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SACRED POETRY.

THE SABBATH.

BY THE REV. DAVID LANDSBOROUGH,

Minister of Stevenston.

"Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."-Exod. xx. 8.

SABBATH, thy name is Rest, a hallowed rest!
Rested on thee, in Eden's blessed bowers,
The pure primeval parents of our race,
Strangers as yet to sin, and care, and toil,
Their sweet, delightful, unlaborious task,
To stay the drooping head of dewy flower;
Gently to prune the too luxuriant shoot;
To train around their arbour climbing plants;
To gather rich repast of mellow fruits,
Ambrosial feast, seasoned by holy love.
Yet when arose on Eden's circling cliffs,
The seventh day's smiling sun, from balmy sleep
Arose the lovely pair, not to resume

Their daily work though sweet; but, taught of heav'n,

By holy rest to sanctify the day,

The blessed Sabbath of the Lord their God.
Then held they closer converse with the Lord,-
Then glowed with warmer gratitude their souls,-
Then rose in strains more rapturous the song—
The song of ecstasy, the hymn of praise.

SABBATH, thy name is Rest, a hallow'd rest!
Remnant of Paradise's pure delights,

Hadst thou been lost when innocence was lost;
Had fallen man, under the frown of God,
Been doom'd to journey Sabbathless through life,
This world would worse than wilderness have
been,

Man against man raising the arm of strife;
Nay, more, with daring heart, and lip, and arm,
Waging fierce war against th' Omnipotent.
But thou wast left in mercy, blessed day,
Like radiant rainbow sent to comfort man;
To tell that God is gracious, and to teach
The way-worn traveller to look to heaven,
As one escap'd from shipwreck, when the sea
Has swallowed up-not store of gold alone,
For that as trash had been; but what than gold,
Yea, finest gold, was dearer, dearer far,
Another lovelier self, by wedded vow,
By mutual, ardent love, bone of his bone,
Flesh of his flesh became, in heart but one ;—
When at the sea he looks-the greedy sea,
Now calm, perchance, and smiling as in scorn ;-
Or at the world he looks, a dreary void,
Through which companionless he now must wend;
Is there not joy in grief, when from the sea,
And from the charmless world he turns his eyes,
And from his bosom takes, with trembling hand,
A precious pencill'd image 'scaped the deep;
And pressing to his heart, and to his lips,
The dear, though faint resemblance of one
Who shared his sorrows, doubled all his joys,
And cheered by modest piety his path?

Even midst the sighs and throbbings of his heart
Springs not the hope that she shall yet be his,
Purer and lovelier than e'er on earth,

Midst youth, and grace, and beauty's winning
bloom?

Relic of Eden-day of blessed rest,

Is it not thus thou cheer'st the heart of man,
Bidding him hope, midst darkest vale of tears,
For more than Eden's blessedness above?

Well may thy morn be hailed, sweet day of rest,

By toil-worn travellers to Zion's land,
When oft external nature seems to feel
The blissful presence of the Sabbath's Lord.
Rests the rough sea; yet does the sea proclaim
Her tranquil bliss, as she returns the smile
That beams benignant from the face of heaven.
Rest the wild winds; and yet the zephyrs bland,
Whisper their happiness in accents sweet,
Or hold soft converse with the peaceful waves
That play in gentlest ripplings on the shore.
Rest the light clouds on lofty mountain tops;
And yet the clouds prepare to float away,
And leave in spotless purity the sky.
Rest the loud din of toil, the hum of men;
Save where, from scatter'd cottages around,
Are heard the blissful notes of matin hymn,
Now raised by happy families apart,
But soon to rise in swelling Sabbath-song
From all assembled in the house of God.

Sweet would be Eden's songs, and rich as sweet;

But Eden's songs we grudge not, could we sing
With pathos due, with pious rapture meet,
The nobler songs of Zion. Though at first
We from the willows weeping take the harp,
And strike with timid and unpractised hand
The jarring strings discordant, soon the strings
Tell that the strain has touched the inmost soul,-
That He whose praise exhaustless is the theme
Has taught our hearts to beat, our hands to play.
The theme is mercy-mercy crown'd with love;
Redeeming love-love sealed with dying blood;
The blood of Christ, the spotless Lamb of God.
O wondrous love! O clemency divine!
Harp do thy utmost, swell the note of praise;
Vie with the golden harps around the throne;
Adopt the adoring strain of saints above,

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To Him that loved us, and in his blood Has washed us from our sins, and saved our souls, To Him be glory now and evermore!"

