Christians. The body to which he nominally | husbandman expect an abundant cro belongs are denounced as fools, or bigots, or fanatics, and Christianity is regarded incapable or unworthy of defence. he neglects to prepare the soil and to the seed, amusing himself with specul the uncertainty of the weather, and reignty of God in regard to the inf the sun and the rain; as the Chris for solid and lasting comfort in the hope of the gospel, while he neglects t by which alone they can be obtained. The enjoyment which springs fro lightened acquaintance with the grea of redemption, and from an extensi ledge of its grand and overpowering is of the purest and sublimest order. divinely accredited scheme, we per infinite love of God pouring forth its less stores to effect the deliverance a ness of the world:-providing a Sa vealing his character, accepting his attesting his claims:-appointing an means suited to the nature of the pla condition of the objects proposed to b ted by it-connecting with those system of effective influence to ins success, and to carry forward the des encouraging all who believe, to labou and suffer patiently, by the promise o ritance of imperishable glory. To full satisfaction that all this is the God which cannot lie, the work of C cannot fail, the engagement of God v not disappoint, must afford to the he vation, who have fled to lay hold on set before them, strong and everlasti lation. The floods of tribulation around, and threaten to ingulf them; Our comfort, no less than our efficiency, de- anchor will hold fast, being fixed w pends on our knowledge of the evidences of veil. The world may seek to ensna the truth. Christian enjoyment has too often lure them; but its honours and plea been considered as almost entirely the result of have no glory in their estimation, by divine sovereignty and spiritual influence. It the glory which so far excelleth. has been too much derived from insulated inti-ings of unbelief may occasionally d mations, choice promises, and detached fragments of the word of God. The alternations of hope and fear, comfort and despondency, have been supposed to depend entirely on causes over which we have no control. I am far from insinuating that all this is founded on mistake and yet I am convinced that important mistakes are connected with these views. It is true, they seem to ascribe glory to God, and to indicate a proper sense of dependance upon him. But it is submitted that they disregard, in some degree, the means which God has put in our power, and our accountableness for the use which we make of those means. They overlook the fact, that sovereignty is not caprice; that it operates according to certain principles or laws which God has revealed in his word, and that we have duties to perform as well as privileges to enjoy. Every Christian is required by his religion to be a propagator of it in the world. He is expected to use all his endeavours and all his influence to recommend to others the salvation which he has himself received. How can he acquit himself in the discharge of this duty, the next in importance to seeking the salvation of his own soul, if he is not familiar with the best mode of arguing and defending the Redeemer's cause? If he does not study to become acquainted with the strong grounds on which the Scriptures rest their claims, he cannot make those bold and fearless appeals to others, which he might otherwise make with the happiest effect. What an advantage has the enlightened Christian, when meeting the unhappy individuals, who, sometimes from fear, sometimes from shame, sometimes from mere levity, have been induced to surrender themselves into the hands of those who are continually prowling about to destroy unwary souls! A single remark, judiciously made, will sometimes prostrate to the dust the whole strength of the infidel cause, and may call forth a train of reflections in some of its abettors, which, by the blessing of God, may lead them to the truth. It is well that we have public and professional defenders of the faith; but the vigour and success of the Christian army ought not to rest on them. Every Christian ought to be able to meet his enemy, and to contribute his portion in gaining the battles of his Lord. For what purpose has God given us a clear and connected revelation of his character and will, but that we may examine it attentively, and be thoroughly conversant with all its contents? Why has he furnished us with all sorts of evidence in its support, but that we may digest and feel the full force of that evidence? Is it reasonable to expect, that our obedience will be acceptable. that our comfort will be full bewilder their minds, and endanger th but the word and oath of God, con the sacrifice of his Son, when agai plated, will restore confidence and rethe life of godliness. The darts of fly thick, and both annoy and wound shield of faith, formed by the tes God, will at length successfully repe Bodily strength may decay, mental decrease, death may approach, clot its terrors; but the deathless princip implanting, fed by the means of h pointment, and nourished by the se fluences of his Spirit, will even in cumstances increase in strength, a its unearthly nature and origin. It the progress of time, the effects of d the fear of death. It will pass unhu the dark and cheerless valley, survi solution of nature, smile over the r universe, and reign and triumph in in From the New Baptist Miscell GOD IS LIGHT. ETERNAL Light! Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be, When sloood within the c The spirits that surround thy throne May bear the burning bliss; Oh! how shall I whose native sphere That uncreated beam! There is a way for man to rise, The sons of ignorance and night, From the Winter's Wreath. ON SINCERITY. How sweet upon the sparkling stream, those who are animated by its spirit will avoid expressing painful truths when not called upon to do so. This delicacy of feeling is quite consistent with the most perfect integrity of conduct, and has nothing in common with a temporizing spirit, or that sensitive foresight which weighs consequences with the utmost exactness -but only in relation to self. It is equally remote from a regulating disposition prompt to advise and ready to censure, which generally has its origin in a want of diffidence and an insensibility to the feelings of others. Sincerity is in itself so estimable, we are afraid so rare, that in pointing out its excellence for imitation, we would gladly invest it with all the loveliness of truth. But whilst we would unite courtesy-Christian courtesy with Sincerity, the true basis of which is humility, let us beware of its counterfeit-let us neither impose upon ourselves nor others by empty T. B. profession. Yet, how lamentably this is the case in some circles, let fashionable language, and fashionable practice, declare. What professions of joy with the most icy feelings, not to say repugnance-what courteous receptions contrasted with, "I am rejoiced they have taken their departure! What a deliverance!" What urbanity of manner, and apparent deference to opinion, mingled with the most perfect disesteem. WERE we asked the question, "What is Sincerity?" we should simply reply-Truth in speech-Truth in action; a definition with which few persons, perhaps, would be disposed to cavil: but, unhappily, truth in the abstract and truth in practice are so widely dissimilar, so much at variance with each other, even amongst those who would shrink from the thoughts of falsehood, and indignantly repel an accusation of insincerity, that the mind is naturally led to inquire, "Is there any standard by which we can form a charitable, and at the same time, an equitable judgment?" This inquiry, though highly interesting and important, is not so easy to be answered as might at first be imagined; for we think it must be admitted that to merit the appellation of sincere, or to deserve the odium of being deemed false, must depend upon circumstances; for that which is an imperative duty upon one individual, is not incumbent upon another-as, for instance, in the case of giving advice; the fault may be equally discerned by both, but neither duty nor propriety equally sanction the mention of it. And, indeed, unless prudence and delicacy actuate the character and manner, Sincerity itself will remain an isolated virtue, at least as regards its effects upon others. Bacon justly remarks, "He that is only real, had need have exceeding great parts of virtue; as the stone Persons moving in such society will perhaps say, "This is not insincerity. Insincerity is speaking and acting with an intention to deceive. Such professions deceive no one-they are mere words of convenience-civil expressions which have no meaning, and are received as such." Has truth no meaning? Is the abuse of speech no sin? Is the use of language to give false impressions? Base coin, when circulated, lessens the value of sterling gold; but when once the sacredness of truth is willingly violated, who can limit its future debasement? Language should represent truth; but alas! we may well exclaim in the language of the poet, "Sacred interpreter of human thought, Christianity adinits of no temporizing. Wherever the Spirit of our blessed Redeemer reigns, there must be truth in speech, truth in action; and all those who are redeemed from the world find it so. The crooked paths of human policy are both difficult and dangerous to walk in: perhaps there is no slavery so rigorous as the slavery of deceit-no intercourse so oppressive as the heartlessness of insincerity. But how refreshing and delightful is the frank and open conversation of those Christians, who in any degree, resemble Nathaniel of old, of whom it was said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Their spontaneous expressions ness, is all that Christianity requires; for there must be guests of duty as well as of pleasure; but the sincere in heart will not lavish those expressions of affection