dently, there is no seal of the Spirit. It is not, then, a thing so very difficult to know where we stand, and what we are. Every man can know enough of his own heart, to ascertain if these gracious affections are there. How is it with thine own heart, dear reader? Let us learn to pray, with the saintly Augustine, "Thou, who hast sown in thy field, my heart, the good seed, root out the weeds and thorns of vicious dispositions and habits, which else will choke the work and make it unfruitful. O sweetest, kindest, dearest Jesus! pour into me, I beg of thee, the abundance of thy love, that there may be no remains of earthly or sensual desires or thoughts in my breast; but that thou and thy love may reign unrivalled there, possess my heart entirely." Biblical Illustration. THE BIBLE CONFIRMED BY THE DISCOVERIES AT NINEVEH. GOD, in His wisdom and goodness, has seen fit to make the proof of His word cumulative with the succession of ages. In addition to the evidence, internal and external, from miracles and prophecies, and from personal experience, all of which intensifies with the progress of time, a powerful confirmation of the Bible is furnished in modern science and discovery. Recent explorations have made the Holy Land itself a witness in behalf of the Holy Book. The new science of the earth, which at first created trepidation in the minds of many, now delivers the whole of its testimony in favour of the Bible. But God had another evidence hidden away in the earth, to be brought forth in due time, not engraven by Himself in successive strata, but chiselled by man, in alabaster and marble, upon temples and palaces, which were the highest exhibition of human glory. The fulfilment of prophecy in the destruction of Nineveh was in its time a new testimony to the divinity of the Sacred Record. But God would use this city again as a witness; and so, long before Christ came, before the founding of the eternal city, He buried it up in its own débris, to be called forth again, in solemn and awe-inspiring testimony, after the tardy lapse of twenty-five centuries. To the modern traveller the site of Nineveh presents the appearance of a rural district, with grass and fields of grain waving over its fallen greatness, whilst the massive piles of palace and temple bear only the appearance of green, nicely-rounded mounds, with a depth of from ten to thirty feet of earth above their buried memorials. The discoveries of Layard and others have brought forth in sculpture and inscription the history of Assyria, for a period of 900 years from B.C. 1237 to B.C. 338, which is found to be parallel with, and confirmatory of, the Sacred Record. God kept the history of that nation for the last 900 years of her existence, so that her memory might be preserved in the earth, until He should call forth her hidden records to confirm His own. The sculpture found corroborates the Bible account of the power and glory of that ancient city as a contemporary and rival of Jerusalem; it confirms the description of Nimrod as a mighty hunter before the Lord," the Bible representation of the high position to which eunuchs rose in the Assyrian monarchy, the account of horses "swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves," the description of "machines for battering walls," 66 grappling arms," "chariots," and 66 precious cloths for chariots." It represents the "scribe of the host," standing with style in hand taking a minute account of the spoil and of the slain, as he counts the captured cattle and the severed heads of warriors brought before him. It shows a bas-relief of a king placing his foot upon the neck of a captured monarch, making a "footstool of enemies." It presents Assyrian warriors in a procession carrying away four captive idols, which stood upon a platform resting upon their shoulders, as the Babylonians were to take the gods of Egypt and sures were carried away as spoils to the country from which they came. They also give an account of Sennacherib's invading the kingdom of Hezekiah, as follows:"Hezekiah, king of Judah, who had not submitted to my authority, I shut up within Jerusalem, his capital city; I took his principal cities and carried away their spoil." Now, turn to 2 Kings xviii. 13, and you read: "Now, in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, did Sennacherib come up against all the fenced cities and took them." But what is still more positive and remarkable is the mention of the amount of tribute levied by the Assyrian king. Sennacherib says:-" I took thirty talents of gold and eight hundred of silver." The Bible says: "And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold." The amount of gold is precisely the same. The discrepancy as to the silver probably arises from the fact that the Bible account only gives the amount of silver in coin, while the Assyrian, desirous of making the figures as large as possible, included both the coin and the silver in plate, that was cut off from the temple. (See 2 Kings xviii. 15.) And thus the apparent disagreement becomes the stronger evidence. Sennacherib does not give the account of his own defeat, when 185,000 of his men perished in one night; but this is only confirmation, for he would not wish to perpetuate the memory of his own overthrow, but rather to gloss it over by an account of the glory of his former invasion. And so it is. One of the most gorgeous and extensive sculptures found represents the siege and capture by the Assyrians of a great city. There were the towers and battlements of the city-several trenches thrown up against it-an unusual number of warriors drawn up before the city in successive ranks, of kneeling, bending, and standing archers, mingled with sling-men and spear-men, a perfect phalanx. Battering-rams and scaling-ladders were in operation. The besieged thronged the battlements and towers, defending themselves by showering arrows, javelins, stones and blazing torches upon the assailants. But the victory was turning upon the side of the besiegers, who were already securing their spoil and captives, whilst the king, upon his throne, was receiving the chiefs of the conquered nation that knelt and crouched before him. Over the head of the king was this inscription: "Sennacherib, the mighty king, the king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish -Igive permission for its slaughter." Now in the Bible passage referred to we read, "And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria, at Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me I will bear." Here, then, we have the identification of a king, a city, a people, and a victory! What wonderful coincidence! The name of Jonah, said to be inscribed upon pillars in Nineveh, where he preached, is also a striking coincidence. There have been discovered in these ruins fifty-six proper names, which are found in the Scriptures; we have not space to trace these out in their coincidence of detail, but the simple fact of the names appearing in both records is a striking confirmation of the Sacred Word. Here has come down to us, across the chasm of