the agency of the devil, is blasphemy against Christ and not against the Holy Ghost-a conclusion fatal to this interpretation of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

3. This interpretation assumes that they who ascribed the miracles of Christ to the agency of Satan, actually committed the irremissible sin.

A strong presumption-if not an absolute demonstration that these individuals had not committed an irremissible sin, exists in the fact that the Gospel was afterward offered to them; that is, it was offered to the whole people, of whom these very persons constituted a part, without any reservation or exception whatever.

But it will be objected-did not our Savior give this admonition, "Because they said, he hath an unclean spirit?" Precisely so. That was the occasion that called for this admonition. They were now blaspheming against him, and that led him to warn them, lest they should also blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. A father, whose son begins to manifest his fondness for the low associa tions of the dram shop, will warn that son against the evils of intemperance and abandonment of character, even though those evils are seen only in the distance. So our Savior, finding the Jews rejecting his mission and office, makes it the occasion to warn them against the future sins to which the present would inevitably lead.

4. Another objection to this interpretation is, that it can not be reconciled with the obvious import of other Scriptures.

It is a sound principle of Biblical interpretation, that if we find a passage which is obscure and of doubtful interpretation, we should reject any interpretation that would conflict with the general character of the Gospel, or with the obvious and unquestionable meaning of other passages of Scripture. In fact, the obscure and ambiguous is to be interpreted in the light of the clear and the unambiguous. Now, this interpretation would make this passage say to a certain class, namely, those who had committed this unpardonable sin, "There is no salvation for you; you may repent, pray, weep, believe, but you ean not be forgiven." Such a conclusion conflicts irreconcilably with the whole Gospel economy, which offers pardon to all without exception, without limitation. “God now commandeth all men every-where to repent,” Acts xvii, 30; "Let the wicked [that is, all the wicked, of whatever character or however great his crimes] forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon,” Isa. lv, 7.

No exception is made in the Gospel call. All men, every-where, are commanded to repent, and assured that their salvation from all their sins, and from all kinds of sin, is possible through our Lord Jesus Christ. This call and this assurance are utterly irreconcilable with the idea that a portion of the human family were absolutely and irrecoverably excluded from all participation in the salvation provided in the Gospel, and to all intents and purposes were already everlastingly condemned. And especially does this absurdity become apparent, when we remember that the Gospel began to be proclaimed to the very people among whom these supposed unpardonable offenders were to be found. The offer of salvation was made to them and to their children. If a portion of these persons had already committed the irremissible sin, the offering of salvation to all of them seems to be a practical realization of the Calvinistic idea that God offers salvation to all, notwithstanding a part of them

are irrevocably reprobated and doomed to everlasting woe. The genius and spirit of the Gospel require us to believe that there is no sin which may not be washed away in the atoning blood of Christ, and no sinner who may not be saved by his merit and intercession.

5. Another objection we have to this interpretation is, that it would make this sin an exception from the general mercy of the Gospel.

This has been distinctly admitted by the most philosophical men who have adopted the interpretation to which we object. Richard Watson not only speaks of it as "an exception from the mercies of the Gospel," but also declares that "it stands in direct opposition to the general character of the covenant of grace." A sad concession this for so profound and philosophical a mind! Sorely perplexed and bewildered must he have been to be forced to make such a confession concerning a theory he had adopted!

Now, we contend that, without the clearest warrant-a warrant resting upon something more than mere metaphysical hypothesis or even logical deduction--a warrant resting upon the plain and distinct "thus saith the Lord"— we are not justified in assuming that there are any exceptions in the merciful provisions of the Gospel. Before we can believe such a thing we must have clear and full authority-passages of Scripture clear and distinct in their declarations, and upon the exposition of which, as to their bearings upon this point, commentators are agreed. But here we have no such thing. A single passage in the whole Bible, and that of doubtful interpretation-as is evident from the fact that commentators have drawn out of it no less than a dozen different shades of meaning-is, in violation of the sound canons of Biblical interpretation, made to sustain a theory of most alarming character, being, according to Richard Watson, not only "an EXCEPTION from the mercies of the Gospel," but standing "in DIRECT OPPOSITION to the general character of the covenant of grace!"

