pardoning grace of God in Christ, as a faithful declaration; but could not have borne a testimony concerning it from their own experience, as now Christian ministers, who have the truth in them, can.

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4. That they should thank God for rendering the message he sends by such weak instruments effectual. The saving effects produced under the ministry of the gospel, do, in a very illustrious manner, spread abroad the glory of the mighty power of God. Have the spiritual " weapons" of ministers been successful "to the pulling down of strong holds ?"-It is because they were mighty through God.” Have people been "made obedient ?”—It was not by what ministers did, but what God " wrought by them," that made them so. Have persons been "filled with joy and peace in believing?" Still it must be acknowledged that they " abound in hope only through the power of the Holy Ghost." And this power is exercised in the way of righteousness, for respect being had to the mediation of Christ, it is now a righteous thing with God to pardon the sins of all believers. He is "just" in "justifying the believer in Jesus. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." There cannot be, in all his dealings with us, a more expressive or distinguishing instance either of his goodness and mercy, or of his wisdom and holiness, righteousness and sovereignty, than there is in " delivering us from the power of darkness, and translating us into the kingdom of his dear Son;" or, than in his beginning and carrying on the "work of faith with power." The Scriptures assure us, that his "begetting any again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," is an evidence of the "abundance of his mercy,"

and of the sovereign "good pleasure of his goodness," as well as of the "exceeding greatness of his power." All should then adore and bless God for the astonishing excellence of his power, which, in the success of the gospel, is exercised in the most glorious way of righteousness and love. To God alone, all the glory of all the success, of all the labour of ministers, belongs.

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Chapter VE.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH CONSIDERED IN ITS FOUNDA. TION, SUPERSTRUCTURE, AND BEAUTY.

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact toge ther; whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good."-David.

APPROACHING an edifice sacred to religion, the mind is naturally impressed with a solemn awe.. This church, an ornament to the surrounding country, has long been dedicated to the worship of the "living God." Its ancient appearance creates a wish to walk its aisles, and survey the work of former days.

"As chanced, the portals of the sacred pile
Stood open, and we entered. On my frame,
At such transition from the fervid air,

A grateful coolness fell, that seemed to strike
The heart, in concert with that temperate awe
And natural reverence, which the place inspired.
Not framed to nice proportions was the pile,
But large and massy; for duration built.

With pillars crowded, and the roof upheld

By naked rafters, intricately crossed,

Like leafless underboughs, in some thick grove,
All withered by the depth of shade above.
Admonitory texts inscribed the walls,
Each, in its ornamental scroll, enclosed,—
Each also crowned with winged heads-a pair
Of rudely painted cherubim. The floor
Of nave and aisle, in unpretending guise,
Was occupied by oaken benches, ranged
In seemly rows; the chancel only showed
Some inoffensive marks of earthly state
And vain distinction. A capacious pew

Of sculptured oak stood here, with drapery lined;
And marble monuments were here displayed
Upon the walls; and on the floor beneath

Sepulchral stones appeared, with emblems graven,
And foot-worn epitaphs, and some with small
And shining effigies of brass inlaid.

-The tribute by these various records claimed,
Without reluctance did we pay; and read

The ordinary chronicle of birth,

Office, alliance, and promotion-all

Ending in dust; of upright magistrates,

Grave doctors strenuous for the mother church,
And uncorrupted senators, alike

To king and people true."

A church is generally called Navis Ecclesiæ, built long like a ship, representing Christians as tossed with the waves of this world. Some are built in the form of a cross, in allusion to that on which Christ suffered; and but few are built circular or round, as St. Sepulchre's at Cambridge, one at Northampton, and the Temple in London. The position of most churches is from east to west, and the chancel is at the east end, in conformity to the primitive manner of devotion; from which quarter of the globe the Sun of Righteousness once arose, and from which we look for the second coming of Christ.

A few churches there are of Gothic architecture that have the tower or steeple at the east end. The Papists first introduced the figure of a cock at the top of the steeple or tower, to impress the mind of the worshipper or passenger with the enormity of Peter's sin, in denying his Lord with oaths and curses, as well as the sincerity and measure of his immediate repentance; and some of the ancients say, that in all his future life he never heard a cock crow but he wept bitterly.

As to the origin of church bells, Mr. Whitaker, in his History of Manchester, observes, That bells being used, among other purposes, by the Romans, to announce the times of bathing, were naturally applied by the Christians of Italy, to denote the hours of devotion, and summon the people to church. The first application of them to this purpose, is by Polydore Virgil and others, ascribed to Paulinus, bishop of Nola, a city of Campania, about the year 400. Hence, it is said, the names nola and campana were given them; the one referring to the city, the other to the country. Though others say they took the latter of these names, not from their being invented in Campania, but because it was here the manner of hanging or balancing them, now in use, was first practised; at least that they were hung on the model of a sort of balance invented or used in Campania. In Britain, bells were used before the conclusion of the seventh century, in the monastic societies of Northumbria, and as early as the sixth in those of Caledonia. And they were, therefore, used from the first erection of parish churches among us. Bells, in England, as formerly at Rome, were frequently made of brass. And as early as the ninth century, there were many cast of a large size and deep note. Matthew Paris observes, That anciently the ringing of bells was prohibited in