this sort of stones there are many colours, and some of the best of them are green with a golden list. On this stone Napthalim's name was engraven. So the two sons of Bilkah, Rachel's maid, are joined together.

3. The amethyst is a stone of a wan purple colour, and ruddy, so that it was expressive of a warlike sign; and the name of Gad was engraven on it, whose wars were prophesied, and his victories, Gen. xlix. 19, and had their fulfilling in 1 Chron. v. 18, 19, 20.

The fourth row of precious stones were, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.

1. The beryl, which some take to be the chrysolite, is of a colour like the greenness of the sea. It signifieth a golden stone, for the glorious colour of it, which is a glorious seagreen, and shining. On this stone the name of Asher was engraven, who dwelled near the sea with his brethren.

2. The onyx has its name from being the colour of a man's nail; but some conceive this stone to be the sardonix, and in Rev. xxi. 29, it is called the beryl. On this stone was the name of Joseph engraven. And on two of these stones were all the tribes written. See Exodus xxviii. 11.

The beryl is of the sky colour, but waterish; and as there are many sorts of beryls, so have they many colours. This stone is said to be precious, Job xxviii. 16. And in Joseph, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, Jeptha, and Abdon, the judges of Israel, the glory of the beryl shewed itself.

3. The jasper is a stone of neat worth and glory. There are many sorts, of sundry colours: some green, some azure, some spotted like panthers. This last stone is for the youngest, Benjamin, on which his name was engraven; is the first stone in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem; Rev. xxi. 19. The glory of the jasper shined in Benjamin's tribe, when the temple of Solomon was builded in Jerusalem, a part of which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and in particular persons, as Ehud, Mordecai, and Esther; but chiefly in the Apostle Paul, who was of this tribe, whose writings are as a goodly jasper, shining among the precious stones of the Scriptures. I have quoted the whole respecting the precious stones, from the truly great, excellent, and learned Mr. Ainsworth.

"Thus the twelve tribes, engraved on twelve precious stones, were like the twelve celestial signs, bright as lamps, and polished in their works like ivory, and shining like sapphires.'

Thus the high-priest was to be arrayed with the ephod, which had on the shoulders of it two onyx stones, whereon were engraven the names of the children of Israel, six on the one, and six on the other, pointing to Christ, as bearing up his church, and this type of it served to remind them that the government of the church was upon Christ's shoulders.

The high-priest was also to have on the breast-plate of judgment, in which were engraven in the four rows of precious stones, three stones in each row, the names of the children of Israel, which pointed out the church as set as a seal upon the heart of Christ.

I am next to speak of the robe of the ephod.

It was made of linen; it was wholly of a blue colour; it was woven from top to bottom; it had no seam in it. It was worn under the ephod. At the neck of it was a large hem, or selvage, to strengthen it; and beneath, at and upon the hem of it, were figures made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, in the form of pomegranates; and, as a Jewish writer says, "they were round and hollow, and made like hen's eggs, about the bigness of them, and of an oval form; and to these were added bells, placed between the pomegranates: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all round the skirts or hem of the robe. The use of the bells were, that the sound of them might be heard when the high-priest ministered before the Lord in the holy place. It might be, that the whole was to represent the intercession of Christ; as, also, the joyful sound of salvation, preached, and published, in the everlasting Gospel, and the abundant blessings bestowed on believers, as the fruits of Christ's intercession.

The next thing to be noticed, is the plate of the holy crown, of pure gold, put on the mitre of the high-priest, with this inscription on it: "Holiness to the Lord;" which some render, "The Holy One of Jehovah."

The mitre was a wrap of linen about the head, of sixteen cubits long, wrapped fold upon fold, and was like a turban on it, in the top of it. It did not come down so low upon the forehead, but left that bare for this crown, or plate of gold, to be put upon it. The high-priest was to have on this plate of gold on the mitre, when he approached the Lord in the holy place. It figured,' says Ainsworth, the mediation of Christ; who by his holiness, which he hath from the Godhead, took away the sins of his people, which they commit in their most holy and religious services. And it was for favourable acceptation. As a sign, that the elect of God are acceptable to him, in the person of Christ; and in his relative personal holiness which is imputed unto them.' And this was graven as a signet, and put upon the forehead of the high-priest, that it might be a visible and perpetual token of God's gracious acceptation, to be seen and read of all the people to their comfort, as also before the Lord, who respecteth his, in the face of Christ.

(To be continued.)

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE. Dear Sir,

THE following letter was lately put into my hands, by the friend to whom it was addressed about sixteen years ago. When I read it, I found it so full of savoury truth that I thought (if you would insert it) it might, under a divine unction, be interesting to the readers of the Spiritual Magazine. I therefore requested his permission to copy it for that purpose. My friend told me concerning the writer of it (his uncle), that when he wrote it he supposed he was not worth a shilling, and that seven years before he was worth thirty thousand pounds! How mysterious are the Lord's dealings with his people, to compel them to live upon himself-drying up the streams, and thereby enhancing the forsaken" fountain of living waters.' Yours, Mr. Editor, very truly,

* B.

ORIGINAL LETTER.

Dear Cousin,

--

London, Oct. 31, 1816.

