months in Chelmsford gaol for nonpayment of 5s. 6d. church rate. What sort of conscience could the rector of Chelmsford have?-Mr. GILLON seconded the motion.-Lord JOHN RUSSELL OPposed it. He could never admit that Thorogood or any one else should decide for himself what laws he would obey, or what courts he would attend. The Established Church was founded on just, wise and fair principles; and though he was anxious to see the Church Rate paid out of the public funds in a different mode from the present, he would object to thus holding out a premium to men to be dissenters, or in fact to any way of charging this (or any other public burden) upon less than the whole of the Queen's subjects generally. An Established Church existed only on the principle that it was for the common good of the whole; all therefore ought to contribute to it. He should be sorry ever to see the day when its ministers should be left to voluntary support; when"They who live to preach, must preach to live." At the same time he would not object to a Bill, making a man's goods only and not his person, liable to be taken for them. -Mr. ĤUмE and Mr. BAINES warmly defended the Bill upon principle.-Sir S. LUSHINGTON opposed it. As to the rector of Chelmsford, he neither put Thorogood in gaol nor could let him out: the vestry made the rate and the churchwardens were bound to enforce it. Nor was this man in prison for non payment. Being summoned before the magistrates, he gave in a written notice, that it was his fixed intention to dispute the validity of the rate in the Ecclesiastical Court: being thereupon cited to that Court he refused to appear, and of course was imprisoned for contempt, and must be until he should appear.-Mr. HAWES said he trusted the Dissenters would observe the conduct and speeches of their supposed friends.—The house divided: For the motion Against it Majority 62 117 55 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. QUEEN'S LRTTER.-The collections under the Queen's Letter of last year for the Incorporated Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts amounted to £40,000, great part of which is proposed to be applied to the provinces of British North America. WESLEYAN. NEW CHAPELS.- List of Chapels opened : Wold Newton, near Scarborough Nov. 7. Seats 180. Shenley, near St. Albans, Jan. 3. Dimensions 36 feet by 25. Wheathamstead (same circuit), Jan.21. Leighton Buzzard, Jan. 21. Seats above 500 persons. Erected at the cost of Mr. Wm. Hedges of Stewkley. West Heslerton, near Scarborough, Feb. 7. Will seat 160. Sleaps Hyde, near St. Albans. Feb. 13. MISCELLANEOUS. NEW CHAPEL.-A new Independent Chapel was opened at Merriott, Somerset, on the 20th of February. PRINCE ALBERT'S EDUCATION. The very pastime of the students is of an intellectual cast. The evenings are often spent in literary conversations at each other's lodgings, or in discussing subjects connected with their academic pursuits. This is their lounge, their passion, their dissipation. Learning engrosses their whole affections. Albert associated during his college days, if Such are the spirits with whom Prince not intimately, at least with sufficient freit seems, worthy of imitation during the quency to profit by their example, always, hours of study; while in their hours of relaxation, from their renownings, (extravagant, and sometimes dangerous frolics,) their duellings, their smokings, and beer-drinkings, he was exempt. The circle of those with whom he had intercourse at Bonn was select, and, with few exceptions, restricted to the families of the professors. One of them, a correspondent of the author of this Memoir, observed, in a letter received during the Prince's residence in the college, that he was a general favourite for his amiable manners, his spirited conversation, and the propriety of his conduct. This appears, also, from the certificates of proficiency which were granted him by the several professors whose lectures he attended, and, at the end of his course of study, by the council of the university.-Prince Albert, his Country and Kindred. 66 REGENERATION NECESSARY TO A PERSONAL ENJOYMENT OF DIVINE FAVOUR BY LAPSED MEN. Thy sov' reign grace, Spirit divine! I sing; Great glorifier of a Saviour's name, Thy new-creating voice bade me awake From nature's sleep, the dreadful sleep of sin, To all the bliss of immortality; Of pardoned sin and fellowship with God, Through the rich streams of a Redeemer's blood; Of sin subdued, and a triumphant hope Of the bright glories of eternity. Come, Holy Comforter! descend and dwell In my cold heart; warm it with heavenly fire; MARIA DE FLEURY. THE seat of true religion is the soul. It consists in right apprehensions of God, and suitable affections towards God, producing a life of devotedness to God. This characterises the angels, and this distinguished man when he was in his original glory. Then, as we have seen, his mind was pure and holy; free from every evil bias, and from every unhallowed affection. He presented to his Creator an entire and undivided heart. Then he was happy. But we have also seen him listening to the seductive tale of the tempter. We have seen him yield to the temptation, violate the mandate of his God, forfeit his claim for life, and involve himself with all his posterity in spiritual, moral and physical death. In this condition they are not qualified to delight in, love, serve, or enjoy God; therefore it is clear, that in order to enjoy Divine favour through the mediation of Christ, every person so privileged must undergo a change of heart. This change is called the new birth; "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." This change is called a quickening, a transformation, a resurrection, and a creation-terms