Review: "Enough has not been said of the man who saved his country by the seasonable energy of an unconquerable resolution. A few traditional anecdotes, confined to the gentlemen of the law, give a faint idea of the great accomplishments of Duncan Forbes; but his exertions for the public good, when paralysis overtook the councils of Government, and when incapacity led its armies, are lost in the conciseness of general history, and have been deemed unworthy of separate record. Had this man not directed the measures which his wisdom planned-composed, reconciled, united, and animated with his own energetic spirit the lagging loyalty of the people-restrained, by prudent counsel, the prudent among the Jacobites, or, by the terror of the law, influenced the mass who were only accessible through their fears-the whole Highlands would have been in arms. The number is not exaggerated which limits to 10,000 the clans whom the exertions of Forbes kept from following the Chevalier. But for his indefatigable exertions,' says Mr. Klose, the House of Hanover would infallibly have been driven from the British throne.' He received his reward in the ruin of his fortune, which he had spent in supplying the troops of the nation, and of which he never received re-payment. He exerted his influence to stay the massacre which followed the victory of Culloden, and found his humanity regarded as intrusive. He heard the cry of wailing throughout the glens without the ability to succour; and he who had braved the storm, and pitched the vessel in safety to her harbour, was thrown aside as a wreck when the danger ceased. The treatment, though it could not subdue his patriotism, broke his spirits, and hurried him to his grave."

We are tempted to add the noble testimony of Sir James Macintosh, in his review of the Culloden Papers: "There are various lords and lairds who make but a shabby figure in this collection; but our great pride and consolation is in the ever-dear honour and open heart of him to whom they address themselves. For Duncan Forbes no descendant will ever have to blush or feel ashamed; and the perusal of this book will prove that Scotland, ever since she ceased to be a separate kingdom, has had at least one statesman whose principles were as pure as his understanding was enlightened, and whose concern for his country was not so much as suspected to be quickened by any regard to his own power or emoluments."*

BAPTISTE YEROUSHALMY.

THE late Dr. Clark of Philadelphia gives the following account of a converted Israelite which he met at Malta:

His parents were a Jewish family of wealth and influence, residing at Constantinople. There Baptiste was born, and spent his early days. His father, a banker, and possessing abundant means, gave his children every opportunity of education.

The manner in which Baptiste first became acquainted with the doctrines of Chistianity, was the following:

* Edinburgh Review.

His elder brother was taking lessons in the Syriac language, of an Armenian Christian, who intentionally put a Hebrew New Testament in his way. taining what it was, became highly offended, and This brother brought the book home, but ascer requested Baptiste to carry it back to his instructor. Baptiste thought he would look into the book, which he did, and was particularly struck with some parts of it, though, upon the whole, he felt offended at its contents. About this time he became acquainted ¦ recently converted to Christianity through the Arwith two young Jews, who professed to have been menian Christians, and were of course disowned by their countrymen.

Baptiste, like the rest of the Jews, believed them insincere, and actuated by selfish and worldly mo tives. Upon further acquaintance, however, he became particularly interested in them, and tried to reason them out of their belief. This acquaintanceship continued and grew apace. These friends persuaded Baptiste to take a copy of the New Testament and examine it. He did so, and read as far as our Saviour's sermon on the mount, where he says, “I came not to destroy, but to fulfil the law." He in-" stantly closed the book, and carried it in triumph to the young men, pointing out to them this passage, at the same time remarking, that this declaration was totally inconsistent with his acts, which put an end to the law. They wisely evaded a controversy, and begged him to read on till he had finished the whole of the New Testament, writing down his objections as he proceeded, which they would undertake to answer, when he had got through. He consented to this proposition, and went on through the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. As he proceeded, he was much astonished to find such copious' quotations from the Old Testament, and to see how strikingly they applied to events recorded in the New Testament. Though he had often read the Old Testament, he determined he would read it again, comparing it, as he went on, with the history recorded in the New Testament. This course of reading he followed for about three months, making the prophecies which relate to the time and manner of Christ's coming, with the prominent attributes of his character, the particular subject of his study. As he went on he was more and more confounded at the coincidences between the prophecies and the character and history of Jesus.

mind. The more he read, and thought, and prayed, Already had conviction begun to fasten upon his the deeper conviction sunk down into his mind. He at length could resist the truth no longer. He was now convinced that Christ had come, and that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. At first he was somewhat staggered at the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the atonement. But the stumbling-block was soon removed. He now believed, and, with Thomas, could look up to Christ and exclaim-" My Lord, and my God!"

