plead with our God to uphold us with his right hand, and not to write upon our constitution and our liberty, our honour and our power, our knowledge and refinement, "I will curse your blessings!" But let us not shield ourselves under the excuse of national responsibilities and general requirements. A nation is composed of individuals; and each member of the state, in his vocation and ministry, may either add to its sins, or assist in fulfilling its duties. As individuals, we share in the public blessings of civil liberty and religious protection; but to those who hurry liberty into anarchy and confusion, it ceases to be a blessing; and he who throws a firebrand into the sanctuary, must not wonder if he suffers in the conflagration. We have the Bible, God's own blessed book, in our hands, and no restriction prevents the meanest from claiming its promises: let it not be as a sealed book-or, worse than all, those words that would, by God's blessing, be a savour of life unto life, become, by his curse, a savour of death unto death. The intellectual powers, if rightly directed, who can estimate their value? but if misused or defiled, where will the mischief end? not with time-that will quickly pass away, while the undying spirit will compute its ruin by the measure of eternity. Knowledge may be a blessing to ourselves, and a privilege to impart to others: let the warning be remembered of one who sought it for herself in forbidden paths, and communicated with it to another the seeds of a curse not yet shaken off': and the very mercies we had regarded as tokens of his | nations, perhaps upon a dizzy pinnacle. Oh! let us love become the ministers of his vengeance! This vial of God's wrath was indeed poured out upon the stubborn and unrepentant Israelites. They had innumerable blessings: the peculiar people of Jehovah, under his especial guidance and protection, they madly rejected his sovereignty, and demanded an earthly king. For a while their pride was gratified; victory and prosperity were permitted to them. But how soon the bright scene faded! their earthly guides led them into division and idolatry,—a fearful course, ending in defeat and captivity. They were blessed with commandments written by the hand of God, and ordinances of his own appointment; but the broken law became a curse to them, the neglected ordinances their condemnation. They had Sabbaths and Sabbatical years, provided with miraculous abundance, and preserved from hostile infringement by God's peculiar care; but these hallowed seasons of rest, instead of blessings, brought upon them, by their neglect, the curse of banishment, that the wearied land might in their absence "enjoy her Sabbaths." And they had prophecies of deliverances and blessings still in store for them as God's favoured family, ultimately fulfilled to the letter; but, alas! only to witness to their temple burned, their beloved Jerusalem laid prostrate, and themselves cast forth into all lands, bearing to the world the completion of the awful denunciation, "I will curse your blessings." And we may trace the same retributive justice meted out to other nations. Civilisation and refinement are in themselves great blessings; but they may be polluted. The architecture and sculpture of the Greeks are even yet our wonder and admiration; but they only remain to us in the beauteous forms by which they portrayed their false deities, and the temples dedicated to their worship. The wisdom taught in their schools was of the earth earthy; their philosophy pointed hesitatingly to a dim futurity, and raised an altar" to the unknown God;" their laws wanted the morality of Scripture, their lives its purity; and we find the cultivated inhabitants of the most polished city of the world spending their time "in telling or hearing some new thing." Power is a blessing of incalculable magnitude. Delegated by God, himself the Omnipotent, power becomes a blessing or a curse, an engine either for good or evil, as its mighty force is directed. History records the annals of a nation whose power extended over the then known globe; did happiness accompany its progress? were truth and justice the principles | which regulated its exercise? Alas for human nature! uncurbed power soon degenerated into unchecked cruelty; pride and luxury kept pace with art and ingenuity; and it was in obedience to the mandate of a Roman governor, that a Prisoner in whom was found "no fault" expired in agony upon Mount Calvary. Can we not, as a nation, find appropriate warnings in these records? We are favoured with religious and civil privileges, above all that have yet risen and sunk upon the horizon of history: we have a constitution founded on liberty, and tested by experience; our power and our language extend into every quarter of the globe; arts, sciences, and knowledge, are spreading around us; we stand high in the scale of "The tree of knowledge was not that of life." Influence is a deposit that we sometimes undervalue; but its effect is not the less laid against us in the balance, if we misuse it; for no individual is so isolated but that his example may have weight with some; and we shall do well to imitate St. Paul's watchful care, lest by our example we induce some brother to transgress. Time will witness to its own importance, writing either our acquittal or condemnation on the tablet of eternity, and conversation testify to the current of our thoughts. Alas! alas! if for every idle word and misspent hour God bring us into judgment, how needful is the prayer, "keep the door of my lips!" for "if thou, Lord, be strict to mark what is done" and said amiss, who shall stand uncondemned? Health and prosperity-love and affection-peace and happiness,—those blessings that shed their light upon our hearths and homes, are dearest to our hearts; but if health tempt us to forget that the thread of life is frail, and "as the tree falleth, so it shall lie"-if prosperity induce even the inward feeling, "soul, take thine ease"-if love be linked to earth, instead of ascending to Him who has said, "Give me thine heart"-if affection dwell below, instead of being "set on things above"-and peace and happiness render this world so fair that we are tempted to make it our rest, forgetful that as heirs of heaven we have "here no abiding city,"-all these sparkling jewels will be dimmed, and we shall find inscribed upon the casket in which we fondly treasured them, "I will curse your blessings." Then, while we implore our daily bread, with the continuance of our many mercies, let us also pray that they may not lead us into temptation; and in the bounties which God's providence bestows upon us, nationally or individually, let us ever remember that he sets before us either "a blessing or a curse." The Cabinet. THE LITURGY.