tudes of nature demonstrate that the many thousand varieties of conscious existence are the productions of the same God.

Unity of design, as well as the infinite wisdom of the Designer, is obvious in the employing of the same thing to accomplish several distinct and important purposes. The moon not only fills her "silver horn" as she walks forth amidst the sparkling gems that burn upon the azure vault of heaven to dissipate the gloom of midnight, but also rolls the tidal waves into our bays and harbours, multiplying the commercial intercourse of nations.

The atmosphere is not only the medium essential to animal and vegetable life, but with its breezes tempers the heat of summer and the rigours of winter. It is the vehicle that bears along the vapours in buoyant and fleecy magazines, the alembic that yields the gentle distillations of dew and the refreshing showers. By its refractive properties it diffuses light over earth and sky; it supports combustion; its undulations waft to us the sentiments of human language, and all the melodies of music.

The sun is the fountain of light and heat to our globe, and to all the planetary worlds circulating in his princely train; he is the great physical agent in evolving the dynamical laws that bind them to their orbits. He produces winds and other disturbances in the electric equilibrium of the atmosphere. He emits his vivifying action on the chemical elements of nature, elaborating from dead, inorganic matter the vegetable kingdom, so essential to animal existence, and the great source of those vast deposits known as coal strata.

These are a few illustrations which clearly attest the existence of one intelligent, Almighty being.

But this analogical proof accumulates in force if we extend our researches beyond the surface of our earth. Sir Isaac Newton showed, in distinct contradiction to all the ancient systems of astronomy, propounded and adopted by the great sages of antiquity, that the phenomena exhibited by all the celestial bodies are regulated by the same laws which influence the falling of an apple. The laws of motion which prevail upon our earth prevail equally wherever we are capable of discovering motion. The annual and diurnal revolutions of our globe are exemplified by every planet and satellite of the solar system. The primaries bear the same relation to

their secondaries that the sun bears to that vast retinue of worlds that do homage to his mighty behests-Jupiter and Saturn, with their concomitant moons are miniature representations of that astral system of which they are members. There are several indications of the existence of orbitual motion to the utmost bounds of the material universe. Some stars undergo a regular periodical increase and diminution of brilliancy, involving in some cases a complete extinction and revival. One of the most remarkable is Omicron, in the constellation Cetus, first noticed by Fabricus in A.D. 1596. It appears about twelve times in eleven years. When at its greatest brightness, which it retains about a fortnight, it appears as equal to a star of the second magnitude. It then gradually decreases till it becomes completely invisible. After some months it again emerges from its obscurity and attains its former splendour. Algol is another of those periodic stars which at times is equal to one of the second magnitude. In about four hours it is reduced to one of the fourth magnitude, and in the same space of time regains its former brightness. This variation of light is believed to be occasioned either by a greater number of dark spots on one side of the disc of the stars than on the other, similar to those detected on the sun's disc; or they move in very eccentric orbits, the major axes of which are pointed towards the earth; or, finally, the obscuration is occasioned by the revolution of an opaque body, which, when interposed between us and the stars, cuts off a portion of their light. To an observer, placed at the distance of one of the fixed stars, the revolution of one of our larger planets would produce a temporary obscuration of our sun every fourteen hours. On whatever principle these phenomena may be explained, they are proofs of the permanent activity, in their illimitable regions, of the laws of motion existing in our world, and which secure the equilibrium of our system amidst the various oscillations of its respective members.

The orbitual motion of the binary stars is additional evidence of unity of design. Sir William Herschel announced that two, three, and four suns revolve round each other, or rather round their common centre of gravity, just as our earth and moon revolve round theirs. The observations of this singularly acute man have been confirmed by many eminent astronomers

since his time. And what is still more astonishing, the visible glories of the firmament are all being borne along through boundless space, circulating round some remote but magnificent centre, analogous to the orbitual motions of the several members of our system round the sun. Maedler, of Dorpat, says in his work entitled "Central Sun,' "that Alcyone, the principal star in the group Pleiades, now occupies the centre of gravity, and is the sun about which the universe, including our astral system, is all revolving." Indeed, it has been computed by several eminent mathematicians that the sun and his retinue of worlds and satellites, pass thirty-three millions of miles per annum of that mighty orbit in which they revolve round this "Central Sun."

