Where lay the foe? Our senses fail'd Amid the gloom the view that veil'd, But on as swept the gusty blast, Clearing its vapoury pathway past, By fits we saw the distant shore; But foe nor friend it longer bore. They track'd our steps-that fearful path Dar'd, in their blind and reckless wrath; And whilst with trembling gaze we stood, Sudden we mark'd the restless flood Heave, like a strong man in his strength, Rousing its mighty heart; at length, Burst from its breast the unseen chain, And forth in freedom wild again It leap'd exulting: where were theyThe hunters rav'ning for their preyThe proud, the mighty? Lord and slave, Chariot and steed, the bellowing wave Grasp'd in its mighty arms, and flung Back to the earth from which they sprung. Ha! ha! it was a sight, to see Those warriors in their brav'ry fleeHear how they yell'd, and pray'd, and curs'd, As forth the whelming torrent burst! In vain was flight-behind, before, Above them-all was foam and roar. And down the blinding waters dash'd, And bone, and blade, and timber crash'd Upon their rocky bed; up-borne Awhile, as mock'd his cries in scorn His howling foe, the swimmer strove And wrestled with the flood; and drove Banner and bearer, helm, and horse And rider, mingling corse with corse, The tide before: some steed on high Would lift his head, and snort and cry, Then struggling sink; and there were some Of Egypt's youth, for whom at home Were fond hearts waiting-dainty ones Short is his evil race who runs With Israel's foes; the God who gave You life, gave freedom to your slave: And woe to him who his dread path Shall cross, and tempt, as ye, his wrath! Deal, Kent. H. H. TUCKER. Miscellaneous. ERIVAN AND MOUNT ARARAT.-A traveller, who has lately visited Armenia, gives the following particulars respecting the devastations caused by the great earthquake which took place on the 22d of June last:" After a journey of 50 days I reached Erivan, the population of which amounts to about 12,000. The trade carried on is principally in the rich fruits of the district, which are exported to Persia and Georgia. The citadel, constructed of earth, as are all the houses of Persia and Armenia, could be defended with advantage; yet it was found incapable of withstanding the attack of prince Paskewitsch, who took it by storm in 1827. Erivan has not suffered much from the last earthquake; but from that city to Mount Ararat, a distance of 30 versts, all the villages are destroyed, and I rode through a uniform series of ruins without being able to find a house in which I could pass the night. I visited Mount Ararat, and saw the immense sunk spot or downfall whereby the whole village of Akuri was swallowed up, with its 3,000 inhabitants, not one of whom was saved. Not a trace of their dwellings remains; as little is there any vestige of the church, which was regarded as particularly sacred by the Armenians, as they believed that it was built on the spot where Noah made his first sacrifice to God, after the flood. There is also nothing to be seen of the celebrated monastery of St. Jacob. All has disappeared; and the only thing that presents itself to the view of the spectator is a vast mass of earth, stones, sand, and volcanic debris. Armenia has not experienced such a misfortune since the eighth century. During more than four months, earthquakes continued to be felt; and the inhabitants of the destroyed villages cannot yet venture to rebuild the houses. From this scene of ruin I proceeded to Nakitshevan, and found that town, which, though of little commercial importance, had 6,000 inhabitants, also destroyed. It was with difficulty I could find a house capable of sheltering me during the night.”— Munich Zeitung. JEWS IN PERSIA. I conversed repeatedly and freely with the khakham, or chief rabbi, and others of their chief men, and was struck more deeply than ever with the terrible fulfilment of prophecy in their instance. Their common occupations at Hamadan are as workers in silver, twisters of silk, and sellers of old coins. They are extremely ignorant, and wear that cringing and slavish demeanour which is every where the badge of oppression. They know little even about themselves. They dress like the Persians, and when abroad speak Persian or Turkish, but at home Hebrew. I asked the rabbi whether they had any tradition among them of the time when their ancestors came to this country. He said that they belonged to the tribe of Judah, and were descended from the Jews who were brought captive into these regions. "And where are the ten tribes?" I asked. "A part of them are in Bokhara, and the rest are scattered." "But why do you not return to the land of your fathers?" "We are waiting for the Messiah, who will restore us, with all our race." I pointed him to Jesus of Nazareth, but the old man only hung his head and sighed. I asked him again why, if they were so oppressed as he represented, they did not remove into some other country? He replied that they could not leave the city without a written permission from the governor, which it was impossible to procure; that, if they attempted to escape, they should be overtaken and brought back, and their misery would be greatly aggravated. They have three synagogues in Hamadan. A fourth had recently been erected, but was at once torn down by the Mussulmans.-Southgate's Travels in Turkey and Persia*. IDLENESS.-Wretched is the man who has no employment but to watch his own digestions, and who, on waking in the morning, has no useful occupation of the day presented to his mind. To such a one, respiration is a toil, and existence a continued disease. Self-oblivion is his only resource; indulgence in alcohol, in various disguises, his remedy; and death or superstition his only comfort and hope. For what was he born? and why does he live?