Prophet Jonas was the only sign that was yet to be given to them, and that, in despite of their boasted pretensions to wisdom, they were yet hypocrites withal, for though they were able to discern the face of the sky, they were not able to predict the signs of the times, and with all their accuracy and expertness in their prognostications of season and weather, were so wilfully blind and so wilfully stupid as not to know the broad and palpable marks which God had given of the Gospel dispensation. From this reply which he gave to the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus proceeds to warn his disciples against the influence of their doctrine at large. "Take heed," he says to them at the sixth verse, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Natural, however, and necessary though this caution was, the disciples nevertheless altogether misunderstood it. They took not up the meaning of what Christ addressed to them, and they made of it a very gross and a very ludicrous misapplication. They reasoned with themselves, we read at the seventh verse, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread," imagining that, because in the confusion of their thoughts, when they crossed over to the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to take bread, he meant, in the caution which he had given, to upbraid them for the spirit of improvidence and forgetfulness they had displayed. Our Lord, however, soon lets them know how widely they had misinterpreted his caution. He states to them in the most emphatic terms that they had entirely misapprehended his meaning, and that nothing but a spirit of unbelief and ingratitude, nothing but a total forgetfulness of the miracles which he had already wrought on several occasions for their special deliverance, could ever, for one moment, have led them to have made, regarding so wise a caution, so erroneous, and so foolish a supposition. They reasoned among themselves, saving, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little of faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ve not understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." 66 It was with great justice that our Lord chid them for their want of faith, for the anxiety which their carelessness had produced, and for the terror under which they lay of being abandoned to destitution. The suspicion which had come across them, that, because they had forgotten to take bread, it would, on that account, fare ill with them, showed that they had no reliance upon him for any supply which they might need, and that they felt that they were not warranted to anticipate any source of relief in his miraculous powers, should they be reduced to the necessity of requir ing them, that they had no remembrance of any one event, in the course of their past history, to justify the hope that the mistake which they had committed might yet be remedied, and they themselves delivered from the fears and solicitude to which it had given birth. If they apprehended that want would really overtake them, then, instead of mourning over the negligence with which they now felt they were chargeable, they might, at least, have trusted themselves to the compassionate providence of their gracious Master, for their former experience authorized them to believe that he would supply, by his administration, the want which they dreaded, and make up, by his kindness, what had been deficient in their care. And they were, in an especial manner, bound to believe and to act so, in consideration of the miracles which he had but lately performed in the midst of them. For had he not, as he himself here reminds them, had he not warded off famine in the desert, and satisfied, by the wonders of his power, the appetites of a multitudinous population, on one occasion fed five thousand with five loaves, and made them take up of fragments that remained twelve baskets full, and, on another, four thousand with seven loaves, and made them gather up seven baskets? Had they recollected those displays of his wonder-working power-considered the application which they were called upon to make of them and the conclusions in their own favour which they very naturally authorized, they would never have referred the caution which their Master here gave to them to the circumstance of their forgetting to take bread, nor, for one moment, have ever doubted, with these facts of his benevolent agency fresh in their remembrance, that the same divine power, being still bodily present with them, was equally able and equally willing to minister to them the supply which they should need. "How is it," therefore said Christ, "How is it that ve do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." With these facts and circumstances before us in the passage which has been read, let me call your attention to one great duty which is here evidently inculcated, reserving to another discourse the further lessons in which it may be regarded as very naturally instructing us. It sets before us the obligation of making every thing which Christ hath done or said a matter of calm review and contemplation,—of reasoning upon it with candour, for our