ful are the sailors at the termination of their toils and anxieties! The chorus which they raise speaks their delight. It reminds us of the Christian as he enters the harbor of eternal felicity. He has braved the storms and hurricanes of life; he has escaped the rocks of danger, and the whirlpools of temptation and sin. Angels throng the shore to welcome his arrival, and he lands in the regions of peace, and holiness, and joy.

The ocean, as the medium of commerce, introduces distant and far separated nations, to each other, who, otherwise, would have remained unknown. In the year 1828, Great Britain and Ireland, employed annually 24,000 merchant vessels, exclusive of numerous foreign ships.

All the other trading vessels in the world do not equal in number those which belong to Great Britain and her dependencies. The intercourse is thus reciprocal, and the mutual advantages extensive. Vessels that have carried death and destruction, have likewise conveyed to distant lands the heralds of salvation, bearing the proclamation of mercy and pardon; thus knowledge has been diffused, ignorance has been dethroned, idolatry has fallen, sinners have been converted, and God has been glorified.

world;

How many delightful associations are connected with a sight of the great waters ! We call to mind Columbus exploring the new we think of the Spanish Armada, frustrated in its ungodly purpose; we look on the Sea of Gennesareth, the Redeemer and his disciples in the vessel, tossed to and fro by the raging billows; we behold Pharoah and his host attempting to pass through the Red sea, punished for their obduracy and temerity, and the victorious Israelites conducted safely through: At length, we are borne on the wings of contemplation to those holy, happy regions, where shines in all its splendour the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,-where there is "no more sea "-where there are no tumultuous passions—no raging, mischievous, inhabitants-no billows of affliction and calamity—no estrangement or separation by distance, of the loving and beloved, nothing to disturb or distress the mind, now for ever happy in the enjoyment of God. "There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest."

Every object in nature is capable of inprovement. The sight of a rock introduces us to the Rock of ages: the view of a hill, to

Mount Zion-the beautiful for situation-the joy of the whole

Our Frontispiece represents a singular and interesting tomb near the ancient city of Telmessus, thus described by a recent traveller-

"Taking our boat, we rowed to a tomb standing in the sea, and nearly surrounded by morass, the reeds and rushes obscuring it from view except to those approaching it from seaward. It is composed of but two immense blocks of stone; the lower, square, with ends cut to resemble panels, the upper forming a roof, in shape like an inverted boat, the side and keel being ornamented with bas reliefs now considerably weather-worn."

The excavated tombs seen in the back ground, will naturally recall to mind the astonishing rock sepulchres of Petra, so fully described by Laborde, and commented on by Dr. Keith, in his work on the Fulfilment of Prophecy. They afford also a singular illustration of that principle which led the kings and counsellors of the earth, amongst the ancients, to “build desolate places for themselves," (Job iii. 14,) sparing no cost or labor on these structures.

BOOK-PRAYER AND HEART-PRAYER.

ARCHBISHOP Secker, when laid on his couch with a broken thigh, was visited at Lambeth by Mr. Talbot, vicar of St. Giles, Reading, who had lived in great intimacy with him, and received his preferment from him. "You will pray with me Talbot?" said the archbishop, during this interview. Mr. Talbot rose and went to look for a prayer-book. "That is not what I want now," said the dying prelate, "kneel down by me and pray for me in

the way I know you are used to do." With this command the zealous man of God readily complied, and prayed earnestly from his heart for his dying friend whom he saw no more.-Life of Countess of Huntingdon.

THE GOD AND THE SAGE.*

THE testimony of an enemy, or of an indifferent person, we are apt to reckon the best evidence of the goodness of any cause. Which of these characters Rousseau merits with regard to Christianity, must be left to be determined by those who are best acquainted with his works. At all events, we believe we may acquit that ingenious writer of any prejudice in favor of Revelation. The following passage, therefore, of his work, intituled "Emilius," must be deemed an impartial testimony to the truth of Christianity, and the Divinity of its Author, at the same time that it contains a very amiable representation of both.

