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ON READING IN THE "RECORD," AN ARTICLE ENTITLED,

"PRINCE ALFRED AT JERUSALEM.”

(N. B.-Prince Alfred-now Duke of Edinburgh-visited the Holy City on the eve of the season endeared to the Christian as commemorative of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our LORD and Saviour, Jesus Christ.)

"Hours before the expected arrival (of the Prince), the gate, walls, and road-side were thronged with motley crowds interspersed with military, of assembled spectators "from every nation under heaven," attired in the costumes of their country. The crowd had patiently waited until long after The sun had set, and the shades of evening

the expected hour of arrival. were closing on the twilight."

"At Mar Elias the Greeks of the Convent had laid down carpets, and placed an arm-chair for the Prince under the olive trees, where there is a view, on the right hand of Bethlehem, and on the left of Jerusalem. The whole population turned out to see and welcome His Royal Highness,—and his numerous cavalcade rode through a crowd of eager people, while many a prayer of God preserve him to his mother!' 'God lengthen his days!' was heard in an audible voice by the bystanders. One man even ran forward and spread his garments in the way. At the Garden of Gethsemane, the heads of the Armenian and Greek churches, were waiting to take leave of the Prince, who proceeded thence to the Dead Sea," &c. &c.

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"HE," Christ,-Prince of the Kings of the earth,-King of kings,—and LORD of lords-" came unto His own, and His own received Him not! (John'i. 11.)

"He was despised, and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; — He was despised, and we esteemed Him not!" (Isa. liii. 3.)

"Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid,-be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils ;-they have forsaken Me, -the Fountain of Living Waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water!" (Jer. ii. 13.)

JERUSALEM! Jerusalem! a martial band appears

Before thy walls, and at its head, a Prince of fifteen years;
With acclamations loud and high the silent air is riven,

And welcomes ring from every tongue and nation under heaven!

The sun is setting gloriously in gold and purple skies,
And towards the Holy City's gates are bent a million eyes,-
Reflecting from a million hearts a million gleams of joy,
To hail the Princely advent of "VICTORIA'S" Sailor Boy.

No other city such a scene of brilliancy could show,

For thither only, Christians, Jews, Greeks, Turks, Armenians flow:A motley band whose mingled tones, blend, as in one glad song,"Preserve him to his mother, Lord!-and let his days be long !"

A more imposing spectacle,-a more heart-thrilling scene,
Men say, within the Holy walls, scarce ever hath been seen;

But Christian hearts look backwards, through the gathered mists of years,
Upon another spectacle, amid unbidden tears.

And wherefore,-mournfully they ask,-this glad reception given
To "Alfred" by the City which denied the Prince of Heaven?
He came, A KING, with kingly gifts,-came thither to His own,
To find a mob assembled there His title to disown!

A few sad, loveful greetings, well nigh drown'd amid the shout
Of harsh, discordant, scornful tones that compassed Him about;-
A little weeping band alone,—in distance following
That dense, accusing, brutal crowd,-own'd HIM as LORD and KING!

O bitter, painful contrast! what a deep and foul disgrace!
What awful condemnation thou reflectest on our race!

But yet, more strongly than that scene revives our guilt and shame
It testifieth to the worth of our Redeemer's Name.

Because that Sinless One for us became a cursed thing,-
Until our penalty was paid He could not be a King;

Because "the Life" on our behalf, His mortal life laid down,-
Upon the scene of His disgrace He wore but a mock-crown.

He yielded to the officers of Justice;—He was led

To prison, and to suffering,-and number'd with the dead!
And had that grave its captive held, our sins would yet remain;
But scarcely had "the third day" dawn'd before He rose again!

Oh cloudless Resurrection morn! thou hast proclaimed Him King,
And millions of redeemed ones His praise unite to sing.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! behold through streaming eyes,
The Crucified, the Pierced One, ascending to the skies!

Vain was thy guarded sepulchre to keep among the dead

“THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE,"-our Great Sponsorial Head; In regal power and majesty He will return again,

Not as "an offering for sin," but as a KING to reign!

Forgiven much, O love Thou much! and hide thy deep disgrace
Jerusalem! beneath the robe of his redeeming grace:

To earthly kings and Princes be all due allegiance given.

But yield each faithful heart its throne to CHRIST,-the King of Heaven!

J. E. J.

A JEWISH LAMENT, AND A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE.

