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and how numerous are the errors that have sprung ! Men began by representing in a symbolical manner the operations of the Deity, they gradually came to worship the emblem, and to forget the God, and, at last, they gave to bird, and beast, and creeping thing, the service due to Jehovah. Let us also beware: for if we give to God external service only, if we attend to outward ordinances alone, grasping the shadow and neglecting the substance; if we do not worship Him, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth, we imitate their example, and we share in their sin.

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

is sometimes surrounded by rays, which indicate that it is intended either for the sun, or for the deity of whom the sun was an emblem. Now, various authors inform us (Porphyry de abstin., iv. 9) that the Egyptians adored the diversified operations and attributes of God, under the form of the different symbolical animals which they worshipped. The beetle must, therefore, have been employed to shadow forth the Creator in some of his great operations. As its figure occurs most frequently in the repositories of the dead, and on sepulchral monuments, we are farther led to consider it as having some reference, either to dissolution, or to the state of the departed. Various authors inform us that the Egyptians held the doctrine of a future existSacramental Address.-Intending communicants, fix ence, and believed that the soul, after death, was caryour eyes on Calvary, and ask your hearts with what ried to a subterraneous abode, which they termed interest and emotion you look upon the scene. Many Amenthes, a title that signifies "the receiver and have sat at the communion table in whose souls the giver" (Plutarch de Iside,) and seems to correspond to view of Calvary excited no pious and lively wonder, the Hebrew word Sheol, which, in our translation, is sometimes rendered the "grave," and sometimes "hell," they had not approached that table. Oh! what would and no felt and holy love. Better far had it been that and which denotes merely the place of the dead. The the Saviour think of their conduct? How would he beetle, therefore, was with them the symbol of Him, who regard them, when he beheld them seated there as his is Lord of the dead, and King of the regions below. All the different fables and hieroglyphics to which hearts they were indifferent about him, that the scene pretended adoring friends, while he knew that in their we have referred, seem to have arisen from the abuse of his agony was barren of interest to them,—that his of a very simple and beautiful similitude. The "shard-dying love had not engaged their affection, and did not born beetle," as an English author graphically terms it, excite their praise. Oh! how could he regard them and almost every other species of fly, however beauti- but as grievously, basely, daringly, insulting him? I ful their colours, or active their movements, are bred in trust, my friends, that Calvary is a scene which has atcorruption; and, as in these instances, the Creator tractions for you that your eyes are now fixed upon it brings life out of death, so does he bring immortality with admiring and affectionate contemplation that your out of the tomb. And as the worm, which, in the hearts are at the spot where Jesus suffered and that earlier stages of its being, draws a loathsome length your souls are blessing the Lord, that in the cross, along, and finds its nourishment in decaying vegetables justice and all her terrors have been met, and that in and putrifying flesh, when the season of its change has fellowship with her, mercy appears yearning with bowels come, casts off the slough of its infancy, and mounts of heavenly pity, and proclaiming salvation, and saying, on wings of delight, to bask in the sunshine, and sip "Save from going down to the pit, for behold I have the fragrance of the flowers; so, from the dissolution of found out a ransom." In the hope that you are now the body, does the spirit of man arise to a new and looking to the cross of Christ-that you see it as better state; the mortal puts on immortality, and the grovelling pursuits of earth are exchanged for the glo- it with gladness, and lively interest, and do look the single source of all consolation-that you view for acceptance only through the merits of the sacrifice, which its wonders and its love exhibit, I proceed to May the Spirit enable each one of you, in the exercise put into your hands the memorials of that sacrifice. of a lively faith, to say, "He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities."

ries of heaven.

The Egyptian Lord of Amenthes, with a beetle for his symbol,-the Grecian Jupiter Apomuos, with a fly in the field of his medal, and the Ekronite Baal-zebub, were one and the same. They are but different names for the Lord of the Grave, the Ruler of Spirits Departed.