The discovery of the clusters denominated nebula, carries us upwards through another ascending step in the magnificent scale of progression. The nebulæ resolved by the telescope, are composed of stars, manifestly of the same kind as those seen by the unaided eye, and with the increasing powers of the telescope the subsequently resolved ones are seen to be but clusters of stars bound together by the mutual law of gravitation. The celebrated monster telescope of the late Earl of Rosse, which I had the privilege of seeing, has resolved into distinct stars several nebulæ

classed by Sir W. Herschel as the chaotic luminous matter, from which by gradual condensation originally came the suns and systems which now crowd the heavens. Those which no telescope has yet resolved bear the same relation to those that have been resolved, and will, doubtless, like Herschel's unresolved ones, appear in the eye of posterity as distinct clusters of suns. The universe is thus demonstrated to be the emanation of one omnipotent Creator, who has given birth to all its shining spheres that blaze and roll on the ethereal arch. To believe in a plurality of Gods is treason against the Lord God of creation. But let it be remembered that the absolute UNITY of Deity is only known from the testimony of Scripture. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." "I am the first and the last, and beside me there is no God." Jehovah at this moment rules with illimitable sway over all worlds. His quickening energies are felt in the remotest regions of space; yet in infinite compassion he remembered us in our sinful state, and gave his only begotten Son to be our Almighty Saviour, and sent forth his Holy Spirit, to carry forward the dispensations of his grace and to make us meet for the "inheritance of the saints in light." JOHN DOUGLAS.

Portadown, Ireland.

soul

AFTER the description of his sufferings the afflicted one turns those sufferings into a subject for prayer, and he seems to me to arrange them in an inverted order. The last cruelty inflicted on his person is that described in the last clause of the 16th verse. With this is connected, I conceive, his first petition (v. 20), "Deliver my from the sword." The next clause, "My darling, from the power of the dog," is parallel to the former part of the 16th verse-"For dogs have encompassed me.' The next petition, "Save me from the lion's mouth (v. 21) tallies with the 13th verse, "They gaped upon me with their mouths as it were a ramping and a roaring lion; " and the closing sentence of the passage, For thou hast heard me

66

from the horns of the unicorn," is an echo of the 12th verse,-"Many bulls have compassed me, &c." It will be thus seen that the order of the prayer is the order of the insults inverted, and if so, the "sword"

is the parallel explanation of the disputed word KOAREE, and therefore the idea of piercing is required. Moreover, if the Saviour uttered the first words of this psalm on the cross; if the priests and Pharisees unwittingly cited certain parts of this psalm in their revilings; if the act 1 of parting his garments, and casting lots on his vesture, finds a place; if the last words of the psalm met their fulfilment in the ever-memorable "It is finished;" surely common sense would lead us to expect that the source and centre of the whole scene of suffering should not be omitted, the act of crucifixion must be shadowed forth, "signifying what manner of death he should die."

F. TILNEY BASSETT. [The same trustworthy authority defends our ordinary version of Psalm ii. 12, which has been assailed by some Jewish critics, who would render it "Kiss a pure one.' He says, "The shape and features of the

AGAIN and again it has happened on this wise. The devices of men have been introduced into the region of doctrines to be believed or of duties to be discharged. At first the human invention has occupied its becoming subordinate position, but gradually it has acquired greater importance, until, in the course of years it has risen to the same level of authority as the Divine precept. Not content with this, it has made still further aggression, and has ultimately exalted itself above the ordinance of God, so that when the human and the Divine doctrine or commandment have come into collision, the Divine has been made to give way. This was the very sin that

constituted the head and front of the Pharisees' offending, and which constrained the Saviour to speak of them in terms that seem strangely severe as falling from the lips of one so full of gentleness and pity. They began with supplementing, and ended with superceding the laws of God by their traditions. While keeping the customs they had themselves ordained with the utmost scrupulousness, they gave way to most unholy indulgencies. For the moral law they would exercise no self-denial. If it clashed with their appetites or crossed their purposes, it must be broken. On the other hand, for "traditions" they would not shrink back from martyrdom itself. One of their laws related to the washing of hands before every meal. The Rabbi Akiba, when in prison, had not enough water both to quench his thirst and to wash his hands. What he had he used for the latter purpose, deeming it better to die of thirst than to transgress the traditions of the elders. "Full well," said Christ to them, "ye reject the commandments of men, that you may keep your own traditions."

