With terrors and with furies to the bounds And crystal wall of heaven!" The Lord strong and mighty-the Lord mighty in battle!-And to descend from the terrors of that supernal war, what was the song of Moses when he saw the deliverance wrought out for Israel at the Red Sea ?-"The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh and his horses hath he cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea." No other examples need be adduced; and these are required only to impress us, as we are not often adequately impressed, with the warlike strength of God, of God in Christ. And bear in mind that he still remains mighty in battle, and that he will do battle, such battle as just described, with those who fight against him; which every sinner is doing in his heart, rebelling against him, "setting at nought his counsels and despising all his reproof." The Lord of Hosts! This is the ascription of praise which Isaiah heard from the lips of the seraphim who cried one to another 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"—" Jehovah -Sabaoth"-which signifies the everlasting Head of all things; to whom all hosts are subservient as their natural Ruler and who is the Judge of all responsible creatures. Brethren! forms of speech, if ever so multiplied and prolonged would fail to supply a full comprehension of what is included in this supreme designation-Lord of Hosts. It embraces eternity of being and universality of dominion; the kingship of all kings, the lordship of all lords-He is "God blessed for ever!" But the Redeemer is not merely described as having these prerogatives, but he is represented as sustaining an attitude in which his Divine character becomes the subject of triumphant and exulting proclamation-and there are four occasions to which we may conceive this Proclamation most signally to apply two are past, and two are to come, and one of each is to be assigned to earth and heaven respectively. 1. Let us glance at the two earthly first. It is a cardinal fact of our religion, that the divine nature assumed to itself the human, and that this ineffably mysterious assumption took place in Judea, according to prophecy, at a certain time, in a certain place, and under certain conditions. Now how much is it in tone with the greatness of the incarnation to conceive the earth addressed in this sublime invocation her gates and everlasting doors, viz., the firmamental expanse, so intangibly ethereal and so expansively majestic, being called upon to be lifted up, drawn upward or unfolded, to suffer the King of Glory to come in! We are apt, from the humiliation of the Saviour's advent, to forget the honours that attended it. Its humiliation con sisted mostly in his being born at all, not so much in his being born in a stable and laid in a manger. Though he was ushered into the world with an absence of human parade and circumstance, if we except the homage of the Magians, yet the celestial powers and principalities did not look on unmoved and slothful. "A multitude of the heavenly host" celebrated the event with lyres that were wont to make melody on the crystal sea of heaven; and ere their God and our God [allies himself with our nature, hark to their proclamation, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!" "Who is the King of Glory?" asks the collective voice of earth; and the an swer is, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of Hosts-He is the King of Glory!" Then does the earth receive her Lord; then is the Word made flesh; to humble shepherds is the New Gospel, i.e., glad tidings, told, and the celestial choir can sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men;" while the church of all ages is thenceforward able to repeat the prophetic strain, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace." Now, as he never did before, does the Lord of Hosts visit the earth to fill it with his glory. -Time passes: we are gathered to our fathers-the creation continues in travail; unknown to most who live in it, the world's last day draws nigh; the earth reels in her orbit: at once there is a universal hush-then comes the loud trumpet-peal of the archangel, loudening as it lengthens-the dead spring up in newness of life- the heralds are once more before the everlasting doors, and their magnific summons is, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!" Who is the King of Glory?" again cries the earth, trembling half with terror and half with joy, Then swells the answer, reverberating from east to west, The Lord strong and mighty, and the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory!" And at once does Christ in his own glory, his Father's and the holy angels', descend and enter; his throne is under him, and he makes the gates of azure the place of his final judgment. 2. But has not heaven chronicled one proclamation scene, and is it not waiting for another? 66 his feet are on the side of Olivet, where a cloud, unlike all other clouds, falls as a snowy garment round him, and then rises enclosing him within its bosom. He has gone!