corruptible crown," "a crown of glory that fadeth not away." In the case of the disciples, whom our Lord was addressing in the chapter before us, in immediate reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, we see the importance of watchfulness; a fierce invading army, it was predicted, should besiege the city in which they dwelt; destruction was to overtake that devoted place; their only hope of escape was by timely vigilance; by keeping in constant remembrance the warning prophecy which had been given them, and preparing for their escape at the first moment of alarm. And is watchfulness less necessary in reference to an infinitely more awful day; that day when our eternal condition shall be irrevocably decided, and when we shall receive the award either of never-ending happiness or never-ending misery? Yet, while men will watch with sleepless vigilance where their worldly interest is concerned; how little do they think of devoting their attention to making their calling and election sure;" to obtaining the pardon of their sins freely offered to them in virtue of the obedience unto death of Christ; to enjoying true peace of conscience, grounded on faith in the Saviour, and acceptance with God through him; to walking in the light of God's countenance upon earth, regenerated, sanctified,and supported by his Holy Spirit, and at length to becoming partakers of his everlasting glory in heaven! But, surely, if any thing be worth an effort or a wish, it is to seeure blessings like these, in comparison with which all earthly pursuits are less than nothing and vanity.

2. But, secondly, the necessity of watchfulness will appear, not only from the magnitude of the stake at issue, but from the danger of losing it. The prize of eternal glory, though freely bestowed, not on account of human merit, but as the gift of God through Jesus Christ, is not the reward of the careless, the indifferent, the Christian merely

in name and profession. We have a race which we must run; a warfare which we must wage; and watchfulness is needful that we lose not the prize. Consider the dangers which assail us in our path to heaven. Have we not at all times an enemy who goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; and ought we not therefore to be vigilantly on our guard against his devices? Does not the world also present its ever-varying temptations; and, what is worse than all, are not our own hearts treacherous and prone to evil; so that if no other danger were nigh, we should still be in constant peril from our own innate corruptions? But there is yet another reason for watchfulness, which is particularly dwelt upon by our Lord in the chapter before us, and in various other places; namely, the uncertainty of the time of the day of judgment, or, what in our own particular case, amounts to the same, of the hour of our death. "Take ye heed," says he, "watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh; at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morn◄ ing; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." In the corresponding chapter in St. Matthew, our Lord dwells upon this point still more largely. "As the days of Noe," says he, "so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For, as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drink. ing, marrying, and giving in mar riage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not till the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be." Our Lord further illustrates the subject by the comparison of a man who would have

been upon his guard, had he known at what hour the thief would have broken into his house; and again by the comparison of a servant, whose lord had left him in a responsible station, while he went on a journey, but who, not knowing the hour of his return, abuses his confidence, till the Lord of that servant cometh in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites." What striking representations are these of our present condition, and how forcibly should they urge us to the great duty of constant watchfulness!

IV. The necessity of watchfulness being thus proved, we proceed, in the last place, to give some directions for the due discharge of the duty, in reply to the inquiry, How must we watch?-We must watch then as feeling the great importance of circumspection; but not to the neglect of other means of spiritual stability. Sensible of our own weakness, to watchfulness we must unite constant prayer for the blessing of God, who alone can grant us good desires, or holy resolutions, or an obedient life. By his arm must we be supported; and looking up to him we cannot fall. We must further diligently study his word, that we may know what are our dangers, and how we may obtain deliverance from them. We must exercise self-examination, in order to learn what are those particular sins and infirmities to which we are most strongly inclined, and where we are most likely to be overtaken by temptation. If a traveller had frequently mistaken his way at a particular part of his journey, where the track was more than usually intricate; or if he knew by fatal experience some dangerous spot where he had often been attacked by robbers and been plundered of his property, and with difficulty escaped with his life; how watchful would he be not to ven

ture unnecessarily near the scene of peril, or if he had occasion to pass it, not to be off his guard at the moment of danger. And thus should the Christian traveller watch in reference to the sins that most easily beset him. He should be especially prepared against the particular temptations most incidental to his age, his natural disposition, and his station in society. He should place, as it were, a barrier at every inlet to evil. He must shut his ears to all unchristian and corrupting conversation; he must pray that God would turn away his eyes from beholding vanity; he must shun the book, the scene, or the company which would cause him to err from the path of holiness and obedience to God. And while he thus watches against the entrance of the enemy from without, he must guard, if possible, with still greater vigilance against the enemy within. He must "keep his heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." True conversion of the heart to God, is the necessary foundation of all Christian virtues. He must also guard his lips that they corrupt not both himself and others; according to the holy resolution of the Psalmist, "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue" "I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress." He must put a constant guard also upon his actions, remembering ever, “Thou, O God, seest me; "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." And especially he must cultivate habitual communion with God. He must be strong in the strength of his Saviour, animated by his love, guided by his example, and sanctified by his Spirit. Thus will he be found habitually prepared for death, and judgment, and eternity: the Son of man, come when he may, will find him waiting for his advent, and will welcome him with those blessed words, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

TotheEditorofthe Christian Observer. I BEG to offer a remark or two upon the criticism of your correspondent G. K., in your last Number, on Ephes. i. ii.

