the sins of the whole world, both original and actual." The Lord Jesus, then, is a righteous branch; so righteous that, though man is guilty and polluted, yet through his sacrifice God can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. But another particular in the declaration is, The descent of Christ, or the Branch: "The days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch." As a divine Person Christ was the root of David; but as man he was his offspring; as he himself testified to John: "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star." The Lord had sworn unto David that, "of the fruit of his body he would set upon his throne." Had Christ, then, descended in any other line than in one from David, it would at once have invalidated his claim of being the Messiah. The Jews fully understood this, and set at nought the claim of every person to the Messiahship who could not trace up his pedigree to David. And Christ himself adverted to this point in his conversation with the Jews: "What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?" Their ready and immediate answer was, "The son of David." This was so imbued into them as a national opinion founded on the prophecies in their scriptures, that the apostles deemed it one of their main positions in their argument with them, pointing out to them most particularly and emphatically that Jesus, in addition to his other claims of being the Messiah, was descended from David. Hence we have St. Paul, in his address at Antioch, referring to David, and saying: "Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus." We also have the apostle Peter, on another occasion at Jerusalem, in referring to Christ's resurrection, pointing out also his descent from David: "He being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that, of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses." It is also referred to in the epistles. St. Paul says, in his epistle to the Romans: "Concerning Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." But the promise that Christ should descend in the line of David not only regarded the fact of his coming in the likeness of sinful flesh from David as his progenitor, but there was the implication of his sustaining the office of David, and of his sitting, and ruling, upon his throne. And this official character of Messiah is adverted to in the verse from which I have selected my text. He was not only to be a righteous branch from David; but to be a king, and reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the earth." The prophet Isaiah, also, refers to him as the "Prince of peace," stating that the government should be upon his shoulder, and that of the increase of his government and peace there should be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. As Lord of the whole earth he not 66 only had dominion and authority over all the sovereign princes of the world; was 'King of kings, and Lord of lords;" but he was to be king also in a spiritual kingdom, to establish a government which was to consist of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, to carry on a dominion in the hearts and affections of a people "made willing in the day of his power," and usher in the period, in his sovereign sway, when every knee should bow to him, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This kingdom is being carried on throughout the world. The standard has been erected among the nations, and the people are flocking unto it. Daily they are enlisting under his banner, and he is leading them forth from conquering and to conquer. Having girded on his sword upon his thigh with his glory and with his majesty, he is in his majesty riding prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And every heart, which has been made subject to his dominion, and submitted to his spiritual sway, swells with the petition " Thy kingdom come, and hell's o'erpower, Another point in the declaration is the certainty of the whole. When the words of my text were first penned, six centuries had to elapse before the seal of the prophecy in the passage could be broken, and the particulars contained in the declaration become matter of history. Through that period generation after generation passed away, and the words of the text were only to them a barren prophecy, except the comfort which those derived from it who looked forward to the consolation of Israel, believing that, what God had promised, he would, in his own good time, duly fulfil. At length the last night of the long intervening period arrived the shadows fled away, and it was said to the church: "Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Then the Branch, or the Lord our righteousness, "arose out of his place," arose in his majesty and beauty, to establish the Lord's temple, and to ascend the throne of his father David. Then began the mountain of the Lord's house to be established on the top of the mountains, and to be exalted above the hills, that all nations might flow unto it. Then began "the heathen to be given him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." And why? Because the Lord Jehovah had said that it should be so. There stood the words of my text: "The days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch." These events therefore must take place. Heaven and earth might pass away; but his words might not pass till all were fulfilled. And we, instead of looking forward to distant ages for Messiah's advent when he should come to bear our griefs, and to carry our sorrows, to be wounded for our transgressions, to be bruised for our iniquities, and to receive stripes that we might be healed, can utter, in joyful thanksgiving, with Mary: "He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he promised to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.' The Cabinet, PREDESTINATION.