portion of the subject appear essential to the joy which arises from the other. Had a system been provided for man in which he was offered eternal glory, through the intervention of some other celestial being than the Son of God; it might have been asked, what had this mediator a right to claim for man, which God himself had not thought it fit to bestow? And if the glory had been offered by the Son of God without the previous suffering, how should we have been able to reconcile the natural with the evangelical system,-the universal government of the Father, with the covenanted government of the Son? For, in the world at large, we see that sin has fixed the roots of grief and misery so deep in the nature of things, that the fruit of the tree of life has ever some bitterness in it, which the general and most ordinary influences of sin seem to render irradicable. Now, if the consequences of human guilt could have been removed by a mere act or decree of divine goodness, without any painful satisfying of the divine justice, we should surely have seen this important matter effected in the system of nature and providence, through God's paternal love; and man rendered free and happy here by the same means as those employed to ensure his glory and felicity hereafter. But seeing that the miseries attendant on guilt continue to be the inheritance of generation after generation, it appears right to conclude that God's

original decree against sin could be no otherwise answered than by this natural punishment of the offenders; and that such being the case, his adorable Son could not satisfy the conditions of the law against man without a most willing suffering in his place.

The doctrine of the resurrection, and of the ceaseless life and unchangeable good or misery which are to follow, sheds a bright but solemn lustre on the articles of our faith. It inspires us with feelings similar to those which would fill the heart of a man suddenly finding himself to be the heir of a mighty kingdom. His first thoughts are concerned about the evidence on which the information he has received is established. Then he endeavours to realize to himself some notion of the dignity and happiness, the glowing prospect of which thus bursts upon his thoughts; and lastly, comes a deep and fearful sensation of weakness and unworthiness, and of dread, lest the splendid vision should be dissipated by his errors. Το know ourselves to be immortal; to have the certain promise of endless glory, and of a glory which shall be not less intrinsical as to our own being, than it is essential to the heavenly sphere in which we are to move, is to feel ourselves exalted to the highest position in which it was ever intended that thought, knowledge, or hope should place us.

We have alluded to some of the points which will chiefly interest the mind of the reader in the concluding portion of the Life of Christ. Let him strive to acquire a habit of retired and holy meditation; and he will then be able to appreciate the inestimable worth, both intellectually and spiritually, of the truths of Scripture. The present work is a magnificent text-book for thoughtful minds. Let it be read as such; and when the Christian inquirer has learnt from it in how many ways the doctrines of Christ may be illustrated and confirmed, let it be the object of his future life to bind his own thoughts, like golden chords, about every truth and precept of his Saviour's word: let him rejoice that the faculties of his understanding are sufficient for such things; and strive by degrees to become independent, both in mind and soul, through holiness and faith. Then will futurity, which, after nature and the Scriptures, has a third revelation for the Christian, brighten before him through all its depths; shine with unfolded mysteries and fulfilled promises; and invite him, as it changes from a gloomy abyss to a glorious sea of life, to contemplate on its shores the rising of the heavenly dawn.

H. S.

London, Nov. 26, 1835.

HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND DEATH

OF THE

HOLY JESUS,

BEGINNING AT THE SECOND YEAR OF HIS PREACHING,

UNTIL HIS ASCENSION.

PART III.