if the supposition be for a moment indulged, that there is any irregularity in the procedure of heaven, in that moment its brightest glories. are obscured.

It may fearlessly be asserted, that the duty which the Most High once prescribed to Israel, (Deut. viii. 2.) is equally incumbent now: indeed one striking difference between the worldly man and the christian is, that whilst the former "regards not the work of the Lord, neither considers the operations of his hand," the latter rejoices that, "the works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." Hence, that which the sinner despises, is the delight of the saint to perform. The designation generally applied to the children of God is, "a poor and afflicted people :" some are exempt from poverty-none from sorrow.

Man enjoys a peculiar satisfaction in dwelling upon the history of his own afflictions; he loves to witness the pity which a relation of those afflictions excites: this is one exhibition of that selfishness which cleaves to our nature. It is right that we should meditate on the dispensations of God; it is highly beneficial to remember "the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, and the hill Mizar;" but these recollections must not be unaccompanied by the acknowledgment, that "the Lord is righteous in all his ways.'

Let a believer select any period of his life, memorable for the embarrassments under which he was then suffering; he made every great and honourable exertion to extricate himself, but these exertions served only to increase his difficulties; he had been taught to cast all his care on God, and he sought to do so in the midst of his troubles :-his God appeared to have forsaken him; some sad event occurred which seemed to complete the destruction of all his hopes-in agony of soul he sunk before God, exclaiming, "I am oppressed, undertake for me;" and before his throne he left his burden. Soon the scene is changed, the very acme of his misery appears to have been the commencement of his prosperity: now every dark and threatening event is made plain, and his delighted spirit sings,

"As I travel let me own,

To what arm my praise is due; And mark some monitory stone, "Ebenezer, hitherto !"

"What thou knowest not now," said Jesus, "thou shalt know hereafter;" which, by no means applies exclusively to heaven; though it is certain that the mysteries of God will be more fully developed there than they can be on earth. Jacob well knew that God would give the land of Canaan as a possession to his descendants; but he had no idea of the way in which this grant would be bestowed. When Joseph rested on his knee, and told, with melting simplicity, his prophetic dreams, his father rebuked him, but he could not dismiss from his mind the intimation these dreams conveyed. "His father observed the saying:" but all was wrapt in mystery impenetrable. A short time afterward the blood-stained

coat of Joseph is placed before him; notwithstanding the coagulated gore which covered it, he recognized it as the garment of his son; and whilst it falls from his trembling hands, he is heard faintly to say, "Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces." During a lapse of twenty years, his thoughts would often recur to this loved, this sainted youth; then Benjamin is demanded by an unfeeling lord of Egypt; the spirit of the parent is broken, the faith of the saint declines, and the bereaved sufferer exclaims, "All these things are against me." A few years passed away, and the patriarch looked back, and these great afflictions became incentives for songs of praise. He then saw that these events, like the hidden wheels of some piece of complicated mechanism, were all working together for good.

Happy will it be for the reader, if he be a believer, if these observations induce him to review the many providential mercies of which he has been the subject. The philosopher who studies the minutiae of nature's law, is well repaid by the discoveries which he makes; and the christian who loves to retrace the footsteps of his God, at the conclusion of each sanctified review shall have abundant reason to sing,

July, 1829.

Sir,

"I praise him for all that is past,

And trust him for all that's to come.'

(For the Spiritual Magazine.) LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

DESMIOS.

THERE is a palpable and dangerous error committed in all the English translations of the Bible, that I have ever met with; or by enquiry among my religious friends discovered. It may be that some of your readers may be able to point a translation which does not contain them; or inform myself (and a few other ignoramuses of the Hebrew language) how such error may be rectified; so as to enable me to form a correct judgment on a subject of such vital and vast importance.

I have seldom heard or seen it remarked, but it is no less a truth, evident to careful, close thinking, and prayerful readers of the sacred oracles, that the name "God," and "Lord," occur very repeatedly in the old testament in a very awkward and unmeaning manner; in a manner mysterious, far beyond the intention of its gracious author, as I humbly conceive. I find, on deep research into the subject, that the terms, Jehovah, Adoni, Aleim, &c. in the original, are indiscriminately rendered, "God," and "Jehovah." My object, therefore, is, if I cannot find a translation in which the original terms are properly rendered, to be able to know how I may discover which of the original terms are made use of, as I read, study, and think for myself, in the constant presence of my God and Lord, Jesus Christ; in whose works of atonement and righteousness look with confi

