to teach us that our dependence is not on man, or man's science and industry, but upon the living God, the God of sky and soil, the Ruler of the winter and of the spring. Shall we not learn the lesson of dependence upon Him whose sovereign will regulates our seasons-upon Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being?

3. To warn us.-God has been shewing us what he can do against us as well as for us-how he can cast down as well as lift up-how he can curse as well as bless. He who has well-nigh blasted our fields could wholly lay them waste, and turn the fruitful land into barrenness. He who shivered one train could swallow up all of them, or dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. He who sunk one vessel could bid the sea devour our navy, wrecking every vessel, great or small, that lies at anchor on our coasts, or wings its way to or from our havens. He who made the rumours of war and invasion to alarm us, could overwhelm us with hosts, and bring down the lofty looks of our nation in a day. And, doubtless, for the purpose of warning us of what we may expect if we repent not, he sent upon us these partial and transient visitations. "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee," is his message to our nation. Repent, or ye shall all likewise perish," is his message to the inhabitants of our isle. Repent, and save yourselves and your land from the evils that are coming upon Europe, from the long-pent-up vengeance that is preparing for the earth.

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Awake, Britain, awake! Princes and rulers of the land, awake! Statesmen and rulers of the land, awake! Generals, and commanders, and mighty men of the land, awake! Merchants and men of business, sailors and soldiers, husbandmen and shepherds, ministers of Christ and members of the flock, awake, awake! Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God-confess sin-cry for mercy; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's fierce anger. Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come!

All these disasters that the past year has witnessed seem to come with peculiar solemnity and force upon us from the circumstances of the preceding year. That year might be called the jubilee of science; and the great Exhibition was man's procla mation to the world, that perfection in every art and science was fast approaching, and that ere long he would cease to be at the mercy of the seasons or the elements,-beyond the reverses of calamity,-beyond the hostile influences of earth, or sky, or sea. Never, we may say, were the world's expectations wrought up to a higher pitch, or man's hope of rege

rating the earth, of placing himself beyond the reach of accidents, and of bidding defiance to evil, more loudly and confidently announced. It was as if a new era had been entered on, as if we might now calculate on brighter and more cloudless days, as if we had got the mastery over the powers of ill, and could promise to ourselves and to our children ages of sunshine and peace. During that year tens of thousands crowded our railways and our steam-vessels, yet no disasters ensued. That which seemed to man a time of special danger, passed by and left peace behind it. Would that it had left thankfulness, and humility, and repentance, and devout acknowledgment of God! But, alas! we forgot Him who had preserved and befriended us. We boasted, instead of praising. We lauded our own skill and carefulness and management, and sent up no acknowledgment of our gracious and mighty Protector.

He

And therefore has God lifted up his hand to smite. has made this year, when no danger was reckoned on, a year of unexampled disaster and calamity and woe. He has made us feel what he might have done before, and what he will yet do, with our world when he arises to judge to pour out the vials of his wrath upon its guilty and impenitent kingdoms. These sad events that have made so many in our land to mourn, are but the forerunners of the great and terrible day of the Lord. They are but the first and far-off shadows of the woeful night that is about to fall down upon the nations. Let us not overlook them, nor refuse to interpret them aright; let us not treat them as chance events, occasioned by want of foresight or wisdom: let us look them in the face; let us give them all the weight they really contain; let us put the right construction upon them, and get to our knees without delay in confession and repentance. Let our cry go up for our guilty land, that it too may put on sackcloth, and turn from its iniquities. Who knows but that the Lord may be entreated for us and for our children, and spare us in the day of his overflowing vengeance?

.

We have been indifferent to our guilt as a nation. We have sat down contented under its weight as if it were a trifle, or as if God would not judge us, or as if we were too great a nation to be judged. But was not Babylon as great a city as our London,—and was not its empire a mighty one? yet has it been utterly swept away; and who are we that we should escape the reckoning that has overtaken other nations? And was not Nineveh a mighty_city?—yet she is gone; and shall we escape? And was not Egypt a noble empire?-—yet it has