He was at this time about seventeen years of age. He felt exceedingly anxious to be baptized, though he knew it would be attended with no small personal danger. Still he felt that he was ready to give up all for Christ. He thought he had fully counted the cost, and, if necessary, was ready to die for that Redeemer who had bought him with his blood. He therefore went to the Armenian bishop, and asked baptism at his hands. The venerable prelate received him with kindness, but told him that such an act would involve them both in consequences that might prove fatal, on account of the' rank and influence of the family to which Baptiste belonged.

At length, however, the bishop yielded to the

arguments of the young convert, and consented to administer this holy ordinance to him privately, in the house of a Christian friend. After receiving this solemn rite, and taking, as his Christian appellation, the name of Baptiste, he wrote, from the bosom of this family, where he had been initiated into the Christian fold, a letter to his parents, apprising them of the honest convictions of his mind, of the step he had taken, and of his future determination to live and die a Christian. He also told them that he desired to return to the shelter of the parental roof, if he could be admitted there, and be allowed to enjoy his religion. His parents peremptorily refused to receive him upon these conditions.

For a short time all things remained quiet. Others who had been secretly convinced, were emboldened to declare themselves on the side of Christ. Already ten individuals had taken this step, and more were preparing to do it. The Jews, however, now became alarmed, and persecution began. At their instigation, Baptiste and several other converted Jews were summoned to appear before the grand vizier. Large bribes were put into his hands, and he therefore refused to hear their defence, but immediately proceeded to pronounce sentence of death upon each one of them. They were then carried to prison, I where they were shut in by thick stone walls, to await the day of their execution. Their situation was one full of horror. They had no place to lie down, even upon the damp earth-no friends were near to comfort them-their fate seemed inevitable, and the day in which they were to die was rapidly speeding on. Their hope and trust, however, were in God. They were suffering for Christ, who had suffered for them. They cast all their care upon him, and were comforted. He provided a way for their escape.

An Armenian Christian, high in favour with the sultan, interceded for these condemned Christian converts, and got their sentence changed into perpetual banishment to Cæsarea. The Armenian Christians were then held responsible for the carrying out of this sentence. Baptiste and his companions were not aware of this, and furthermore supposed that their banishment was merely temporary.

Baptiste had previously met with a Protestant missionary from Beyroot, who had told him that, if ever circumstances favoured it, he wished he would come to him. Two years of their weary exile had now passed away, and all these converts felt anxious to get away from Cæsarea. Baptiste, and two other friends with whom he was particularly intimate, formed a plan of escape. They were, however, each to go off without letting each other know the time or manner of their escape, so that, if arrested and examined, they might not have it in their power to give information against each other. One difficulty, however, seemed to stand in the way of carrying out their plan. They were so reduced in pecuniary means, that it seemed impossible for them to take the course necessary to effect their escape. But on applying to the Armenian Christians, they received a sum adequate to their wants. Baptiste with this money bought a horse, and hired a man to act as his guide, to conduct him out of the town and neighbourhood. He also purchased a mask, by which he could perfectly disguise himself. He waited till the silent hour of midnight, and then, after having fervently commended himself to the protection of the Triune God, he sallied forth out of the city with his mask and guide. As he rode on, he accidently took the road that led to Tarsus, where he arrived in safety, and there providentially came across the very missionary who had invited him, if circumstances favoured, to come to him. This mis

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sionary now received him as though he had been a brother, and then communicated the astonishing fact that one of those intimate friends who had also resolved to flee from Cæsarea, and of whose fate he was entirely ignorant, had only the night before arrived in the same way in Tarsus, and was now on board a vessel in the harbour, bound for Smyrna. Baptiste went directly to the vessel, and there, to his utter astonishment, met his friend. They both fell upon their knees, and gave praise to God for their wonderful deliverance. They arrived safe in Smyrna, and there the way was opened, in a most signal and providential manner, for Baptiste to go to England. Friends were there raised up for him. He had spent several years in study at Oxford, and was now on his way back to his native land, in the employ of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews. At present he could proceed no-farther east, as he had been banished from the Turkish empire. He had hopes of getting a protection through the English ambassador, by which he would be permitted to visit Constantinople and Smyrna, without any personal risk. If he failed in this, he purposed to remain, for the present, at Malta.

