as this temporal deliverance of the Jews was a type of the spiritual deliverance of Christians, effected by the death of Christ, so were the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb, and the Sabbatical rest, respectively typical of the atonement made by Christ upon the cross, and the eternal rest of heaven, assured to us by his resurrection. From a comparison of Numb. xxviii. 16, with Levit. xxiii. 5, it appears that the Israelites left Egypt on the 15th day of the first month, having celebrated the first passover on the day preceding; so that, by dying on the day following the passover, our Lord precisely accomplished the type presented by that deliverance. With respect to the day of the resurrection, we find a remarkable circumstance in the original institution of the passover. It was ordained that the sheaf of the

first-fruits of the harvest should be offered "on the morrow after the Sabbath" in the Paschal week, Levit. xxiii. 11. thereby presignifying that Christ should rise from the dead on the first day of the week, to "become the first-fruits of them that slept," 1 Cor. xv. 20. That the day of Pentecost should likewise have been originally determined by a computation, which should bring it to a Christian Sabbath, must not be overlooked as one of those typical predispositions by which a change in the institution was signified. This feast was calculated from the day of the wave-offering, so as to fall on the fiftieth day, or "on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath" from that event; and as on the one occasion there was an offering of the first-fruits of the barley harvest, emblematic of the resurrection, so on the other there was an offering of the "first-fruits of the wheat harvest," presignifying the first-fruits of the Christian Church, produced by the effusion of the Holy Ghost. Surely if the prospective reference in these institutions had extended simply to the fulfilment of the type, unconnected with circumstances respecting the day of the solemnity, the Jewish Sabbath, rather than the morrow after the Sabbath, would have been the more natural time for the celebration of each respectively. The connexion, indeed, between the resurrection of Christ, and a new appointment of the Sabbath, is clearly intimated in Heb. iv. 1, where the Sabbath is represented as an emblem of that rest into which the people of God are to enter. As the Sabbath had been to the Jews a symbol of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, it had been observed on one day of the week; so, to Christians, it became a symbol of the eternal rest of heaven, assured to them by the resurrection of Christ, and is therefore celebrated on the day of the resurrection. There is also a passage in the Psalms applied expressly to himself, both by Christ and St. Peter, in connexion with which the Psalmist speaks of a day which the Lord had made," sanctified by a great deliverance, and set apart for "entering into the gates of righteousness," in order to "rejoice and be glad in it." Ps. cxviii. 14, 99.

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But not only was the change of the Sabbath essential to the due accomplishment of the types of the Old Testament, but the types themselves seem to have been ordained with a prophetic reference to a combination of events, with which the death of Christ would necessarily be attended. The relation of time between the Paschal Sabbath and the passover would vary in each successive year; but from the connexion which subsisted between them as commemorative of the same event,

it was fit that they should be as nearly coincident, as the circumstances of the case would allow. Before Christ offered himself as the great sacrifice for the sins of the world, it was expedient that he should change the Paschal celebration, which typified his death, into another which should be better accommodated to the spiritual nature of the Christian covenant. It was in reference to this intended institution of the Eucharist, that he so ardently expressed his desire to eat his last passover with his disciples; after which nothing remained but the completion of the work of redemption upon the cross, which the fulfilment of the type, already noticed, required to take place on the following day. This day, however, could not be a Sabbath, for "that Sabbath day was a high day;" and, consequently, the crucifixion intervened between the Passover and the Sabbath. During the Sabbath our Lord lay in the grave; the rest of which corresponded to the outward rest of the Jewish Sabbath, as the rest of heaven, which the latter had typified, agreed best to the spiritual Sabbath begun at the resurrection. Christ then rested from the humiliation and suffering, by which he wrought the redemption of the world; and the silent repose of the tomb attested that the deliverance prefigured by that of Egypt was accomplished, as the weekly Sabbath had served to retain it in remembrance. By postponing the resurrection no longer than the day following the Sabbath, the body was subjected to no perceptible decomposition, which, if it had not taken place during a more protracted period, might have induced a doubt as to the humanity of Christ. An inference, indeed, may be drawn from Psalm xvi. 10, which is applied to Christ by Peter and Paul, Acts ii. 24. xiii. 35, that the body would not be left in hell a sufficient time to see corruption; at the same time it was necessary that he should lie in the grave a sufficient time to place beyond doubt the reality of his death, which was fully effected by the detention of the body in the guarded tomb during the one entire day, which intervened between the crucifixion and resurrection.