There can be no doubt that the paragraph begins, as he states, at the fifteenth verse of the first chapter, and ends with the tenth of the second. The argument of the Apostle sufficiently establishes this point; and in Knapp's edition of the New Testament, (ed. 3, published at Halle, 1824,) it is so distinguished from the context. But I cannot think that either the import of the paragraph or the construction of the twentieth verse favours the view which he has taken of the passage.

With regard to the latter, it may be urged, that the aorist indicative ékáblov is used for the participle Kalioa by an idiom of the Hebrew language, which not unfrequently expresses by a participle and verb, the sense of two participles-thus, in 1 Sam. ii. 5, we have by

properly rendered in our version: "He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up."

A construction not unlike this is used in the Epistle to the Hebrews, viii. 10 : διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αύτων, και έπι καρδιας αύτων ¿Tιypá↓w avтous, where the Apostle deviates from the original passage in Jeremiah. Probably an attentive examination of his writings would supply further instances of this peculiarity of idiom.

The import of the passage I take to be as follows. Having expressed his earnest desire that the Ephesian Church might be led to a still greater acquaintance with the riches of the Gospel and power of God than they had hitherto experienced, the Apostle adduces a twofold illustration of that power; namely, the resurrection of Christ from the grave, and the spiritual resurrection of believers from a death in trespasses and sins.

Upon each of these thoughts he dilates in his usual manner, seeming for a while to break the thread of his argument; but he returns to it after he has given vent to the warmth of his feelings, and embodied those vivid conceptions of the grace and goodness of God which the subject had suggested to his mind. Thus, in the 20th verse, having occasion to allude to the resurrection of Christ, he pursues and expatiates upon the glorious subject, describing in glowing terms the consequences of that great event, the mention of which, though not essentially necessary, could not fail to impart a greater degree of force to his illustration: this and the succeeding verses are therefore to be considered rather as an amplification than a parenthesis. In the beginning of the second chapter he returns to his subject, intending to advert to the change which they had undergone, as a further instance of the power of God. Struck, however, with the thought, that this although a surprising proof of the point in question, fell far below the reality, inasmuch as they all, both Jews and Gentiles, had been children of wrath, he again diverges from his immediate topic, and enlarges upon it in such a manner as to take in the whole of the case. When, therefore, he returns to his argument in the fifth verse, he adopts the pronoun of the first instead of the second person, intending thereby to include both Jews and Gentiles in his remark και ὄντας ήμας νεκροὺς τοὺς παραπτώμασι συνεζωοποίησε τω xplorw. I cannot therefore but think that our translators are correct in pointing out a connexion between the first and fifth verses, and that, if any alteration be required, it is only that the compound verb should have been supplied, instead of the simple, in order to mark it with still greater precision.

A. O.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer.

I BEG leave to lay before your readers, as illustrative of the practices of the papal kingdoms, a series of detached extracts from a work entitled "Rome in the Nineteenth Century," and which well deserves the attention of Protestant readers. . Its writer tells, it is true, a thousandtimes-repeated tale; but it is here related with considerable spirit and graphic effect. I wish it could be added, that the work merited the far higher commendation of describing the mummeries and superstitions of that corrupt church, with feelings of compassion and sorrow. But this is not the case. There is throughout its pages too much of the spirit of irony and satire; and in some pas sages, the reader is offended with indications of levity inconsistent with the profession of a purer faith; and, I regret to add, not entirely suitable to the station and sex of the writer. With these large deductions from her claims to unreserved approbation, Miss has still made an honourable addition to the elegant literature of her country. As a traveller and an observer, wandering among the basilicæ, galleries, and ruins of Italy, she creates and sustains an interest far superior to that produced by Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Eustace; and her exposures of ecclesiastical imbecility, profaneness, and fraud, are a complete refutation of the last-named gentleman's indirect apologies for his church. The following passages appear to me among those most likely to interest and inform your readers,

J.

"Rome, 1817-18.