-But here must a mark be set to those unquiet, busy, and high-climbing spirits, how far they shall go; who first of all bring hither their high reasons and pregnant wits, and begin first, from on high, to search the bottomless secrets of God's predestination, whether they be predestinate or not. These must needs either cast themselves down headlong into desperation, or else commit themselves to free chance, careless. But follow thou the order of this epistle, and noosel thyself with Christ, and learn to understand what the law and the gospel mean, and the office of both the two; that thou mayest in the one know thyself, and how that thou hast of thyself no strength but to sin, and in the other the grace of Christ; and then see thou fight against sin and the flesh, as the seven first chapters teach thee. After that, when thou art come to the eighth chapter, and art under the cross and suffering of tribulation, the necessity of predestination will wax sweet, and thou shalt well feel how precious a thing it is. For, except thou hast borne the cross of adversity and temptation, and hast felt thyself brought unto the very brim of desperation, yea, and unto hell-gates, thou canst never meddle with the sentence of predestination without thine own harm, and without secret wrath and grudging inwardly against God; for otherwise it shall not be possible for thee to think that God is righteous and just. Therefore must Adam be well mortified, and the fleshly wit brought utterly to nought, ere that thou mayest away with this thing, and drink so strong wine. Take heed therefore unto thyself, that thou drink not wine while thou art yet but a suckling. For every learning hath its time, measure, and age; and in Christ is there a certain childhood, in which a man must be content with milk for a season, until he wax strong, and grow up unto a perfect man in Christ, and be able to eat of more strong meat.-Tyndale's Prologue on the Epistle to the Romans. THE USE OF PRAYER.-Thy children do use prayer to offer thee their service, if it shall please thee to use the same. As they do eat and drink, which is a mean ordained of thee for the conservation of their life, not looking hereby to lengthen their days above their bounds, which already thou hast appointed, but as becometh them to use thy means, which thou hast ordained to serve thy providence, so do they herein (as men not curious to know thy providence further than thou revealest it) use prayer as a mean by the which thou art accustomed to work many of thy children's desires, that according to thy good will thou mayest use the same: they do not think a mutability in thee (for thou art God, and art not changed; with thee there is no variableness); and therefore they pray, not as men which would have thy determinations and ordinances, which are in most wisdom and mercy, to be altered, but rather that they might submit their wills to thine, and make them more able to bear thy will and pleasure. They know thou hast promised to help them calling upon thee; wherefore they doubt not but thou so wilt do, and therefore pray accordingly.-Bradford's Meditations. HANGING UPON GOD.-To be taught that we cannot hang on any thing in ourselves, nor in any other, that power belongeth unto God, and to be disposed, when we are brought into the wilderness, to return and hang upon God-this is the result of divine grace. Till men become believers, they often sink into despair, and think, by putting an end to their lives, to put an end to their troubles. But the Christian says with David, "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice."-Rev. R. Cecil. Miscellaneous. A CANADIAN LOG-HOUSE*.-As those emigrants who intend settling upon wild lands will have, in the first place, to build themselves some sort of a house to shelter them, until they can erect a better, as well as to buy their provisions during the greater part of the first year, if they commence their operations at the best season for doing so, namely, in July or August, they would like to know something about the probable amount of expenditure required for these purposes, as well as the mode of accomplishing them. Suppose the emigrant's family to consist of a man and his wife, and five children, among these two wellgrown boys (if the family be smaller, two should unite, and help each other), and that he takes a house or lodgings for his wife and younger children, as near his location as he can, and then purchases a few weeks' provisions, hires a good axe-man, whom he takes, with his two sons, into the bush, with what necessaries they may require for a stay of two or three weeks, or more, according to the distance from the rest of the family. They then make a sort of cabin to sleep in, covered with bark or brushwood. If the season is too far advanced for the bark to peel, then clear a small spot for their house, which is made of unhewn logs, notched into and across each other at the corners, and roofed with boards and shingles. The openings for doors and windows are then cut out with a saw; the uppermost log in each opening being half sawn through at the time of erection, before the next log was put on, in order to admit the saw to cut them out afterwards: the joints or openings between the logs, when too far apart, are then chinked up with large splinters, and plastered with mortar, and the whole