and joy upon the one, which can only be truly bestowed upon the other. In conversation there will be no seeming acquiescence with contrary sentiments, when the subject involves principle; no cowardly silence when truth is attaked, or opinions broached which have an injurious tendency. Every age and period has some temptation peculiar to itself; the danger of the present day seems to be that of sacrificing principle to expediency. The very circumstance of bodies associated together for benevolent purposes, where great difference of opinion must necessarily exist, brings this temptation along with it. Under the plausible pretext of liberality, the standard of truth is not unfrequently lowered, at least as relates to individuals. The desire of pleasing all parties, the ambition of standing high with the world (so fatal to purity of purpose) is the rock on which too many split. In vain shall we seek to promote the well-being of society, whilst we remain unfaithful to the dictates of conscience. Those who are "all things to all men," would do well to consider whether their motives are equally single, equally pure with those of the Apostle: we do not find that, when he saw a sin upon his brother, he kept silence for fear of offending, for fear of (to make use of modern language) "doing more harm than good;" on the contrary, he reproved Peter and withstood him to the face. The rebuke of Christian love may, from the infirmity of human nature, grieve the object of it for a moment, but it will never separate those who are upright in heart. The air, though divided as the arrow passes through it, is instantly reunited. David said, "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil." The reproofs of a Christian will always be attempered with kindness; for those who love truth most, will feel most tenderly for their fellow-creatures; they will not only avoid all rudeness of dissent, all contradiction, where difference of opinion is immaterial, but they will concede trifles, and rejoice that they can do so, as by such concessions they gain an increased influence in things of real importance; for the love of a Redeemer, whilst it constrains to faithfulness, does touch the spirit with kind-with sympathizing feelings. It is indeed the anointing oil of truth and grace!-and it is by this grace alone we can be enabled to be "Sincere and without offence, until the day of Christ." A. H. From the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. RAVAGES OF LOCUSTS. FREQUENT references are made in the sacred Scriptures, to the destructive ravages of Lo ten been confirmed by the narratives gent and respectable travellers. In th chapter of the book of the Prophet J insects are represented as being em God for the punishment of a guilty p is there said, (ver. 3,) that "the land garden of Eden before them, and bel a desolate wilderness." This affectin tion is strikingly illustrated by a p Captain Andrews's "Journey from Ayres through the provinces of Cordo man," &c., recently published. On the 26th of April, 1825, says sensible writer, we breakfasted up milk, and started early in the mornin a few leagues were past, we got int country, though now barren. This contradiction is explained by statin flight of locusts had laid it waste. I before witnessed such a sight. O plagues of Egypt, I now think that o must have been the most horrible. T which we had previously seen before dense cloud upon the horizon, beca our arrival in contact with it, a seriou ment to our progress. The locusts s faces of our horses and peons with su and in such numbers, that they could grope their way along. Every bush with them, and in an instant looked and dead, from their devastations. pearance, three or four feet above the resembled corn under the action of when glowing in a meridian sun, or t lating vapour of the mirage, or the waving of a summer's sea. Our land told us in the morning, that a flight o had passed by without visiting him; f that his ground afforded nothing for settle upon, but rocks, and the pric and torch thistle; upon which these gi hoppers showed no inclination to imp selves, not even for a collector of na tory. What an awful visitation to the cou which they pass, is the flight of these before whose baleful influence "The full-blown Spring through all h shrinks, Joyless and dead, a wide dejected was A scene in the morning rich in ver bursting into blossoms, is at night profitless, hideous waste. On the next morning not a green bl leaf meets the eye, where yesterday n velled, in luxuriance and beauty. England, which this scourge never vi cost us full three hours to get clear marauders. We calculated that th have extended fully twelve miles from south. We came to a patch of ster country again; and there we parted insects, who seemed passing to the w preferring the valley. Never had I bef and I hope I shall never again see, su trict of utter desolation as we passed during which we travelled sixteen leag A pilgrim fainting for the rest to come; An exile, anxious for his native home. HANNAH MORE. 