supported by other sanctions than those of the former, and of which neither the ten commandments nor any of the Mosaic precepts make a part. :

Let no man suppose that because Jesus Christ is here called a mediator, he has appeased the fury of incensed wrath, or satisfied the claims of almighty justice. Though reconciliation was his errand, it was the reconciliation not of God to man but of man to God. Persons therefore who pray to be heard and pardoned for the sake of Christ, or through the mediation of Christ, use words and countenance opinions which are totally unscriptural.

"V. Lastly; the words before us represent the ratification and the grand purpose of the Christian scheme: "ye are come to a sprinkling of blood, which speaketh better things than that of Abel.". Here we have a reference, first, to the ancient custom of ratifying covenants by the death of an animal slain for that end, and next, to the blood that was shed by a brother's hand, and the voice of which is said to have cried to heaven from the ground.

That blood demanded vengeance on the murderer. But when Christ was crucified, this event strongly attested his claims and doctrines, and laid the best foundation for our faith, obedience and comfort. He died, as he had lived, to accomplish the most benevolent of all objects.

Some Christians, however, are so inattentive to the design of sacrifices under the Mosaic ritual, (forgetting that they were merely ceremonial and had no relation to moral imperfections,) they are so unacquainted with scriptural phra seology, and especially with the arguments and language of the epistles; as to imagine that when Christ suffered on the cross, he bore the punishment which our sins deserved. They suppose that something besides unfeigned repentance and substantial amendment is necessary to procure the divine forgiveness. While it is difficult, or rather impossible, to reconcile these opinions with our correctest ideas of God's moral character and government, it is not less so to reconcile them with scripture.

If we seriously read and faithfully interpret those writings we shall find that no influence is there attributed to Christ's death, taken independently of his religion in general. How does it cleanse us from sin? Only so far as it prevails on us to live no longer to ourselves, but unto him who died for our benefit and rose again.

I have thus endeavoured to illustrate the phraseology here used by the author of the letter to the Hebrews: I have considered his language as describing not the future happiness

of Christians, but their present advantages and honour. This, I am aware, is not the light in which it has usually been regarded: the reader will now judge whether it be not that which seems to be best supported by the context, and by the meaning of the same terms in other passages of scripture. P.

CRITICISM ON 2 PET. i, 16—21.

In this passage St. Peter, with great appearance of confi-. dence says "We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you duvar the miraculous power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." To prove this he says-"We were eye-witnesses of his Majesty; for, says he, he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent gloryThis is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice we heard when we were with him in the holy mount."

From this account of St. Peter, as well as from the history of the transfiguration itself, it appears that the great object of this vision was, to give an attestation from heaven to the truth of our Lord's character as the Messiah. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." St. Matthew and the two other Evangelists, Mark and Luke, who record this vision, say "Hear ye him-pay attention to him as such."

The Apostle having given these proofs that they had not followed cunningly devised fables when they made known the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the 19th. verse says "We have rov Copyrin sys, the prophetic word concerning his coming, BeSarego more fully confirmed, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as to a light shining in a dark place."

To ascertain the apostle's precise meaning here it will be necessary to observe that our Lord, in the gospel history, predicted with great minuteness and particularity the destruction of Jerusalem, asserting with the greatest emphasis and energy that it would be in that generation, and connecting with it the full proof of the true nature of his character as the Messiah. Matt. xxiv. 27. "As the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West, so shall also the [true nature of the] coming of the Son of man, [for perspicuity] be." V. 37. "As the days of Noah were--which were days of vengeance-so shall also the coming of the son

of man be." And it was one great object of his describing the signs of the near approach of that awful event to enable them to perceive its approach-V. 25. "Behold, I have told you before."

With these facts in view, the apostle's meaning will appear to be this-We have also the word of prophecy concerning his coming, more fully confirmed. But how more fully confirmed? Why by the signs which are now appearing of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark or obscure place, until the day dawn and that which bringeth the full splendour of light, wspopos, the sun shall arise in your hearts.

