"O, could I once mount up, and see
My Lord and Saviour dear;
Could I but get a glimpse of Thee,
This world would disappear."

These lines I have no recollection of ever seeing anywhere, but they are indelibly engraven on the tablet of my memory.'

Some of Mr Wilson's discourses, preached fifty years ago, are still remembered with special interest. The favour able impression produced by these discourses has proved permanent in the experience of many-an encouraging consideration for faithful ministers, who sometimes fear that little or no good is accomplished by their preaching.

At

Mr Wilson used no notes of any kind in the pulpit, and invariably left his written discourse in his study. On one occasion, however, he found that he had better have had it in his pocket. He remembered the words of his text, but could not recollect where it was to be found in the Bible. While the congregation were singing, he searched for it, but in vain, and he felt annoyed and confused. last he recollected that many of his people were well acquainted with their Bible, and possibly might find it at once. He rose, repeated the words, and said that he had quite forgotten the chapter and verse, adding, that if any could find the place, he should take it kind to have it announced, that all might be able to turn to it. It was instantly found by one of the people, and reported. As the service proceeded, the little excitement speedily subsided, and the congregation soon perceived that there was no deficiency in memory, so far as the sermon was concerned.

Mr Wilson's influence as a preacher was not confined to his own pulpit, though it was most conspicuous there. His discourses were fitted to make a deep impression any where; but his manner, though always earnest, became less attractive to strangers as age advanced. We have heard of several instances, in which the impression produced by his preaching from home was powerful and permanent.

To be continued.

THE SITE OF TYRE. TYRE is but the wreck of a town. You cannot traverse its streets without meeting

Thus, at the gate there are two fallen pillars; in the bazaar, another prostrate pillar helps to complete the pavement; and on the shore of the peninsula (once THE ISLAND), broken columns lie on all sides, over which the sea dashes its waves. We stood a while amidst the ruins of the old Christian church, at the south-east corner of the town, where Eusebius is said to have preached, and looking over, observed the waves break on two large columns with their capitals that lay close under the wall.

From this point, and from the summit of a tower to which the Jews led us to the south-west corner of the town, we surveyed the whole extent of what was Insular Tyre, once densely covered with the palaces of Tyrian merchants. The island appears to have been of the shape of a prolonged diamond, stretching nearly a mile from north to south. The breadth it is not easy to estimate, as we cannot tell where Alexander's causeway commenced. We observed a chain of low rocks in the offing all a little under water, which may very possibly have been built upon in former days. The modern town or village is thinly scattered over the eastern part of what was formerly the island; the part next the sea is cultivated, and bears good tobacco. The little harbour of Tyre lies on the north side of the peninsula, and is nearly enclosed by a wall, the ruins of which are standing here and there. It would not now vie with the harbours of any of our fishing villages; we counted some ten open-decked fishing-boats riding in it; but larger vessels cannot enter. The island was originally nearly half a mile distant from the shore; but across the intervening gulf Alexander, with amazing labour, formed his famous causeway, using for that purpose the stones and the very dust of ancient Tyre, scraped from off her. During the lapse of ages, the sea has washed up the sand on each side of this causeway, so that it is now a broad neck of land, with fine sandy bays on each side. Ruins of ancient walls and foundations are still to be found in different parts of it. The houses, or rather cottages, of Tyre, are built of good stone, with many palm-trees, vines, figs, and pomegranates interspersed, giving the place a cool and pleasing aspect. The modern

name is Sour, and there are about 1500 inhabitants. There is some probability that the sea has advanced upon this coast, and materially affected the size of the ancient island; and if this be the case, we can have no difficulty in understanding how the almost impregnable fortifications, of which history speaks, and the palaces of the Tyrian merchants, were once crowded together upon this interesting spot.

