tions, at any age the law may require. It is evident that, if the present law continues in operation for a few years, the office of school-teacher will be entirely confined to the ecclesiastical orders. Equally vexatious is the law which requires that none shall be allowed to direct a normal-school, or a private institution of secondary instruction, unless they have been in actual employment as teachers in institutions for five years-a regulation which renders it exceedingly difficult for the protestant pastor to find an eligible person, however well he may be qualified, to be the head master of a preparatory-school. It is also to be observed that all the protestants in France who are unconnected with consistories, or do not receive the state salaries, are unrepresented in the supreme and local boards: they are not recognized as entitled to furnish any candidates for 'brevets' after examination: the existence of all the congregations and ministers in connection with the Société Evangélique is altogether ignored. These are a few specimens of the oppressive bearing of the educational law upon evangelical Christians and schools in France; and generally it may be affirmed that the whole of this law has been framed, and its provisions calculated, upon the principle of Romish confraternities and priests having in their hands the education of the whole people." "Christians, hope unto the end, hope more and more. But is not fear' also a good companion? Some may be ready to quarrel with it; but woe unto them in the day that this departs from them: they will err on the left hand, and go quickly into presumption: we can do without it just as well as the Israelites could without the cloudy pillar. He that casteth away fear, rejecteth his mercies : he is like a horse rushing into the battle. • COLLECT.-Almighty and everlasting God, we humbly beseech thy majesty, that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the ame thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. But there is a difference in fears. True fear is the grand grace which God bestows. But why is the Christian so full of fears? He is more full of fears than the ungodly man is: while the Christian is trembling, the man of sin is bold. And why? The Christian is carrying a great treasure on a road beset with robbers, and he trembles lest he should lose any of his treasure: the man of sin has none to lose... The ungodly man is like a merchant with an empty vessel: he fears not, for he has nothing to lose. He has indeed nature, sin, presumption, unwillingness; but he is in no danger of being robbed of these. Another reason why the Christian trembles is, he knows himself: he knows is heart is deceitful. Ask him, how much? He will tell you, 'O! above all things.' He knows it is wicked. He says, It has deceived me a thousand times, and I have reason to fear it will again.' He has formed his hope, laid his plan, taken up the religion of his God; but he is afraid all may be a deception, that it is not a reality: he knows the deep teaching of his own heart. Our best state is a state of warfare"-(rev. T. Jones, of Creaton). H. S. THE SINNER'S SAFETY: A Sermon, BY THE REV. A. BROOKE CLARKE, Curate of Killesk, Wexford. ACTS xi. 14. "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." My brethren, there is but one way of salvation; and Jesus says, "I am the way." The excellent Cornelius had prayed much, had given much alms to the poor, had lived a holy and devoted life, and yet did not know the way of salvation: it was still necessary for him to send for Peter, in order that he might know how he might be saved; and thus is made evident that great truth, that "there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved but that of Jesus Christ." Now, every man wishes to be saved; and, therefore, the great subject to every immortal soul is religion: time will have an end, and the greatest happiness it can give will die with it; but there is an eternity before us; and, were we sure of happiness in it, we could well bear with troubles and trials during life's rough journey here. To be enabled to die in peace, and to enjoy uninterrupted bliss hereafter, is indeed with some, and should be with all, the great object of their lives. No rains can be too great, no exertion too much, no labour too severe, if at last we can be found among the people of God, at his right hand, enjoying his pleasures for evermore. There, there is no sorrow, no pain, no poverty, no parting | must plead guilty before God." It is true, Now, in order to attain this blessed change, God, who in every way shows his goodness to man, gave us a revelation, which tells us how we are to act, and what we are to believe, to gain this inheritance; and from it we may learn with the most perfect assurance the truc and only way to heaven. From it we learn there is one God and three divine Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of equal power, glory, and eternity; that by this triune God all things are and were created; and that we are always and altogether dependent upon him for the breath we breathe, and every other blessing which he may continue to us or remove from us in a moment; that as regards himself he is holy, pure, and free from every taint of sin, and