ness, until the judgment of the great day ?" There are few, perhaps none, who can view without horror, a human being cutting short, with his own hand, the thread of life, passing the boundaries which separate time from eternity, and appearing in the presence of his Judge, in the commission of an act of wilful disobedience of his law and rebellion against his authority, and in the violation of the very strongest instinct of his nature. Such was the death of the apostate Judas. The divine displeasure against this monster of iniquity was conspicuously marked at the very moment when the guilty deed was executed. For St. Peter tells us, that "this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch that that field was called the field of blood." But no obscurity is left in the Sacred Record, with regard to the future, the everlasting fate, of Judas Iscariot. An inspired writer tells us, "that he went to his own place;" and our Lord declares, "that Satan had entered into him;" that he was possessed of the dispositions and character of a devil," that he was a son of perdition," " and that it had been good for him that he had never been born." Let Let each of us stand in awe, and sin not. the ministers of our holy religion strive to feel the influence of divine truth upon their own hearts, and to exhibit its practical influence upon their lives, "speaking because they believe," and shunning every approach to hypocrisy and deceit, lest," having preached to others, they themselves should be cast away." Let those who have the form of godliness, remember that it is its power alone which renders the soul meet for heaven; that the performance of the external offices of piety may delude both ourselves and others, but that they cannot deceive God; and that he only can stand with acceptance before the Eternal who is clothed in the spotless robe of the righteousness of the Lamb, and who has holiness unto the Lord inscribed the living tablets of his heart, and upon upon the actions of his life. And let the ostentatious, yet hollow professor of Christianity, who has long plumed himself on the rigid orthodoxy of his doctrinal principles, on his acquaintance with mysteries the most profound, on the number and length of his devotional exercises, on the warmth of his controversial zeal, and on his indefatigable exertions to obtain proselytes to the church or sect with which he was connected, recollect that all these acquirements may have been made, and all these deeds performed, while his heart was in a state of utter alienation from his God, and while he was completely destitute of a true and practical faith in the merits of his Redeemer, and in the power and grace of the divine Spirit. Yes, my brethren, we are assured on the highest authority, (that of our Judge himself,) that many shall say at the last day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works," on whom the tremendous sentence shall be pronounced, “I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity."-Let not, however, the humble and timid follower of Jesus be discouraged by the solemn meditations in which we have been engaged. To the stout-hearted, and those who are at ease in Zion, they may indeed minister terror, but they have no such voice to him who is penitent and contrite, and who seeks the Lord in sincerity and truth. The Redeemer of mankind breaks not the bruised reed, nor quenches the smoking flax. He says to the fearful spirit, "be strong, fear not.” Yes, while he tabernacled upon earth, he compassionated and forgave the ignorance and errors of his followers. He pardoned and received into his favour the disciples who had forsaken him in the hour of danger; and he loved with an ardent affection the very apostle who, after having repeatedly denied him with oaths and imprecations, went out and wept bitterly, sought his mercy, and devoted his future life to his service. Go, then, my hearers, and strive and pray that you may learn wisdom from your past errors, that in every situation of life you may prove faithful to the cause of the great Captain of salvation, and that you may experience the fulfilment of his own gracious promise, that "as your day is, so shall your strength be." PRAYER. WRITTEN IN SICKNESS. BY J. G. HOPKIRK, LL.B. To thee, my God, my voice I'll raise, When pain and sickness rack my frame, I'll sing my great Creator's praise, And call upon His holy name. 'Twas He who form'd this throbbing heart, His power bestow'd this fleeting breath, 'Tis His to wield affliction's dart, 'Tis His to point the shaft of death. To Him does fair Creation turn, Her King, her Master, and her Lord; Those splendid orbs that o'er us burn, Proofs of His mighty power afford. Shall I, presumptuous, dare to span His power, who made yon orb of day? And, shall his feeblest creature, man, Repine beneath His gracious sway? In humble and confiding faith, Let me await His sov'reign will; That I may be submissive still. This throbbing pulse forget to play, To guide me to the realms of day. THE PRAYERLESS MOTHER. (FROM A LETTER TO AN AMERICAN MINISTER.) Do you remember, dear brother, that when you were in H several years ago, you held my little girl upon your lap, and said you hoped she would not have a prayerless mother? You did not know how deep your words sunk in my heart-how fearfully they sounded. It was like the sudden plunging of a dagger. I was that horrid thing: I was a prayerless mother! Satisfied with the happiness I enjoyed, I forgot the source. to pray. | the souls of his children upon all their faintings, and to make their soul become as a "watered garden.' 