In order to understand fully the accomplishment of the Divine predictions against Tyre, it must be borne in mind, that though the island may have been very soon occupied as a stronghold, yet the most ancient city, called by historians Palæ Tyrus, or Old Tyre, was situated on the mainland, at a distance of nearly four miles south from the island. This was 'the strong city Tyre' mentioned in the days of Joshua, and the 'stronghold of Tyre' in the time of David. As many travellers have done before us, we stood upon the ruins of insular Tyre, and stretching our eye round the bay to the south, conjectured where old Tyre may have been situated: and afterwards, on our return from Acre, we traversed the coast and sought with the utmost care for any remains of the strong city-but in vain. The word of the Lord has come to pass, 'Though thou be sought for, yet thou shalt never be found again, saith the Lord God.' About eight miles south from the island, a high rocky promontory appears, forming a precipice over the sea, called Cape Blanco, from the whiteness of the rock. The road passes over it, and there are singular steps cut in the rock, supposed to be the Scala Tyriorum, or Tyrian Ladder, of the ancients. Now, between Cape Blanco and the island, there is a spacious bay, with one or two lesser curves. It occurred to us that, in the days of Tyre's glory, when they took 'cedars from Leba- | non to make masts for her, and oaks from Bashan to make oars, and fine linen from Egypt to be spread forth as her sails;' when 'all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in her to occupy her merchandise,' this vast bay may have afforded her an anchorage, where the forests of masts would present to the eye a spectacle not less noble than any which can be seen in the harbour of the very greatest of our commercial cities, and this in a region of surpassing beauty.

Indeed, it is not unlikely that Old Tyre may have extended as far as the precipitous summit of Cape Blanco, from which its name Tsour, that is, 'a rock,' may have been derived. Tyre on the island may have been at first, as Jowett has conjectured, the harbour of the original city, connected with it, as the remaining aqueducts testify, although four miles distant from its gates. If there be truth in this conjecture, it would at once explain the vast circumference of the city as described by Pliny, and would illustrate the glowing description of Ezekiel, when he describes how 'her builders had perfected her beauty.'

Keeping both the Tyres in view, we could not fail to notice with what awful accuracy the word of God has been verified concerning them. The word of Amos has been fulfilled-' For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus which shall destroy the palaces thereof.' Not a vestige of her palaces remains, except the prostrate granite pillars, over which the wave is ever beating. We remembered, too, as we looked along the bare shore, the minute prediction of Ezekiel—' They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.' Alexander the Great seems actually to have scraped away the very rubbish as well as the stones of Old Tyre to construct his causeway; and now the bare rocks along the shore, on some part of which the ancient city must have stood, are literally a place for the spreading of nets. The first man we met in the gate of Tyre was a fisherman carrying a load of fish; and the fishing-boats in the harbour we have already mentioned. If, indeed, the sea has made an advance upon the coast, then the very rocks where Old Tyre stood may be now under water, and the nets of the fisherman may thus also be literally spread over them. And this, also, would give new meaning to the expression, 'Thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters;' although at the same time the ruin of her fleets and merchant-ships will completely satisfy the

terms of this prophecy. How interesting, too, is the very uncertainty that hangs over the true situation of ancient Tyre, some placing it on the shore, some at Rasel-Ain farther inward, and some on a rocky eminence called Marshuk, to the north-east-all combining to show how awfully the thrice-repeated curse has been fulfilled, 'I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more;' and how true to the letter, Though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again!'—Mission to the Jews.

ADVICES TO THE YOUNG.

BUT the Bible! the Bible is the Book of books! It is the inspiration of God, the record of redeeming love, the standard of morals, the foundation of heavenly hope, the highest gift of God to man-excepting only Him whose divine and mediatorial excellence forms its contents! Read this blessed Book morning and evening, treasure its stores in your mind, form your opinions of what is honourable and worthy on its estimate of conduct, build all your hopes on its promises, and let the character of the Redeemer be the model on which you form your own-it is the perfection of moral beauty and worth: lay up the promises in your memory; they will be the staff on which you must lean, when the arm on which you now lean is nerveless in the grave. Value public worship highly. It is to be lamented, that we consider attendance on Divine ordinances more in the light of a duty imposed than a privilege enjoyed: but surely the privilege is great of being allowed to hold intercourse with Deity, by pouring out our hearts into the ear of our Father in heaven, by listening to the communications of His grace and mercy to us poor perishing sinners, and by raising our voice in notes of adoration, gratitude, and confidence, to the Author of our being, the guide of our youth, the vigour of our manhood, and the solace of our age. Ever view, my dear child, wisdom's ways as ways of pleasantness. Connect internal vital religion with the health of the soul, and the possession of eternal blessedness. To be a Christian, is to have Christ living in us-to be led by His Holy Spirit, who conducts us by means of the word dwelling richly in our

minds, and coming into immediate contact with our understanding, our conscience, and our heart. Beware of approaching to forbidden ground: fears are the shields of life. It is always wise to keep within the boundary of right: the man who goes as far as he may, is likely to go farther than he should. Endeavour to find delight and consolation in secret intercourse with God. Pour out your heart before Him. He is your Father in heaven. The sighs, the groanings, the holy breathings of His children, are sweeter than Gabriel's song

in His ear. Repose unqualified confidence in His promises, and in the wisdom and goodness of His government. He hath intrusted it to the hands that were pierced for you. Dwell in your solitary hours on the matchless love of His Son ;-love, that beat in the bosom of the Babe of Bethelehem, and burnt with increasing ardour till it bled on the point of the soldier's spear;

love, that death could not extinguish, nor the glories of paradise divert from its object. Meditate till the fire burn, and its flame ascend to Him who, for your redemption, lay in the manger and hung on the cross.- -Waugh.

