fervour of their charity, and the purity of their conversation, exhibit the true nature of Christianity. If the scoffer reproach us with the divisions, and disorders, and corruptions of the Church and her members, we will refer him back to this account of what Christianity once was; and we will boldly assert, that this it still is and ever will be, so far as it is in reality received. Our own minds may be perplexed and confounded when we enter into the subtle and endless wranglings of after times, and our own hearts sicken at the prostitution of sacred things to every wicked inclination of man, but we will revive ourselves by turning back to drink at the pure fountain of truth and holiness.

The means of propagating the faith have ever been the same. The history of the Church demonstrates that success has accompanied the preach

For the Christian Observer.

ing of the Gospel, in proportion as the Ministers of the Church have held forth the doctrine of the Cross with fidelity and fervour, and her members have adorned it by their charity and purity. And if "the kingdoms of this world" are to become "the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ," we must expect it will be accomplished in the same manner. The true obstacle to the propagation of the Gospel is the state of the Church; and out of her present state of discord and defilement she, perhaps, is not to be brought but by "the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning." (Is. iv. 4.) But whatever may be necessary to prepare her as a fit instrument for evangelizing the world, and whatever her true members may suffer while she is in the furnace of trial, still they will continue daily and earnestly to pray, "Thy kingdom come!"

Critical illustration of Gen. iv. 23, 24. OUR present translation of Lamech's speech is nearly unintelligible, though undoubtedly it is perfectly accurate. It may therefore be useful to remark, that the Hebrew is capable of three different interpretations, all equally literal; consequently we are at liberty to choose that which is the most agreeable to the context. The first interpretation is that of our translators: "I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt." The second, and perhaps the best, is offered by Bishop Lowth, and before him by Houbigant. "I have slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for striking me." (Prælect. Poet. iv. p. 52, 53.) In this case, the sense will be, if Cain, who slew his brother unprovoked, shall be secured by the deity sevenfold from all human vengeance (see Gen. iv. 15.) surely Lamech, who slew a man in the act of self-defence, shall be secured seventy and seven fold. The third interpretation is that of Wickliff, to be found in his MS. Bible, which at least is more intelligible than our present translation. "I have slayn a man by my wound, and a yong wexynge

man by yyolent beetynge." It is a singular circumstance, that all these renderings are equally literal. G. S. F.

Critical illustration of Isaiah ix. 5. In our present translation, this passage is rendered as follows: "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." These words immediately precede the famous prediction of the Messiah, with which, as they now stand, they certainly appear to have very little connection. Dr. Kennicott therefore proposes a different translation : "Every weapon of the warrior used in battle, and the garment rolled in much blood (or often rolled in blood) is for burning, even fuel of the fire." This agrees very well with the promise of peace at the advent of the Messiah, and is the counterpart of the words of the Psalmist. "When God maketh wars to cease in all the world, he breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire." In the abovementioned MS. translation of Wickliff, this passage is thus rendered. "Al violent raveyn with noyse, and a cloth medlid

with blood, shal be into brennynge, and shal be the meate of fyer."

G. S. F.

Practical Illustration of Genesis, ch. xx.

Abraham and Abimelech.

ABRAHAM, on the occasion of the destruction of Sodom, supposed the number of righteous men in it to be much greater than it was. "Peradventure," said he," there be fifty righteous in the city," and it proved that there were not ten. On his coming to Gerar, he erred on the contrary side; for he fancied that there was neither religion nor morality in the place. "Surely," thought he, "the fear of God is not in this place." Some men fancy that they know, as it were, by intuition, who is religious and who is not; and that they are in possession of the precise number of the pious in every place to which they come. Such men are wiser than Abraham, the father of the faithful, for he twice erred in respect to this very point. Let us be slow and modest in judging, and let us be charitable to such as may not be altogether of our party. Abraham's error, on the occasion of his coming to Gerar, tended to draw him into a sin. He thought that Abimelech, the king of Gerar, being wicked, and his people wicked, they would kill him without scruple, with the view of taking to themselves Sarah his wife, if they should know that she was his wife.