He remarked, that there were many Jews throughout the East convinced in their hearts of the truth of Christianity, and would openly embrace the Christian faith, were they not deterred by fear. He also remarked, that, during his absence, he had written home to his parents, and received an answer to his letter; his friends supposing, from the affectionate style of his letter, that he had returned to Judaism. When he wrote back, and undeceived them, assuring them that he should live and die a Christian, his parents instantly refused to hold any further communication. As he spoke of this, and the subsequent death of his father, the tears gushed from his eyes, and told at how great a price he had given up home and country, parents and friends, for the sake of Christ.

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AN UNEXPECTED SERMON. SERMONS are not always preached from the pulpit, for the other day I unexpectedly heard a very good one under the portico of a theatre in the Strand. It was an odd place, to be sure, but a smart shower had driven me there for shelter, and soon after an old man took shelter there also, who began to talk of the best things. Sir," said he, "I am eighty-two years of age, and God has graciously given me, among many mercies, the mercy of being made sensible of his goodness. I remember, sir, in my boyhood, hearing an aged minister declare from the pulpit, that when he was forty years old he considered himself so good, that he believed the temptations of Satan had no power over him; but when he was threescore and ten, he was obliged to confess that Satan had a bait for old birds still. I am, sir, as I told you, eighty-two; and, as the minister found at threescore years and ten, so I find at eighty-two, that I am a poor, weak, worthless creature, totally dependent on God's goodness and grace, feeling every day of my life that Satan has a bait for old birds

still."

The conversation of this aged Christian much interested me; and as the rain continued, he narrated many little occurrences which had taken place in his life, to strengthen his dependence on God, and to

"It happened, sir," said he, " on one occasion, while going out with my milk cans, for I was then in the milk trade, that a man, a dreadful swearer, was cursing himself in a fearful manner. So, stepping up to him, I said, 'Friend, do you know what Amen means? To be sure I do,' said he; it means So be it.' Then,' said I, how angry you would be if any one should say Amen to the curses you have pronounced against your poor eyes and precious limbs. If God should happen to say Amen, what will become of you?" I happened to mention the circumstance to my neighbours, when, some time after, one of them told me that a man had just been admitted a member of a neighbouring church, who stated that a reproof given him by a milkman, for swearing, had been the means which God had used to convince him of sin, and to incline him to seek for mercy at the cross of Christ. Thus you see, sir, that God can make the weak words of the weakest believer strong in turning men from darkness to light, and in adding to his Church such as shall be saved." -Tract Magazine.

A THREAD.

ONCE, in the progress of a revival among his church in Portland, after having repeatedly invited meetings at his house of those who wished to seek religion, Dr. Payson one day gave an invitation to all those young persons who did not intend to seek religion. Any one-who did not know the Doctor-would be surprised to hear that thirty or forty came. a very pleasant, social interview with them, saying nothing about the subject of religion, until just as they were about to leave, he closed a very few plain and simple remarks in the following manner:

He had

"Suppose you should see, coming down from heaven, a very fine thread, so fine as to be almost invisible, and it should come and very gently attach itself to you. You knew, we suppose, that it came from God. Should you dare to put out your hand, and brush it away ?"

He dwelt a few minutes upon this idea, until every one had a clear and fixed conception of it, and of the hardihood which any one would manifest who should openly break off even such a tie.

"Now," continued he, "just such a slender, delicate thread has come from God to you this afternoon. You do not feel, you say, any interest in religion; but by coming here this afternoon, God has fastened one little thread upon you all: it is very weak and frail, and you can, in a moment, brush it away. But you certainly will not do so. Welcome it, and it will enlarge and strengthen itself, until it become a golden chain to bind you for ever to God?"

PARTING WITH SIN.

MEN flatter themselves in their sins, and think when they have gone thus and thus far, they will then give over and stop at their pleasure. But sin never can find a fit place to stop at. These are but the foolish conceits of children, who seeing that the heavens in the horizon seem to touch the earth, resolve to go to the place where they suppose they meet, but when they come there they find the distance still the same. So is it with the foolish hearts

or pleasure, I shall have my fill, and will then give over. But as long as the fountain within is not stopped, the pursuits of lust will be as violent at last as at first, like him in the fable that sat on the bank, expecting when the water in the river would all have run by. So men think their lusts will at last grow dry, and that they shall then easily step over them to God; yet the truth is, that the outrageous sinful desires of the heart will grow stronger and stronger, even as a river, the farther it goes from the fountain, does often spread itself the wider. The heart is as strongly set upon its own sin as any! creature is upon its own motion. "They set their heart," saith the prophet Hosea, "on their iniquities." "The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil," saith Solomon. As impossible is it for lust to stop itself as for the sea to give over swelling, or the fire to cease devouring fit matter that is before it.

