period, nothing should be recorded except one solitary incident. This incident is preserved by the evangelist Luke, and related with the peculiar characteristics of that sacred writer, who is distinguished for the vivid and picturesque manner in which he places before the mind's eye the things which he describes. They who revere and love the scriptures, and prize above all earthly good whatever is revealed of Christ, cannot but read and meditate with the deepest interest this only fragment, containing all that has been made known to us of his life from the time of infancy to that of his public entrance on his ministry." The volume appears without any table of contents, but the titles of the chapters are as follows. I. Prefatory Observations. II. On the Personal Endowments of Christ, bodily, mental, and spiritual. III. On the Attention of Christ to the Duties of Religion. IV. Christ's Thirst after Knowledge and extraordinary Acquisitions. V. On the Supreme Devotedness of Christ to the Chief End. VI. On Christ's exemplary Submission to his Parents. VII. On the Estimation with which Christ was regarded both by God and Man. Speaking of the bodily endowments of Christ, Mr. March says: "It cannot be doubted that Jesus was partaker of all the sinless infirmities of the human nature, for "in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren;" but with this difference, that we are necessarily subject to them, whereas he voluntarily assumed them. Yet, as little can it be doubted, that Christ assumed humanity in its most perfect state; not being, as many among men, the subject of any original bodily defect, nor of any hereditary imbecility or disease. He was not only truly man, but man "in his best estate;" free, not merely from whatever was vicious, but from every infirmity not necessarily belonging to the present condition of the human kind. Hence, when it is related by the Evangelist, that he "grew," and that he "increased in stature," it is most reasonable to conclude that his meaning is, that Jesus, as he advanced in years, made the fullest progress in bodily health and vigour. To this effect, indeed, in him every thing conspired. All the common hindrances were absent. There was nothing of orignally infirm or morbid constitution. A perfectly sound and pure constitution was not vitiated in the beginning by the foolish and pernicious indulgences of parents. Joseph and Mary were poor, and therefore could not deprave his health by pampering him with luxuries: they were wise and holy persons, and therefore they would not. "Here we see the advantages of an humble condition in life, in connexion with godliness; and well would it be for some young persons who are tempted to envy those who have rich and indulgent parents, to remember that such commonly pay a dear price for their pleasures, in the loss of vigorous health and of the power their power of application to business, their providence of God, owe their healthfulness, habits of cheerful industry, and their capacity of enjoying with a lively zest the simple comforts of life, to the wholesome restraints and discipline to which they were subjected in early years; because either their parents had it not in their power to ruin them by indulgence, or, (which has sometimes happened,) having the power, they had too much wisdom and grace to abuse it! Christ, who" is Lord of all," and who was free to select the most elevated condition of human life, saw fit to choose the humblest, and to be born of one who was as remarkable for her poverty as for the sanctity of her character. Let the recollection of this, suppress those feelings of pride and self-elation which are so children of affluent parents, when they look prone to rise in the hearts of those who are the around on their poorer school-fellows or acquaintance. And let it also avail to shame away the pinings of envy or the fretfulness of discontent, which are so commonly awakened many gratifications which it commands, in the at sight of the glitter of wealth, and of the minds of those from whom they are withheld; and let it prompt them to fervent prayer for like mindedness with Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet voluntarily became poor." pp. 16.-19. Mr. March adopts the opinion, certainly not dignity of our Lord's character, that Jesus one in any way derogatory to the essential wrought with his father at the same occupation. His being styled the carpenter by the Jews, is, however, no sufficient proof of this, as it is customary in the East, and not uncommon in low life among ourselves, to designate the son by his father's trade, especially if contemptuous or reproachful ideas can be conveyed by the appellation. In the following observations on the value of health, and the importance of making almost every effort and every sacrifice to preserve it, we entirely coincide. "What is life without health? It is rather existence than life. What are all riches, power, reputation, influence, to him who is deprived of health? They are as nothing; or, rather, they are worse, serving only to tantalize, and to increase the grief of their possessor. Without health, we may suffer the will of God, but we cannot do it; and it is the happiness and honour of a Christian to glorify his Divine Master by a life of holy activity. Such was his own life on earth; his youth was spent in humble, yet useful and exemplary occupation; his manhood in laborious benevolence "He went about doing good." But this he could not have done without bealth. But for some good measure of health, how could the Apostles have endured such almost incredible privations and