sure, the carriage that awaited me at Resina, and with still increased satisfaction, even the Neapolitan bed that finally received me. DISCOURSE. BY THE REV. ROBERT BRYDON, Minister of Dunscore. And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, to the end of that which is abolished: but their and answered its appointed end, in its season, yet it had no glory in this respect, "by reason of the glory that excelleth." on. Now, the obscurity of the old dispensationthe typical and shadowy manner in which it held forth the economy of divine grace-the comparatively feeble light which it shed on the way of reconciliation between God and man, through a Redeemer, was intimated by the circumstance of Moses putting a veil over his face when he came down from the mount, on which he had been conversing with God; for the children of Israel, we are told, could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance. The glory which on that occasion shone in his face, was too dazzling for their natural eyes to look upAnd, in like manner, the naked majesty and glory of divine truth, was too overpowering to be contemplated by their carnal and untutored minds. And besides, it was not the design of God to reveal it in all its grandeur and brilliancy at once. He was pleased for a season to cast the veil of types and ceremonies over those great Gospel truths, which he commissioned Moses to teach. And because of this veil or typical disguise, the Israelites could not stedfastly look to the end, or full and spiritual meaning of their own law, which was then established, but which the Gospel has now abolished. That law, indeed, was complete in itself, as a symbolical or pictorial dispensation, shadowing forth, emblematically, the more glorious and substantial dispensation of the Gospel. But the real use and spiritual significancy of all its parts, could not be fully discerned till the Gospel was revealed; for the plan is best understood after the edifice is reared. And the veil on the face of Moses intimated, that, under that dispensation, there was a glory concealed, and that the grand scope and end which it was designed to answer, could not then be stedfastly beheld, inasmuch as the additional revelation, or grand antitype and counterpart of Christianity, was necessary to illustrate it; and accordingly that veil was done away in Christ. THE law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ, form two successive dispensations of religion, under each of which the same leading and essential truths are taught, although in a different manner. The great plan of redemption was revealed under both, but it was more dimly and obscurely revealed under the law than under the Gospel. And the latter was, in all respects, a clearer, a fuller, and a more glorious dispensation than the former. The harmony of the divine perfections, displayed in the condign punishment of sin, and pardon of sinnersin the full vindication of God's inflexible justice, and yet free and sovereign exercise of his unbounded mercy-the manner in which the guilty may at once be reconciled to their Creator, and fitted for the enjoyment of heaven-these are the leading principles embraced, and designed to be illustrated in the economy of redemption. But under the dispensation of the Old Testament or law of Moses, they were not fully and broadly brought to light, for they were placed, during that dispensation, under the veil of types and ceremonial observances; and it required a nice and skilful discrimination to penetrate the darkening But the apostle observes, that there was another medium of the figure, and to discern the true spi- cause which prevented the Jews from duly perritual aim and end of the Mosaic institutions. ceiving and appreciating the spiritual import of Enough, indeed, was revealed of the infinitely even the Mosaic Scriptures-namely, the blindgracious plans and purposes of God to fallen man, ness of their own minds. From the veil of types to inspire the spiritual believer with hope in the and ceremonies, which had obscured the great divine mercy, as well as to form his character for leading truths of redemption, under the old disheaven. But still, in comparison of the far brighter pensation, they could not be expected to discern revelation of the Gospel, the ceremonial system of these truths so clearly, as those who lived after the Old Testament was so shadowy and enigma- the advent of the Saviour. And the want of distical, that it was not only liable to be mistaken or tinct perception, in so far as it arose from this obgrossly misconceived by the careless and carnal scurity in revelation, was not their fault. But, observer, but was also feeble and glimmering in besides the veil upon the face of Moses, there was its own aspect. It had indeed a glory of its own, also a veil upon their own hearts, which was main which it shone conspicuous amid the thicknifested by this circumstance, that, after the veil darkness of Pagan idolatry, by which it was sur- of Moses had been taken away, and "life and imrounded. But its native glory faded away and mortality clearly brought to light" by the Gospel, disappeared before the surpassing brilliancy of the they still continued in the dark regarding the spiGospel, just as the feeble twinkling of a star is ritual end of the ceremonial law. For even unto lost in the meridian splendour