scripture declares that "without faith it is impossible to please God; and without faith there is no realizing power whereby we can be enabled to apprehend the spiritual grace in the sacrament: to seek it in the mere administration of the outward signs, would be to seek the living amongst the dead. Christ, the sum and substance of all grace and blessing, is indeed present-but present only to the faith of the believer; unless then we know Christ by faith, we cannot discern his body broken, or his blood shed, in receiving the elements of bread and wine. We may form some faint idea of the manner in which invisible realities become present to the soul in receiving visible signs, by the effect produced upon our own minds in beholding a portrait: if it be that of an unknown person, the picture is present to us, but no more; but if we look upon the portrait of an absent friend, we not only see the picture with a bodily eye, but instantly the person of our friend is present to our memories and our hearts. Thus, without the knowledge of Christ all is dead, cold, and lifeless in our outward worship; if we would desire to find profit in the ordinances of God's house, we must know Christ as the source of all covenant blessings, the foundation on whom they rest, and the channel through whom they are communicated. We must be enabled in some degree to enter into the feelings of the apostle when he says, "I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him; not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (Phil. iii. 8-10). We can understand nothing of this realizing, this triumphant, and this holy feeling, until "Christ be formed in our hearts by faith, the hope of glory;" and to rest satisfied with any thing short of this, while we trust to mere outward ceremonies, would be to act as absurdly, in an infinitely more important concern, as they would who, being in possession of the deeds entitling them to an estate, should amuse themselves with the seals, the charts, the names, and the descriptions, and never put forth one desire after the actual enjoyment of the inherit ance. The Cabinet. THE ATONEMENT.-Of all subjects that which it would, I think, be most inexcusable to keep back from the people, is the atonement made by our blessed Saviour for the sins of mankind; since upon that truth must ever rest the key-stone of the Christian edifice. That Christ died to save sinners, that our nature had become corrupt and depraved through sin, and that, by the sacrifice of our blessed Lord upon the cross once offered, atonement and satisfaction were made, and the wrath of God averted, are among the first truths which we communicate to the youthful Christian; they are likewise inculcated in the reception of the blessed eucharist, as well as in various parts of the formularies of our church. Upon what principle, then, can they be held back in our Christian teaching? It is true that this doctrine may be distorted and misrepresented, and that sinners may be led to flatter themselves with hopes of being saved while they continue in their sin; but "we have not so learned Christ;" nor are we afraid to declare to the people "the riches of his grace," because some presumptuous men have rushed into the errors which the apostles themselves noted among contemporary heresies. Were we ashamed to declare "all the counsel of God," as we have received it from the scriptures, we should at once forfeit the title of an apostolical church. Let us not, therefore, cease to proclaim "Christ crucified" as the most important commission of our ministry, and as the sole ground upon which we teach our hearers to rest their hopes of forgiveness and reconciliation to God.-Bp Monk's Charge, 1841. Poetry. PILGRIM AND SOJOURNER. (For the Church of England Magazine.) REST, pilgrim, rest! say, whither thou art bound? PILGRIM. O stay me not! thou sojourner on earth! Not linger here! in this thy father-land, PILGRIM. My father-land! My fathers! where are they? Where now are those frail tenements of clay? Low in the dust they're laid: and you, and I, Must shortly follow, and beside them lie. SOJOURNER. O spare me such a melancholy tale! PILGRIM. What! fear to die! Then hast thou not a soul SOJOURNER. Then will he lend an ear to such as I?- PILGRIM. Yes, God will be thy friend; and thou'lt soon find SOJOURNER. Then has the Lord a fold, in which to keep Secure from harm, his well beloved sheep? And may I ever hope to enter in, Where all are pure, whilst I am dead in sin? PILGRIM. If dead in sin, seek Christ; he'll bid thee live. SOJOURNER. Lord! give me grace, that I may run with joy PILGRIM. Now thou'rt in earnest, God will hear thy prayer; I see! I see! the film falls from mine eyes; PILGRIM. I am thy fellow pilgrim, thank me not; SOJOURNER. But surely thanks are due, since thou hast been PILGRIM. bours of love, I happened to witness, on entering the town of Malaga in the evening, a custom which struck ine as remarkable, and which I had not seen in other lands. On passing the principal promenade in a long walk lined with trees and crowded with persons, just as the glorious luminary was going down, laughter was turned into seriousness, and a complete embargo laid on conversation; for every one person who had a few minutes previously marked the progress of the sunwhether they were pedestrians, on horseback, or carriages-stood still in a moment on its disappearing, and as if by an immediate impulse, or word of command, or as struck by the wand of a magician. In this state they remained a short time, the men uncovered, and females veiling their faces with fans, and a devotional soliloquy was repeated by each, expressive of gratitude for the mercies experienced from the God of heaven during the day. If the sentiments of the heart did at the moment correspond with acts of an external nature, it would lead to the conclusion that the people of this country are highly impressed with the importance of religion.