From some letters which he wrote during this tour, and soon after his return home, the following extracts are made; presuming they will be acceptable to the reader, as they breathe the same spirit of piety and resignation to the Divine will, which were so observable through all his affliction.

Extract of a letter to his parents, dated,

"MY DEAR PARENTS

"Lexington (Ken.) June 13, 1821.

"Having safely arrived at Cincinnati three days after my departure from home, and there spent a few days with our friends, I, after consulting with father Collins and others, acceded to the kind proposal and persuasion of brother Cummins,* to take a tour with him partly round his district. We set out on the 29th of May, and went down the Ohio river, on the Indiana side about seventy miles; during which time we had intense heat, exceedingly bad roads, and wet and damp weather; but I thank the Lord, His protecting arm has still upheld me.

"From thence we crossed the Ohio at Port-William, and there attended a quarterly-meeting, and then proceeded to Georgetown, where brother Cummins held another quarterly-meeting. From thence we came on to Lexington, and intend tarrying here until the quarterly-meeting at Versailles, after which we will return to Cincinnati.

"I think my health is considerably improved; but my recovery is slow, and perhaps not permanent. I depend much upon your faith and prayers: upon which, I trust, you will still bear me up at a throne of grace, and implore Him with whom all things are possible, that if consistent with His will, I may again be restored to health; and that I may be more spiritual in my devotions, delight more in the law of the Lord; and that whether I live, or whether I die, I may be the Lord's."

To the same, dated,

"MY DEAR PARENTS

"Cincinnati, June 27, 1821.

"I have just returned to this city, and feel myself much better than when I left it. I have concluded to abide here until next week, and then go with father Collins and brother Cummins to Maysville, where they intend to hold a quarterly-meeting. In consequence of my returning by Maysville, I shall not be at home until some time in July.

"Since I wrote you from Lexington, I have gained strength every day, and am in hopes that by an adherence to the means adopted for my recovery, I may yet be restored to my former health. But if Divine Wisdom has otherwise determined, I shall

* Presiding Elder of Kentucky District.

endeavour, by the grace of God, patiently to submit to my lot, and strive to be prepared to meet my Judge.

"Since I left home, I thank the Lord that I have enjoyed almost an uninterrupted peace of mind. Yet sometimes my affliction of body was such as to cause a degree of depression of spirits. I still feel, blessed be God, that my foundation is upon the immoveable Rock Christ Jesus, and that my treasure is growing in Heaven."

To the Rev. Alexander Cummins, dated,

"DEAR BROTHER,

"Chillicothe, Aug. 29, 1821.

"Having not forgotten your request, nor lost the disposition to comply with it, I embrace an opportunity of writing a few lines, to inform you that I still survive the inhabitants of the tomb; and with my face Zion-ward, am still striving to enter in at the straight gate.

"Since I left you I have health and strength a little, but am still feeble and unfit for any labour whatever. If spared, I intend to continue at home until my father's return from Illinois, and then commence travelling again. But if after faithfully using the best means for my recovery, my efforts should be unavailing, I shall endeavour, by the assistance of Heaven, more patiently and cheerfully to submit to the rod of affliction, and rejoice in the anticipation of departing and being with Christ, which is far better.

"It is a time of general sickness in town and eountry. Many are falling victims to the King of Terrors. Oh the necessity of being prepared to meet him at his coming."

To the Rev. Adbeel Coleman, Cincinnati, dated,

"MY DEAR BROTHER,

66

"Chillicothe, Oct. 14, 1821.

Having just returned from the funeral of our brother Owen Daily, I sit down to write you a few lines, with an affected heart and sensations which I never before felt at the decease of a friend. His relatives and friends have abundant consolation, in the assurance that he died in the triumphs of victorious faith.

"I have, since my return home, in some degree recruited my health; but am still very weak and feeble. During my affliction I have very often proposed to myself the question, How shall I meet the King of Terrors? At times I have felt strong consolation and an undaunted courage; but frequently-too frequently felt a great anxiety to live. But I thank the Lord, that notwithstanding all the youthful allurements which surround me, and which would make life desirable, I have, for some time past, felt more resigned to the Providence of God than ever before. 1 hope you will still pray for me, that let me die when or how I may, I may be the Lord's."

(To be concluded in our next.}

Scripture Illustrated.

ILLUSTRATION OF MARK IX. 38. AND MATTHEW XIX. 24.

We saw one casting out Devils in thy name.

I. WITHOUT doubt he truly did this work, whosoever he were. He cast out Devils truly and really, and that by the divine power, otherwise Christ had not said those things which he did, Forbid him not: there is no man that doth a miracle in my name, who can speak evil of me, &c.

II. Whence then could any one, that followed not Christ, cast out Devils? Or whence could any one that cast out Devils, not follow Christ?

I answer. We suppose

I. That this man cast not out Devils in the name of Jesus, but in the name of Christ, or Messias: and that it was not out of contempt that he followed not Jesus, but out of ignorance; namely, because he knew not yet that Jesus was the Messias.

II. We therefore conjecture, that he had been heretofore some Disciple of John, who had received his Baptism in the name of the Messias now speedily to come (which all the Disciples of John had) but he knew not as yet, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messias which John himself knew not, until it was revealed to him from Heaven.

