and of the passages selected from the Hellenistic writers and the Fathers, by the above authors.

There is, however, a Commentary which it would be almost a sin to omit. We mean the celebrated work of Bengel, entitled, "Gnomon of the New Testament, in which from the native force of the words, the depth, harmony, and healthfulness of the heavenly meanings is indicated." This invaluable work was written in Latin, and the original may be had cheap; but as the style is rather difficult, some students will find it convenient to procure, though at greater expense, the good translation published by Messrs. Clark, of Edinburgh.

The suffrages of educators and advisers of youth are, in the matters of Greek Testaments with Commentaries, divided between Alford's, Webster and Wilkinson's, and Wordsworth's. Alford's displays considerable reading, but is not perfectly digested. His tendencies are towards what are termed "broad" views. Webster's Commentary does not take so wide a range, but within its range is better condensed, manifests acquaintance with the niceties of Greek, and throws new grammatical light on many passages. The apparent fault is a greater dread of offending against popular orthodoxy than Catholic theology. Wordsworth's is compact, very carefully done, and displays a vast amount of learning. The spirit is that of Church orthodoxy, with, possibly, a leaning here and there to more modern, and less wellgrounded conceptions.

Calmet's Commentary on the Bible, in French, in twentysix volumes, quarto, should be obtained, if possible. Calmet was a first-rate scholar of the old school, which had profounder, if not wider, learning, and less self-conceit, than the modern. His work is valuable for its thorough treatment of difficult passages, on which it gives the sentiments of the best ancient and modern writers, and shows which are to be preferred. It, also, contains a great amount of archæological information, and the numerous dissertations on various curious, or important questions of difficulty, are monuments of learning and judgment.

The Christian Pear.

BY A CLERGYMAN.

Advent.

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”— Rom. xiii. 11.

GOSPEL exhortation ever grows in earnestness and urgency. It ever points towards the future. The motives for Christian holiness are always becoming more powerful. As time advances it brings ever weightier reasons for watchfulness. Sometimes, a season of privilege, long promised, hoped and waited for, is represented as at last arrived. Thus St. Paul in 2 Cor. vi. 2 founds an exhortation to the due and profitable reception of the grace of God, on the arrival of the period predicted by the prophet Isaiah as " the accepted time and the day of salvation." It is quite a mistake to quote this passage, as is sometimes done, to show the necessity of beginning at once the work of repentance, and of the service of God, as if the apostle intended to urge us to improve the present, since we are not sure of the future. Such an exhortation is, of course, based on truth and is of exceeding importance. But it is not, for all that, any the more desirable to purchase it at the price of misrepresenting a passage of Scripture. The apostle is here contrasting the present, not with the future, but with the past. He says that the promised season of Divine favor and succour has at last arrived. Isaiah (xlix. 8) says: "Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee." Quoting the words, the apostle says: “Behold now is the accepted time: behold now is the day of salvation;" now under the Christian economy. Nothing can be plainer than his meaning, or that the manner in which passage is too commonly cited, is founded on a miserable

the

misapprehension. It is always far better to preserve the meaning of Scripture, than to use it remotely from the intention of the writer, though the sense we put upon it may be important and our design may be good. But

to return.

As in the passage referred to in 2 Cor., the apostle uses the arrival of a hoped-for season as an inducement to the due reception of God's gift, so in our text he urges the increased nearness of the promised future blessing as a reason for watchfulness. "And that," or "and this," that is the duty to which I exhort you, do, "knowing the time, that the hour is come that we should awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer, than when we believed."

When the Roman Christians first believed the Gospel, they received a promise of salvation. Salvation is a very comprehensive word; it includes deliverance of the Church and every member of it from all evil; it embraces the sum of all the blessings which God confers on them through Christ. Now this salvation is always in progress. It is every day nearer. We shall if we are wise watch the signs of its time. We cannot indeed know the times and the seasons which the

Father hath put in His own power. We cannot know the precise time when our deliverance will be accomplished, or when one of the promised blessings will be conferred. But we can and we ought to watch the indications of the progress of the Divine plan. We can and we ought to discern the signs of the time. And seeing that salvation is constantly drawing nearer, our watchfulness ought to increase in proportion.

