man. : | quainted with grief:" he was smitten, | the faith of the Christian. To him who stricken, and afflicted on account of has followed Jesus through his public Isaiah proclaims, "Unto us a life to his death and resurrection, and child is born, unto us a son is given; traced the working of his spirit in the and the government shall be upon his Apostles, the story of the nativity will shoulders and his name shall be called take a firm and natural position in the the Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty mind. The nativity is not the point God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince from which to start, in order to an unof Peace." Here is a prophecy of the derstanding of Jesus. The promises Son of Man, but we cannot assume that concerning him refer us to mankind. reference is made to fleshly relationship. When God said, the" seed of the woA much higheridea arises. The relation- man should bruise the head of the sership is spiritual, and comes in the form of pent," He referred to a fact capable a gift. The name, Son of God, is also only in manhood. Let us meet him, best understood when regarded in the then, on the banks of the Jordan. Let same manner. Jesus is the product of us hear him say, "Thus it behoveth us the love of God. He is put forth as his to fulfil all righteousness." Then let express image. It is from divinity he us go forth with him, and mark his conobtains all that spiritual power and secration to this guiding principle of moral beauty which shine so brightly his life, and the thick veil of the past in him. The words, "This is my be- shall rend itself in twain, to reveal to loved Son, hear ye him," refer us to us the whole of the holy counsel of Jesus, as the embodiment of the will God. and character of the Eternal Spirit. He came from God in all that man requires. Our necessities, our low estate, having no eye to pity, no arm to bring salvation among ourselves, have produced Jesus, the Son of man's sorrows and God's love. We had, however, in Jesus a person, a man, a fellow-being; and suppose it is admitted that the phrases, Son of God and Son of Man mean what we say they do, it may be contended that we have still to explain his personality. He was born of woman spake, ate, drank, like a man—yes, and we would add, was persecuted and killed like a man. Was he then a man? Behind this question there are many others, all tending only to confuse the mind, leading it into speculations both profitless and endless. Yet there is a necessity either to show plainly the danger and absurdity of these questions, or to furnish a truthful answer. In further elucidation, therefore, of the truth concerning Jesus, we would proceed to regard him as the anointed Saviour of man, as promised and prophecied of, and in his advent and position as head of the new creation. We regard these points as embodying all that is revealed, and all that man requires. If we can make them plain, we will then substantiate the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God, and demonstrate the characteristics of that high title. The narrative of the conception and birth of Jesus, we regard as given for The great and peculiar fact connected with Jesus is, that he came to die—or rather, death was the only means whereby he could accomplish the object of his mission. This is a hard truth for man; a stumbling-stone it proves to myriads. The Jews could not believe it, it so completely destroyed their preconceived notions; and now, it is so unphilosophical, and so opposed to progress, according to some, that it cannot be true. It is, however, the first great truth built on the foundation of the character of God and the necessities of man. Jesus began early to teach it. In his conversation with Nicodemus he says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Had he not uttered a single sentence concerning this fact, it was written on every page of his life. Exemplifying truth, love, and mercy, in the midst of a corrupt people-extending the favors of God to the most despised-rebuking evil wherever he found it, even in the robes of authority-were of themselves enough to consign him to death; but, when he proclaims himself God's Son -an assumption of equality with God in their minds-his fate is certain. But above all, to lay claim to the Messiahship-him, the obscure moralist-made them gnash their teeth with rage. The necessity for the death of Jesus has been variously stated. It is very generally considered as substitutory, and requisite to satisfy the justice of God. In the minds of some, it dwindles down to a mere confirmation of the truths he taught. We regard the death of Jesus as required to satisfy man, not God; to awaken him, by a fearful act of his own, to the knowledge of his degradation. The death of Jesus was the crowning act of man's rebellion, the culminating point of his sin. It was the mercy of God that afforded man the means of completing his sin, which he could never do of himself. Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin-no salvation. This does not arise from peculiarity on the part of God only, but of man also. The death of Jesus is a comprehensive idea; his life was, as it were, a life of death. Coming, as he did, to die, all he did bore the impress of his end. He is spoken of as, "the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the word." All man's sins, before the coming of Jesus, were against principles revealed, but not embodied. A promise of the embodiment of these principles was given, against which, although man would also war, he would not prevail; and his defeat would prove his salvation. This divine manifestation formed the theme of the prophet. As the Redeemer of man, he is longed after by all nations. His mission, experience, death, and final triumph, form the subject for the prophetic muse of David, and other sacred poets. This practical manifestation of God's character, is eminently suited to man's constitution. The great difficulty, however, lay in accomplishing this with benefit to man. How was a Saviour and a Redeemer to rise out of the ashes of him who must be sacrificed to the sin of man? Could man ever answer that question himself? Never. Yet we can say, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world;" and can trace in his lineaments hope for man. He is the righteousness of God-his justification. There is nothing harsh in God being justified, if we understand in what he is justified. Now it is in mercy he wishes to be justified. He had promised it to Adam, and all mankind; and Paul, in the 3rd chapter of the Romans, is defending