'Tis sweet, 'tis soothing to the mourner's mind, when called to stand by the dying-bed -f much loved friends, to witness such compoedness and tranquillity in the hour of death, ea more, such holy longings to depart and be with Jesus. What but the "glorious gospel of the blessed God," can support and animate the mind at those solemn periods? when the world with all its allurements is rapidly receding from our wiew, and the attenuated thread, which binds us to earth, is dissolving for ever :-while weeping friends are silently watching our last agonies, and with tender solicitude removing the clay cold damps which sit upon our forehead. In the midst of all the sufferings of our now wasted fabric, to feel a holy calm within, and to be enabled peacefully to contemplate the silent sepulchre, which must soon open to receive us, evidences a support more than hu man. The presence of a Covenant God can then alone administer consolation, and enable the expiring saint, to stretch the wing of faith beyond the narrow boundaries of time, and to hasten with feelings of lively anticipation that glorious period, when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and the now "vile body fashioned like unto the glorified body of Jesus." Thus supported by the presence of the Saviour, my departed friend, exclaimed in the immediate prospect of death, "my soul is in haste to be gone, I cannot, I would not stay here. Oh, that the happy hour would more quickly arrive, when my immortal spirit, now imprisoned in a body of corruption, shall wing its flight to the throne of God! I long to fly away, come Lord Jesus, come quickly." Memory derives a melancholy pleasure, when reflecting on thy holy and devoted life, thy pious and chastened temper, feeling assured that thy liberated spirit, which was once incarcerated in clay, can never again taste this bitter cup of affliction yes, my friend, thou art now doubtless uniting with an innumerable company, in "ascribing glory and honour to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever." Thou didst in thy sojourn here, experience the deepness of affliction, and thy Father's hand was laid heavily on thee; but thou art now removed to an infinite distance from sets forth the sinless enjoyment of the beatified saints: Then shall thy saints unmix'd, and from the impure Far separate, circling thy holy mount, The mind is lost when the world endeavours to pourtray the glories of heaven: but is it not delightful if we only contrast it with earth, to reflect, that there we shall no more be subject to care and vicissitude, weariness, fatigue, or dejection-that our spiritual capacity shall no longer be clouded or weighed down by the pressure of these vile bodies-that our spirits shall neither tire nor faint in the service of Jesus --but with realizing views, of that blessed land whose distant prospect seems, now by faith, to delight our eyes; we shall hymn with increasing melody the praises of God! Surely there will be degrees of bliss even in heaven; for although every vessel shall be full in the presence of Jesus, yet is it not stated in God's holy word, that one star shall differ from another star in glory; and is it not reasonable also to conclude, that the child of God who has been privileged to lean on the bosom of the Saviour, and to enjoy the frequent, and the peculiar manifestations of his favour while on earth, would re-echo the praises of that loved name in the realms of bliss, with a voice more sweetly and powerfully attuned, than he who (though equally safe) had received the pardon of his sins, like the dying thief, but just previous to his admission into Paradise? Whether it be so or not, enough is recorded to prove that there will be a fulness of enjoyment, and this assurance may well excite our warmest desires. The removal of those friends on whose faithfulness, and untiring affection we were wont to recline, is designed by our heavenly Father, to teach us some important lessons; and among others, the withering nature of earthly happiness: for so prone are we to evil, that we sometimes idolize the gifts of an indulgent God, regardless of the almighty and bountiful dispenser, who thus in mercy casts a veil of sorrows over those enjoyments, which had he allowed to remain unclouded, would have weaned us from himself; and bids the bitter tears of deeply wounded feeling to flow in much love to our souls, that the disappointments we experience below, may loosen our hold on creature comforts, and beget a willingness to flee away and be at rest. "As those we love decay, we die in part; String after string is severed from the heart, Till loosen'd life, at last, but breathing clay, Without one pang is glad to fall away. Unhappy he who latest feels the blow, that they may cling more closely to the cross of Jesus; and though the wound which infinite love sees needful to inflict, be too deep for human sympathy to heal; yet if it be sanctified to our