Alas, alas! though great the glorious theme, How faint our note, how feeble is our song! O for the coming of that hallow'd morn When face to face we shall the Lamb behold. Then full will be the heart, and swift the tongue To pour in raptures meet the flood of song. Then bath'd in joy, th' exulting cry will be Enough, enough, this is the bliss of heaven. Welcome the dawning of a cloudless day; Welcome the Sabbath that will never end!

CONTENTS.-Address to the Rev. John Macdonald, on his Designation as one of the Church of Scotland's Missionaries to the East Indies. By Rev. J. Hunter, A. M.-Biographical Sketch. Rev. J. Marshall, A. M., late one of the Ministers of Stirling.Investigations into the Natural History of the Bible. By the late Rev. D. Scot, M. D. No. IV. Discourse. By Rev. J. Glen, A. M.-The Recent Persecution in Holland. No. II. By Rev. R. S. Candlish, A. M-Thoughts on the Destruction of our National Edifices by Fire. By Rev. J A. Wylie.-Christian Treasury. Extracts from Thomson, Serle, Newton, Simpson, and Krummacher.-Sacred Poetry. The Sabbath. By Rev. D. Landsborough.-Miscellaneous.

Now ready, VOLUME II., being that for 1837, containing 832 pages, handsomely bound in cloth, price 8s. Also may still be had, Vol. I., (for 1836,) 704 pages, uniform with the above, price 78. Separate Numbers from the commencement may at all times be supplied to complete sets.

Published by JOHN JOHNSTONE, at the Offices of the SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD, 2, Hunter Square, Edinburgh, and 19, Glassford Street, Glasgow; J. NISBET & Co., HAMILTON, ADAMS & Co., and R. GROOMBRIDGE, London; W. CURRY, Junior, & Co., Dublin and W. M'COMB, Belfast; and sold by the Booksellers and Local Agents in all the Towns and Parishes of Scotland; and in the principal Towns in England and Ireland.

Subscribers in Town, will have their copies delivered at their own residences regularly, by leaving their addresses with the Publisher. Subscription (payable in advance) per quarter, of twelve weeks Is. 6d., and the other periods in proportion.

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ILLUSTRATIONS OF FAITH.
BY THE REV. JOHN CORMACK, D.D.,
Minister of Stow.

No. VIII.

FAITH VIEWED AS AN ACTIVE PRINCIPLE. NECESSITY

OF ITS SUSTAINED AND UNINTERRUPTED AGENCY.

PRICE 1d.

perseding these duties by human contrivances, by voluntary humility, and worshipping of saints and angels, these last doings consign the votary of the Man of Sin to the dreadful doom of the idolater.

As the great principles of faith, or rather the objects of faith, and the things it contemplates, have been already sufficiently noticed for all practical purposes; it is only incidentally that we shall have occasion, in the mean time, to advert to them. We have seen, that all the dogmas of false religion are accommodated to the passions and

IF I have been successful in imparting to the reader, clear and convincing views of the several topics which have been treated in the foregoing papers, he is now prepared for entering upon one of the most important practical parts of the sub-propensities of corrupt human nature, and that ject, and that is, the necessity of the sustained and uninterrupted agency of faith, as an active, intellectual, and moral principle, indispensably necessary for animating and regulating the Christian life. Nothing can be more simple and easy of comprehension, than what is proposed for our present consideration; and therefore, in what is to be said, I shall not have it so much in view to explain and remove a difficulty, as to impress the reader's mind with the deep, the vital, the allcomprehensive importance of habitually maintaining, in sustained and uninterrupted exercise, that principle, which unites the soul to the Saviour, which is the channel by which all spiritual and heavenly blessings are conveyed, and that by which our poor and imperfect services become acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have been careful to distinguish between the act of the mind in believing, which every one understands, and the things proposed and commanded in Scripture by God himself to be believed, and which things, with ail their bearings, and connections, and moral influence, few indeed understand. The poor hood-winked Papist, surrendering his understanding to the priest, and resigning all right to judge for himself, very selfcomplacently mumbles over his Ave Marias, and counts his beads, and is taught to believe this to be religious duty; and he believes it. Nothing can be more congenial to the corruptions of carnal nature. But how very different the rule of duty set before the Bible Christian by the divine Author of that holy book! We are there taught, that our first duty is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind, and our neighbour as ourselves; and that, instead of suVOL. III.