The Pharisaic corruption of Judaism has been closely copied in the Popish corruptions of Christianity. The latter is an old foe with a somewhat new face and a somewhat new field wherein to

DEVICES.

in

work. It is the old story repeated, "Laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the traditions of men." The Papist began by quoting "tradition support of some of those practices for which, by no tortuous logic whatever, could he find sanction in the Word of God. This was the thin end of the wedge, and it was driven home when the Council of Trent decreed "that all should receive with equal reverence the books of Scripture and the traditions preserved in the Catholic Church."

He must have read ecclesiastical history to very little purpose, who does not see that there is need for the greatest vigilance, and sanction for the most rigid strictness, in this respect. The old fable tells how the she-bear sought a home for her cubs in the house of a woodman. She pleaded in answer to his fears, that they were tiny creatures with toothless gums, and paws that could not scratch enough to make the skin bleed. Forgetting that they would grow, and that teeth and claws would come in due time, the man admitted them. In after days he grew tired of their company, and desired them to depart; whereupon, says the fabulist, they growled fiercely, and told him to turn them out if he dared. The notice to quit was then served on him. The process of ejectment was short but severe, and the human dwelling became nothing but the lair of the wild beast. The moral of the fable might be a warning againt the careless admission of the smallest human innovations into the Church of Christ. They are feeble at first, and take a very lowly place; but strength and pride soon come, and they aspire to the throne, and determine to have neither superior nor rival.

The Christian Church is even yet but very imperfectly freed from the unholy influence and the mischievous operation of human authority. The house requires to be more carefully swept than it was at the Reformation from Popery, and a more thorough search must be made for the old

leaven, that it may be more completely cast out. Let all individual Christians, let all Christian Churches, learn to act on principle, that in reference to Christian faith, and duty, and worship, the question is not how thinhest thou? but, 'How

readest thou?' not What is the use and wont? but, What is written in the law? not, How is it to be arranged by us? but, How has it been settled by our Master? Let us seek out of the book of the Lord and read.'-Dr. Brown.

6

HINTS FOR THE PROFITABLE WHILE any portion is being read it would be well to consider the following questions, and as much as possible to obtain satisfactory answers to them; then to note these down for future use: - needful additions thereto and emendations therein may be made as fresh light is obtained.

1st.-Under what circumstances was this portion of the Scripture written?

2nd. What were the personal feelings and motives of the writer?

3rd. What doctrinal truths are taught herein.

4th. What practical righteousness is enjoined ?

READING OF THE SCRIPTURES.

5th. What parallel, confirmatory, or illustrative statements are found in other parts of the Word?

6th. What illustrations hereof may be derived from the works of God-or from the experience and habits of men ?

7th. What has this Scripture to do with ME personally? What admonition, counsel, reproof, and warning; or what encouragement and promise does it speak to me? Do I possess inward witness, and do I bear outward evidence, that the blessings herein disclosed belong to ME?

S. K. B.

WE rode into a small wood, and halted upon a verdant height or little hill, where we alighted. Below this little hill flowed the Jordan, with its margin thickly overgrown with umbrageous foliage.

