INDEX TO THE SIGNATURES. Editors, 1, 30, 60, 86, 88, 121, 252, 283, 285, 344. J. O.,28, 80. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."-2 Tim. i. 9. "The election hath obtained, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7. "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.-And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.-In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."-Acts vii. 37, 38; No. 133. JANUARY, 1847. VOL. XIII. VARIETY and originality can hardly be expected in every Annual We have never yet hoisted two flags, we have never worn a towns in this kingdom which could not furnish one or more specimens of ministers so accommodating as to hold forth free grace in the morning, and free will in the evening; so that, but for the same face, voice, and general appearance, a stranger who attended both services, might think that two different preachers occupied the same pulpit. Such duplicity and double dealing are not justly chargeable at our door. Our trumpet may give but a feeble tone, some of its notes may not rise so high or sink so low, its keys may not be so numerous or so nicely fitted, the fingers may be more tremulous, and the breath less full and sustained than we could wish, yet it cannot be justly said not to give a certain sound. Whatever be the faults, deficiencies, errors, imperfections, short-comings, and infirmities of our periodical, (and in all these points, as attaching to all human words and works, we are willing, as far as they are discovered to our conscience, to plead guilty,) cautious concealment of our views in divine things cannot, we believe, be justly laid to the charge of the Gospel Standard. We have never yet babbled a mingled dialect, half in the speech of Ashdod and half in the Jews' language; (Nehem. xiii. 24;) and it is our desire, if the Lord graciously enable, ever to speak the pure language of Canaan. What we feel that we chiefly want is, more depth and power, more savour and unction, more variety and originality. We would not, if we had our will, have one unfruitful, unprofitable page. All should resemble what we read of the bride, "Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them." (Song vi. 6.) But it is, perhaps, rarely considered by our Readers, how much we are in this matter, humanly speaking, dependent upon our Correspondents. The power of selection or rejection out of a numerous pile of communications, is almost the only thing strictly and perpetually connected with our Editorial office. It may be sometimes complained, that this piece is confused and unconnected, or that communication dry and unsavoury. A Letter may be objected to as poor and meagre, or an Obituary be thrown down upon the table with a yawn and an expression of astonishment, "How could the Editors insert such a superficial piece as that?" Admitted, freely admitted. We do not object to, nor quarrel with the complaint. It has probably passed our own lips before it ever escaped yours, complaining Reader. We would gladly remedy the defect. Can you assist us to do so? Suppose you, who see so many faults in the Standard, were to favour us with a savoury, unctuous piece of your own. Of course, it would be free from all the defects that you freely censure in other communications. The doctrine would be sound and unexceptionable, the experience deep and savoury, the language powerful and expressive, the arrangement distinct and clear, and the whole a masterpiece of divine eloquence. There are some men, and good men too, who never speak of others but in the language of censure and complaint. They have eyes of eagles to see the bad, and eyes of moles to perceive the good. In this they resemble people whom one sometimes meets with in the world, whose eyes seem formed to see hidden defects at a glance, but to overlook the most striking beauties. Show such persons a large and costly mirror, "Ah! but don't you see," they reply, "that speck in the corner, or that fly-dirt just in the centre?" So it is with these good men, whom one is generally for peace sake obliged to love at a distance. Let them hear a minister of truth. Their ears are open to hear, and their memory retentive to retain, the least word that sounds amiss; and if they cannot find an awry expression, they will twist any that varies from a right line to make it crooked. Their ears, like sieves, let all the sound grain fall through to retain the chaff. A sneer, a slander, a lie against a good man, their memories are of wax to receive, and of stone to retain. Tell them of any action in which others see the grace of God, they are ready in a moment to put it down to some carnal, selfish motive; show them a person to whom his ministry has been blessed, "ifs" and "buts" fall from their lips like leaves in Autumn. Such men are never satisfied but with their own doings and performances; and apart from the exquisite gratification derived from the contemplation of self under all its varied hues and admired shapes, "Their only pleasure is to be displeased." Such objectors and such complainers it is hopeless to attempt to satisfy or please. They must still go on grumbling and complaining through life, attempting (vain attempt!) to set themselves up on the downfall of others, congratulating themselves upon their freedom from all speck or blemish, and in the pride of their hearts thanking God that they are not as other men,-nor even as this Standard. But whilst we are hopeless to satisfy such as these,-whose greatest disappointment is, first, to have nothing to find fault with, and secondly, to get no one to listen to their complaints, we desire ever to lend a listening ear to those, who, in the spirit of the gospel, may |