white-washed, the floors laid with unplaned planks; and the family moves into the house, frequently without either doors, windows, or partitions; a bed-quilt or two, or a carpet suspended from the ceiling, being substituted for the latter, and any thing, or nothing, for the former, till they have time to get all finished. The cost, besides their own labour, would be about £12 10s. for a house of this description, seventeen feet by twenty-three feet long exactly, so as two twelve feet boards will reach the whole length, and project six inches over at each end. The cost of provisions for a year for such a family will amount to £50: with care and good management they might do with something less. I mean, of course, a family with a little capital, say £150 to £250; if with less, a much cheaper method would be resorted to. For instance, all the family would go into the bush at once, without a hired man, and erect a much less expensive house or hut, here called a shanty, and live chiefly upon oatmeal and potatoes, with a very little animal food, at a cost probably not exceeding £20. The cost of household furniture depends upon the quantity and quality required: no family could well do with less than £5 worth, to be at all comfortable; and none would require to expend more than £20 out of such limited means as I have mentioned. If they could afford more, it would be better to lay it out upon the house. * From a "Guide to Emigrants proceeding to Australia or Canada." London: Published for the Proprietors, by EDWARDS and HUGHES, 12, Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. PRINTED BY JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24, NORFOLK-STREET, STRAND, LONDON. SPALDING CHURCH. SPALDING is a market-town in Lincolnshire, situated in the division of that county called Holland, about 44 miles S.E. of Lincoln, and 100 N. from London. It is mentioned at an early period in the Saxon annals, and is said to derive its name from Spa, a chaly beate spring in the marketplace. Thorold of Bukenhale, sheriff of Lincolnshire, founded here a cell dedicated to St. Mary, for a prior and five monks, A.D. 1052, which he made subject to the neighbouring abbey of Croyland, and endowed with the manor of Spalding. Thorold's niece, Lucia, married Yoo Tailboys, earl of Anjou, nephew of William the Conqueror, who, thus becoming lord of Spalding, gave this cell to the abbey of St. Nicholas at Angiers, A.D. 1074. This priory was thus what was termed an "alien priory," and was more than once seized as such; but, after the continental possessions of the English kings had been wrested from them, it was at length acknowledged as denizen; and one or two of the priors were summoned to parliament. It is to this monastery that Chaucer's lines are supposed to allude: "In Lincolnshire, fast by a spacious fen, Stands a religious house: who doth it ken ?" and he and John of Gaunt appear to have been occasional visitors here. In 1274 William de Lyttleport was chosen prior, who died 1293. He completed the conventual church, and rebuilt the parish church, which was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Nicholas, the saints who (as already mentioned) presided over the priory. It may be added, that Richard Elsyn, or Palmer, was the last prior. He surrendered to Henry VIII., Dec. 1539; a grant of the property being made to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. In the third year of Edward VI. the site was granted to sir John Cheke, the king's tutor. It has since by purchase passed into various hands; the priory house, VOL. XXV. which yet remains, converted into tenements, having been upwards of a century in the family of the present possessor. The prior's oven, at a little distance, once used as a prison, also partially exists. It is of brick and stone, very strong; the arch concentring, and ribbed with Bernak rag; transformed of late years into a cooper's and then a blacksmith's shop. To the priory the parish church, as already stated, owes its existence. But, though the greater part of this fine structure might be built by prior William de Lyttleport, it is clear that portions of it are of later date. The following is the description given of it in a late publication ("Lincolnshire Churches." Boston: Morton. 1843): "This church consists of a nave with its aisles, north and south porches, transepts, a chancel, and a spire steeple at the west end of the south aisle. The edifice possesses specimens of the three styles of gothic-early English, decorated, and perpendicular. The west and south walls of the tower are divided into three stages each, the lower of which are blank; above are two lancet-headed windows; and the bell-chamber is pierced by windows of two lights trefoiled, enclosing a quatrefoil. The tower is crowned by an embattled parapet, having a cornice ornamented with gurgoyles: at the angles are square-panelled pinnacles, crocketed and finialed: from these spring flying buttresses, likewise crocketed. Above the tower rises an elegant and lofty crocketed spire, pierced with three tiers of canopied windows, enriched with crockets and finials. 66 The west end of the south aisle has in it a window of three lights trefoiled, with quatrefoiled tracery. The south wall is pierced by an entrance under a small porch, and two windows of two lights, each without tracery. The north porch has once been a beautiful example of perpendicular gothic, and appears to have been the latest portion of the church that contributed to its final completion. The outer entrance consists of a pointed arch, to support the superincumbent 2 D |