Additional matter filling up the space between it and its brother mountains, so far from enhancing the grandeur and effectiveness of the spectacle, would but diminish it. Similarly, the silence of the inspired volume and its teachings combine to arrest and concentrate our attention upon those single and sublime facts of our Lord's life, upon which our faith in his mediation is to rest. 4. In addition to this negative advantage of fixing the interest upon what is revealed, we can discover some positive benefits as resulting from the omissions. Just as God hid the body of Moses, " and no man knoweth his sepulchre unto this day," thus preserving the Jews from an almost irresistible temptation to idolatry, so we have mercifully been kept from "knowing Christ after the flesh." How strong the tendency in our nature is to "make a similitude" of the object of worship, and how disastrous is the result of this tendency if yielded to, we may gather from the histories of both Judaism and Christendom. The present position of even nominally Protestant churches, both in England and Germany, may serve to show how inveterate is the tendency toward superstitious veneration for symbols, days, and places. Those who know the state of society in districts where Rome has full sway, know perfectly how an undue regard for ecclesiastical anniversaries and sacred places eats the heart out of intelligent piety and needful industry. To the constantly recurring pilgrimages and festivals of the Papal Church we ascribe very much of the social misery of Catholic countries. If the habit of superstition be so inveterate and strong, even now that it is entirely discountenanced, both negatively and positively, in Scripture, may we not be thankful that it is without the apparent support which it would derive from an enumeration of the " days and months, and times and years " of our Lord's earthly life? The sensuous religion of the Papal Church, its almost exclusive presentation of Jesus as a babe in the arms of the virgin, its constant habit of dwelling on the merely external and material in his life to exclusion of that which is internal and spiritual, its devotion to shrines, the sacredness of which is purely imaginary, and its consecration of holy days, which have no shadow of scriptural warrant, may reconcile us to the omission of details which, if inserted, would give to these superstitious usages a seeming support. 5. But we are in danger not alone on the side of superstition. Speculative doubts and difficulties as to the divinity of our Lord will constantly intrude. How could Omnipotence slumber in an infant's arms? How could he who was omniscient "increase in wisdom"? How could he who was the object of infinite complacency "grow in favour with God"? Revolving such questions as these, many" have made shipwreck of faith." Unable to reconcile the facts of human life with the idea of his absolute deity, they have wandered into a cheerless system of Arian or Unitarian negation. One of the reasons which made it "expedient for us that he should go away" was, that whilst he was present with his disciples in a human form, it was scarcely possible for them to rise to the conception of his divine dignity. "The man of sorrows," surrounded and hemmed in by the limitations of our humanity, "compassed about with infirmity," could hardly be recognised as "the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person." Not till his departure from earth could they understand him when he claimed equality with the Father. To a great extent the same will apply to us in the histories of the gospel. A minute and detailed narrative of his mortal, and especially his early, life would be almost incompatible with a constant and sustained faith in his divinity. The acts of his humanity would be liable to incessant misconstruction; at any rate our difficulties would be greatly increased by such a narrative as is desired. Whilst we thankfully accept the sufficient evidence afforded us of his perfect humanity, we must surely feel that it was in wise condescension to our weakness and infirmities, that more minute details of his earthly life have not been given, else we must have been beset with still greater, and, perhaps, insuperable difficulties as to his true divinity. 6. We have yet to consider those omissions which are only remarkable from considering the omniscient foresight of the Divine speaker. Why, the question has been asked, were not explanatory and limiting clauses introduced, so as to guard the language against the possibility of error or mistake? Fully to meet this difficulty and answer this question would demand far more space than we have at our disposal. The following suggestions may suffice to indicate the directions in which a solution is to be sought. (1.) It would be simply and absolutely impossible to guard against all liability to error and misconception. No form of words could be devised which imbecility might not mistake or obliquity of purpose pervert. Legal documents attempt this, and so overload the plain statement of fact with explanatory and limiting clauses that to common readers they become simply incomprehensible; whilst to acute and perverse readers all the care frequently proves vain, and a flaw is discovered which renders possible another construction after all. (2.) Scripture throws us upon our own responsibility in our attempts to understand it. It is a test as well as a teacher. It never professes, nor does it aim, to render error impossible. Men, if they please, may "wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction." The thoughtless, careless reader is left to suffer from his own indifference and apathy. In the words of Pascal, "There is light enough for those who are disposed to see, and darkness enough for those who are disinclined. There is