which imply its preciousness and greatness, and teach us that it is produced by an exter Essay I. Jan. 1840. Essay II. Feb. 1840. VOL. XII. Q nal cause, which cause, as the change is spiritual, in its nature must be spiritual too. This teaches us that regeneration is not theresult of water baptism, which baptism is frequently administered to such as prove by their conduct after they have been washed by its waters, that they were not members of Christ," children of God, or inheritors of the kingdom of heaven." They, as well as Simon Magus, who was baptized, are "in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." They, like Demas, love the present evil world; like Diotrephes, they love the pre-eminence; and like Alexander the coppersmith, they do the servants of Christ much harm. It also teaches us, that as it is not the result of ceremonial observances, so it is something more than mere reformation. It is an inward change, productive of an outward-a spiritual, productive of holiness. A moral exterior may appear when the heart is unchanged; but holiness cannot, for it includes the state of the mind and the outward deportment. The one is the cause, the other the effect. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new"-(2 Cor. v. 17). On this change a few thoughts as gathered from the volume of eternal truth will now be presented to the reader's serious and devotional attention. 1. Regeneration is a quickening and transformation of the human spirit. The soul of man is the subject of this life-giving and purifying process. The unregenerate man is spiritually and morally dead; this is seen in the carelessness and insensibility of myriads of our fellow-creatures. A state of death is a state of inactivity; the subjects of death are destitute of feeling; they excite the tears of the living. Sinners, prior to regeneration, have no sensations of a spiritual character; they neither mourn over, nor forsake sin, from love to God, or its demoralizing tendency; they seek not the enjoyment of Divine favour. They are strangers to the happiness of fellowship with God. They should excite our sympathies-our grief; Christ mourned over the sinners of Jerusalem-we should deplore their state, and seek their regeneration by praying for the Holy Ghost. The great reason why we should be so affected is found in the fact, that although they are spiritually dead, they are not mentally dead; and mental life or intelligence is inseparably connected with responsibility. Were we so affected, we should pray fervently for their salvation, and see answers to prayer in the manifestations of spiritual life. No pleasure can be greater to the believer than to see the careless become serious, and the insensible anxious; to hear the indifferent crying out "What must I do to be saved." He knows the cause of this vehement desire is the impartation of life-"You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. ii. 1). He sees a fulfilment of the Saviour's prediction, "The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that HEAR shall LIVE"-(John v. 25). The heart of stone, cold, unfeeling and inactive as death, is taken away, and a new heart, full of sensation, feeling and activity, is imparted in regeneration. This change is great; it transforms the man who resembled a lion into a lamb; it is justly called a transformation, and merits the name of a creation. A desert heath, productive of nought but weeds and furze and brambles, transformed into a garden, fruitful and made productive of plants and flowers and fruit, is a change not greater than that effected by the Holy Spirit in the heart of every saint. Let us seek for a new heart, and a right spirit— "Create within me a clean heart, O God, and renew within me a right spirit." 2. This quickening and transformation of human souls is according to the will of God. It is a work of sovereign grace. He, who opened the heart of Lydia, and caused her to attend to the things that were spoken by Paul, "of His own will begat us with the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures" (James i. 18). Our regeneration, by this passage, is said to emanate from the good pleasure of God-the will of God. This spares us the trouble of arguing out the point from the guilt, weakness, and wickedness of man; but the inability of man to do anything to merit the Divine favour in his natural state, which arises from his indisposition, as caused by the sinfulness of his affections, &c. corroborates and confirms the doctrine of Holy Writ; and we give thanks to God for His love, in quickening and transforming our souls. This remark applies as forcibly to spiritual influence as to spiritual renovation. Hence we conclude, the sons of God, who bear His moral impress, and are spiritually alive, "were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"(John i. 13). 3. This quickening and transformation is effected through the instrumentality of the Gospel. Truth, spiritual and eternal, and not water, is the instrumental cause of regeneration. Peter says, "We are born again, not of corruptible seed, as the word of man," although dignified by the name of philosophy, "but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever; and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you"-(1 Pet. i. 23-25). How careful should we be to improve every opportunity of hearing the Gospel preached! James teaches us the same truth-"Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth”—(James i. 18). "The truth is the means of sanctification”—(John xvii. 17). 