6

THE EDITOR'S LIBRARY.

FRAUD AND FRIENDSHIP; or, The Orphan and the Foundling of the King's Printing-House. An Edinburgh Tale. By the Author of Jessie Melville,' &c. Edinburgh: Thomas Grant.

THE Author of 'Jessie Melville' and the Merchant's Daughter' has just added to these a third novel, with the expressive title of Fraud and Friendship.' It is at least equal, if not superior, to the two former. It breathes the same moral spirit, and abounds in the same able description of character and incident. We have read it with the highest satisfaction, and almost at one sitting. The interest it excites is most engrossing, and the machinery of the story is ingeniously devised and admirably developed. And we deliver it as our decided opinion, that there is not a novel in the English language better principled or more richly embued with the finest pathos. The twenty-eighth Chapter, the

Daughter Restored,' may be quoted as an exquisite example of the latter quality; and we do not envy the mind or heart of

any reader who can peruse it without tears. In correctness of principle and talent for the pathetic, it forcibly reminds us of Professor Wilson; and we should willingly place it in the same class with the few he has left behind him. It is also a production eminently suited for the times, and will help to put down that system of gigantic swindling, which has been so prevalent of late years, and has done so much to injure and degrade the commercial world. And we may conclude this short critique by observing, that the Author has proved it possible to write a most interesting novel without defiling his pages with one indecent expression, or one impure allusion.

SCOTLAND'S DEMAND for ELECTORAL JUSTICE. By JAMES BEGG, D.D. Edinburgh: James

Nichol.

THIS is beyond all question one of the most valuable pamphlets Dr Begg has ever published. It may be termed a compendium of the various letters printed by him in the public journals on the 'Freehold Movement.' In all its parts it is very closely reasoned, and we have as yet seen nothing that can invalidate either its statements or its logic. It cannot be too widely circulated over the country, and we shall be surprised and disappointed if several editions are not called for.

It reminds us of John Knox and his epistles. The great Reformer was not afraid to engage in politics; for had he been troubled with any such irrational and pusillanimous fear, he never could have accomplished the great work of our Scottish Reformation. The idea that a minister has nothing to do with politics, is a cunning device of the enemy, and one of the causes why so many errors are committed in political science and its applications.

We rejoice that Dr Begg has had the moral courage to trample this prejudice or artifice under foot, and just to act as if it had no existence, or had never been bruited forth. Ministers are citizens as well as laymen, and they cannot renounce without sin the important duties of citizens. Political monkery is as bad as any other kind of monkery; and there are evils in Church and State of so deep and inveterate a nature, that they cannot be remedied or removed without the combined energy and patriotism of all orders in the community.

Dr Begg has begun his work well, and we shall confess ourselves much mistaken, if he cease from his labours till he bring it to an auspicious conclusion. He is one of those men who, when they put their hand to the plough, are not soon made to quail, or easily driven off from their purpose. We are persuaded that no threatenings, on the part of either landed or legal monopolists, will ever induce him to relax his efforts, or recede in the least from any of the demands for justice he has ventured to assert. Besides, he has around him many warm and talented associates, who will lend him the most determined and efficient aid. Ex-Provost M Laren-not to mention others-is a host in himself: his knowledge of electoral statistics is unrivalled; and he has already proved that no opposition, however formidable, can make him fly from his post, or desert his standard.

THE ALTARS and THE HEARTHS of BRITANNIA. A Poem in Two Parts. By the Rev. DUNCAN MACINTOSH, Dalkeith. Edinburgh: Thomas Grant.

THIS small duodecimo is, we conjecture, the first fruits of Mr Macintosh's poetical studies; and to his credit. be it said, that it is fitted to teach good and wholesome lessons to all who shall have the good fortune to meet with it. He has evidently true religion in his heart, and this pleasing fact he displays in every page of his musings. And could his scriptural views be realized, a new golden age would arise to bless the world, and one far superior to that so charmingly feigned by the ancient poets of Greece and Rome.