obscurity sufficient to prevent the reprobate from seeing, and illumination enough to condemn them and render them inexcusable. The intention of God is to be visible to those who seek him with all their hearts, and concealed from those who are disposed to shun him. His communications are plain to those who seek, and obscure to those who do not seek him." Many passages in Scripture announce this design (compare Matt. xi. 25, xiii. 14, 15; Luke ii. 34, and the parallel passages). (3.) By leaving the meaning of single passages to be determined by a careful comparison of them with other parts of Scripture a motive is supplied to a diligent search and thoughtful study of the inspired volume as a whole, which would not exist if each passage were perfect and unmistakable in its isolation. (4.) Upon all essential points the meaning of Scripture is plain and obvious. "The wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein." A simple desire to know the truth, and earnest prayer for guidance, will insure our preservation from all serious error. And since even minor errors in divine things are such serious calamities, the possibility of our falling into them may teach us humility, reverence, and prayerfulness, whenever we read or meditate upon the sacred page. Let us, in conclusion, remember that Scripture is but a provisional and temporary arrangement to supply our present need. By its aid we can only "know in part." We have not the immediate vision or knowledge of God, but only behold reflected, "as in a glass, the glory of the Lord." Thankful for the sufficiency of the present revelation, endeavouring to know all the truth and fulfil all the duty it reveals, we yet aspire after the fuller and directer manifestations of heaven itself. "For now we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." THE WRECK CHART FOR 1857. A DOCUMENT lies before us, the terrible interest of which might arrest the most frivolous, impress the most callous, and startle the most apathetic of men. It is the Wreck Chart and Register of the British Isles for last year. For some time past the Board of Trade has annually compiled a report of all the maritime disasters off our coasts from returns furnished by officers of the coast-guard and others. After being analysed and tabulated they are printed and presented to Parliament, accompanied by a map, on which the place of each wreck and collision is marked. The result lies before us. It presents a terrible picture of the perils by which our commerce is beset and its profits diminished. It tells, too, of many a desolate home where the mother weeps over her bright-haired boy, or the wife waits in vain for her long absent husband. The eye fills with involuntary tears as one remembers the sickness of heart, the "bitterness of hope deferred," the terrible awakening at last to the fatal truth, which each of these marks of disaster has brought to widows and orphans throughout our land. The principle upon which the chart is constructed is, that all reported losses at sea shall be indicated in the places where they occurred by an appropriate mark. Absolute and total loss, as by foundering, has a small black dot; partial loss, as where portions of the crew or cargo are saved, has a cross; collision between vessels has two oval marks in juxtaposition, and so on. A map of our coasts is thus produced, which is girdled round by an almost continuous line of indications of disaster from Cape Wrath to the Land's End. On many points these marks stretch out to a fearful length. Off Shields, for instance, the map only just suffices to receive them. Let us count the wrecks on this fatal coast, one, two, three, four,— THIRTY-EIGHT in all, near the entrance of this harbour alone in a single year. Off Whitby twenty-four are marked. From the North Foreland to Beachy Head are ninety-four. The entrance to the Mersey is conspicuous from the fact that in it 54 vessels came into collision with total or partial loss. The facts and lessons of this terrible chart are instructively summed in an article which appeared in the October number of "The National Life-Boat Journal," to which we give insertion none the less willingly because it contains an appeal on behalf of the admirable institution from which it emanates. Compared with previous periods the Register informs us that the wreck experience of the past year is favourable; yet, if we analyse it carefully, we shall find that, without reckoning collisions, there were no fewer than 384 vessels, or more than one a day, totally lost on or near these islands last year. The whole of the wrecks and casualties for the year 1857 may be thus classed : : "This number of disasters for one year is at the rate of more than three per diem. "The number of wrecks in each month of the year 1857 is thus given : "By these casualties 2,200 of our fellow-creatures were placed in imminent peril of losing their lives, and five hundred and thirty-two of them actually found a watery grave, many of whom it is believed might have been saved had the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION had the means to have placed additional life-boats on the coasts. Besides, there can be no doubt that the number of 532 persons drowned does not correctly represent the actual loss of life during the past year from casualties on and around our coasts, inasmuch as the loss of fishermen and other boatmen is not included in the Board of Trade returns. "If we examine closely the sites of these shipwrecks, we shall find that no less than 600, or more than one-half of the whole number of wrecks, occurred between Dungeness and Pentland Frith. Along this perilous sea, beset with sands, shoals, and rocky headlands, no less than 150,000 vessels, manned probably by half a million of men and boys, pass annually; a great part of them being