and their superintendent. The Rev. Mr Laurie then | forward to results from this institution the most satisdelivered an eloquent speech."

46

factory. On the foundation which is here laid, I trust a superstructure of solid learning may yet be reared. And though we may not live to see the day, I hope in God the day will come, when, from this seminary, native youths will go forth, imbued not only with the knowledge which is useful, and confers distinction in this life, but with that better learning which has a reference to the future and able and willing to impart to others the blessing which they have themselves re

Mr Laurie's remarks were to the following effect:"I have a sincere pleasure in expressing my heartfelt approbation of the proceedings of this day. I feel that it is unnecessary to say much, perhaps to say any thing; for what we have witnessed may safely be left to win its way, as I am persuaded it has already won its way to the heart of every one present. Still, I cannot be a silent spectator at the first examination of this school, belonging to the mission with which, underceived. a different name, and under different auspices, I have so long been connected, and now the mission of our venerable Church.

"You have been told, that the school is only in its infancy. I believe that not twelve months have elapsed since it was established. It is therefore the day of small things, from which much could not have been expected, but from which, I conceive, a great deal has in reality been gained. When I look at the large number of the pupils—at the variety of the exercises, elementary though they almost all are, in which they are engaged at the spirit of emulation which seems generally to have been excited, and at the progress of many of the boys especially in an acquaintance with the Bible, its doctrines, and its great facts, and in correct reading, and in understanding what they read; I am assured that I speak the sentiments of every spectator when I say, that the examination has offered good testimony to diligence and capacity on the part of the pupils, and to the zeal, the fidelity, and fitness of their teachers.

"Beautiful and gratifying it always is, to see so many of the young brought together to receive the blessing of education, but I cannot help thinking it peculiarly beautiful here. We have here upwards of two hundred children, of almost every caste and denomination in this great country, receiving that blessing at the hands of foreign masters, and in a language foreign to them all. We all know something of the difficulty of acquiring such a knowledge of a foreign tongue as may enable us to read it, and, above all, to speak it, and to think in it; yet that difficulty has, in some degree, been surmounted by many of those boys, for they both read in our language, and understand what they read. And, be it observed, that they are taught to read not books of human learning only, but the Book of infinite wisdom-the blessed volume which we value as alone unfolding to ignorant and ruined men the true way to peace with God and eternal salvation. On this point I do not, for obvious reasons, mean to dwell, but it is one which, as a Christian minister, I cannot omit to notice, and it is a feature in the character of this institution, which, would to God, were visible in that of every seminary in this land.

"I have said that this school is in its infancy. It is so not only in respect of age, but of the branches of knowledge which are being taught in it. But, from what has been stated to me by my friend Dr Wilson, who founded the school, and who diligently superintends it, I know it to be his intention to carry forward the pupils to the higher departments of European literature and science, and of Christian theology. An experiment of this sort has already been made in Eastern India, in connection with this mission, and with splendid success. And if success has followed the experiment in Calcutta, why may it not be the result here also? The capacity of the pupils here cannot be deemed inferior. The blessing of God, which we are warranted to supplicate in such a case, is every where alike influential; and when I turn to the masters of the school, whose fitness has, in so far, been satisfactorily evinced, and especially to my reverend friend, whose talents are so well known, I see every reason to look

"But I cannot withold the remark, that, in order to this, a combination of means and effort is necessaryon the part of the pupils, of the masters, and of the community at large.

“To you, my young friends, pupils in this institution, permit me to offer an advice, and an encouragement. You have begun well. The exhibition of this day has done credit to many of you. But, I beseech you, do not stop here. Do not rest satisfied with present attainments in knowledge. Aspire to the highest. Rest assured, the further you advance, the more will it be prized for its own sake. Knowledge, it has been said, is power. So it is in the conviction and confession of those who possess it. And what knowledge has done for others, it will do for you. When united with goodness, it is a distinction the most enviable; and if it renders others useful and distinguished, so will it render you. But, if you desire the attainment, you must be diligent. You must be attentive, and regular in your attendance at school. You must be patient and persevering in the preparation of school exercises, and docile and obedient to your teachers. What they do is for your benefit; and as you would strengthen their hands, and encourage their hearts, I repeat the admonition, be diligent and submissive to all that they enjoin.