Still it may be urged that the want of Scripture authority for the change of the Sabbath, in the shape of an apostolic injunction, renders the application of these types uncertain and unsatisfactory. Now it is manifest that while the Jewish state existed, any formal abrogation of their Sabbath was politically impossible, as far, at least, as Judea was concerned. We know, however, that from the day of the resurrection the disciples met together for prayer and religious exercise, on the first day of each week; and though, in respect to the laws, they did not neglect the Jewish Sabbath, yet, as Christians, they kept the Lord's day, as it is expressly called in Rev. i. 10. In confirmation of this practice, Jesus, who had appeared to his disciples on the day of his resurrection, seems to have reserved his second appearance till the recurrence of that day in the ensuing week; and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost sanctified the newly appointed Sabbath for perpetual observance. It is to be remarked, also, that although there is no positive injunction of our Lord or his apostles on the subject, there is, nevertheless, a distinct declaration of St. Paul to the Church at Colosse, which was without the precinct of Judea, wherein the observance of the Jewish Sabbath is particularised, among

other ceremonial ordinances, as no longer obligatory upon Christians (Col. ii. 16).

Such is the warrant which the Scriptures afford for the change of the Sabbath, in contradistinction to the Romish doctrine of independent tradition, which, however valuable as a proof of the original and uninterrupted practice of the Church, can never be admitted as exclusive authority for its adoption. The force with which the evidence deduced from the Old Testament bears upon the Jewish observance of the seventh day, is sufficiently perspicuous. It is more than probable, that the patriarchal Sabbath corresponded to our Sunday, and that it was thrown back to Saturday, in order to commemorate the departure of the Jews; so that the return to the original day of rest is no more unreasonable than its change in the first instance. Into the proofs of this position there is no need to enter; the reader, who may choose to pursue the subject, will find them discussed at length in Bedford's Scripture Chronology, and Hamilton's Tract on the Sabbath.

PROFANATION OF THE SABBATH.

We observe, with considerable satisfaction, that great exertions are making on the part of the clergy and gentry in and about Wolverhampton to check the shameless profanations of the Sabbath which have of late prevailed in that vicinity. The following resolutions, signed by the vicar, churchwardens, and chief of the inhabitants, have been issued at Sedgley. We print them in the hope of stimulating the same laudable endeavours in other parts of the kingdom, where similar practices are no less notorious.

1. That those who employ workmen settle for their work by such time on Saturday, as that every collier, miner, or other labourer under their employ, shall have time to lay out his money at market during Saturday evening; and be paid as far as practicable, at the office or works, rather than at a public house, that they may be the more likely to send to market immediately.

2. That butchers, hucksters, and those who keep any kind of shop whatsoever, do refuse to supply any customer after twelve o'clock on the Saturday night, and do keep their shops entirely closed during the whole of Sunday.

3. That no victualler permit any tippling in his house on a Sunday, or on any account draw beer, wine, or spirituous liquors during divine service.

4. That these rules be observed on Easter Day, being April 6th of this year, A. D. 1828, and from that time forth.

5. That we do hereby call upon the parish officers to enforce the penalties of the law against all who shall hereafter be found to practise illegal traffic, to harbour tippling, or aid and abet in disorderly meetings on the Lord's Day.

6. That copies of these our rules and resolutions be presented to the magistrates acting for the district, and circulated as generally as possible in the parish.

INDIAN SUTTEES.

THE following communication is from a gentleman in the civil service of India, and who fills the office of magistrate and judge in a very considerable district. Speaking of the often agitated question respecting the policy of putting an end to Suttees in that county, he says,-"A most horrid one took place a few miles from Cuttack last month. The poor woman was of the Jogee tribe, and was buried alive with the corpse of her husband. Her age was seventy-three!

Under the supposition that it was not altogether voluntary on her part, I summoned all those concerned, and among them the Peiroct of the family. Part of his examination was as follows:

Q. You say that it has, from time immemorial, been the custom for the widows of this family to be buried alive with the bodies of their deceased husbands. How comes it, then, that a case has not occurred for eighteen years? Many members of the family must have died during that time and left widows.

Q. What do you mean when you say they were not Suttees?

Q. How can you tell when it is a woman's fate to be a Suttee? or, as you express it, that she is a Suttee? Can you discover, before the death of her husband, that it is her fate to be buried alive?