JUST TO FORGIVE.

You do not take in a full impression of gospel security, if you only believe that God is merciful, and has forgiven you. You are called further to believe that God is righteous, and has justified you. You have a warrant to put on the righteousness of Christ, as a robe and as a diadem, and to go to the throne of grace with the petition of "Look upon me in the face of Him who hath fulfilled all righteousness." You are furnished with such a measure of righteousness as God can accept without letting down a single attribute which belongs to Him. The truth, and the justice, and the holiness, which stand in such threatening array against the sinner who is out of Christ, now form into a shield and a hiding-place around him; and, while he who trusts in the general mercy of God, does so at the expense of his whole character, he who trusts in the mercy of God, which hath appeared unto all men, through the Saviour, offers in that act of confidence, an homage to every perfection of the Divinity, and has every perfection of the Divinity on his side.— Charnock.

SENTENCES FROM GURNALL.

THE traveller, when taken in a storm, can stand patiently under a tree while it rains, because he hopes it is but a shower, and sees it clear up in one part of the heavens while it is dark in another.|| Providence, I am sure, is never so dark and cloudy but hope can see fair weather coming from the promise.

Take heed sinners: fetch not encouragement from God's Word, nor forge God's hand to bear you out! No sin is little, but the least sin amounts to blasphemy when thou committest it on a Scripture pretence.

Converse with the saints who have the Spirit of God in them. Those who would learn a foreign. language associate with men of the country whose natural tongue it is. The Holy Spirit may make the discourses they breathe forth vital and quickening to thee.

Sins of commission are usual punishments for sins of omission. He that leaves a duty, may fear to be left to commit a crime.

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we

GOOD Mr. Philip Henry used to say, that the singing of God's people, at family-worship, was a way to hold forth godliness to such as pass by their windows, like Rahab's scarlet thread. Sacred song is an instituted means of giving expression to every high religious emotion. It has been adopted for this purpose in every form of religion known among men. Concerning its fitness for this end, in the great assembly, there has been no controversy in the Church. Never was the glory of divine song more exalted than in the ancient temple service. It was at once admitted into the primitive assemblies, and has prevailed in all Christian Churches. "In singing the praises of God," says the Directory for Worship, are to sing with the spirit, and with the understanding also; making melody in our hearts unto the Lord. It is also proper that we cultivate some knowledge of the rules of music, that we may praise God in a becoming manner with our voices, as well as with our hearts." There has been no difference of judgment on this point in any of the Reformed Churches. But we ask attention to the assertion, that there is no argument for sacred music in the church, which does not hold equally good in the family. Though this part of the service has fallen out of the practice of many households, and (strangely enough) extensively in those regions where scientific music has been most boastfully cultivated, the judgment of our Church on this subject is explicit: "It is the duty of Christians to praise God by singing psalms or hymns, publicly in the church, as also pricately in the family." There is no reason for the one which is not a reason for the other. If a congregation has its joys and other elevated emotions, so has a family. If a congregation has cause to give utterance to these with "the voice of melody," so has a family. If a congregation has voices which are fitted for this work, so has a family. In truth, what is a family but a domestic congregation, or "church in the house?"

Domestic psalmody is promotive of devotion. It is an exercise in which the voices of all join in the expression of sentiments which should be experienced by all. We trust we shall not be called upon to prove that the singing of

God's praise is eminently conducive to the awakening and maintenance of holy affections, and that it has been in every age employed by the Holy Spirit for this purpose. But we beg consideration of the statement, that this is as true of the family as of the church. The peculiar exercises of soul which belong to families, as such, find expression in sacred song, no less than those which belong to public assemblies. The godly sorrow, the trust, the adoration, the! thanks, of a household, seem to require this channel for their flow.

Psalmody is a means of Christian instruction. In the early Church, many of the hymns were compendious formulas of doctrine; and such has been the case in every succeeding age. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." In this view, it is wise to seize upon sacred poetry as a means of fastening truth on the infant mind; and the daily practice of the family will, beyond anything else, familiarize the young with the choicest spiritual songs. In order that this may take place most fully, the selection should be careful, and the number of hymns so used should not be too large. Where so much depends on repetition, there may be an inordinate passion for variety. A small circle of well-adapted psalms and hymns is better than a great multitude, and the sugges tion derives new importance from the extraordinary augmentation of our stock of religious compositions in verse.