"To the masters of the school I offer the language not of admonition, for that I am persuaded they need not, but of encouragement and kindness. I can, in some degree, appreciate the difficulties of your situation. Every parent and guardian of youth, who feels and is so ready to avow the difficulty of managing their families, can appreciate it. But what is a small family in comparison of a combination like that now before us? We have here upwards of two hundred children, each one exhibiting some shade of difference in temper and in talent from every other; and here, if anywhere, the exercise of patience, and a command of temper, is surely necessary. But be not discouraged. Yours are labours of love for the present and future well-being of the young. This is, in itself, a strengthening conviction, and a high reward. And He, who has inspired the inclination to do good, will lend the ability necessary to its accomplishment.

"And upon the public at large a duty rests, in connection with this and kindred institutions. I think I can safely appeal to every native parent, and be assured he will not be backward in aiding the dissemination of knowledge in the country which must be dear to him.

To Christians, however, I have undoubted right to appeal. They are designed and commanded to be the light of the world. Let us obey the command as we may have power. And the humblest and poorest has the power. If he have not money to bestow. he has his good example to set before others; he nas his good word to offer in the society in which he moves; and he has a throne of grace which he may approach in prayer for that blessing from on high, without which every human effort will fall fruitless to the earth. May the blessing of the Almighty rest upon this school, and upon every school and Christian institution in this great country! And may God hasten the day, when the means that are used will realize all their success, and when knowledge, and especially that better know

ledge, which bears upon the happiness of the eter- | revealed in flaming fire, and come in his glory nal world, shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the channel of the great deep!"

MERCY ON THE JUDGMENT-DAY:

A DISCOURSE.

BY THE REV. DAVID DAVIDSON,
Minister of Broughty-Ferry.

with all the holy angels, and sit upon the throne of his glory:"-the day, on which "all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation:"-the day, on which "we must all appear before the judgmentseat of Christ, to give an account of the deeds

the rejoicing call, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," or, the heart-withering denunciation, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

"The Lord grant unto him, that he may find mercy of done in the body," and hear addressed to us, either the Lord in that day."-2 TIM. i. 18. WITHOUT insisting on the Christian mode of requiting a benefactor's kindness, or the expression of gratitude by the offering of intercession, of which an example is furnished by the text, I propose merely directing your attention to the important season and important blessing of which the apostle speaks.

And may not the day, which shall be thus signalized, be appropriately designated, as it is in the text? May it not justly be spoken of, as if it eclipsed all other days, and rendered them unworthy of thought or mention? Ah! we oft forget its coming, and think lightly of its solemnities. But, it was otherwise with the holy apostle. Endowed as he was pre-eminently with the faith, which is the evidence of things not seen, he had its mighty and magnificent realities continually before his eyes;-he seemed already to see on the distant horizon the faint light of its dawning-he was living in daily and diligent preparation for it; and to the insuring for himself and his brethren, of mercy from the Lord when it should actually arrive, were directed his unwearied labours and unceasing prayers. How naturally, then, and how suitably, and how strikingly does he, in referring to it, call it "that day," as the day most pregnant with great events the day most familiar to his meditations.