Q. When did you discover, in the present case, that the woman was a Suttee, and how?

Q. You said just now that only those burned whose fate it was to do so: in short, that some, from the time of their birth, were destined to be Suttees. Can nothing avert that fate?

Q. Supposing that a woman, destined to be a Suttee, dies before her husband; how, in such a case, is her destiny fulfilled?

A. Undoubtedly many have died within that time leaving widows, but they were not Suttees. Had they been, they would undoubtedly have been buried alive also.

A. I mean to say it was not their fate to become Suttees.

A. Yes: it is sometimes discovered before the death of her husband, and sometimes afterwards. The usual mode is the woman's expressing her determination to become a Suttee, should she outlive her husband.

A. She told me she would burn a few hours after her husband's death.

A. Nothing. If it is a woman's fate to be a Suttee, a Suttee she must be.

A. That is impossible; so long as her husband lives nothing can harm her?

"On my asking one of her near relatives what advantage the widow, or her husband could derive from the sacrifice, he answered, she had the satisfaction of following her husband.

Q. Where do you suppose her hus

band is gone to?

Q. And she has had the satisfaction of following him?

A. To Hell.

A. Yes.

"The poor creature was, therefore, a voluntary sacrifice, and I had no authority to interfere."

Our correspondent further states, that by the existing regulations, Suttees, under certain circumstances, are declared illegal; but no penalty can be inflicted on those concerned! And he suggests, that if it were declared a misdemeanour to be in any manner accessory to this practice, and subject to the penalty of fine and imprisonment, in a very short time it would probably disappear: and he further proposes, that widows should be allowed to burn if they please; but should be compelled to buy their own wood, raise their own pile, and light it themselves.

This proposal would of course require some modification in case the widow should prefer being buried alive; a process which would need some assistance.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL FACTS AND CUSTOMS,

By analogous Reference to the Practices of other Nations.

THE PRIMEVAL CUrse.

Genesis iii. 17.—" And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."

There seems to have been a notion, which of old prevailed greatly, that the Antediluvian world was under a curse, and the earth very barren. Hence the ancient mythologists refer the commencement of all plenty, as well as of happiness in life, to the æra of the deluge.—Bryant's Mythology, Vol. V. 279.

The Hindoos and Chinese believe that all nature is contaminated, and the earth itself labours under some dreadful defilement, a sentiment which Mr. Maurice conceives could only spring from certain corrupted traditions relative to the above curse. To such an extreme point of extravagance, however, do they carry their conceptions on this subject, that some of them, according to Du Halde, impelled by the dread of terrestrial pollution, have embraced the resolution of never more touching the planet which they were born to cultivate, and cause themselves to be suspended aloft in cages upon the boughs of trees, to which elevation the admiring multitude raise the scanty provision necessary to the support of the small portion of life that animates their emaciated carcases.— Maurice's Indian Antiquities, Vol. V. p. 693.

FLAMING SWORD.

Genesis i. 24.-"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

The following traditional tenet of the Hindu creed may probably be founded on the above passage:

Brahme, the great one, the supreme eternal, uncreated God of the Hindus, aided by Veeshnu, the preserver, and Mahadeo, the destroying power of God; this threefold divinity, armed with the terrors of almighty power, pursue, throughout the extent of creation, the rebellious Dewtahs, headed by Mahasoor, or great malignant spirit, who seduced them, and dart upon their flying bands the Agnyastra, or fiery shafts of divine vengeance.-Maurice's Indian Antiquities, Vol. II.

p. 70.

FIRST-FRUITS.

Genesis iv. 3.-"And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."

The custom of offering up the first-fruits of the harvest, expressive of gratitude to the Deity, was very prevalent amongst the Jews, and appears to have been sanctioned by the highest authorities from the most remote antiquity; neither was it confined to the produce of the earth, but extended to almost every other property, vegetable or animal, and, we need scarcely remind our readers, even to the firstborn of their families.

The earth, says Theophrastus, produced trees and grass long before animals existed, whose leaves and roots the early inhabitants of the world burnt as a conciliatory sacrifice to the Gods, thus, too, consecrating fire to the divinity.— Euseb. Præp. Lib. I. c. 9.

VOL. X. NO. VII.

* Du Halde's History of China, Vol. I. p. 50.
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