This examination into the meaning and origin of the name Baal-zebub, points out the reason why the king of Israel sent to inquire at his shrine, if he should recover of his disease; for who could be supposed by a heathenish mind so able to answer his question as the lord of the dead? It shews, too, the propriety of its application as a title of Satan, of whom the apostle speaks as "him that has the power of death, that is the devil." (Heb. ii. 14.) And it explains the change made on the name by the Jews, in the time of our Saviour, who did not call him Beelzebub, or lord of the fly, because they did not acknowledge his dominion over the departed spirit, but who termed him Beelzebul, or lord of corruption, because death was his work, and he had power over the mortal and putrefying remains.

In tracing the varied superstitions that arose from the abuse of the simple and appropriate emblem which we have been considering, we are forcibly reminded of the wisdom of that command which says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them." At first sight, it appears impossible that a reference to the natural history of the beetle, in order to illustrate the change that man undergoes at death, could be the source of any evil; yet, from this small beginning, how great

AFTER THE SERVICE.

"Unto them that believe he is precious." They love him supremely, and his praises are often on their lips. The thought of his free, and full, and generous consent, to undertake the business of redemption, excites their liveliest and warmest gratitude. And while they view him with wonder and with love appearing in our world and dying on the cross, they exclaim, "Oh! where should we have appeared but for his marvellous condescension-what should have been our end-how should we have borne its misery! But his blood hath satisfied justice, and his spotless obedience made a sure and perfect title to a happy immortality: and being interested in him, we live. Bless our Redeemer, Ŏ our souls. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." "He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Believing communicants, you have been adoring Jesus as your condescending and kind Redeemer, and pouring out your hearts in praise to him for his gracious compassion-his ineffable love. Have you not been praising him too for blessing you with that faith which embraces him, and appropriates him as the soul's salvation? It is his own gift, You were living for.

getful of the interests of eternity, and regardless of his | the royal attire, and had the diadem of glory encircling cross; and had he not visited you with his grace, you would still have been strangers to him. "By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Whatever measure of heavenly and spiritual consolation you enjoy, believers, you view Christ, and I trust have been praising him, as the source of it all. Do you address God with any measure of confidence as your reconciled Father?-to Christ you are indebted for the blessed privilege. Can your experience tell of any sweet enjoyment of that holy peace which is the portion of the Christian, and a foretaste of heaven?-it came through the blood, and was produced in the soul by the Spirit, of Christ. When enemies assail you, do you find a refuge which bids defiance to their power?--is that refuge any other than Christ? When this wilderness wearies you, when difficulties oppress, and sorrows weigh you down, do you find ought to refresh you again, and to sustain you? does not the refreshing come from Christ-is it not his grace that cheers, and animates, and strengthens you? Does the hope of glory dwell in you, and do you long for heaven?-other source of such hope than Christ there is none; and it is he that will command the everlasting gates to be lifted up, that you may enter the blessed and everlasting kingdom. You associate, believers, you associate the name of Jesus with all that you are, with all that you enjoy, and with all that you hope for. "Unto them that believe he is precious." "The desire of our souls," you are saying, "is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee :" or better still, perhaps you are saying, “Thou knowest that we love thee." Go from his table, praying that a lively faith may ever dwell in you,-that much of the blessedness which true faith brings may ever be enjoyed by you, that your love to him may be felt by your growing in warmth, and that you may ever be enabled to address him in these confident words, "Thou knowest that we love thee."-Rev. William Paterson, Missionary in Whiteness and Weesdale, Shetland.

"Lord! remember me."-(A Fragment.)--Yes! Christians! it was Christ who opened the gate of heaven to Adam and who held it open for Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the long procession of believers who lived from the fall to the fulness of the time! And when that had come on the day of all others the most solemn that this world ever saw—even the day of his own crucifixion-he opened it to the poor dying malefactor who suffered at his side, and in his agony cried out, "Lord! remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom !" This man sued for mercy, in a general sense, at the hands of Christ-he entreated that when the Saviour had gone to heaven he would bestow a thought of pity and compassion upon him, as an absent distant individual. Perhaps he had no idea that he himself could go to heaven his hopes were indistinct and undefined, because his knowledge and his faith were very imperfect. But oh, was there not great fervour in his prayer? He little dreamt of being admitted to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. But though in this state of mind at noon of the day, yet ere sunset he sat down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in that kingdom! See how the work of grace can be accomplished when the mighty power of a dying Saviour is put forth to effect it! He never dreamt of being allowed to pass under the shade of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God, but that very day he sat under the shade of that tree, and did eat of its pleasant fruits! He never dreamt of quaffing the waters of that river of life which proceedeth forth from the throne of the Lamb,-but in that very hour he tasted and he drank of these pure and living waters! He never thought of being admitted to the palace of the Prince of life-but that very day he was arrayed in |

