THOUGHTS BY DR. CHALMERS. FROM Volume I. of the Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers we present the following extracts on points of an interesting and instructive character. It was peculiarly distinctive of the mind of this extraordinary man, that, upon all subjects, he thought for himself. Few individuals ever profited so little by, or so little depended on, external thinking. There is, therefore, a freshness and vitality about everything proceeding from his pen, and nowhere is this peculiarity more remarkable than in his Comments upon the Sacred Volume, entitled, "Sabbath Exercises," and "Daily Scripture Readings." A SABBATH EXERCISE. October 4.-I feel how nearly related to each other are contact with the world and contamination from it; and I feel thoroughly assured, that unless fortified by prayer, the fruit of my intercourse with society, even for objects of Christian usefulness, will be a relapse into the ungodliness and carnality of nature. Let me record, however, a gleam of sentiment this morning, which, if awakened and made permanent within me, would remould my character entirely. I felt as if the transformation of those for whom the Saviour died, formed the most appropriate triumph of his great enterprise: the object, therefore, on which his heart must be intensely set; the great fruit of the travail of his soul, and with the prosperous growth of which he would be most satisfied. Let my attitude, then, be in conformity with this main design of the economy which he has instituted. Let me throw no obstacle of wilfulness in its way. Let me look and pray for its fulfilmentthat Christ would take my heart, such as it is, and make it such as it should be. Oh, thou Saviour and Sanctifier of men! I give myself up unto thee, to be ruled in by thy Spirit, to be ruled over by thy law. THE INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH. Genesis ii. 1-18.-The institution of the Sabbath to commemorate the seventh day-a reason afterwards introduced into the body of the commandment itself-is with me decisive of the days in the first chapter being literal and not geological days, or days of in Genesis iii. 1-13.-The serpent was actuated by Satan, as is evident from other Scriptures. That is a very lax theology which disowns, and still more, which derides the doctrine of this evil spirit, and of his mischievous agency in the hearts of men. I feel as if it gave additional security to my salvation, and inspired additional confidence in Him who is the author of "it, when I view his work as a warfare, and the success of it as his victory over him whose works he came to destroy. It seems all the more to identify my safety with his honour; and never will he give power or reason for the great adversary to say: "There is a poor sinner, who, misled by the assurances of your gospel, trusted himself to you, and you have disappointed and deceived him." Let me not be afraid, then, but only believe; and let this view not only confirm my faith, but animate my practice. Let me enter into the spirit of the warfare; and, in the name of Christ my Captain, let me resist the devil, and he will flee | racter of magnificence in the subsefrom me. The interposal of the devil at this point in the moral history of the world, is of itself a wondrous evolution, and affords a glimpse of the relationship which obtains between our earth and the distant powers or places of our universe. DELIVERANCE OF MOSES. No romance could have been more skilfully framed for the purpose of setting all the affections in play, than this simple and beautiful story: the placing of the babe by the river sidethe watching of him by his sister the approach of Pharaoh's daughter to the spot-the crying of the child, and its influence on the sensibilities of a woman's heart-the offer of the sister to call a nurse, and thus the restoration of the babe to its own mother again. In the epistle to the Hebrews, this act of Moses' parents is said to have been by faith; and we cannot doubt, that all was overruled by the providence of God, even to the very suggestion which prompted the measure they took with their child. Whether they had, in any degree, the light of a revelation for what they did, they must, at least, have felt a certain confidence in the protection of Him who is invisible, else they would not have been remarked by the apostle among the Old Testament worthies who through faith obtained a good report. MIRACLES OF MOSES. This was the season of the greatest and most stupendous miracles of any recorded in the history of the world; and that, whether we look to the period of its duration, or to the magnitude of the scale on which the miracles were wrought. The public ministry and miracles of Moses lasted a great deal longer than those of Jesus Christ. | And then, generally speaking, Moses' miracles were of wider and larger