thief thou shalt be with me in Paradise to-day. He was man as well as God, and that explains the language, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He was dependent on the Father only as man; as God he was equal with the Father.

W. P.

ON MODERN INFIDEL ADVOCATES.

DEDICATED TO G. JACOB HOLYOAKE AND JOSEPH BARKER.

Away, you Apostates and infidels too;

Your hearts are deceitful; your words are untrue;
Your motives are selfish, I plainly can see;

But your "tricks" and your "dodges" will not do for me,

Your motives are selfish :-for, when did we see
On the placards you've issued, "Admission is FREE?"
"T'will not do," cries out Joseph and Jacob so bold,
"Work for nothing we will not while we can get gold."

Gold! gold is their idol; they love the bright ore,
And will fight, though they win not, if they can get more,
But the Bible HAS stood and will YET STAND we know
The "twistings and twinings" of Jacob and Joe.

They may pour forth their blasphemies, nonsense, or wit;
Their falsehoods, assertions, their subtle deceit.

They may hurl forth their scoffs-but the Bible will stand!
Preserved by its author's Omnipotent hand.

The Bible they've tried to destroy, but in vain-
Has Owen succeeded? did Rousseau, or Paine?
No! and Joseph and Jacob, these "two clever men,"
We are certain at last will be baffled again.

They may go round the country and tell their great tale,
They may sing "Uncle Ned" and their " Poor Lilly Dale"
They will face their large audience, and speak very well,

But when finish'd they will tell you "they've got books for to sell,"

They are books wrote by Holyoake and some by his "Friend,"
They are foolish at first and obscene to the end;

They are cramm'd with loud blasphemies, heaped up again,

From the writings of Toland, Voltaire, and Tom Paine,

But adieu to such mortals-the time will soon come
When they and their writings will soon be cast down;

They have got no foundation, they are built upon sand-
And will fall by the stroke of Jehovah's right hand.

生

J. B. Hyde.

SIR,

ANSWER TO QUERIES AS TO THE FALL.

Seeing in No. 16 of the Defender two questions as to the Fall, I thought I would try to answer them. The first was-Is the 18th verse of the 3rd chapter of Genesis to be understood literally or figuratively. My reply is, that it is to be understood literally; that the land should bring forth thorns and thistles in great quantities; but not so as to leave no room for what has been, and what was to be, the food of man, viz. "the herb of the field."

The second question was-Were savage beasts-as lions, tigers, &c.-tame before the Fall? I reply that before the Fall they were in entire subjection to man, but that there were animals, living on other animals, before the Fall, Geology plainly teaches. See Hitchcock's Religion of Geology-page 75. A YOUNG BIBLE CLASS SCHOLAR.

Stockport, April 23rd, 1853.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DEFENDER.

DEAR SIR,

If you will be kind enough to afford me a little space in the next number of the Defender, I will try to answer "Our John's" queries.

I am of opinion that Gen. 3. 18, is to be taken literally, for before the Fall it is stated (see Gen. 2. 9,) that "out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." Hence we infer that the earth would only bring forth such things as would please the eye, satisfy the appetite, and gratify the taste; not thorns, thistles, or noxious weeds; therefore, man's duty in "dressing and keeping" the Garden would be easy and pleasant, sweet and refreshing; for all things were adapted to promote his happiness.

After the fall man was to "eat bread of the sweat of his face." Hence he would have to labour long and patiently in cultivating the earth before it would produce food for his sustenance, for "thorns and thistles" would spring up and choke the good seed which he had sown, and make him sorrowful and dubious as to whether his labours would be crowned with success.

He was to eat the "herb of the field"-wild herbs and fruits in contradistinction to such as the Garden yielded; for " every herb bearing seed which was upon the face of the earth," and the fruit of every tree yielding seed, were to be to him for meat before the fall, but afterwards he would have to search and labour in order to procure them.

It is evident that man's food, while in a state of innocence, was the herbs and fruits of the earth, which God had pronounced to be good. It was after the flood when permission was given to eat flesh, but their was no encomium passed upon it; nor was the permission to eat flesh ever extended to the blood, for eating blood is distinctly prohibited, and the prohibition is imposed on Christians by the Apostolic decree.-Acts 15. 28, 29.

I am of opinion that lions, tigers, &c. were tame, and perfectly under man's control before the fall; for, if they were not, it would have been impossible for Adam to have named them, and searched for an help-meet for him.

Again, if we examine the Scriptures, we may justly infer that man was in a state of happiness and peace, similar to that which is promised to the faithful inheritors of the divine blessing upon the second coming of Christ; and in order that perfect peace may reign among the chosen people of God, that there may be nothing to hurt or destroy them, God promises (Lev. 26.6) that he "will rid evil beasts out of the land." Again Ezekiel 34, 20th to 31st verses, where the

kingdom of Christ is described, it is said at the 25th verse, "And I will make a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." See also Job 5,23-Isaiah 11,6 to 9, chap. 65,25-Ezekiel 34,25-Hosea 2,18-Psalms 91,13 -and Isaiah 35,9.

Hoping that I have satisfactorily answered "Our John's" queries, and that the Defender's open page will be the means of creating a thirst among the people for more biblical knowledge, I am, dear Sir, yours truly,

Hyde, April 23rd, 1855.

DELTA.