his brow! It was a propitious day-it was a propitious
hour-it was a propitious moment! True, the sun was
darkened-the whole land was shrouded in blackness—
the earth quaked the rocks rent-the graves were
opened the sleeping saints arose and the vail of the
temple was rent in twain! But the grand, the mighty
plans of grace were now consummated-the reconcilia-
tion between heaven and earth was at length fulfilled!
Oh it was indeed a propitious hour for the offering up
of such a prayer! Believers! this, too, is a propitious
hour, and a propitious place for pouring out your
hearts unto God. It is the house of prayer and whilst
we are about to close our celebration of the memorials
of Christ's death, avail yourselves of the moments as
they fly. Wait not say not, when we shall go home,
we shall offer up our prayer-now-now-even where
we sit, let each and every one of us offer up the fervent
prayer, "Oh! let me not continue dry while all the
fleece is wet." "Lord! remember me, now that thou
hast entered into thy kingdom!" I cannot pass it by,
and I will not!-The subject leads to it-the season
may impress it. Is there a thief is there a robber-
is there a profligate is there a hypocrite in this house?
Let him hear and fear, and this instant fall down and
put up the prayer, "Lord! remember me!" Chris-
tians! take comfort from the truth, that at death the
soul passes immediately into glory. At three o'clock
of the afternoon was the penitent's prayer put up, and
the answer received from the Redeemer's lips. Ere the
sun had set, his body had been taken down, and thrown
away among the carcasses on Golgotha, but his soul had
winged its way to paradise! Finally, brethren, see
that ye ask not too little in your prayers.
Oh we are
sadly straitened in ourselves—we surely ask too little !
there is a strange want of enlargement of heart in our
prayers! Remember ye, that when the King of Israel
came to weep over the face of the dying prophet, the
prophet bid him take his arrows and smite upon the
ground. And he took them, and smote thrice, and
stayed. And the man of God was wroth, and said,
thou shouldst have smitten five or six times-then
thou shouldst have smitten Syria until thou hadst con-
sumed it. In like manner should we ask-not once
or twice but six, or seven, or ten, or a hundred, or
ten hundred times, and God will grant us the whole
desires of our hearts.-[Conclusion of an Address by the
late Rev. Dr Jones, after the celebration of the Lord's
Supper in Lady Glenorchy's Chapel, Edinburgh.]

The light in which Christians should regard Family Connections.-Important and awful connection! which I wish and pray may be more and more deeply impressed on my mind. How contrary is it to our nature, to consider the nearest relations we have in this light, and to say often and solemnly, my father or mother, husband or wife, children or servants, are the very have the most to answer for! They, even they, will be persons with whom, as I have the most to do, I shall the witnesses, either to attest my life of faith, or to confront my false, though perhaps confident, pretensions to that precious grace. With what circumspection, with what tenderness of love, and with what zeal, should we do good, and edify, and comfort one another, were we to think in this manner!-VENN.

Peace of Mind.-Let us, therefore, look very carefully, what effect our peace has on our hearts and lives, and are we the more humble or the more proud, for our comfort? Do we walk more closely or loosely with God for this peace? Can we shew that and grace peace grow in us alike? Or, does the one appear less, since we pretend more to the other? By this we may know, whether our peace comes from the peace-inaker or peace-marrer; from the God of truth, or father of lies. GURNAL,

SACRED POETRY.

A DREAM

OF PARTAKING IN THE LORD'S SUPPER. (November 1815.)

FROM what a banquet I awake!