of the sun. For this day, says the apostle-notwithstanding that although it was made glorious in its own nature, Christ has come, and the veil of Moses has been withdrawn, yet even unto this day, when Moses | is read, "the veil is upon their heart." Now, this was the veil of prejudice and unbelief, resulting from worldly views and carnal affections, and was not the misfortune of the Israelites, but the sin. And so long as this latter veil remained, the removal of the other could afford them no benefit. The light of the Gospel had now been reflected on the dispensation of the Old Testament, and all its symbols and its prophecies, which had formerly appeared dark and difficult to comprehend, were now seen in a clear and significant point of view. But what availed the shedding of a clear light upon the truth, so long as the mind of the beholder was darkened? Owing to the blindness of their hearts-owing to the worst of the two veils still remaining, even the veil of prejudice upon the mind, the withdrawal of the other gave them no more advantage for beholding the glory of divine truth, than the rising of the natural sun can give to the blind for beholding the glories of the visible creation. The typical veil occasioned only a partial obscuration, which rendered the truth somewhat vague and indistinct, but through which, after all, the leading features of the plan of salvation might be seen by a stedfast anxious observer. But the veil which pride, and prejudice, and the love of sin, had spread over the hearts of the Jews, was a thick and impalpable veil, which not only obscured, but entirely concealed and darkened the truth. an But the apostle in the text contrasts the state of believing Christians with that of the unbelieving Jews, for the former, all with open face, behold the glory of the Lord. Now the language here employed admits of some latitude of interpretation. The word open means unveiled, and this shews that a contrast is intended. And the phrase may either be rendered, "with open face," alluding to the face of the beholders, or "in open face," referring to the face of Christ, as contrasted with that of Moses. For at the sixth verse of the next chapter the apostle expressly says, that "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." If, then, we understand the words in the former sense, the spiritually enlightened Christian is contrasted with the carnal and prejudiced Jew, as having the veil removed from his heart, and being enabled, with unbiassed mind, to contemplate those glorious truths which are so clearly revealed in the Gospel, and so admirably calculated to renew and transform the soul of the beholder into the divine image. But if we understand the words in the latter sense, the objects contrasted are the Christian and Mosaic dispensations, implying that the beholders have now the advantage, externally, of a far more glorious and unclouded revelation. Christ did not put a veil on his face like Moses, but openly reflected the glory of the Lord; and it was a far more transcendent glory than issued from the face or dispensation of Moses. For while Moses was only a servant, Christ is the eternal Son, and is himself the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person; and, by the Gospel dispensation, he hath brought life and immortality clearly to light. From his face, therefore, is emitted, in the highest sense, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God-the brightest and plainest revelation of the divine character and providence, in reference to this sinful and fallen world, that ever has been, or ever will be, displayed on earth. And he presents that face to the world unveiled. Now, in whichever sense the words alluded to ought to be strictly and grammatically explained, we apprehend that both ideas are included in the view of the apostle. He obviously means, that however it was in former times, when " "the way into the holiest of all was not as yet made manifest," and however it might be still with blinded, unbelieving Jews, both the veil of Moses, and the veil of the heart, were now taken away, in reference to the Christian believer. Such were now the liberty and the happy privileges enjoyed by the true disciples of the Saviour, that they were able not only to behold the glory of the Lord, which had formerly been veiled, but that they were able to behold it "with open face." There was no longer an obstructing medium, of any kind, interposed betwixt them and the sublime truths of redemption. The light fell at once upon the eyes of their understanding and the object of their contemplation, and nothing tended any longer either to obscure it, or to intercept its progress. There was neither a diseased organ of vision in the beholder, nor a concealed object. The glory of the Lord stood nakedly revealed before their faces, and their faces were unveiled; so that they were enabled to behold it to the highest possible advantage. They could not only stedfastly look upon the face of Moses, or discern the true scope and meaning of the typical economy, but they could even stedfastly look upon the face of Christ, or discern the holy beauty and great practical bearings of that spiritual dispensation "which excelleth in glory." We From these remarks, then, we may be able, in some measure, to perceive the beauty, and estimate the force of the