THE BUNCH OF KEYS. e od To-day, as I was passing a small shop of second-hand articles, I saw a girl hanging a bunch of keys upon a nail by the door!" Most of them were very rusty, and as the morning was damp, I thought it likely that they would grow rustier still." One of extraordinary size reminded me of the key of the church, near whose venerable walls my early days were passed. And as my thoughts flew back to the Bibles and Prayer books, piled up in the corners of the pews, and to the men of God who ministered there in h holy" - things, I could not forbear rejoicing in the behalf of the congregation in in the words of the Psalmist, "Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, oh Lord, in the fight of Thy name shall they rejoice all the day ness shall they be exalted." " thy countenance. In and in thy righteous 1 Many other keys there were in that bunch-some apparently belonging to house-doors, and some again, little, tiny ones, used, perhaps, to secure some cabinet of curiosities-some miser's secret hoarding place, or the receptacle of money conse crated to the service of the Living God. After I had passed the shop where the keys hung, I discovered that there are other sorts of keys beside those I had just noticed. I called upon a mother whose first-born babe had lately gone to take its place before the throne. Every-day matters were touched upon, but met with no response. But when we spoke of her loss of earthly, and her gain gain of heavenly treasure, the hand was extended, the tears flowed fast-the angel-child was the key to that mother's heart." Papal Rome has placed in the hands of the Apostle Peter, the keys of Paradise. And now, in every picture and statue of the saint, we find him yet tenaciously retaining the keys. Yes! Rome placed them in his care, but Christ did not. These are but vestiges of the gloom and darkness of former ages. God grant that like shadows may never again obscure the brightness of the Sun of Righteousness in our favored land! But if Peter do not keep the keys of heaven, who does? "Those holy gates for ever bar Pollution, sin, and shame; None can obtain admittance there But followers of the Lamb." Then who so fit to keep the door of that happy home, as Him for whose followers it is prepared? Who but he can know which are his? Hear what "He that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the keys of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth-he that shutteth and no man openeth!" says to the sheep of his flock, "I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." But these things are only spoken to those who believe in Him. Have you any prospect of an open door being set before you, dear reader? In whom are you trusting? In Peter? In the piety of your parents, or your friends? In your own good deeds-your impure, imperfect righteousness? Oh, cast all these aside. They will not avail you. You cannot gain admittance if Jesus do not know you. If he will not acknowlege you as his own. Are you his? Oh, come, to seek redemption through his blood! Come now, for he is waiting to be gracious! Chester. MARY ISABELLA. BANKS OF THE DANUBE. (See the Vignette.) OUR Vignette represents one of the many grand and picturesque views which grace the banks of the Danube, called by Napoleon the king of European rivers. Its natural interest is enhanced by the fact that on the face of the cliff, a tablet still exists commemorating the conquest of the Roman arms in this direction. It was erected by Trajan, during his first expedition into Dacia, and the inscription is still partly legible. NOW, AND THEN. WELL! what prophets and saints did concerning passages once obscure to them, but now made luminous to us, we will do with regard to passages which we cannot as yet comprehend, but which will soon be clearly revealed to the heirs of eternal life when all prophecy shall be accomplished, and when Jesus shall appear in the clouds in the last manifestation of his glorious coming.-Gaussen. Enquiries and Correspondence, ANSWERS TO ENQUIRIES, (p. 525) MORTON-IN-MARSH, DEAR SIR, Shall I trouble you with answers to the three queries proposed in your last number? Believe me, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully, B. H. C. 23. Church Membership. THIS question may be answered by asking two others. 1. What is the intention of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper? It is the "public celebration of the memory of Christ's precious death," say the Homilies of the Church of England. It is a public acknowledgment of Him, and a testimony against the world which rejects Him; a token and pledge of having accepted the covenant of grace; it is intended to strengthen and perpetuate right emotions towards the Saviour, as faith, love, gratitude, &c.; to assist our imperfect faculties by an appeal to imagination; to show forth the union and fellowship of the saints, and to promote the love of the brethren. 2. If this view be correct, can any but regenerate persons fulfil the intention of the ordinance? It was instituted for the church, for believers, and such clearly have right to its privileges and can enjoy them; but not the world-not unbelievers. It implies a certain character which the unregenerate have not,a certain relation to Christ in which they do not stand. If "Eliza" has given her heart to the Lord, and is seeking to live to his glory, it is her precious privilege, because it is for such,it is "the children's bread," and such are children. Personal assurance that the Lord has changed our hearts is a desirable privilege, but personal assurance that we have given our hearts to him is the only qualification, 24. The Sabbath. No doubt the Jewish Sabbath was the seventh day, but we think that the principle of the command binds us to devote every seventh day to God. Then why not any day we choose? 1. Because of the advantages of all joining to observe one day. 2. What day so proper as that of Christ's resurrection and the consummation of his suffering and shame? 3. The apostles observed the first day of the week religiously, Job xx. 19-26, Acts ii. 1; (for Pentecost was the first day, Acts xx. 7; I Cor. xvi. 2; Rev. i. 10.) The authority of their habitual practice has been regarded as equal to a command in all ages. And indeed how do we know that they had no command? 66 If any inference from Scripture facts has challenged all but universal consent, it is this of the substitution of the Christian for the Jewish Sabbath. The earliest uninspired testimonies mention the eighth day, or the day after the seventh, as spent in gladness. Ignatius, (about A.D. 100), in the epistle to the Magnesians, Sec. 9, says, as it respects Sabbath-keeping, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day, that of the resurrection, the most eminent of all days,-on which also our Life arose, and victory over death took place in Christ." Justin Martyr, Irenæus and Tertullian may be added in the second century, and a continued succession follow them, though they must be regarded simply as witnesses to the practice, not as authorities for the rule. The evidence for the first day is far too strong to be safely resisted or successfully opposed. 25. Chronology of New Testament. The dates given in our Bibles are not those of the Saviour's birth and age, but those of what is called the "Christian Era," which, by a mistake, was, when first used, put four years too late: Christ having in fact been born four years before that from which the era dates its commencement. "The Christian Era was first used by Dionysius (the Little) in 526, and introduced into the Western Church in 532." Those therefore who affixed the dates to the margin of our Bibles, merely adopted the ordinary chronology to show in what years before or after A.D. certain events took place, POETRY. HEAVEN. Oh, fair is this world, with its flowers and trees, But fairer than this, is the bright world on high; Oh, sweet are the evenings of calm summer light, But sweeter that day which shall ne'er have an end, Oh, bright is the glorious orb of the day But brighter that Sun who hath risen on high, Oh, fair are the moonlight's soft silvery beams, But fairer the land where there cometh no night, Oh, sweet are the pleasures of true Christians here, Are mixed with enjoyments below. |