5. A garden stands always in need of weeding and dressing; continual labour must be bestowed on it: so, in the Church, and the hearts of Christians, Christ hath always somewhat to do. We would else soon be over. grown, and turn wild.-If, then, the Church be a severed portion, let us learn from it these things: 1st, We should walk as men of a severed condition from the world, not as men of the world. We should seek earnestly the peculiar graces of Christ's people, that Christ may delight in us as in his garden. 2d, Let us bless God, that our lot hath fallen into such a pleasant place, to be planted in the Church, the place of God's delight. 3d, Let us strive to be fruitful: for men will endure a fruitless tree in the waste wilder I had forgotten praver-forgotten God! You can conceive, then, the startling effect of your words the host of recollections they awaked. Till memory cease, I shall never forget their force. I thought, "Must my child have a prayerless mother, when for me so many prayers have urged their way to Heaven?" I thought of times when I had knelt by the side of a fair, fond being, who had clasped my tiny hands, and taught me to pray-to love God. And should my child have no such guide? Should no prayer ascend for her? Oh, it was an awful thought! I saw the image of that sainted sister, who had been the guardian of my childhood, mournfully reproaching me. Tears were in her gentle eyes: she wept for my child and me. I tried The effort was in vain. I could only clasp my babe, with unutterable yearnings, that it might be better than its mother. There was a constant struggleness, but in their garden, who will endure it? It is in my breast. Should I, could I, give up the world? I thought much on the subject of religion, but I could not bring my mind to love God-to desire Christ above all things. Why? I did not pray! That sufficiently accounts for my indecision. At length I was cast on a bed of sickness. I thought it was the bed of death. There God manifested himself as my friend. He promised to take care of my children. I feared not to leave them with him. A tide of love and peace rushed in upon my heart. My joy has remained; my love to God does not waver; and my children will no more, I trust, have a PRAYERLESS MOTHER.—Mother's Monthly Journal (American.) CHRISTIAN TREASURY. Song of Solomon v. 1, "I am come into my garden." -Christ takes all manner of terms to express himself, and the state of the Church in relation to himself; in order to show us that wheresoever we are, we may have occasion of heavenly thoughts, to raise up our minds to higher matters. His Church is his Temple, when we are in the temple; it is a field, when we are in the field; a garden, if we walk in a garden. Why is the Church compared to a garden? 1. A garden is taken out of the common waste ground, to be appropriated to a more particular use. So, the Church is taken out of the wilderness of this waste world, for a special end or purpose. It is, in respect of the rest, as Goshen to Egypt, wherein light was when all else was in darkness. And, indeed, wherein doth the Church differ from other ground, but that Christ hath taken it in? It is the same soil as other ground, but he dresseth and fits it to bear spices and herbs. 2. In a garden, nothing comes up naturally of itself, but as it is planted and set. So, nothing is good in the heart of a man, or in the Church at large, but as it is planted and set by the heavenly Husbandman. We need not sow the wilderness, for weeds prosper naturally; the earth is a mother to weeds, but a stepmother to herbs. So, the passions grow too rank naturally; but nothing grows in the Church, but as it is set by the hand of Christ, the author, dresser, and pruner of his garden. 3. In a garden there is a variety of flowers and spices, especially in hot countries; and all useful and delightful. So, in a Christian, and in the Church, there is somewhat of every grain, and all are useful, both to God and man. As some cannot hear of a curious flower but they will have it in their garden; so a Christian cannot hear of any grace but he labours to attain it. For the Spirit of God in the Church imparts the principle of all spiritual things, and the seeds of all heavenly graces. 4. Of all other places, we most delight in our gardens, to walk there, and to take care thereof, in fencing, weeding, watering, and planting. So, Christ's chief delight and care is for his Church: he walks continually in the midst of it; and if he defend and protect States, it is that they may be a harbour to his Church. His Spirit is as a fountain and a spring in it, to refresh strange to be barren and fruitless in a place which is The parcel which you sent me, containing the memo On receiving Memorials of her departed Sisters.rials of our dear departed sisters, reached us in safety. O with what agonized, but I trust subdued, feelings of sorrow did we look upon all that now remained to us of those beloved ones! Every day I look at them, and my heart seems to cling to them with fonder and tenderer emotions, as if some hidden remembrances were of them, (an emblem of all that is earthly to which my wrapt up in them. Decay is already imprinted on some reproved, my ardour in the pursuit of vanity repressed, heart clings) and by it my idolatry and earthliness are and I am taught to look forward to that pure, immortal joy which cannot fade, and which shall dwell in eternal concord with holiness and strength.-Memoirs of Mrs Wilson. Self-renunciation.-What is there so monstrously terrible in a doctrine, that is the constant subject of our prayers, whenever we put up that petition, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?" The import of which seems to be this that we do every thing God wills, and nothing but what he willeth; that we do those things he willeth, only because he willeth. This cannot, indeed, be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but also an old one to pull down.