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seemed to be diffused. The Sultan rides a white horse! The colour of the horse denotes the humour of the prince; white being, of course, that of joy and gladness, and the other shades accordingly. Muley Ismael distinguished thus:-when he rode a red horse, he had a lance or sabre; when he rode a black one, a musket and gunpowder. In the "Arabian Nights" there is something like this; in commenting on which, Mr. Lane mentions (and I can also confirm), that the Turks signify anger against any class of their tributaries by issuing the Harutch papers of a red colour; and adds, "To exhibit the striking and dramatic spectacle described by our author, may, I conceive, be more effective than any words could be." In this way the black flag of the pirate has been selected, and the red flag of the rover. Next to the flag, the war-horse is the shield for this blazon. Thus we have in the Revelation the pale horse of death. The idea is beautifully paraphrased in a sentence of the old Chevalier, Fabian Phillips :-"The pale horse of death, and the red of destruction, rode up to their bridles in blood."-Urquhart's Pillars of Hercules.

THE TWOFOLD TESTIMONY.

THE usual way whereby Christians come to be assured of their regeneration, is by the joint testimony, both of marks and signs of grace, and also by the Spirit's witnessing to us that these marks and signs are in us.

The word and the Spirit are the twinlights that discover to us our condition. And as mariners presage to themselves a prosperous voyage when two lights, Castor and Pollux, appear; but a dangerous voyage if only one appears; so here it is unsafe, in the trial of our regeneration, to take up with one single solitary light; but when both the light of Scripture marks and signs, and also of the Spirit's witnessing, appear together, we may then prosperously and happily proceed to a discovery of ourselves. So (Romans viii. 16), “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." To evidence that we are born again, there comes in a twofold witness; the witness of our spirits, and the witness of God's Spirit. Our spirit deposeth that we are so, that we are born again, and become the children of God; and this it doth by observing the proper marks and characters that the Scripture gives of a child of God; and the Spirit of God comes in as another witness, that, in the mouth of two witnesses, this may be established; and, by his immediate light, clears up the truth of that attestation that eonscience did make; which takes away all

doubtings and hesitancies, and fills us with a full assurance; yea, gives us a plethory. So that still marks and signs are of great use for the discovery of the truth of grace. (1 John ii. 3.) By this we do "know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." But still we may be puzzled to know whether our keeping God's commandments be such a ground for our comfort; therefore the witness of the Spirit is here required to seal and confirm this unto us; without which, still we shall be to seek assurance for all the marks that the Scripture lays down for evidences of our graces. -Bishop Hopkins.

THE WEB OF LIFE.

"I have cut off, like a weaver, my life." The Holy Spirit here employs a comparison, to illustrate the uncertainty of life. He compares us to a weaver employed to manufacture a piece of cloth, and liable, from one moment to another to be required by his master to cut the thread, and submit his work for inspection. We have all a web to weave for our Master. Every minute, every second, the shuttle passes and repasses, leaving after it a thread-a thought, a word, an action. What shall be the length of our web we know not: we may be called to cut it even at the commencement. It is not with the length of the piece that we have to do; that depends not upon us. Our business is to see that it is well-woven, that it be according to the dimensions prescribed in the word of God-that the warp we use be the love of God, and that it be wrought under the influences of the Holy Spirit. It is said of the hypocrite, that his hope shall be as the spider's web. Let us take heed that we make not spider's webs, which may deceive the eyes of man, but will not abide the inspection of God.

But

Let us beware of deceiving ourselves as to the length of the web which remains for us to make. Too often we set before us a multitude of things which we imagine must be done before we die. One says, I have my children to educate and provide for; another, I have my house to build; another, I have pious enterprises to execute and bring to a happy termination-I require for this a certain time, which I trust God will be pleased to grant me. suddenly, in the midst of all these projects for the future, death comes and cuts the thread. Then all is ended for this world. Was it wise to make these things the subject of so many anxieties? Ought we to allow them to interpose between the tomb and us, and hide it from our view? Should we not each morning prepare ourselves to spend the day as if we were to die that night?

