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is Jesus, whom I now find precious, by whom I am reconciled to God; and though incomprehensible now, I expect to behold him in glory for ever; and in heaven grow into a conformity, and consequently a greater nearness to him, to all eternity. Though I have been an insignificant trifle, going about a little, I hope I have not been a mere shadow in his church; and yet, this is not my foundation, but the mercy of God, and the merits of Christ, whose presence now comforts me, and through whom I look for all that is calculated to constitute my bliss for ever." On the evening before his departure he said, "My body trembles, but my soul is fixed on Jesus, whom I know to be my Saviour." In this state of mind he remained to the last, when, on the 30th of March, he fled to the rest which remaineth for the people of God.

Scripture Illustrated.

Communicated for the Methodist Magazine.

"How can they preach except they be sent ?" Romans x.

IT has been usual to refer this "sent," as importing sent of God; but besides its not so reading, it is thought the context proves it means sent by the Church. If this idea can be sustained in the following paraphrase of the 10th chapter of Romans, will it not present an interesting text for a Missionary Sermon ?

Verses.

4. "Christ is the end of the law, for (personal) righteous7, 8. ness to every one that believeth."For the righteousness that is of Faith," is not difficult of attainment, but it brings "the word nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart, so that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, (for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation) and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, (for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness) thou shalt be saved-and as "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek," whosoever shall 10. call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." But 13. behold! free and easy as it is, "how shall the Greek or

the Gentile call upon him, in whom they have not believ14. ed?" and, "how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a Preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent" by the elders of the church, as their chosen men ?* Then * See two cases of sending Paul and Barnabas, Acts xiii. 2, 3. and xv. 22, 25.

Verses.

shall they "rejoice for the consolation" and say (as it is 15. written)" beautiful are the feet of them that preach to us, the gospel of peace, and bring unto our ears the glad ti dings of good things!" Thus comes their faith; for "faith cometh by hearing" (them) "and hearing by the word of God," which they preach.

17.

We must thus send the Gospel, because millions are yet without even hearing of it; and therefore, "they have 16. not all obeyed the Gospel," and therefore "Esaias truly said, Lord, who hath believed our report." But, 'I

say,

have they not already heard" (in a degree, in such sense, as the Psalmist xix. 4. has expressed it, to wit:) 18. "their line (that is, the display of God's handy work in the firmament, which is a voice heard by all people) is gone out, through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." I therefore (Paul) in writing to you Hebrews at Rome, my proselytes, beseech you to consider if "this calling in of the Gentiles, is by any means the casting away (as ye have feared) of God's peculiar people, which ye are" of birthright. I reply by asking you, "Did not Israel (your fore-fathers) know" by both Moses and Elias, that these things should be so? Truly, 21. Esaias did say, because, "all day long stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people" 20. "I will be found of them that sought me not, I will be

19.

made manifest unto them that asked not after me," and, 19. so Moses also before had said, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation (such as the heathen are) I will anger you" i. e. by J. T. W. them I will excite you to emulation.

The Attributes of God Displayed.

From the London Methodist Magazine.

To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine.

SIR, SHOULD YOU deem the following extract from McKeevor's Voyage to Hudson's Bay, worthy a place in your excellent miscellany, its insertion, when convenient, will oblige, yours, &c. Nottingham, December, 1819.

W. G.

"While sailing through the straggling ice, one of the men on the quarter-deck observed, at a few yards distant, a silver bear, and her two young cubs. The captain immediately ordered the

jolly-boat to be lowered, and muskets, pistols, cutlasses, &c. to be got in readiness. All things being prepared, Mr. Fidler, Mr. Cockwell, the first mate, with one or two more, set out in pursuit of them. We were all leaning over the deck, waiting with the greatest anxiety for the interesting scene that we expected to witness. They had not got many yards from the vessel, when I beheld a very affecting sight. The mother, observing their approach, and aware of their intention, set up a most doleful cry, and presently clasped her two young ones within her fore paws. First she would look at one, then at the other, and again resume her piteous cry. Perceiving the men approach still nearer, she got them on her back, and dived under water to a considerable distance: when exh usted, she made to the ice for shelter. This she did several successive times. The gentlemen who went out for the purpose of shooting her, were so justly affected at the sight, that they humanely returned to the ship without discharging their muskets. Still, however, the poor bear apprehended danger. After getting on a detached piece of ice, she again clasped her young ones with the greatest tenderness, and continued her heart-melting cries. In about ten minutes, another party, not subject to the same correct sensibility as the former, went in pursuit of her. Immediately on observing this, she again took her young on her back; one time getting under water; at another, escaping to the ice for refuge. When the party had got within a short distance of her, they all fired. The mother, however, had covered her young cubs so effectually, that she alone was wounded, one of the balls entering her chest. The scene that followed was, if possible, still more affecting than that we had already witnessed.