instruction or for our profit, and subjecting the principles which it appears to involve to the most searching and refined analysis, of allowing it to take the very firmest hold upon our memories and hearts, and through the industry of study, tempered and sanctified by the industry of prayer, of drawing from it alive in their remembrance, have made it a subject of their grateful contemplation,—would have drawn from it what would ever have prevented them from committing the mistake into which they fell. When those general conclusions, those facts and those | principles, which, in the eye of sober reason, it doth legitimately authorize. We would owe a deportment like this as a just tribute of respect and affection even to the sayings and doings of a mere fellow-mortal, who should show himself Let us, therefore, brethren, set up their depossessed of an intelligence above the common portment as a beacon to be warned by, and let us level, and gifted with a more than ordinary fore-discharge that duty which, from their misconduct, sight and integrity, in regard of what was neces- we may learn to be incumbent upon us. sary to be taught in the department of litera- we travel through the pages of the Gospel histure, and of what was necessary to be done in tory, let us then consider what Christ did, and the walks of usefulness. We do show such a what Christ taught, and, in the exercise of a deportment in the case of those, by whose pro- pious sagacity, let us learn both that discipline, ductions we see the world to have been blessed, and that consolation which his words and his who are obviously sent upon the stage of human works are calculated to inspire. We shall offer life to uphold the cause of knowledge and of virtue, you one or two illustrations of this very impor to extend the empire of mind over matter, and to tant duty, and show you how the spirit of the make the most interesting additions to the sum of general lesson I have referred to may be imbibed moral and intellectual happiness. Such minds and acted upon in the enterprises and employcultivated, in addition to their native vigour, by long ments of common life. habits of study and reflection, such minds we naturally esteem as worthy of all the regard we can lavish, and we offer to the opinions which they form, the homage of our loyal obedience, and we pay to the character which they present, the homage of our unbounded admiration. And we owe it, of course, in a much more ready manner, and a much more plentiful measure, in the case at present before us. For who is that Being to whose works and to whose declarations such regard is due? He is not one of ourselves who, in despite of all his sagacity, is yet liable to be mistaken, who, much as he may have improved the system, both of our faith and practice, may yet have inculcated as truths what a more advanced stage of society, and a more liberal mode of education, will hereafter set aside,-himself, too, the subject of misconceptions which, though unavoidable at the time, are yet destined hereafter to be pointed out and corrected, under a clearer and more perfect dispensation. Such things are, in no respect, descriptive of Him whose declarations we called upon to ponder. For He is the Word and the Wisdom of God, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, all whose declarations are truth, without the least mixture of error, and who was himself an infallible oracle of wisdom during all the days of his earthly manifestation, who wrought, besides, many wonderful works, that show the divinity both of his nature and his mission, highly to be admired, much to be thought upon, affording the fittest subjects of meditation, both for the study and the school, and from the attentive consideration of which, the understanding, and the heart, and the affections may be enlightened, and amended, and comforted, and renewed. Had the disciples but considered the miracle of the loaves and fishes, had they imbibed the lessons which it was naturally fitted to teach them, and had they adequately perceived that temper of prudent benevolence which it certainly breathed, they would, instead of failing, as they did fail, to keep in memory the wonder which had been wrought, have kept it ever are 1. First of all, then, to begin with an illustration suggested by the incident in the passage, we find, that upon a particular occasion he fed several thousand men, besides women and children, upon a few loaves and a few small fishes, a miracle which was not more a striking demonstration of his power, than it was a successful and very eminent proof of his goodness. In the way, therefore, of considering this miracle, and of reaping from it the instruction which it is fitted to communicate, what is the great lesson which it teaches in respect of our own conduct? Superficial thinkers would very naturally imagine that, in so far as it furnishes an occasion for our admiring both the omnipotence and the good will of the Redeemer, it can afford hardly any lesson of moment that can bear the least reference either to the temper we should imbibe, or the deportment we should follow. And yet the supposition is entirely an erroneous one; for to