EXTRACTS FROM BARNES'S NOTES.

JOB.

THERE are in the book of Job frequent allusions to weapons of war, and to modes of attack and defence, such as to show that the subject had attracted much attention, and that war then was by no means unknown. In the poem we find the following allusions to weapons used, and to the methods of attack and defence.

To poisoned arrows:

"For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; Their poison drinketh up my spirit:

The terrors of God set themselves in array against me."-Chap. vi. 4.

To the shield:

"He runneth upon him with outstretched neck, With the thick bosses of his shields."

Chap. xv. 26.

To the methods of attack, and the capture

of a walled town:

"He set me up for a mark;

His archers came around me;

He transfixed my reins, and did not spare.
My gall hath he poured out upon the ground.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach;;
He rusheth upon me like a mighty man."

Chap. xvi. 12-14. To the iron weapon, and the bow of brass: "He shall flee from the iron weapon, But the bow of brass shall pierce him through." Chap. xx. 24. To the works cast up by a besieging army, for the annoyance of a city by their weapons of war:

"His troops advance together against me; They throw up their way against me, And they encamp round about my dwelling." Chap. xix. 12. In this connection, also, should be mentioned the sublime description of the warhorse in chapter xxxix., 19, seq. The horse was undoubtedly used in war, and a more sublime description of this animal caparisoned for battle, and impatient for the contest, does not occur in any language: "Hast thou given the horse his strength?

Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Dost thou make him to leap as the locust?
How terrible is the glory of his nostrils!
He paweth in the valley; he exulteth in his
strength;

He goeth forth into the midst of arms;
He laugheth at fear, and is nothing daunted,
And he turneth not back from the sword.

Upon him rattleth the quiver.

The glittering spear, and the lance.

In his fierceness and rage he devoureth the ground,

And will no longer stand still when the trumpet sounds.

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who had an intimate acquaintance from childhood with the Jewish system; who had all the advantages of the most able and faithful instruction, and who has, under the influence of inspiration, to make us acquainted with the true nature of those institutions. Nothing was more important than to settle the principles in regard to the nature of the Jewish economy; to show what was typical, and how those institutions were the means of introducing a far more perfect system,--the system of the Christian religion. If we have right feelings, we shall have sincere gratitude to God that he caused the Christian religion to be prefigured by a system in itself so magnificent and grand as that of the Jewish; and higher gratitude for that sublime system of religion, of which the Jewish, with all its splendour, was only the shadow. There was much that was beautiful, cheering, and sublime, in the Jewish system. There was much that was grand and awful in the giving of the law, and much that was imposing in its ceremonies. In its palmy and pure days, it was incomparably the purest and noblest system of religion then on earth. It taught the knowledge of the one true God; inculcated a pure system of morals; preserved the record of the truth on the earth, and held up constantly before man the hope of a better system still in days to come. But it was expensive, burdensome, precise in its prescriptions, and wearisome in its ceremonies, Acts xv. 10. It was adapted to one people-a people who occupied a small territory, and who could conveniently assemble at the central place of their worship three times in a year. It was not a system adapted to the whole world, nor was it designed for the whole world. When the Saviour came, therefore, to introduce whom was the design of the Jewish economy,--it ceased, as a matter of course. The Jewish altars were soon thrown down, the temple was razed to the ground, and the city of their solemnities was destroyed. The religion of the Hebrews passed away to be revived no more in its splendour and power, and it has never lived since, except as an empty form.

This Epistle teaches us why it passed away, and why it can never be restored. It is the true key with which to unlock the Old Testament-and, with these views, we may remark in conclusion, that he who would understand the Bible thoroughly should make himself familiar with this Epistle; that the canon of Scripture would be incomplete without it; and that to one who wishes to understand the revelation which God has given, there is no portion of the volume whose loss would be a more irreparable calamity than that of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Natural Bistorg and Philosophy.