become the basest of kingdoms; and shall we always prosper? And were not Tyre and Sidon wealthy and powerful seats of commerce?-yet they have passed away, and are become little better than the fishermen's villages; and shall we be confident in exemption from such doom as overwhelmed these cities? God did not spare them; and must he spare us? But, more than this,-Was not Jerusalem a glorious city? was she not the chosen and beloved city of the Lord, the joy of the earth, the city of the Great King? Did not the Lord love her, and linger fondly over her, and bear long with her, notwithstanding her iniquities? Yet judgment came at length. The beautiful city has become a desolation, and on that land of blessing there now rests the heaviest curse that ever scattered a people, or crushed a city, or laid waste a land. And shall Judea be brought low, and Britain remain exalted, as if no sentence of ruin could go forth against her? Shall Jerusalem be emptied, and shall London remain populous and prosperous, the city of cities, the metropolis of the world? Let us stand in awe, let us tremble, let us cast ourselves down before the insulted Majesty of heaven, and let the land mourn and repent. Or if the land will not mourn, if our rulers will not repent, let us go, like Jeremiah, and weep in secret places for their pride; let those who believe in the judgments and vengeance of a holy God, take up Abraham's posture as an intercessor, and plead with the gracious Jehovah for sparing mercy to the land. He may save it, it may be, for Christ's sake; and surely in this land there are ten righteous men on whose account the Lord will be entreated for us. But let us lose no time, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and our day of grace may be near its close. These fearful disasters that are befalling us may be but warnings of what is coming. They are but echoes of the far-off storm which, having laid waste other lands, is now on its way to us. They tell us what sorrows God may have in store for us,what arrows he may have in his quiver,-what thunder-bolts of vengeance he may be preparing to launch against us. It is well that we should take all lawful means for the protection of our island-rock, and be prepared against foreign aggression; but our greatest enemy is within us. A nation's unrepented guilt! A nation's unhumbled pride! A nation's vain-glorious boasting! A nation's haughty independence and confidence in an arm of flesh! These are our real dangers. If these be not repented of and cast out, we can have no hope. Like the children of Ephraim, though armed and carrying bows, we

shall turn back in the day of battle, and the men of might shall not be able to find their hands.

And then, besides, these are, after all, but signs of greater and wider wrath upon a world the cup of whose iniquities is fast filling up. Behind all these troubles and dangers there is seen the form of the Great Avenger, the Judge of all, coming to execute the Father's righteous judgment, and to reckon with the nations of the earth for their contempt of his gospel and their rejection of his grace.

ART. III.-NOAH'S COVENANT.*

God had just said, "I will not again curse the ground for man's sake," for it was to be shewn that "fury was not in him," and that judgment was his "strange work." And now, accordingly, he proceeds to bless, shewing how rich in mercy he is, how glad to be done with the curse, how anxious to get vent to the blessing.

The blessing which he pronounces over Noah and his sons, is the very blessing wherewith he blessed unfallen man. It is Adam's original blessing in every jot and tittle-“ Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth;" nay, more-the latter part of the primeval blessing is greatly enlarged and augmented, for it is not merely said, "Have dominion over it," &c., but in addition, as if to suit man's new circumstances, it is said, "The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth: into your hands are they delivered." Upon all these animals which we call tame or domestic, man's" fear" was to be, that they might be subject to him, and obediently serve him; on all animals of the wilder species his dread" was to be, that they might not venture to approach him, but betake themselves to their dens and deserts. Noah had seen their entire subjection to him in the ark, but he knew not whether aught of this dominion was to remain, and accordingly God at once sets his mind at rest, by reinvesting him as creation's king, sovereign of the new world, with the same extent of sway as had been conferred on Adam. Not as if obedience to the same extent were to be reckoned on

Let the reader study the first seventeen verses of the 9th chapter of Genesis, before perusing this article.

as unfallen man possessed; but still, in spite of revolt and insubjection on the part of the lower creation, man's right to rule was still maintained.

There were many things in this blessing peculiarly fitted to cheer the spirit of Noah, and to sustain his much-tried faith,many things, not only blessed in themselves, but specially suited to his new circumstances, when thus standing between the old world and the new, between a dismal past and an uncertain future, sole remnant of millions,-waiting to learn from the lips of God his purposes respecting himself and the earth on which he stood once more.*

1. There was the occasion on which the blessing came forth. It was immediately on the presentation of the burnt-offering. It was the "savour of rest" going up from that, which drew down the blessing. This connexion between these two things would make Noah feel that what was now announced was, not some general mercy or compassion, as if God were merely relenting after the execution of too severe a sentence, but righteous grace,-grace which, so far from setting law aside, or encroaching upon righteousness, most amply vindicated and established both. Yes; he saw the dark cloud part asunder, and righteous grace descend on man and man's earth, in consequence of the grateful fragrance of the sacrifice. It was this that shewed him how sure the blessing was, how unalterable the love from which it flowed, and how secure was the footing on which creation was to stand, notwithstanding all its past defilement and condemnation. This exhibition of grace must have been most gladdening. In so far as he himself was concerned, Noah might not need firmer footing to stand upon. He knew the grace that had forgiven, and blest, and preserved him; and he could trust it in all time to come. But there could not but be doubts respecting others, and respecting the world; for the earth seemed doomed. This blessing, however, swept all these away. It shewed him that God had not forsaken the world. In spite of infinite provocation, his purpose was to return to it in love, and bless it, not merely as a gracious Father, but as the righteous God.

2. There was God's re-assertion of his own sovereign rights, as Creator and Possessor of all things. Before the flood, it almost seemed as if God had relinquished his prerogative, and given up the reins of creation wholly into the hands of man, to do what he pleased with this earth. To such lengths had he

* Gregory (Naz.) speaks of the seeds of the new world being intrusted to Noah in his slender vessel of wood, kóơμov devtépov σñéρμаτa.— Works, vol. i. p. 366.