-are questions which he constantly asks himself; and his greatest enigmas are the smiling faces of habitual industry, stimulated by the wants of the day, or fears for the future. If he is excited to exertion, it is commonly to indulge some vicious propensity, or display his scorn of those pursuits which render others happier than himself. teresting volumes to our readers. In fact we had, some months • We regret that we have not before recommended these inago, prepared a notice of them, but it was accidentally mislaid. -ED. youth is too apt inconsiderately to be led away by great professions, it will be my endeavour in the present paper to shew, that the perusal of the history of our blessed Lord, as Rector of Bramber-with-Botolph, Sussex, late detailed even by the evangelist who, from the Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. No. I. circumstance of his omitting the account of the miraculous conception, is a peculiar favourite with the maintainers of such sentiments cannot but lead the plain, rational believer to a very different conclusion; and to prove that Jesus Christ must be allowed, by all who believe the account even of this evangelist, not only to have been called, but to have been, in nature and in essence, "the Son of God." I will arrange what I have to say upon this subject under the three following heads : I. I will adduce the evidence in support of the doctrine in question, arising from the passages of the Old Testament quoted by the evangelist. THAT Jesus Christ performed miracles greater, more numerous, and far more astonishing than any other son of Adamthat he spake as never man before spake, and that the superior purity and holiness of his doctrines are a sufficient evidence of his having been a teacher sent from God-none who lay claim to the title of his disciples pretend to deny; but that, being God eternal, he submitted to take our nature upon him, and came into the world to die as an atonement for our sins, is what some seem to consider alike inconsistent with the attributes of God, and with the actual state of man: and they would fain have us suppose that the creed, embraced by so many, is no natural II. That arising from the testimony rededuction of the human mind from the reve-lated to have been borne to our Redeemer's lation which a gracious God has vouchsafed divinity by others. And to us, except that mind may have been blinded by prejudice and warped by early false impressions. Were opinions such as these likely to be encountered by those only who would carefully examine into the truth of them--who would diligently search the scriptures, to see whether what was thus fearlessly advanced had any sure ground to rest upon--it would be needless to advert to such a topic; but, as those who hold them arrogate to themselves the peculiar appellation of rational Christians, and as the mind of VOL. X.-NO. CCLXXIX. Lastly. That derived from his own personal conduct. We come then, first, to consider the evidence to our blessed Lord's divinity, arising from the passages of the Old Testament quoted by the evangelist. The evangelist quotes from the ancient prophets two passages, and applies them to the forerunner of Jesus Christ. The first from the prophet Malachi-" Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee" (Mark i. 2); the [London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk Strect, Strand.] T second from Isaiah--"The voice of one cry- | influence of the Holy Spirit, The Lord said ing in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight" (Mark i. 3). Now, if we turn to the volume of prophecy from whence these passages are taken-and certainly no one, having a doubt as to the meaning of the evangelist, should neglect to do so we find in the first passage Jehovah himself evidently speaking, and the words running" Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me" (Mal. iii. 1). Now, as John the Baptist was clearly the person intended by the messenger, we cannot but consider Jehovah the same as Jesus Christ: nor will the context bear a different interpretation; for it is said immediately after-" He will suddenly come to his temple"; or, as it might be rendered, "his own temple;" words which cannot properly be applied to any but the Lord of Hosts. On turning to the prophet Isaiah, from whom the subsequent passage is taken, we read "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (xl. 3). And, without making use of the same line of argument, which in this case would be equally applicable, as we proceed a few verses forward in the same prophecy we read" Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young" (verses 10, 11). Now what Christian who considers this passage, in connection with the preceding one, will deny its application to Jesus Christ, who was indeed "the good Shepherd," and the "chief Shepherd ?" But if such application be just, he can be none other than the Lord Jehovah. Indeed, the concluding part of the chapter, in which the prophet, without any change of person, makes a transition from the tender Shepherd to one of the most sublime descriptions of Omnipotence to be found in any writings, sacred or profane, cannot but prove that divine majesty is ascribed to the Son equally with the Father; or, to use the words of our blessed Lord himself, "that he and the Father are one." The only other passage quoted in this gospel from the Old Testament, which bears upon the present subject, occurs in the question proposed by our Saviour when teaching in the temple, as to how the Messial, could be David's son, and David's Lord. "How say the scribes, that the Messiah is the son of David? For David himself said, under the to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. David himself therefore calleth him Lord; and how is he is son" (xii. 35-37)? Upon this passage I would remark, that no unprejudiced person will pretend to deny the general application of it amongst the Jews to the Messiahı, at the time when it was thus brought forward; and no Christian the propriety of such application. But, allowing this to be the case, I know not how any man can solve the difficulty proposed in a satisfactory manner, except he allow the Messiah to be truly and properly God as well as man. And with reference to the language of this quotation (without insisting, as some very learned men have done, that the expression "sitting at the right hand" implies universally in the sacred writings an equalization of honour and power), no one, I think, can compare the words of the evangelist with the parallel passages occurring in the epistles of St. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 25; Heb. i. 13; x. 12, 13), and in the speech of St. Peter (Acts ii. 34), which may be considered explanatory of them, without being convinced that they are inapplicable to any created being. II. But we must next consider the evidence afforded in this gospel to the doctrine in question, from the testimony of others; and, though it would not be difficult to enlarge upon this subject, I shall content myself on the present occasion with the single testimony of the apostle Peter, who, when our Saviour said to his disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" replied, in the name of the rest, "Thou art the Christ." What were the opinions of the generality of the Jews, as to the nature and character of the Messiah at the time of our Saviour's appearance upon earth, it is not of importance for us to ascertain; but simply to make out, from passages of undoubted application to him, what were the ideas those sacred oracles ought to have conveyed to their minds: and, that I may be as little tedious as possible, I will confine myself to two passages, both quoted with this view by writers in the New Testament. When Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes, where the Messiah was to be born, they replied to him-"In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thon Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Leader, who shall rule my people Israel.” And as we refer to the prophet Micah, from whom the quotation is taken, we read in the next sentence-" And his goings forth have been from everlasting, from the days of eter nity"-words which so naturally import an original, distinct from the birth of Christ mentioned in the foregoing passage, that if we suppose the prophet to have purposed stating, in as energetic language as possible, the pre-existence from eternity of him who, in the fulness of time, would be born at Bethlehem, we could not easily find words in which he could more forcibly have expressed his meaning. The following observations, then, are designed to assist such reflection, by pointing out some of its most striking features, which we could not so well stop to notice on our way, with the attention they demand. In the first place, it is necessary to have some real notion of its antiquity; that is, not merely to know that the books of Moses were written 3,230 years ago, but to have some general idea what mighty changes have taken place in the world since that time, as the only way by which we can form a real notion of time is by the events which pass in it. When we look at the ruins of an ancient castle, knowing by experience by what slow degrees stone walls are worn away, we see what time has been doing, and therefore have at once an idea of their antiquity; and thus, to have a real notion of the antiquity of the books of Moses, we must be enabled to judge what vast revolutions have been brought about in the world since they were written. Of course no attempt can here be made to give any account of those vast, but gradual, revolutions which have taken place in the lapse of three thousand years, but merely to enable every reader to see that they must have taken place since these books were written. As for the reader who needs not this kind of information, he must, for that very reason, know its usefulness to those who do need it, and therefore will not be impatient at an attempt to afford it to them. The other passage to which I refer is taken from the 45th psalm; in which the holy psalmist, after contemplating the glorious excellencies of the Messiah, and foretelling his progress and success, in setting up his kingdom and overcoming his enemies, breaks forth into the following address to him"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre" -words than which none can convey a more decisive testimony to his deity; for the word here translated "God" is the very first term or name by which the supreme God has made himself known to the children of man; We know, then, by our experience, that mighty and "as this very verse," to use the words of empires do not rise to their greatest power suddenly, a learned commentator (Dr. A. Clarke), “ an but by causes of slow and gradual operation. Now, at apostle has applied to Jesus Christ, he either the time when Jesus Christ was born, the greatest believed Jesus Christ to be the true and eter-empire by far that ever existed in the world-that of heathen Rome-was at its highest pitch of power, wealth, and glory; and as to extent it had no other limits but those of nature, the Romans having literally extended their dominion over all the known and habitable world; that is, over every part of the world that was then deemed worth penetrating into. Witness the words of the Jewish general, Josephus, when persuading his countrymen, at the siege of Jerusalem, to surrender to the Romans. "It is proper, indeed, to disdain inferior masters, but not those who have