LECTURE ON SECULARISM.-On Thursday evening, the 29th March, the Rev. Mr. Rutherford, of Newcastle, delivered a lecture in the Town Hall, East Hartlepool, to a crowded audience, many of whom were artisans of the town, on the antecedents and distinguishing principles of Secularism. The lecture was distinguished, beyond many other exercitations of the rev. gentleman which it has been our lot to hear, by trenchant and forcibly expressed arguments, clearness of arrangement, and a temperate spirit in debate. An opportunity for discussion was offered, but no advocate of Secularism encountered the lecturers views; and before separating a cordial vote of thanks was, on the motion of Mr. G. Blumer, seconded by the Rev. J. Kneebon, unanimously accorded by the meeting. The Rev. Mr. Howson, in awarding the vote, expresse a hope that another opportunity of hearing Mr. Rutherford enlarge on this subject would be secured for the people of Hartlepool.-Sunderland News.

EARLY OCCUPATIONS OF EMINENT MEN.-Columbus was a weaver; Franklin was a printer; Arkwright was a barber; and Ben Johuson was a bricklayer. Let every body remember that. Yes; and certainly one of the greatest writers of the present day spent his youth as a bricklayer's labourer, and now he might fairly mark A 1, and add D. D. to his name. Go a little further. Cary was not a shoemaker, but a "mender and repairer." Then there was John Williams, whose life the present Archbishop of Canterbury said he would call the twentyninth chapter of the Acts of the apostles: he was an artisan in a dock yard. I was going to say that all the great men in the history of the world were labouring men. What was the apostle Paul? a tentmaker, a preacher, and a fisherman. And what was the master of them all? In the sixth chapter of Mark, the Redeemer of the world is actually spoken of as being a carpenter. May not working men be proud, and feel the dignity of their position, if their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was actually spoken of as a carpenter !

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

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a Weekly Magazine,

OF CHRISTIAN EXPOSITION AND ADVOCACY.

Who knows not that truth is strong, next to the Almighty; she needs no policies, nor stratagems, nor licensings to make her victorious, those are the shifts and the defences that error uses against her power.-MILTON.

to

Christianity, as might be expected of a divine religion, makes its appeal to the entire man-to his sense of safety, of truth, of duty, of beauty, and, above all, to his sense of gratitude. All are influential principles, but gratitude has a power to move, and melt, and constrain the soul, far above all the rest. The fear of danger and the love of life may lead a man for a season to put forth almost superhuman effort, his love of truth may lead him pursue it at any cost, his sense of duty may lead him to steer through a very ocean of trouble, with a directness and an energy in which its wildest storms can produce no deflection, his sense of beauty may make him the subject of every lovely thing, material, mental, and moral, that can be brought within the sphere of his attention; but it is the sense of gratitude in the Christian which controls, and moulds, and masters his entire nature, which leads him to serve with a heartiness which time cannot abate, and a heroism which opposition cannot conquer. Dark clouds may cross his path, calumny may hang heavy upon his heart, and with all the sensibilities of a man, he may cry, "O! that I had the wings of a dove that I might flee away and be at rest;" but soon the higher principle of his nature will bear him above all, and make him manfully to remain at his post of

No. 19, Vol. I.

Gratitude will bind him to the

duty, until his Master calls him away. service of God as self-interest never can. "We love him because he first loved us," is the key to the Christian life. Not, indeed, that God's love to us is the sole reason of our love to him; for he is to be loved not only for what he is to us, but for what he is in himself—for his perfect, infinite moral loveliness, as well as for his boundless beneficence and mercy to us individually. But his love to us awakens the first response of affection in the soul—an affection that will never die, so long as the mind intelligently and willingly holds to the wondrous exhibition of it in the cross of Christ. Love found, where there was supposed to be hate; compassion, where coldness was expected; mercy, where indignation was merited, takes the heart by surprise, and holds it fascinated by a moral spell. It is not our love that wins his, but his that wins ours. It is not man overcoming by his tears and entreaties a reluctant God, but God overcoming by the supplication of love reluctant and rebellious man. It is a reconciliation affected not at man's instance, or by man's perseverance, but by God's. Jehovah is "in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses." The propitiatory sacrifice furnished not the cause, but the ground-the honourable, the righteous occasion of the reunion. It proved, but did not purchase, divine love. That love was as free to man as the canopy of heaven which embraces us all. Benevolence, which knew nothing of decay, nothing of change, which was from everlasting, shone forth in the "accursed death." The knowledge of this benevolence, allaying the fears, and annihilating the despair of the soul, gives it freedom for the undivided contemplation of the divine character; and thus delight, admiration, veneration, adoration, and reverence follow in the train of gratitude.

The manifestation which we have of God's moral character in his works and word is proof that the religion of heaven is a religion of love. Religion is the subjective of theology; and, whatever may be the case with human systems, the soul and centre of the theology of the Bible is love. It may be, and has been, misunderstood, it may be, and has been, misrepresented, but still love is its base and its culminating point, its inbeing and its forthshadowing. In varied tone, but with one voice, it declares that "God is love."

Why have we existence at all but that God is good. He could have done without us. But he would communicate his own happiness to other beings. He would give them himself as a treasure and portion. He would satisfy them with living water welling up from the inexhaustible fountain of his own friendship. He would make them partakers of the divine nature. He would fill them with his own eternal fulness. He would bless them and make them a source of blessing to all their fellow-beings.

But it is not alone in the fact and the purpose of the creation of man that we perceive the divine goodnees; it is still more fully displayed in the capacities with which he has been created. He is capable of knowing, loving, worshipping, and revering the All-Perfect, and of serving and benefiting his fellow-men. His mind can grasp the sublimest truths. His heart can love with an ardour which no calamity can impair. His soul can aspire after and enjoy the Infinite. His will with supreme and deci