dred years have rolled since God wrought that miracle of mercy, in "laying on Him the iniquity of us all," our hope of forgiveness, our means of reconciliation to God are all stored up in that glorious fact, that "whilst we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Now all this is to a certain extent correct; but its tendency is to produce an erroneous impression on the mind. As sinners we are all accessories to the murder of the Saviour, and as such are guilty of his death. As sinners we have so broken the law that we are guilty of all-so guilty that the whole law condemns us, though we may not have actually transgressed some particular enactments.

But

the Sabbath-breaker or the disobedient child is not guilty of blood in the same sense as the actual murderer; and yet Mr. Kyle's reasoning rather leads to such a conclusion.

Some of Mr. Kyle's applications are very striking. The following contrast of the death of the infidel Voltaire, and a poor Christian, may afford a specimen. It is the close of a discourse on Lam. iii. 24. "The Lord is my por

tion."

Compare for a moment the lot of one of those who are called the wise of this earth, with that of some poor believer. There was one whose brilliant wit, whose varied learning, and whose keen, powerful reasoning, caused all Europe to admire, -nay, almost to worship him. He was capable of writing or speaking on almost every possible subject except one, and that one was the Gospel-to it he never approached but to shew his ignorance and his malevolence by his blasphemies. He lived to extreme old age, admired and applauded by a thoughtless multitude; and the last public act of his life was to be present at the performance of his latest dramatic work, on which occasion crowns of laurel and flowers were profusely thrown to him by the audience;-and the miserable old man was crowned and kissed in public by a princess. The excitement -the gratification of his vanity-was too much for him-it brought on the disease of which in a few days he died.-and what was the death of this man of unsanctified knowledge? writhing on his bed-room floor, with a prayer-book in his hand, in which, too late, he sought the

knowledge of salvation which he had so long neglected-entreating as a favour, and acknowledging as a charity, the visits of a minister of the religion which he had long ridiculed-crying to his physician, "I will give you half my fortune, if you save my life but for six months!" When the physician honestly told him that this was impossible, and that he must prepare for speedy death, mark the dying words of this unhappy infidel,-" Then I shall be damned, and you shall be damned with me!"

Compare, my brethren, with this awful example of the nothingness of unsanctified knowledge, the case of one who is enabled to say, "The Lord is my portion." He may be poor-he may be ignorant-he may be the pauper in the workhouse, or he may be the beggar sitting at the rich man's gate. It matters not-he knows, in the depth of his ignorance, that he is a sinner, and that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. This knowledge keeps him in the way of holiness, it leads him to a throne of grace,-it directs him through life, and it is a blessing and a joy to him on the bed of death. In the last struggle, the man of learning, if an unbeliever, is left without support; but the Christian can hold fast the knowledge which God has given to him-he can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

And now, my dear friends, which have you chosen, the portion of the unbeliever, or that of the Chfistian? Do not, I implore you, deceive yourselves in the answer which you may give to this important question; for, if you be deceived, eternal ruin is the consequence:-" for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Examine what it is that you most earnestly desire; what it is which you most diligently pursue ;—and if you find that your affections are set on earthly things, ask diligently of God that, by the operation of His Holy Spirit on your souls, you may be led to set your affections on things above. Lose not a moment in seeking grace to make that wise, that eternal choice-for yet a moment, and it may be too late. Oh! may the great God enable us all, from our hearts, to say, "The Lord is my portion !"?

Towards the close of the volume, Mr. Kyle has introduced Two Discourses on the Second Advent, from Rev. xix. 11-16. In considering the purposes for which the Redeemer is to come, he refers to Isa. xi. 4, and 2 Thess. ii. 8, and thus proceeds:

Here, from a comparison of these passages, we at once see that there is a cer-. tain enemy to be destroyed by the word

of the Saviour;-but whether it be by the words of the Gospel, as already proclaimed, whether by some immediate sentence of judgment, pronounced for the first time at His coming, it would ill become us to pronounce dogmatically. There are many who think that the Man of Sin shall fall before the preaching of the Gospel; and who draw their arguments in favour of this opinion from the numbers who even now are leaving the ranks of Romanism, to adopt a purer and a more Scriptural faith. But I cannot concur with these when I see the apparently clear statements of Scripture that Babylon should fall under a direct judgment from the hand of God.