sufferings, or have performed such wonders of beneficence towards their fellowmen? Health is the instrument by which good is wrought; he, therefore, that has not the 268 ful; to-morrow, they think, will be as to-day, | value of health, who, sinking under t and still more abundant in vigour. They smile at admonitions to care, and at precautionary advice, as needless, and even whimsical. They even seem to take pleasure in showing how totally they disregard them, by a display of presumptuous confidence, and by a yet bolder exposure of themselves to danger. This miserable folly, though not confined to them, is certainly most usually found among the young; and, at this hour, thousands, in the different stages of mature life, are suffering its bitter consequences in the loss of all, or nearly all, capacity of enjoyment, and in the inability either to improve their own condition, or to minister to the good of others." pp. 22—23. * * * * of some consuming malady, sees the In reference to our Lord's ment "But, in these days, the voice of warning needs to be powerfully addressed to those young persons also who are likely to suffer from the prevailing mode of female education. Time was when for them, that instruction was deemed the best which formed them to be adepts in domestic economy; active, thrifty, and notable housewives; when literary pursuits and elegant accomplishments were regarded as unsuitable to their province, and as having a direct tendency to disqualify them for the discharge of their proper duties. But though the notions then entertained on the subject of female education are now generally allowed to have been too contracted and illiberal, yet the prejudices of what, on some accounts, still deserve to be called the good old times, made a valuable provision for training up a race of healthful and active, as well as useful women. Who can contemplate, without alarm for the consequences, the inordinate time and pains that, in the present day, are bestowed on the acquisition of light accomplishments, -the continued hours spent in sedentary occupation, and commonly in a confined and unwholesome atmosphere? To what cause so probable can be ascribed the increase of some prevalent disorders, as to this method of education, which leaves so little opportunity for the cultivation of bodily strength and activity, by the free and plentiful use of exercise in the fresh, enlivening, and invigorating air? Alas for the next generation of husbands and children, if they are to be tended and nursed by sickly wives and mothers! The want of healthful cheerful activity in household and maternal duties, will be poorly compensated by the sight of faded drawings, or the sound of halfforgotten French phrases, and, now and then, of an ill-played tune on a neglected instrument. But even if considerable proficiency be made in accomplishments, and real ability and skill be acquired, what will they all profit if healthThe Word became flesh and dwelt be lost? "This proof, that he was properly no hindrance to the confidence of looks to Christ as a Saviour; he does from it, it is not unwelcome to hin reverse; in conjunction with other evince him to be divine, it is even He knows that to Christ's becomi owes all his hopes of redemption. stands what necessity there was t ment should be made in the same had sinned; and that, therefore, for the children are partakers of flesh he also himself took part of the s through death, he might destroy hi the power of death, that is, the dev liver them who through fear of deat their lifetime subject to bondage." us, he must die; and, in order to di become man. Young persons shoul their guard against the cunning cr some who would unsettle their fa great fundamental of Christ's deity when with imposing pomp of argu have proved the unquestioned tru was man, affect to triumph as thoug also proved that therefore he is not he was man,' may his confiding di My spirit, with adoring admiration tude, rejoices at the thought. For He preached his own gospel, and tau of heavenly wisdom for my instruct flesh he wrought unnumbered miracl for the confirmation of his truth, tha might be founded on a rock; he obe "It can never be too often inculcated, nor too deeply impressed on the minds of young persons, that, while one thing is needful' in the highest and most absolute sense; while 'wisdom' or true religion, is the principal thing, the next in importance is health. Without it even religion loses much of its value, instead that righteous law whose co so far as it almost wholly terminates in the be- had broken, and whose curse was u of the possessor, who lives in melancholy exhibited for my imitation a perfec dhonevolence; and, at las ing on the cross. Yet, in all these things, it was God manifest in the flesh.' As such, I place in him my whole trust, knowing that' He is able to save to the uttermost,' and 'to keep that which I have committed unto him until that day.' “Jesus' waxed strong in spirit,' his intellect expanding and strengthening as he grew in years. His human understanding, doubtless, was originally the most perfect of its kind. He was all, in mind, that man could be. And its increase in power was not impeded by any of the hindrances that are common to fallen man. It suffered nothing from disease, nor from pain nor languor, the consequences of disease. Indolence, that great foe to increase of mental vigour, he was a stranger to; its enervating influence never came upon him. No debasing superstition ever enthralled his spirit; no prejudice ever obscured its vision; no proud, or sensual, or angry passion, ever disturbed its exercise; all was