I. Attend to the important season. He says, "The Lord grant unto him, that he may find mercy of the Lord, in that day:" and what meaneth the strange expression, "that day?" It is one which the apostle frequently uses. Thus, in a preceding verse, he speaks of Christ "being able to keep that which he committed unto him unto that day:" and in another part of this epistle, of "the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the Righteous Judge would give him at that day." And though the phrase does not by itself point out any specific period of time, there can be no doubt from the connection in which it occurs, as to the epoch the apostle refers to. The day is that, which is elsewhere called "the last day," because then the end of this world's history, as a place of trial at least, will be come, and time, which had been measured by days, will be merged in an immeasurable eternity: which is called also "the great day," because then scenes unparalleled before in grandeur will be unfolded, and affairs that have never been surpassed in magnitude will be transacted, such scenes and affairs as will throw into the shade the most splendid spectacles and momentous transactions of time, and tower towards the infinite in sublimity and importance: which is called besides, "the day of the Lord," because then our Lord is to be revealed from heaven the second time, for the completion of the plan which led to his former II. But the apostle speaks of an important manifestation, and to come down through the rent blessing, as well as an important season, and to sky on our arrested world, with all the august that, also, turn your attention. "The Lord insignia of its Judge: which is called moreover, grant unto him," he says of Onesiphorus, "the day of judgment," because then all the he may find mercy of the Lord in that day,"myriads that have lived shall be gathered before" mercy of the Lord in that day," that is the the great white throne, an irreversible sentence pronounced on the characters they have borne, and their eternal destinies to weal or to woe determined and declared. It is the day on which, according to the descriptions of the sacred writers, "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up: "the day, on which "the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and be

And, O brethren! what day so worthy to engross our thoughts?-what day so fitted to monopolize our regards? what day so fully fraught with potent and resistless claims on our most intense contemplation and most anxious solicitude? Think, then, of that day. Look forward, I beseech you, to that day. And, Oh! let not any of the engagements of these passing and insig nificant days, prevent you from preparing for the arrival of that great and terrible day of the Lord.

"that

blessing; and what does it comprehend? Mercy stands contrasted with justice, and is but another name for free and undeserved favour, or the manifestation of kindness to such as are utterly destitute of merit. It is exercised by a judge, when he pardons one who has been convicted and condemned; and it is exercised by the Supreme Judge of all, when he delivers from punishment, and receives as righteous, those who have sinned against him. A man finds mercy, therefore, when his sins are forgiven, and his person accepted.

exalt the blessing in our eyes, is, that if mercy be not found then, it will never be found. It is even unsafe to neglect, for one moment, the seeking of mercy, yet mercy may be obtained by those who long neglect it. Though one opportunity pass away unimproved, it may be found the next, and after the lapse of a thousand opportunities it may still be found. Although many Sabbaths should pass by and leave the soul without it, there is still a possibility, at least, of its being found before the last Sabbath's sun has set. But after the judgment of the great day begins, there will be no space for repentance, no room for prayer. If no mercy be found on that day, there can be no hope or prospect of obtaining mercy throughout all eternity. To that blessing, those who meet not with it before the judgment-seat, must bid an eternal farewell. And with what value does that consideration invest it!

And yet another circumstance which magnifies the value of the blessing, is, that the condition of those by whom mercy shall not then be found, will be pre-eminently wretched. Not to find mercy on that day is to be undone, altogether and eternally undone. It is to be cut off from the favour of the only Being that can save; it is to be sentenced to excessive and everlasting woe; it is to be consigned to the prison-house of misery and despair, where "the mercy of God is clean gone for ever," and where he hath forgotten to be gracious." And who can calculate the preciousness of deliverance from such a fate as this?

what lamentations escape from you-what an aspect of horror and despair would you assume, and how profoundly and irretrievably wretched would your destiny seem! And, on the other hand, were He to declare that you should receive mercy, were you to see it in his eye, and hear it in his voice what ecstasy would fill your hearts, and what anthems flow from your tongues! How would your countenances brighten with the smile of heaven's blessedness, and on what a glorious career of honourable service and enraptured enjoyment would you seem to enter! But you cannot, as yet, weigh against each other, the feelings of these opposite conditions: you cannot conceive what it is to be driven to the left hand, or drawn to the right hand of the Son of man: and yet surely you know enough, to feel that nothing is equal in importance to finding mercy of the Lord in that day.