all things under their dominion; for what region is there that has escaped the Romans, except such as is useless through extreme heat or cold?" : nal God, or he has utterly misapplied this scripture but both the ancient Chaldee paraphrast and the most intelligent rabbins agree with him in referring it to the Messiah." I would not wish to conceal that attempts have been made at various periods to translate this verse in a different way; but it may be asserted, upon the authority of all the more ancient versions, that the Hebrew will not bear such a rendering: and with regard to the Greek of the apostle, though, to ears accustomed only to the language of classic writers, the translation proposed may, at first sight, appear plausible; yet when they are aware that the words used by the apostle are quoted from the Septuagint, and that from the book of Psalms alone, as contained in that version, numberless instances might be adduced of the use of orog as the vocative-instances in which it can be no other case-they must see the absurdity of allowing in this particular instance such a translation to be admissible, particularly as the sense produced would be inconsistent with the apostle's general argument, and scarcely consonant either with reason or revelation. THE EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY OF THE ANTIQUITY OF THE BOOKS OF MOSES*. THE reader should now pause, to take a slight review of this short course he has run, through the most ancient writing in the world-the Pentateuch (or five books) of Moses. We have already briefly noticed some of its striking evidences of divine authority; but if the memory retains, or can recal by reflection, what may be called its effect as a whole, it will be seen, in a still stronger light, how far it rises above all possibility of having been the production of human artifice. From "A short and connected Course of Reading from the Old Testament, &c. By the rev. Herbert N. Beaver, M.A." (now vicar of Gringley-on-the-Hill, Notts). London: Hatchards. Of course, then, in any history of public transacpublic matters), written at that time, or near it, there tions (or in any book that did but frequently refer to versal dominion of Rome; at least, implying the docould not but be some passages implying this uniminion of Rome in that country, wherever it might be, where the transactions recorded, or referred to, were said to have been carried on. Accordingly, in the New Testament we find a considerable number of such passages-as, for example, that Christ's being born at Bethlehem, though his parents lived at Nazareth, was in consequence of their being obliged to go up to the city of Bethlehem to have their names enrolled, according to a decree issued by Augustus Cæsar, the Roman emperor, "that all the world should be taxed." And, again, in that passage where we find that the current coin of Judea was stamped with "Cæsar's image and superscription," and that, in paying the tribute money (or tax), the Jews did but "render unto Cæsar the things which were Caesar's." Now, in the Old Testament, which consists of the public records of the Jews, greatly venerated by the who'e nation, and at the same time constantly under the public eye, (guarded therefore by every thing that can ensure a book from being corrupted by alteration, or contaminated by any addition not perfectly known to be authentic), we have a register of public national events, marking the course of time to a thousand years after the books of Moses must have been written; because, through the whole course of those thousand years, we see that the laws and institutions, and public customs (we might say, the very existence) of the Jewish people, prove the prior existence of the books of Moses, in the same manner as the universal conformity of the whole English nation to an act of parliament, proves the prior existence of that act. Yet, even in the latest writing of the Old Testament, we do not find a single passage from which we could gather that there was ever such a people as the Romans in existence; which therefore makes it evident, in a manner to our very sight, what a vast change must have taken place in the state not of one nation only, but of the world, between the time of the latest writer of the Old Testament (which was above a thousand years after the death of Moses) and the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, when Augustus Cæsar was emperor of the world. It will not be supposed that these observations have been made by way of proving the antiquity of the books of Moses; this is perfectly ascertained by the learned in other ways, to a much greater accuracy than what has here been said can reduce it; the intention here has only been to enable every reader easily to understand and believe with what perfect certainty it is ascertained, in order that there might be nothing to prevent his feeling the force of that great evidence of the divine authority of scripture, to which it is the principal object of these remarks to direct his attention. That conspicuous feature in the history of the world, that great ever-visible rock (as we may call it) in the ocean of past ages, the high temporal glory of heathen Rome, assigning to every thing that is decidedly on the other side of it, the certain distance of at least two thousand years, enables us to perceive at once what a great length of time must have passed between the age of Moses and even the first appearance of the Christian religion. as great as ever: and the extent to which they are multiplied and spread, by printing and translation (owing to their being venerated now, as they were by the Israelites" on the plains of Moab," as a real communication from God), far greater than in any former age whatever. This, however, though