any one who attentively surveys the miracle, and views it in all those aspects in which it adinits of being laid open to the understanding, it will be found to contain a most useful lesson of daily conduct. We cannot, it is true, work any miracle, far less pretend to such an one as that to which I have just referred. But though the work itself cannot be done by any of us, yet the spirit and temper which distinguished it may be cherished and imbibed by us all. The prevailing spirit by which the miracle was pervaded was a spirit of judicious consideration for the present condition of the multitudes, a spirit of sympathy with their circumstances of present destitution, and such a sympathy as inclined him to exert the powers which he possessed, of administering to their relief; and this is the great moral lesson which the miracle itself is intended to convey. Our Lord, it is to be observed, on the occasion here referred to, did not, by the mere utterance of a word, raise up one from the dead, or by the energy of his almighty arm, open the eyes of one who was born blind, or restore to his original strength a man whose right hand was withered, for these miracles, though they would equally have established the truth of his pretensions, and excited in the minds of the multitude the admiration which the one in question did raise, were not at all warranted by the circumstances of the occasion, and would have been rather a lavish and unnecessary display of miraculous agency, than any chaste and judicious demonstration of supernatural wisdom. And therefore it was, that he miraculously multiplied five loaves into an almost indefinite number, because he was at the time in a desert, surrounded by a multitude ready to famish with hunger, a miracle that plainly instructs, and impressively admonishes us to do at the moment what lies in our power to help the weaknesses, or to relieve the distresses that occur. We cannot work miracles in the behalf of our afflicted brethren, but we can do what is as necessary, and what will be as refreshing as if a miracle had been wrought. In this state of man, the fairest passages of whose life are but a lighter shade of evil, and the infinite diversities of whose troubles need to receive their specific remedies, and to be cherished with their appropriate comforts, we owe to every object of destitution not only a portion of the good things which we possess, but also the happy application and the judicious distribution of these things. Every man, whatever his rank, or circumstances, or state in society may be, every man has at least one talent, which he may convert into an instrument of usefulness; that talent he is not at liberty to conceal in a napkin, or to hide under ground, but he is to put it out to use, to diffuse the beneficial influence which it is fitted to diffuse, to employ it in those precise forms in which it admits of being most advantageously laid out, and to omit no occasion on which he may successfully trade with it. The miracle here referred to is as much to be admired by us, for the instruction which it communicates, as it was relished by the multitude for the comfort and the refreshment it produced, for in it we see the divine Redeemer, not so solicitous to inspire us with a high reverence of his power, as solicitous on his own account, and from the stimulus of his own benevolence, to exercise that mode of compassion toward distress, for which the nature of that distress very loudly called,-to fill the mouths of those who were famishing for lack of food. We, therefore, if we seriously consider, and carefully remember the circumstances and history of the miracle itself, will learn to go and do likewise, to stir up the particular gift that may be in us, according as it may be required, to employ the means which we possess in the dispensations of needful beneficence, to accommodate the gifts of our bounty to the required necessities of our fellowcreatures, not giving raiment to one who is famishing for hunger, or bestowing food upon one who wants nothing but the garment wherewith his nakedness may be covered, but bestowing upon each distress the peculiar relief that corresponds with it, giving bread to him who is hungry, affording the shelter of your house as a protection to the stranger, withholding not the visits of comfort and condolence to those that are sick and in prison. The miracle will teach us to open our hands liberally, and to cause our hearts to overflow with tenderness, upon rare and remarkable occasions of affliction, and, in imitation of the judgment and spirit of usefulness that distinguish it, in certain cases to give ourselves to the painful operation of inquiry, to distinguish between the poverty of idleness and the poverty of misfortune, to interweave science with our compassion, and to teach the needy to become rich, by teaching them to be industrious. This is the steady and enlightened compassion of a Christianized mind, of a mind that comprehends the nature, imbibes the temper, and enters into the spirit of the benevolence of Christ. This is to consider the miracle of Jesus Christ, and in this way are we to avoid the reproof which he administered to his disciples, when he said, "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that should beware of the leaven of the Phariye sees and of the Sadducees ?" 