light, calmness, and order, and, according to its capacity, it expatiated through the regions of holy and heavenly knowledge at pleasure, and without a chain. The power of abstracting the mind from whatever is trivial, impertinent, or vain, of fixing it intently on high and worthy objects, and of pursuing its search or its contemplations, free from the wanderings of foolish desire, and from the incursions of a vagrant or polluting fancy-a power so necessary to any great increase of intellectual strength and elevation-he doubtless possessed in the fullest measure. And these endowments he possessed as man." pp. 34-36. "The Word was made flesh"-became man. How far from being received in its fulness of meaning is this inspired declaration, so sublimely simple, yet so comprehensive of all that it concerns us to know and believe! While the soi-disant Unitarian denies Jesus to be the Word, the believer is apt almost to lose sight of the fact, that the Word became incarnate, and was made man. It is one of the worst effects of heresy, that it drives many to take up with its opposite for the truth; whereas there is always some truth at the bottom of heresy. Protestants, with reason and Scripture on their side, object against the doctrine of transubstantiation, that it attributes to the human body of our Lord the omnipresence which belongs to his Divine nature; and that, in thus confounding his Deity with his humanity, it presents to our faith a physical impossibility, or rather an absurdity. It would be well, however, if clearer ideas prevailed among Protestants with regard to the distinction which the inspired writers are so careful to keep in view, between what appertained to Christ as man, and what essentially belonged to his Divine nature as the Word, the only begotten of the Father. Let us not fear to speak of our Lord as the inspired Apos tion which it contains, but as rescuing from misapprehension a part of our Lord's conduct which has to some persons presented a difficulty. The distinguishing merit of the work is, that the Author has so evidently entered into the spirit, as we should say in any other case, of the character which he has undertaken to pourtray. In the "very remarkable and instructive reply of Jesus to Mary"--Luke ii. 49 the first thing observable, Mr. March remarks, is this; "that he continually bore in mind who he was, and what was the end of his mission!" "In the expressions used, and in the whole manner, there is an indescribable air of greatness and dignity. He remembered who he was -the Son of God; whom he calls his Father with a familiarity that would have been utterly unsuitable in another, especially, as was now the case, in the presence of the earthly parent, for such Joseph, though not really so, was by all regarded. Another, in like circumstances, had he spoken with propriety, would have used some distinguishing appellation, as, my heavenly Father. But Christ had but one Father, even God, to whom he was son by a relationship incomprehensible by human, and probably by angelic minds; yet involving in it no inferiority but such as he voluntarily assumed when he became flesh;' which is proved by his own sublime declaration, 'I and the Father are one.' A saying which they who heard it received at once in its obvious meaning, as intended to assert an equality with God. In harmony with this, and evidently under the consciousness of his divine Sonship, he asks, 'Knew ye not that I must be about my Father's business?' or, more literally, 'in the things of my Father.' That is; were ye not aware that it behoves me to be occupied in those matters, and in those places, which relate to the law, the worship, and glory of my Father! He uses a strong expression; 'knew ye not that I must be about my Father's business? by which he plainly intimates, that to be employed in things immediately relating to the Divine honour, was what peculiarly belonged to him, his proper concern, the chief end of his coming and incarnation. So, at the close of his ministry, he declares, I have glorified thee on earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do;' from which expressions it is clear, that the work which had been given him to do, and which he had now finished, was that of glorifying the Father on the earth. This was the chief end of all that he taught, and all that he did, and all that he suffered.' PP. 102-104. respectful attention, and tender regard to their feelings, may not parents justly expect from those for whose support and welfare they have laboured, and contrived, and suffered anxiety? Especially, what may not a mother expect, she who first brought them into life at the peril of her own; who watched over them through all the helplessness, the sicknesses of infancy, through long days of incessant fatigue, and long nights of sleepless solicitude, who bore with their fretfulness and follies, directed their opening thought, sowed the seed of divine instruction, watering it with tears of mingled hope and fear, labouring fervently in prayer' for their salvation; warning, expostulating, intreating, encouraging, alluring, by all the awful, and all the persuasive and melting truths of the gospel?