ACTION INDEPENDENT OF ANIMAL WILL.

HOPELESS, as in the present state of physiological science, it may appear to be to ascertain the precise cause of muscular action, it is no more unphilosophical than it is undevout, in defect of ability to assign the intermediate causes, to refer the phenomena to the power and will of God. As, he who reads that the blood stimulates the arteries, must not suppose that he understands how the circulation of the blood is accomplished; so, he that is taught that the volitions of the animal act upon its nervous system, and this again upon the muscular fibre, must not suppose that he comprehends the physiological cause of animal motion. Phrases like these, in fact, explain nothing-are confessions of scientific ignorance; and serve but to show that mysteries, which philosophy cannot unravel, meet man at every stage of scientific investigation. He, by whom are all things, and for whom are all things, designed the creation of a world, that should be peopled by creatures whose existence should furnish to thoughtful intelligence the evidence of His eternal power and Godhead. Everywhere the devout inquirer after God meets with the "impress of His feet," beholds the production of "His handiwork;" and is reminded, that whilst an acquaintance with secondary causes enlarges man's knowledge, and forms the basis of natural theology, science speedily brings man to a point, where he must resolve the wondrous facts which he witnesses into the sovereign will and supreme power of the Uncreated One.

It is thus alone, that man can with any show of reason reflect upon, and store up, the facts relating to secretion, nutrition, absorption, the action of the lungs in breathing, the circulation of the blood throughout the body, the influence of the brain upon the nervous system, and other involuntary actions, that necessarily, for the comfort and existence of the animal, occur without any attention or effort on its own part. It is certain that every part of the animal body is provided with nerves-that no muscle can act except by nervous power transmitted by a nerve, and that no act of circulation, secretion, or absorption, can take place without muscular power. Nerves, as far as they are visible and traceable, are invariably found connected with the brain, or in acephalous animals, with ganglionic centres, whether supplying voluntary or involuntary muscles. A beauteous sight does this elaborate network present to the eye, as may be seen in any anatomical museum, far surpassing in delicacy and elegance any productions of the

silk-loom, or any of the fine needlework performed by the skilful and tasteful hands of the fairest of the fair. Should any nerve be insulated, either by separation from the brain, or by a ligature closely restricting it, the effect upon the animal is immediate and complete. In a muscle of assignable motion, the effect is palsy; in an organ of sense, the extinction of that sense; in a gland, the cessation of the power of secretion. Cut off, or plug up, a pipe that conveys water to a house or chamber, from the water-works that supply a town under the orders of the Board of Health, and the effect is not more decisive in stopping the supply of that fluid in the house or chamber with which the water-pipe is connected, than is the immediate and total suspension of all action in the organ or part connected with a nerve, if that nerve become insulated and interrupted in its free intercourse with the brain or ganglionic centre. Physiologists, therefore, find themselves compelled to come to the conclusion, that all power of motion, whatever be its nature, is derived from the brain, as the generator and centre of this inexplicable living force, this subtle, all-dominant power, which reigns unseen, and which diffuses its energy all incomprehensible throughout the animal economy. Does a tear flow from the eye? A nerve has been irritated. Does the sight of food excite the salivary glands, or to use a common phrase, "make one's mouth water?" A nerve, in its mysterious connection with the brain, has been stimulated.