—Travels in Spain, &c.; by W. Rae Wilson, F.S.A. WISE MEN OF THE EAST.-As far as our real information goes, these wise men appear to have been heathen philosophers. Here, then, we seem to behold a prelude to the calling of the Gentiles into the church of the Redeemer-a token of that mercy whereby Christ has been made a light to lighten the Gentiles, to give knowledge of salvation to people of all regions under heaven. At all events, we may find cause for gratitude and rejoicing if we contemplate the arrival of these magi in Jerusalem as an emblem of that happy and flourishing condition of the Christian church which has been so beautifully described by Isaiah, and will one day, we hope, be realized in all its fullness: "The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.... Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of Have patience, friend, our times are in God's hand; the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of When he sees fit, he'll issue his command: The mandate then unerring will be giv'n. Mylor Vicarage, Sept. 14, 1841. A. M. HOBLYN. Miscellaneous. GARDEN OF EDEN.-Among the remarkable traditions which have been handed down in Damascus, 1 found one in particular concerning a meadow on the west side of the city. This is divided by a stream, said to be the spot where God made Adam of the earth of the plain; confirmed by the circumstance of its being actually of a reddish colour, and the name of Adam in the Hebrew tongue signifying red. Again, it is supposed that the garden of Eden, where the mysterious scene of our first parents had occurred, must have been also in the vicinity of Damascus, although others fix this to be on the banks of the Euphrates. It must, however, be admitted that the situation of the Damascus plain in so fruitful a locality, and those "trees of fruit in the midst, and watered by a river," are "pleasant to the sight."-Rae Wilson's Eastern Researches. SPAIN.-RELIGIOUS CEREMONY AT SUNSET.However we may differ from other countries in religious principles, yet we often find many things not unworthy of our consideration. In this country, to which the great apostle of the Gentiles had extended his journey (Rom. xv. 28), though there has not been handed down to us any particular account of his la camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord" (Isa. lx. 3, 5, 6). May not this passage of the evangelist also give us a call, and encouragement, to send the gospel into the east, the country of the magi? And let the pains which these wise men took in their search for the infant Jesus, admonish us to use all diligence in our endeavours to become acquainted with him and his great salvation. Let us consider, too, how sad is our case, if, while the gospel is brought to our very door, and Jesus Christ is evidently set forth among us, not only as born into the world, but as crucified for us and risen again, we are yet careless and indifferent concerning his blessed person and most glorious work! The wise men undertook a long journey in order to see the newly-born king of the Jews: "O, how will their coming so far as from the east to seek Christ rise up another day in judgment against us, if we refuse to be found by Christ, who came from heaven to save us!" Those who truly desire to know Christ, and to find him, will not regard pains or perils in seeking after him.-The New Testament Family Reader; by the rev. J. E. Riddle, THE DANGER AND DUTY OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. BY THE REV. T. E. HANKINSON, M.A., Minister of Denmark-hill Chapel, Camberwell. No. I. IT is a startling exposition of the difference between that which is and that which seems, which is contained in that assertion of scripture, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." There is a way which a man chooses, having made it a matter of deliberation using such powers of judgment as he may possess, or such information as he can acquire, he concludes that the way he has decided upon following is the right way in that conviction he enters upon it; he pursues it; he boldly perseveres, keeping his eye upon some advantage which, by this way, he expects to attain. He arrives at the end: and not till he arrives at the end does he discover that he has made a fatal mistake. Death is waiting at the end for his victim: death is the object he has been pursuing-a figure decoying him along the false path with the smile of hope, and at the end dropping the mask, and discovering to him the real face of the destroyer. Now, it did not require the wisdom of Solomon to tell us this sad truth, if his proverb only referred to matters of temporal interest. We need no inspired authority to assure us of a fact which is daily passing before our eyes, viz., that many a man, after mature and even anxious deliberation, adopts a course of action which (however well it promises) tends to, and eventually ends in, ruin. It may indeed VOL. XII.