-If now a doubt remain on the mind of any individual respecting the transcendent excellence of the liturgy, let him only take the litany, and go through every petition of it attentively, and at the close of every petition ask himself, What sort of a person should I be, if this petition were so answered in me, that I lived henceforth according to it? and what kind of a world would this be, if all the people that were in it experienced the same answer, and walked according to the same model? If, for instance, we were all, from this hour, delivered" from all blindness of heart, from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy, from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness;" if we were delivered also " from all other deadly sin, and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil;" what happiness should we not possess ! How happy would the Church be, if it should" please God to illuminate all bishops, priests, and deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of his word; so that, both by their preaching and living, they set it forth and shew it accordingly!" How blessed also would the whole nation be, if it pleased God to "endue the lords of the council, and all the nobility, with grace, wisdom, and understanding; and to bless and keep the magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice and to maintain truth;" and further to "bless all his people" throughout the land! Yea, what a world would this be, if from this moment God should "give to all nations unity, peace, and concord!" Were these prayers once answered, we should hear no more complaints of our liturgy, nor ever wish for any thing in public better than that which is provided for us. May God hasten forward that happy day, when all the assemblies of his people throughout the land shall enter fully into the spirit of these prayers, and be answered in the desire of their hearts; receiving from him an "increase of grace, to hear meekly his word, to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit!" And to us in particular may he give, even to every individual amongst us, pentance; and forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and endue us with the grace of his 66 true re and the sunset offers brighter and lovelier visions than those which we build up in the morning clouds, and which disappear before the strength of the day. And faith is that precious alchemy which transmutes grief into joy; or rather, it is the pure and heavenly euphrasy, which clears away the film from our mortal sight, and makes affliction appear what it really is, a dispensation of mercy. Poetry. LAYS OF PALESTINE.-No. II. "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name."-Psalm lxxxix. 11, 12. BY T. G. NICHOLAS. (For the Church of England Magazine.) GOD of unchanging love! Who reign'dst enthron'd above Ere this fair world from darken'd chaos sprung; Glory to thy great name in rapturous anthem sung. Thine was the eternal word, And in heaven's vault in silvery radiance shone : The universe exalts thee, high and lofty One! Exultant at thy voice Tabor's proud heights rejoice, Whose groves the air with balmy fragrance fill; At morning's orient hour, On Hermon's steep the dew doth tremblingly distil. Amid the forest-trees, Fann'd by the woodland breeze, The rustling leaves do whisper forth thy praise; Oh! shed abroad thy light, Till flee the shades of night, And prostrate nations own thy sovereign voice; The note of praise resound, And ocean's myriad isles in thy great name rejoice! Holy Spirit, that we may amend our lives according To thee the murm'ring sound of adoration plays. THE DEAD SEA. THE wind blows chill across those gloomy waves; Stranger, here lie the cities of the plain. Was stain'd with blood, and pride, and perjury; FOOD OF INFANTS.-Nature has provided for every thing in the best possible manner; and to obey its laws is the highest wisdom. The organs of infants are imperfect, exceedingly weak, and easily disordered. The organs of mastication are wanting, and therefore solid substances are unfit for their support. The difficulties which might hence arise in the rearing of the young are completely obviated by the opening of a source of nourishment simultaneously with the birth of the child-of nourishment perfectly adapted to its wants, and amply sufficient to furnish it with all needful strength. The only food fit for infants is that which they derive from their mothers; and hence those who are supported in this way are generally stronger and enjoy better health than those who are brought up differently.-Curtis on Health. CRIME IN SCOTLAND.