The brain, or central organ of the nervous system, is the receiver of impressions through the nerves, the source of motion, the seat of sensation, and the place in which mind, possessing inexplicable and abstruse powers, resides. The mind has two modes of sensation; the one attended by consciousness, and the other marked by its absence, as is seen in the singular phenomena of somnambulism, where external matters make their natural impression on the mind, and the somnambulist acts, as far as this impression is concerned, as he would do on any ordinary occasion, while he has no consciousness either of the impression or the action. It has pleased our Maker that certain senses should be provided us, as means of holding communication with the external world. The nerves of these senses convey to the mind impressions attended by consciousness: sensation was necessary to the animal, as an incitement to its needful motions. But it was not indispensable, that an animal should be conscious of all the impressions

which incite to every motion in the body. This would have been in many instances a superfluous power; in not a few a sad incumbrance; in some, a decided injury. That glorious Being, therefore, who

"High throned on Heaven's eternal hill,
In number, weight, and measure, still
Does wisely order all that is,"

has separated consciousness from a large class of animal sensations. If we cannot elucidate the mode in which this remarkable but necessary distinction has been made, we can rest in the conclusion, that it is an appointment of the Creator for useful purposes. Anatomical researches have shown that the nerves which convey power of motion, and those which produce sensation, are quite distinct. It is thence inferred that there are two species of nerves, the motory and the sentient. The nerves of one sense, it is found, will not convey the impressions which are carried off by the nerves of another sense; and the nerves of the vital organs differ so essentially, that the same substance, which is strongly felt by one, makes no impression on another. Yet so delicate are inany of these otherwise insensible nerves, that, in the heart, for instance, they distinguish the difference between venous and arterial blood. Yet the keenest eye of the anatomist and physiologist can detect no difference in the structure, or in the material of these nerves possessed of such distinct attributes, and discharge such vastly different offices in the animal economy! To what, then, but to the will and power of Him, who gives "no account of his ways," can this source of involuntary but essential motion be attributed? Or, how can a man, conversant with these facts, justify himself in seeking to get rid of the idea of God? False philosophy, indeed, is that which would attribute to mere chance, or to passive matter, phenomena and processes that are worthy of the wisdom and intelligence of the Infinite!

Nervous irritability is the hypothesis that has been assumed in explanation of the existence of unfelt impressions on the nerves of sensation without consciousness. But what is this nervous irritability? Does any one know? Can any one describe it? The phrase explains nothing. The phrase leaves us where it found us in our exploring career. The membrane of the nose is irritated; many muscles are put into violent action; the animal sneezes. What more know we than before, when science gravely informs us that nervous irritability has been excited? An animal is pursued by its foes; the timid creature runs and leaps, and in so doing hundreds of muscles are in varied, complicated, and violent action. How? Stimulated into action, quoth grave philo.

sophy, by nervous irritability. And what is nervous irritability? The oracle is struck dumb, as were the shrines of Jove, and Apollo, when Christian truth unmasked heathen folly and deceit. All must be resolved into the original and subtle powers, which God in his wisdom, goodness, and power, has seen fit to give to the animal economy to answer the numerous and beneficent ends of its existence, and to confirm the faith in the revelation of His word, that in Him we move, as well as have our being. Let the process of absorption be considered, as an interesting example of involuntary but life-essential action. The lacteal vessel, that receives the nutrient particles of the digested food in its passage from the stomach through the intestines, is voracious in proportion as the body at large is in want, or the stomach is hungry. But it does not receive an indiscriminate medley, even when the appetite is most strongly excited by want and long fasting, or even starvation. No chemist can so skilfully and successfully analyse and discriminate the constituents of a compound, as can this little vessel, with its microscopic mouth, as if endued with chemical and physiological science, choose what is good, reject what is pernicious, and pass by what is useless, in the mixed fluid, which passes an uninterrupted stream before it. Of all this sensation and motion, essential as it is to health and life, the animal, man himself, neither knows nor feels anything whatever. Meal after meal is taken; the mixed medley of food is digested; the bread-stream flows and increases into a deep current, fed by many a rivulet; that Argus of our life, the minute lacteal, with no consciousness on the part of the mind, and with no direction from the will of man, makes its selection from the liquid mixture with a precision and accuracy, that must be attributed not to the inert power of passive, blind, unconscious matter, but to the power and goodness of the Almighty. Had every feeling, necessary for maintaining life, been a sensation to the conscious animal, as we can hardly conceive that it would have left a power for the discernment of aught else, so it would be difficult to imagine such a state exempted from, if not extensive suffering, intolerable anxiety. But all this is graciously prevented. The animal economy, full of motion, incessant in its processes, abounding more in mechanical action than the workshop of the engineer, and more replete with chemical operations than the laboratory of a Davy, a Dalton, or a Faraday, maintains the "noiseless tenor of its way," unheeded by the animal itself, whispering to our timid faith in the presence of this Divinity, that we cast all our care upon Him because Ile careth for us.