I SIT down to show you my opinion. It gives me pleasure to hear that you have set out in the way to the kingdom; God give you good speed. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." She is a tree of life to all that take hold of her, has the promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come. This way will be presented to you by the enemy of souls and the men of this world as a melancholy way: but stop,-can that make a child of God unhappy which is the only source of comfort? God's ways are equal, it is my ways are unequal. It is the form without the power that bringeth into bondage. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. When you are in trouble and guilt, and your conscience, with unbelieving fears and the cares of this world distress you,-go not to the world, nor creatures,they will be broken cisterns that can hold no water; go to the Cross of Christ, that dear God-man, who bore your sins in his own body on the tree. Look and look again, till your soul can say "He is altogether lovely." This is the way, walk in it. Walk often to Gethsemane and Calvary, then you will walk comfortably, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Washing in this fountain will make you prove purer than all the waters of Abna and Pharphar. If we are bid to do some great thing should not we do it? Now let us wash and be clean. Let his word be the man of your counsel; cleave to him with purpose of heart.

I that am your elder brother in the kingdom of patience of Jesus Christ; a backslider for above fifty years in the sight of God, now find my backsliding healed, and he loves me freely.

I am borne on his side and dandled on his knees, as one whom his mother comforteth. I that have done as evil as I could,he has blotted out my sins as a cloud, and my iniquities as a thick cloud; bids me return to him, for he has pardoned me. O the length, and breadth, and height of redeeming love! Let: every thing that hath breath praise him, and his saints bless him. I pray that you and I may never be ashamed of that dear Christ nor ashamed of his people.

I this moment hear you are married: give my love to your dear wife. Love her, comfort her, pray with her and for her. Anything that would cool your affections towards her comes from the evil one. Excuse what I say. I know in some measure the depths of satan; he is an enemy to love and peace. I need not bid you to be diligent in business, that religion teaches you, as well as to be fervent in spirit. Wisdom is profitable to direct; if we lack it, we are commanded to ask it of God, who has promised to give it without upbraiding us ;-this is not the way of man. Give my love to F. and M., sisters and brothers, and all friends. Thank God, I am blessed with good health, kind friends, and some thankfulness. * ** And now I commend you all to God, and the word of his grace, who is able to keep you from falling, and build you up in faith and love, and every good work, to glorify him who has bought you.

Ever yours,

FRAGMENT.

J. B.

[FROM THE REV. A. M. TOPLADY.]

On the subject of liberty and necessity, I acknowledge that there is such a thing as free-will in God's reasonable creatures, and I believe every Calvinist upon earth acknowledges the same. The point in dispute between us and the Arminians is, not concerning the existence of free-will, but concerning its powers. That man is naturally endued with will, we never denied; and that man's will is naturally free to what is morally and spiritually evil, we always affirmed. The grand hinge, then, on which the debate turns, is, whether free-will be, or be not, a faculty of such sovereignty and power, as either to ratify, or to baffle, the saving grace of God, according to its, that is, according to the will's own independent pleasure and self-determination? I should imagine, that every man of sense, piety, and reflection, must, at once determine this question in the negative. If some do not, who are nevertheless possessed of those qualifications, I can only stand amazed at the force of that prejudice, which can induce any reasonable and religious person to suppose that divine wisdom is frustrable, and the divine power defeatable, by creatures of yesterday, who are absolutely and constantly dependent on God for their being, and consequently, for the whole of their operations, from moment to moment.

ESSAYS.-No. XCI.

ON CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS.

No. I.

TRUE godliness is the production of the Holy Ghost in the heart of sinners, according to the counsel of God. Every act of Omnipotent grace is an expression of forethought arrangement, and decision in the mind and will of God. He can produce nothing but what is an expression of his own essential goodness and holiness, and the work of his hand is the medium through which he is manifested to his intelligent creatures. The nature of the church, which has from the beginning existed in union with the eternal person of Jehovah, the word, is the centre in which the true God is revealed to man, and where all his at tributes meet and shine in her election, redemption, regeneration, and her certain glorification. To be a true Christian is, then, to be a man in Christ; and to be a man in Christ, is the highest honour that Almighty God has determined to confer upon his chosen seed. Let us then glance at this important fact, for if there is no true Christianity apart from union to the person of Christ, it is truly necessary to search the Scriptures, that we may know what God has said to us in them concerning it.

Now the church of God is in Christ in more senses than one; but, in the present paper, we shall confine ourselves to a brief examination of her union to the Lord, in the manner following, viz. federally, representatively, and vitally. He that is not in Christ, the head of the church, had no connection with him in his incarnation, when he acted as the surety and substitute of his brethren under law, and he never will be incorporated by the Holy Ghost with the heirs of grace on earth.

Federal union to the person of the Son of God is of eternal date, for the purpose of God, which had no commencement, rendered it necessary that Christ and his seed should exist. Not that the human nature of the Son of God is eternal, for such a supposition is a gross absurdity; but the eternal choice of that very individuum of human kind to be formed in union with his unbigotted eternal person, is the formal reason of the relationship which God has by grace founded in his Son; and as he, the head, and the saints, who are his members, were chosen together, the love of God is the bond that unites all the parties together. This absolute choice of Christ and his seed, is the root of all the sanctity that is comprehended in his person, and assigned by covenant to the heirs of grace. God first, by an act of his gracious will, constitutes a relationship of a heaVOL. IX.-No. 105.]

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