"Though mortally wounded, she retained within her fond embraces her tender young. It looked as though the iron grasp of death could not tear asunder those ties of affection which bound her to them. Still she would fondly gaze at the one, then at the other, occasionally renewing her piteous cries which had now become much more feeble. But the purple current of life was ebbing fast through the wound: her sides heaved-her eye became glassy and dim-she looked at her young ones-gave a convulsive sob-laid down her head, and expired!

"After this, they had no difficulty in taking the young cubs. They in vain, however, endeavoured to loose them from their parent's embraces. Even while dragging her up the side of the vessel they still kept their hold. When they had got her on board she was immediately skinned; when the skin was removed they put it into the cage which had been prepared for the young cubs. As they roared most hideously from the time they were torn from the mother, we were in hopes that this might pacify them; and it did so; it was no sooner introduced than they laid

their heads down upon it, and growled in a very affecting manner when any one attempted to touch it, they roared very loud, and appeared much more irritable than usual. They were brought home, and sold in London at a very high price.

When detached from its young, how very different is the character of the polar bear from that I have just described; it is then a most formidable animal, being apparently the natural lord of those frozen regions Every other animal shudders at his approach, considering it as a signal for immediate destruction. The seals either retire to their sub-marine dwellings, or conceal themselves in the crevices of the ice-islands, while the bear, stalking along with solemn majesty, faces the breeze, raises his head, and snuffs the passing scent, whereby he discovers the nearest route to his odorous banquet. A favourite poet, with great truth and beauty, thus describes the march of this formidable animal:

"There, through the piny forest, half absorbed,
Rough tenant of those shades, the shapeless bear,
With dangling ice, all horrid, stalks forlorn,
Slow pac'd, and sourer as the storms increase,
He makes his bed beneath the inclement drift,
And with stern patience, scorning weak complaint,
Hardens his heart against assailing want."

They are possessed of such uncommon strength, and defend themselves, when beset, with such extraordinary obstinacy, that even the natives of the country never venture to attack them but in parties of eight or ten, and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or more of their number. Though to a skilful rifleman the danger is very much diminished, the bear is still an animal of tremendous strength and fierceness, as will appear from the following adventure:-Captain Lewis tells us, that one evening the men in the hindermost of the canoes discovered a large silver bear, lying in the open grounds about 300 paces from the river. Six of them, all good hunters, set out to attack him, and concealing themselves by a small eminence, came unperceived within forty paces of him. Four of them now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two of them directly through the lungs. The justly enraged animal sprung up, and ran open-mouthed at them. As he came near, the two hunters who had reserved their fire gave him two wounds, one of which, breaking his shoulder, retarded his motion for a moment; but before they could re-load he was so near that they were obliged to run to the river, and before they reached it he had almost overtaken them. Two jumped into the canoe, the other four separated, and concealing themselves in the willows, fired as fast as each could load. They struck him several times, but they only exasperated him; and he at last pursued two of them so closely, that they jumped down a perpendicular bank of

20 feet into the river; the bear sprang after them, and was within a few paces from the hindmost, when one of the hunters on shore shot him in the head and killed him. They dragged him on shore and found that eight balls had passed through his body in different directions. Frequently they attack, and even attempt to board armed vessels at a great distance from the shore, and are sometimes repelled with great difficulty. While on land, they prey on foxes, hares, martins, and young birds; they also eat various kinds of berries, which they may chance to find while ranging through the trackless desert. During these excursions they not unfrequently enter the habitations of the natives, and carry off one of the party. Mr. Howes, one of the inland governors, mentioned to me, that one evening he and nis companions were sitting in their wigwam, enjoying a social hour after a hard day's hunting, when, on a sudden, they found one of their party to disappear. A white bear had, in fact, carried him off by the skirt of his coat. They all immediately sallied out in pursuit of him, which, when the bear observed, he instantly dropped his prey, and made off into the woods. It is said that the best mode of repelling them on these occasions is by the smell of burnt feathers. During the summer months, being allured by the scent of the carcases of whales, seals, &c. they venture out on the ice. They have been seen on those islands at the distance of more than eighty miles from land, preying and feeding as they float along. During the winter they retire and immerse themselves deep beneath the snow, where they pass the long and dreary arctic winter, and do not again appear until the return of spring.

The whole animal is white, except on the point of the nose and the claws, which are of a deep black colour; the ears are small and sharp, and the eye small and of a deep jet black; the hair is of a great length, and the limbs are of an enormous size, and of a very unseemly shape. I tasted the flesh of the one we killed, and think it by no means bad eating. It had, however, a fishy taste. The paw, when dried and smoked, is considered a delicious morsel. Among the Chinese, the flesh is considered as one of the greatest rarities, insomuch that, as Du Haldy informs us, the emperor will send fifty or a hundred leagues into Tartary to procure them for a great entertainment. At the approach of winter they become extremely fat; a hundred pounds have been taken from a single beast at this time of the year. Their skins are used for a variety of purposes. By the Esquimeaux they are used for the purpose of making boots, shoes, and other articles of dress. In this country they are sold principally for covers of coach-boxes. The length of one whose history have related, measured thirteen feet. The tendons, when split, are used by the Esquimeaux as a substitute for

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