It

And will you not then take up this petition for yourselves? Will you not fall down before the mercy-seat, and cry, "The Lord grant unto me, that I may find mercy of the Lord, in that day?" I commend to you that prayer, brethren. doth suit you well, whatsoever your character. It will suit you every day of your lives: it will suit you on your dying day. O be persuaded to offer it in your own behalf!

Of these three things only let me remind you: 1. If mercy is to be found at last, it must be sought now. To seek it for the first time, after the day of judgment has dawned, will be utterly useless. On it, even a cry for the rocks and mountains to fall and cover, would be unheard; a prayer even for a drop of water would be unan

and left not even the glimmering of twilight to cheer the sinner's bewildered spirit: the opportunity of coming boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, will then be withdrawn for ever: and for those who have trifled with offered mercy, there can remain nothing, but that fiery indignation, which shall consume the adversaries. It is now, therefore, that you must seek the blessing: now that you must smite upon your breasts and cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" O beware then of losing the golden opportunity. On this day of salvation, let the earnest prayer ascend to the Father of Mercies.

Imagine, my brethren, and when you do so, you are but overlooking a narrow and ever narrowing interval, and thinking of what shall soon be real-swered. The day of grace will then have closed, ized in greater awfulness than you can conceive, imagine that the day of the Lord is actually come; that the omniscient Judge has descended in his chariot of glory, and with his retinue of angels; that you have been awakened from the sleep of the grave by the blast of that trumpet, which once, as it waxed louder and louder, made Mount Sinai to shake and the hosts of Israel to tremble; that you have been summoned, by a resistless mandate, before the throne of Him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and his voice as the sound of many waters; and that the solemn epoch, so often spoken of, but so feebly anticipated, has actually arrived, when the sentence is to be uttered that shall seal your fate for ever: What think you of mercy now? Can you do without it? does it seem to you a trifle? is it unworthy of your thoughts? would you prefer before it the sweetest of this world's pleasures, the brightest of this world's honours, the richest of this world's empires? Ah! it cannot be. Does not every thing seem less than nothing and vanity, in comparison of mercy? Would not mercy seem cheaply purchased by the whole world, if mercy could be bought, and you had such a price to tender? Is not mercy, in your estimation, the sum and substance of all that is precious? Were the Judge to say, that for you there is no mercy-what anguish would seize you

2. Again, if mercy is to be found at all, it must be sought through the mediation of Christ. Justice is an essential attribute of the divine character; and justice pronounces sentence of condemnation upon all. Without respect to a Mediator, therefore, there seems no room or possibility for the exercise of mercy; and it would be presumptuous and preposterous to expect it. But a scheme has been contrived in the councils of heaven for harmonizing the exercise of mercy with the claims of justice; and in the Scriptures of truth are we assured, that a plenary expiation for sin having been made by Emanuel's agony, there is forgiveness with God, and plenteous redemption, and abundant mercy. It is through Jesus, then, that

nature; it prepares the treasures of the snow, it directs the current of the winds, it sends forth springs and rivers to refresh the earth; and, without mountains, the earth would have the appearance of a monotonous plain; and, if diversified by water-courses, they would only be briny canals, totally unfit for the purposes of animal life. But is "the multitudinous sea" a defect or deformity in creation? No; it is the most magnificent object in nature, and also the most useful; it collects all the waters that flow upon the earth, and circulates back the vital fluid in the form of mists and vapours, to be elaborated into rain and dews, to refresh the face of nature, and to secure the existence and comfort of every thing that lives. And when the time shall come, predicted by geologists, when the lofty mountains shall be levelled with the plains by the attrition of the elements, and the other agents of whose energy they speak so much, they may draw the curtain on the scene of nature, for animal and vegetable life must be at an end. The hills were made to rise, and the valleys to subside, and the waters to descend, before the earth was fit for the reception of animal life; and when this state of things is done away, the earth will