-Whitefield, should exist a doubt respecting the expediency of educating the Blind, or that it should be supposed enough has been done for them, when their bodily wants have been supplied. They are rational and immortal beings, and capable of all the enjoyments which others feel from the cultivation of their moral and intellectual powers. It therefore becomes not only a reasonable but incumbent duty, to employ every means for cultivating the moral and intellectual faculties of the unfortunates deprived of sight, and storing their minds with general knowledge. Should it be objected that they are incapable of re it is communicated to others, the objection only proves the necessity of endeavouring to devise such methods of conveying instruction as may be best suited to their particular circumstances. Special grounds for Religious Affections towards our Saviour. Our blessed Saviour, if we may be permitted so to say, is not removed far from us, and the various relations in which we stand towards him, seem purposely made known to us, in order to furnish so many different bonds of connection with him, so many consequent occasions of continual intercourse. He exhibits not himself to us "dark with excessive brightness," but is let down as it were to the possibilities of human converse. We may not think that he is incapable of entering into our little concerns, and of sympathizing with them; for we are graciously assured that he is not one "who cannot be touched with the feeling of|ceiving instruction through the same means by which our infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are." The figures under which he is represented, are such as convey ideas of the utmost tenderness. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.' "They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the beat nor sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them, shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them."—" I will not leave you orphans," was one of his last consolatory declarations. The children of Christ are here separated, indeed, from the personal view of him; but not from his paternal affection and paternal care. Meanwhile let them quicken their regards by the animating anticipation of that blessed day, when he, "who is gone to prepare a place for them, will come again to receive them unto himself" Then shall they be admitted to his more immediate presence: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part: but then shall I know, even as I am known.' Surely more than enough has been now said to prove that this particular case, from its very nature, furnishes the most abundant and powerful considerations and means for exciting the feelings; and it might be contended, without fear of refutation, that by the diligent and habitual use of those considerations and means, we might with confident expectations of success engage in the work of raising our affections towards our blessed Saviour to a state of due force and activity. But, blessed be God, we have a still better reliance; for the grand circumstance of all yet remains behind, which the writer has been led to defer, from his wish to contend with his opponents on their own ground. This circumstance is, that here, no less than in other particulars, the Christian's hope is founded, not on the speculations, or the strength of man, but on the declaration of Him who cannot lie, on the power of Omnipotence.-WILBERFORCE. (Practical View of Christianity.) The Christian Pilgrim.-Each true Christian is a right traveller, his life his walk, Christ his way, Heaven his home. His walk painful, his way perfect, his home pleasing. I will not loiter, lest I come short of home: I will not wander, lest I come wide of home, but be content to travel hard, and be sure I walk right, so shall my safe way find its end at home, and my painful walk make my home welcome.-WARWICK. (Spare Minutes.) EDUCATION OF THE BLIND. The ear has been happily called the vestibute of the soul, and the annals of the Blind who have become illustrious by their mental acquirements confirm the remark; for they show that few intellectual studies are inaccessible to them. It has always been observed, and has received a kind of universal assent among those who have associated much with them, that in certain branches of study they have a facility which others rarely possess. But in order to assist them, it is necessary that the other senses should supply the want of the eye. If, for instance, we wish to teach them the art of reading, letters must be prepared palpable to their touch. If we wish to communicate to them a knowledge of the surface of the earth, globes and maps must be prepared, with the divisions, &c. &c., in relief. Knowledge obtained in this way must, of course, be much more slowly acquired than that by sight; but this very circumstance should excite to more vigorous efforts for the removal, as far as possible, of every obstacle that retards its progress. The invention of characters in relief was amongst the earliest measures adopted for the instruction of the blind; and it is worthy of remark, that the letters chosen were of the Illyrian or Sclavonian alphabet modified. This alphabet was preferred on account of the square form of the letters, which it was thought would be more obvious to the touch than the Roman character; but it was soon abandoned, the square or angular form of the letters not having afforded the advantages that were expected from it. Moveable letters were