on this account they are greedily received and acted upon, however preposterous and inconsistent in themselves, and however revolting to the calm and unbiassed exercise even of reason itself. This easily accounts for men's "believing a lie," when it favours the "unrighteousness in which they have pleasure." How far otherwise is it with those whose great object it is to live under the pure and purifying influence of the Gospel of Christ! They have to struggle against and buffet the stream, while the others have merely to allow themselves to be carried unresistingly along with it. True religion is a sailing against the wind and tide of human nature. Hence it is that, notwithstanding the blaze of evidence for the Gospel of Christ, and the beauty and harmony of the divine truths it contains, it is the utter aversion of the carnal mind. For it pronounces all men in their natura. state to be dead in trespasses and sins, and under the curse and condemnation of God's holy and righteous law. So great, accordingly, is the aversion of human nature to divine truth, that it is the Spirit of God only that can overcome it; and hence it is that "it is by grace" alone that men can be "saved through faith," and even that faith is not of themselves, and cannot be, as we have already seen; "it is the gift of God." Faith, then, is wrought in the soul by the Spirit of God; and is that which he employs as the instrument and interposing medium in his hand for accomplishing all the sanctifying and ennobling purposes of the wondrous scheme of redeeming love.

It is by this divine working and transformation by the renewing of the mind, that the soul is again put in a state capable of knowing and loving God, and doing his will. If faith (the eye, by which

and acted upon as seen and present realities; while the things of passing time were found to be empty and lying vanities. It was these views and impressions that led them to "confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth," and to seek that "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

If the reader of Scripture will carefully mark what is presented to him in the sacred page, he will find that the same idea regarding the objects of faith occurs through the whole of it. Thus the blessed Saviour, consoling his disciples in the prospect of their being deprived of his bodily presence, promises to them, in the gift of the Holy Ghost, something still more valuable : "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all (the) truth and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” John xvi. 13, 14. Here the Spirit pictures forth to the believer's mind the glorious objects of his faith. The Spirit shows, and the believer sees. This naturally reminds us of the vision of St. John, in which heavenly objects are represented to us by the nearest analogies that earthly objects can afford. Thus are presented to us the tree of life in the paradise of God, and the blessed inhabitants with their palms of victory, while they

the soul sees divine things) be faint, feeble, and dim, so that it sees heavenly things confusedly, obscurely, and distortedly, the work of God, or the obedience of the Gospel, will be very imperfectly performed. But let us go a little farther, and suppose the workings of the divine principle to be suspended altogether; it is evident that, in this case, the service of God can, in no department whatever, and in no degree whatever, more or less, be performed at all. Nay, but even this, sad and melancholy as it must be owned to be, is not all. For "the work of faith," and "the labour of love," to which it gives rise, cannot for a moment be suspended, without another, and an opposite work being carried on in active operation. The old man, that seemed subdued, dead, crucified, when the disciple was "living under the powers of the world to come," will now show symptoms of life, and will rally and attempt to gain the mastery over "the new man," who is in the mean time as inactive as if he were dead. Let the reader attend to this short and simple statement, and he will find no difficulty in distinctly marking the origin of the Christian's contests, combats, discomfitures, discomforts, and "heaviness, through manifold temptations.”— There is a "fight of faith," which must be unremittingly maintained; otherwise the adversary, even if he should not ultimately tri-strike their golden harps to the new song of Moses umph, will assuredly gain advantages. The law in the members will do its utmost against the law in the mind. We may embody the whole in the form of an axiom, a truth which carries its own evidence along with it, that "what is not in action is the same thing to an antagonist force, as if it did not exist at all."

