trial and suffering-that he might speak com- to the feelings of humanity, let us maintain and fortably to them, that he might open up to them exhibit the character and consistency of Christhe rich and inexhaustible treasures of his grace, tians; let us guard against giving way to, or and fill their souls with joy and gladness. But indulging, such an extreme of sorrow, as would this, unless we feel, unless our hearts are suitably reflect on our Christian character, or throw the affected with our afflictions, can never be expect- least suspicion on our possessing, and being under, ed. They are sent to us that we may feel them, the influence and government of Christian prinand if we are hardened and insensible under them, ciples. Let us never forget that God has a sovethe end which God has in view in them, can reign right to do with us and ours as he sees best, never, in our experience, he accomplished; we and that whatever be the circumstances in which can never make a proper improvement, or obtain he is pleased to place us, it is our duty, and our a sanctified use of them. When God, therefore, wisdom, and our interest, to be resigned and subvisits us with painful bereavements, our hearts must missive to his divine will. If we really belong to be affected, and as our tears are the natural ex- | him, he has afflicted us not willingly, in the bepression of our grief, we must weep and mourn reavement with which he has visited us, but necesunder thern, else we have reason to fear we will sarily,-not in wrath or in anger, but in love; and lose the benefit they are intended to produce. there is a time coming, either here or hereafter, when we shall see, to our soul's satisfaction, that the judgments of the Lord are right, and that in faithfulness and mercy he has thus afflicted us.

The fact recorded in our text, of our Lord's weeping at the grave of Lazarus, not only affords an example, which renders perfectly innocent, and allowable, and proper, our weeping at the death of those whom we have loved; but it has something of the nature, and carries in it the authority of an obligation. As "Jesus wept," not only may we weep, but as he wept, we must weep; if we would improve and be really benefited by our bereavements, we must be suitably affected with them; in other words, we must be brought into such a frame, as to see more clearly the vanity and emptiness of the world, and to think less of its enjoyments as a chief good; to seek as the one thing needful, the better portion than any which it can give; to think more frequently and affectionately about heaven, and to be more diligent, and active, and persevering in our preparation for its enjoyment. It is thus that we will be able to say of our bereavements, however much they may now fill our hearts with grief and our eyes with tears," It has been good for us that we have been afflicted," and to acknowledge the mercy and faithfulness of God in having called us to them.

Thus I have endeavoured, as I proposed, to direct your attention to some of the lessons of instruction inculcated by the affecting fact recorded in our text. And I shall now conclude with a short improvement and application of the subject.

Has God, in his righteous providence, seen meet to place any of us in the circumstances here referred to? Has he taken away from us those who were near and dear to us, to whom we had been long and fondly attached, and whom we had affectionately associated with all our enjoyments, and prospects, and hopes? Let us attend to, and improve, the lessons which the affecting fact of our Lord's weeping at the grave of Lazarus teaches us. Let us not restrain our tears, as if this manifestation of our grief were culpable or forbidden. No, my friends, let us allow them to flow freely, for if even Jesus wept, may not we weep, may not we, after his example, grieve and mourn over the loss which we have sustained? It is innocent, it is lawful, it is proper we should do so; but while we yield

But again, has God seen meet to place us in circumstances of bereavement and distress? It is not only perfectly innocent, and allowable, and proper, but it is necessary we should weep and mourn for our departed friends; for unless we feel we will never improve our afflictions. God intends them for our good, to make us wiser, and holier, and better, more concerned about his glory and the salvation of our precious souls, more careful in the improvement of time, and more thoughtful about, and more diligent and active in, preparing for our own latter end; and it will be our own fault if they are not productive, in our experience, of these blessed effects. And one of the most effectual means for this purpose, is to cherish and live under the influence of the impressions we have received, and the feelings which have been excited in our hearts in the furnace of affliction. Let us not, therefore, hastily dry up our tears, nor allow the cares and business of the world to obliterate these impressions and these feelings from our minds. Let us often recall to our remembrance how we felt, and what we thought, and what we resolved, when we were smarting under the immediate pressure of our bereavements, when we were standing around the death-bed, or at the grave's mouth, of those whose removal we have now to deplore; and the more we do this, the more we are likely to obtain the sanctified use of our affliction, and the more we will feel encouraged to entertain and cherish the hope, that when we have finished our work on earth, we shall again meet our dear departed friends in Christ, to part no more, and to be for ever happy with them in the presence of our God and Saviour.