Still breathing are the words of praise;
O yet again that bread to break,

And yet again that cup to raise !
The table spread, the symbols placed,-
The Record read, and blessing given;
With holy psalms we slowly paced

Those sacred courts, a type of heaven.
All round the altar, ranged in rows,

In trembling praise then died the song;
A pause to feeling marked the close,
Deep as of Sinai's watchful throng.
But there no pealing thunder broke,

No lightning flashed, no trumpet blew;
God's servant rose and mercy spoke;

"Behold what Christ has done for you! "That you might live, he bled and died, Now lives and reigns High Priest above; Here let your vows be ratified,

Your victim, sin; your incense, love."
The symbols, pledges, circling came,
'Mid aspirations, praise, and sighs;
Each calling on God's holy name;

Faith tasting food that never dies.
My soul in high communion swelled;
God's presence seemed to fill the place!
Each there I loved, in each beheld

The brightness of the Prophet's face.
Such temple is the porch of bliss,-

Such rite the service of the heart;

O may my latest rite be this,

The song begun ere I depart!

The wish remained the vision fled,—
Night breathed delight, though music ceased;
Dreams, not in vain, the table spread;
For thus to hunger is to feast.

Errol Manse.

JAMES GRIERSON.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Dr Boerhaave. His knowledge, however uncommon, held in his character but the second place; his virtue was yet much more uncommon than his learning. He was an admirable example of temperance, fortitude, humility, and devotion. His piety, and a religious sense of his dependence on God, was the basis of all his virtues, and the principle of his whole conduct. He was too sensible of his weakness to ascribe anything to himself, or to conceive that he could subdue passion or withstand temptation by his own natural power; he attributed every good thought, and every laudable action, to the Father of goodness. Being once asked by a friend who had often admired his patience under great provocations, whether he knew what it was to be angry, and by what means he had so entirely suppressed that impetuous and ungovernable passion? he answered with the utmost frankness and sincerity, that he was naturally quick of resentment, but that he had by daily prayer and meditation, at length attained to this mastery over himself. As soon as he rose in the morning, it was, through his whole life, his daily practice to retire for an hour to private prayer and meditation; this he often told his friends, gave him spirit and vigour

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in the business of the day, and this he therefore commended as the best rule of life; for nothing he knew could support the soul in all distresses but a confidence in God; nor can a steady and rational magnanimity flow from any other source than a consciousness of the divine favour.

A Burman Convert.-Mrs Judson, giving some account, in a letter, of the first Burman convert, says:A few days ago I was reading with him Christ's Sermon on the Mount. He was deeply impressed, and unusually solemn. "These words," said he, "take hold on my very heart; they make me tremble. Here God commands us to do every thing that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. How unlike our religion is this! When Burmans make offerings at the pagodas, they make a great noise with drums and musical instruments, that others may see how good they are; but this religion makes the mind fear God; it makes it, of its own accord, fear sin."

He

How shall I Pray? The Rev. Mr Ramftler, of Fulneck, states, that a Hottentot, being under deep conviction of sin, was anxious to know how to pray. went to his master, a Dutchman, to consult with him; but he gave him no encouragement. A sense of his own wickedness increased, and he had no one near to direct him. Occasionally, however, he was admitted into the family at the time of prayer. The portion of Scripture which was one day read by the master, was the parable of the Pharisee and Publican. While the prayer of the Pharisee was read, the poor Hottentot thought within himself, "This is a good man; here is nothing for me;" but when his master came to the prayer of the Publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner; "This suits me," he cried, "now I know how to pray!" With this prayer he immediately retired, and prayed night and day for two days, and at length found peace. Full of joy and gratitude, he went into the fields, and as he had no one to whom he could speak, he exclaimed, "Ye hills, ye rocks, ye trees, ye rivers, hear what God has done for my soul! he has been merciful to me, a sinner."

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The Horrid Effects of Ambition.-Dr Prideaux states, that in fifty battles fought by Julius Caesar, he slew one million one hundred and ninety-two thousand of his enemies. If to this number we add the loss of troops on his own side, and the slaughter of women and children on both sides, we shall probably have a total of TWO MILLIONS of human beings, sacrificed to the ambition of one man!

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Two Hottentot Girls.-Mr Read, in one of his missionary excursions, says :-I perceived a farmer's little girl, of five years old, constantly going, as secretly as she could, behind a bush. Coming to my waggon, I said, What do you do so often behind the bush?" "I go to pray, sir." "To whom do you pray?" “To Christ?" "What do you ask from Christ? "I ask for grace. To another child of her age, I said, "I hear you often pray; what do you pray for?" "I say, Lord Jesus, here lies a poor sinful child at thy feet; Lord, be gracious to me, and give me grace, and thy Holy Spirit: forgive me all my sins."