III. It is probable therefore, that God granted the gifts of miraeles to some lately baptized by John, to do them in the name of the Messias; and that to lay a plainer way for the receiving of the Messias, when he should manifest himself under the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

See Verse 41. In my name or Xgıç έçe, Because ye belong to Christ and Chap. xiii. 6. Many shall come in my name, not in the name of Jesus, but in the name of the Messias: for those false Prophets assumed to themselves the name of the Messias to bring to naught the name of Jesus. That John xvi. 24. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name, differs not much from this sense. The Apostles poured out their prayers, and all the holy men theirs, in the name of the Messias, but ye have as yet asked nothing in my name Jesus, &c.-LIGHTFOOT.

MATTHEW XIX. 24.

On

THE plundering Arabs commonly ride into houses, and commit acts of violence, if measures are not taken to prevent them. this account the doors are often made very low, frequently not above three feet in height. This must be very inconvenient for those who keep camels, and must often want to introduce them into their court yards. They, however, contrive to do this by training them up, not only to kneel down when they are loaded

and unloaded, but to make their way on their knees through such small door-ways. This must, without doubt, be attended with great difficulty, and makes the comparison of our Lord sufficiently' natural; it would be as easy to force a camel through a door way, as small as the eye of a needle, as for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.-HARMER.

The Attributes of God Displayed.

PRESENT STATE OF JERUSALEM.

THE following interesting account of the present state of Jerusalem, is extracted from the travels of Robert Richardson, M. D., along the Mediterranean and the parts adjacent, recently published.

THERE are two accounts of the ancient city of Jerusalem, which have come down to us with the sanction of high authority. The first is to be found in the third chapter of Nehemiah, who built the walls of the city, after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. My attention was particularly directed to this account by the Countess of Belmore, who visited the memorable spots in and about Jerusalem, with all the zeal and feeling of a pious Christian, taking the Holy Scriptures for her guide, while at the same time she availed herself of all the light that modern travellers have been able to collect for the illustration of this most interesting portion of sacred topography. The other account is from the pen of the Jewish historian Josephus, who had the misfortune to witness the sacking and utter destruction of his native city by the victorious arms of Titus Vespasian. It is a tantalizing circumstance, however, for the traveller, who wishes to recognize in his walks the site of particular buildings, or the scenes of memorable events, that the greater part of the objects mentioned in the description both of the inspired and Jewish historian, are entirely removed and razed from their foundations, without leaving a single trace or name behind to point out where they stood. Not an ancient tower, or gate, or wall, or hardly even a stone remains. The foundations are not only broken up, but every fragment of which they were composed is swept away, and the spectator looks upon the bare rock with hardly a sprinkling of earth to point out her gardens of pleasure, or groves of idolatrous devotion. And when we consider the palaces, and towers, and walls about Jerusalem, and that the stones of which some of them were constructed were thirty feet long, fifteen feet abroad, seven and a half thick, we are not more astonished at the strength, and skill, and perseverance, by which they were constructed, than shocked by the relentless and brutal hostility by which they were shattered and overthrown, and utterly removed from our sight. A few gardens

still remain on the sloping base of mount Zion, watered from the pool of Siloam; the gardens of Gethsemane are still in a sort of ruined cultivation; the fences are broken down, and the olive trees decaying, as if the hand that dressed and fed them were withdrawn; the mount of Olives still retains a languishing verdure, and nourishes a few of those trees from which it derives its name: but all around about Jerusalem, the general aspect is blighted and barren; the grass is withered; the bare rock looks through the scanty sward, and the grain itself, like the staring progeny of famine, seems in doubt whether to come to maturity, or die in the ear. The vine that was brought from Egypt is cut off from the midst of the land; the vineyards are wasted; the hedges are taken away; and the graves of the ancient dead are open and tenantless. How is the gold become dim; and every thing that was pleasant to the eye withdrawn. Jerusalem has heard the voice of David and Solomon, of prophets and apostles; and he who spake as man never spake, has taught in her synagogues and in her streets. Before her legislators, her poets, and her apostles, those of all other countries became dumb, and cast down their crowns, as unworthy to stand in their presence. Once she was rich in every blessing; victorious over all her enemies; and resting in peace; with every man sitting under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree, with none to disturb or to make him afraid. Jerusalem was the brightest of all the cities of the east, and fortified above all other towns, so strong, that the Roman conqueror thereof, and the master of the whole world besides, exclaimed, on entering the city of David, and looking up at the towers which the Jews had abandoned, "Surely we have had God for our assistance in the war; for what could human hands or human machines do against these towers!" It is no other than God who has expelled the Jews from their fortifications. Their temple was the richest in the whole world; their religion was the purest; and their God was the Lord of Hosts. Never was there a people favoured like this people, but they set at nought the counsel of their God; trusted in their walls; and walked after the imaginations of their own hearts; their city was given up to the spoiler ; the glory departed from Israel, and the sceptre from Judah; the day of vengeance arrived; and the rebellious sons of Jacob are scattered, and peeled, and driven under every wind of heaven, without a nation or country to call their own: unamalgamated, persecuted, plundered and reviled; like the ruins of a blighted tower, whose fragments remain to show the power that smote it, and to call aloud to heaven and earth for repair. What a tremendous lesson for the kings and people of the earth to learn wisdom, and in the midst of their prosperity, to recognize the hand from which their comforts flow! It is impossible for the Christian traveller to look upon Jerusalem with the same feelings with which he would set himself to contemplate the ruins of Thebes, of Athens,