THE ADMISSION OF

TWO ABYSSINIAN YOUTHS INTO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S MISSION SCHOOL AT BOMBAY.

THE past history of the Christian Church has afforded many proofs of the power of the Almighty, in accomplishing his purposes by means which, at first sight,

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Abyssinia, who comes to Bombay with two children. You will essentially forward the good cause in Abyssinia, by taking these two children under education in your own school, and do for Warké all in your power to assist him during his stay in Bombay. He has always shewn himself friendly to the Missionaries here; and has also been useful to me. Pray take great care of his children. Yours truly and affectionately, JOSEPH WOLFF.

appear utterly disproportioned to the end to be attained. In the first promulgation of the Gospel, by the apparently inadequate instrumentality of twelve illiterate fishermen, we see a remarkable instance of the weak things of the world being made to confound things which are mighty. This mode of acting is essentially different from what meets our eye in the operations of man. He prosecutes his designs by means which he considers fitted in themselves to the magnitude and importance of the end. And in this he acts wisely; for it were presumptuous in a worm of the dust to arrogate to himself a power to do more than this. But the working sionary of Abyssinia should take a lively interest in "My dear Sir,-As it may be expected that the Misof Omnipotence are a series of miracles, transcending every thing which probably may, at some future time, the ability or the wisdom of man; and more especially forward, in any degree, the progress of the Gospel in in those events which are connected with the extension this country, I cannot but confirm what Brother Wolff of the Redeemer's kingdom, the peculiar working of a has written, to request your kind assistance to Mr divine energy is more frequently and more obviously ap-Warké, and his two boys, Gabru and Maracha, and parparent. The conversion of one sinner from the slavery of

Satan to the freedom of Christ is a miracle,-a miracle of grace, a miracle of wisdom, a miracle of mercy, a miracle of power. But when, from individual conversion, we pass to the conversion of multitudes, as on the day of Pentecost, the miraculous nature of the event obtrudes itself more conspicuously upon our notice. And although it were easy, from the records of the past, to adduce numerous instances of the conversion of multitudes even since the inspired volume was closed, we are by no means warranted to calculate in any given case on a repetition of such events. The very fact, however, that out of the operation of apparently trivial means have arisen such stupendous results, is a loud call to us not to "despise the day of small things." The cloud may be no larger at first than a man's hand, and yet, in the inscrutable providence of the Almighty, it may gather as it rolls onward, until it cover the whole heaven.

While, therefore, the impress of Divinity is so legibly stamped upon the past history of the Church's progress, we must watch with diligence the workings of God, and labour with assiduity, each individual in his own sphere, ignorant, as we are, whether the Lord shall prosper this or that. The great Disposer of all events gives no account of any of his matters; and seeing He hath not revealed to us in detail the mode of his working in the moral universe, no event, because of its minuteness, and apparent inefficiency, must be regarded by us, as, on that account, unimportant; rather let us labour in faith, believing that if God works by this, or any other instrumentality, however feeble, no power in heaven or earth can hinder it. These reflections have been suggested by a circumstance mentioned by the Rev. Dr Wilson of Bombay, in a letter dated 28th April last, and addressed to the Convener of the General Assembly's India Mission Committee. It is as follows:

"I lately admitted into the seminary several pupils, in whom I feel a particular interest. Two of them are Abyssinians, Gabru and Maracha, the sons of Michael Warké, who was lately military commander of three towns in Habesh. They and their father are living with me in my own house. They were induced to leave their native country for their education, by the Rev. Jos. Wolff, and the Rev. Mr Isenberg, who furnished them with the following notes of introduction:

"Adowah, in Abyssinia, Aug. 11, 1836. My dear Wilson, The bearer of this is Michael Warké, born in

'P. S. Brother Isenberg, in whose house I live, and who is Missionary to the Church Missionary Society, adds a few words to mine.'

ticularly to beg you to pay every attention possible to the education of the youths; as, from them, if the Lord pleases to renew their minds to true Christianity, we may expect essential usefulness to our cause. As to their claims for recommendation, I do not like to say more than that Mr Warké, as Mr Wolff has mentioned already, has rendered us assistance in several cases, and is not so prejudiced against our cause as most other Abyssinians. If the Lord pleases to bless the means of grace which he will find access to in India, be may return to Habesh a true Christian; and be of great assistance to his own country, and to those who visit it. I am, Sir, yours, in the bonds of the Gospel, CHARLES WILLIAM Isenberg.'