-Scotland is the great example to which the advocates of secular education constantly pointed, as illustrating the effect of intellectual cultivation upon the character of mankind; and boundless have been the eulogiums pronounced upon the moral virtues, steady character, and provident habits of that most intellectual portion of the European population. Doubtless, as long as Scotland was an agricultural, pastoral country, and education was based upon religion; when the school-house stood beside the church, and both trained up the same population who afterwards were to repose in the neighbouring churchyard, Scotland was a virtuous country, and its population deservedly stood high in the scale of European morality. But since manufactures have overspread its great towns, and a population has grown up in certain places-educated, indeed, but without the means of religious instruction, and almost totally destitute of religious principle,-the character of the nation, in this respect, has entirely changed; and it is a melancholy fact, that the progress of crime has been more rapid in that part of the British dominions, during the last thirty years, than in any other state in Europe. It appears, from the evidence laid before the combination committee last session of parliament, that the progress of felonies and serious crimes in Glasgow, during the last sixteen years, has been, beyond all precedent, alarming; the population having during that period advanced about seventy per cent, while serious crime has increased six hundred per cent. Crime over the whole country is advancing at a very rapid rate, and far beyond the increase of the population. In England, the committals, which in 1813 were 7164, had risen in 1836 to 20,984, and in 1837 to 23,612 that is to say, they had tripled in twenty-four years. This advance will probably be considered by most persons as sufficiently alarming in the neighbouring kingdom; but it is small compared to the progress made by Scotland during the same period, where serious crimes have advanced from 89, in 1813, to 2922 in 1836 and in 1837, 3126; being an increase, in four-and-twenty years, of more than thirty fold. The celebrated statistical writer, Moreau, thus sums up the progress of crime in the United Kingdom for the last thirty years:-" The number of individuals brought before the criminal courts in England has increased five-fold in the last thirty years; in Ireland five and a half; and in Scotland twenty-nine fold. would appear that Scotland, by becoming a manufacturing country and acquiring riches, has seen crime advance with the most frightful rapidity among its inhabitants."-Blackwood's Mag. It DOMESTIC DUTIES.-Seeing that almost the whole of the day is devoted to business abroad, and the remainder of my time to domestic duties, there is none left for myself, that is, for my studies. For, on returning home, I have to talk with my wife, prattle with my children, and converse with my servants; all which things I number among the duties of my life,— since, if a man would not be a stranger in his own house, he must by every means in his power strive to render himself agreeable to those companions of his life whom nature hath provided, chance thrown in his way, or that he himself hath chosen.-Sir Thomas More. GRATITUDE AND INGRATITUDE. - Gratitude is a virtue disposing the mind to an inward sense and an outward acknowledgment of a benefit received, together with a readiness to return the same, or the like, as occasions of the doer of it shall require, and the abilities of the receiver extend to. Ingratitude is an insensibility of kindness received, without any endeavour either to acknowledge or repay them. Ingratitude sits on its throne with pride at its righthand, and cruelty at its left,-worthy supporters of such a state. You may rest upon this as an unfailing truth-that there neither is, nor ever was, any person remarkably ungrateful, who was not also insufferably proud; nor any one proud who was not equally ungrateful. Ingratitude overlooks all kindnesses; and this is because pride makes it carry its head so high. Ingratitude is too base to return a kindness, and too proud to regard it; much like the tops of mountains, barren indeed, but yet lofty; they produce nothing, they feed nobody, they clothe nobody, yet are high and stately, and look down upon all the world about them. It was ingratitude which put the poniard into Brutus's hand, but it was want of compassion which thrust it into Cæsar's heart. Friendship consists properly in mutual offices, and a generous strife in alternate acts of kindness. But he who does a kindness to an ungrateful person, sets his seal to a flint, and sows his seed upon the sand; upon the former he makes no impression, and from the latter he finds no production.-Dr. South. TO CORRESPONDENTS. We are obliged to F. M. for the extract from Ignatius; but, on comparing it with the original, we find the translation far too loose-not to say unfaithful-for insertion. We beg not to be understood as imputing blame for this to our correspondent: it is the fault of the foreign work from which the passage was selected. London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square; W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; aud to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN, 46 ST. MARTIN'S LANE. THE VISION OF DRY BONES CONSIDERED BY THE REV. R. G. L. BLENKINSOPP, M.A. I. THE passage in the book of the prophet Ezekiel relative to the vision of dry bones (xxxvii. 3) is peculiarly striking. The prophet saw a valley full of dry bones - " very many, and very dry." After exhibiting them to him, God asks of him, if these dry bones can possibly live? and he answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Upon this, God directed him to prophesy to these bones, and to say to them, "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." To some, this may appear a strange command; and scoffers might be disposed to reason upon the absurdity of prophesying to dry bones. The prophet, however, obeyed. And " as he prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld," says Ezekiel, "lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army." These words, in one sense, undoubtedly refer to the general resurrection. As, in the vision, the prophet saw the bones come together, so will it be in the day of the Son of man. "Then shall the sea give up her dead, VOL. VII.