"I will confess that the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel hath its influence on my heart Peruse the works of our philosophers with all their pomp of diction: how mean, how contemptible are they, compared with the Scriptures! Is it possible that a book, at once so simple and sublime, should be merely the work of man? Is it possible that the Sacred Personage, whose history it contains, should be himself a mere man? Do we find that he assumed the tone of an enthusiast or ambitious sectary? What sweetness, what purity in his manners! what an affecting gracefulness in his delivery! what sublimity in his maxims! what profound wisdom in his discourses! what presence of mind, what subtlety, what truth in his replies! how great the command over his passions! Where is the man, where is the philosopher, who could so live, and so die, without weakness, and without ostentation? When Plato described his imaginary good man loaded with all the shame of guilt, yet meriting the highest rewards of virtue, he described exactly the character of Jesus Christ: the resemblance was so striking, that all the fathers perceived it.

Although this paper may not be new to all our readers, we are persuaded that many have not seen it. Though we attach little importance to the testimony of Rousseau, who in the worst sense could be all things to all men, the parallel is in itself so well drawn, that we make no apology for its introduction.-Ed.

"What prepossession, what blindness must it be, to compare the son of Sophroniscus to the Son of Mary? What an infinite disproportion there is between them! Socrates dying without pain or ignominy, easily supported his character to the last: and if his death, however easy, had not crowned his life, it might have been doubted whether Socrates, with all his wisdom, was anything more than a vain sophist. He invented, it is said, the theory of morals. Others, however, had before put them in practice; he had only to say what they had done, and reduce their examples to precepts. Aristides had been just, before Socrates defined justice; Leonidas gave up his life for his country, before Socrates declared patriotism to be a duty; the Spartans were sober people, before Socrates recommended sobriety; before he had even defined virtue, Greece abounded in virtuous men. But where could Jesus learn among his compatriots, that pure and sublime morality of which he only hath given us in both precept and example. The greatest wisdom was made known amidst the most bigotted fanaticism, and the simplicity of the most heroic virtues did honor to the vilest people on the earth. The death of Socrates, peacefully philosophizing with his friends, appears the most agreeable that could be wished for; that of Jesus, expiring in the midst of agonizing pains, abased, insulted, cursed by a whole nation, is the most horrible that could be found. Socrates, in receiving the cup of poison, blessed, indeed, the weeping executioner who administered it; but Jesus, in the midst of excruciating tortures, prayed for his merciless tormentors. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are those of a Sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God! Shall we suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction? indeed, my friend, it bears not the marks of fiction: on the contrary, the history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as that of Jesus Christ. Such a supposition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty without removing it: it is more inconceivable that a number of persons should agree to write such a history, than that one only should furnish the subject of it. The Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to the morality contained in the gospel; the marks of whose truth are so striking and inimitable, that the inventor would be a more astonishing character than the hero."

ANECDOTE OF BISHOP HURD.

THE venerable Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, being in the habit of preaching frequently, had observed a poor man remarkably attentive, and made him some little present. After a while he missed his humble auditor, and meeting him, said, "John, how is it that I do not see you in the aisle as usual?" John with some hesitation, replied, “My lord, I hope you will not be offended, and I will tell you the truth. I went the other day to hear the methodists, and I understand their plain words so much better, that I have attended them ever since." The bishop put his hand into his pocket and gave him a guinea, with words to this effect, "God bless you, and go where you can receive the greatest profit to your soul."—Life of Countess of Huntingdon.

Enquiries and Correspondence.

The Sabbath.

DEAR SIR,-Do you consider it a sinful indulgence on the part of a professing Christian, whose time is much occupied during the week, to spend any part of the Sabbath day in walking for exercise or relaxation? I am, &c.

Tavistock.

P.

In matters of this kind much depends on spirit and motive. Exercise or relaxation may be good or bad, according to the sense attached to these expressions.

The mind of a Christian may, we believe, be as profitably engaged in walking, as in sitting still; and enjoy equal benefit in communion with God abroad as at home.

Such exercise or relaxation must not, however, interfere in any way with the command of God to keep holy the Sabbath day, or prevent attendance on the means of grace. Neglect of the public worship of God lies at the root of indifference, scepticism, infidelity, crime, and everlasting ruin.

Children of Pious Parents.

SIR,-Will you, or one of your valuable correspondents, favor me with an explanation of Prov. xxii. 6, it having been argued that the children of pious parents, who have been brought up in the paths of virtue, have turned out in some cases even murderers.