66

The boys, who are seventeen and twelve years of age, read Ethiopic and Tigré with great fluency. Mr and who sailed the other day for America, with the Wolff, (who ultimately accompanied them to Bombay, view of entering Africa by Liberia,) left with me an Amharic and English vocabulary, made by himself, which aids me in holding communication with them. They will soon, I hope, be able to speak English. I trust that they are not the only Christians, connected with the Asiatic Churches exterior to India, who will be placed under our care.

"You, and the Assembly's committee, will be delighted to hear, that I expect, in a few days, to admit several native adults, and children, into the Church, by baptism. You shall be duly informed of the interesting service which we anticipate."

The admission into the General Assembly's seminary at Bombay, of two Abyssinian youths, may, on a superficial view of the subject, be considered as a matter of little or no importance. Were we to view the fact simply in itself and without any connection with the scheme of divine Providence, it might, perhaps, be regarded as scarcely worth recording. But when, in accordance with our prefatory observations, we regard this as one of a chain of events, arranged by a God of infinite wisdom and resistless power, we cannot refrain from hazarding the suggestion that it is possible these youths may be, as it were, "the first-fruits" of Abyssinia

"unto Christ." We are aware that much has been done and is still doing for that interesting ceuntry. But here is an event, obviously out of the ordinary course, and we feel that, in connection with God's doings in the days that are past, it may well give rise to serious reflection as to its possible consequences. And while in temporal affairs the bare possibility of an event happening is sufficient to quicken our energies, how much more in spiritual matters when, however encouraging it may be occasionally to contemplate the possible con

with necks longer than their bodies, to enable them to dart upon their prey, or to feed on vegetables growing in the shallows of the primitive ocean, seem to shew a state of things considerably different from the present. The temperature, besides being higher, was also more equable and uniform over the globe. The proof of this arises from the universal distribution of the same species of plants and animals, which are found not to have been limited to particular countries or bounded by geographical lines, but to be co-extensive with the strata in which they occur. Thus, in a variety of climates, and in very distant parts of the globe, secondary strata of the same order are found, and they contain generally the same kind of organic remains. Similar fossil fish bones are found in the limestones of the old and new continents, and the same species of plants, which are so abundant in the coal-measures of Great Britain, have left proofs of their existence, luxuriance, and abundance, in every quarter of the world. The monuments, in short, of extinct generations of animals and plants are as perfect as those of extinct nations; and from the pillars and temples of Palmyra we do not more certainly infer the existence of a race, by which they were reared, superior in cultivation to the present wandering Arabs of the desert, than we are entitled to infer from the relics of the once animated forms beneath the surface of the earth, a higher and more equable climate to nourish and sustain them. The source of this heat is now universally admitted, by the learned, to be the interior of the earth itself, of which volcanoes, says Sir Humphry Davy, are still the evidences; “and on this subject, my notion," he adds, "may, perhaps, be more trusted, as, for a long while, I thought volcanic eruptions were owing to chemical agencies of the newly discovered metals of the earth and alkalies, and I made many and some dangerous experiment in the hope of confirming this notion, but in vain." The source of the moisture, or greater humidity of the atmosphere, may have arisen from that state of things, when "there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground," and which, in all probability, may have been occasioned by the high temperature then existing on the earth's surface, exciting much evaporation from the primeval waters, and which the comparatively colder atmosphere would speedily condense into "mist."

the waves, from which scattered groups of primitive islands alone emerged, covered by the luxuriant tribes of plants of which these relics are still preserved. Suppose this country, by some extraordinary catastrophe of nature, to be submerged under the bosom of the sea, and again, after the lapse of years, to be elevated to its present position, and consider what must be the result: whatever now exists upon the surface, plants, trees, animals, man, and all the works of his hands, would be covered with the deposits of sand, mud, and gravel, which are continually forming on the bed of the ocean, and would constitute the organic remains of the era in question. How different from those in any of the preceding groups! and what a striking contrast would our temples, our bridges of iron and granite, our steam and war ships, present to the bones of the sauri, and other extinct animals, in the older strata! Whoever dwells upon this subject, must be convinced, that the present order of things, of which man forms the head, has succeeded to a very different condition of the earth's history, when the dry land was separated from the waters, and rose above the waves; when other forms of life existed, which have now no types in being, and the remains of which are entombed in the solid rock, striking monuments of the revolutions of nature.

