the power and the presence of God; no motive so forcible in inciting to a cheerful obedience to his commands, as gratitude for his mercies, especially the inestimable gift of his Son to die for our transgressions. It will also promote in us the love of our neighbour; for "he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how shall he love God, whom he hath not seen?" Let us not, then, be so engrossed with the things which are seen and temporal, as to forget the things which are unseen and eternal; and let us constantly pray for the blessed influence of God's Holy Spirit, to enable us to set our affections upon things above, and not upon things upon the earth. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. ALL Christians are agreed as to the propriety of making the Scriptures, as far as possible, the chief study of their life; and of esteeming the Bible as a sacred treasury, from which they derive all their hopes of future blessings. But, though the whole of Scripture is open to us, yet if there is one part that demands our approaching it with a greater degree of holy seriousness than any other, it is that which relates to Prophecy. The writer begs it may be clearly understood, that the object of the following remarks is not to refute any particular theory. It is impossible for any impartial mind seriously to review the events which have taken place in the world during the last few years, without being sensible that God has, in various ways, been awakening his church to more anxious solicitude respecting the extraordinary occurrences of the latter days-such as the restoration of the Jews, the gathering in of the Gentiles to his flock, and the triumphant period of the Millennial glory, whatever may be the nature of that glory. The due contemplation of these sub jects had been for so many cen turies almost completely overlooked, that, when revived, they were treated by many persons, even in a sober scriptural investigation of them, with lukewarmness, and by some even with contempt. But it is deeply to be lamented that in the present age we seem to have fallen into a different error; and the style of authors, on the interesting point in question, is so dogmatical, and so totally opposed to the tone of that Book from which their evidences are said to be adduced, that persons might, with some degree of justice, pronounce the improbability of the one being the result of meditation on the other; and, however previously well-disposed, decline entering into discussion upon a subject where such palpable inconsistency was demonstrated. For instance: when we are told, that, unless a minister of the Gospel holds a very decided opinion as to the particular circumstances of our Saviour's second coming, he is in a state of spiritual darkness, it is very certain that the assertion is not grounded upon any scriptural foundation. We might point to many shining luminaries of our Church, who studied the prophetic parts of the Bible with strong faith, but with no feeling of certainty as to the precise period of their accomplishment, who yet shewed, by the holy tenor of their lives, the effects of the regenerating influences of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts; who have left us upon record, in their writings, indisputable evidence that they clearly understood the evangelical doctrines of the New Testament; who walked with Christ in their life, and trusted him in death, thus triumphantly realizing the promises made to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Shall we apply to such characters the charge above mentioned; or doubt, for one moment, that, when the Saviour comes "to be glorified in his saints," they will stand at his right hand? There are also other assertions made, the truth of which the result of a few years will determine. Happy is it for us, that we find it declared repeatedly by God himself, that the "just shall live by faith," that animating principle, which enabled Job to say with confidence, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." But had the pious patriarch demanded at what precise period that Saviour would' pear, he in all probability would have received the answer made by Christ to his Apostles on a similar occasion: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." : 6 ap The following remarkable passage is to be found in the Catholic Epistle of St. Barnabas, the beloved companion of St. Paul: "And God made in six days the works of his hands, and he finished them on the seventh day; and he rested on the seventh day, and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that signifies he finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this, that in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end. And what is that he saith, And he rest ed the seventh day?' He meaneth this: that when his Son shall come, and abolish the season of the wicked one, and judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then he shall gloriously rest in that seventh day." Thus, according to the opinion of one of the primitive Fathers of the Church, there remains a period of nearly two hundred years previous to the accomplishment of all things: and the extract is here given, not with a view to establish the validity of the type, but in order to prove the diversity of opinion that has always existed, as to the period of our Saviour's second advent. The attempt, also made, of endeavouring to pourtray the exact nature of Christ's kingdom, has a tendency to make us attach an undue weight to local associations, instead of simply resting upon the promise, made by the Saviour to his followers, that "where I am, there shall also my servant be." This, together with the absence of sin, should be the primary causes of a Christian's joy, in the anticipation of a renewed state; and it is hoped that these considerations may take place of that spirit of levity with which the subject is too often introduced. A CHRISTIAN OBSERVER. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. It must be allowed, that, in general, every nation best understands its own national works; and were it not, therefore, that the Jews are violently prejudiced against Christianity, so as systematically to explain away much of their own sacred writings, the comments of their learned men on the Old Testament would be exceedingly valuable for Biblical illustration. As it is, the Rabbinical writings are often serviceable in this respect. The following instance may serve as a specimen. Hurwitz, in his "Hebrew Tales," cites Rabbi Jose as remarking on Deut. xxviii. 29 (Thou shalt grope at noon-day as the blind gropeth in the dark): "All my days did I feel pain at not being able to explain this verse. For what difference can it be to the blind man, whether he walketh in the light, or in the dark? And yet the sacred penman would not have put down a word unnecessarily. What then does it mean?' This the Rabbi did not know, and it gave him pain; 'Till one night,' continues the sage, as I was walking in the road, I met a blind man with a lighted torch in his hand. Son, said I, why dost thou carry that torch? Thou canst not see its light! Friend,' replied the unfortunate man, 'true it is, I cannot see it, but others can: as long as I carry this lighted torch in my hand, the sons of men see me, take compassion of me, apprize me of danger, and save me from pit-falls, from thorns and briers.' The Rabbi was then satisfied that the apparently superfluous word was meant to depict the greatness of the calamities that were to befal the Jewish nation. Its unfortunate members were not only to grope about like the blind, but like the blind in the darknesswithout a ray of light to exhibit their distress, and without a pitying eye to take compassion of them!"* Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. THOUGH not a Clerical Correspondent, allow me to venture a few remarks on the observations of a "Country Curate" on the mode of administering the holy Communion. The opinion of a Layman on the subject may not be without its advantages, since he cannot be supposed to have any prejudices on either side. this remark. His reasons, I think, are quite satisfactory, as to the practice of those Clergymen, who, having a large number of communicants, use the prayer at delivering the elements once only to each succession of them at the altar, and who at the same time, I believe, generally make use of the plural number. This last practice, your correspondent supposes, can be objected to " only from its not keeping closely to the letter of C. the Liturgy, which speaks in the singular number;" and he then cites several instances of a similar nature, particularly the practice of our Bishops themselves, in the rite of Confirmation, which of itself is, in my humble opinion, conclusive on the subject. But your correspondent seems not to be aware, that the Clergy who adopt this practice have been accused of other motives for so doing. Not many years since, a Reverend Doctor of Divinity saw fit, in a letter addressed to a country Clergyman, to assert that this mode of administering the Sacrament was followed "in order to leave the matter altogether undetermined, as to the party's capability of being benefited by the sacred rite, and thus allowing each person to decide for themselves, according to their own assurance of their regeneration." Far fetched and untenable as such an idea, under all circumstances, must be, it could be applicable only on the supposition that the offending Clergyman did make use of the plural number, in addressing the communicants who then filled the rail; but, unfortunately for the hypothesis of the objector, the reverend gentleman, thus accused, never uses, nor has used, the plural number on those occasions; but, on the contrary, strictly adhering to the letter of the Rubric, invariably says, "given for thee," "shed for thee," leaving each individual to apply the address" specifically to himself: by which means every Being sincerely attached to our Church Establishment, I have occasionally had to regret that its best interests have been injured by some of its undoubted friends, and by the very means they have had recourse to with the view of promoting them; and in no instance more so, than when the letter, rather than the spirit, of its regulations, is pertinaciously adhered to. The observations of your Clerical Correspondent strongly corroborate * Hurwitz cites a Rabbinical tale of a slave, who informs his master, on a journey, that a traveller is four miles before them, with a she-ass, blind of one eye, and carrying two bottles, the one containing wine and the other vinegar. The slave is considered insane, till the traveller and the ass are overtaken, when he explains that he formed his judgment from various appearances on the road. The grass being eaten only on one side of the path, he concluded the ass had but one eye; traces of the two liquors were visible on the sand, &c. The story is so far curious, as having apparently been plagiarized by Voltaire in his tale of Zadig. Voltaire might steal from Jewish sources with very little fear of detection. intention of the original framers of the service must be answered, as well as if the unnecessary labour of a wearying and unedifying repetition were adopted. There is also a good effect arising from this mode of proceeding, in cases similar to that alluded to, which its opponents are surely not aware of namely, its direct tendency not only to preserve, but to increase, the number of communicants, and to add to the supporters of our venerable Establishment. On the contrary, when there are three or four hundred communicants, if the words are to be repeated individually (as has been insisted upon by some of our Prelates), the sacred rite is made so unnecessarily long and fatiguing, that many infirm persons are obliged to absent themselves; while others make it an excuse for non-attendance: and it has, in consequence, a positive effect in thinning the Church, and making Dissenters. A Clergyman in the north-west of England strongly stated these consequences to his Diocesan, who, notwithstanding, insisted on the letter of the Rubric being obeyed; and the event was as had been predicted. His Lordship's successor in the see, however, viewed the subject in a different light; and the return of numbers to the church which they had left, soon justified the wisdom of the change. Where the number of communicants is small, the practice is not necessary; but in the instance of large, crowded congregations, a judicious Prelate, who might not prefer it, would at least feel unwilling to interpose an authoritative injunction to forbid it. A CHURCHMAN, MISCELLANEOUS. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. HAVING noticed some accounts of "a Language Institution" in England, the object of which is stated to be to afford facilities to Christian missionaries for acquiring foreign tongues, I am induced to send you some thoughts on the subject of language, which I trust will not be found destitute of practical utility. I have arranged them in two essays; the first, on some of the elementary principles of language in general; the second, on the language of signs and gestures, as employed in the instruction of the deaf and dumb, with a view to shew the utility of employing that expressive communicator of thought as an auxiliary in the intercourse of Christian missionaries with the heathen. The two papers, though not strictly consecutive, will serve to explain each other. I consider that the principles by which children ought to be taught language, and missionaries to learn the language of a heathen people, are hitherto but very imperfectly understood. Doubtless my own views are yet full of imperfection; but they have been forced upon my mind by nine years' instruction of the deaf and dumb, and, as far as hitherto brought to the test, they have not failed in their actual application. An intelligent missionary in the SouthSea islands, to whom I communicated my ideas, has since written to me, that, from actual experience, he is fully satisfied of their general correctness. Another of our missionaries, in India, has expressed to me the same opinion; adding, that, in receiving lessons from his instructor in India, they were often compelled to resort to signs and gestures, in order at all to understand each other. In order to prevent any possible misconception of my meaning, I should explicitly state, that I consider signs and gestures only as auxiliary to the acquisition of oral language, not as a substitute for it. In this subordinate capacity, its employment appears to me useful and important; for, should my theory prove true, what a vast field is there for its practical application among the tribes of our fellow-men who have no written or printed language, but to whom every Christian mind must be deeply anxious to convey, not only every species of useful secular information, but, above all, the knowledge "of the only true God, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent!" The same principles that are applicable to the acquisition of a new language by the missionary, apply to the instruction of children in their mother tongue. This, too, has been forced upon my mind by experience; for I have found the use of signs of immense advantage in exciting the attention of the infant mind, and in teaching children at an early age the meaning of words. Ought it not to be a fundamental axiom in the education of children, that the knowledge of things should precede the knowledge of those merely arbitrary marks, and combinations of marks, by which things are denoted? Should this part of my views prove true, what a wide field is opened for their application in the education of children generally, and especially in infant schools. But it may be said, "Must all the world learn the language of signs?" By no means. It is, however, one of the instruments of education; and, if a popular work were written on the subject, many intelligent fathers and mothers might derive much benefit from it. But it would be principally in infant schools that its utility could be extended. The instructor in such a school, by a little training under some one skilled in the language of signs and gestures, could soon acquire enough of them for all pracCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 296. tical purposes; and I have no doubt the delight which his little pupils would take in this language, and the livelier attention and interest which it would excite in them in pursuing their studies, would, besides the pleasure of the spectacle, abundantly compensate the master for his additional labour in acquiring it. At least, both in this instance, and in that of the Christian Missionary, let one experiment be fairly made. T. H. GALLAUDET. American Deaf and Dumb Asylum, ON SOME OF THE ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE is the expression, by visible, audible, or tangible signs, of the thoughts, feelings, or state of one mind, in order to excite the conception of them in another. It is either symbolical or arbitrary.In the first case, it excites, by the mere power of resemblance, or analogy, the ideas which it is intended to communicate-as a portrait, for example, represents an absent friend; or as stretching out the arms horizontally, denotes extent; or as imitating the action of eating, reminds the spectator of the action itself. In the other case, language derives its significancy either from a previous agreement between the parties who use it, or from an actual explanation at the time. This agreement and this explanation can be made only by the presence of the object which the sign is intended to denote, or by another symbolical sign immediately expressive of the object by its resemblance or analogy to it. Thus: the word hat must have originally derived its meaning from the actual sight of a hat; or from a picture of it; or from its appropriate delinea-: tion by certain motions of the hands, describing its shape and use; or by a definition, all the words of which must themselves have been explained by the presence of some objects, or pictures, or by the ex30 |