cannot have any fellowship with wickedness; that in this image of himself God made man ; and so man remained till, tempted by Satan," There is none righteous (however holy he he ate the fruit of the tree which God haĺ told him not to eat of, and thus by his disobedience brought the heavy displeasure of God upon himself and all his posterity; and hence are we all" born in sin, and shapen in iniquity," because we all derive, generation after generation, a sinful and corrupt nature from our first parent, Adam: nor is there one single being, naturally descended from him, that is not in this same unhappy condition, a sinner from his birth. Christ alone was free from sin, because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and was God as well as man; but all we, the rest, have gone astray like lost sheep," so that truly now" there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good, and sinneth not;" and, therefore, 66 every mouth must be stopped, and all the world may be, yet there is none purely righteous), says: Again when we seriously consider that all are alike in this deplorable condition, is it, not equally evident that no man can save another? As David says, "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, or make to God a ransom for him; for it cost more to redeem his soul; so that he must let that alone for ever." And, truly, if a man cannot redeem himself, much less could he redeem another! And hence God expressly guards us against looking to man for deliverance; and says, "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.' But, some may then ask, "Whither shall we flee for deliverance from our sins? how shall we escape the inevitable destruction that awaits us? or are we to perish in our sins? No, blessed be God, he has not left us to perish he knows all things: he knew the sad state in which we were: he saw there was no remedy for us; and, overcome by love for the work of his own hands, he freely and of his own good-will sent his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us: he also willingly came into the world. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, persecuted by the wicked, deserted by his own, and disregarded by all, he had not where to lay his head; but yet, though poor and despised, hungry and thirety, weary and afflicted, he persisted in returning good for evil; till at last they crucified him between two thieves, after having subjected him to the most bitter contumely and reproach. O whose heart is so hard as not to feel the loving-kindness of a Saviour in all this? who can be so hardened as not to feel humbled that his sins should have brought such sufferings on his Saviour's head? And we should remember it was for us he bore all this, to be a sacrifice and an atonement for our sins, that, by suffering himself the punishment due to us, he might rescue us from Satan, and deliver us from punishment: "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed:" "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of and unto them that look for him he shall appear the second time, without sin unto sal vation." many; But what had we done to deserve this blessed deliverance? was man in any way deserving of it? No: it was not for anything in us: "Not that we loved him; but that he loved us, and gave himself for us. God is love-pure, disinterested love; and his love overcame every thing; so that the Holy Ghost, speaking by St. Paul, says: "God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us:" his death was then entirely unmerited; for who could have a claim on God? Indeed no sooner had disobedient man fallen into sin than God in his infinite compassion and love announced a Saviour as "the Seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head." And this Saviour was ever after exhibited in the sacrifices and services of the Jews, which were all typical of him; so that he was believed on by the saints of the Old Testament as "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and as the One that should come to give himself a sacrifice to atone for their sins; and all this as I have said, freely and of his own good-will, unmerited by any man, even the very best of men. what love was here for ruined man! what condescension on the part of God! what loving-kindness it exhibited! O may our hearts be truly interested in these great blessings, and influenced by them! But every man is not a partaker of these great blessings: Jesus Christ is not the Saviour of the careless and impenitent. And why? It is not that their sins are either too numerous or too heinous in their nature to be washed cut in his blood; nay, it was sinners he came to save; and as sinners he especially calls us to him that we might be saved: "Come unto me," says he, "all ye that are weary and heavy-laden; and I will give you rest.' The cause, then, why many are not benefited by his death is, that they will not come to him: they reject his offers and his plan: they try every other remedy: like sick children, they will submit to every other treatment but the very thing proposed to them: they will trust to their own deserts, their prayers, their alms, and their many other good deeds, their good hearts, their mortifications or sufferings, or even their