Such are some of the curious and interesting speculations which the existence of organic remains naturally suggests. Accustomed, as we now are, to slight changes in the course of nature, and to but little alteration on the earth's surface, it is with difficulty that we can bring ourselves to believe in the mighty revolutions which are thus brought to light. Researches of this kind have, indeed, by many, been regarded not only as useless, but as dangerous and presumptuous, from the supposition that they encroach upon matters which have not been revealed, and which the author of the brief narrative of Creation did not consider as proper for man to know. But the same argument applies equally to every subject of science; and, if good against geology, must prohibit at once every kind of inquiry into the works of God. Questions, apparently still more beyond the reach of human investigation, have been completely solved, and important truths elicited respecting the wisdom, and goodness, and power of Jehovah: revelation has been confirmed by them, and the piety and faith of many warmed and established; and why may not man, who has numbered the planets, calculated their weights, and measured their distances, presume to trace the operations by which the surface of the globe has been reduced to its

4. The sea and land have, in many places, changed situations. If, for example, along the shores of the sea, we find plants, shells, and other marine productions, cast upon the dry land, we infer, with certainty, that the waves of the ocean have extended thus far. There is a limit, indeed, to the encroachments of the sea, and beyond a certain distance its proud billows are not per-present habitable condition? Certain it is, that the mitted to roll, but still the effects of its operations are easily distinguished from those of any other agency, and wherever we find, in vast accumulations, any marine productions, we perceive, at once, an adequate cause by which to account for the phenomenon. Now, innumerable proofs of this kind are afforded by the several deposits, with their imbedded remains, which have been enumerated above. The Alps, the Himmalaya mountains, and the Andes, all contain strata which are filled with productions of the ocean, and, lofty as their snowy peaks are now raised, they must, at one time, have formed the bed of the sea. The mountain limestone of Great Britain consists chiefly of animal remains, and thereby yields incontestible evidence of its marine origin, the corals, encrinites, orthocera, nautili, and terebratulæ, of which it is nearly composed, being all inhabitants of the deep.

The remains of the coal-field exhibit the trunks, stems, leaves, and sometimes the pericarps of vegetables; and in considering their original habits, and the circumstances under which they were deposited, we must transport our imaginations to a period when the whole face of this country was still buried beneath

world was in a state of chaos and confusion. It is equally demonstrable, that many living substances, plants and animals, were successively formed and destroyed, and are now imbedded in its rocky strata. No relic of man has been found. Mountains have been raised, plains levelled, islands formed or separated from continents, and the waters collected so as to leave an elevated land. Is it possible not to trace design in all this; not to see the earth gradually adapted for its last and highest inhabitant; and while it was yet unprepared for him, Divine Beneficence communicating happiness, by diffusing life and beauty over his works? "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited."

Look, then, upon the terraqueous globe as the entire workmanship of God, his intelligent and benevolent production. See how all its parts have been arranged and distributed by his matchless skill and contrivance. He made it, and he can change and modify every department of nature, the living as well as the inanimate portions of it, so as to suit his own sovereign pleasure

and purposes; and thus will your views of His great-
ness, wisdom, and goodness, be enlarged, by surveying
these wonderful operations of his hand, in all their
richness, majesty, and diversity.

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul:
That changed through all, and yet in all the same,
Great in the earth as in th' etherial frame,
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent ;

To him no high, no low, no great, no small;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all!”

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. ."-If ever any good man exceeded all his brethren in selfishness, it was the prophet of Gath-Hepher. He seems determined to have his own will, whatever becomes of the will of God and of the people of Nineveh; and if the Lord saith, "My will shall be done," Jonah swells with pride, and becomes very angry with him. This is more unreasonable than for a glow-worm to say to the sun, "Withdraw thy light, let me shine and illuminate the heavens in thy stead." He thinks that God should give way to him, rather than he to God. Selfwill is the most deformed monster in all creation; the most active and mischievous of all evil spirits; it works powerfully in every human breast; it governs countless millions with cruel tyranny, and fills the whole world with guilt and misery. What is self-will? It is a contest between man and his God, who is to have his way. Man wants God to give up his own plans, and to come over to his plans; and because the Lord refuses to comply, man grows angry, and quarrels with him. God, in his great mercy, would save Nineveh from destruction. No, says Jonah, let them be destroyed, every man, woman, and child. And because the Lord would not yield to his cruelty, but pursue his own benevolent will, Jonah was exceedingly displeased, and grew very angry, merely because the Lord preferred his own will to his. We are all too nearly related to Jonah: every child of Adam wants to have his own will, and quarrels with earth and heaven when he has not his own way. What means all the discontent, murmuring, peevishness, and complaining that are found in every dwelling, and which fill the whole earth? They mean this, that men are quarrelling with the God of heaven, because they cannot have their own will. Very few men are contented, happy, and thankful. Nine-tenths of mankind are unhappy, always fretting and complaining as if the Lord dealt very hardly with them. But when you come to examine closely into the cause of their murmurs, you find it is nothing more than this,-self is not gratified. God is pursuing his own plan, and will not give way to them, and they, like Jonah, are displeased exceedingly, and are very angry. Few have been sufficiently aware of this evil. Listen, ye peevish angry souls! let me argue the point with you, and ask a few questions. Is not the will of God always right? Are not his ways perfect? Is it possible for him to err in judgment? Or could he possibly order things in a better manner than he does, under all circumstances? You must allow that his wisdom is infinite, that his whole plan is of grace, whatever pain it brings, and that he cannot possibly err. And pray what is your own will? Is it equally wise, correct, and good, as the will of God? No; it is generally foolish, erroneous, and destructive of happiness. It proceeds from self, leads to mischief, and ends in misery. And this is the will which you set up in opposition to the will of God; instead of seeking his glory, you seek to please the flesh; yet for all this, if your will is crossed, you are exceedingly displeased, and grow very angry. Pray think deliberately for one moment, who should have his