-gone beyond the limits of this planet-beyond the bounds of solar light-beyond the sphere of the remotest star; gone! but not alone: for if Elijah was granted a chariot and horses of fire, much more would the Redeemer be attended by legions of those flaming spirits that burn day and night before his throne. They haste to welcome him, and with them mingle the souls of departed saints who greet him on his way to the installation appointed him by the Father as the reward of his mediatorial work; and so arriving at the pearly portals, the proclamation is raised by myriads of his train "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!” “Who is the King of Glory?" ask the watchers by the gates and the harpers on the walls; and then do sapphire and emerald echo to the shout of acclaiming angels, "the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory!" Lifted, then, are the heads of the gates on golden hinges turning,' and with trophies of victory, making a shew openly of the spoils he has taken from the dominions of evil, the Redeemer sits down with his Father on his throne; and as Conquering-Christ, all the angels who worshipped him when born now joyfully assist in his public coronation. But the future has yet another spectacle reserved, and heaven will yet be summoned to lift higher her everlasting doors when her King, having judged men and angels, returns with thousands of thousands of his saints, redeemed out of every kindred and tribe and tongue, to enter on their perpetuity of bliss made perfect. He See! the tomb where his enemies has been "revealed from heaven with laid him is empty; death and hadês his mighty angels in flaming fire, takhave been defeated; and farther, seeing vengeance upon those that know We do not say that it, or any form of words like it, was, or will be used (any more than the visions of the Apocalypse are to be taken as literal pictures or fac similes of what transpired in heaven)-but this we do say and maintain, that the spirit of this proclamation has been and will be evinced, and in a measure transcending our imagination; and that all the adoration we can conceive involved in so grand a ceremonial and so glorious an announcement has been already twice afforded, and will be twice re not God" and he now mounts on the, be. wings of cherubim to inaugurate the consummation of all things. Will he not then appear before the walls of Salvation and the gates of Praise as the "Lord strong and mighty-mighty in battle-the Lord of hosts-the King of Glory?" and to his glory he will introduce his faithful servants. They will pass in with him; of that glory they shall have an exceeding and eternal weight, and so shall they be for ever with their Lord! "Amen! even so come quickly Lord Jesus!" Now, on each of these occasions-peated before "the end, when he shall these distinguishing epochs in the have delivered up the kingdom to God, history of the Redeemer, we may sup- even the Father...... that God may be pose the use of this language, and per- all in all." ceive how appropriate its use would (To be concluded in our next.) EARLY LABOURERS IN ORISSA.*—No. I. DEAR BROTHER,-The following may, I think, with propriety be called-the first chapter in Orissa Mission History; and the particulars which, as it appears to me, are not wholly devoid of interest, have not before been published in any acount of our Mission. In preparing this account I have again and again thought of our Lord's words-"This, which this woman hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her." So I think justice and generosity require that what the Serampore missionaries did for Orissa should be told for a memorial of Yours faithfully, them. J. BUCKLEY. WHEN the nineteenth century commenced its eventful course, Orissa was closed against the gospel : but it shortly after pleased Him who "putteth down one, and setteth up another," to deliver the people from the oppressive yoke of the Mahrattas, and to bestow the government of the province on a nation whose military triumphs have often been succeeded *The passages which are given as quotations are extracted from the Periodical Accounts. It would be tedious to refer particularly to all the places from which information has been gleaned, but all the volumes have been very carefully examined. Soon by the establishment of a kingdom the Society in the following April the missionaries remark, "The late successes of the British arms in India have put the country of Kuttak (where the Ootkul language is spoken), and a large part of the Mahratta dominions into the possession of the English, we thought this an opportunity not to be neglected, and have therefore begun a translation into both these languages, which goes on regularly, and will, we trust, in a reasonable time be accomplished." The reader will doubtless suppose that Kuttak is another way of spelling Cuttack, but may probably not be aware that the Ootkul language signifies the Oriya. The last remark as illustrating the disinterested benevolence of the missionaries must not be omitted," Thus far we have been enabled to sustain the expense of this undertaking, but are not at present able to do more." determined hostility to the propagation of christianity. Many in high places were infidels, and forbade the servants of Christ "to speak to the gentiles that they might be saved." The then governor-general, Sir George Barlow, (who passed to the great account in Dec. 1846,) sent a verbal message in 1806 to Carey to the effect that as the government did not interfere with the religious prejudices of the natives it was their wish that he and his colleagues would not do so. And it must be understood that every attempt to convert the natives to the faith of Christ was, in the vocabulary of those men, an interference with their religious prejudices. How different the estimate which enlightened and christian men, to the end of time, will form of the benevolent and selfdenying labours of Carey; and of the conduct of the governor who prohibited him and his associates from At this time they had no doubt preaching the gospel. Carey has alformed the intention of