As I

dence for my acceptance with my heavenly Father, now, and at the last day. As there is an infinite difference between the original terms mentioned, there ought, I humbly apprehend, to be no less than an infinite distinction somehow in the words which are substituted in another language, and professing to be a translation. have long sought in vain this great desideratum in the religious world, it may be, I have thought it in your power, to give me some satisfaction on this head; and I am satisfied by inserting this in your Magazine, it may be the means of eliciting some valuable information, which will be very acceptable to many of your constant readers. Error in principle, is always likely, or at least liable, to beget error, and perhaps something worse, in general or particular practice. The doctrine of the three personalities, the infinite essence, and that of the one glorious person denominated Christ, our Saviour, from being so mystified, mangled, and obscured, by the generality of writers on the Trinity, and the person of our Lord, takes its rise in our translation, hinted at above, and which translation I cannot but think, is the prolific source of that false representation of divine truth which make and confirm so many arians and socinians, as constantly creep into light, and increase; it gives them handles of their opponents' manufacturing, calculated to weaken the foundation of a christian's faith, and consequently afford the enemies of our dear Saviour just reason to shoot us with the guns and ammunition we make for their use, or sanction the use of, which is the same thing.

AN ATTEMPT TO A CRITICAL ELUCIDATION OF A DIFFICULT PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE,

ON THE PRINCIPLES OF MODERN SCIENCE, BY ABRAHAM BOOTH. "And Moses took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it."-Exod xxxii. 20.

MIRACLES were supernatural dispensations of providence, exerted only in some particular cases, which required an extraordinary exhibition of Almighty power either to shew the capability of his omnipotence to perform, or his willingness as a God of mercy to assist the children of men. And when performed through the medium of mortal agency was always preceded by a solemn appeal to the feelings of the witnesses, and attended with an equal solemn exhibition of supreme power.

There are perhaps few passages of scripture which meet with more

objections from sceptics than this. The only point which is apparently tangible is, that as no miracle was implied by the sacred writer, the act was merely suggested by the wisdom of Moses, and that by taking the passage in its literal sense, it would imply him possessed of more knowledge than chymists of the present day.

It is asserted that Moses burnt the golden calf in the fire. Gold, it is well known, will endure the most intense heat long continued, without being oxidised, even if kept for some time in a state of fusion. By burning it in the fire, we are not however to understand, that any actual combustion took place. Chymistry, both in the language of the Arabians and of the Egyptians, had a name signifying the science of fire, as it was from this agent that the most important changes in their operations were produced.

There is no reason for believing that the chymical knowledge of Moses was limited to the action of heat upon substances, as this passage may be considered rather to imply that he submitted the gold to a chymical process. It was long since observed by Stahl, that gold when fused with an alkali, forms a compound soluble in water. Gold is also soluble in nitre muriatic acid, and the compound thus obtained is crystallizable, and soluble in water. Each of these solutions are intensely nauseous to the taste; and the children of Israel were probably compelled to drink the water in which the golden calf had been strewed, because it was disgustingly nauseous to their palates.

FRAGMENT.

THERE can, perhaps, be no better judgment formed of a man's state Godward, than by the estimate he has of the world. Every real christian looks upon the world as his soul's foe, and whilst he is in the world, is not of the world; nay, even when the world puts on the most alluring face, he accounts its smiles as those of a deceitful harlot, and the language of his heart is, "Thou art my portion, O Lord. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee?" His opinion of the world at all times must be, that it is a poor, empty, worthless bubble, which will soon vanish away; and even at those seasons when he feels himself too much entangled and drawn aside by worldly objects, still his judgment is not changed, and he wonders that he should be so much the dupe of a bewitching strumpet. It is not so with the formalist. Amidst his highest parade of religious pomp, so far is he from suspecting the world to be his adversary, that it is his idol. Give him plenty of the world, and in return, he will give God plenty of prayers and sacraments, and some alms-deeds; but amidst them all, the world is uppermost in his affections; though, " God forbid, (says he) that I should neglect my duty.”

66

ORIGINAL ESSAYS.

LI.

THE AGENCY OF JEHOVAH IN THE PERSECUTIONS OF HIS CHURCH, HER HAPPINESS AND GLORY.

"He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants."-Ps. cv. 26.

THE glorious doctrine of our motto is full of difficulties, which, with this solution, we shall fully and fairly lay before the children of tribulation for their comfort and edification.

The first part of the difficulty arises from the author of this hatred and subtilty. "He (the Lord) turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, or made thee stand, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day." He was the enemy of Egypt, and the covenant God of his poor and afflicted people and their believing ancestors. To them he had bound himself from love, freely, with a perfect, a God-like knowledge of their characters; so that no feeling, no thought, no action of theirs ;-no occurrence, no agent in any world, at any period, by which they could be affected, could add any thing to the view he had, from eternity, formed of them, and of all worlds; and consequently could not alter the permanency of his love, or change the purposes of his mercy.— "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world; neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. He will rest in his love." See Psalm lxxxix. 29-33. Isaiah liv. 7-10. Mal. iii. 6.

Moreover he bound himself by an oath. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies."

What were the blessings of this most solemn and most gracious oath?" I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house VOL. VI.-No. 63.

L