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ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL
IN THE ENLARGEMENT AND ELEVATION OF THE
INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER.
BY THE REV. ROBERT COOK,
Minister of Clatt.

It is an excellence peculiar to the Gospel of Christ,
that in whatever light it is surveyed, it bears the
manifest impress of a divine original. Whether
we view it in relation to the proofs by which its
truth is confirmed, or the sublime doctrines pre-
sented to our belief; in relation to its pure and
exalted morality, or its kindly aspect on the
temporal and eternal welfare of man, it is alike
exhibited, "The power of God, and the wisdom
of God."

PRICE 1d.

of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" that "the god of this world has blinded."

The Christian faith tends to remove slavish subjection to the authority of man in matters of religious belief. There is nothing that more completely paralyses the mind, than the surrender. to another's disposal of its inalienable right of private judgment. But this right the Gospel recognises and asserts. It addresses man as a rational being. It challenges the free exercise of those reasoning powers with which he is endowed by his Creator. It commands him to "search the Scriptures "for himself, that he may be able to "give to every one that asketh, a reason of the hope that is in him." It acknowledges no head in matters of faith, save the Lord Jesus Christ. It enjoins him to call no man father on earth, but to "prove all things," and "to hold fast that which is good."

Its direct effects in the improvement of man's temporal condition, have often been urged as proofs of its divinity, and its complete adaptation. The Gospel received into the heart, likewise to the spiritual recovery of a "world lying in effects deliverance from those debasing passions wickedness," bespeaks it as the work of the faith-that enchain the mind, and spread disorder through ful God. Its salutary and incidental influence in promoting the culture of the human mind, and in raising man in the scale of intellectual being, though too frequently overlooked, leads us to admire the divine wisdom displayed in its contrivance, and forcibly recommends it as the most efficient engine in the elevation of the human character.

I. The reception of Christian truth removes the obstacles that retard the expansion of the mind.

Of these obstacles, ignorance is one of the most obvious and determined. A state of ignorance can never accord with the full development of the human character. It is only by the number of objects and of views brought within its range, and by the exercise requisite to make them its own, that the mind can be in the way of rising above its state of natural ignorance. Every accession of knowledge enlarges the sphere of the understanding. "Knowledge is power," but it is power that may be rendered productive of evil as well as of good. It is Christian knowledge that is best adapted to the constitution of the human mind, and by the importance of the truths about which it is conversant, is eminently calculated to enlarge and ennoble its faculties. "The entrance of the word giveth life ;" and "the law VOL. II.

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all its faculties. It lays the axe at the root of
every affection inconsistent with the dignity of
man. It asserts the dominion of reason over
passion, of intellect over sense. It reminds us
of our high origin, and would withdraw us from
every indulgence incompatible with our comfort
and safety. It points to our exalted destination,
and calls upon us to act a part worthy of such
purifying prospects. It directs to the armour
whereby a victory over the
lusts that war against
the soul," may be achieved; and "the grace of
God that bringeth salvation, teacheth us, that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this world."

II. The sublime truths which the Gospel reveals, tend to elevate the human mind.

Building its essential truths on the existence of a Supreme Creator, it refers to his sustaining energy the whole universe of created existence. It represents the sublime idea of an immeasureable world willed into existence, and its varied productions supported by his power. The powerful, the wise, and the merciful Jehovah, it exhibits as alike watching over the minutest as the most stupendous of his works, presiding with equal ease over the movements of the host of heaven,

as the concerns of the meanest of his earthly subjects, beholding with equal eye, " a hero perish, or a sparrow fall." To the mind of the atheist, the view of the world around him is dark and debasing, and he recognises no purpose worthy of the assemblage of means that press upon his notice; but the Christian discovers the operation of a God, "wonderful in counsel and excellent in working;" and illumined by the torch of revelation, he ascends" from nature up to nature's God." The spiritual nature of the worship in which Christianity instructs the believer, likewise tends to exalt his intellectual character. It may be assumed as an unvarying position, that the refinement or debasement of the human mind ever will keep, as it has kept, pace with the purity or corruption of religious worship. Now the Gospel has prescribed a mode of worship, at once exalted, rational, and pure. By disclosing a way of access to the Father, through the mediation of his beloved Son, by removing from the Hearer of Prayer, the contracted idea of a local existence, by representing the universe as his temple, and the devotion of a renewed heart, the offering which he deigns to regard, the Gospel has presented to the believer an object for adoration, on whom the mind can dwell with improvement and delight.

