guage of St. Paul together, unconfutable as they both are in themselves, may any argument of comfort, notwithstanding, be derived from them? (I say of comfort, by reason of its being of a tendency to prove the Scriptures true.) If we will give our common sense fair play, it will, I think, convince us that there is.

§ 1. For, first, with respect to our Saviour's question, "When the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?" Surely, when we come to think about it, it must appear a very strange question for any one to have proposed, who meant to do as Jesus Christ did, unless he had been quite sure of things to come, from knowledge more than human? Why, at the very time that he proposed this melancholy question, he knew that he should rise from the dead! Might he not well have thought that, after that, all men would believe on him, and that, for all time to come? Must he not have thought so, if he had only been directed by a human knowledge, and a human wisdom? And yet, so far from expecting any thing of the sort, he here even declares a persuasion, that the faith of most of his disciples would have grown cold, within no longer a time than from his resurrection to the destruction of Jerusalem-a space of about forty years! and that, too, in his own land; the very land in which his miracles had all been wrought, and in the midst of which he had thus risen from the dead! What human foresight would have seen this? No, no: there is much more in this question and misgiving of our Lord than can in any way be rationally accounted for, on any other supposition than that he had a real knowledge of the things to come, and the fulness of Divine wisdom! And the more this is fairly thought upon, the more forcibly it will be felt.

§ 2. And the same sort of argument is not less clear or strong, from the description given by St. Paul to Timothy.

What was the Apostle's condition when he wrote this? He was now ready to be offered;" that is, to

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undergo a cruel death, in proof of his sincere belief in Christ Jesus. His own mind, therefore, was made up; so that his anxiety was not for himself, but for the cause of the Gospel after him, for which he was about to lay down his life.

This being the case, what is the method which he takes to encourage his favourite disciple to perseverance in the faith? Suppose him to have had no other expectations, and no surer grounds of knowledge, than such only as proceeded from his own mind, can any reasonable person think he would have written as he did to Timothy, in such circumstances? His obvious interest was, to make the best of matters; to promise smooth things after his departure; to urge that men would soon leave off persecuting the teachers of the truth; that they would come to be disciples of the truth themselves, and that would make them every thing which Christians ought to be; at any rate, it was his wisdom to keep more glaring disappointments out of sight. Only consider. Was it not his object to instruct, convert, reform the world? When does mere human wisdom prompt a man, with such an object, to say to those who should come after him to keep up the same work, that notwithstanding all their pains, things would grow worse and worse, and every shape of evil still continue to abound, in spite of all their lessons, plans, and powers of persuasion!

Yet this is what St. Paul does. "Evil men and seducers, (he says,) shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived:" and he goes on to tell of things to happen in the latter days, precisely of the kind to drive mere human hopes and feelings to despair. For, is not this the way in which a cold or insincere, or even doubting mind would have been led to argue with itself on such a prospect set before it? "If this is to be all the fruit produced by preaching of the Gospel, that its disciples shall fall off to be such persons as are here described, and do all sorts of shameful things, why should I suffer persecution for so poor an

end? Is it not much better to leave things as now they are? Nay, may I not, by only now forbearing to promote its doctrines further, cut off a monstrous mass of future evil, which I am confidently told shall follow it?"

What, therefore, could have moved this great Apostle (whose writings at the least shew that he could reason soundly,) thus to reveal beforehand such a picture of the times to come, except a wisdom and a knowledge not of man?

Now, then, that my own portion of these latter days is come, and forces me to see how mournfully his words are still proved true, what shall I think of them? I grant such things are any thing but what we should have naturally looked for under the Gospel; but here we see its first teachers plainly aware how matters would turn out, and telling their disciples so, in circumstances under which any mere man, or any impostor, must needs have thought it death to his own cause, even to hint at such calamities ;-how is this to be understood?