6. A final objection which we urge against this interpretation is, that it is inconsistent with the mercy and goodness of God; and also with the principles on which he has ever dealt with our weak and sinful race.

If there be one sin so fearful in its guilt that Heaven can not extend mercy to it; so irremissible that no sorrow, or penitence, or faith can ever find relief from it, God would not have left man exposed to it without clear and distinct premonition. The sin would have been described, its character portrayed in so full, clear, and explicit a manner that no man could be in doubt as to the matter. The consequences of the commission of that sin would have been made known, with all the solemn sanctions of divine authority, that man might be deterred from it. To suppose that God has done differently from this is to impugn his wisdom or his goodness. The warning against sin in general would not meet the case; for other sins, when committed, may be forgiven, but for this if we are to credit the interpretation adopted by so many-there is no forgiveness. But to permit men to commit that sin, and then to warn them of its irremissible character, as our Savior here represented as doing, would be fearful mockery. Suppose a man ignorant that arsenic was a deadly poison, were by us, and we were seeking to instruct and counsel him, and professing to be his friend, and yet should permit him to partake of the deadly poison unwarned, would it consist with either mercy or justice? And if, after he had taken it, we commenced unfolding to him its deadly properties, would it

not seem rather a mockery of his wretchedness than an admonition for his good?

But, if it be objected that no one is now exposed to the commission of this sin, we must reply that some once were; and, if we are to credit this interpretation, they actually committed the unpardonable offense. So far, then, as the interpretation impugns the character and government of God, it is liable to the same objection as if all men every-where were left in ignorance, exposed to the commission of the same sin.

These are some of the objections that fairly lie against the commonly received interpretation of this subject. To us they seem insuperable. We are compelled to reconsider and revise our opinions upon the subject. This view of it seems irreconcilable with the character of God, with the principles of the divine government, and with the genius of the Gospel. And then to base a principle so monstrous upon a single passage, and that of doubtful and disputed interpretation, is a violation of one of the most important principles of sound criticism.

THE KEY TO UNLOCK THIS MYSTERY.

In one single fact in the Gospel economy we find a key with which to unlock this mystery. That fact is simply this, that while the whole Trinity is engaged in the work of man's salvation, the work or agency of the Holy Spirit only is conditional.

1. The work of the eternal Father in that gracious covenant, in which he consents to open the door of reconciliation, was altogether without any condition requiring man's agency or co-operation. No act of wickedness or of impiety on the part of man could prevent the ratification of the everlasting covenant of mercy.

2. The part assumed by Christ was also unconditional. He would pay the "price." The consent of man to the atonement was no part of the condition on which it was made. No one could say, "I will have no part in this redemption." The blasphemer, however vile and wicked, rejecting Christ and despising his mission, would still be redeemed.

3. But the work of the Holy Spirit was conditional. While man could not prevent the ratification of the covenant between the Father and the Son, nor yet the work of universal atonement from being effected, he could resist the Holy Ghost. To him was committed the fearful power of annulling the agency of the Holy Ghost, so far as his personal salvation was concerned. God could open the way to his salvation, Christ could redeem him whether he would or not, but the Holy Ghost had no power to save him without his full and free consent. Effectual resistance, then, to the Holy Ghost was possible, and that resistance rendered forgiveness and salvation impossible.

Each person in the holy Trinity may be blasphemed. To blaspheme God is to use his name with irreverence, to malign his character and government, or to calumniate his providence and grace.. The Son is blasphemed when his character and work are perverted, calumniated, or maligned. The Holy Spirit is blasphemed when its sacred offices are contemned and resisted through impenitence and unbelief, which, so long as they are continued, render forgiveness impossible.

THE ACT CONSTITUTING THIS BLASPHEMY.

We are brought to this conclusion, that "the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" consists not in any one sinful

The subject is mentioned by three of the evangelists; but they are only different versions of the same matter.

act, but in a course of continued willful and hardened opposition to its gracious influences.

1. This interpretation gives to our Savior's reproof a plain and practical meaning.

If, by the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, he meant some peculiar and anomalous sin-if the phrase was employed in some technical and abstruse sense, his reproof might excite wonder, but its force and application would hardly be realized. But they knew what it was to resist the Holy Ghost. Their fathers before them had been guilty of this sin, and had reaped its bitter consequences. When our Savior warned them against this sin, they, therefore, perfectly understood what he meant.

