mind, madness reigns in all its accummulated horrors. Visions-horrible visions-of unreal and inconceivable objects float before his disordered senses while he hears not, he distinguishes not, he regards not, the voice of parent, or of wife, or of child, or of friend. The spirit sits surrounded by the ruins of nature; terrified amidst shattered, and useless, or perverted organs; and covered with the midnight of despair. Oh, let the compassionate eye of the Saviour fix upon this object!—and it doeshe meets him coming from among the tombs-he speaks the word—he calms the tempest-behold "the man sitting at his feet, clothed, and in his right mind." He gave "reason and understanding to the distracted; and release from the power of Satan, to those who were possessed by him."

CHARACTER OF MOSES:

It is impossible to contemplate the character of Moses, in any point of view, without being struck with its singular greatness. We are surprised to see the little, deserted child, who floated in a bulrush ark, the sport of winds and waves, starting up a lawgiver, a hero, a general, a monarch; and evincing in every sphere of operation, in every period of life, in every rank of society, an evident superiority, not merely over his contemporaries, but also over his predecessors, and the generations which have followed him. But of all his distinctions, that which the apostle seized is the most

conspicuous: of all his achievements it is the most noble; of all his conquests it is the most brilliant. It was, at one and the same time, a victory over the world, a victory over sin, and a victory over himself. "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the, wrath of the king: for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible."

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What did he relinquish? Honour, reputation, distinction, a crown? The objects which dazzle the eyes, which captivate the affections, which subdue the heart, which inflame the desires of others, he voluntarily resigned. He gave up, of his own accord, from a noble contempt of its worthlessness, that, for which the hero dyes his hands in blood, hardens his heart against the tears of humanity and the pleadings of nature, violates the rights of nations, destroys the liberties of mankind, and for the attainment of which Europe is now desolated, and thousands are laid asleep in the dust, from time to time-the dust which was first impurpled with their vital fluid. Moses aimed at a nobler conquest, and won a greater field than that of Austerlitz or Calabria, when he subdued ambition, renounced the court of Pharaoh, and relinquished his claim on Egypt's well-watered kingdom!

What did he embrace? A life of danger; a sphere of humiliation; a track of ignominy. He

did not withdraw to spend his days in ease, and in elegant retirement. He neither shrunk from the painful duties of life, nor expected exemption from its troubles. On the contrary, he walked along its most thorny path. He chose a portion which necessarily involved in it affliction. And he did it upon the conviction of his judgment, and the decisions of his heart. Had he been expressly called to it, we might have wondered less: but it was his choice; and he obeyed in the voice of God, the impulse of his own great mind.

O how I envy him his feelings! How sweet were the hours of his retirement, of his reflections, of his repose! He did not meet, like Brutus, an apparition in his tent, raised by the accusations of conscience, to reproach him with a deed, which he had flattered himself would cover him with immortal glory. He did not, in casting the die, and taking his final resolution, decree, like Cæsar, the ruin of his country's liberties. He did not, like Alexander, first subdue the world, and then weep that he had not another world to conquer. These all had something to tarnish their glory-something to disturb their repose: and they felt how vain, and how unsatisfactory is human greatness. They often repented of their choice: but he, never!

And this greatness is attainable! All have not a crown to resign: but every man has passions to conquer. All cannot reach the summit of a hero's fame: but all may choose the lot of Moses. They

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may be destitute of his talents, of his literature, his rank; but they may adopt his decision; and in this he was most eminent, and most glorious. Here is a guiltless field, for the noblest ambition! And here is a lesson for the proudest heart! Behold the eulogy of the greatest man that ever lived! And in what is it founded? Not on his distinction as a legislator-his skill as a general-his elevation as a monarch-his attainments as a scholar-nor even his superiority as a prophetthese are all waved-Upon this alone his character rests-he chose " rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." ." "Go, and do likewise."

CONSISTENCY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.

TRUTH is always consistent with itself: falsehood is frequently detected merely from its want of congruity. He that contents himself with simply detailing facts as they arise, need fear no scrutiny; every examination of his narrative will only serve to render more evident its consistency. He that has a tale to palm upon mankind, to which truth refuses to set her seal, has reason to shrink from investigation. In vain it affects the air of sincerity-in vain it borrows the ornament of eloquence-in vain it is guarded with the vigilance of art-it wants the harmony and agreement absolutely essential to truth, and stands at last detected and exposed. If these observations are just

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on general subjects, they will apply with peculiar force to the facts of revelation, and appear no less important as a test of its doctrines. A system that does not harmonize with itself cannot be true-because truth is necessarily consistent. A system that does indeed correspond in all its several parts, has something more than presumptive evidence to its veracity; for the same reason it bears in its face the grand and characteristic features of truth. To no volume can this evidence be so satisfactorily applied as to the Bible; both as a narrative of facts, and as a system of doctrines; nor less to the general scheme of salvation revealed in it, "and most surely believed" among us. There are 66 ny things" contained therein "hard to be understood," but there is nothing contradictory. There may be some things which we know not how to reconcile: but its invariable consistency, in every case to which evidence can be applied, ought in justice to induce us to conclude that the defect is neither in the system, nor in its testimony, but that it lies partly in the inferiority of our powers of judging, and partly in the very contracted and partial views which we necessarily have of its plans and subjects. In the mean while the genuine exercise of reason appears to be, to allow Revelation, what must be allowed to all science, the grant of its own principles: and then to judge of its veracity, or the contrary, by the agreement or disagreement of its parts with each other; and the consequent harmony or discrepancy of the whole.