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"When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory."

"What shall the receiving of them be, but Life from the dead?"

"Oh! pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee."
"Let Jerusalem come uppermost in your mind."

UR beautiful and holy House a desolated heap ;

Our children scorned by Nazarenes,—our hearts must break-or weep ;—

Our harps upon the willows hang;-our vineyards are laid waste

Oh! cruelly, and bitterly, our Nation is disgraced!

"When will our own Messiah come, and our salvation bring?*
When shall we have again on earth a Temple, and a King?
The glory,-long departed hence,-oh when shall it arise,
And with its blessed radiance dry the tear-drops from our eyes?
"When shall this weary night be past-this groping in the dark,
And in our midst be found again our own beloved Ark?-
When shall our heathen enemies, who wear earth's sceptres now,
Have learnt Jehovah loveth us,-and 'neath our Sceptre bow?"

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When? weeping ones!-Whenever ye accept the gracious call
Of Him ye crucified-" The Christ "-"JEHOVAH "LORD of All
Of Him who wept in agony o'er Zion's fallen state,
And o'er the hearts that, cursing Him, have sealed their awful fate.

“Ye will not come "-Messiah said,—“ Ye will not come to Me,
That everlasting blessedness your heritage might be:

Ye will not come to find the rest your troubled bosoms crave;"-
Alas! alas! for Israel, laid in a living grave !—

Yet is He gracious,-loving still; and promises to be
As gently falling, fresh'ning dew, O Israel, to thee!

And with His own life-giving breath to breathe upon thy slain,-
And make them, as the buried corn, upspring, and live again. †

Oh! hear Him knocking at thy door, and let the Stranger in,
If ever ye would be redeemed from the dread curse of sin :-
Who share His love have nothing left to wish for,—or deplore,
And in His presence there is life, and joy for evermore!

The Father's well beloved Son,-" David," your " Prince," your "King!"
Of whom your poets, and your priests, and prophets loved to sing;
The Root Divine, the Human Branch, that sprang from Jesse's stem;-

The Sun that shall illume for aye the new Jerusalem!

LORD Jesus! while with God Most High we plead on bended knee,
We pray that those of Israel, true Israelites may be;

And that, united in "one faith," we Gentiles may be given,
With them and faithful Abraham an heritage in Heaven.

Ps. liii. 6, marginal reading.
Ezek. xxxiv, 23, 34. 66

J. E. J.

+ Hosea xiv. 5, 7. David," i.e., "The Beloved "-spoken long after the time of the literal David, of HIM who was at once" the root, and the offspring of David." See also Ezek. xxxvii. 24.

מכתם למרים,

בת יחידה להמלך הגדול אלעקסאנדער חשני לברך בואה לארץ הזאת :*

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• The above is a literal, almost verbatim, metrical translation, line for line, of the fol. lowing sonnet of "Welcome "-from the pen of the Laureate-to the Duchess of Edinburgh. I took the liberty of rendering "Alexandrowna" into Hebrew according to its signification, namely, "The help of man." The suitableness will especially commend itself to such readers as can consult the original of Genesis ii. 18, where they will find MOSES MARGOLIOUTH. both the words employed above for Alexandrowna.

THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH.

THE WELCOME TO THE BRIDE.-(BY THE POET LAUREATE.)

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Notes.

THOUGHTS ON

REALITIES OF THE FUTURE LIFE.

BY REV. W. STONE, M.A.

CHAPTER II.

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.

"Mors janna vitæ."

THE first step onward, in the understanding of our future existence, is obviously the knowledge of the state beyond the grave, after the dissolution of soul and body. "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time, will I wait, until my change come." The question was not asked by the faithful and tried patriarch in any sceptical or doubtful spirit, but with the admiring conviction, firm in his mind, of the reality that man would live again in a new state; and, though the body became dust and returned to

the earth, as it was taken out of it, yet" the spirit should return to God who gave it." Job knew very well, like every believing Jew, that both body and soul would live again in another future condition. So the psalmist: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God;" but "the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." The Redeemer of soul and body (the true was then living, before Job died, and he felt assured, through the Spirit of God, that He would stand at the latter day upon the earth, release the body from its bondage of corruption, and reunite it to the ransomed soul preserved in paradise for that purpose.

The state of the departed soul, between death and the resurrection is what we mean by the intermediate state. That there must be such a state of life is necessarily implied by

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