'Is not My Word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like to a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Now as the hammer breaks the rock, so the Word of God. breaks the stony heart; and as fire penetrates, purifies and assimilates all with which it comes into contact to itself, so the Word of God purifies and penetrates all that are brought under its influence. But as a hammer must be lifted up and brought down again with force, or it does no execution, so the truth must be applied with Divine power to accomplish this important work. 4. This quickening and transformation is effected by the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the Gospel. This truth beams from the page of inspiration with resplendent lustre. The light it emits is pure, clear and discernable. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." If water is not a figurative term for the Gospel (compare John iii. 6. with Eph. v. 26.) which is the laver of regeneration-we are by water baptism, not introduced into the invisible church, but only into the visible, which contains wheat and tares, and is compared to a net that contains good fishes and bad. Simon Magus received this baptism; Demas, and even infidels. It is the baptism of the Holy Ghost which unites to Christ-(1 Cor. xii. 13). We must distinguish between the typical baptism and the spiritual; between admission into the outward and visible church, and admission into the body of Christ; "between the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace or thing signified." Men baptize with water, Christ with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit is the efficient of regeneration; nothing created. The mode may be mysterious, but the fact is indisputable-"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit'-(John iii. 8). It 5. This quickening and transformation of human souls, which transpires according to the will of God, and is effected by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of revealed truth, is a blessing enjoyed through the mediation of Christ. is ascribed to the resurrection of Christ. The Holy Spirit was promised to Christ and His seed in the everlasting covenant. Its conditions being fulfilled by Jesus the Surety of the covenant, He received gifts for men, even for the rebellious also, that the Lord God should dwell among them. He bestows and scatters these blessings freely, as Mediator of the covenant. These truths so animated and transported the soul of the apostle Peter, that he broke out into the following doxology:- -"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope, through the resurrection of Christ from the dead." There is not a blessing we enjoy, not a hope we possess, but descends upon us through the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. 6. This quickening and transformation is productive of such a change in our views, affections, and desires, as qualifies the subjects thereof to enjoy God and promote His glory. Regeneration produces new volitions-new views-new affections-new desires. The views of the regenerated man respecting himself differ from those he took when in a state of nature; he forms a different estimate of his own character. He does not arrogate any thing to himself by way of merit or reward, except death. He He realizes his lost estate and exposure to everlasting punishment. desires to win Christ, and be found in Him-seeks for pardon-longs for purityand prizes redemption through the blood of his Saviour. God and heaven are the sources of his joy; for he knows that sin has poisoned and embittered the streams of earthly joy; and his great desire is to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever. This change is necessary. A man must be born again, to enjoy the Divine favour. This is clear, from the declarations of the Gospel-"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This language is universal in its application; it comprehends the whole of our race. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man"-let him be ignorant or learned, rich or poor, moral or immoral, civilised or barbarous—“except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus did not comprehend the nature, causes, and effects, of the new birth; and he said unto Him—"How can a man be born again, when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Our Lord answered, "Verily verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit; marvel not that I said unto thee -Ye must be born again." The necessity of regeneration is seen in the nature of the change itself; it is that which qualifies us to enjoy favour of God, and delight in His service; it is that which removes our natural depravity-purifies our taste and makes us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. The regenerate alone can enter the kingdom of God, because they alone among mortals are spiritual; and the subjects of Christ which compose the kingdom of heaven are spiritual. The earthlyminded, the carnal or fleshly, the ungodly, cannot be associates with the heavenlyminded, the spiritual and the devout. Therefore as we are all unholy by natnre, we must be born again in order to enter the kingdom here, and appear in its glory hereafter; for "there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." Matlock, Bath. F. PERKINS. PROPHETIC TABLE. THE following is a tabular view of the dates at which, and the periods during which, the prophets of the Old Testament delivered their predictions. It is taken, in a modified form, from the fourth volume of the Tract Society's "Commentary." 1. Isaiah, from about the year 810 before Christ, to about the year 698 in the same era. 2. Jeremiah, from about the year 628 (B.c.), to about the year 586 (B.C.). 3. Ezekiel, from about 595 (B.c.), to about 535 (b.c.). 4. Daniel, from about 605 (B.c.), to about 532 (B.c.). 5. Hosea, from about 810 (B.c.), to about 726 (B.c.). N. R. |