contrast drawn by the apostle betwixt the state of blinded Jews and enlightened Christians. And we might find it very profitable to enter on a fuller illustration of the various interesting topics contained in the 18th verse. might consider what is meant by the glory of the Lord, and the glass in which it is beheld. We might shew how illustriously the glory of the divine character and perfections are displayed in the plan of redemption, as that plan is unfolded in the Holy Scriptures. We might shew also, how the action, or rather the habit, of contemplating this glory of the Lord, in this mirror of divine revelation, when the face is unveiled, or the heart divested of carnal prejudice and sinful affections, tends to produce a transforming and purifying influence on the character of the Christian. In other words, we might shew how the Holy Scriptures, when rightly studied, are calculated, from the holy nature of the doctrine which they teach, and the examples which they furnish, to advance and perfect the believer's sanctification. And we might shew, finally, that while the Scriptures are the means, the Holy Spirit is the agent, by whom they are applied and made effectual for assimilating the converted sinner to the image of the divine glory. But instead of attempting to enter on so wide and interesting a field, we shall conclude with some practical application of what has been already advanced; and there are just two inferences to which we shall advert. In the first place, it becomes us to reflect, with unfeigned gratitude to God, on the peculiar advantages of our own external situation in regard to the means of grace. There are many heathen nations in the world, who have never enjoyed the light of divine truth in any degree. And how imperfectly and obscurely was it possessed even by the ancient Israelites! Ere they could discern the doctrine of salvation, they had to penetrate the darkening medium of types and ceremonies, and even then they could only discern it faintly. But with respect to us, all obscurity has been taken away. The means of becoming reconciled unto God, through the death of his own Son, and of being changed into the image of his holiness, by the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit, are fully set before us. We have the advantage of seeing the type illustrated by the antitype, the shadow superseded by the substance, and we can contemplate the whole scheme of Divine Providence for the redemption of a lost world, complete in all its parts. We live not under the partial, obscure, and less glorious "ministration of condemnation," but under the more glorious dispensation of the Spirit-the ministration of justification-which exceedeth in glory. The veil on the face of Moses, like that which concealed the inner sanctuary of the Jewish temple, was a figure for the time, signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not as then made manifest. And then, none might dare to enter within the veil, except the high priest alone, and that but once in the year. But the veil on the face of Moses was done away in Christ; the veil of the temple was by him rent asunder, and whosoever will, may now enter without fear; nay, may enter with boldness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil of his flesh. Yes, the way of salvation is now patent and plain. The glory of the Lord, the excellent glory of his divine mercy and love, as seen in the whole series of his dispensations, and reflected from the word of his grace, is now placed fully in our view. And if we will only behold it with candid minds and believing hearts, the contemplation will have a happy influence in renewing our souls and fitting us for heaven. How deeply grateful, therefore, ought we to feel for the blessed advantages we possess! Living under that dispensation of the Spirit, in which there is liberty,-liberty from the burden some yoke of legal ceremonies, and emancipation to the true believer from the bondage of sin, and the tyranny of Satan, how should we rejoice with thanksgiving, and with what anxious and prayerful diligence should we improve our Gospel light, remembering, "that to whomsoever so much is given, of them also much shall be required." But it becomes us to consider, in the second place, the state of our own hearts in reference to the privileges we enjoy. In our day, there is no veil upon the truth, but is there none upon our own minds? Have we been effectually divested of that impenetrable covering of carnal prejudice and unbelief, which is naturally upon the hearts of all, and which prevents "the natural man” from discerning the things of the Spirit of God? Have we been spiritually taught to understand the true scope, and to experience the purifying tennency of the Gospel? Do we now distinguish that glory of the Lord, which emanates from the plan of redemption, discovering the cross of Christ to be the highest and grandest expedient of divine wisdom, power, and holiness, for the salvation of sinners? Do we discern the moral beauty, and feel the blessed influence of the doctrines of grace? If so, then the internal veil has surely been removed from our hearts. But if not, let us then remember that the fault is our own, and that the blindness is in ourselves, for the glory of the Lord has been so openly and illustriously revealed, that in such a land of Gospel