After enlarging on this topic, he adds

I have been thus diffuse upon this part of my subject, because I greatly fear that an impression has generally prevailed that it is not for destruction, but for conversion, that the Saviour shall thus smite the nations; and that, from a vague expectation, which seems to me not to be countenanced by Scripture, of the evangelization of the whole world previous to the Second Advent, the suddenness of that great event,-nay, the possibility that it

may be " even now at the doors,"-is

put out of sight. If the reasoning employed above be conclusive, nothing can be more deceptive than such a supposition; nay, nothing can be more injurious to the Church of God; because we are thus led to look from realities, to the chimeras of our own imagination, and to give up that constant expectation of the Redeemer's sudden coming which would induce us ever to watch, with our loins girded, and our lights burning.

The commonly received opinion of the conversion of the world previous to the Second Advent, has, I have no doubt, originated from a misconception of the Saviour's declaration, that "the Gospel must first be published among all nations." Hence it has been inferred that all nations should, by the preaching of the Gospel, be brought to turn from Heathenism or Infidelity of every sort, before the coming of the Lord Jesus. But those who reason thus have not duly considered that in the parallel passage it is said, "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come," Nothing can be more evident than that the preaching of the Gospel "for a witness," signifies the publication of such a message of God's truth in every nation, that they who receive it shall be saved, and that those who receive it not shall be without excuse; and we know not how far this .witness may have been borne in ages past; for the fulfilment of prophecy only

requires the Gospel to have been preached, -not to have been received. Hence it may have been already preached in every, or almost every nation on the face of the earth; and therefore sinners had need now, for it may be the last moment,to cry for mercy, ere He that sitteth on the white horse smite them with the sword of His mouth.

We are not however by any means convinced that the commonly received opinion of the conversion of the world before the Redeemer's Second Advent is erroneous. It may fairly be inquired, What is the end spoken of in the passage which Mr. Kyle quotes. Is it the end of those goodly buildings at Jerusalem which introduced the Saviour's discourse? or is it the end of the world? If the passage refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, then the declaration was doubtless accomplished by the preaching of the gospel to every nation of the then known world, by the Apostles and their immediate converts; according to the literal meaning of the words, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matt. xxiv. 34. But if the passage refer to the Second Advent, as Mr. Kyle contends, that day can scarcely be so near as he intimates, but must be contingent on a far more extended promulgation of the gospel than at present exists.

But we must briefly advert to Mr. Riddle's interesting publication. His volume contains eighteen discourses on fundamental, and therefore important subjects. Our extracts, however, must be short, and we shall therefore confine them to his fifth sermon, which is somewhat quaintly entitled

The Three Crosses of Calvary.' The text is St. John xix. 18. and the author thus begins :

'Here then,' says Augustin, 'three were crucified; and in these three we behold one who bestows salvation, one who receives salvation, and one who rejects salvation.' In other words, here are the Saviour, the saved, and, as we fear, the lost.

Let us consider the three crosses of

Calvary under these several points of view. Let us behold, in the impenitent malefactor, a picture of man in his ruined and lost condition; let us contemplate the Saviour of mankind offering up the sacrifice of himself, and making atonement for sin; and let us observe, in the pardoned penitent, a lively representation of man turning to his mighty Deliverer, and made a happy partaker of complete salvation. May God, the Holy Spirit, bless our meditations, and make them profitable to the edification and comfort of our souls!

Mr. R. describes the impenitent malefactor as dying unhappy; and without hope; and adds,

Such is, in brief, the condition of man guilty and unredeemed. He is a dying, a wretched, and a hopeless creature. Let every one seriously remember that, when he looks upon the cross of the impenitent malefactor, he beholds there an image of his own natural condition and prospects. Let him consider this, and let him ask, whence his deliverance is to come. Let him say thus within himself: I too must one day close my eyes upon the world wherein I dwell, and open them upon another, eternal and unknown; and who is he that shall go before me, to gladden the path which I must tread in the valley of the shadow of death?-I too am conscious of multiplied offences against the God of heaven, and feel myself to be in danger of torment from the worm that never dieth, and the fire that is not quenched; and who is he that can take from that worm its venom and its sting, and can pluck me as a brand from the everlasting burning ?-I too have a heart naturally void of love to God and to his creatures; and who is he that shall impart to me the peace of reconciliation with the Father of my spirit, and unite me with all holy and happy beings in the blissful bonds of charity and concord?—I too am without hope, and know not whither I may go for true and lasting consolation; and who is he that shall step forward, and give me a sure and certain warrant of mercy, peace, and blessedness, for ever?