twenty-five centuries, a contemporaneous history, concurring with our Sacred Record in chronology, in names, in minute detail. These sculptures and inscriptions are no impositions to add a spurious authority to the Bible. They bear in themselves the most indubitable marks of genuineness; and then the fact that they have been concealed in the earth, and unknown to all our modern history, precludes the idea of any collusion. Neither was this history recorded by the ancient Assyrians to corroborate the Bible, for they were the enemies of the Jews. Their evidence is all the better, as from an impartial witness; just as poor Gibbon, in spite of his "fine reasons," has furnished in his History material for the illustration of one of the best expositions of the Book of Revelation. Whilst these Assyrian monarchs were vaingloriously recording their own greatness in conquering God's chosen people, they were at the same time recording their testimony, which was to be used in confirmation of the Bible, long, long after their deeds of glory were forgotten. Whilst God has kept to Himself the secret of this reserved testimony, His word has been making its way among the nations, until now He sees best to "bring forth out of His treasures these things both new and old," to confirm and energise His book. What greater wonder in human history than this blessed Bible! It chronicled the birth of Nimrod, the founder of Nineveh; it recorded that inaugural 5,000 years ago; it preached there the Gospel of repentance; it thundered there the woes of God upon sin; it foretold and then recorded the sad record of its fall; it turned from the grave of her departed greatness, and lived on and on, until to-day she arises from the dead, and with her newly-speaking, antique pagan language, testifies to the historic truth of the Scriptures! The Counsel Chamber. A LOOKING-GLASS FOR BUSINESS MEN. How cross you are! Yes, how cross you are-and it is high time you know it. You are cross in the morning, cross in the evening, and cross all day; cross when you go out, and cross when you come in ; cross to your wife, and cross to your children, and cross to everybody; cross when you go to bed, and cross even in your sleep: and your friends wait in fear lest that infernal passion shall continue through life, and be 66 strong in death." Your character is known and read by all men. It leaks out or spills over continually, and there is no use in attempting to conceal the matter. Now we intend, in this discourse, to touch only on one single development of your disposition, viz., its relation to business, to your prosperity; and leave your minister to give you other necessary Gospel teaching. We will begin this ventilation by remarking: 1st. That cross men are usually despised by everybody. 2nd. That cross men are always in want of friends. 3rd. That cross men cannot depend upon permanent prosperity. 4th. That cross men when in trouble are left alone and let alone, and "are of all men most miserable." 5th. That cross men are the last men that should ask for favours. 6th. That cross men have neither position nor influence. 7th. That cross men are cut off from the affections, good-will, and sympathy of partners, clerks, customers, and everybody. Lastly. That cross men, when they depart, "which is far better,' leave behind a short procession, and but few mourners. In view of this subject, we venture further to say, that when you speak cross to your partners, you are making a" muss" generally, which will have a tendency to reduce materially the profits of your business, and render your success more difficult; when you speak cross to your clerks, you discourage, inflame, and prejudice them, so that very soon they will care little for you, or any of your concerns; when you speak cross to a customer, even if he is unreasonable and deserves it, you disgrace yourself, and do a wrong which cannot easily be repaired. He will not forget it if you do, and the worse the man is, and the more he deserves it, the more he will abuse you. Wherever and whenever you are cross, you damage and belittle your elf, and all peaceable men will nake tracks, give you a wide berth, set out of sight, and instinctively hun you as they would a wild lephant. Lastly, No money can compenate you for the loss of a good or even a tolerable disposition. Therefære, don't indulge a bad temper. You may be a Rothschild, or even a Cresus, yet if you are a chronic cross man, you will be a poor beggar-a poverty-stricken fool without a crumb of solid comfort upon which to satisfy the cravings of poor human nature. Your partners, your clerks, your customers, and the public generally, including your poor dog and cat, will breathe easier when you die and are out of the way, unless you reform. Will you make the experiment? Begin then with a smile. Follow up that smile with a firm resolution to persevere to the end. Let what will come, keep your temper. If you cannot restrain yourself, sing-sing loud. Try Old Hundred, Mear, or even Yankee Doodle. If that don't answer, seek the open air, and roar at the wind. Try your lungs with a nor'wester, and give us a record of your experience. Go to Niagara Falls, and amid the thunderings of that mighty cataract, give us a trial of your uttermost capacity that shall ever after satisfy you. Do anything rather than not become a-reformed man. CHRISTIAN ENERGY. "GIRD up the loins of your mind." If there were but a step between us and the end of our pilgrimage, we might go with loose and flowing garments; but it is a long way. Per haps not long in time, for God only knows how rapidly grace may bring us along through its last stages, but long in distance. What Christian does not feel that, adjusting his measurement by the attainments he has still to make to reach perfect sanctification, he is yet far, very far, from heaven! How many Ebenezers, that pilgrims now safely at home have set up on the King's highway, must he pass before he gets on to where they are now! There are many, many steps to take in our advance in holiness, before we shall lay down the staff at the doorstep of our Father's house. Therefore, "gird up;" prepare for a journey, and go forth in good earnest. You can do nothing without your girdle. It must be buckled on you well, or you are no pilgrim. You must be recognized by it, as well as braced up for the fatigues of travel. It is ornamental. It is God's own truth; so Paul tell us in his epistle to the Ephesians, where he is equipping the Christian soldier. It is curiously wrought, like the girdle of the ephod that Aaron wore. It is woven of gold, and silver, and fine twined linen of costliest dye; it is studded over with gems of purest tint, and the most resplendent. There you may see the promises shining out from the darker background of warning and threatening; and as jewels nobly set, stand forth the titles of love Jehovah gives Himself, and the words of endearment with which He addresses His people. How well it sets off the white robe of Jesus' righteousness, in which every saint is arrayed! It binds it close to him; it makes it inseparably |