He, therefore, declares that she was his sister. Now it is very true that she was his sister, that is to say, his half-sister; so that, literally speaking, no lie was told. He, however, intended, by saying that she was his sister, to convey an idea that she was his sister in such a sense as not to be capable of being his wife. Was Abraham, therefore, free from sin in this matter? Certainly not; for the evil of a lie consists in the deceit of it. That man tells a lie, whatever his words may be, who conveys an impression to the hearer, which the speaker intends that the hearer shall understand in a way that is contrary to fact; or, to put the observation into fewer words, that man tells a lie who speaks in order to deceive; and there are a thousand ways in which we may contrive to tell no literal lie, and yet may tell one in sub

stance, and may have all the benefit, as well as all the sin, of having uttered a falsehood; let us not then deceive or prevaricate; let us not give a false colour to facts, nor try to put any thing in an unfair light, but let us aim to have, in every respect, "the testimony of our consciences, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have our conversation in the world."

Abraham, it is worthy of remark, did not profit by his deceit. It was worldly policy which led him to it. He did not dare to act in a direct manner, trusting God with the consequences; but his faith failed, as it is once said to have done in a former case, and he trusted for his safety to his own crooked policy. Now the very artifice which he used, in order to secure his life, was the occasion of his wife's falling into a danger, which she would not have incurred if he had been open and simple in his conduct. It also appeared, that his own life would have been in no danger by his speaking the truth, since the men of Gerar were not so void of the fear of God as he imagined. God, nevertheless, was pleased mercifully to interpose in favour of his erring servant, by appearing to Abimelech in a dream. Abimelech is angry with Abraham for his deceit, and Abraham the prophet is put to shame before this stranger. The evil, however, is repaired, through God's goodness; and Abraham, being had in honour by these foreigners among whom he sojourns, receives numerous presents at their hands.

Let us take occasion from this error of Abraham to notice still more particularly a like fault in some persons of this day, who possibly, nevertheless, may, like Abraham, be justly termed believers. They have set out perhaps, like Abraham, in the real exercise of faith; they have committed their bodies, their souls, and all their interests to God; and though it is through faith that they have been enabled to begin to walk with God, yet their faith sometimes evidently fails them by the way. In particular, it is apt to fail them, when they come into the company of the wicked, or rather of those whom they suppose to be so. "Surely," say they, "the fear of God is not in this place.

I must therefore," they add, "take good care of my interest, now that I am among unbelieving people: I suspect them of every thing that is bad; I must, therefore, in some measure, treat them in their own way; I must use a little craft with these heathens; I will indeed tell them no lie," perhaps they say, "but I must stretch a point in the present case; I must contrive a little to mislead them; I will save my own conscience, at the same time, by some words of a double meaning, which I will understand in one way, and they in another. It is not, therefore, a lie that I will tell; or, at the worst, it is an excusable one. It is necessary that I should thus defend myself from the evil which, I fear, they will otherwise bring upon me.'

But this is not faith. This is walking in unbelief; and though our end should be good, yet if our means are crooked the good end will not justify the bad means. Abraham's end was sufficiently good. It was very fair and right that he should try to save his own life, but it was not proper that he should resort to crooked means; and the crooked method which he took, in truth, did not tend to save it. Nay, we scruple not to say that though our end should be the promotion of the gospel, yet if we take crooked means of promoting it, we do but hinder the cause which we mean to serve, and disgrace it in the eyes of unbelievers. Abraham himself might have pleaded, that the cause of religion moved him to use deceit; for the Messiah, who was not yet born, was to spring from him, and if Abraham were to be killed, "how," he might be tempted to say, "will the promise be fulfilled?" Afterwards however, he grew stronger in faith; for at

God's command he offered up even his son Isaac, accounting that God would sooner bring him again to life than fail of his promise.