-Oh, say, ye who have known the privilege of possessing such a mother, what may she not expect at your hands? With highest reason, indeed, may the Holy Scripture enjoin on children to requite their parents;'-1 Tim. v. 4-for they have not only received much; but, in those cases where parents have faithfully and affectionately discharged their duties, they have received what no respect, obedience, or kindness can ever overpay. "In reference to the conduct of Christ on this remarkable occasion, it may yet be difficult to the minds of thoughtful young persons to understand, how it could be proper for him to remain behind in the Temple unknown to his parents, when respectful obedience would seem evidently to require that he should at least have intimated to them his intention. This circumstance, it must be allowed, does at first sight present a considerable difficulty, especially when regarding Christ as an example; but it may be satisfactorily solved by carefully distinguishing between the motive and principle by which he was influenced, and the act itself. In the principle of his conduct, that of devoting himself with supreme regard to the glory of God, he is our example, but not in this particular act, because it was done by him in his extraordinary character as the Messiah, the Son of God; as he plainly intimates when he speaks of his Father's business as requiring him to do that which he had done. Most certainly, in what he did he was divinely influenced, and acted under the immediate guidance of unerring wisdom. And this will more evidently appear, if we reflect on the beneficial effects that would ultimately be produced on the minds of Joseph and Mary. It is true that they suffered great anxiety (which indeed, a recollection of the past might have, and ought to have, prevented,) but it was only for a short On the other hand, the circumstance was admirably adapted, as well as intended, to rouse their minds to a remembrance of the communications which they had received from God concerning the mission and divine nature of Christ, and to a just apprehension of the perfect propriety of this, as well as of all his other actions. They would also be led to right anticipations of the future, and be prepared to expect in his conduct what might to them appear mysterious and inexplicable, but which they would hence learn to regard without surprise and anxiety, and with that confidence in season. | his perfect wisdom, and that solemn for his character, which would beco Accordingly, in the present instance mediately acquiesced in the intimatio he gave them; and his saying' was Mary in her heart." pp. 124-128. We must indulge ourselves in on tation, because it contains the finish to the delineation of this feature in o example. * * "Christ, truly, was perfectly holy, not transgress; he was 'filled with and could not err: yet he became 's parental authority, that he might honour the divine command, and tha exhibit to the young, through eve perfect pattern of filial obedience. than this, he saw-what those who r obey never saw-an excellence and a such obedience; excellence resulting innumerable beneficial effects, a arising from its intrinsic fitness, an conformity to the will of God." p. "But, to return to the example of which it is always delightful to re most instructive to observe, that, in tion to earthly parents, he was act principle that continued to influence after he had passed from under the into the laborious ministry of his that ministry he showed himself sanctioning the parental authority, a porting the claims of parents to t and grateful requital of their child when the Scribes and Pharisees, by ditions, had violated those claims, and the force of the divine commandthy father and thy mother,' he oper their sophistry, and unmasked the hypocrisy, under cover of which they their selfishness, hardness of heart tempt of the law of God. Matt. xv. "blind gu his reproof referred to adult per under countenance of their " held aid from their needy parents, a plausible excuse, that what they had was devoted by a vow to the treas cred uses; we are taught by it, that due to parents, extends to providin temporal wants, if in necessito stances, and that its obligation is the end of life. And this is confirm that often misquoted declaration of tle, which refers not to the provi rents for their children, but of c their parents: If any provide own, and specially for those of his he hath denied the faith, and is wor infidel.' "It is to be feared, that even of t their youth demeaned themselves w propriety towards their parents, too them with great neglect in after lif formed new connexions, and havin families of their own, engrossed, too pursuits and selfish indulgences, th Occupy very little of their though less of their attention; as though such duties was now ended, not that the obligation to 'honour' ther only with their lives. Meanwhile, In a work lately published in France is given the following estimate, said to be compiled from official documents, of the numbers which compose the respective Religious Communions of Europe, Jews excepted. The manner in which the subject is stated, in reference to the United Kingdom, shows that this estimate can be taken, in most cases at least, only as a general approximation to fact: England and Wales, 6,000,000 Church of England, 6,000,000 Dissenters.--Scotland, 1,500,000 Presbyterians, 500,000 other bodies. -Ireland, 500,000 Church of England, 380,000 Dissenters, 5,500,000 Romanists.--France, 30,855,000 Romanists, 659,000 Reformed, 280,000 Lutherans.-Spain, 11,660,000 Romanists.-Portugal, 3,173,000 Romanists.Italy, 20,210,000 Romanists.-Switzerland, 1,167,000 Reformed, 580,000 Romanists.Germanic Confederation, 6,750,000 Protestants, 6,700,000 Romanists.-Netherlands, 3,500,000 Romanists, 1,500,000 Protestants.-Denmark, 1,700,000 Lutherans-Sweden and Norway, 3,550,000 Lutherans.-Prussia, 6,000,000 Lutherans, 4,500,000 Romanists, 1,000,000 Reformed, &c.-Austria, 14,000,000 Romanists, 2,000,000 Protestants.-Hungary, 4,200,000 J. W. S. Romanists. 3.646 000 Refor |