tution of the country. When the radical excitement passed away, they returned again to mere literary and scientific and polemical disquisitions while the shortness of the time which they could allot to such pursuits, only enabled them to stock their brains with a confused assortment of every thing rare, useless, and strange-every thing good, mischievous, and foolish.

How far our junior philosophers would have gone in their career of infidelity and radicalism is uncertain-for the commercial crisis which occurred a few years ago, closed the work where they were employed, and scattered them all over the kingdom, one a sneering sceptic, another a confirmed Unitarian, and the rest a heterogeneous medley of every thing absurd in opinion, or loose in practice.

It would be painful, even if it were possible, to trace the progress of every one of these young men. One of them, in particular, when he found himself like a hermit in a wilderness, separated from the little world in which his life was spent, fell into one of those fits of melancholy, so common to sensative persons, who have no solid or enduring source of comfort amid the changes of a changing world. The books, the discussions, the objects of science, in which he had taken such supreme delight, were all given up. He looked around him for happiness, but could find nothing to confer it. Company, dress, amusements of all sorts, were tried, and all in turn became nauseous. He raised, with panting eagerness, one broken pitcher after another to his head, but they contained no water. The universe was, indeed, to him a temple; but it was a temple on the altar of which might be inscribed "To the unknown God." The Great Author of all existence was in his mind but a vague undefined something-an invisible essence, diffused through all space, and all worlds-and when in solitude he wandered, and mused, and meditated, and thought, he became more and more bewildered. "Is there a God?" he would ask himself. "If there be, where is he to be found? I see around me the marks of wisdom, the traces of design-creation speaks of some mighty contriver: but where is he to be found?" In his very dreams, he was traversing space in search of God-and he would come, as it were, to the verge of being and existence, and look down upon the gulph where nothing held its sway, and imploringly cry, "Is there no God ?" while the echo seemed to reply-"there is no God!" A passage of the Bible, which he heard accidentally quoted, struck him with force: "And they saw the God of Israel under his feet was, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone; and the body of heaven in his clearness." The personality of the Deity now assumed a place in his ideas. But as he revolved the subject, instead of beholding him passing by and proclaiming, "The Lord God, merciful and gracious," he saw him "walking on the wings of the wind," and riding like the presiding spirit of the storm, in fearful and terrific majesty. His knowledge of HIS works only served to clothe him with all the attri butes of vengeance and of power-while the possibility, nay, the convietion, that he had incurred the displeasure of such a tremendous Being, made him start with horror. An actual God, who could crush him and creation, or command it and him back to annihilation, by a single volition of his will, was worse, infinitely worse, than the torturing anxiety which he had felt when searching for him: and he ardently longed for some benumbing influence to freeze his thoughts, and shut up his mind for ever. Proofs were now advanced to him, that the Bible was the word of that fearful Being; and he was told that it contained terms of reconciliation. "Terms of reconciliation!" he sneeringly exclaimed, "what have I to do with

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terms of reconciliation with one I cannot love! You may talk to me of the fulfilment of prophecy-you may assure me that there is substantial proof that the books are genuine-you may tell me that its internal evidence completely proves from whom it comes-but will that make me love either the Bible or its Author? The Bible forbids me to do certain things-I cannot help doing them-and must 1 be ruined for ever for doing what I cannot help? Away with your proofs, and away with your Bible-bring me something that will make me obey as well as believe-bring me something that will cure my love of sin-and then I will listen to your proofs, and read your Bible; for I really do think that it bears a divine impress." Such were his feelings-feelings doubtless akin to those of the fallen spirits in hell, who know and fear, but cannot love-when another passage of the same blessed book was brought under his notice-" Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage." "Ah! the Unitarians must be wrong-I never was an Unitarian-I would rather be a Deist— for why talk about Christ taking part of our nature ?" But the doctrine of the Trinity was one his scientific mind could not endure he would not have a divided God, nor a God-man, nor a mysterious Influence-until, horrified by his repeated violation of resolutions which he was forming every day, he was driven to the necessity of confessing that something more than human was required to overcome the wickedness of the heart. The beautiful figure drawn from science by an eminent writer on the Unitarian controversy, now seized vigorous hold of his imagination-" God is LOVE and God is LIGHT-it is the union of all the colours which form light-it is the union of all the attributes which form GOD." "Ah, God is beyond my comprehension-he must be just as well as merciful." looked upward, and prayed for Divine illumination. The pride and conceit of knowledge was giving way; and he felt how impotent man is, in attempting to search out the Almighty to perfection. "Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? The depth saith-It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. Unto man he saith, Behold, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is under. standing." This was his experience-he began to admit that science was unable to give him peace of mind-that the oracles of God might, after all, contain more real science than he had hitherto imagined; and in this state of feeling, he was easily induced to walk to the foot of Calvary, and contemplate Him who hung upon the cross, as the Creator of all things by the word of his power; and as he continued to gaze, the conviction deepened upon his mind, until he exclaimed with heartfelt sincerity," Lord, I believe -help thou mine unbelief!"