him for carrying out the consequences of his promise. Jesus, then, is the mercy of God; for it is in him God has confided to accomplish his mercy. We regard Jesus, then, as nothing less than God manifest in the flesh. Knowing no distinctions in the Godhead, we see in him its fulness. In this we speak, not of person, but of character. Jesus sympathized with us as only God could do. He suffered for us as only God could suffer. When man had done all he could against him, he left this world to re-appear in a new form, mighty in the power his suffering had endowed him with. M. K. THE KINGDOM OF SARDINIA. THIS State, small in comparison with some European powers, but considerable both in resources and strength when contrasted with the other governments of Italy, has been for some time reforming its internal administration with an earnestness, wisdom, and success entitling it to the admiration and support of all enlightened communities. It is not impossible on the contrary, it is highly probable-that we may ultimately see in Piedmont an Italian State rationally governed, an Italian people contented with rational liberty, and an Italian sovereign relying upon those popular affections which form the basis of durable monarchies. An administration, framed upon the plan of a double chamber and a responsible cabinet, with a comparatively free press, has been hitherto found to answer so well, that, though the State has not yet escaped the inevitable troubles of a novitiate, it is, upon the whole, one of the strongest States of its class, and its chief perils, indeed, now arise from the envy and malice of those rulers who can ill endure the spectacle of institutions so signally contrasted with their own. A lesson instructive to all nations, and not without its moral for ourselves, may be learnt from the question which now threatens the Sardinian Government with its chief difficulty. Sardinia, as the reader must be aware, is not only a Roman Catholic country, but a country most emphatically Popish and priestridden. About the soundness of its faith in the eyes of the Papal See proposes first, a reduction in the number of bishoprics; secondly, the suppression of the mendicant and idle religious orders the charitable and industrious orders being preserved; thirdly, a reduction in the number of canonries, especially in cases where the original object of the foundation has become obsolete; fourthly, the equalization of canonical stipends; fifthly, the appointment of what we may call an Ecclesiastical Commission, with a view to the adoption of fixed rules in the collection and payment of church revenues, and a more equable arrangement of their distribution. there is no manner of doubt, and the reforms now projected by its Government in ecclesiastical matters are entirely free from any heretical leanings towards religious liberty or spiritual enfranchisement, in the Protestant sense of the terms. The simple truth is that Piedmont is overrun, and, as we may literally say, eaten up by its church establishments and its clergy-the idle and least serviceable members of the profession obtaining, as usual, a lion's share of the consecrated revenues, to the prejudice of their working brethren and the scandal of religion in general. The extravagance of the prevailing abuses will be appreciated when we The English reader will recognize in say that, though the population con- these proposals the identical principles cerned is less than twice that of London, which have invariably commended themthe ecclesiastical staff includes 6 arch- selves to all wise and prudent governbishops, 34 bishops, 312 beneficed ments. Nevertheless, or, as we should canons, 741 collegiate canons, and 7000 perhaps say, very naturally, although priests; over and above 31 orders of there is no attack made or intended monks with 347 convents, and 23 orders against the tenets of the Papal faith, of nuns with 141 convents. Prodigious the court of Rome is violently opposed as these results may appear, they are to the projected reforms; nor is it at little more than have invariably occur- all likely that this insidious and unred in all countries surrendered to scrupulous power will omit any efPopish influence. Before the deluge of forts, however malicious, to defeat the the French Revolution there were cities scheme. The views of Romish polition the Continent where the larger por- cians would be infinitely better satistion of all the property, and almost a fied by the immersion of Piedmont and majority of the population, pertained to its people in the slough of Neapolitan the church, and there is scarcely a single barbarism, than by the progress of this State in which it has not been found State towards such conditions of gonecessary, at some time or other, to vernment as would involve popular endeal summarily with these encum-lightenment and freedom. With sound brances. Belgium, Spain, and Austria have witnessed spoliations-if this is to be the expression-of ecclesiastical property as sweeping as those produced by the Reformation in England. This, however, is not the object of the Sardinian Reformers; they ask for nothing but a better distribution of the church property for church uses, for a suppression of unprofitable establishments, and for a more decent maintenance of the parish priests, who are the truest and most serviceable ministers of religion. So wretchedly, notwithstanding the vast amount of church property, are these working clergy provided with the means of living, that, out of 3386 parochial clergy, 2540 are subsisting upon incomes which, even when eked out by stipends from the State, average only some £33 10s. per annum. The Sardinian Government, therefore, with the full concurrence and approval of the Lower Chamber and the public, and rational views of political liberty would infallibly come, as the court of Rome well knows, an indisposition to submit to its dictation and interference; and, as its own power is a considerably more precious object in its eyes than the welfare of others, it resolutely counteracts all efforts in the direction of national improvement. Even as regards this particular scheme of church reform, it is probable that the Popish emissaries discern more danger in the regeneration of the Sardinian kingdom, than in the redistribution of ecclesiastical patronage, or the visitation of religious houses. To such measures, indeed, when unattended by any prospect of general reform, the Papal See has not unfrequently given its consent, but never yet has its concurrence been obtained for any scheme conducive to popular knowledge or national independence. In this case, however, we sincerely trust that its devices may be frustrated by the good sense of the Piedmontese people, and the accord subsisting between them and their sovereign. Seldom, indeed, has an ex periment been attempted with stronger claims to the sympathies and support of all free and liberal governments. Times. SCEPTICAL QUERIES AND REPLIES. THE undersigned wishes to ask you a few questions. I wish to know why Josephus, or any other Roman historian, has not recorded the following wonderful things: 1. The death of the young children from two years old and under, by Herod. 