Let us then fear to expose ourselves to the just censure, even of those whom we deem unbelievers. How might the men of Gerar, and Abimelech their king, have exposed, if they had thought fit, the deceitfulness of the prophet, and have taken occasion to revile both him and his religion! and thus, how justly may the men of the world expose and revile us, if they see us descending to their own crooked acts, in order to further our cause!

Let it, however, be here particularly noticed, that the men of Gerar did not revile Abraham, but, on the contrary, respected him, notwithstanding his la mentable infirmity; and this, perhaps, is one of the proots of their having had more of the fear of God than Abraham had the charity to suppose. He stood indebted for favour and protection to the very people whom he had just before condemned without distinction.

Let us learn then, on the one hand, from the evil example of Abraham, to fear all uncharitableness; and, at the same time let us learn also, on the other, from the good example of Abimelech, not to condemn the servants of God, for an occasional failure of faith, into which they may have fallen. Let us throw a veil of charity over their faults; and, if some good men are, like Abraham, uncharitable towards us, and too ready to term us unbelievers, let us prove, like Abimelech, by our courtesy and kindness to the very men who have been over suspicious of us, that we are not so void of the fear of God as they may have supposed. B. R.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

SIR, IN the PROSPECTUS of the CHRISTIAN OBSERVER we are told, that the Editors chiefly intend to promote the increase of sound theological "knowledge." What do they mean by sound theology? You will say, perhaps, the answer is obvious; for the Prospectus informs

the world, that the "Editors are members of the Established Church ;" and, with them, sound theology must mean the doctrine of the Church of England. But, Sir, there are various opinions upon this subject; and, there has been much dispute upon the question, What is the doctrine of the Church of England? Will you refer nie to the xxxix Articles? But this is the very point in

dispute : What is the true sense and meaning of the xxxix Articles? Askask-No, Sir: ask Bishop Jewell, who, as Burnett affirms, "had a great share in all that was done in Queen Elizabeth's time, and whose works are a sure commentary on our Articles." But, I would look into no other part of his works than the Apology, to determine the point in question; because in this Apology he professes to give a full and explicit statement of the doctrines, the public and avowed doctrines, of this Church-non alienum, aut inutile, fore existimavimus, si apertè et liberè proponamus fidem nostram in quâ stamus, et omnem illam spem, quam habemus in Christo Jesu; ut omnes videre possint, quid nos de quâque parte religionis Christianæ sentiamus-and, I would look no further than to the statement of the doctrines in the Apology, for this reason especially; because the Apology is not, what it is commonly called, Jewell's Apology, but what it is called in the title page, APOLOGIA ECCLESIÆ ANGLICANE. It was not published by Jewell, as his private offering to the Catholic Church, but by Queen Elizabeth, at the expense of the Crown, with the consent and approbation of all the Bishops who were then in London, as the Apology of the Church of England: and it was not only approved, after it was published, by the whole Church of England, clergy and laity, but, was

regarded by them as their glory and defence.

I wish the Editors of the CHRISTIAN OBSERVER would print a translation of this statement of the public and avowed doctrines of the Church of England: and I hope they will explicitly declare, that it shall be their standard of orthodoxy, and what they mean by "sound" theology. And let them declare, that if they admit any thing into the CHRISTIAN OBSERVER which exceeds this standard, the excess shall be set to the account of the private opinions of their correspondents, and not be regarded as their view of the doctrine of the Church of England. If they make this declaration of their principles, and adhere to it, I believe the CHRISTIAN OBSERVER will meet with encouragement from very many of the clergy and laity, who will readily conspire with its Conductors to promote the increase of "sound" theological knowledge; and I plainly foresee, if they will not avow their adherence to some such standard, the Editors and Patrons of the CHRISTIAN OBSERVER will be regarded by the public, and very deservedly, as the agents and patrons of a sect, or party.

Wishing you, and all who are engaged with you in this work, wisdom, prudence, zeal, simplicity, and godly sincerity, the blessing of heaven, and the favour of the public, I am, &c.

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J. S.