He

A joy indescribable, was now diffused through his frame, as he thought that the Holy Spirit would sanctify him wholly, and subdue his corruptions under him. But to his pain and grief he found that the road was not perfectly smoothed; and he became discouraged. In the days of his scientific and literary pride, he had often formed plans for the regulation of his mind; and while ignorant of the breadth of the spiritual law, dreamed he was keeping, in his own sense, his heart with all diligence-now, that his eyes were opening to the light of God's holiness, ho fancied he was becoming more and more vile -he daily detected his imagination roaming

over forbidden fields, and leaping the pale prescribed by Him who searcheth the heart; and now that God had become not merely a ruling Deity, but a preserving and a correcting PARENT, he became agonized at the thought of giving him such unprovoked, such flagrant offence-while the idea at which he once had sneered, that of God writing in a book the doings of men, made him tremble with fear. "Oh, what a wonderful Being he is! I sometimes cannot recollect the thoughts of a single day, while he recollects with infinite ease, and assigns with infinite precision, to every being in the vast extent of his universe, not merely their words, not merely their actions, but the inmost thoughts of the heart, the secret emotions of the soul!" He was compelled to cry, "Oh, wretched man that I am!" but was unable to add, with the apostle, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory!" But that passage which speaks of God "casting our sins behind his back into the depths of the sea," calmed his fears, while a farther acquaintance with the Bible taught him more fully the nature of that conflict which is carried on in the Christian; and gradually the peace which the world cannot give or take away, filled his heart and soul-and so, girding up the loins of his mind, he determined to run with patience the race set before him; looking forward to a glorious future state of existence, where MIND shall range free and unconfined, and the presence of God fill the vast assembly with unspeakable felicity.

Then let religion, pure and undefiled, walk abroad upon the face of the earth. Wherever she treads, science, civilization, virtue, knowledge, peace, all follow in her train-but let Science take the lead, and the Devil will smile to see men becoming like himself, filled with all knowledge, capable of understanding the mysteries of creation, and daring to understand the mysteries of Godhead-yet destitute of that which consecrates the loftiest intellect, and embalms the pleasure of existence-LOVE to the Source and Centre of the universe.

F.

REVIEW.

Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion, derived from the literal fulfilment of Prophecy; particularly as illustrated by the History of the Jews, and by the Discoveries of Recent Travellers. By the Rev. Alexander Keith, Minister of St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire. Sixth Edition. Edinburgh-Waugh and Innes-1831.

While so many of our lay and clerical brethren are dissipating their talents, in profitless speculations relative to the unfulfilled prophecies of the Word of God, we have little doubt that not a few of our readers will feel with us, that a much greater degree of attention is due to those that have been already accomplished, than is usually allotted to them. Of their number and variety; of the amazing extent of circumstances which they embrace, and the powerful body of evidence which they furnish, in sup port of the inspiration of the Scriptures, there are, perhaps, few, even of the most sincere Christians, who can form any correct or adequate idea, With respect to the accomplishment of some of these predictions, the researches of modern travellers have supplied us with much valuable additional information, while the materials for illustrating them have been accumulating daily with the proofs of their fulfilment. The subject altogether is one of no ordinary interest; and should claim from the enlightened student of prophecy a full and fair proportion of his attention, particularly at the present day.

We confess it has frequently been to us a matter of surprise, that while so much time and talent are employed in speculations about the future, so little should be said by the professed lovers of prophecy, with reference to the past since what has been already realized must appear equally astonishing with any thing that can be hereafter developed; nor can we consider the prophecies to be fairly treated, so long as those that have been accomplished are overlooked, and only those that are yet unfulfilled are considered worthy of investigation. To this partial mode of study, we apprehend many of the eccentricities of the present day may be justly ascribed. Hence, likewise, arise the claims so often put forth by the disciples of a certain school, to an exclusive acquaintance with the prophetical writings. For those who study the subject in so limited a portion of its extent, to imagine that they are the only members of the Church militant, who know or care any thing about it, is really assuming an unfair advantage. For though we yield not to the crude and far fetched interpretations of our millenarian friends, we must yet claim a common interest with them in the prophetical as well as in all other parts of the inspired writings. The evidence derivable from prophecy, we have long looked upon as one of the strongest bulwarks of the Christian faith. It is a class of evidence that will be strengthening and augmenting to the very end of time. We may confidently anticipate that, as years advance, it will so accumulate in its details, and increase in its power, as to break down before it all the cavillings of infidelity: and it is precisely this feeling of its importance, that makes us uneasy at the extravagant dogmata that are continually hazarded with reference to unfulfilled predictions. Such rash conjectures on such important points, we feel persuaded, are calculated materially to injure the effect which the evidence arising from the prophecies might otherwise be expected to produce. We fear that infidels, either unable or unwilling to draw the line of distinction between the presumption that only guesses, and the inspiration that really foretels; and confounding the misinterpretations of prophecy with prophecy itself, will avail themselves of those misinterpretations as occasions for fresh scoffs, and excuses for continued unbelief. Yet we rejoice in the assurance, that the accomplishment of what the Word of God has foretold, will scatter to the winds of heaven every erroneous and presumptuous hypothesis, by which the meaning of a single prediction may have been, even for a time, concealed or darkened. The reveries of dreaming commentators shall disappear, as the shadows of night before the sunbeam of the morning. The glory of prophecy shall shine forth in its fulfilment, with a lustre which it will be impossible any longer for the unbelief of infidels to resist, or the mistakes of interpreters to obscure.