not having done much evil, anything but Christ. Now, Christ requires of all that will be saved by him that they trust in him alone: he demands this from them; and, on their compliance in this respect, he promises the blessings he died to obtain; as he saith, "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life""He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Let not, then, any man dream of pardon or acceptance with God who has not taken Christ alone as his Saviour, who is not trusting in his sacrifice as the only atonement for his sins, and who is not looking in earnest faith to him as "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world;" as, in fact, his Saviour, his Mediator, and his Advocate, who now sitteth at the right this most powerful effect upon you, that you will then take particular delight in engaging in his services, in doing his will, in studying his word, in honouring his name, and in promoting his cause in every way and with every person you can. No longer, then, is the heart, as formerly, inclined to evil: no longer does it take pleasure in childish, fool 66 we of God, it is a changed heart, changed by Yet still some may doubt his willingness to freely save such sinners as we must confess ourselves to be. My brethren, can any one doubt, when he says himself, "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy-ish, useless vanities; but it delights in the law laden; and I will give you rest :" "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye; buy and eat; yea, come; buy wine and milk without money and without price :" and again he adds, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out"? Just consider for a moment, would he have died for us if he had not been willing to save us? Is God's word not to be trusted above every word? Do we place repose in a father's love; and is God, our heavenly Father, less kind to those who trust in him? Do we doubt a loving brother's interest for our welfare? Christ is our elder brother. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? "yea, she may forget," says God; "but I will not forget thee." My dear brethren, God's love is an everlasting love, arising from his own pure goodness, and not from any deserts of of ours; and having promised us salvation through Christ, we may rest confident and happy in his promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." O holy, loving Jesus, thou Saviour of the world, who should doubt either thy willingness or power to save, when thou thyself declarest it? Who should look elsewhere for safety or salvation when thou hast promised it, and done so much to attain it for us! O may we most gladly and thankfully receive this gift, that cost thy death to obtain it for us. And now, dear friends, do you feel the love of Christ to yourselves? You know that he died for you. Do you feel that you are washed from your sins by his blood, and rejoice in him as your Saviour? and then, feeling that his love for you caused his death, will you not love him who first loved you, and gave himself for you? And, brethren, if this is really the case, your faith will work by love, and your joy for the blessings he brings you will operate on your lives to make you hate what he hates, and love what he loves; for "faith worketh by love," and "if we love him we shall keep his commandments. Yes, love is the surest means of obedience. Do you not always pay double attention to the desires and wishes of those you love? And so, if you love the Saviour for what he has done for you, it will have Now, that this change is the work of the Holy Spirit, is plain: "we are not able of ourselves to do anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." At best man is still but an unprofitable servant; but, when the Holy Ghost, for Christ's sake, deigns to dwell in man, God no longer sees him in his own naked deformity, but as washed in the blood and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, and as being influenced by nature and guided by the power which is of the Holy Ghost, so that God can then look upon him as holy and pure in his sight; and thus we see the necessity of having the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and how it is that the Holy Ghost sanctifies or makes holy all that believe in Jesus. But, brethren, that you may grow in grace and in holiness, you must carefully attend to all the ordinances of Christ's appointment. Children of God do not themselves know how much they lose even by the mere occasional neglect of the appointed means of grace, which include a constant attendance at the public services of our church; earnest, persevering, private prayer; an humble and regular study of God's holy word; and espe cially a frequent and devout reception of the blessed sacrament of the Lord's supper. exalted to the right hand of God, and made partakers of everlasting glory, through the all-atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners, and who now, as their friend, sits at God's right hand, pleading the merits of his own death in their behalf; for, "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ, the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins." Without these their spiritual health is crippled, their peace broken, and