"In our impatience to secure places for the first Miserere in the Sistine chapel, we went at three o'clock, and sat waiting nearly an hour and half before the service commenced. Even at that hour,

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 282.

however, the gentlemen had difficulty enough in finding standing room; so great was the pressure in the confined space allotted to them. Many were unable to get in from want of room; and many were turned back, from going in boots or trowsers, instead of silk stockings; for no man may attend this service of religion and penitence, unless he be dressed as if going to a ball; and if he has any description of military uniform, it is highly expedient for him to wear it. When at last the service did commence, nothing could exceed my disappointment. It was in no degree superior to the most ordinary chant of a Catholic church; and, finding nothing in it to occupy me, I amused myself with watching the ill-concealed drowsiness of many of the cardinals, who, having just risen from dinner, seemed to have the greatest difficulty in refraining from taking their customary siesta. Though broad day-light there was a row of candles of mourning wax, (of a dark brown, or purple colour,) ranged upon the top of our grate; the utility of which was not very apparent; as they were extinguished before it grew dark.

There were also fifteen similar mourning candles erected on high beside the altar; which, I was given to understand, represented the Apostles and the three Maries, rising gradually in height to the central one, which was the Virgin. As the service proceeded, they were put out one by one, to typify the falling off of the Apostles in the hour of trial; so that at last they were all extinguished, except the Virgin Mary, who was not under the altar. The shadows of evening had now closed in; and we should have been left almost in total darkness, but for the dull red glare which proceeded from the hidden lights of the unseen choristers, and which, mingling with the deepening twilight,produced a most melancholy gloom. 2 Z

After a deep and most impressive pause of silence, the solemn Miserere commenced; and never by mortal ear was heard a strain of such powerful, such heart-moving pathos. The accordant tones of a hundred human voices-and one which seemed more than human ascended together to heaven for mercy to mankind-for pardon to a guilty and sinning world. It had nothing in it of this earth-nothing that breathed the ordinary feelings of our nature. It seemed as if every sense and power had been concen. tered into that plaintive expression of lamentation, of deep suffering and supplication, which possessed the soul. It was the strain that disembodied spirits might have used, who had just passed the boundaries of death; and sought release from the mysterious weight of woe, and the tremblings of mortal agony that they had suffered in the passage of the grave. It was the music of another state of being. It lasted till the shadows of evening fell deeper, and the red dusky glare, as it issued stronger from the concealed recess whence the singing proceeded, shed a partial, but strong, light upon the figures near it. It ceased a priest with a light moved across the chapel, and carried a book to the officiating cardinal, who read a few words in an awful and impressive tone. Then, again, the light disappeared; and the last, the most entrancing, harmony arose, in a strain that might have moved heaven itself a deeper, more pathetic, sound of lamentation than mortal voices ever breathed. Its effect upon the minds of those who heard it was almost too all-powerful to be borne, and never-never can be forgotten. One gentleman fainted, and was carried out; and many of the ladies near me were in agitation even more distressing, which they vainly struggled to suppress. It was the music of Allegri; but the composition, however fine, is nothing without the voices which perform it here. It is only the sing

ers of the papal chapel who can execute the Miserere. It has been tried by the best singers in Germany, and totally failed of effect. There is never any accompaniment; though at times the solemn swell of the softened organ seemed to blend with their voices. This music is more wonderful, and its effect more powerful, than any thing I could have conceived. At its termination, some loud strokes, that reverberated through the chapel, and are intended, I was told, to represent the vail of the Temple being rent in twain, closed the service."

"On the morning of Good Friday we resumed our labours by going to the Sistine chapel. About ten o'clock the pope appeared; and after a long service, the crucifix over the altar, which had been covered up all the week with a violet or purple-coloured cloth, (which is the mourning of crosses and cardinals here,) was uncovered. This is called the discovery of the cross; and then, after a great deal of fuss and mummery, it is laid on a napkin on a stand before the altar, and after some chanting, and much loss of time, the pope comes to it, kneels to it, prays, or seems to pray, over it, and goes away; and all the cardinals come, one by one, and do the same. And this is called the Adoration of the Cross. Then they all set off upon the usual procession to the Paulina chapel; the only difference being, that the pope walks without any canopy over him, and uncovered. The doors of the Paulina chapel were closed upon them, and what they did there I do not know; only I understand, their business was to take up the Host which they had deposited in the sepulchre yesterday. Certain it is, they came back just as they went, except that the pope wore his mitre. As soon as this was over,without waiting for the long mass which was to follow, I went to the service of the Tre Ore, the three hours of agony of Christ upon the cross, which lasts from twelve to three. It is a complete