THE BIBLE.

Miscellany.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR PRESENT VERSION." THE readers of the English Bible, now in general use, will, in all probability, be interested in hearing the mode in which this version of the Scriptures was made; and this interest will be increased by the consideration of its genuine merit, as well as by the fact, that it has been already in use for two centuries and a half, and may be in use still, indefinitely as to time.

At the accession of James the First to the throne, in 1603, there were two versions of the Scripture commonly employed in this country, namely, that of "Geneva and "The Bishops'." Much difficulty and inconvenience arose from the fact, that, while the latter was the authorized, the former was the popular version. And it was generally held, that this state of things ought not to be allowed to continue any longer. The time was not unfavourable, as the king was by no means indisposed to give his attention either to ecclesiastical or biblical subjects. This was proved by the conference established through his means, between those whose opinions were expressed in the Millenary petition, and the representatives of the Anglican establishment.

At an early stage of this conference, a request was made to the king, through Dr. Reynolds, for a new translation of the Bible. The king approved of the proposition, saying, that "he had never seen a good English version of the Bible as yet, though he thought that of all hitherto executed, the Geneva Bible was the worst.' We need scarcely stop to point out that this was a prejudiced and erroneous remark. Still, however, it is worthy of annotation, as the royal views and feelings led in reality to that translation now under review. Had it not been for the exercise of his prerogative on the matter, there would scarcely have been such an assimilation of the two parties then prevalent in the church, as to admit of at that time any such result.

An amusing account remains relative to some objections made by the king on certain passages of Scripture, as then rendered. They clearly illustrate his charac ter-but to bring them forward would detain us too long; and, be this as it may, the practical part of the measure was very well devised, and showed much judgment on his part.

* From Kitto's "Sunday Reading."

The king wrote to Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, mentioning that he himself had selected fifty-four able men to be employed on a fresh translation of the Bible into the English tongue. Through him, he also called upon the Bishops to encourage the learned men in their respective dioceses, to send in their notes on any difficulties which they found in the Scripture, to the two Hebrew readers in Oxford and Cambridge respectively, or to the Dean of Westminster, that they might be considered by the translators at large.

Nothing is known with any accuracy as to the appointment of translators by the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; but that such an appointment was made there is no doubt, as the king issued his command for this purpose. The king also arranged for their maintenance; writing through Robert Cecil, Chancellor of Cambridge, to the Vice-chancellor of that University, on behalf of the translators who should assemble there, "that such as are to be called out of the countrie may be intertayned in such colleges as they shall make choice of, without any charge unto them, either for their entrance, their chamber, or their commons, except it. happen that any doe make choice to remayne in any of the poorer colleges, that are not well able to beare that charge, and then such order will be taken by the Lord Bishop of London, as that the same shall be defrayed.'

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On the last day of the month on which the document here quoted was forwarded, Bancroft wrote. to the authorities at Cambridge, calling on them to expedite the work; and it is probable that a similar letter was also sent at the same time to the University of Oxford.

Fifty-four persons were originally mentioned as the number appointed by the king for the translation. However, the names of forty-seven only are known as actually employed in it. The translators finally met at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster; and were divided into two companies at each place, so that there were six in all. The following were the chief of the instructions given to direct their proceedings.

I. The Bible ordinarily read in church and generally called the Bishops' Bible, was to be the basis of the new version.

II. Proper names in the text, and the old ecclesiastical words, were to be kept as much as possible.

III. No marginal notes were to be

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