3. And, in fine, if mercy is to be found of the Lord, it must be sought in his service. Salvation indeed is not of works, but of grace; not of merit, but of mercy. But, at the same time, mercy cannot be obtained at last, unless a character be acquired and maintained, conformable to the obligations imposed, and the end contemplated in the exercise of the grace of God. "Blessed," it is said, "are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy:" and, on the other hand, "they shall have judgment without mercy, who have shewed no mercy." On the same principle, also, may the very same thing be averred of every Christian grace; for it were a sullying of the divine administration, a subversion of the throne of government and judg-be

ment, to extend mercy to those who continue in sin because grace abounds, and turn the grace of God into licentiousness. Sin, then, must be abandoned, as the crucifier of the Lord of glory; and holiness must be eagerly pursued, in gratitude for redeeming love. Wherefore, "let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God for be will abundantly pardon." And, "ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto eternal life."

SCRIPTURAL RESEARCHES.

No. X.

THE WORLD.

PART. II.-ADJUSTMENT.

BY THE REV. JAMES ESDAILE, Minister of the East Church, Perth. THERE is neither evil nor defect in the visible constitution of nature; for wherever we discern an apparent defect, we shall discover a countervailing advantage; and seeming irregularities are presented to our view, as if it were for the sole purpose of compelling us to recognise the contrivances of divine wisdom for the happiness and improvement of man. Darkness is not an evil; it affords repose to men and animals, and to the earth itself, which would be burnt up by constant heat, and exhausted by perpetual culture. Sleep is not a defect, nor a loss of time; it brings man to a conformity with the course of nature, and they are very idly employed who seek to abridge the period which God has assigned to rest, and to the renovation of the bodily frame; people are seldom more harmlessly employed than when they are asleep. Hunger and thirst are not evils; the removal of them is an essential constituent of human enjoyment. Will any call the death of animals an evil, when it makes room for healthy and vigorous successors to have their turn of enjoyment, and contribute to the general good? Even that law which has destined so many millions to be devoured by others is only the means of multiplying existence, and augmenting the sum of animal enjoyment. The rugged mountain, piercing the clouds, and inaccessible to the foot of man, is not useless in

ready for one of those new transformations of which

our philosophers have fancied so many, but of which we yet desiderate the proof.

But leaving these speculations, we may safely affirm that the system of nature, even in its wildest and most untoward aspects, presents the most unbounded resources of divine power and wisdom. It is not by mistake, or accident, that the frozen north is bound in chains of everlasting ice; it serves to regulate the temperature of the globe, and affords shelter to the polar bear, the whale, and the walrus. It is not by accident that torrid, barren plains extend far and wide in certain regions, presenting nothing but a sea of sand to the eye of the weary traveller. They were intended from the beginning, as the patient camel, "the ship of the desert," seems to have been created expressly for the purpose of traversing them; for the form of the hoof, and the structure of the stomach, which would be useless and inconvenient in any other circumstances, are peculiarly adapted to the situations where the services of this useful animal are required. Nothing can be more correct than the words of the poet when applied to this subject:

"AH nature is but art unknown to thee,

All chance, direction which thou canst not see,
All discord, harimony not understood,

All partial evil, universal good;

And spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, One truth is clear, whatever is, is right." Yes, right to a tittle, so far as external nature is concerned; but the maxim is a miserable delusion when extended, as the Author intended it should be, to the moral condition of man. Will they who adopt this opinion (and it has been publicly advocated, and a book has been written to prove that private vices are public benefits,) have the goodness to inform us what benefit the world has ever derived from sin? Individuals may indeed be instructed by contemplating the desolations which sin has wrought upon the earth; for in the destruction of sinful nations we see the judgments o. God visibly executed against iniquity; a most useful lesson this, and not to be taught with such effect by any other means. An individual sinner may escape punishment in the present world; and, when this happens, men are apt to become sceptical as to the existence of an over-ruling Providence, and nothing but the idea of a judgment to come can remove the doubt. Nations, on the other hand, having no posthumous existence, always have their punishment or reward in the present world; and no extent of power, or of territorial possessions, has ever been able to shelter a profligate and effeminate people from the visible judgments of heaven. From such facts as these we may perceive that sin is a plague-spot stamped on human