The evidence arising from prophecy has a decided advantage over many other branches of the evidences of Christianity; inasmuch as it is not like the rest-merely an outwork of the system; it is an important part of the strong hold itself. To use it aright, the Scriptures must be closely and diligently studied and he who would employ it with success, must have his mind deeply imbued, and closely conversant with many of the most searching, spiritual, and important portions of the Word of God. It forms indeed, a kind of connecting link between the external and the internal evidences of our most holy religion; and it unites the power, while it partakes the advantages of both.

Nor has infidelity, so far as we are aware, ever pretended, fairly or indirectly, to meet the argument from prophecy. This is a Herculean task, which neither the metaphysical subtlety of Hume-nor the the insinuating

slyness of Gibbon-nor the coarse vulgarity of Paine-nor the flippant accuteness of the French philosophers not to speak of the foul-mouthed infidels of the present day-would be at all adequate to accomplish. It would require more of research than infidelity would be satisfied to undertake, or could undertake with safety to the dogmas of her thoughtless and irrational creed. In the progress of such a research, her doubts might be dissipated, her ridicule rebuked, and all the imaginary grounds of her scepticism utterly annihilated, so as to leave her without excuse. Infidelity loves the Parthian mode of warfare. Hers is the ready quirk, the dexterous inuendo; the taunt, the cavil, and the sneer. And to aim at overturning either this, or indeed any other of the evidences of Christianity, with such weapons as these is, but shooting arrows made of bulrushes, against a rock of adamant,

In order to invalidate the argument from prophecy, infidelity must go deep into the matter; and no longer content herself with skimming the surface. The prophecies of Scripture, she must critically investigate throughout. She must either prove them to have been written in every, or nearly every instance, after the events foretold had actually taken place; or she must demonstrate from their connexion, and their grammatical im port, that of such events they were not at all designed to be predictions. This is a task beyond her feeble powers. She is too much of an earthworm to be able to stop an angel's flight.

Infidelity, has, indeed, involuntarily lent the most important services to the elucidation of the evidence from prophecy. It is from the writings of infidels that we obtain, in several very striking instances, the closest and most accurate accounts of the fulfilment of Scripture predictions. There is scarcely one of the tribe, whether traveller or historian, that has not been a very Gibeonite in the service of the Christian temple; and none more so than those arch infidels, Gibbon and Volney. For be it observed, the prophecies from which such evidence for Christianity is to be derived, are not mere occasional hints, which by some lucky coincidence may have been realized; but which might, after all, be explained away as shrewd guesses at what was probable, or as having led to their own accomplishment. Nor are they limited to the number of two or three incidental predictions, thinly sprinkled over the inspired volume, and altogether detached from, and independent of, each other; there is in the sacred writings, a complete and unbroken chain of prophecy, which includes the history of our world from the infancy of its existence down to the period of its doom. There is nothing extant, that can bear comparison with it. And the fulfilment, in rapid succession, of the various predictions which form the links of that chain, a fulfilment of which is taking place year after year, and century after century-and which may be regarded as a standing and continuous miracle-bears an irrefragable testimony to the inspiration of the volume in which so remarkable a series of predictions is to be found. The observations of Mr. Keith on this subject are appropriate and just, and will serve to explain the object and design of his interesting volume.

"Although some of the prophecies, separately considered, may appear ambiguous and obscure; yet a general view of them all of the harmony which prevails thoughout the prophecies-and of their adaptation to the facts they predict, must strike the mind of the most careless inquirer with an apprehension that they are the dictates of Omniscience. But many of the prophecies are as explicit and direct as it is possible that they could have been; and as history confirms their truth, so they sometimes tend to its illustration, of which our future inquiry will furnish us with examples. And if the prophetical