operation-reaching, in the present instance, to all the waters of Egypt; and bearing, in the greater number of instances, the same relation to the other miracles, whether of the Old or the New Testament, that nations do to individuals. There was the same cha quent plagues, which seem to have affected the whole land of Egypt, as the hail and the darkness, and the death of the first-born in all the families. Nor is this characteristic abated in the egress of the children of Israel, when the whole host of their pursuers were drowned in the Red Sea; nor in their progress through the wilderness, where food for forty years was rained down from heaven; nor in their entrance on Canaan, when the waters of Jordan were separated to make way for their being ushered into the land of promise, and the walls of Jericho fell before the sound of their trumpets. Altogether, this was emphatically the most miraculous period in the known history of the world. THE LAWS OF MOSES. Prohibition of Wine.-The prohibition of wine and strong drinks laid upon the priests when they enter the tabernacle, reminds me of the precept in which there is a contrast made between drinking of wine and the being filled with the Spirit-intimating of these two influences, how diverse, or rather contrary, they are to each other. This injunction is given, not as the others, through Moses, but directly to Aaron himself. Such an observance certainly gives a deeper sacredness to the work of the tabernacle, and thereby makes a stronger difference between the holy and the unholy. And they who are freest from excess in sensuality, are obviously the fittest to teach. The Scapegoat.-The scapegoat forms one of the most precious and significant types in the Old Testament. Christ hath so borne away our sins, that they are placed at as great a distance from God as the east is from the west-carried off as if to a land not inhabited, and where no more mention is made of them. Then it is that our sins might be sought for, but not found. Deceased Wife's Sister.-It is remarkble, that while there is an express interdict on the marriage of a man with his brother's wife, there is no such prohibition against his marriage with his wife's sister. In Lev. xviii. 18, the prohibition is only against marrying a wife's sister during the life of the first wife, which of itself implies a liberty to marry the sister after her death; beside implying a connivance at polygamy. Tithes.-Then follows the general law of tithe-redeemable, not as now by a process of subtraction, but of addition. The tithe-payer must not select, whether for good or bad; he must take it as it comes. THE DEATH OF MOSES. We now come to the last scene in the history of the great Jewish legislator, who fills so mighty a space in the Old Testament-a noble character, in which great power and great sensibility were most gracefully blended. The glory of God and the good of Israel were the paramount desires and principles of his heart; and such, in particular, was the strength of his patriotic affection for his own countrymen, that it could not be overborne by all their provocations. There must, I should think, have been a miraculous showing of the land to Moses; as, optically, I doubt it must be impossible for any ordinary person to reach such an extent of vision from the top of any hill on the east of Jordan. And yet, as in many other instances, the natural is made to help the miraculous; for, if wholly miraculous, why ascend to the top of a mountain at all? The line of demarcation between these two is by us unknown. The contest of Michael with Satan about the body of Moses, has been theorized upon; but it, too, is an unexplained mystery. THE STANDING STILL OF THE SUN. I can have no doubt that it was literally so to the effect of the sun-dial being stationary, which leaves room for the speculation that it may have been by atmospherical refraction, or in other ways. I am not so staggered by this narrative as to feel dependent on the usual explanations. I accept of it in the popular and effective sense; having no doubt that, to all intents and purposes of that day's history, the sun and the moon did stand still, the one resting over Gibeon, the other in the valley of Ajalon. Still more interesting to me is the reference here made to the book of Jasher. It is uncertain whether Jasher be a proper name, or if it signify a book of integrity-an authentic book of Hebrew annals. It may have been identical with the book of the wars of the Lord referred to in Numb. xxi. 14. Whether or not, it is well to know that there were common as well as inspired histories of the events of these early periods; the former not preserved, because not in such value or demand as the latter. The miracle, at all events, was a most stupendous one; and the prayer of Joshua which called for it, must indeed have been a prayer of