2. But we may take another example as illustrative of the importance of the same duty. We find in the course of Christ's history upon earth, that he went about doing good, that his whole ministry was a ministry of benevolence, that he acted at its every period as the earnest and the eager champion of all the miseries of man, and displayed, both by what he said and did, a mind working out the projects of the most expansive philanthropy, that the interpositions of his divine agency, which were so frequently seen to overbear the power of nature, were always interpositions for human good, that, in despite of all the discouragements, and all the obstacles, and all the ingratitude with which he met, he never turned weary in well-doing, and showed, by the miracles of mercy which he wrought, that he was the visible image of that Invisible Spirit, in regard of whom all nature proclaims that the whole universe is the theatre of his liberality. The Gospel history is an imperishable record of the interesting charities to which he lent himself, of the tears which he dried up, of the broken hearts which he healed, of the tender relations of life which he restored, of the pangs of separation which he benevolently spared. We read on many occasions of the visits which the poor and afflicted paid to him, of all the varieties of wretchedness, from helpless infancy to withered age, finding a shelter beneath the shade of his healing influence; how they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases, and those that were possessed with devils, those that were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; how he healed them that had need of healing, and ministered with the most melting humanity to their manifold weaknesses; how he entered the habitations of disease, and stood over the bed of the afflicted with a tenderness of affection which few, if any, showed the least inclination to repay, and how, to the benefit and amazement of all around, he was feet to the lame, and eyes to the blind, how he imparted hearing to the deaf, strength to the weak, life itself to the dead. Now, my brethren, these miracles it is our duty to consider and understand; and if we do so aright, with the temper, and spirit, and intelligence that are required, and that may be exercised by us, we will see, that though we have no warrant to expect that he is again to heal our bodily distempers, and, by a putting forth of the miraculous agency, to cleanse us from whatever disease doth afflict us, that he is still ever present for the miraculous healing of our spiritual troubles; that as actions are the best commentaries upon character and inclinations, so the outward miracles which he wrought when he tabernacled in our flesh, besides being separate confirmations of his doctrine, are to be received by us as the most animated possible emblems of what he is willing to do for the spiritual maladies of all who apply to him for relief. We are not to expect that because, when he was importuned, he condescended to open the eyes of him who was born blind, he will suffer such a miracle to be repeated on the behalf of similar objects that may require it; but because he did this while he dwelt upon earth, we have the best reason for believing that we, who are conscious of spiritual blindness, and who, by nature, perceive not the character either of God or of ourselves, are thereby encouraged to expect, that he will impart sight to our darkened understandings, that the Son of David will have mercy upon us, that he will shine upon us with a light from heaven, and opening our eyes to see the wonderful things of God's law, and the still more wonderful things of his Gospel, that he will bestow upon us that knowledge which, in the strong and figurative language of Eastern poetry, enlightens the eyes, converts the soul, rejoices the heart, is sweeter than honey and the honey comb, and permit us to taste the happiness of that man who findeth the wisdom that is better than rubies, which giveth to the head an ornament of grace and a crown of glory. We are not to expect that he will call a second Lazarus from the grave, or again restore in life, to the bosom of parental affection, the only son of a widowed mother; but what he did in this respect in a literal sense, ought to be looked upon by us as an image representing what he is willing to do in a spiritual, as the best reason for being persuaded that we who are by nature dead in trespasses and sins, will, upon a believing application to him, experience his readiness to implant within us the principles of a holy and spiritual life, to revive and to refresh us with his heavenly dew, as trees in his garden which his own hand hath planted, and to make us blossom, and bloom, and bear fruit for ever. We are not to imagine that he will again be seen treading firmly and securely on the tossing surface of a raging sea, and in answer to the cry of prayer, hushing by his voice, its billows into a calm; but because, while he dwelt upon earth, he was