2. The darkness at the crucifixion of Christ over the whole land. 3. The graves about Jerusalem being opened by invisible hands. 4. All the saints' resurrection at Jerusalem, about the time of the resurreetion of Christ. ANSWER. C. B. and Fall of the Roman Empire, and we believe, admitted by all infidel writers. Now, the same policy, no matter what you ascribe it to, which would induce a historian to omit these last named items and pass them in silence, would induce him to pass the others in the same way, and the failure to mention the one class, can no more disprove the statements in regard to them, than the other. prejudice for the Jews, could pass the existence of such a person as Christ, such persons as the apostles, and such events as the conversion of Paul and the rapid rise and spread of Christianity among both the Jews and Romans, he could easily slide over, purposely, the destruction of the young children, the darkening of the sun, and the resurrection of the saints. The same evidently settled policy that caused him to pass the one in silence, could and would induce him to do the same with the others. That there was such a man as John, such men as the apostles, such a person as Christ, and that Christianity rose at the time, in the country, and spread with the rapidity ascribed to it in the Bible, is acknowledged and comWe would inform our friend that Jo-mented upon by Gibbon, in his Decline sephus was no Roman, but a Jewish historian, and that there is one of the plainest and most evident reasons why he said nothing of the points alluded to. While he may generally be regarded as a faithful historian, he nevertheless evidently maintained a most determined and studied silence in regard to the rise of Christanity. I am not prepared to assert positively, but from the best recollections I have, from reading eighteen years ago, he is not only silent concerning the execution of the male children under two years old, the darkness of the sun, the opening of the graves, and the resurrection of the saints, but he is equally silent in regard to the great multitudes baptized by John the Baptist, the character and personal ministry of Christ, the lives and ministry of the apostles, the conversion of Paul, the rapid rise of Christianity and its speedy spread, not only among the Jews, but throughout the Roman empire. Nor do we recollect that he ever mentions the name of John the Baptist, the Saviour, the original Twelve, or the Apostle Paul, unless the disputed passage, Antiquities of the Jews, book xviii. chapter 3, be regarded as genuine, which we have no idea is the That these items in the Sacred History are not mentioned by Roman bistorians, amounts to nothing, seeing that they have mentioned other matters equally important, and, as we think, more conclusive in favor of the Christian religion. They probably were not familiar with all these items, nor do we know of any Roman historian, whose way such items would legitimately have taken in; nor is it any evidence that they are not realities, that they are not mentioned by such writers—if, indeed, it be a fact that they are not mentioned, which, by the way, we should hesitate to assert upon the authority of Tom Paine. But since silence upon these matters is made a basis of argument, we must take a look from the same point. If, then, the word of the apostles could have been overthrown, and they could have been shown to be liars, it would have defeated Christianity at an early period. It must be manifest to all sensible men also, that there were thousands among both Jews and Romans, who would have delighted in refuting the apostles and proving them false witnesses, if had been in their power. If, then, there was no darkness over all the land at the crucifixion, there were thousands yet living, when the four gospels were published, who positively knew it, and were living witnesses against the apostles' statement. There were many still living who knew whether the graves had been opened, and the saints had come out of them and "were seen of many," and the whole land could testify whether the male children had been slain. Now these things are stated in the gospels, and published among many of the same people and in the same country where they are said to have occurred, while thousands can confirm them if true, or confute them if false; and TESTIMONY OF JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES. ment, which, taken apart from their WE intimated the intention, in our last number, of inquiring somewhat further as to the teaching of Jesus and his Apostles regarding the spirit in man, and its conscious existence after the death of the body; and, more especially, the bearing of this teaching upon those who die in the Lord. At present we shall confine our remarks to the latter. It is recorded in Holy Writ, that Jehovah stretched out the heaven, founded the earth, and formed the spirit of It is acknowledged by all who believe man within him—that "there is a spirit in Jesus as the true Messiah, that in in man, and the inspiration of the Al- the order of his mission, he came first mighty teacheth him knowledge"-that to bring life, and secondly, incorruptiwhen the body "returns to dust, the bility to light by the gospel. Then it spirit returns to God who gave it." Re- must be admitted, also, that Jesus, by lying implicitly on these assurances of the records which his Apostles have the Word of God, we join the ranks of left us, is our instructor on all questhose who do not believe that the com- tions pertaining to the Christian religion. ponent parts of man consist of flesh and In his communications to the lost sheep blood, and breath and bone, as insisted of the house of Israel, he imparted new upon by some; nor do we think, with and all-important ideas respecting the them, that conscious existence ceases present and future state; but the Jewwhen the body dies. That certain pas-ish nation were unprepared to receive sages may be found in the Old Testa- them. Subsequently to his ascension, |