The Poem consists of two parts, neither of which is too long, and to the whole he has appended some notes in prose, which explain a few of his allusions, and are very creditably written. But his work, though small, embraces a wide field. It may almost be termed an epitome of ecclesiastical history, from the first introduction of Christianity into Britain to the period of the Disruption. His views are strictly Protestant; and some of the great leaders of the Roformation, and also of subsequent Revivals, are celebrated in just and lively strains. We intended to quote his portraits of Knox and Burns, as favourable specimens of his versification; but these quotations, we find, will encroach too

much upon our limited space. Hence we advise each of our readers to purchase a copy for himself, and to peruse with attention the whole of it.

THE CABINET.

THE HAPPINESS OF CONTENTMENT.

CONTENT is the mark we all aim at, the chief good and top of felicity, to which all men's actions strive to ascend; but it is solely proper to God's wisdom to engross all true content into His own hand, that He may sell it to saints by retail, and enforce all men to buy it of Him, or want it. Hence it is, that a goodly man, in his mean estate, enjoys more content in God, than a king or emperor in his earthly glory and magnificence. I will then strive to purchase me a patent of content from Him that hath the monopoly thereof; and then, if I have little in estate, I shall have much in content. Godliness shall be my great riches, while I am contented with what I have.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

THE life of a Christian is a life of faith in the Son of God. He, undoubtedly, is the greatest Christian who most exemplifies, in his own practice, what is recorded in the Gospel, of the temper, converse, and actions of the holy, the harmless, and undefiled Jesus, and depends the most absolutely upon Him for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The means by which we advance in this life are self denial, watchfulness, prayer, and a patient waiting upon the Lord in all divine appointments. Pride, unbelief, and self-will are the great avenues (if I may so speak) by which the devil plays the temptations of the world upon us: he is more cunning and active than we can conceive, and attacks different persons, and the same person at different times, in every different way-sometimes by sap, sometimes by storm. We have need of the whole armour of God, and a continual eye to the Captain of our salvation. To Him I recommend you, who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you blameless before His glorious presence with exceeding joy. Amen.

THE HOUR OF DEATH.

WHEN death comes, thou must bid an eternal farewell to thy enjoyments in this world; thou must leave thy goods to another; and 'whose shall these things be which thou hast provided?' Thy portion of these things shall be very little ere long.

If thou lie down on the grass, and stretch thyself at full length, and observe the print of thy body when thou risest, thou mayest see how much of this earth will fall to thy share at last. It may be thou mayest get a coffin, and a winding-sheet, but thou art not sure of that; many who have had abundance of wealth, yet have not had so much when they took up their new house in the land of silence. But however that may be, more ye cannot expect. It was a mortifying lesson which Saladine, when dying, gave to his soldiers. He called for his standard-bearer, and ordered him to take his winding-sheet upon his pike, and go out to the camp with it, and tell them, that of all his conquests, victories, and triumphs, he had nothing now left him but that piece of linen, to wrap his body in for burial.

'PEACE BE UNTO YOU!'

OBSERVE Who are the persons to whom the Saviour offers His peace. Are they the saints? Are they the people who have fought a good fight, who have finished their course, and who have kept the faith? Certainly, if we view them in Christ, they have done so: but in their own persons they are faithless, unbelieving, and their virtues have suffered shipwreck; when their love came to be tried, it could not stand the proof, for they had nothing to bring forward but lamentations for their weakness, their sinfulness, and their errors. Did this, however, prevent our Lord offering them the whole fruit of His sufferings and of His death? Did they hear a single word of reproach from His mouth? Did He make any conditions with them, saying, 'As soon as you have performed this or that, the same peace shall enliven you which I now enjoy?', No, it was far otherwise; not a syllable of the kind was heard-not the faintest allusion to the performance of the law; He advanced to meet them with the utmost condescension and love, and greeted them in the simple words, Peace be unto you!'

MUTUAL AID.

SURELY Zionward travellers, who know the difficulties of the way, and their own insufficiency to surmount them, should not be forgetful of one another. Though every member of Christ ought to sympathize with another, known or unknown, yet why does it please the Lord to bring us unto more particular connection or acquaintance with some, than others, but that they may be more especially objects of our concern and love? Let us be helpful to each other, then, in struggling up the steep, and pray the good Lord of the upper country so to fasten the hooks attaching the helping cord