Now, let it never be forgotten that there are always antagonist forces in operation against Christian principle; and that they can be kept from the accomplishment of their deadly aim only by God's working mightily in us "all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power." Now, this is the victory that overcometh the world and the powers of darkness, even our faith.

and the Lamb. Paul goes so far as to say, in reference to the divine principle of faith, that we "are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant." Heb. xii. 22-24.

Were we, like David, to meditate on the divine Word day and night, we should find in it a rich and inexhaustible treasure, and abundant spiritual provision for every exigency and time of need. Observe, it is here said, "we are come" to all these glorious objects, and this blessed society. We realize them by faith picLet us now glance, for a moment, at the means turing forth these glories, while it may be that by which faith triumphs over the combined hosti- "the spirits of just men made perfect" may be lities arrayed against it. We have formerly ob- commissioned on messages of mercy to those who served that there is something interposed between shall soon join them in the realms of glory. Supthe mind and its object, through the medium of posing this to be the case, we can see good reason which the object is seen. In seeing we do not why it is not revealed, as it might lead to supercome in contact with the object. There is a con- stition, and the unhallowed and impious abominaception, a picture, more or less distinct; as in tions of Popery. Yet, with humble and holy denatural objects, the picture is painted on the re-votement, and giving the exclusive and only glory tina, and this is the medium through which we see the object. This is just what is said of the patriarchs, Heb. xi. 13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them." Faith realized, and pictured forth to the soul its glorious objects, so that the believer lived, as it were, among them, seeing, through this medium, things invisible, and Him who is invisible. The things of faith were felt

to God our Saviour, we may be permitted to look
by the eye of faith, and to picture to ourselves,
on the other side of the dark rolling waters of
Jordan, one, and another, and another, of those
dear and beloved fellow-pilgrims who have finished
their course, and won the prize before us.
if these feelings be kept in their proper place,
without any presumptuous intruding into those
things which are veiled from mortal view, may
they not lighten the toils, and ease the burden of

And

the downward pilgrimage, and sweeten and en- | mentally and morally; and that this divine agent hance the anticipations of heaven itself?

does not force but form the mind and heart, and makes it to act in concurrence with his own holy agency. This again reminds us of the precept to "work out our own salvation," which salvation is altogether of grace; and the great encouragement to begin and to prosecute the work is, that "God worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." There is no place, then, for sloth and indolence in the spiritual warfare; but we are to "fight the good fight of faith, and so lay hold of eternal life." We are intensely and unremittingly to throw the whole concentrated energies of our nature into uninterrupted and unsuspended operation, and to prosecute the one great end of our

eternal salvation. Now we can do neither more nor less effectually and by ourselves, but we can do all things through Christ helping us, and his help is promised to them that ask, to the utmost extent of their need. Ours is to use the means, and His to give the blessing; and however we may fail in our part, He will never fail in his. "Faithful is He that has promised.”