next tried, which were placed in small tablets of wood, and made to slide in grooves; and moveable leaden characters were afterwards cast for the use of the blind at Paris, but the work was attended with difficulties and expenses which the inventor was not prepared to meet. Large pin cushions were also brought into use for the blind, on which characters were formed with inverted needles. Various other attempts were made in wood and metal till the time of M. Hauy, of Paris, in 1784, who invented the art of printing in relief for the use of the blind. No successful efforts were subsequently made to improve the method of printing, and it is but of a very recent period that any other means were generally adopted for their improvement, except by oral instruction. The inefficiency of a method of communication so In a small but interesting work by Mr Alston, the in- disproportioned to the end in view, and in which the defatigable Treasurer to the Blind Asylum at Glasgow, pupil was rendered totally dependent upon the instruc. we find the following remarks on a subject in which tor, by being debarred from acquiring any portion of we have always felt a lively concern. The pamphlet his education by his own exertions, suggested the profrom which our extract is taken is entitled, "State-priety of attempting to form a system of notation as a ments of the Education, Employments, and Internal Arrangements adopted at the Asylum for the Blind, Glasgow." substitute for reading, which should, in some measure, supply the desideratum, and enable the scholar to co operate with the teacher. Various were the methods that were adopted, and It seems strange that in the mind of any one there amongst the rest the ingenious system of writing on twine; but this was found to be by far too intricate, ever to be generally useful, and was superseded by the invention of printing with arbitrary characters in relief, sometime ago revived in this country; but this plan also involved many serious difficulties both to the blind reader and their teacher. I had long been convinced that arbitrary characters, however ingeniously constructed, threw unnecessary obstacles in the way of the blind, and that an assimilation of the alphabet of the blind to that of the seeing would, from its great simplicity, not only be free from all objections, but that, in the case of those who had lost their sight after they were familiar with the Roman alphabet, it would be attended with manifest and peculiar advantages, while its similarity to the common printing would enable blind children, at a dis. tance froin any institution, to attend an ordinary school without giving more trouble or inconvenience to the teacher than any of his other pupils, having this farther advantage—being common to the seeing and the blind, the former can not only judge of the correctness of the letters reading, but are qualified to assist the blind in the process wherever they are. In my first experiments, I adopted the capital letters of the Roman alphabet, merely depriving them of the small strokes at the extremities, as suggested by the late Dr Fry of London to the Society of Arts, in Edinburgh, when one of the competitors for their Gold Medal for the best alphabet for the blind. But it was found that letters cut after that model were too broad to be easily deciphered by the sense of touch. Having therefore made numerous improvements on the size and sharpness of the type, I brought out several elementary books as my first specimen of printing for the blind, in January, 1837, from two founts of types, with which I have now finished the New Testament, with the Scotch metrical version of the psalms and paraphrases, an English Grammar, also other elementary books, including Musical Catechism, with Tunes, &c. &c. The whole of my experiments were submitted in detail, to the blind themselves, and to my being guided by their judgment I attribute much of whatever success has followed my exertions. The advantages of a literature for the blind, so simple, practicable, and so easily taught, are obvious to every one. Deprived of the delights of vision, the blind are naturally inquisitive, and thrown more than others upon their mental resources for enjoyment, they will thereby soon become convinced of the benefits of this mode of instruction; it will afford them profitable and pleasurable occupation in their solitary hours. It is therefore an incumbent duty to enlighten their minds by unfolding to their touch the pages of that blessed volume, the principles of which afford the best security for their happiness here, and the surest foundation for their hopes of eternity. Thus, though we cannot open the eyes of the blind, we teach their hands to serve the purposes of eyes,-by means of the power of touch, we pour in the light of information on the eyes of their understanding. To the outward eye, the page of nature is still a blank; but we thus illuminate the *The Glasgow Institution affords an interesting illustration of this at the present time. There is a young woman in the Asylum, who, after being educated in the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, lost her sight, and thus became totally deaf, dumb, and blind. Having left the Deaf and Dumb Institution previously to the latter calamity befalling her, she remained for a considerable time with her relations in a state of utter helplessness, incapable of any rational intercourse with the external world, and sunk in the deepest despondency. She was accidentally discovered by her former benefactors, and placed in the Glasgow Asylum for the Blind, the inmates of which have been taught to communicate with the Deaf and Dumb; and she may