II. Praise be to the God of heaven, for his counsels of redeeming love! It is at the cross of the dying Saviour that all these inquiries may find their answer. There is "Jesus in the midst." "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." And now let us, Christian brethren, with humility, love, and adoration, consider Him who is thus set before us as bearing "our sins in his own body on the tree,"—as dying "the jusc for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God."

Who is this, let us ask, that has been "brought as a lamb to the slaughter,"

that is "numbered with the transgressors," and is making "his grave with the wicked?"—"Certainly, this was a righteous man." Truly this man was the Son of God."-Such is the answer we reIceive at the foot of the cross itself. And it leads us to some further questions. He is a righteous man: then, why, we ask, does he suffer? He is the Son of God: then, what will be the power and the efficacy of his sufferings? May the Lord himself teach us the true answers to these inquiries; and may he cause us to feel the value and the power of these answers in our inmost souls!

He then describes the Saviour as innocent, divine, yet suffering, and thence points out the evil and malignity of sin- the extreme misery and helplessness of man— and the infinite mercy and compassion of God, and the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ.

III. Let us now turn our attention to that cross upon which we behold a man made partaker of the blessings of salvation.

1. In the hardened and impenitent malefactor we saw a picture of man in his ruined condition, as a dying, a wretched, and a hopeless creature. But the case of the pardoned penitent presents us with a view, for the most part, widely different.

We notice, however, in the first place, one point of partial resemblance. This man, like the other, is about to close his eyes in death. And hence we may be reminded, that even the redeemed must submit to that universal sentence, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." The believer in Jesus must die, even though it be with the Redeemer by his side. The salvation which has been wrought for us, although it promises and secures to us a final triumph over the last enemy, yet does not deliver us from the necessity of dying. We must wait for "the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body."

But, though death comes to the faithful disciples of Christ, it comes to them disarmed of its terrors and its sting. Even the curse becomes to them the channel of a blessing. Death is theirs; their servant, their minister, their friend. And they have abundant reason to be content, and even glad to depart from this state of imperfection, sin, and sorrow, and to descend into the chambers of the grave, there to sleep in Jesus.

2. But look again at the penitent malefactor; and you may perceive that the man who has been saved is not dying in his ungodliness and wretchedness, but that he has a soul converted to God, and

prepared for the enjoyment of eternal blessedness.

It is delightful to witness that display of holy and happy dispositions which the cross of this accepted penitent presents to our view. The few words which we hear from the lips of this saved sinner are full of the spirit of holiness. We discover mildness and meekness in the reproof which he gave to his fellow-sufferer. We see humility and contrition in his acknowledgment of demerit. And, in his petition to the Redeemer, we hear the accents of lowliness, and of a heavenly mind. And truly, my Christian brethren, we form a mean and unworthy idea of the salvation of the gospel, if we do not remember that it is no small part of his design to work these and all other graces of the Spirit in the souls of the redeemed. If any man rightly believes in the crucified Redeemer, his faith is a "faith which worketh by love." If he has heard Christ, and has been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, it is that he put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of his mind; and that he put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (See Eph. iv. 21-24.) His new nature is created in righteousness, and adorned with charity. He is made partaker of meekness, and gentleness, and a spirit of love towards his brethren and all mankind.

3. Such a prayer, my Christian brethren, never ascended from a man's heart in vain. And, if we would recognize in the case of the penitent malefactor, the common condition and blessedness of Christians, we must send forward our thoughts to that blissful moment in which the prayer that was uttered on the cross, and the expectation of the church throughout all ages, shall be fulfilled. The Christian shall be made partaker of eternal life. He shall hereafter be advanced to a glorious immortality, and

admitted to that kingdom and happiness for which he has been prepared, “Thou shalt be with me in paradise." That is the language which proceeds from the cross of Jesus to every humble and faithful soul. And nothing less than the fulfilment of this promise, which is the end of a Christian's hope, will hereafter be the consummation of a Christian's experience.

