripture declares its use: it is for a testimony to the truth of the Christian religion. This eccentric wonder is not to repel the eye, but to lift it to heaven. Its place in the system is consistent with the wisdom that ordered all things from the beginning, and as it approaches the end of its course, the hour of its glory shall suddenly come. The Jews are to be made once more an illustrious instance of mercy; but it is when they shall have flung aside their gloomy prejudice, and robed themselves in the light of revelation. But to this hour they remain as they have remained during seventeen hundred years—a blasted tree, lying in black and branchless dishonour, but lying incorrupt, while all the monarchs of the forest have risen and flourished, and mouldered into successive dust by its side. Time, that has wrought no change on them, has wrought no change in the feelings with which they are looked on by the multitude. No humanity of the law; no authority of the prince; no conscious interest among the people, has been able to conciliate popular favour for the calamitous race of Israel. Even in our day, when the outcry rises for a fantastic freedom in all things, the Jew is fiercely excluded from the universal licence; and the frenzy that breaks the natural bonds of civilized society, only loads him with additional chains.—And how is this to be accounted on the vulgar and profane conception that would call it chance? How are we to look upon this bruised and way-sore pilgrim passing through the whole course of those combats that have covered the world with the forms of all that was high and heroic, with the crowned head and the mailed arm of Empire, and yet treading along the same relentless way, but as urged by a perpetual preservative miracle of condemnation? How is it to be accounted for, that in the revolutions of the earth, no chance has thrown the diadem in the grasp of a generation filled with the remembrance of their ancient supremacy, and living upon their hope of an universal throne? How is it to be accounted for, that in the eternal tide of human cultivation, the Jews are to this hour stagnant; that with the natural powers to add to the great harvest of social fertility, they have[Pg 482] made round them a region of repulsive barrenness; that under the same light of heaven, in the same air, with the same influences of times and seasons, they should have remained the same unproductive and undiminished pool;—the dead sea among the nations? And are we to turn away our eyes from this living evidence to adopt the blindness of impious and illiterate rebels against God and man. With the man who reasons we will reason; with the profligate insulter of that truth by which we shall be judged at the great day, we will not degrade argument—his conviction must be chains. The men on whom the law is now about to lay the lash of society repel all argument; they desire to know nothing more than what species of treason against human and divine allegiance will bring in the most speedy plunder. For such men there is no value in reason, and they must be restricted by the baser part of their nature. Where Mammon is the God, they shall worship him in the dungeon. They are prescribed by the conservative spirit of society. If the advance of England to the most glorious of all triumphs—the knowledge and the propagation of God's truth—has been retarded by those bearers of pestilence the first duty is to thrust them out of the camp. With their punishment the contagion shall pass away, and she will resume her splendid progress, leaving nothing but the remnants of the traitors in the wilderness, and advancing under the guidance of the fire and the cloud. But to the inquirers after truth, we have yet more to say; no time can be wasted that clears up difficulties to the candid searcher into the words which are to be the life of the spirit in other worlds. We shall take, at least, one more occasion of sweeping away the doubts which impious and headlong folly has endeavoured to draw over the bright and sovereign countenance of Christianity. For the man who mistakes the road which we find clear, we have all toleration; for this is the command of christianity. In the language of Augustine, "Illi in vos sœviant, qui nesciunt cum quo labore verum inveniatur, et quam difficile caveantur errores:—qui nesciunt cum quanta difficultate sanetur oculus interioris hominis—qui nesciunt, quibis suspiriis et gemitibus fiat ut ex quantulacumque parte possit intelligi —— Deus."