-NO. CCCXXXII. PRICE 1d. be well to set this truth before rash and inexperienced persons, with a view to make them pause, and examine the real nature of a promising opening, and not embark weighty interests, perhaps the happiness of a life, too hastily upon any way, albeit it seemeth right. But it would be derogatory to the dignity of the scriptures to suppose that the Holy Ghost inspired the text with no further object than to inculcate prudence and foresight in our temporal affairs. That it was a weighty and a momentous truth, we should have a right to conclude, from the circumstance that we find it stamped with the seal of divine inspiration. That its weight and moment exceed even that of some of the truths possessing such authority, is evident from the fact that it is twice announced in the same solemn words. In Prov. xiv. 12, and xvi. 25, the same warning appears, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." We need only give to these words a spiritual sense, and they present us with a truth, the awful import of which, might well justify the emphatic way in which it is repeated. I propose, on the present occasion, to exhibit the danger and the duty of the exercise of private judgment; and surely if I desired to put the danger in the clearest and strongest possible terms, I could not choose any clearer or stronger than the words already quoted"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man:" The man's object is to attain to heavenly happiness, and for this object he finds several ways proposed to him. Upon these ways he debates, deliberates, and decides: he chooses one "which seemeth right unto him." Those are the expressions used; so simple, as [London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street Strand.] M to exclude any other idea than that there is a | and one must be wrong. One man holds that, unless justified by faith in Christ and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we cannot be saved; another, that, without such justification or sanctification, we may be saved by the sovereign mercy of God: one must be right and one must be wrong. real persuasion upon his mind that the way, so chosen, is the right one. And all the sterner and the more striking from its simplicity is the declaration that the possible end of such a way are "the ways of death." Death, taken in its spiritual sense, is eternal perdition: the naked truth thus solemnly laid Then the question is-What will become before us is, that a man may choose a way of those who are wrong in these matters? And (whether of thinking or acting) which he here we come into contact with a certain pobelieves will lead him to heaven, and find,pular idea, viz., that our views will not hinder to his horror and amazement, that it leads him to hell. Now, does not the admission of such an awful possibility as this cause us to pause trembling upon that act of the mind which, in deciding our present course, decides along with it our future portion? But it may our salvation if they be what is called conscientious views. People take this sort of position-"My opinions and religious truths, whether right or wrong, are conscientious views; and God will never condemn me for holding what I conscientiously believe." shall be held guiltless in the sight of God? I affirm that there is not a word in scripture which warrants such a notion: I affirm more, that there is much in scripture which proves such a notion to be false. Now, let me ask, does scripture authorise be asked-Are we sure that this is the mean- such a presumption as this? Supposing, for ing of the passage? To which it might be instance, that justification by faith is a scripsufficient to rejoin-Are you sure that it is tural truth, and that sanctification by the Holy not? Because, unless you are, you cannot Ghost is a scriptural truth; is there any thing divest yourself of apprehension. If I were in scripture which warrants me in saying, that, to meet a traveller upon the road, and tell if I conscientiously believe that I am not to be him I thought I overheard some one say that justified by faith, or if I suppose that I am he intended to murder him, the mere sus-not to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, I picion that death might be before him would at least so far alarm him as to make him take every possible precaution. Were the interpretation then put upon the text rather a surmise than a certainty, it ought to produce, as a practical result, great caution in the choice of our religious way. But there is no such uncertainty: the passage means what I have stated; its meaning is confirmed by other passages of scripture. To know the truth, and to receive the truth is again and again declared to be necessary to salvation. St. Paul (1 Tim. ii. 4) identifies salvation with the knowledge of the truth. Our Lord him-it wise, is it safe in any one to put conscience self declares that to know the only true God is life eternal. He promises spiritual freedom through the knowledge of the truth-"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." St. Peter states it to be the means of sanctification-"Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." Now it is needless to insist upon the fact that holding the truth cannot consist with holding diverse opinions on the same subject. If one opinion be true, a different one must be wrong. One man holds that we are justified by faith in Christ alone; another, that we are justified by repentance, or amendment, or by the righteousness of other men imputed to us in addition to, or even independently of faith in Christ: one must be right, and one must be wrong. One man holds that we have a natural power to make ourselves holy; another, that we have no such power, but must seek it from the Holy Spirit of God: one must be right, In the first place, if God has declared (as I have shown he has) that the truth must be the medium of salvation and all that leads to it; that the truth must make us free from the curse of sin; that the truth must be the means of sanctification; that the truth and the knowledge of it is eternal life-if God has declared this, and made no exception to it, is in the place of truth? We read in scripture, "Other foundation can no man lay save that is laid, which is Christ Jesus." And again, "There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved." My readers must be aware that many persons are building their hopes upon the foundation of their honest and upright conduct, and attach no essential importance to the name or the person of Jesus: And yet they will tell us that they conscientiously think as they do. If those words of scripture be true, what will their conscientious