2. This interpretation harmonizes with all the circumstances connected with the case.

Christ had come. They were now blaspheming and rejecting him. Still he would redeem them. The Holy Spirit was soon to make his advent. Their present rejection of Christ would open the way to and prepare them for the rejection of the Holy Spirit also. Seeing this, our Savior raises a warning voice. He says to them, “You may blaspheme me, but I will redeem you; but beware when the Holy Spirit comes. If you reject and malign him as you are now rejecting and maligning me, you will cut yourselves off from the mercy of God and from the possibility of salvation."

3. The distinction between the sin against the Holy Ghost and other sins is natural.

There may be sins committed in times of great ignorance and prevailing darkness, which, by a merciful God, may be overlooked-'vregidwv-"winked at." But he that resists the Holy Ghost when it enforces the claims of God and the duty of repentance, sins knowingly; for he wars against conscience as well as against God. For him, then, there can be no excuse. He knowingly thrusts from him the boon of life, and tramples the mercy of God beneath his feet.

4. The Jews afterward actually incurred the guilt and suffered the consequences of this sin. Their subsequent resistance to the Gospel and rejection of it proves this. St. Stephen says to them, while in the very act of sin, "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye."

5. This interpretation accords, as we have already observed, with the office and work of the Holy Spirit.

It may be "grieved," resisted, and that resistance interposes an insuperable bar to the exercise of the functions of the Holy Spirit in our salvation. He that resists the Holy Spirit paralyzes the only agency that can make him holy and bring him to heaven.

6. It also accords with observation and experience. Multitudes of the most vile and blasphemous wretches upon the face of the earth have received forgiveness through repentance and faith. In revivals of religion, many, with vastly more light than the Jews had in the time of our Savior, have attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil, but have subsequently become convinced of sin; and when they ceased to resist the Holy Spirit and came to Christ, their great sin interposed no obstacle to the cleansing power of his atoning blood.

7. Is it objected that this sin hath never forgiveness, and is, therefore, different from ordinary sins which may be forgiven? We reply that this strong expression must be interpreted in the light of other passages. It is said that "no drunkard shall inherit eternal life;" but this does not imply that the drunkard may not cease to be a drunkard and then inherit eternal life. It is said that

"the wicked shall be turned into hell;" but this does not imply that the wicked may not become righteous and then gain heaven. So he that is blaspheming against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness; but if he will repent and cease to blaspheme, he may have forgiveness and life; for "the wicked" and "the unrighteous," of every shade of character, are commanded to forsake their sins and return unto the Lord, who will crown them with abundant pardon.

8. The question, then, arises whether it is possible for the day of grace to terminate before death. No proof that such may be the case, so far as we know, exists. The object of our present life is probation; if probation cease, what further spiritual end can be accomplished by a longer life? The whole Gospel economy is against the supposition. It goes, with its provisions, with the offer of its mercy and of its salvation, down to the last hour of the sinner's life, and as he is about to take his fearful "leap in the dark" it still strives to woo him to Christ and heaven. Every presumption, then, is, that if in the case of any individual sinner his probation had come to its final and eternal end, that moment would be the last of his wretched earthly existence.

9. But is there not "a sin unto death?" Yes, verily, every sin unrepented of is a sin unto death. The apostle evidently borrows a figure from the Jewish law, in which a certain class of sins were "unto death;" that is, punishable with death-as idolatry, blasphemy, etc., while others might be repented of, atoned for, and forgiven. The sin unto death is the sin visited with temporal death, as in the case of Korah, Eli, Saul, the disobedient prophet mentioned 1 Kings xiii, 1-32, and Ananias and Sapphira.

We believe that such sins may be committed, and, perhaps, are often committed, in the present day-sins for which God strikes down the offender and brings him to judgment. How often is the blasphemer stricken down by death in the very act of blasphemy, and without any apparent cause! Among the active infidels who, some years since, were accustomed to meet in the city of New York, there was one remarkable alike for physical and moral deformity. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and frequently participated in the public debates that were had among them. In one of his harangues he became more than ordinarily blasphemous; he defied the Almighty's power, and dared Jehovah to seal his lips. Suddenly he became confused, his tongue faltered, his language became incoherent, his friends took him away, and he died a raving maniac. Take another case. More than fifty years ago, while a revival was in progress in one of the towns in New Jersey, a meeting was gotten up by the wicked and profligate to burlesque the scenes of the religious meetings. In the midst of it a young and dissolute actress stood upon one of the

benches, and, with mock solemnity, began to tell her pretended religious experience. At length she exclaimed, "Glory to God! I have found peace, I am sanctified, I am now prepared to die!" These words were hardly uttered before the wretched girl dropped senseless upon the floor and was taken up a corpse.

