intolerable;" then how will he prize such a text, "The Lord laid on Christ the iniquity of us all!" How will he long for an interest in the Lamb God, "which taketh away the sin of the world!" Then that Jesus who has "finished the transgression, and brought in everlasting righteousness, will be all his salvation, and all his desire. LETTER VIII.-ASPASIO TO THERON. DEAR THERON,-I have just been reading that exquisitely fine piece of sacred history, the life of Joseph: a history filled with surprising incident and unexpected revolutions; adorned with the most heroic instances triumphant virtue, both amidst the allurements of temptation and under the pressures of affliction; animated with such tender and pathetic, such melting and alarming touches of natural eloquence, as every reader must feel, and every true critic will admire. When I came to that remarkable injunction with which the generous viceroy dismissed his brethren, "Ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt," Gen. xlv. 13;-I paused-I pondered-I was struck. Certainly this was enjoined, not by way of ostentation, but on account of the pleasure which he knew it would yield the good old patriarch. Was it some kind prompting angel, or the voice of gratitude and devotion, that whispered i my ear, "Should not the children of men likewise tell one another of all th glory *, which their Redeemer possesses in heaven and on earth? Will not this afford them the sublimest pleasure here, and be a source of the most refined satisfaction for ever and ever?" Though I had almost determined to write no more, till you could make demand upon the foot of value received, willingly I recede from my intended resolution, and obey this pleasing hint. "But who can declare the noble act of the Lord Jesus Christ, or show forth all his praise?" However, if I may but lisp out his adorable name, and present my friend with a glimpse, or a broker view of his divine perfections, even this will be desirable and delightful; fa more desirable and delightful, than to behold Rome in its magnificence, St Paul in the pulpit, or King Solomon on his thronet. Let me take the lark for my pattern; which, as I was lately returnin from an evening ramble, attracted my observation. Warbling her Creator praise, she mounted in the serene sky. Still she warbled, and still sh mounted, as though she meant to carry her tribute of harmony unto the ver gates of heaven. Having reached at last her highest elevation, and perceivin herself at an immense distance from the starry mansions, she dropped on sudden to the earth, and discontinued at once both to sing and to soar. No the morning appears, and is awakening the world, our little songster retune her throat, and re-exerts her wings. As I have endeavoured, very imper *To see the glory of Christ, is the grand blessing which our Lord solicits and deman for his disciples, in his last solemn intercession, John xvii. 24. It is that which wi complete the blessedness of heaven, and fill its inhabitants with joy unspeakable ar glorious. Surely, then, we should endeavour to anticipate, in some degree, that celesti bliss; and habituate our souls to this sacred exercise, which will be our business and o reward to endless ages. These, if I remember right, are the three things which St. Augustine declared, woul all others, most eminently gratify his curiosity. eetly endeavoured, to strike out a shadowy draught of our Lord's complete bedience; I would, though unequal to the task, once more resume my pen, and attempt-nothing like a display, but only a faint sketch of his essential lignity. First let me observe, that for some time past we have been visited with the nost uncomfortable weather, dewless nights, and sultry days. The firmament was more like a glowing furnace than the region of refreshing rain. The arth lay parched with thirst, and chapped with heat. The meadows were Irained of their humidity, and all the flowers hung their fading heads. The dreams, which used to flow parallel with the verdant margin, abandoned their hanks, and sunk diminished and discoloured to the bottom of their oozy hannels. Nature in general seemed to be resigning the "robe of beauty for the garment of heaviness." Drought was in all our borders, and famine we Gared was not far behind. Though clouds of dust obscured the air, tarnished the hedges, and almost smothered the traveller, yet not one cloud of fleecy white appeared, to variegate the blue expanse, or give us hopes of a reviving hower. It reminded me of that awful threatening denounced by Moses on a wicked people: "The heaven, that is over thy head, shall be brass, and the earth, hat is under thee, shall be iron," Deut. xxviii. 23. It made me apprehensve of that terrible state which the prophet so emphatically describes: "The jeld is wasted, and the land mourneth. The seed is rotten under the clods, and the harvest perisheth. The garners are laid desolate, and the barns are broken down. The new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth, and all the trees of the field are withered. How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate because the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness," Joel i. 10, &c. But, blessed be the divine Providence, our fears are vanished, and a most joyful change has taken place. The Lord hath "sent a gracious rain upon his inheritance, and refreshed it when it was weary," Psalm lxviii. 