We

were soon on its banks. Its light-grey waters flowed rapidly along from north to South-so rapidly, indeed, that it seemed as if it would be at the peril of life to swim across, although the river was by no means broad. Nor did any one seem inclined to make the attempt. The water, however, was calmer and overshadowed by beautiful large trees at the bend of the river where the peculiar scene of the bathing or baptism of the pilgrims was going forward. Beneath a shady tree, upon some elevated ground, near the bank of the river, men and women removed their outer attire, and then went down in merely linen garments to the water's edge, where, beside an old dry tree-trunk which leaned over the water, stood an athletic figure, with a black, shaggy head, more like a Hercules than a John the Baptist-naked to the waist, and standing

to his middle in the water. The man received in his sinewy arms the pilgrims as they stepped down to the river, in which, by the help of an assistant, he gave them a hasty plunge, at the same time, as it seemed to me, a little violently, he pressed down with his hand their heads under the water. This was repeated three times to each person. But the broadshouldered, black-hair'd, Herculean Baptist had such a good tempered, jovial expression, that we could see very plainly that he was accustomed to the business, and that they who came to him had nothing to fear. The baptized then mounted up the hill again and resumed their garments in the shade of the large trees. Beautiful young women, grey-haired old women, youths, and old men, children of all ages were thus plunged into the river. The children cried unmercifully, but it was to no purpose; down to the river they must go, and over head three times in succession, and not till then were they restored to their mothers. There was here no fervency, as when John the Baptist baptized in the

river Jordan, to repentance and preparation for the kingdom of heaven, both by word and expression, as powerful as the rocks of the desert. It was not in his case a frivolous sport. People here seemed to go into the bath as to some pleasant church festival. The water also was so agreeable, so fresh and soft at the same time, that I experienced a physical longing to have a dip likewise. But the great assemblage of people terrified me. I merely bathed my forehead and eyes with the water of this river, rich in memories,

and thanked God, who had permitted me, a little pilgrim on earth, to behold the Mississippi in the far West, that river rich for the future, and who has now led me hither to the banks of the Jordan! For though the river Jordan be small in comparison with all the great rivers of the world, and small its significance in the history of the present times, yet a memory is connected with the Jordan such as with no other river on the face of the earth.Fredrika Bremer's "Travels in the Holy Land," translated by Mrs. Mary Howitt.

MAN OPPOSED

GGORGE HERBERT, in his "Temple," says truly,

"If God had laid all common, certainly Man would have been th' encloser; but since now God hath impaled us, on the contrary Man breaks the fence, and every ground will plough.

Oh, what were man, might he himself misplace! Sure to be cross he would shift feet and face." Is not this what Paul means, when he says, "I had not known sin but by law: for I had not known lust, except the law said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead?" A min.

TO GOD'S LAW.

ister, to a company of English merchants in Prussia, tells of a merchant who was married to a fair and comely wife, but who, proving unfaithful to his marriage Vows, was urged, that his wife being so fair and good, he had least temptation to go astray, replied, "Yea, if she were not my wife I could love her." Because she was his wife, hedged in by God's law, he did not care for her. And have not we hearts as foul and deceitful? We have. If it were not for God's restraining grace the very best men would soon become the very worst. My soul, be thou humble. Glasgow. T. W. MEDHURST.

THE explorations of the ancient city have been proceeding with increased vigour, and many interesting results have rewarded the perseverance of Lieutenant Warren, the able leader of the enterprise.

The remains of the grand bridge, at the sight of which the Queen of Sheba is thought to have had no more spirit in her, have been traced so far as to make it tolerably clear that it spanned the Tyropæan valley, leading from the royal cloister to the upper city. Shafts have been sunk down to the solid rock, and the south wall is shown to have originally reared its lofty battlements 180 feet above ground, confirming Josephus's description, hitherto supposed to have been exaggerated. A remarkable aqueduct has been opened up, which is most likely that which led from Solomon's pools to the Haram area. It is from 10 to 12 feet high; the masonry is very ancient, the stones

being of great size (12 feet by 6), and is roofed in by two sets of sloping stones, like the passage in the great pyramid. Thus it has already been traced to a distance of 450 feet, and it is quite hoped, by following up its course, the ancient method of supplying the temple with water will be made apparent. Being entirely concealed, it must have been of vast importance during a seige; the open watercourse in the south and west valley being, of course, exposed to the enemy. An extensive system of vaults, tanks, and aqueducts, has been discovered to the west of, and in connexion with," Wilson's Arch," which appear to be of the same age and construction; and it is hoped these will prove a key to the extensive underground water system of ancient Jerusalem. Several arches, each 14 feet wide, have been also laid bare in continuation of "Wilson's."