be seen daily receiving instructions from one of the more advanced blind children, tracing by the touch the shapes of the relieved Roman characters, which she still remembers, (and greatly prefers to the angular character, which she also understands to some extent,) and then indicating them by spelling the words on the fingers of her blind companions. The restoration of this interesting individual to intercourse with the rational world, is a source of exquisite pleasure to herself, and of gratification to all connected with her. inner man, not with the light of science only, but with the far more glorious light shed abroad by the Sun of Righteousness, who brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel; they having these advantages over the seeing, that, in the darkest hour of the night, they can finger over the pages of their Bibles, and hold con munion with their God. "Our hands can read, our finger trace, The page of truth and love; "Then let us willingly record His praise, who maketh known After I had successfully introduced types adapted to The printing for the blind being in relief, it is obv ous that these books must always be considerably larger than those for the seeing, and that any attempt to reduce them to ordinary dimensions must be followed by a corresponding sacrifice of their adaptation to the touch of the reader. I am satisfied, from experience, as well as from the opinion of those with whom I have corresponded, and who have given much of their attention to the subject, that it would be injurious to reduce the size of the letters below that of our type of small Primer, on which the New Testament is printed. It has been asked by many, what is to become of those advanced in life and engaged in trades, whose sense of touch cannot be so acute as that of the young? My answer is, that just as seeing people, when advanced in life, require glasses to aid their sight, so must the blind have a larger type to suit their sense of touch, To meet this, I have adopted the large Double Pica type, on which the elementary books are printed, and the difficulty referred to has been completely obviated. After much labour, and considerable expense, I have procured a new Medium type, which I think likely to be the most useful for general purposes. The inven tion of such letters forms a new era in the history literature, and no limits can be set to the benefits which future generations may derive from it. Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh: THE SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. THE NARRATIONS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS RELATIVE TO THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, HARMONIZED. PART I. BY THE REV. ANDREW HUTCHISON, different companies of witnesses. We wonder much that such an eminent man as Bishop Horsley should have been satisfied with a gratuitous assumption that the women were divided into differ ent companies. But let us come at once to the examination of the learned Bishop's scheme, as being the most relied upon by the Christian world, from the great name, and extensive fame of the author. 66 THIS harmony has often been a stumbling-block | cause they refer to an occurrence that befel two to the speculative unbeliever, and accordingly we have been led to give this subject our serious consideration; and flatter ourselves that in our present remarks the reader may perhaps feel that we have been successful in removing the difficulty. Clear it is, that the basis of every satisfactory solution must be the integrity or oneness of the company of visitors. Nothing can be more evident than this fact, that all the women set out together to visit the tomb; and Every attentive reader of the Gospel knows, every attempt at solution, founded on a sub-division that the female followers of our Lord were numer or sub-divisions of the company, must be a com- ous; that they made an appointment to meet plete failure, because it is a contradiction of an early at the sepulchre; that they were lodged in explicit testimony, and, moreover, must strike different parts of the city, and of consequence every infidel as a scheme by which the most would come to the sepulchre in several parties and contradictory statements, however numerous, in by separate paths, all early, but not at the same the narration of any event, may be harmonized. instant of time; that the detachments of the It is only supposing that one author conversed heavenly squadron appeared and disappeared at with one set of witnesses, another with a different pleasure, and that each evangelist confined himset, a third and a fourth, ad infinitum, with other self to that part of the story which he had at first sets, and that each author relates what things hap- heard from the women which had fallen in his pened to his informers, or what things they wit-way." "The company," the bishop adds, "which nessed; which might be true, however apparently contradictory to the other statements of the remaining witnesses. But who does not see that this is cutting the gordian knot instead of untying it, more especially, if these authors all profess to derive their information from the same source, and speak of the witnesses as one company. Now this is the radical fault of Bishop Horsley's boasted solution of the difficulty. He supposes that the women were divided into three companies, and that these companies arrived at different times, so that one evangelist might truly say, that one angel only was seen at the sepulchre, and another evangelist might say that two angels were seen, beNo. 18. MAY 4, 1839.-14d.] While saw what is related by Matthew, (in which com- [SECOND SERIES. Vor. I. |