beheld laying the storm, and walking on the bosom of the swel ling deep, the power which he then displayed over the elements of nature is a pledge or proof of the power which he is able to wield over the still fiercer elements of our evil hearts; and we may very safely conclude, that what he then did in the world without, he is equally inclined to do in the little world that is within; that if we call upon him for help, he will assuage the storms of our troubled breasts, rebuke the winds and the waves of our corrupt passions, and calm the tumults of our minds when agitated by the vexing disquietudes of their own peculiar concerns, or ploughed up into frightful inequalities by the tempests of human life. Not to multiply instances in illustration of the general remarks which I have made, what I have stated is quite sufficient to show, not only the reasonableness, but also the positive obligation of doing what our Saviour here reproves his disciples because they had neglected to do,-the obligation of considering and remembering both the words and the works of Christ; not viewing them as mere matters of entertainment, not looking up to them as simple objects of wonder, not seeking to them as sources whence to gratify our curiosity or regale our fancy, not regarding them as forming subjects that will animate our conversation, divert the passing hour, and diversify the wearisome monotony in which, perhaps, our life may glide away; but regarding them as matters by which our knowledge may be enlarged, by which our faith may be strengthened, by which our charity may be expanded, our gratitude inflamed, our expectations and prospects inconceivably brightened, and feeling that we can never hold them in grateful recollection unless they be cherished and impressed by us as the motives and the models of our conduct. Let us ever sit in judgment upon these miracles of the Saviour with the spirit of impartial inquirers after truth, pondering well the lessons which they teach, reasoning on the conclusions which they may be looked upon as fairly to authorize, discerning in them those amiable aspects of the divine character, and deriving from them those consolatory views of the hopes of man, which may be discerned and which may be derived; grudging no labour, and sparing no pains, so thoroughly to understand their nature as that we may reap, in our own experience, the great benefits both of instruction and of comfort, which they are designed to communicate, and that it may never with truth be asked of us, as it was asked of the disciples, "How is it that ye do not understand, neither remember?" THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NEW SOUTH WALES. [WE have been favoured by the Very Rev. Principal Macfarlan, Secretary to the General Assembly's Colonial Scheme, with the following extract from a letter, addressed to him by a clergyman, dated Sydney, 29th July 1837. It is with great pleasure we call the atten tion of our readers to the communication, as containing a distinct and authentic account of the concessions recently obtained by the Scottish Church in New South Wales, and that, too, without causing any embarrassment to the Government or to the Presbyterians themselves.] 1. We have obtained a most complete documentary recognition of the Presbytery by the Colonial Govern inent. 2. We have received the assurance that no money will be issued from Government, for building churches, ministers' dwellings, &c., as well as salaries, outfit, and importation of ministers, without the sanction and approval of the Presbytery. "All communications from Presbyterians on these subjects must come through the Presbytery." We are thus brought directly in contact with the Government. 3. At the end of every year, a "certificate from the Moderator" is required, stating that the ministers have been engaged as such, faithfully, during the year, before any one is entitled to salary for the following year. The certificate is required also from the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. The tendency and happy results of this requirement I need not point out to you, who can so well discover it. 4. We have established our right to issue, through the Moderator, with the seal of the Presbytery attached, special licenses" for marriage without proclamation of banns. This is unknown in Scotland. But having enjoyed the right for ten years, we were unwilling to lose it; and taking advantage of an act of Council, we have issued nearly twenty such licenses, at three guineas each. English females of respectability, and English gentlemen married to Scots females, have insuperable objections to marriage by banns, and we should have lost the advantage of their support, if this had been denied to us. An indirect attempt was made to prevent the enjoyment of the right, but the confidence of the public has been gained, and we are now perfectly secure in the exercise of it. 5. The three ministers in the interior have, by favour, had an increase made of fifty pounds per annum to their salaries. Mr M'Garvie's increase is one bundred pounds, having been the first to come under the Church bill. His church, which cost two thousand two hundred and twenty-four pounds, is now free of debt,* and having presented seven hundred and twenty signatures of adults, willing to attend divine service, the increase was granted. The salaries now stand thus :--Dr Lang, three hundred pounds, Mr M'Garvie, two hundred pounds, the others, one hundred and fifty pounds. This is to begin from the 1st January 1837, which will give an increase of half a year not expected. 