light and liberty as this, all flesh may see it together. And if we discern it not, the veil must be still upon our hearts. This was the case with many among the Jews even after Christ had come, and had explained the spiritual import of the Mosaic dispensation. And alas! how inany among professing Christians, in the present day, have the same veil upon their hearts, when they read or hear the Gospel of Christ, as the Israelites had when they read Moses, in the time of the Apostle Paul! For otherwise, how shall we account for the dimness of their perception in discerning the real nature and bearings of divine truth? Why do they not see sin in all its native deformity and soul-ruining consequences? Why do they not see the beauty and excellency of holiness, and the pure and spiritual happiness with which holiness is connected? Why do they not recognise the claims of God upon the devoted affection and obedience of their own hearts and lives? Or why do they not feel and acknowledge the unspeakable obligations under which they are laid to the infinite love and grace of the Redeemer ? Why do they not see the magnitude of the Gospel salvation, and the aggravated guilt and infatuation of neglecting it? And why do they form such erroneous, unworthy, and unscriptural conceptions of that salvation? Or why will they not correct their errors, and renounce their prejudices, and abandon their sins? Surely there is no other way for accounting for these things, than by supposing that the veil of unbelief is still upon their hearts, or that, amidst all the clearness of the knowledge of the glory of God, displayed in the face of Jesus Christ, which | melancholy and untimely end. His ancestors had for one hundred and fifty years occupied the humble post shines around them, there is a blindness in their of sexton to the Church of St. Mary Radcliffe, Brisown minds which renders it impervious. They tol; and to this circumstance is to be attributed much love the darkness rather than the light, because of the celebrity of his future life, and the pursuit which their deeds are evil," and they are willingly igno- he followed through his few and melancholy days. rant of the ways and works of God in reference Having professed, with what truth or no it is not requi to the salvation of man. Were it only a cloud site here to state, to have discovered in the ancient of ignorance which overshadowed their under-edifice with which his father's occupations were constandings, it might easily be dispelled, and could nected, a quantity of anciert manuscript poems, asserted to have been written by Thomas Rowley and others not long remain with all the abundant means of in the fifteenth century, his name soon became familiar instruction they enjoy. But alas! it is a dark to the literati of his age. The drudgery of an attor cloud, not of ignorance merely, but of prejudice, ney's office he abandoned, full of brilliant expectations of future success as an author and a poet; and, with which, like a dense and noxious vapour, covers and fills their hearts: it is the state of their affec- the usual impetuosity which is connected with that tions which is wrong. It is not a want of know- proud consciousness of talent, which induces its possessors to neglect and to despise the ordinary means of ledge, but a want of candour and of honesty, acquiring competence and independence, he repaired to under which they labour. It is the influence of London, threw himself upon the resources of his own pride, stirring up the enmity of the carnal mind mind, and published a variety of compositions, poetical, against the humiliating doctrines of the Gospel; literary, and political. To give any description of his it is the cherished indulgence of some favourite works or of his genius, is foreign to the design of this sin; it is the inveterate love of this present evil work, it is sufficient to say, that his poetical productions or ostensible publications will probably endure as long world; it is a rooted aversion to spiritual holias the English language, and that his abilities were preness, a fatal and foolish deference to the opi-eminent in vigour and vivacity. nions and practices of men: it is of such materials as these that the veil upon the heart is composed, and not until it is effectually removed by a divine power; not until the mind is emancipated from the blinding influence of this thick and dark covering, this texture of carnal pride and prejudice, and the love of sin, so clearly and firmly interwoven, will the glory of divine truth be so clearly and stedfastly beheld, as to transform the soul into the holy image of God. And he But it is the peculiar privilege of the true believer to behold the glory of the Lord with open face, in the mirror of the Gospel. Savingly taught by the Holy Spirit, he has been delivered from his native ignorance and unbelief; he has obtained the gift of spiritual discernment, and he beholds wondrous things out of the divine law. He sees a majesty and glory in the Scriptures, a high importance and excellency in spiritual subjects, to which he was originally blind. accordingly feels a growing interest and delight in studying the Scriptures; in looking into the perfect law of liberty, and in contemplating those sublime, endearing, and exalting views of the divine character and government; of the divine love and