their comfort lessened. As well might we expect the body to thrive and grow without natural food, as the soul to thrive and be strong and vigorous without spiritual food. The analogy is close throughout; for, as meat and drink do not make a man to live, but if he is alive are necessary to his health and safety, so, although these means of grace cannot make the soul to live, cannot of themselves rescue it from that dead state And thus, brethren, I have laid before you in which it is by nature, yet they are as abso- the plan of salvation: I have told you words lutely necessary to strengthen and refresh" whereby you and all your house may be the soul as food is to the body, and, if saved." O see that you neglect not this great neglected, will as surely make it faint and salvation; "for, if he that despised Moses' weak; so that it is evident he is highly cul- law died without mercy, of how much sorer pable who neglects them. If, dear brethren, punishment think you is he worthy, who we desire holiness of life, we should carefully hath trodden under foot the Son of God, attend on them: they will help to draw our and hath counted the blood of the coveminds from earth to heaven and heavenly nant, wherewith he was sanctified, a holy things, and will not fail, under the blessing thing, and done despite unto the Spirit of of God, to make us grow in grace and in the grace?" knowledge of him whom to know is life eternal." NOTICE OF BOOKS. WE have received the following books "The Bible of every Land;" Part XII. London: Bagsters. As the former portions of this work have appeared we have expressed our warm commendation of them. The present part is the concluding one, and contains a variety of maps, alphabets, indices, &c., &c. The whole volume now complete will be of great interest and value to the biblical student, comprising a mass of information in regard to the versions of the sacred volume, and will tend, we trust, to further the great work of diffusing the scriptures in every tongue, till all nations shall hear and read in their own respective languages the wonderful works of God. The typography is highly creditable to Messrs. Bagster: here and there we observe in some of the specimens words separated which should be united, or vice versâ ; but these are matters of trifling import. And now, brethren, as the soul is confessedly of more importance than the body, think seriously how you stand before God. Are you careless? Then God will assuredly reject you in that day. Are you so much occupied about the things of the body that you have little time or inclination for the things of the soul? O, brethren, consider well your position before God; for "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." Let me, then, lead you to Christ: he is the only way of salvation: you have no other hope, in which you can scripturally trust; but "he is able and willing to save to the uttermost all that come "The History of Palestine, from the Patriarchal unto him." Let nothing, then, separate you Age to the present Time;" by John Kitto, D.D., from Christ; no love of ease, no love of gain, F.S.A. Edinburgh: Black. 1851. Dr. Kitto is neither tribulation, nor persecution, nor afflic-sufficiently well known as an able writer; and notices of various works from his pen have heretofore appeared tion; for you shall be more than conquerors in these pages. He published some years ago a valuathrough him. And what though the natural ble book, "The Pictorial History of Palestine." The man in the wickedness of his heart may take one before us bears much resemblance to that; but it pleasure in sin and folly! what though they is not an abridgment of it: it is a separately and delight him for the present, yet, like time dious form, the history of the Hebrew nation, with freshly-written volume, and presents, in a compenitself, they will have an end; and then, what descriptions of their manners and customs, and of the are they worth? nay, what would not the geography and natural history of their land. There Soul then give that it had never known them? are also chronological tables of the sovereigns of those O brethren, think on eternity, its endlessness, and the whole is illustrated with a profusion of woodcountries with which the Israelites were connected; its dreadfulness, and tell me what would a cuts and engravings. Dr. Kitto has performed his task man give in exchange for his soul? What with his usual judgment, and has produced from his would it then advantage him if, when alive, own extensive stores of knowledge a very pleasing he had possessed the whole world, now that book. It may be put with great advantage into the his soul is lost for ever? hands of the young, while those more advanced will find much in it to interest and instruct. We would suggest that it would be a very appropriate rewardbook or present. No, brethren: riches or poverty, pleasure or pain, enjoy ment or disappointment here, will then be as nothing; and they only who, in despite of every thing, Cornelius-like, have sought and found Christ in sincerity and truth, shall be "Scripture Difficulties Predestination;" by 1851. Dr. Mackintosh adopts strongly the views Simon Mackintosh, D.D. Edinburgh: Blackwoods. which are usually understood by the term "Cal |