Cases of this character are almost innumerable. They stand out as admonitory facts to check the headlong course of iniquity, and to admonish men that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But this sin unto death does not of absolute necessity involve the everlasting damnation of the soul. Eli, and Saul, and the disobedient prophet committed it, and suffered a sudden and violent death; but who shall say that their souls, having been washed and purified from all their stains by the blood of Christ, may not have found repose in heaven?

10. Finally, our interpretation presents the subject in a practical aspect. If the view we have taken of the subject be correct, it is not one sinner here and there, once in an age, who becomes guilty of the irremissible sin; but every obstinate and persevering sinner in the end becomes guilty of it. Every sinner is practically blaspheming the Holy Ghost. Every sin that he commits is but a link in the fearful series that shall constitute, when the day of probation has ended, his unpardonable guilt. It is but a link in that everlasting chain that shall bind him in the thralldom of despair and woe for

ever.

The tendency of both virtue and vice is to fixedness of character. The possibility of reaching, in this life, that point in our career when absolute and unalterable fixedness of character is attained is greatly doubted. But it is a fearful thought, and full of practical admonition to the wicked, that he is constantly approaching it. The stages of his approach may be so gradual as to be imper| ceptible, and the transitions from one to the other be almost unconsciously made. How terrible the condition of that soul which has become so totally estranged from God, so entirely the slave of vice, so thoroughly depraved in all its character, and so completely grounded and settled in wickedness that all hope of change is forever precluded! That condition, whenever and wherever reached, is hell. The transitions may be gradual, imperceptible, but the line of demarkation is certain and definite.

"There is a time we know not when-
A point we know not where,
That marks the destiny of man

To glory or despair.
There is a time by us unseen,

That crosses every path-
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and his wrath."

The average amount paid for missionary and other purposes is less than forty cents per member; so that the whole amount paid yearly by each member for Church purposes is only about one dollar and three-quarters.

CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.-It appears that the city of San Francisco paid, during last year, about $18,000 for the support of the Romanist schools of that city.

They did not, however, succeed well, at least not in the qualities of a good name, and the grand jury took the matter in hand and pronounced the schools a nuisance. All history goes to show that the schools of the Romans, when carried out on genuine Roman principles, are superficial in character and pernicious in their moral influence. PRESBYTERIANS IN THE UNITED STATES.-The statistics of Presbyterianism-Old School and New-in the principal of the United States cities, is as follows: Brooklyn, New York, Old School, five churches, 1,152 members; New School, four churches, 2,011 members: Philadelphia, Old School, twenty-three churches, 6,640 members; New School, fifteen churches, 4,793 members: Buffalo, Old School, one church, 580 members; New School, six churches, 1,577 members: Pittsburg, of both denominations, six churches, 1,399 members: Cincinnati, Old School, eight churches, 1,167 members; New School, four churches, 830 members: St. Louis, Old School, five churches, 1,046 members; New School, eight churches, 1,561 members. In New York city, where the population is near 600,000, there is but one member of the Presbyterian Church to every fifty-three of the population, and but one church edifice to each 16,000 souls. In Boston there are no Presbyterian Churches of any note, the Congregationalists having sway there and throughout New England.

EDUCATION IN BOSTON.-The amount of money invested in the school-houses of Boston is $1,500,000. The yearly appropriations for education are $1,200,000, while the amount raised for all other city expenses is but $870,000. The amount expended for instruction in the common schools of Massachusetts, last year, was $4.50 for each child between five and fifteen years of age.

OLDEST CHURCH.-The oldest church now existing in

the United States, is one near Smithfield, Isle of Wight county, Virginia. It was built in the reign of Charles I, between the years 1630 and 1635. The brick, lime, and timber were imported from England. The timber is English oak, and was framed in England. The structure is of brick, erected in the most substantial manner. The mortar has become so hardened that it will strike fire in collision with steel.

BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.-The notes of the Bank of England, under a new process, not long since adopted, are signed by machinery. The engraving of the whole note is complete. Formerly the bank employed twenty clerks, at a salary each of £500 per annum, who did nothing else but sign their names to notes. The new mode of signing, it is supposed, will prevent counterfeiting.

DISTILLATION IN THE UNITED STATES.-By the census of 1850, the number of bushels of corn and grain consumed in the distilleries of the United States was 18,055,300; the number of gallons of rum and whisky distilled, 48,634,455; barrels of ale and beer, 1,777,924. At one cent a glass for the whole, it would amount to $65,265,292; about three dollars a head-say fifteen dollars for each family. Saying nothing about imported liquors, this tax of fifteen dollars on every head of a family is gouged out of the bread and clothing of women and children who can not help themselves.

FARMS AND FARMERS.-Farms occupy two-thirds of the land of England. The number of the farms is 225,318; the average size is 111 acres. Two-thirds of the farms are under that size, but there are seven hundred and seventy-one of above 1,000 acres. The large holdings

abound in the south-eastern and eastern counties; the small farms in the north. There are two thousand English farmers holding nearly 2,000,000 acres; and there are 97,000 English farmers not holding more. There are 40,650 farmers who employ five laborers each; 16,501 have ten or more, and employ together 311,707 laborers; 170 farmers have about sixty laborers each, and together employ 17,000.

CINCINNATI SUNDAY SCHOOLS.-Connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati are twenty-five Sunday schools, six hundred and twenty-seven teachers, and thirty-eight hundred and seventy-two scholars; with the Presbyterian Church, eighteen schools, three hundred and forty-five teachers, and twenty one hundred and eleven scholars; with the Congregationalist, three schools, sixty-two teachers, and three hundred and fifty-five scholars; with the Episcopal Church, three schools and six hundred and forty scholars; with the Baptist Church, eight schools, and thirteen hundred and seventy-eight scholars; and with all other denominations, thirty schools, four hundred and fifty teachers, and about thirty-five hundred scholars-making the grand total for the city of some eighty-seven schools and twenty-six thousand Sunday school scholars. Forty-eight of the schools take up each Sabbath a missionary collection, the total amount for the year past being $3,141. The largest sum contributed-$402.61-was by the Christie Chapel Methodist Episcopal Sunday school, for "missions and Sunday School

Union."

COOKING COD-LIVER.-Cod-liver and cod-liver oil having become quite an article of modern medicine, and the latter being unpleasant to take, they have adopted a plan of cooking the liver. It is in this wise: Take a pound of fresh cod-liver, peel and steam two pounds of good flavory potatoes; cut the liver in four pieces, place it over the pieces of liver fall on the potatoes. Make some incisions potatoes, and then steam them, letting the oil from the in the liver with a knife to extract the remaining oil, and dish the liver up and eat with a little melted butter and anchovy sauce. Serve up the potatoes with a little salt and pepper. Both dishes will be found to eat extremely well; and any one who will eat regularly of such preparation for a few months, will, from a state of leanness, become quite hearty and fat.

THE OLIVES OF GETHSEMANE.-In Turkey every olivetree which was found standing by the Moslems when they conquered Asia, pays a tax of one medina, or about one quarter of a cent, to the treasury, while each of those planted since the conquest pays half its produce: now, the eight olive-trees of Gethsemane pay only eight medina, or only two cents. Dr. Wild describes the largest as being twenty-four feet in girth above the root, though its topmost branch is not above thirty feet from the ground. M. Bove, who traveled as a naturalist, asserts that the largest are at least six yards in circumference, and nine or ten yards high-so large, indeed, that he calculates their age at 2,000 years.

UNIVERSITY OF Northern PENNSYLVANIA.-This institution is now under the patronage of the Wyoming annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has as its President Rev. Nelson Rounds, D. D. Connected with the University is a Biblical department and also a teachers' class, the former furnishing gratis, to those who desire it, systematic and competent aid in the critical study of the Scriptures, and the latter, under the supervision of Dr. Rounds, affording all needed instruction