-NO. CLXXIV. PRICE 14d. and death and hell shall give up the dead in them," and all shall stand before the judg ment-seat of Christ. The winds may have scattered the dust of the body; the frail tabernacle may long since have mouldered away; but when the Son of man shall give the word, all shall again come together; our bodies shall rise perfect from their graves; our souls will again enter their former habitations; and all will stand upon their feet, "an exceeding great army." But the vision is also intended to encourage the desponding Jews, and to foretell their restoration to their own land after their captivity; and it likewise points out the recovery of Judah from their present long dispersion in all lands, and their final settling in their former country. The dry bones well represented the ruined condition of Israel and Judah. And that this is the right interpretation of the prophecy, is evident from the context, wherein we are informed that God said to Ezekiel, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost." And accordingly we know that a day is approaching, when they shall again be gathered together, and brought back to the land of their forefathers. Upon this point, however, I must not at present dwell, but proceed to consider the prophet's language in another point of view, namely, as representing too truly the present condition of the heathen world, which may be likened unto "dry bones," and concerning whom many may be disposed to ask, "Can these bones live?" And viewed in this light, they will afford us abundant matter for serious reflection. [London: Robson, Levey, and Franklyn, 46 St. Martin's Lane.] D I propose, in the present essay, to confine my remarks to the vision as descriptive of the state of the heathen world. Nothing can more expressively describe the state of those who are ignorant of the one true God, than bones without breath in them, without any appearance of vitality; and a valley which was full of bones is an apt emblem of a world lying in wickedness. Those who are conversant with the Bible will be aware, that they who continue in sin are, in the language of Scripture, dead. They may possess all the semblance of active and vigorous health; they may engage, with unbounded ardour, in all vain schemes of worldly business; they may appear to all around them full of life and energy: but if, amidst all this apparent health, they are neglecting the concerns of eternity, and forgetting God their Maker, Scripture tells us they are dead dead to the hope of everlasting life. Thus we read, that the Ephesians were at one time "dead in trespasses and sins." The prodigal son, whilst he continued in wickedness, was "dead;" but when he returned to his father's house, and repented of his sins, he was said to be "alive again." Our Saviour says, " He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Again: St. Paul says, "We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again." Of the Church of Sardis, it is said, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." And all these various texts are explained by St. Paul (1 Tim. v. 6), when he says, that "she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." sible as it may appear to men, it is possible with God. And as the bones in the vision of the prophet became clothed with flesh and covered with skin, and breathed, and lived, so can the heathen, however hopeless their present state may now appear, rise to newness of life, and become partakers of the kingdom of heaven. Now, the direction given to Ezekiel was, "Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." So accordingly Ezekiel prophesied as he was commanded; and " as he prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone; and lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above." And, in like manner, as Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to these bones, and say to them, "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord," even so are we directed "to go into all the world, and teach all nations." The great instrument employed for the conversion of sinners is the preaching of the word; for "the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword." And we are expressly told by the apostle, that "after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." So, it is evident that the conversion of sinners is to be effected' by the preaching of the word. Preaching is the means which God himself has appointed, and that which he peculiarly blesses: as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" If, then, this is the means by which the conversion of the heathen is to be effected, it is clearly our duty to further it, as far as we are able, by our contributions, prayers, and cordial support; for Satan still holds a fearful portion of our fallen world in subjection to himself; he reigns undisturbed over whole nations; his empire is even at this present time more extensive than that of our blessed Lord. ORDINATION OF A MISSIONARY.-BISHOP STEWART, OF QUEBEC.* And such, alas! is the melancholy and mournful condition of the heathen at this time they are "dead in trespasses and sins." Heart-rending, it must be, to the sin cere and faithful Christian, who worships the one true and living God, and loves his Saviour, to reflect upon the lost state of millions of the human race, who bow down to stocks of wood and stone, and are sunk in the lowest depths of ignorance and sin. When we thus view the fallen condition of so vast a portion of the globe, and consider that more than eighteen hundred years have passed away since the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in his wings; and that no enlightening ray of Christian doctrine, no genial beams of Christian love, have shone upon them,-we are lost in wonder and sorrow, and almost tempted to exclaim, "Can these bones live?" Thanks be to God, they can live. Impos- maintains its ground.—ED. THE sun was just gilding the horizon, as I entered a the ordination of an old class-mate by the late bishop of caleche in the month of August 1833, to be present at Quebec. Though years have since rolled on, and our late most excellent "father in God" is gone to his rest, and my friend and myself seen many changes, yet that The season was truly delightful. Our route lay first and the following days are still fresh in my memory. through a French-Canadian settlement, and afterwards through that portion of Lower Canada called the From "The Church," published at Cobourg, Upper Canada. We are glad to find that this periodical, which contains many extracts from our pages, is increasing in circulation, and that it 1 |