it certainly calls for the serious attention of every one that questions the divine authority of these writings, whose effectual influence upon the minds of men has thus outlived all the great changes of human affairs, and in this present age (which we may call, in comparison of all preceding ones, the age of reason, liberty, and truth) stands higher and firmer than ever; still we must not say that it amounts to proof of their divine authority: we will only repeat that it strongly claims the attention of the sincere inquirer after truth. But it also directs our attention to something much more worthy of being looked into with the deepest interest. Not any conjectural argument, but a direct and full proof, that whatever human hand was employed to write these books of Moses, Omniscience and Omnipotence could alone have been their author. This unfading glory of these writings, never changing but to increase-" to ride on because of the word of truth;" this victorious subjugation of the principal nations of the world (the principal nations now, which leaves little doubt but the time will come when it will be said all nations) to the acknowledging of these ancient Jewish records as the word of the one only God, is not only in itself a strong argument both of divine authority and divine support, but it affords the actual proof, in a far more wonderful evidence, of "foreknowledge absolute," than that which was noticed above, in Deut. xxviii. It has been before observed how it fulfils (or rather, is daily more and more fulfilling) the promise made to Abraham, "that he should be the father of many nations," and that in him "all the families of the earth should be blessed;" and repeated to Jacob (Israel), Gen. xxviii. 14, in these words-" Thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." It has been before noticed, how wonderfully these ancient predictions are receiving their fulfilment in the fact, that at this day the principal nations of the world, by their national religion, acknowledge themselves children of Abraham-acknowledge that they are only saved by being Christ's; and that "if they be Christ's, then are they Abraham's seed"-" the Israel of God," and so*" heirs according to the promise." This was 1,450 years; and it was during the last half of this period that the world made its great advances in all human civilizing knowledge-in all those arts and sciences which tend to refine the mind, to improve society, and above all, to produce good and useful books, and consequently to rectify the notions, tastes, and feelings of men, on all subjects. Of this ancient "march of intellect," the learned are now perfectly capable of judging, from the books written in those times, which are still preserved to us; and as we are now rather trespassing on learned ground, we had better have recourse to the words of one who was competent to speak on such subjects*. "The best writers," says he, " in those languages (the Greek and Roman) flourished in those happy times, when learning and all the polite arts were come to their perfection and standard." The Greek writers here spoken of, lived, most of them, above a thousand years after Moses. Of the Roman writers he says, in another place, "The best authors in the age of Augustus (the Roman emperor) enjoyed happy times and plentiful circumstances, that was the golden age of learning." Yet, observe, at the very highest pitch of this improvement-this advance of the world in human wisdomwhen books of taste and feeling were written, which in their own way have never since been equalled, the notions which were entertained, and are now found in the very best of these books, on that subject which is of all others the most calculated to excite careful investigation-the communications said to have been made to man by higher and invisible powers-are all now looked upon with the same degree of credit as we pay to the absurd fables of Indian superstition;marily for the comfort of the faithful few among the Israelites, whereas the esteem and veneration of the most enlightened nations of the world for these writings of Moses, with their whole chain of miraculous history (written a thousand years before the dawn of that age, "when learning and all the polite arts were come to their perfection and standard") is at this day at least * Blackwall on the Classics. But let us now consider this great prophecy more attentively, first, with regard to the circumstances under which it was written; and then with regard to the means by which alone its fulfilment has been in such great measure accomplished. For there are three steps to be observed in this great evidence which we are now considering. The first or lowest degree affords a satisfactory proof that the bible is from God; the second raises that proof to a still higher degree of certainty; and the third (which is in fact the addition of another, and still more wonderful, instance of foreknowledge) brings such a fresh accession of evidence as-we will only say-illustrates these words, "if they It should be remembered, when we apply to ourselves the comfortable promises of God's favour and blessing, which abound in the writings of the Jewish prophets, and were delivered pri that our title to these promises is only as being "Abraham's seed" by adoption, and so included in the "everlasting covenant" (Gen. xvii. 4, 7), by which God promised that Abraham should be the father of many nations, and at the same time promised to be a God to him and to his seed after him"-his seed, either original or by adoption-" to all generations." This is that covenant that was made with Abraham on account of his faith, before the legal token was given, and into which all are received who "believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." |