But, without permitting ourselves to indulge in what is so delightful to the feelings, let us revert to what is more practically important to the understanding. Let it be remembered, then, that it is only by having the objects of faith realized, and, as it were, rendered visible and substantial, that we can be influenced by them, so that they shall produce in us their appropriate and happy effects. Let the faith be feeble, and it is overcome by what is, for the time, stronger, and what, though seemingly subdued, or even destroyed, when the divine principle is in mighty and sustained energy, through the operation of the Spirit, has been all along on the watch for the slumber-being, the glory of God, and their issue will be ing and inactivity of the holy antagonist principle. But instead of faith being feeble and languid, in which case we have seen that it may be overcome for the time, let us suppose its operation to be altogether suspended. In that case it is, so long as it continues in that state, the same as if it did not exist. What must then be the ruinous result? It is faith that keeps all the principles and affections of the renewed nature in their properly balanced and harmoniously working state, as the principle of gravitation preserves the heavenly bodies in their relative places, fulfilling the high behest of the great Creator. But let this power of gravitation be for a single moment suspended, and this fair and wonderful creation of God sinks into appalling disorder and irremediable ruin. Similar must be the result of suspended faith, the great principle of spiritual gravitation. But I must suppress much that occurs to me in illustration of the present topic, and be satisfied with just alluding to what is said of the father of the faithful, who "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief," Rom. iv. 20; and of Christians being "rooted and built up in Christ, and stablished in the faith," Col. ii. 7.; and of persons being saved if they continue in the faith," 1 Tim. ii. 15. Remember, also, what is said of "asking in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed; for let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." James i. 6, 7. Remember this, and I shall merely add, for your admonition and encouragement, the words of Peter, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist stedfast in the faith." 1 Pet. v. 8, 9. But, that you may detect his wiles, remember that he more frequently assumes But we must, in the meantime, pause. It is the form of an angel of light than that of "a roar-hoped that, by the blessing of God, what has been ing lion;" for that might defeat his purpose. said may convince the reflecting mind of the ne"Neither give place to the devil." Eph. iv. 27. cessity of maintaining faith, as an active principle, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." in sustained and uninterrupted agency. James iv. 7.

These mere allusions may bring back to the recollection of some, at least, of our readers, what was formerly said of the great work of training the mind and moral feelings; that the soul is not

All this shows us the necessity of watchfulness without sleeping on our post; of praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and of meditating day and night on the Word and the will of God, and on our own experience in regard of all the varied means of grace. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; and above all taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (one.) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Eph. vi. 13-18.

No believer, no one to whom the name can be properly applied, will lie down heedless and inactive, because of himself he can do nothing, till another agency be employed, and particularly where that other agency is promised only to the use of means. Let every one, therefore, that professes the faith of Christ, pray as if this were his only resource, and act, and labour, and strive, as if prayer could nothing avail him.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

JOHN ALBERT BENGEL,
PRELATE IN WURTEMBERG.

Tuis eminent divine and devoted Christian was born

acted upon by the Holy Spirit mechanically, but at Winnenden, a small town of Würtemberg, on the

24th June 1687. He received the first rudiments of learning from his father, who was assistant parochial minister in his native town. Under the kind and effective tuition of his excellent parent, young Bengel made rapid progress, but when he had scarcely reached his sixth year, his father was cut off by a malignant fever, which was then prevailing. Even at this early age the loss of a parent appears to have made a deep impression upon the tender and susceptible mind of the child. He had early imbibed the principles of religion, and the severe bereavement with which he was thus visited, awakened emotions and feelings of the most salutary and beneficial kind. He felt himself to be cast, with his widowed mother, on the special care of Him who is the father of the fatherless, and the husband of the widow. With this feeling of simple dependence upon the protection and kindness of Jehovah, he began to experience a peculiar delight in prayer, and in thinking of the precious truths with which his parents had taken the utmost pains to store his infant memory. The good work thus begun, gradually and imperceptibly advanced, and though the amiable dispositions to which it gave rise attracted the love of his school companions and associates, he made no disclosure of the change which the Spirit of God was internally operating. "I went on in simplicity," he says, " under the idea that no one observed me, and was glad that I could proceed thus quietly." He had been reared with a sacred regard for God's Holy Word, and it was frequently his delight to retire, after school hours, to read the Bible, and to meditate upon its precious contents.

At his father's death, the Almighty was pleased to raise up a friend in David Wendel Spindler, who kindly undertook to superintend the education of young Bengel. This he ever regarded as a remarkable interposition of Providence in his behalf, at a time when he was in danger of being thrown upon the world without a friend, save his helpless widowed mother, to counsel, to befriend, or instruct him. Spindler, however, watched over him with all the tenderness of a parent, and the kindness of the teacher was responded to, on the part of the pupil, with a corresponding gratitude and attention. In about four years from the time when he was bereaved of his father, a calamity occurred which deprived the young student of many advantages which he might have enjoyed in the prosecution of his studies. In consequence of the French invasion under Louis XIV., his mother's dwelling-house, which she had recently purchased, was reduced to ashes, and her husband's library, which had been retained for the use of his son, was totally destroyed. In after-life, however, Bengel often looked back upon this event as an instance of the kindness of Providence towards him, in depriving him of all temptation to indulge in a distracting variety of reading.