ill-constructed, deeply-laden colliers; and the wonder is how they manage to survive a gale of wind. A remarkable and sad case of this description occurred only a few months ago on the Norfolk coast. Suddenly a gale of wind sprang up where one of these rotten colliers was riding. She made a signal of distress: the National Life-Boat Society's life-boat was as soon as possible brought out of the boat-house; but before the boat was launched the ship had gone to pieces, and every one of her unhappy crew had perished. On examination of the vessel's timbers they were found to be perfectly rotten, otherwise it was said she might easily have weathered out the moderate gale of wind that proved her destruction. A somewhat similar case occurred off Bridlington the year before last, when 4 or 5 poor fellows perished: so rotten was the vessel that her anchors pulled out her bows, consequently causing her instantly to sink. "Again, the South coast, extending from Dungeness to the Land's End, is comparatively safe, only 84 wrecks having occurred in 1857; whilst from the Land's End to Greenock, where the influence of the Atlantic gales and currents is most severely felt, the numbers rise again to 286; and the Irish coast contributes a total of 173 wrecks. "If we take a retrospective glance at the shipwrecks which have occurred on our coasts during the past five years, we shall find that no less than 5,128 wrecks and collisions took place, being an average of 1,025 a year-that the loss of life therefrom amounted to 830 a year-and that the destruction of property averaged a million and a half sterling per annum. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a single gale to strew our coasts with wrecks. In the gale of 25th September, 1851, as many as 117 vessels were wrecked; and for each of the earlier months of the present year the returns of the Board of Trade show that there has been from 4 to 5 casualties a day. "As we have often stated before, wrecks will occur notwithstanding all the precautions, experience, and vigilance that may be exercised to prevent them; but there can be no doubt that a very large proportion of the casualties which happen must be attributed to neglect and carelessness on the part of those to whose special charge the vessels are committed, as well as to those who send them to sea illfound and unseaworthy. It is a notorious fact that too many of these vessels have not a single appliance, such as a life-belt or a life-buoy, to save life in case of an emergency. Besides, the masters of colliers and coasters scarcely ever think of laying down courses, or using the lead, or consulting charts. Their motto is, as the Register tells us, follow the leader,' until they get on a shoal or sand-bank ; and thereby add to the number of wrecks caused by negligence or inattention. "These remarks are fully corroborated in the following table, showing the nature and cargoes of the vessels lost last year : In Ballast, not Colliers "An analysis of the tonnage of these disasters is thus given : Vessels under 50 Tons . 172301 and under 600 . 321 601 114 901 and under 1,200 7 Let the "The site of each wreck can be easily traced on the wreck chart. reader pause for a moment, and look again at this grim wreck chart, and consider what an amount of misery it unfolds. Let him then inquire whether or not it be in his power to assist in mitigating the necessary evils resulting from these sad calamities, causing as they do the desolation of many a home, and many a wife to become a widow, and her children orphans. These innocent sufferers from shipwrecks are already too numerous in our coasting towns and fishing villages. "The following is a list of the principal sandbanks on which wrecks have occurred during the past year :— "Twenty-nine vessels are recorded to have been utterly lost last year from unseaworthiness; and many others were lost from rottenness, imperfect gear, carelessness, defective compasses or charts. There are many prolific causes of shipwreck, independent of storms, rocks, and sand banks; and amongst the most glaring are inconsiderate marine insurances-unseaworthiness-the overloading of vessels-ill-found in anchors, cables, sails-defective compasses-want of good charts-and incompetency of masters. If we analyse the cases of collision that occurred last year, we shall find that by far the larger portion of them occurred in the open sea, and in clear bright weather. Out of 277 collisions, involving total and partial loss, bad look-out was the cause of 88, and neglect of the rule of the road of 33 collisions. Simple and easy of performance as the casting of the lead is, it is almost invariably found, when the causes of the wreck are inquired into, that this precaution has been neglected. "It is satisfactory to find that collisions do diminish, and that, as compared with last year, a diminution of their number to the extent of 39 has taken place. Moreover, 662 of the wrecks, apart from collisions that took place last year, arose entirely from stress of weather, and not from the fault of any parties. "A most gratifying feature, however, is to be found in the Register, viz., the large number of lives saved from shipwrecks by life-boats and other means during the past year: By the life-boats of the National Life-Boat Institution, and local bodies By ships and steam-boats By assistance from shore with mortar and rocket apparatus, ropes, &c. "Although this number were entirely saved from wrecks, yet it must be borne in mind that 2,206 persons were, in addition, placed in actual danger, a large proportion of whom would probably have perished but for succour of some kind or other. In a great many instances, such as in cases of collisions and founderings far at sea, escape has of course been due to the ship's own boats or to the many fishing |