First: The season of the triumph of the Gospel is approaching. The prophets predict, in the most glowing words which have kindled the hopes of the Catholic Church in all ages, a time when the Gospel shall not only be universally preached, but everywhere believed and everywhere obeyed. In the time of the apostles, nothing would have seemed more improbable to mere human judgment than the general prevalence of their doctrine. In faith they proclaimed it, in faith they

suffered for it, and in faith they died. They relied on the Divine promise, they confided in the power of the truth itself, and in its fitness to human nature and human necessity. Since their time, the progress of the truth has been greatly hindered by human infirmity, especially by the shameful corruption and slothfulness of the Church. Yet progress there has been, progress great and encouraging. Now, the faith of Christ prevails amongst the foremost nations, and every generation obtains some new advantage. Now, we might safely predict, even on the ground of mere human probability, the universal spread of this faith and its final triumph over the obstinacy of the Jew and the darkness of the heathen. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." Even now the dawn is on the Eastern hills. Already the tops of the mountains have caught the golden beam, and presently there shall rise on all men a vision of glory.

If then the Gospel is soon to triumph, let us act worthily of it. It is a system of justice and mercy, of purity and peace. These are soon to prevail. Let us strive more earnestly to anticipate their prevalence by shewing them forth in our own lives. Let us strive to promote them amongst others.

Secondly: The season of Christ's Second Advent is approaching.

The Old Testament is one great prediction of Christ's Advent, which the New Testament has but partially fulfilled. We are still in expectation. Ever since the apostles on the Mount Olivet gazed up into heaven after their vanished Lord, the Church has been yearning for His return. Our treasure is not on earth, but in heaven, and thither we look for His re-appearance. It is a solemn thought that we are now eighteen centuries nearer to that glory than were the apostles, and that every Advent season which passes takes one more from the limited number to elapse ere the Very Advent which they foreshow. In view of this prospect, the disposition of the Church should be anxiety for readiness and fitness to meet the Lord. And the same should obtain

in every member. No habits of life, of speech, or of thought, should be indulged, which would call forth His disapproval. Every act should be performed, every word spoken, every thought encouraged, which He has enjoined. Slothfulness must be shaken off, and we must stand ready for inspection.

Let us endeavor to rise to the sentiment of the Collect for this day, which, in grandeur and beauty of expression, and in fulness and weightiness of meaning, is unsurpassed by any other in the Book. O, brethren! how much benefit, and how much pleasure do we lose, as many as paas through the service of the Church lightly and carelessly! Let us not shew ourselves unworthy of the Book by cold, unappreciating use of it. If we made it a study, receiving its meaning into our minds and hearts, coming to Church would be a means of our highest and most exquisite pleasure, as well as sanctifying and guiding our lives. Those who neglect the prayerbook little know what is its capacity for strengthening the mind with the most wholesome and noblest nourishment, for the culture of personal godliness; how, in simplicity, it is fitted to the child; and in profundity, surpasses the faculty of the wise; how far superior it is to any modern preaching, which too often undoes the work of the service which it follows, falling as far short of it, in soundness of doctrine, as in strength of thought, and beauty of diction.

Thirdly: The season of our departure is approaching.

The nearness of death is what no thoughtful mind can contemplate without seriousness. It is probable, with regard to many of us, that we have already lived the larger portion of our time in this world. We shall none of us live very much longer, and some may depart very soon. Every day we pass leaves a day less for this world, and brings us a day nearer the solemn moment when we shall be lying powerless, our faculties growing dimmer and dimmer; when we must leave the old familiar mode of existence, our accustomed haunts and occupations, and go forth into a new and untried scene; when the disembodied soul will have an awful interview with the Great God, make a just retrospect of life, and

VOL. XV.

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