mercy, which the Scriptures so strikingly reveal to the spiritual mind. And habitually and devoutly looking at these things, by faith, he is changed into the same image, he becomes assimilated to the same character. For he cannot move in such a spiritual atmosphere without breathing the air of heaven, and growing in meetness for the inheritance of the saints. But they who are not transformed into the image of the divine glory here, shall never see the face of God in mercy, nor be united hereafter to the society of the redeemed above. THE DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF INFIDELITY; CHATTERTON the poet will long be remembered for At an early period his mind had become so thoroughly infected with the contamination of infidelity, and he was so audacious in his avowal of the pestilent principles which he had unfortunately embraced, that in a letter to a gentleman in Bristol, this infatuated youth thought proper to say, 'Heaven send you the comforts of Christianity; I request them not, for I am no Christian.' Conceiving himself capable of bursting asunder the trammels by which he vainly thought religion fettered his intellectual faculties, with an understanding completely deluded in its opinion of its own powers, and with the pitiable flippancy so frequently exemplified by the heedless votaries of the degrading scepticism upon which he seems to have prided himself, be hurled away the restraints which a firm and cordial belief in the vital doctrines of revelation imposes upon the depraved passions of the heart; and contemplating himself as amenable to no divine statutes, and destined to appear before no divine tribunal, his propensities became his directors, and his will his law. The first circumstance in which the history of Chatterton displays the influence of his infidel opinions. was his licentious immorality. Having deprived himself of the animating hope of the eternal world, he was induced to seek for his happiness in the vicious gratifications of sense. Speculative, almost always produces practical, irreligion; and infidelity of creed and profanity of expression, seldom fail to involve, at no distant period, inconsistency of manners and depravation of life. Unprotected by religious principles, he soon seems to have yielded to the temptations of London, and no longer to have preserved those virtuous manners, which some of his friends and relatives affirm that he invariably exhibited during his residence in Bristol. Another effect of Chatterton's infidelity was his extraordinary vanity. The same self-inflation which prompted him to reject the humiliating doctrines of the Gospel, was cherished and increased by the extravagant estimate of himself, to which, as in all other instances, scepticism conducts. My company,' says he, in a letter to his sister, is courted in all places, and could I humble myself to go behind a compter, I could have had twenty places before now; but I must be among the great; state matters suit me better than commercial.' And his taste for dissipation kept pace with the increase of his vanity, and to frequent the places of public amusement became as necessary as his food. ter as an offender against the laws of that Holy God, in whose presence she was about to be placed. This maintained in her mind a reverential fear, a filial awe, that was alike distant from the unfounded fearlessness of the self-deceiver, and the desponding dread of the alarmed but impenitent transgressor. Our dying friend was enabled to enfold herself in that perfect and satisfactory righteousness of the Mediator and surety of his people, which is unto all, and upon all, them that believe.' That Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth;' that, on her behalf, he had answered all its requisitions by his own obedience, and endured its curse to atone for her disobedience, was the consideration that delivered her from the dread of condemnation, and confirmed her inward peace. So simple and calm was her repose on the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the promises of the Saviour, and so abidingly did her thoughts rest where her treasure was, that, as I before hinted,— But the career of the misguided and miserable | time and eternity. She never lost sight of her charac Chatterton was shortly run. His hopes of unbounded applause and as unbounded affluence, were soon blasted. Poverty abhorred, and want, amounting to absolute destitution, soon arrived. Unsustained by any conviction of an overruling Providence and of a gracious Redeemer, by any prospect of a blessed immortality beyond the grave, Chatterton sunk into sullen despair. In bis voyage over the ocean of mortality, he had torn off his rudder, and thrown overboard his compass; and when the storm and the darkness came, he was wrecked upon the rocks which, but for his own rashness and presumption, he night have escaped. The abominable principles which he had imbibed, naturally taught him to think with the utmost levity of the most sacred deposit with which a human being is intrusted by his Creator, and to regard suicide, if not with actual approbation, at any rate without condemnation and abhorrence. Prior to his arrival in London, he had expressed his intentions in the following terms of impious bravado :- - The promises I have received' (i. e. of literary patronage and support) are