THE FOLLOWING
LINES

On Abraham setting forth to offer up Isaac, as he leaves Sarah sleeping, are rather interesting:

Yet one last look he cast upon the face
Of her he lov'd, the Mother of his race,
As sweetly sleeping in her tent she lay,
Unknowing all the anguish of that day,
For Abraham dar'd not tell her of his care,
Lest he should see her anguish and despair;
He durst not look upon her dang'rous tears,
Lest he should melt before the Mother's fears.
Too well he knew temptation's slipp'ry wile
Lurk'd in fond woman's eye and playful smile;
That most her power to win, when sorrow speaks
In trickling tears adown her pallid cheeks.
Yes, well he knew her power and added years
Gave but more weight to his fond partner's tears.
Their love a lengthened chain—each year that past
Adding one link to bind remembrance fast.
'Twas but one look of anguish that he threw
On Sarah's sleeping face, and quick withdrew;
For had he stay'd one moment, nature's throes
Had sure been heard, and starting from repose,
Sarah had shar'd his confidence and woes.

ERRATA.

Page 331, after "others," insert "belongs in some sort to the profession of persons," line 25 from bottom.

INDEX.

CONTENTS.

Footnotes

[1] The governor of Jerusalem formerly resided in this building, but at present these ruins serve only for stabling for his horses.

[2] Mr. Cowper appears to have long retained a very tender sense of this dispensation of Providence. We cannot refrain quoting part of a beautiful poem, written by him on receiving his mother's picture out of Norfolk. It exhibits a most amiable pattern of filial affection.

My Mother! when I learn'd that thou wast dead,
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son,
Wretch even then, life's journey just begun?
I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial-day,
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away,
And, turning from my nurs'ry window, drew
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu.
But was it such? It was.—Where thou art gone,
Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown.
May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore,
The parting sound shall pass my lips no more.
Thy maidens griev'd themselves at my concern,
Oft gave me promise of a quick return.
What ardently I wish'd I long believ'd,
And, disappointed still, was still deceiv'd.
By disappointment ev'ry day beguil'd,
Dupe of to-morrow, even from a child
Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went.
Till, all my stock of infant sorrows spent,
I learn'd, at last, submission to my lot,
And tho' I less deplor'd thee, ne'er forgot.

[The end of The Christian Recorder Vol. 1, Issue 12 (1820-February) by Various]

	Page.
Bishop Horsley on the Sabbath Day	1
Infant Baptism	8
Reflections on Communion	15
On the desire of acquiring the good opinion of the world	17
Scriptures	20
Table of persons who lived and conversed with Adam and Noah	24
The History of Eveleen	25
Remarks on the phrase "Vital Godliness"	28
On the Scriptures	31
Carlile's Trial	36
Capt. Brant	40

THE

CHRISTIAN RECORDER,

Vol. I. FEBRUARY, 1820. No. 12.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION
IN LOWER-CANADA.

For the Christian Recorder.

ON THE INCREASE OF THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT.

DISSERTATIONS on the CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

No. 8.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

INFANT BAPTISM.

LETTERS OF HENRY KIRK WHITE.

To his Brother Neville.

THE MORAL TENDENCY OF INFIDELITY.

AN ANECDOTE.

THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN JERUSALEM.

(Continued from page 435.)

ACCOUNT OF WM. COWPER, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF THE TASK, &C.

CARLILE'S Trial.

From a London Paper.
(Continued from page 441.)

THE FOLLOWING
LINES

ERRATA.

INDEX.

CONTENTS.

Footnotes

Transcriber's Note

THE

CHRISTIAN RECORDER,

Vol. I. FEBRUARY, 1820. No. 12.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN LOWER-CANADA.

For the Christian Recorder.

ON THE INCREASE OF THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT.

DISSERTATIONS on the CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

No. 8. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

INFANT BAPTISM.

LETTERS OF HENRY KIRK WHITE.

To his Brother Neville.

THE MORAL TENDENCY OF INFIDELITY.

AN ANECDOTE.

THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN JERUSALEM.

(Continued from page 435.)

ACCOUNT OF WM. COWPER, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF THE TASK, &C.

CARLILE'S Trial.

From a London Paper. (Continued from page 441.)

THE FOLLOWING LINES

ERRATA.

INDEX.

CONTENTS.

Footnotes

Transcriber's Note

HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION
IN LOWER-CANADA.

No. 8.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

From a London Paper.
(Continued from page 441.)

THE FOLLOWING
LINES