faith. What he said was hazarded in the sight of Israel, and its fulfilment, as palpably in their sight, must have strengthened their confidence in their leader. Biography. MR. JOHN WAKE, OF BORDEAN, ONE OF THE DEACONS OF THE PETERSFIELD CHAPEL. THIS devoted and good man was not allowed, by his heavenly Master, to fill the important office which he was chosen to, conjointly with three others, but for a very brief space of time, having only been elected as deacon in the month of July, 1848. About the same time an unanimous call from this church was accepted by the present excellent and worthy minister, the Rev. William Isaacs, to whom this departed saint in Christ was strongly times melt him into tears. The tenderness of his heart prevented his taking any part in public devotional services, always feeling an inadequacy for so doing. Notwithstanding this, he al ways enjoyed the prayers of his fellow-worshippers, and was particularly anxious for the salvation and conversion of immortal souls, and very desirous to encourage lay preachers at the village chapels. His very heart flowed with the milk of human kindness. He was also a strenuous supporter of social religious meetings, without manifesting the slightest sectarian feeling, all of which he attended with much delight, with his dear family, within a limited distance. He was conscientious in the extreme; and no man could be more solicitous for the comfort and happiness of his pastor. He was full of philanthropy, and loved the peace of Zion, which he sought continually. His very heart was full of love. He was affectionate not only to his family, but to all with whom he came in contact. He could boast, which he often did with much delight and pleasure, of having a numerous circle of friends, whose society he en attached. The reverend gentleman Our departed friend tasted also of the purest sweets of religion. His inner man was familiar with its mightiest joys. He ardently loved the house and the service of God. With much unspeakable pleasure did he worship in the sanctuary, and commune at the table of the Lord. He was not exempt from the common ills of life. He was called to drink of the cup of sorrow in the loss of his kind and affectionate wife, which event occurred at Islington on the 18th of April, 1848. This domestic calamity opened a wound in his heart which never appeared to be healed. Her death was improved at Petersfield Chapel, on Sunday evening, the 30th of April following, by the Rev. John Moreland, from 2 Tim. i. 12; and on the same evening twelvemonths the departed husband's death was improved by the Rev. William Isaacs, from 1 Cor. xv. 26, to a crowded congregation. His illness was of short duration, having lasted only from Saturday until Monday morning early, April 23rd. He fell asleep in Jesus in the fifty-first year of his age, leaving seven dear young children to mourn the loss of a kind and tender-hearted parent. On the following Friday, the 27th, the mortal remains of this holy and spiritually-minded Christian were interred in the burial-ground at the Petersfield Chapel, followed by a large number of friends; and as a last mark of respect, many persons in the town partly closed their shops and houses during the mournful day. The Letter Box. A WORD FOR THE SEED OF ABRAHAM. TO ALL CHRISTIANS. "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by," that God's ancient people, the descendants of Abraham, the kinsmen of Moses and Samuel, of David and Isaiah, of Paul, of John, and of Peter, are now under his severest displeasure, and ignorant of the very consolations which their own Scriptures record ?"To them pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever;" but they are now, and have been "for many days, without a king, and without a prince, without a sacrifice," and without a home. "Is it nothing to you" that "the ways of Zion do mourn;" that "Jerusalem is a desolation, and the holy and beautiful house where their fathers praised God burnt up with fire;" that "Zion's sons, once precious, are esteemed as earthen pitchers, and her elders sit upon the ground and keep silence ?" "Is it nothing to you" that by them, every day, that Name is blasphemed which you revere and love, and which, believed in, would admit them to a full share in all the blessings of the gospel? "Is it nothing to you" that of this very people such glorious promises are recorded, and that the restoration to the Divine favour is inseparably united with the universal extension of Messiah's kingdom in the world? Ps. cii. 13-16; Isa. lx. 19-23. "Is it nothing to you" that they are here, within your reach; that they are exposed to the same trials with your selves; that they are passing into eternity, "without Christ, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world?" One of their own prophets wished, that "his head were waters, and his |