declaration of God in the 132nd Psalm, 13, 14, "That the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell," it undoubtedly must be the centre of God, as to place as well as to principle.

And I maintain, that if it can be seen, from the plain and express declaration of God, and testimony of prophets, that God hath chosen Zion, or Jerusalem, as the centre of the whole world as to place, and that there he will dwell himself, and that there cannot be unity and harmony in God's purposes in bringing about oneness of doctrine and practice without this concentration, we are bound to exert all our powers and energies in trying to establish this one centre, and leave all others; particularly as God through David hath declared, "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come;" (and then follows the evidence of the time, yea, the set time having come;) "for thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof," (Psalm cii. 13, 14;) and I rejoice to see, as one of the signs of the times, that the servants and people of God are beginning to turn their attention towards the restoration of the Jews, and the establishment of Zion and Jerusalem; and for the encouragement of these I will copy some of the excellent promises showing when Jerusalem is to shine forth in all her glory, honour, and beauty.

One of these occurs in the 102nd Psalm, immediately after the words we have just quoted; it is as follows: "So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory," (Shechinah.) "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory;" that is, in the Shechinah, or the glory of Jehovah, made visible in the pillar of cloud by day, and pillar of fire by night.

Again, Isaiah says, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof goes forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, (Shechinah:) and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be termed Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep

not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isa. lxii. 1-8).

The time hath been when all these beautiful expressions of the prophets only acted upon my affections, and I could sing them very pleasingly and harmoniously to the natural man. But now, they have obtained a much higher order and birth than merely the affections of the natural man; they have obtained an order and conviction in the understanding that God hath spoken, and will fulfil what he has spoken, or else they will impeach his veracity and attribute of truth. I see them all, as parts of a perfect whole, standing in beautiful order, which God will fulfil and bring about by his power and extraordinary providence. Yea, they have become, in my understanding, objects of my faith and hope, for which I watch, and wait, and long to see take place, " more than they that watch for the morning."

But to return to the important and very interesting subject, the establishment of Jerusalem as the Centre of unity, and the unspeakably rich blessings that will pour from it to all the nations of the earth.

"All kingdoms and all princes of the earth
Flock to that light; the glory of all lands
Flows into her; unbounded is her joy

And endless her increase."

There are many sincere, honest, and well-regu

lated minds who look beyond this intermediate spiritual dispensation, and consider it, at most and best, but a preparatory state and condition to a redeemed visible and spiritual kingdom, which the great Messiah, Jesus Christ, will set up at his second coming in Glory and Majesty; but they do not know where to begin to organize a system consistent with the divine word and purpose, as revealed by God himself, through his prophets.

It has been wisely observed by an intelligent writer, who has seen the necessity of this, as follows:-"There is a connection and dependance which all the truths belonging to any subject sustain to each other, and which is necessary to be perceived, in order to give stability to our views. One great difficulty, both in the investigation and exposition of prophecy, and especially unfulfilled prophecy, is a want of acquaintance with the relation which events predicted bear to each other, and the order in which they shall succeed each other. To ascertain this. connection, is often far more difficult than simply to decide upon the truths themselves. Much has recently been written in this country* on that sublime theme, the Millennium, and the various subjects that cluster around it. Discussions have

* America.

been had on particular points, essays written, sermons delivered-but it is to be lamented that too little regard has been paid, in all these efforts, to that happy arrangement of the general subject in its details, which enables others to see it as a complete system, as one harmonious whole. The subject having been dealt out so much by piecemeal, has appeared to many as a disjointed theory, and perhaps on this very account has been rejected by them; whereas, if the harmony of its parts could have been shown, this prejudice would not have arisen, and the subject would have received a more candid examination.”

This is true. Now, in establishing, for instance, a perfect system, or a perfect whole, or a circle, what is the first thing to be obtained? Most certainly a Centre. No perfect whole, no perfect system, no wheel, no perfect piece of machinery, can ever be established, without first establishing a Centre, both as to principle and place.

Now I maintain that in both these respectsboth as to principle and place—we have “Mount Zion at Jerusalem,” established as the Centre and joy of the whole earth, as to place; and that as to Principle, which is God himself, he hath declared that "he hath chosen Zion, and desired it for his habitation, that this is his rest, here will he dwell for ever." How very inconsistent then, for the members of the different religious societies to be spending their energies, their time, talents, and