belief avail them?" I I wish to observe that I am not speaking of those whose abuse of the term conscientions is too flagrant to need my censure. am quite aware that the word has become so hackneyed in its application to views and transactions, whose dishonesty and baseness it aggravates rather than conceals, as to have lost its purer and more honourable signification in the ears of many, so that, by not a few, the man who talks about his conscience is on that very ground suspected of hypocrisy. This is not the case to which I am referring; I regard it as settled. My observations point to the case of a deceived conscience rather than to that of a degraded and violated one. I am giving my opinion regarding views that may be called conscientious without hypocrisy; and I state it as my firm and solemn conviction, that the fact of such views being conscientiously formed will not justify them in the sight of God if they oppose some of those cardinal truths, the knowledge and the reception of which God himself has declared necessary to salvation. them were hypocrites: the way which they severally chose seemed right unto them, and they persevered, in the belief that it was the right way, till, to their horror and amazement, they found that the end thereof were the ways of death. And now, if this awful case is proven, is it not enough to make one tremble, lest the way which seemeth right unto us should turn out to be the way of death? And ought it not to abate the rashness with which some are fond of talking of the exercise of private judgment? We are are pained and shocked to hear people speak of private judgment as though it were the ultimate and authoritative tribunal to which truth is to be referred, as though what any one judges to be right must be right, at least in his own case. No; what a man judges to be right may be wrong; and if wrong must be injuIrious, and may be ruinous. You may tell me, as your fellow man, that I have no right to interfere with your private judgment. But I tell you that, before the tribunal of Godnot by my opinions, or the opinions of any man, but by his own immutable and infalli ble truth-the decisions of your private judgment will be weighed; and woe be to you if in matters essential to salvation they be found wanting. I hold the right of private judgment myself, but, if I had not some better guidance to look to than my own conscience and reason, I should hold it as the greatest curse that ever wore the semblance of a privilege. I I must beg myreaders to remark the limitation implied in these last words. I feel that the subject I am speaking on is an awful one. dread the idea of narrowing the way of life more than God has narrowed it; but still cannot forget, nor would I suffer others to forget, that "the way is narrow," and therefore few there be that find it." And of the many who miss it, no small portion consists of those who, under conscientious delusion, do not find out their mistake till it is too late to repair it. "A deceived heart hath turned them aside." And what is the consequence? So that he cannot deliver his soul; in other words, his soul is lost by reason of his heart being deceived. And these are, many of them, most respectable, and, in their way of life, estimable persons-the five virgins waiting, to all appearance, for the coming of their Lord. Those five virgins intended and expected, no doubt, to be numbered among the bridegroom's true friends and followers. But they were not. And why? Because they were deceived, as many are, under the idea that church-membership and conformity with. Christ's people in all matters of appearance, profession, and ceremonial are all that is necessary to salvation. There is a yet harder case than even this, as it seems to us, mentioned in scripture, and that too by our blessed Lord himself: 'Many," he says, "will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful things? and then will I profess unto them I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The error here was of a practical kind, those who fell into it were of the number of those who, under the idea of giving glory to the Saviour, overlook the characteristic elements of his salvation, viz., holiness of heart and life. Howsoever, this one thing is clearly evident, that both in this case and that of the virgins the greatest surprise was evinced when the door of heaven was shut against them. There is no intimation that either of Biography. WILLIAM HALES, D.D., RECTOR OF KILLESANDRA, No. I. THE father of William Hales was a most excellent clergyman, many years curate and preacher in the cathedral church of Cork. He was born 8th April, A.D., 1747, and his early days were passed under his father's roof. When about nine years of age he visited his maternal uncle, the rev. James Kingston, prebenddary of Donoughmore, a man of piety and learning, who conceiving a high idea of his abilities and disposition, offered to prepare him for college with his own son. This being accepted, he became an inmate of his uncle's, with whom he studied some years, and to whom he ever expressed the deepest obligations. In 1764, Mr. Hales entered Trinity college, Dublin. His tutor, Dr. Forsayth, a man of great talent and warm heart, soon perceived his abilities, and devoted himself to their cultivation. His attention was rewarded. At the quarterly examinations, Hales was always placed at the head of his division. His progress in classics and mathematics was remarkable, and he obtained a scholarship with high credit. He was a diligent student during his academical course. His tutor felt so much interested about him, *The compiler of this memoir feels it right to acknowledge, among other sources of information, the important facts ob tained from a memoir of Dr. Hales in the early numbers of the "British Magazine," as well as from other sources. |