The Church of England Magazine - Volume 10, No. 263, January 9, 1841 online

and embody in a kind of visible indication the prominent features of
its antitype; and, accordingly, if we examine the leading
circumstances of the transfiguration, we shall find such a resemblance
between it and the second coming of our Saviour, as will clearly
establish such a relationship between these two events. Jesus appeared
in literal human nature on the mountain; so shall he come again, as
the Son of man, possessing the same nature with his people; for the
apostles were informed when he ascended, that the very same Jesus who
had been taken up from them into heaven should even so come in like
manner as they had seen him ascend into heaven. He appeared in glory,
and not in humility; such as he shall descend hereafter, when he shall
come with all his holy angels and sit upon the throne of his glory. As
he was visible on the mountain, so, when he shall come again, every
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him. As he was encompassed by a
cloud on the summit of Tabor, so shall he come hereafter in the clouds
of heaven, with power and great glory. As he stood in majesty upon the
mountain, so according to the declaration of the prophet, his feet
shall stand, when he comes again, upon the mount of Olives. And as
Moses and Elias appeared in glory with the Saviour, so shall he bring
his people with him on his return to our world, for, when Christ who
is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory.

Such we believe to have been the great primary object of this
interesting event. How full of consolation and encouragement must it
appear in this important view to every believer who is still
struggling with the infirmities and trials of his earthly pilgrimage.
It directs the attention of such to the crown of righteousness that
awaits him, and says, "Be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in
vain in the Lord."

FOOTNOTE:

[Y] From a scriptural small work, with the style and spirit of which
we are much pleased, "The Transfiguration," an exposition of Matt.
xvii. i. 8, by the rev. Daniel Bagot, B.D., minister of St. James'
chapel, Edinburgh, and chaplain to the right hon. the earl of
Kilmorry. Edinburgh, Johnstone: London, Whittaker, Nisbet: Dublin,
Curry, jun., Robertson.




THE CABINET.


NO SALVATION WITHOUT AN ATONEMENT. - But let me turn your attention to
the sad effect which a denial of the Saviour's Deity has upon the
prospects of man for eternity. It is a truth written, as with a
sunbeam, upon every page of scripture, that man is by nature a fallen,
a guilty, a condemned creature, obnoxious to the righteous judgment of
God. We are told, that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked;" - that "all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God:" Jehovah himself is represented as looking down from
heaven upon the children of men, to investigate their characters with
that omniscient ken by which he explores the utmost boundaries of the
illimitable universe, and pronouncing this solemn verdict - "There is
none righteous; no, not one:" and the apostle Paul, when reminding the
Ephesian church of their past unregenerate condition, says that they
were "children of wrath, even as others." If man, then, be in a guilty
and condemned state by nature, it is an awful and important question,
how shall he obtain pardon and justification with God, on account of
his past transgressions? and how shall his sinful and unholy nature be
sanctified and prepared for admission into the realms of everlasting
glory? Can personal repentance, on the part of the sinner, obliterate
the crime of which he has been guilty, so as to reinstate him into the
condition of a sinless and unfallen being? Unquestionably not. For
whatever act has been performed by God, or angels, or by man, must
remain for ever written upon the pages of eternity, never to be
erased; and, therefore, no subsequent repentance on the sinner's part,
no tears of sorrow or contrition, can ever blot out his past
transgressions; nor even could the united tears of angels erase the
record of those offences for which man is brought in guilty before
God! Can, then, subsequent obedience achieve the work of the sinner's
justification? This, alas! will prove as ineffectual as repentance;
for though we should render to God a perfect obedience for the
remainder of our lives, still the sin we have committed is sufficient
to procure our conviction and condemnation; for the wages of sin is
death! Shall we, then, have recourse to the abstract mercy of God, as
the foundation upon which to rest our hope of pardon? This is the
Unitarian's plea: "I believe," he says, "that God is merciful; and I
repose in his kindness, and trust he will have compassion on me."
Alas, my friends! it was bad enough that Mr. Porter should have
yesterday adopted the algebraic principle of neutralizing one text of
scripture by another; but to carry up this principle to a
contemplation of the character of God, and to bring it into collision
with the attributes of Jehovah, and thus to set his mercy against his
justice - his compassion against his truth - his grace against his
holiness, and thereby to neutralize and annihilate one class of
attributes by another, is a guilt that is direful, blasphemous, and
indescribable. - _From speech of the Rev. Daniel Bagot, at the Belfast
Unitarian [Socinian] discussion._




POETRY.


LAYS OF PALESTINE.

No. IX.

(_For the Church of England Magazine._)

By T. G. Nicholas.

"She hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while
it was yet day." - Jer. xv. 9.

"Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to
shine, and we shall be saved." - Ps. lxxx. 19.


'Tis eventide; the golden tints are dying
Along the horizon's glowing verge away;
Far in the groves the nightingale is sighing
Her requiem to the last receding ray;
And still thou holdest thy appointed way.
But Salem's light is quench'd. - Majestic sun!
Her beauteous flock hath wandered far astray,
Led by their guides the path of life to shun;
Her orb hath sunk ere yet his wonted course was run.

