except that, we think, the latter part of the chapter contains an evident allusion to the dismay of idolaters when Christ should come, and that this agrees well with the devotions of the season, and the course of the church service. In the Morning Lesson, the prophet touches upon the new light which the coming of Jesus would cast upon the sacrifices of the Jewish law, and gives the Jews suitable admonitions to repent and act up to the spirit of those institutions. He here (v. 4) proclaims the extension of this light to the Gentiles, or nations, and speaks of the elevation of the Church (the mountain of the Lord's house, v. 2), and of the many nations that shall flow into it, and the peace and blessings they shall find in its communion. He returns then (v. 5) to his countrymen, and calls on them also to walk in the "light of the Lord." From verse 5 to the end of the chapter, he points out the reason of the Jews being forsaken of God; the vanity, and absurdity, of the people, whose superstition and idolatries they had chosen to make their trust, instead of the Lord; and the state of remorse and helpless condemnation in which they would be found at the Advent, or coming, of the Great Judge of the “quick and dead." They will then "cast their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.”

And in like manner, those who have been guilty of another kind of idolatry, the bowing down to, and serving, covetousness, lust, pride, and other passions, will wish to "hide themselves in the holes of the rocks," and would gladly give all that they once desired, but will then despise and hate, if they could then have the opportunity, which they once slighted, of following the course recommended

by St. Paul, in the Epistle for the day, and so well adapted to this season.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

LINES WRITTEN DURING A THUNDER STORM.

WHY tremble thus my guilty soul-
Why shrink oppressed with fear?

Death hath not raised his awful dart-
His footsteps are not near!

The tempest rages darkly round,

But comes not nigh to thee;

The thunders roll, the lightnings flash,

But far away they flee.

And dost thou ask why fear o'erwhelms,
When thus, afar, resound

Jehovah's accents on the storm

His terrors shake the ground?

Shall I not shrink beneath the glance,
Of th' Almighty's piercing eye,

Which flashes forth, with fearful gleam,
Athwart the darkening sky?

I think upon that dreadful day,
When louder peals shall roll,

And vaulted skies, with lightnings rent,

Shall shrivel as a scroll.

Oh! in that scene of God's fierce wrath,
When earth shall pass away;

Messiah! stretch forth thy arm to save-
Be thou the sinner's stay!

B. M.

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

MR. EDITOR,-The illustration of some portions of the Liturgy, with which you have continued to favor your readers, has, I trust, rendered many of them more sensible of the admirable provision made by the Church, for the instruction of her members in that knowledge, "which is able to make them wise unto salvation," and has, I would hope, awakened in the minds of many, a feeling of warm attachment to our Holy, Scriptural, and Apostolical Establishment. To those, then, who pray for the prosperity of this our Zion, may I be permitted to offer, through the medium of your pages, an appeal on her behalf? We concluded last Sunday, the yearly course of her services, and this morning she calls upon us to begin them anew-to prepare with her, for the coming of the Saviour, and to attend her as she follows Him throughout the great work of our salvation, in those beautiful and affecting offices, in which she commemorates the passages of our Lord's life, and death, and resurrection; and would we but diligently walk in the track she points out, our course, like His, would be finally a glorious and triumphant one. The return of the ecclesiastical, no less than that of the natural, year, demands the exercise of thanksgiving; for, whilst we are bound to praise God, that our years are prolonged, we have yet more abundant cause to praise Him, for preserving to us those authorised means of consolation and grace, upon the use of which the comfort and security of our earthly pilgrimage so entirely depend. I would, therefore, entreat every

professing member of the Church, to consider, seriously, the value of the privileges he enjoys, and to be earnestly solicitous to ensure, to himself and his posterity, the same incalculable blessing. The Church herself points out the weapons, which may best defend her from the attacks of her adversaries, and these "weapons" are not carnal. She has been provided with a spiritual armour by her Great Captain, and with that she now beseeches her children to arm themselves. Much, very much, might be done for the spreading of vital religion, and much more widely might the institutions of the pure Apostolical Church of this land, be made to diffuse their usefulness, if every one, who calls himself a Churchman, would demonstrate his approval of, and attachment to, her ordinances, by so ordering his affairs, and those of his household, that both himself and family might be regular attendants upon them, not only on the Sabbath, but on other days of authorized solemn observance.* Such a course, undertaken with a view of drawing down upon it the favour and protection of the Most High, would, by promoting individual holiness, offer the surest hopes of safety to the Church; would best controvert the arguments of her adversaries, by manifesting the spirituality and practical piety of her institutions, and would afford the best security against the progress of irreligion, on the one hand-of delusion and fanaticism, on the other. The tendency of the present age to religious enthusiasm, strongly points out, to the sober

As not only Christmas Day, and Good Friday, which the writer knows, from experience, to be, in the country at least, passed over with much indifference and neglect, but also the Epiphany, Ash-Wednesday, and the season of Lent, Ascension Day, &c.

minded Christian, the value of an Establishment, which, while cherishing a spirit of the most lively faith and most ardent piety, the warmest charity and most active zeal, the most profound humility and most confiding trust in the merits of a Redeemer, yet restrains from all extravagance of belief or practice, and is equally opposed to indifference and display. It is as the Depository of the Truth, that the Church claims the affectionate regard, the zealous support of her members. It is in confidence of the justness of this claim, that the members should cry to their glorified Head, "Keep, we beseech thee, Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy, cleanse and defend it with thy continual pity, and preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

"THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED."

BUT how did St. John attain to such peculiar favour? Was there anything in him above the rest of mankind, that the blessed Redeemer, who inculcated and manifested a universal charity, viewed him with such a partial regard? Surely, the wise and equitable Jesus never felt a blind fondness for any individual. What were the qualities which procured for this, his friend, the singular happiness of his special affection? answer to these questions will be the Evangelist's best and proper eulogium, and may lead us to some useful reflections. A peculiarly amiable disposition, with an ardent and faithful attachment

The