If I look to the ways of men, I am not left without experience upon such a point. What is it that I see and hear mere human promisers-foretelling and maintaining as the end of people's following their opinions? They promise nothing but complete success. "Only take our advice," they say, "and follow our plans, and all will be right." This is the language of them all.

But do they know the end of the matter, as our Lord and his apostles evidently did? No. "Let them show the things that are to come hereafter," with as much. honesty and truth as those in whom we now believe did, that we may know they have authority from God: (compare Isa. xli. 23.) meanwhile, severe as my trial may become, from seeing such things on the earth, as now I do see, it shall remain at least my own purpose, and my own prayer, that the Son of Man may never find ME faithless, but believing!

CHEAP COOKERY.

THE following receipts have been printed at Kettering, in the form of hand-bills, for circulation. Some of them have already appeared in our pages. They have been sent to us by a 66 Constant Reader."

No. I.

No. 1. Two pounds of beef, four onions, ten turnips, half a pound of rice, a large handful of parsley, thyme, and savory, some pepper and salt, and eight quarts of water. Cut the beef in slices, and, after it has boiled some time, cut it still smaller. The whole should boil gently about two hours on a slow fire. If fuel be scarce, it may be stewed all night in an oven, and warmed up next day. You may add oatmeal and potatoes.

No. 2. Half a pound of beef, mutton, or pork, cut into small pieces, half a pint of peas, four sliced turnips, six potatoes, cut very small, two onions, and seven pints of water. Let the whole boil gently, over a very slow fire, two hours and a half; thicken it with a quarter of a pound of oatmeal. After the oatmeal is put in, boil it a quarter of an hour, stirring it all the time; then season it with salt and pepper.

No. 3. Take two pounds of salt beef or pork; cut it into very small bits, and put it into a pot with six quarts of water, letting it boil on a slow fire for three quarters of an hour; then put a few carrots, parsnips or turnips, all cut small, or a few potatoes sliced, a cabbage, and a few cresses; thicken the whole with a pint of oatmeal. All these to be well seasoned with salt and pepper.

No. 4. If a large quantity is wanted, take an ox cheek, two pecks of potatoes, a quarter of a peck of onions, one ounce of pepper, half a pound of salt, boiled together in ninety pints of water till it is reduced to sixty; any garden-stuff may be thrown in. A pint of soup

and a bit of meat is a dinner for a grown person.When not made for sale, the quantities must be lessened in proportion to the number of the family.

N.B. The difference between eating bread new and stale is one loaf in five. Meat made into broth goes much farther than when it is roasted or baked.

No. 5. Take two gallons and a half of water, a quart of split peas, first soaked in cold water for twentyfour hours, two pounds of potatoes that have been well boiled the day before, skinned and mashed, herbs, salt, pepper, and two onions; boil them very gently for five hours, covering all close up to allow as little steam from it as may be. Set it to cool. It will produce rather more than two gallons of soup, and, if well made, there will be no settling, but the whole will be mixed together when warmed up for use.

No. 6. Two quarts of skim milk, half a pound of rice, and two ounces of treacle. These, either baked or boiled, will make four pounds of pudding.

No. 7. Boil a quarter of a pound of rice till soft, put it on the back of a sieve to drain, and, when cold, mix it with three quarters of a pound of flour, a teacup full of milk, and a small table-spoonful of salt. Let it stand three hours, then knead it up, and roll it in a handful of flour, to make the outside dry enough to put into the oven. Let it bake about an hour and a quarter; it will produce about one pound fourteen ounces of good bread. It should not be eaten till it is two days old. Stewed down with bacon and seasoning, or with meat and cheese, it will make a cheap, palatable, and nourishing dish.

N.B. Carolina rice bakes well without preparation; East India rice boils and stews well, but for baking it should be soaked a day or two in cold water.

No. 8. Bran boiled in water, the liquor strained from it, and used to knead flour, instead of plain water, will make it go much farther. The bran may be used for any purpose after it has been boiled. The pro