The discourse is thus closed—

Brethren beloved in the Lord, the crucified Redeemer ! Have you, let me ask, considered man in his forlorn condition without a Saviour,-a dying, a wretched, and a hopeless creature? Have you contemplated that Saviour himself-offering a voluntary and acceptable sacrifice for sin, and suffering that death which is the destruction of the power of the grave? Have you looked at the blessed condition of man as a partaker of Christ's salvation -as dying, indeed, but having a soul converted to God and prepared for heaven, and being the undoubted and rejoicing heir of a glorious immortality? Then, let me beseech you, in conclusion, not to rest satisfied, for yourselves, without possessing a personal interest in the inestimable blessings of redemption! Feeling the wretchedness of your lost and ruined condition by nature, and convinced of the love and omnipotence of your crucified Redeemer, seek, in the exercise of humility, faith, and prayer, to become continually partakers of the pardon and blessings which he has purchased, and of the victory which he has obtained. And let none of us lightly or hastily dismiss from our minds the important subjects which have now been brought before us. Let the crosses of Calvary be the tabernacles of our abiding contemplation. And let us pray that, by the blessing of our Saviour and our God, it may indeed be good for us to be there!

THIS small volume contains most interesting and important information on the system of Irish Education, at present supported by the National Board. A system of the most demoralizing character, and calculated to retard the progress of scriptural light and knowledge, to an extent which few

can conceive. We earnestly intreat all who are desirous of promoting the real interests of Ireland seriously to peruse this brief work, and to consider well the facts which Mr. Colquhoun here records, and which have a most important bearing on Lord Brougham's Education Bill.

THE Rev. E. Dalton has lately published a Tract, entitled, Necessity for the formation of Protestant Associations,' in which he gives the following account of the rapid and alarming increase of Popery within the British Dominions.

In the year 1792, the number of Romish Chapels in England and Scotland, did not amount to twenty; at present they exceed five hundred.

In the same year (1792) there was not a single popish college in all England, and but two other seminaries of education; there are now upwards of sixty seminaries of education, and ten regular colleges overflowing with students.

In the year 1795, the popish college of Maynooth was founded for the purpose of training a Roman Catholic priesthood for Ireland: it is calculated that nearly half a million of money has been expended from the national treasury, for the support of this institution, which teaches systematically principles of disaffection, immorality, and false religion, and annually sends forth a class of men who have made themselves notorious as political agitators, and the chief disturbers of the peace of the country.

In 1829, under the pretence of granting relief to the Roman Catholics, the fatal Act was passed, which greatly impaired, if it did not destroy, the Protestant character of the British constitution: and ever since the period when the nation formed this criminal alliance with an idolatrous and apostate church, the divine blessing has evidently been withdrawn from the land, the councils of the empire have been paralyzed, and our revered institutions, both in church and state, have been shaken to their very base.

In the year 1831, the support of Government was withdrawn from a Society in which the Scriptures were made the basis of education, and transferred to a new board of National Education, which has mutilated the word of God, and practically given the control over public instruction to the Roman Catholic APRIL, 1838.

X

priests. In the room of the inspired volume, the conductors of these schools have substituted a compilation of extracts, not unfrequently taken from the Romish version, and accompanied with notes which often palliate, if they do not actually defend, the errors of the Church of Rome. For the maintenance of this unhallowed system, a vote of £40,000. and upwards has been annually made by the House of Commons.

In the year 1833, chiefly through popish influence, ten Protestant Bishoprics in Ireland were suppressed in 1835, an attempt was made not only to annihilate the Protestant Establishment in a large number of parishes in that country, by depriving them of resident clergymen, but also to alienate part of the revenues of the church by the notorious appropriation clause. But, through the divine blessing, these attempts were defeated by the firmness of the House of Lords.

It must also be remembered that the various attacks which have been made on the Established Church, whether in England or Ireland, have received the warm support in Parliament of between thirty and forty Roman Catholic members, though these members had previously sworn that they would defend the settlement of property within the realm— that they abjured any intention to subvert the present Church Establishment as settled by the law, and would not disturb or weaken the Protestant Religion or Protestant Government in the United Kingdom. &c.' This flagrant violation of an oath proves that it is allowable according to the canons of the Church of Rome to keep no faith with hereics, and that even perjury, in behalf of that church, may be considered a virtue rather than a crime. And it is remarkable that on one of the divisions in the House of Commons, upon the English Church Rate question, the majority in favour of that unconstitutional proceeding was the exact number of Roman Catholic members who voted.