In the 20th verse, the apostle's design seems to have been to confirm the importance and stability of prophecy in general, and consequently of the prophecy of which he was speaking, in particular. "Knowing this first," as the foundation of your faith in prophecy, that no prophecy is [the effect of] private discovery-or of mere human invention; for-V. 21. prophecy came not wore formerly by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I am well aware-that our translators have rendered dias AUGES "private interpretation" but St. Peter has sufficiently explained what he meant by that phrase, by contrasting the will of man to that which was produced by the operation of the Holy Ghost. In a word, the whole passage, as here explained, appears to me to be so natural, and to harmonize so exactly with the prediction of our Lord concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and with his language concerning his coming, which he so closely connected with that prediction, that it appears to me almost if not altogether certain that this is his genuine meaning.

Tl, Kent.

W. N.

POETRY.

VICISSITUDE.

How gay the morn when nature smiles,
How sweet appears the woodland scene,
Fond fancy then each care beguiles,

And paints the prospect ever green.
But hark, the storm! it howls around;
The lightnings flash, the thunders roar,
The echoing rocks return the sound,
And morning smiles delight no more.

How gay the spring, its budding charms,
Its tender blossoms scent the air ;
While Flora pants in Zephyr's arms,

Soft nymph that claims his fondest care.
But tyrant Winter blasts the year,

Nor blush the flowers, nor blooms the grove,
No more the woodlands fair appear,

No more the songsters sing of love.

How gay when youth's dear phantoms rise,
And hope, sweet flatterer, chears the hour;
When pleas'd we view the gilded skies,

Nor dread the frown of fortune's power;
But age will come, and youth no more
Shall rapt exult in op'ning bloom;
He sighs, while pensive, pond'ring o'er
The steep that rolls him to the tomb.
Yet hoary Time, who marks the range
Of being's circling, endless chain,
Unchang'd will see while seasons change,
The bloom of morn and spring again;
Will see, while age shall leave the scene,
Youth's sportive band with garlands crown'd;
And beauty's train, who once have been,
Again shall tread the giddy round.
Say nature, in thy boundless sphere
Eternal wrecks shall pity mourn?

Ör in some distant viewless year,
Shall prospects past again return?

Say, shall the same idea rise,

And thought proceed, as thought has flow'd?
Say, that in these, in other skies,

This breast shall glow, as once it glow'd!

Newburgh, Fifeshire.

D. B.

VERSES

Written on hearing of the anfortunate death of Master W. who was trampled to death in the Old Bailey, Feb. 23, 1807.

No more, oh! high-born Hope, awake thy song,

To carol in the cheerful morn of life,

Beguiling mortals as they pass along,
With joys unfading in a world of strife.
But thou blest spirit, Resignation! come

And journey with us thro' this vale of care,
Nor let our wand'ring thoughts have other home
Than Heaven, for they may rest in safety there.

Short is the longest pilgrimage below,
And pain and disappointment vex the road,

And ev'ry day its chronicle can shew

This cannot be our rest nor our abode.

Fond Youth, to thee the voice of kindred dust,
The tear of soft affection speaks in vain,
Yet at the resurrection of the just,

Thy friends shall hail thy youthful voice again.
Tho' now with pious woe they deck thy urn,
And ponder hopeless on thy wayward fate,
Then with high reverence shall they grateful learn,
That mercy keeps affliction's iron gate.
Land then eternal to the God of love,
(Vain is the boasting of the insatiate grave,)
He gave us live and comforts from above,

And bless his name, he takes but what he gave.

London.

W. A.

STANZAS.

ON A LITTLE GIRL.

THE woods are green, the sky is blue,
And early flow'rs appear;

While wood and sky and flow'rs we view,

They speak the infant year.

But spring will pass, and summer come
To deck this earthly ball;

Then autumn, fading summer's bloom,
And winter closing all.

Methinks, sweet Child! while on thy face
Thus tenderly I gaze,

In ev'ry season's round I trace

The history of thy days.

So, like the frolic spring, thine eyes

Beam all that bliss inspires;

Pure innocence the glow supplies,

Which feeds their vestal fires.

Thy coral lip, thy rosy check,
Thy sunny look of joy,

That spring of life in thee bespeak
Which no cold blights destroy.
Methinks, in ripen'd beauty drest,

Thy summer days appear:
Ah! may no thunder-storms infest
That season of thy year!