sides; He walketh with all who walk with God; He is incarnate still. His remembrance of Calvary ensures also the remembrance of those for whom He there groaned and bled and died. He is ever certain to sympathize with his body the Church, for He is the Head, and Christians are the members-"bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh." But I must now proceed to notice, secondly, the Divine glory veiled in Christ's human flesh. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." To an unbelieving world, indeed, this glory remains utterly concealed; to a carnal mind glory is inconceivable under such a menial exterior as that of Christ's lowly humanity; nor even could the testimony of miracles themselves, in all their number, publicity, and indubitable evidence, operate as any counter charm to prejudice, or work any true conviction on the unrenewed spirit of those who beheld them. They marvelled and left Him, and went their way. And yet were there some gracious exceptions of those, who, with a laudable desire to know what manner of man could speak with such power, and work with such efficacy, pondered his words, and looked honestly at his miracles. And then conviction came, and they said, "Never man spake like this,—no man could do the mighty works which this man doeth, unless God were with him." Nathaniel, with all his prejudices against Galilee, comes to the Saviour, that he may judge for himself; and he beholds his glory,—he finds in the lowly Nazarene the Omniscient God: Divine attributes shine forth through the veil of his flesh, and at once attest the Messiahship of Jesus: "Rabbi," said the new-born disciple, "Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."

But the language of St. John in the text is emphatical, and refers, doubtless, to some special manifestation made to himself," We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." Whether, however, the Evangelist alludes to the entire course of our Lord's miracles, or to the signal occasion of his transfiguration, the testimony is invaluable. They beheld the glory of his power, and saw it to be omnipotence: they listened

to the utterance of his wisdom, and found his knowledge to be omniscience. His holiness was clearly a divine perfection; and as to his doctrine, in it was the fulness and the fluency of grace and truth-the inference was plain. Such characteristics as these were the features of a God-" the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The word of Christ was the transcript of the Father's mind; his work the arm of that Father's power. It was not common inspiration, or deputed power, or reflected lustre; but it was the essential God, and the essential glory-eclipsed, indeed, to a sinful world, but manifested to the eye of every guileless Israelite, as Zion's God and Zion's glory-" the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." In alluding to this relation of the Divine Father and the Divine Son, we must always observe extreme caution and reverence, for this the subject plainly demands. We must put aside all ideas of succession and inferiority in the person of Christ; we must ever hold fast the doctrine of our Lord's eternal, self-existent, coeval nature with the Father and the Spirit. And thus our true and proper understanding of this relation will consist chiefly in the distinction of the persons of the blessed Trinity, and in presenting Christ to us as the express image, the covenant representative, and (in a manner) the visible revealer of the invisible God. But as to the full understanding and exhibition of this great mystery, it is too high for language, too deep for thought; for who shall declare his generation? Peter, James, and John, beheld, indeed, his glory, but not in the light of perfect intelligence, for the bright cloud overshadowed them; and when they heard the divine Sonship of their beloved Master announced from the radiant heavens, they fell upon their faces and were sore afraid. It was needful, to render their testimony of Christ complete, that they should catch this glimpse of his glory: but it required the gentle hand of his grace to recover their over-awed senses to composure and confidence,-" for Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, be not afraid." And thus must it ever be with us. Whatever strong convictions we might be inclined to expect from more sensible manifestations

of our Redeemer's glory, most certain it is, that, if granted, they would only confound us, unless accompanied by the virtue of his love and grace. The design, however, of such visible manifestations in connexion with the establishment of Christianity in the world has been fully answered. Nor can it be fairly denied by any thoughtful mind, that the glory of the Saviour, though in a more spiritual radiance, may yet be seen upon earth -"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. iv. 6.) My dear readers, it is not what the outward eye beholds, but an influence upon the heart, that realizes the presence and glory of an Incarnate Saviour and this arises from the very entrance and reception of his grace and truth. And in this sense we may truly say, "the Word was made flesh, and dwells among us"-yea, verily, within us; no longer a stranger among his brethren, but the close inmate of every believing soul in the fulness of his grace and truth. And of that fulness may we all receive! Christ is man's treasure, rich and exhaustless, for time and for eternity. Consider this, thou vain and graceless heart; leave thy broken cisterns; replenish thyself at the full fountain of this revealed mercy. Thy deceit may be dear, but the truth should be dearer; thy carnal pride and self-justifying righteousness cannot sustain thee long; but a divine Saviour's indwelling grace shall preserve thee in body, soul, and spirit, through all the changes of this mortal life, even to the full possession and unspeakable enjoyment of the world to come and the life everlasting.