souls, and we are thereby led to think more of that God whose unerring wisdom appointed the blow; we may well adopt the language of the pious Young, and with feelings like him exclaim, "Amid my list of blessings infinite, Stand this the foremost, that my heart has bled.'" And in reference to the departed, who lived and died in the Lord; how should the consideration of their superior happiness check the mournful sigh! Those dying strains whose chords yet vibrate on the survivor's ear, awakening all those feelings, around which memory still hovers with fond delight, are now exchanged for notes unmingled with wo; nor would we wish (were it possible) for one moment, "to constrain the liberated spirit into bonds again." Rather let the thought of meeting our departed friends in glory, and the assurance that ere long, it will be our turn to endure the struggles of dissolving nature, stimulate us to increased watchfulness and prayer in our Christian course: for as we are led to cultivate communion with Jesus on earth, and to live very near his footstool, with a mind deadened to the world, and thoughts frequently exercised on eternal realities; in that proportion will death be disarmed of its sting, and appear rather as an angel of light commissioned by the Father of spirits to convey our souls to glory. And in order to promote our advancement in holiness, let us constantly cherish all those feelings which tend very highly to exalt the Saviour, in the dignity of his person, and in the preciousness of his offices, as Christ Mediator to his people. May we be led to meditate much on his finished work; and by an appropriating faith, be enabled to realize in our happy experience, that he has for us completed the work which the eternal Father gave him to do; that nothing shall be able to separate us from his love, and that although sin may be permitted to assault us even till we arrive in glory, it shall never finally prevail against us; yet a few more revolving suns, and if interested in Jesus, we shall bid a final adieu to sorrow and temptation, and become inhabitants of those mansions which the dear Redeemer promised to prepare for all his blood-bought family. It is indeed sweet when the mind is rightly attuned, to reflect on the love which induced the Saviour to leave the realms of glory, and dwell in this our wretched world; but more especially that he should condescend to assume our nature, and tabernacle in clay: Ah! had he not participated in the groans of humanity, and experienced all the agonies which our nature is capable of sustaining (sin excepted), he would not, perhaps, have been touched as he now is with a feeling of his people's infirmities; it therefore "became him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings " | below, what shall we feel when adm presence in glory? and if we deligh his praises on earth, how shall we re our tremulous voice, now checked b sighs, shall be aided by celestial i the feeble accents of redeeming strengthened by the chorus of the sembly and church of the first-bo names are written in heaven. Thi "a consummation devoutly to be wi Holy Spirit, attune my heart t praises of a dear Redeemer, while I this vale of tears: enkindle a flame and love in my languid affections: m of devotion burn more brightly on 1 sweet and intimate communion w that my service below may be but a that sublimer worship above, which no interruption; but which will b ated throughout the ages of a ceas nity. From the Literary Gazett A VISIT TO THE SEVEN CH OF ASIA; with an Excursion in &c. By the Rev. F. V. J. Arund Chaplain at Smyrna. Evo. pp. don, 1828. J. Rodwell. ANATOLIA, Covered as it is, we having its soil impregated, with th remains of antiquity, cannot be tr any direction, and described by ever casual observer, without furnishing attract the regards of the rest of Mr. Arundell's Journals of two excur Smyrna to various interesting sites are, it must be confessed, more dry a in many cases, than we could wish they are often instructive, and alwa ing of the attention of the classical s the antiquary. Following principa tracks of Dr. Smith, (whose journey too little known') Sir Paul Ricaut Pococke, Chandler, and Dallaway Tourneforte, Van Egmont, Hassel Choiseul Gouffier; the expeditions dern tourist were too hastily perform ble him to add many very importan the information supplied by these dis travellers. But, still, he has corr authenticated several remarkable q geography and antiquities; and with mirable notes by his eminent and v gent predecessor in the same course Colonel Leake,* his volume preser have said, considerable claims to pu tion. Of the seven Christian Church Apocalypse, founded in Asia by the hardly a vestige remains. Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Thyatira, Laod Philadelphia, (see Revelations, chap. with all their power and magnifice *This gentleman's researches in A seem to have originated Mr. Arund neys; and he has greatly enhanced of the Boy Chanlain's labours by el |