6. The Presbytery has been allowed one hundred pounds, in name of travelling expenses. When a minister officiates at any station, fourteen miles from his own residence, he will be allowed one guinea a-day. This gives an immense impulse to open new stations. It was never granted before, and was secured only by much exertion. 7. Up till 1st July 1837, we could not draw a quarter's salary, till a magistrate's certificate or signature was obtained, that a certain sum of money had been paid by the people in his presence. Now, as payment in kind, house-rent, &c., was as good to us as money, the measure became odiously objectionable. This was done away on Saturday last. It has given an impulse and elevation to our spirits highly favourable to the active discharge of our duties. 8. We have got the assurance that the appointment of ministers will only be made through the recommendation of the Presbytery, and the plan adopted is this; when a station is vacant the Presbytery are to apprise the Governor; he communicates the information to the secretary for the colonies, who applies to the General Assembly for a qualified person, and an allowance of one hundred and fifty pounds will be made. This is the first direct acknowledgment we have had of the principle, one which we have struggled hard to obtain since 1833. 9. We have obtained the fullest assurance that the Government will pay half the expense of all churches, schools, and salaries, when recommended by the Presbytery. 10. We have just prepared a bill regulating trusteeships, which the Governor has pledged himself to lay before the Council. This will most effectually secure our rights and standing in this colony. I regret to say, that our friends in Van Dieman's Land have, in this respect, been signally unsuccessful, and the General Assembly, surely, will not permit the Governor to break his pledge, by which he promised to ratify their rights by a legislative enactment. He has most certainly done so, under a very feeble plea. But I have no doubt you will have ample communications from the Presbyterians there, who are in raptures at the issue of your exertions on their behalf heretofore. I have been thus minute to enable you to judge of our position and standing. We have one grievance remaining. We wish Government to build one schoolroom for each recognised church. This they will not do; but they will give an equal amount to that subscribed. All classes will be placed on the same footing next year. The Adam Lodge from Londonderry, having the Rev. Mr Allan on board, arrived here, on the 13th July. They had thirty deaths on board. The John Barry from Dundee, arrived on the same day; Mr Hetherington is on board, but the ship is under quaran tine, and no communication can be held with them. THE WORSHIP OF EVIL SPIRITS, ON THE COAST OF MALABAR, IN INDIA. BY FINDLAY ANDERSON, ESQ., H. E. I. C., Madras Civil Service. NOTHING in India grieves more the mind of the Christian than the worship so generally, and on the coast of Malabar universally, paid by all the lower castes of Hindoos to evil spirits. Nor will this appear surprising, when we consider the dark mazes of ignorance in which, in absence of the light of Revelation, the heathen of India are walking. In the physical and natural world, they behold sickness invading their family circle, afflicting and carrying off the young as well as the old. They see pestilence destroying their cattle, on whose labour, in the cultivation of their fields, depends their subsistence. It may be, that a poor cultivator has a single pair of bullocks, with which he ploughs a small piece of ground, and maintains himself and family. It may be, that one or both sicken and die, and by their loss are destroyed the stay and support of himself and his children. Again, he sees the seed which he has sown spring up under the fostering influence of abundant rain, and his heart rejoices at the prospect of a fruitful harvest; but the destroying insect fastens unseen on the young blade, and blights at once his crops and his hopes. *We are happy to observe from the Sydney Commercial Journal, of July 12th, that St. Andrew's Church is not merely free In the moral world, he beholds, perhaps, the memfrom debt, but measures are in progress for building a dwelling-bers of his own family, his connections or his friends, house for Mr M'Garvie, its respected minister, and also a public school connected with the church. It was fully expected, at the date above referred to, that Government would, as in the case of the erection of the chuch, defray Lalf the expenses which might be incurred. giving themselves up to drunkenness or dissipation, squandering their estate and property, ruining their characters by associating with evil companions, and |