In asserting the origin of the human mind, and revealing its eternal destiny, the Gospel farther confers dignity on human nature, and greatly contributes to the mind's enlargement. To the reflecting mind, enlightened by no ray from heaven, it has ever been a matter of the most intense anxiety to ascertain, "whence it proceeded and whither it was tending." Unable to account for its origin, it has sunk below the level of its native dignity; ignorant of its future destiny, it has indulged in the wildest reveries, surrendered itself a prey to the anguish of despair, or rested in the hopelessness of annihilation. The Gospel, in bringing "life and immortality to light," has dissipated the gloom that hung over the unseen world, that obscured the human mind, and kept it in the most harassing bondage and suspense. To the believer in Christ there is reserved in heaven an inheritance that is "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away," large as his desires, and co-extensive with his being. In the world of intelligent and renewed minds, reflecting the image of the Creator and Redeemer, there is a sublimity at once ennobling and grand. To claim alliance with superior natures, to anticipate the time when the soul, freed from all that is corruptible, shall reach the dignified station of the glorified spirit, are considerations well fitted to invigorate and enlarge its progressive capacity.

The Gospel, too, by exhibiting a plan of mercy for fallen man, through a Mediator "obedient unto death," effectually removes from the breast of the believing penitent the fears incident upon guilt, and inspires him with whatever is refined in conception, or noble in attainment. A sense of guilt has ever proved to the reflecting mind a source of the deepest self-condemnation and anguish. It

has paralysed its noblest efforts, and filled it with well-grounded fears of a coming judgment. Under the distracting fears of conscious guilt, the mind becomes timid and contracted, divested of the power to contrive, or the firmness to execute, any worthy design. But to allay these fears the Gospel announces its glad tidings of great joy. It reveals to the self-condemned criminal a plan whereby his guilt may be cancelled, and serenity and confidence restored to his agitated bosom. It leads him to appreciate the dignity and importance of his nature, by the inestimable price paid for its redemption. It imparts to him true greatness of mind, in the ennobling thought that his eternal interests have been espoused by One immeasurably his superior, and that his condescending Redeemer is now exalted as his friendly intercessor at the right hand of glory. Under the certainty of these endearing truths, there is given to the believer in Christ a complacency of mind that is favourable to the free exercise of its faculties, and he is raised to an elevation of soul and of character that never can be attained amid the ceaseless anxieties of unpardoned guilt.

Not less decided is the influence of the Christian's belief and experience of the work of the Spirit of God in enlightening his mind with the knowledge of the truth. It is not indeed the work of the Spirit to create new faculties in the mind, but to give to the faculties already bestowed a new and heavenly direction; to convey light to the understanding that is naturally darkened; and to communicate that unction whereby a knowledge of all things needful for salvation may be attained. Of the enlightening and transforming influence of the Spirit, we have a striking example in the apostles of Christ. It was only when they were endowed with power from on high that they evinced in the cause of their Master' a firmness and a courage, a spirituality of mind, and a greatness of soul, which bore evidence that they had received a supply of the Spirit of Christ; for "beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they were changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is, besides, a solemn and ennobling thought, that a human being can be rendered a subject of divine agency. This consideration the Apostle Paul, in forcible terms, urges upon his converts:-" Ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I wilk be their God, and they shall be my people."

III. This enlargement of the human mind, through the influence of the Gospel, is matter of history and experience. In the early ages of the Christian Church, its members displayed a superiority to pain, a dignity in suffering, a calmness in death, that betokened the existence of a mind well disciplined in the school of Christ. So powerfully did this manly and resolute spirit affect the heathens as to secure for the primitive Christians the title of " philosophers ;" and to extort from their adversaries admiration of the power by which they were supported. Of the influence of true Chris

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