EXTRACT FROM MY FAMILY BIBLE.

ST. MARK viii. 1-13.

S. B.

MY DEAR FAMILY,

We live in a wilderness.

The world is in one sense barren: it is barren of good. We look in vain for any thing in it, or belonging to it, that shall nourish us to eternal life. He that fed these people, however, in the wilderness with unexpected

bread, can and will feed every true believer with Himself, who is the bread of life sent down from heaven, that men may live and not die. In Christ is all-sufficient food. We shall find Him to be indeed all that' heart can wish, if we feel our want of satisfaction with things below. Happiness must not be reckoned upon from the world, but we must examine the real worth of all it offers to satisfy the craving soul, convinced that it can never die. The claims of Christ must be examined also, and prayer must be made for the wisdom to see and acknowledge his preciousness and truth, as well as the suitableness of his doctrines and precepts to the necessities of our fallen condition.

This prayer once answered, we shall, even in this wilderness, have a taste for the bread of life, for God, who alone can, will give it us. Thus blessed, we shall pass though the wilderness in comfort and peace, for the food will last us to the end of the journey. The preciousness of our Lord's merits, and the reasonableness of his service will be more and more plain; and at last, the same Holy Spirit who gave us the taste for the blessings Christ has to bestow, will satisfy us that though the body is near its dissolution, Christ is even then the bread of life to the soul. I had it once said to me by a neighbour, "How I wish I could have lived in the days of our Saviour!" Persons think they would certainly have believed in Him much more firmly than they now do; but we have here four thousand witnesses of his extraordinary miracles; yet few, undoubtedly, were made believers in consequence. The fact is, the heart of man is always the same wicked thing, and it is the heart that must be moved! The understanding may be convinced, while the heart is quite insensible to the preciousness of Jesus, and to the beauty and reasonableness of holiness. Without doubt, but for the Pharisees, more persons would have believed in Christ; but these men required a sign from heaven, which, if our Lord had shown them in addition to the many proofs He had already given that He was "God manifest in the flesh," they would not have believed. Christ our God and Saviour dearly loves souls; and He felt that the leaders

of the people made the people to err, and therefore was He deeply grieved at the obstinate unbelief of the Pharisees. It can never be too much insisted upon that they who rule over the Church should be careful how they ordain men to any sacred calling. The teachers of the people are deeply responsible for all unbelief, and the wickedness that flows from it. They have no right to poison the spring that should water a district with pure water. They that teach in the Church should not be like the Pharisees, who made doctrines of their own; but should enlighten that part of the wilderness of this world in which they are placed, with the doctrine of Christ in its fulness. May God the Father, through our Lord God Christ his Son, send God the Holy Ghost into the hearts of all his ministers, that they may be faithful guides to the ignorant multitude.

ON SABBATH AMUSEMENTS.

A LAYMAN.

OUR blessed Lord has very clearly defined, both by his example and instruction, in what the due sanctification of the Sabbath consists, and the limitations and exceptions which may be admitted to the rest it enjoins, by the number of cures He performed, and by his declaration, that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath Day. He authorizes the performance of works of necessity and mercy; but in doing so He in no degree neutralizes the heavenly command, "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." It is still to be a season of rest unto the Lord. There is little danger at present of our adopting the excessive rigour of the Pharisees. Our renewed and familiar intercourse with continental nations, among whom public diversions are sanctioned by public authority, is too likely to relax the tone of feeling on this subject. There is a magical power in example over the weakness of the human heart. Young persons especially find it difficult to resist the infection of gaiety and the seduction of pleasure, when countenanced by custom and example. Amusements that dissipate and indispose the mind for reflection and devotional exercises cannot be harmless on the Sabbath; they are at variance with the com