In the course of a few years, Mr Spindler having been appointed to a permanent situation as tutor in the High School of Stuttgart, his affectionate pupil accompanied him to that town, and thus enjoyed the most favourable opportunities of gratifying his ardent and insatiable thirst for knowledge. He soon made the most satisfactory proficiency in the dead languages, in history, mathematics, French, and Italian. While thus engaged, however, in the pursuit of secular learning, his mind was frequently directed to that wisdom which is made known to us by the teaching of the Spirit of God, and it would appear that he was not unfrequently harassed at this period with perplexing doubts. His thoughts and feelings, at this stage of his spiritual progress, cannot be better described than in his own words :—

"My will was compliant; but many a doubt assailed my understanding. To communicate such difficulties to any one, in order to have them removed, was what I was too timid to do; hence I often laboured under secret anxiety, and disquieted myself with it to no

purpose, by which I contracted the appearance of ha bitual reserve, and lost some of that ability for ease and freedom of manner which would have preserved me from seeming, as I must have done occasionally, somewhat singular. However, it often had a different effect in the eyes of others, though perfect strangers to me; for their first sight of me gave them a hope and confidence that I could feel for their mental trials, And notwhich they would readily disclose to me. withstanding those constitutional ailments of raine, indeed at the very time when I was suffering under them, the gracious goodness of God afforded me such affecting discoveries and experiences of inward peace, that I felt encouraged, particularly on my first attendance at the Lord's Supper, to persevere in child-like prayer; and that holy ordinance was a means of inciting rae to it, and to a hearty desire of departing to be with Christ." It is not unusual for young and ardent minds, when they have begun to acquire habits of investigation, whether in literature or science, to involve themselves in perplexity and doubt on matters of religion. They foolishly imagine that it is wiser to doubt than to believe, and never having been trained to a proper knowledge of the limits of human reason, they seek to solve, by reason alone, points which, from their very nature, belong exclusively to revelation. Instead, therefore, of sitting down as little children to listen attentively to what God speaks in his Word, they attempt to reconcile its doctrines with the deductions of man's feeble reason, and end, it may be, in a rude and reckless unbelief. This is the downward course of many who, under judicious training, might have proved able defenders of the truths which they despise. In the case of Bengel, however, such an unhappy state of mind was merely temporary, and speedily gave way to brighter and more correct, and therefore more delightful, views of that Bible which, through life, was his habitual study.

Bengel's mother, after remaining for ten years a widow, was married in 1703 to John Albert Glöckler, Esq., steward of the theological seminary at Maulbronn. This pious and excellent man fulfilled all the duties of a father to the young student, and, to promote his progress in study, entered him as a member of the theological college of Tubingen. Here he dedicated much of his attention to metaphysical pursuits, and to this circumstance he considered himself as indebted for the clearness which he afterwards displayed in analysing and expounding the language of Scripture. At the end of his philosophical course he took the degree of master of arts. He now commenced the study of divinity with the utmost ardour and perseverance, and so highly did he distinguish himself among his fellow-students, that he soon attracted the notice of the professors, one of whom employed him in making researches for the purpose of completing a history of the Church, which he was preparing for the press, and afterwards in superintending the correction of a new edition of the German Bible.

Much of Bengel's time during his attendance at the College of Tubingen was devoted to the Scriptures in their original languages; and he often lamented, at a later period of his life, that he had occupied himself so much with minute critical inquiries into the purity of the text of the Greek Testament. Such pursuits are, no doubt, highly beneficial to the student of theology; but when uncombined with a prayerful study of the doctrines of the Bible, they are liable to do serious injury to his spiritual interests. He involves himself, as Bengel did, in doubt and perplexity; but it is not always that, as in his case, the evil is counteracted by a sustained habit of devotion and serious meditation. The circumstances in which our student entered upon his theological course were peculiarly favourable for his progress in spiritual attainments. The Lord had then,"

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