9. : Yesterday in the afternoon, the wind, shifting to the south, roused the dormant clouds, and brought some of those agreeable strangers on its wings. At first they came sailing in small, and thin, and scattered parties. Anon, the flying squadrons advanced in larger detachments, more closely wedged, and more deeply laden; till at last, the great rendezvous completed, they formed into a body of such depth, and extended their wings with such a *weep, as darkened the sun, and overspread the whole hemisphere. Just at the close of day, the gales which escorted the spongy treasures retired, and consigned their charge to the disposal of a profound calm. Not a breeze shook the most tremulous leaf: not a curl ruffled the smooth expanive lake: all things were still, as in attentive expectation. The earth seemed to gasp after the hovering moisture. Nature, with her suppliant tribes, in expressive pleading silence, solicited the falling fruitfulness, nor pleaded long, nor solicited in vain. The showers, gentle, soft, and balmy, descend. The vessels of heaven unload their precious freight, and, enrich the penurious glebe. Through all the night, the liquid sweetness, incomparably more beneficial than trickling ilver, distils, shedding herbs, and fruits, and flowers. Now the sun, mild and refulgent, issues through the portals of the east. Pleased, as it were, to have emerged from the late aggravated darkness, he looks abroad with pecu liar gaiety and the most engaging splendours. He looks through the dis burdened air, and finds a gladdened world, that wants nothing but his all-cheering beams to render its satisfaction complete. The glory comes!-Hail to thy rising ray, Great lamp of light, and second source of day! Treat every sense, and beam creating love.-KIRKPATRICK. At his auspicious approach, the freshened mountains lift their heads, and smile. The garden opens its aromatic stores, and breathes, as from a fuming altar, balm to the smell, and incense to the skies. The little hills, crowne with springing plenty, clap their hands on every side. The moistened plains and irriguous valleys, "laugh and sing; while their waters, lately exhausted again "are made deep, and their rivers run like oil," Ezek. xxxii. 14. The whole carth, saturated with the bounty of heaven, and flushed with humid life, wears a thousand marks of gratitude and complacency. Washed by the copious rain, how bright and vivid is the universal verdure! The green carpet below may almost vie with the blue canopy above. The forest and every tree, burnish their colours, and array themselves in their fines apparel; which, as on a day of general festivity, is delicately decked with gems-gems of unsullied lustre, and of genial moisture. From every pasture and from all the grove, the voice of pleasure and of melody resounds; whil the officious zephyrs waft the floating harmony, blended with native perfumes -gently waft them to the senses, and touch the very soul with transport. Could there be a more brilliant appearance, or more exuberant demonstra tions of joy, even to celebrate the anniversary of nature's birth? With what admirable propriety has the Psalmist compared yonder orient sun, in all his sparkling grandeur, to a young exulting "bridegroom," Psal. xix. 5; who comes forth, with every heightened ornament, from his chamber, to show himself in the most distinguished period of his life, and to receive the blessing which consummates his happiness! This most charming and equally majestic scene recalls to my memory that fine description of the Messiah, extant in the last lovely strains of the Israelitish swan*: He shall be welcome and salutary as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth," to chase the malignant shades, and pour day through the reviving world. He shall be as the light of a morning that is most serenely fair, without either storms to disturb, or clouds to obscure the glorious, the delightful dawn. Yea, his appearance shall be "more beautiful," and his influence "more beneficial, than the clear shining" of that grand luminary, after a night of settled gloom, and showers of incessant rain, when his beams shed animating warmth, and vital lustre, on the tender grass impearled with dews, and on all the green treasures of the teeming earth. As we have already contemplated the blessed Jesus under the amiable character of the Just One, the foregoing passage of Scripture represents him * Israelitish swan.-In allusion to those well-known lines of the poet, "Multa Dircæum levat aura cygnum." And not without a reference to the popular notion that the swan sings the most melodious notes in its last moments. "Fuit hæc facundi senis quasi cygnea vox. "TULLY. "More beautiful, more beneficial than the clear shining," 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. Thus we have ventured to translate, or rather to paraphrase, the words ID. to our faith in the more majestic quality of the Lord of Glory; or rather, unites the two grand peculiarities which render him unparalleled in his perBonal, and all-sufficient in his mediatorial capacity. the glory which He is every Great, unspeakably great and glorious, would our Saviour appear, if we had no other manifestations of his excellency than those which preceded his mysterious incarnation. In the ancient Scriptures, he stands characterised as the supreme object of God's ineffable complacency, vested with a glory prior to the birth of time, or the existence of things; even he had with the Father before the world was,” John xvii. 5. where exhibited as the ultimate desire of all nations, the sole hope of all the ends of the earth, the seed of inestimable and universal importance, in whom people, nations, and languages, should be blessed. In those royal, or mather divine acts and monuments, he is publicly recognised as the Ruler of God's people whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. And how august, how venerable, is this sovereign! since it was the highest honour of the most eminent saints, and renowned monarchs*, to act as his harbingers. The splendour of the temple, the richness of its ornaments, and the solemnity of its services, were the signs of his grandeur—were his sacred regalia, intended to usher him into the world with becoming state. Every inspired prophet was his herald; deputed to blazon his perfections, or foretell his coming. Let us hear one speaking the sentiments of all: "God the Saviour came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paron. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise," Hab. iii. Thunders wounded his trumpet, and lightnings waved his banners. "Before him went the pestilence," for the destruction of his enemies; but, for the deliverance of Israel, "he rode upon his horses and chariots of salvation. The mountains saw him, and they trembled; the everlasting hills, and they bowed their heads. The abyss uttered her voice," and acknowledged his sovereignty through her deepest caverns; "the towering surges lifted up their hands," and remained in a suspended posture while his people passed through the opening lines. Indeed, both depth, and height, and every creature, have paid him homage, and done him service. And shall not we, my dear Theron, "submit to his righteousness?" Submit! Shall we not embrace it; rely on it; and with joyful hearts, with triumphant tongues, say, "There is none, there is nothing like it!" 1 Sam. xxi. 9. Does not all mankind agree to estimate the merit of the practice according to the dignity of the person? If a neighbour of inferior rank visit some poor afflicted wretch in a coarse garret, and on a tattered bed, it is no very extraordinary favour; but if a lady of the first distinction, or a nobleman of the highest order, perform the same office, it is a much more remarkable, a much more admired instance of self-denying charity. On the foot of this calculation, to what a supereminent height will the worthiness of our Lord's obedience rise? It will rise, like some magnificent edifice, whose basis rests upon the centre, whose dimensions fill the hemisphere, and whose turrets glitter in the sky: or rather, it will extend itself to immensity; where length, and breadth, and all dimensions are lost. Especially, if we consider the names he bears, Moses, for instance, and Joshua, David, and Solomon, were types, strongly marked types, of our great Lawgiver and Deliverer, of our divine Ruler and Preacher. and the honours he receives; the works he has done, and those mightier work he is appointed to do. The names he bears.-The title by which Jesus of Nazareth is distinguish in the heavenly world; the name written on his vesture, and on his thig is "King of kings, and Lord of lords," Rev. xix. 16. The description whi the incomprehensible Jehovah gives of the Surety for sinful men, runs this exalted strain: "The Man that is my fellow," Zech. xiii. 7; whi the apostle explains in that memorable and majestic clause: "He thought no robbery to be equal with God †,” Phil. ii. 6. The Holy Ghost, speakin by the prophet Isaiah, of the virgin's son, enumerates several grand distin tions, both of his person and his office. He styles the child that should born, "the Wonderful Counsellor, the Everlasting Father, the Mighty Go the Prince of Peace," Isa. ix. 6. The same inspired writer, though eloques above all orators, and more sublime than the loftiest poet, cries out in ra turous astonishment, "Who can declare his generation?" Isa. liii. 8. Wh pencil can portray, what language can express, his matchless excellencies And may we not with equal propriety demand, Who can declare the merit rious perfection of his righteousness? It is precious beyond comparison beyond imagination precious. The honours which our Lord receives are proportioned to the illustrio characters which he sustains. John the Baptist, than whom a great prophet or a better judge was not born of woman, professes himself unworth "to stoop down and unloose the latchet of his shoes," Mark i. 7; unworth though a burning and shining light in his generation, to perform the mean service to this Prince of heaven. Stephen, who leads the van in the nob army of Christian martyrs, beheld such a representation of his crucifi Master's glory, as enabled him to exult with divine delight, even amidst t furious assaults of his persecutors, and under the violent blows of his m derers, Acts vii. 56. Assured that Jesus has all power in heaven and ear by an act of the most solemn worship, he commits his departing soul, most important of all trusts, to his Redeemer's hand, Acts vii. 59. Nor the first martyr alone, but in all churches of the saints, and in every age Christianity, has the Lord Jesus been addressed as the constant object of people's adoration, and acknowledged as the ever-faithful depositary of t eternal interests. When Isaiah beheld a visionary manifestation of Christ +, the first-born of light were waiting around him, in postures of dutiful submission. T celestial beings, whose very feet are too bright for mortals to view, veil faces before his initely superior effulgence. The seraphs, who are all and all love, celebrate his perfections, and cry one to another, "The w earth is full of his glory." And thes not heaven also filled with his gl "Contribulis vel coequalis," my te. text it is explained by brother, or partaker of the sa cyg and the common rights ( In either sense, it militates strongly for the divinity of our Isa. vi. 1, 2, &c. compared with John xii. ext, 41. and no less viole |