sufficient to dispel any doubt; but should I, contrary to my expectation, find myself to be deceived, I will in that case turn Methodist preacher. Credulity is as potent a deity as ever, and a new sect may easily be devised. But if that too should fail me, my last and final resource is a pistol!' To this last resource of infidelity, in his desperate circumstances, he turned. Chatterton swallowed a quantity of arsenic in water, and the next day (August 24th, 1770,) expired. His extraordinary life and his melancholy death evince, in a manner the most affecting and impressive, the imminent danger to which all are exposed, who give themselves up to the impulse of wayward and violent passions; the folly of believing that genius, however brilliant, or abilities, however commanding, can ever be available to respectability and happiness, without prudence; and the sin, the infatuation, the misery, the madness, of acceding to the principles, or submitting to the influence of that most absurd and disastrous system, which regards revelation as an imposture, religion as a delusion, and eternity as a dreain. VISITS TO A FARM-HOUSE. (Concluded from p. 472.) IN a subsequent walk, not many days afterwards, to the house of mourning, we could not venture to expect any other than a great and evident reduction in the feeble remaining vital powers of our invalid friend. Even the hope, which generally hovers over the closing days of consumptive persons, had fled her habitation, when we again entered it. But a better hope was there a hope full of immortality—a hope, which sustained the suffering saint as upon eagle's wings, and which, in the saddest moments which occasionally were her's, never flagged. By her surrounding family and friends she was no longer looked upon as belonging to this world. Her sufferings might remind them that she was still in the flesh; but her steady contemplation of that other state, on which she was shortly to enter, began to cast, as it were, a holy radiance round her fading form. Her eye, when her lips were silent, spoke of joy unspeakable and full of glory. Although we saw nothing of that ecstasy and triumph which appear to throw the very light of heaven into the chambers of some departing Christians, her conversation was truly in heaven. Her entire deportment became the situation wherein she stood, just on the separating line of This sketch is extracted from a very interesting and instructive work, recently published, under the title of "The Providence of God Illustrated," by the author of "History in All Ages," &c. Hamilton, Adams, and Co., London. 1835. - Oft converse with heavenly inhabitants, And turn'd it by degrees into the soul's essence, Thus was she being rendered meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Her soul daily advanced in preparedness to enjoy intimate communion with Abel and all the martyrs, with Abraham and all the patriarchs, with Moses and all the prophets, with St Paul and all the apostles, with Luke and all the saints, and, above all, with Jesus himself, the Mediator of that new covenant which secured her brightening hopes. She eyed the world of glorified spirits, through the dim glass of Revelation, with eager desire to mingle with its inhabitants. That desire was not the languid wish of the unregenerate and ignorant, who neither relish nor know aught of heavenly things; nor was the end of her desire, in her estimation, a mere refuge from the wrath to come, and more desirable for the shelter it affords from the direst of evils, than for its rich provision of every spiritual good. The next time I saw Mrs B-, she appeared to be sitting at the gate of the holy city, quietly waiting to hear, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord.' Her affectionate pastor esteemed it both an enjoyment and a privilege to tarry for hours at her side, either listening to her unaffected disclosure of her feelings as she drew nearer to death and the grave, or as the helper of her faith and joy. After that interview I suffered but few days to pass before I retraced a road, which I never trod but with pleasure and benefit. My friend P, who is now in a far distant clime, helping forward the chariot of salvation over lands peopled with them that are lost, whom the god of this world hath blinded, accompanied me. Our hearts were as cheerful as the day was bright, and we hastened along our path, recalling to mind our absent living friends, or the memory of those whose sojourn upon earth was ended, and who were become inhabitants of an abiding city. P the son of parents passed into the skies,' was emulous of their brilliant example, and panted for what was denied to his beloved father, a dwelling on the banks of the Ganges, from whence he might diffuse around him the knowledge of the river of life,' whose waters effectually cleanse and save the humble and believing pilgrim. Pointing to the neat and modest mansion of a village pastor, my companion said; Such will be your abode when I am on the other side of the globe: but I would infinitely prefer for myself the meanest hut on the shores of the sacred river. May you turn many to righteousness in this land of light, while I am directing my poor efforts to reclaim and recover a few of those who have reached the farthest point of departure from God, in regions covered with darkness that may Le folt' |