sending a ready a renown wide as the world, missionary to Orissa, as they observe though he sought it not, and the lusin the following year: "We have tre of his name will increase more long had it in our minds to station a as mankind increasingly appreciate brother in Orissa, near to the temple moral worth, humble piety, and the of Juggernaut. We think of doing importance of diffusing the gospel; this in a short time." But after being while the name of the governor who silent on the subject of Orissa for opposed the missionaries, and estabthree years, during which time, how-lished the Pilgrim Tax at Pooree is ever, Carey, the veteran of the Seram- little known, except in the annals of pore band, in connexion with other the government of India. In the folimportant engagements, was quietly lowing year a still more determined pursuing the translation of the New and wicked effort was made to hinder Testament into Oriya. They say in the gospel of Christ; but by this time March 1808,-"We have not been Sir George Barlow had ceased to be unmindful of our former resolution governor-general, and on a respectful relative to sending a brother into Oris- memorial being presented to his sucsa, or some of the parts adjacent; but cessor, Lord Minto, the proceedings from particular information recently were stayed, though it was not till the obtained, we are constrained to con- renewal of the charter in 1813 that full clude that the way for the gospel in toleration was enjoyed. On account these parts is at present shut up. of the extreme jealousy of the authoPrudence forbade their stating the rities, the missionaries were more whole truth as it may now with pro- careful in sending particulars of their priety be stated. The rulers of Bri- labours to the society, and were very tish India, albeit they "professed and desirous, (wisely so,) not to give uncalled themselves christians," evinced necessary offence to the rulers of the land. Still, Orissa was not forgotten in their prayers and efforts; and early in 1808 they sent out two native brethren to distribute tracts, and make known the word of the Lord in the province. It is interesting to notice that the first Hindoo who was honoured to make known the gospel in Orissa was Krishna Pal, the first fruits of the Baptist Mission, and the author of the pleasing hymn translated by Mr. Ward, which is a favourite with many, "O thou my soul forget no more The Friend who all thy misery bore." Krishna was accompanied on this tour by Sebuckram. In the report of their journey they mention among other places, Bhuddruck, the Bytarini river, Puddumpore, and Cuttack. At Cuttack, or as they spell it, Kutuka, they found numbers of pilgrims wending their weary way to Pooree, and to these they made known the way of life. Leaving the capital of Orissa, they proceeded on their journey to its most distinguished shrine, and speak of passing through Balekate and Makundapore (villages on the Pooree road): at length they reached the suburbs of the shrine, but here a demand was made upon them for the pilgrim tax, and as they had not sufficient money to meet it, they were obliged to return sooner than was intended; and on their return they distributed tracts and made known the word of salvation at many places. In 1809 the missionaries report with thankfulness to the Giver of all good, a circumstance of immense im portance to the best interests of Oris sa. A treasure infinitely more precious than Orissa's sons and daughters had ever known, was now prepared for them. The New Testament was translated and printed in the Oriya language. It has been said, not altogether without truth, that the man who causes three blades of grass to grow where only two grew before, deserves well of his country and his species. How much more worthy of honour the man who, regardless of the frowns of potent rulers, through evil as well as good report, with a zeal that never tired, pursued his delightful work of translating into languages spoken by millions of immortal beings, the Word of God that liveth and abideth for ever. In the light of the divine Word, and in the prospect of the great day of account, the delusive glare attaching to the proud achievements of the warrior, and the statesman, fades away, while these triumphs of sanctified energy shine with deathless lustre. The desirableness of establishing a mission in Orissa was now increasingly felt, and in the same year that witnessed the completion of the New Testament they invited one of their members (John Peter) to enter on the work, and appointed as his associate a Hindoo brother, named Krishna Das. This important step was taken, as they state, "after much deliberation and earnest prayer." A few particulars of these two friends, the first christian labourers located in Orissa, may with propriety be given. John Peter was born in Bengal, and his parents, who were Armenians, resided in Calcutta. According to the custom of the Armenian church, he was immersed in his infancy, but his parents were wholly ignorant of spiritual religion, and their son grew up a dissipated and wicked young man. He had obtained a little knowledge of religion from reading the New Testament and some English Catechisms; but he knew not the grace of God in truth. While in this state of careless indifference, various troubles befel him, which by the good spirit of God, excited anxiety respecting his soul; and this anxiety led him to the house of prayer. Bengalee sermon by Mr. Ward, at the Lall Bazaar chapel, Calcutta, affected his heart. He gladly received the word, and was baptized. Soon after his A |