The happy influence of spiritual songs is illustrated in the early Churches of Germany. Luther was himself a poet and a musician, and he bestowed on his country many of her noblest hymns, and some of her finest melodies. In his writings he often alludes to this as one of the chosen agencies in the work of Reformation; and this not merely in the church,' but by the way-side and at home. He relates that, in the earlier part of his labours, he was moved to tears by hearing a wandering beggar,' under his window, sing a hymn, which has since become famous, but which Luther had never before heard. The remarkable cultivation of music among the United Brethren, is

only the extension, by Zinzendorf, of this attachment to sacred song which was encouraged by Luther. The impress still remains. Wherever you meet the German Christian, you find him charged with those noble and evangelical compositions. Even the emigrant, in his blouse, is sure, if a disciple, to carry across the sea, in his wallet, the black-covered hymn-book. The same thing is observable among our Presbyterian forefathers, and their descendants in Scotland and Ireland. They praised God in their families. Usually having the metrical psalms at the end of their pocket-Bibles, they were familiar with them from youth; and they held them in more reverence as conceiving them to be a literal version of the Word of God.

The use of psalmody in family-worship we believe to have been almost universal in the old Presbyterian Church of Scotland, as it has been laudably kept up till this day. That it tended, in a high degree, to increase the interest of all concerned in the service, and to promote Christian knowledge and sound piety, we cannot for a moment doubt. The homely old version, with a small number of ancient airs, of great plainness, serenity, and sweetness, some of which still linger in our churches, was familiar to every man, woman, and child.

The Wesleyans in Great Britain, and their Methodist brethren in America, have beyond all others done justice to the animating power of sacred song, in public and in the house; and we may learn a lesson from them. Differing from them as we do, in several important points, we shall, nevertheless, always hold ourselves ready to give them just praise for the Christian vivacity of their services; and we hazard whatever may be at stake of reputation for taste, when we say, that after some opportunities of listening to what is regarded as the choicest music which has come to us from abroad, we have felt more of the genuine power of harmonious sounds, when the voices of " the great congregation" have united in sending up a volume of song, than from orchestrial clangour, or the artistic combinations of "stringed instruments and organs."

It is a remarkable fact, that in those circles of the religious world which consider themselves the most accomplished, there are many families where sacred music receives no separate attention. We enter the saloons of wealth, professedly consecrated to God, and our eyes are greeted by the piano-forte, the guitar, the organ, or the harp, and by piles of complicated

and fashionable music. But when the hour of family-worship arrives, no hymn of praise ascends to God. Those cultivated voices, so cunning in solfeggio and "Italian trills," are dumb for all but this world's song. Our Christian daughters, practising for hours a-day under great masters of singing, are sometimes unwilling to lend their aid even in the house of God. We solemnly commend this subject to those who preside over the education of youth.

Some are ready to say that psalmody cannot be maintained with ease in domestic worship, because in many instances a majority of those present are children. It is strange that this objection should arise at the very period in which, above all that have preceded, juvenile instruction in music has been pursued witn success. The concurrent testimony of all who have most largely examined and experimented on the matter, is, that no child has been found (unless in case of organic defect) which could not be taught to sing. No school, of the higher class, ventures to exclude vocal music from its course of study. Not a word need be said concerning this, to such as are familiar with the extraordinary labours of Mr. Hastings, or have attended the public exhibitions of Mr. Bradbury and others, in some of which no less than five hundred children have appeared at once, in the admirable performance of the most celebrated compositions of the great masters. A much simpler cultivation would suffice for all that we require.

Family worship affords the most happy' means of bringing forward infant voices in the praise of God. We have known children who joined, without false intonation, in the family psalm, before they could distinctly articulate a word. It is almost always an attractive and delightful part of the worship, to youthful minds, and hence contributes to endear the household-meeting, and the circle of home. Above all, it makes this early impression, that the voice is to be trained for the glory of God, as its best and happiest office.

The use of psalmody in domestic worship, tends to the improvement of this part of divine service in public. We may push the art and exquisite harmony of choirs, or select com. panies, to any degree of advancement, however high, yet the great end will not be attained, until we secure the united voices of the whole congregation. Every method which discourages or postpones this, however agreeable to human taste, is a snare, which should be deprecated, So long as great numbers, in the body of a