will done, you, or the Lord God. Methinks, I hear
"Ah!
some peevish, angry soul, replying to all this,
Sir, this is fine talking, and easy in theory, but very
difficult in practice." What is difficult in practice?
Submitting to what God is doing? To whom is this
difficult? Not to the faithful, that are brought into the
obedience of Christ; but to the proud unbeliever, the
selfish worldling, and all that live after the flesh. It
is not difficult to grace, but to corruption; it is your
self-will, unbelief, and hardness of heart, that makes
quiet submission to the will of God a hard lesson to
you. Were the most perverse and obstinate struck to
the ground, with Saul of Tarsus, they would soon cry
with him, "Lord! what wilt thou have me to do?'
The self-willed sinner is no way satisfied with all that
has been said, but still replies, "Ah! it is easy for you
who are out of trouble to talk at this rate; were you
in my case, you would be as discontented as I am."
Certainly I should, if I had no more grace and self-
denial. But where is the wisdom or advantage of con-
tending with God, and quarrelling with his appoint-
ments? What do we get by fretting and murmuring,
but increase of guilt, and heavier burdens to carry?
What God lays on man is light, to what man lays on
himself: and God will not give him strength to carry
the addition he makes to his appointed burden; there
fore it must weigh heavy upon him, and this accounts
for the deep groans we hear from many to whom the
Lord gave but a light cross to bear.-T. JONES of
Creaton.

The Believer must maintain a Prayerful Spirit.Although the believer is not required to be ever in the external posture of prayer; although set and unbroken petitions cannot, in such circumstances as his, be his habitual employment, still it is possible, it is incumbent on him, it is his privilege and happiness, to maintain a prayerful spirit. Is it his calling to go down to the sea in ships, and to do business in great waters? The stormy winds may be raised, the waves may be lifted so as to mount up to the heavens, and toss down again to the depths. His soul may be weary in him because of trouble, he may reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and be at his wit's end. But maintaining the spirit of prayer, he cries aloud to the Lord in his trouble, and he brings him out of his distresses. He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still, and he thus shows himself to his servant, to be the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea. Is it his calling, as was that of the shepherds of Bethlehem, to tend flocks by night on the solitary plain, or to keep watch over them on the remote and silent mountains? Like his divine Saviour, who rose up a great while before day, and departed into a solitary place, and then prayed, he, in the maintenance of a prayerful spirit, continued all night in prayer to God. Luke vi. 12. And then it happens to him as it did unto Moses, when, on Horeb, he kept the flock of Jethro; the Lord Jehovah manifests himself to him, shewing him great sights, and proclaiming himself to be the deliverer of him and of all who trust in his name. "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I have seen the affliction of my people, for I know their sorrows." Then it happens to him as it did to Bethlehem's shepherds; he receives such communications from heaven, as give him expanded and ennobling views of the dignity and glory of the Saviour, and his sufficiency to supply all his wants. The Gospel of his grace he sees, more than ever, to be good tidings of great joy to his otherwise despairing and perishing soul; and with exulting heart, and in unison with the praises of angels, he gives glory to God in the highest, that on earth, and to his own spirit, there is peace and good-will from his reconciled Father.-SOSTHENES. (On Union with Christ and abiding in Him.)