In ages past all glorious was thy land,
And lovely were thy borders, Palestine!
The heavens were wont to shed their influence bland
On all those mountains and those vales of thine;
For o'er thy coasts resplendent then did shine
The light of God's approving countenance,
With rapturous glow of blessedness divine;
And, 'neath the radiance of that mighty glance,
Bask'd the wide-scatter'd isles o'er ocean's blue expanse.

But there survives a tinge of glory yet
O'er all thy pastures and thy heights of green,
Which, though the lustre of thy day hath set,
Tells of the joy and splendour which hath been:
So some proud ruin, 'mid the desert seen
By traveller, halting on his path awhile,
Declares how once beneath the light serene
Of brief prosperity's unclouded smile,
Uprose in grandeur there some vast imperial pile.

O Thou, who through the wilderness of old
Thy people to their promis'd rest did'st bring,
Hasten the days by prophet-bards foretold,
When roses shall again be blossoming
In Sharon, and Siloa's cooling spring
Shall murmur freshly at the noon-tide hour;
And shepherds oft in Achor's vale shall sing[Z]
The mysteries of that redeeming power
Which hath their ashes chang'd for beauty's sunniest bower.[AA]

Thou had'st a plant of thy peculiar choice
A fruitful vine from Egypt's servile shore
Thou mad'st it in the smile of heav'n rejoice;
But the ripe clusters which awhile it bore
Now purple on the verdant hills no more,
The wild-boar hath upon its branches trod;
Yet once again thy choicest influence pour,
Transplant it from this dim terrestrial sod,
To adorn with deathless bloom the paradise of God.

_Wadh. Coll. Oxon._

FOOTNOTES:

[Z] Isaiah xv. 10.

[AA] Isaiah lxi. 3.




MISCELLANEOUS.


INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON A STATE. - Religious faith is necessarily and
unavoidably political in its influence and bearings, and eminently so.
Christians are generally well informed - and knowledge is power. They
have there in Christian countries, as citizens and subjects, directly
and indirectly, a large share of influence in the state. In most
Christian states, if not in all - for a state could hardly be called
Christian, if it were not so - Christianity is made a party of common
law, and, when occasion demands, is recognised as such by the judicial
tribunals. It is eminently so in Great Britain; it is so in America;
and generally throughout Europe. It is also, to a great extent,
established by constitutional law, and thus incorporated with the
political fabric, furnishing occasion for an extended code of special
statutes. The great principles of Christianity pervade the frame of
society, and its morals are made the standard. The second table of the
decalogue is adopted throughout as indispensable to the well-being of
the state; and a thousand forms of legislation are attempted to secure
the ends of the great and comprehensive Christian precept - "Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself." More especially is it deemed the
highest perfection of civilized life and manners, in the code of
conventional politeness, to exemplify this latter divine injunction.
Otherwise life would be much less comfortable - hardly tolerable. - _A
Voice from America to England._

DUTY OF SUBJECTS. - We ought not only to look at the queen's duty, but
recollect also what is our own; for the prosperity of a nation
consists, not only in having a religious governor, but also an
obedient people. The events which have passed before our eyes during
the few last years, may serve, I think, to convince us of the truth of
such an inference. Can we look back on the loss of human lives, the
almost paralyzing alarm excited by the threats of an infuriated
populace, and the absolute destruction of property which took place
during the riots in the city of Bristol, and not see that all those
calamities sprung out of a want of obedience to the existing
authorities? Nor was that the only occurrence of the kind which has
taken place. What repeated acts of incendiarism have we as a nation
suffered from, as well as from the still more recent riots which have
arisen in our south-western and other counties? and may we not ask,
whence have those scenes of strife, discontent, and tumult, sprang,
but from the cause I have already referred to? - want of subjection and
obedience to the government of our kingdom. What were the scenes of
misery and horror which broke out from time to time, when internal
wars and insurrections so greatly depopulated our land? Cast your eye
up and down our country, and view the still remaining barrows - those
unsculptured, unlettered monuments, which cover the slain of our
people - and ask, are these Britons slain in their own land, a
Christian land, a land where (to remind you of the present privileges
of her constitution) we have a national established church, of sound
scriptural and protestant faith, and a preached gospel?[AB]

FOOTNOTE:

[AB] From "The Liturgy of the Church of England, Catechetically
explained, for the use of children, by Mrs. S. Maddock. 3 vols.
London: Houlston and Co." These volumes seem well adapted to explain
to those for whose use they have been published - the liturgy of our
church. The catechetical form in which the subject is treated, rather,
however, detracts from their value, and should the authoress be called
on for a new edition, we should advise her to publish in a different
form.


London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square;
W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by
order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.


PRINTED BY
JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON.




Transcriber's Note

The masthead in the original referred to Vol. IX., although this issue
is in fact part of Vol. X. of this publication. This has been
corrected.

A table of contents has been added for the convenience of the reader.

Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.

Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Please note that both
Oronooco and Oronooko appear in the text as variable spellings.

The following typographic errors have been fixed:

Page 20 - servicable amended to serviceable - "... both
exogenous and endogenous, render them extremely
serviceable to mankind."

Page 21 - organisable amended to organizable, for
consistency - "... indeed gum is that organizable product
which exists most universally ..."

Page 23 - productivenes amended to productiveness - "...
of which there are several varieties, differing
essentially in productiveness, ..."

Page 23, fourth footnote - Hedwiz amended to
Hedwig - "Eheu qualia! Hedwig."