in it by the Ishmaelite merchants already noticed, and to the corroborating fact of Jacob having sent a present of it to his son Joseph, as a product of the land of Canaan; by which it may be presumed that it had not then acquired any growth in Egypt, A. M. 2287, A. c. 1707; see Gen. xliii. 11, "a little balm," &c.

Sir W. Raleigh, vol i. p. 217, states this kind of balm to have grown at Engedè, in the gardens of Balsamum, the best which was then in the world; that Cleopatra removed the greatest part of these shrubs from Judea; and that Herod, who either feared or hated her husband Antony, caused them to be rooted up, and presented to her; and that she planted them near to Heliopolis in Egypt.

Dr.Pococke follows this tradition, adding, that still they may have been neglected in their cultivation there, or have been destroyed by some accident, or transplanted into Arabia Felix, the native country of Mahomet. Vol. ii. p. 32.

However, Savary, in 1777, found them at the small village of Mataree near Heliopolis, otherwise called Ainshams, fountain of the Sun, because it had a fresh waterspring, and the only one in Egypt; wherein it was said that the Holy Family in their flight from Herod went, and that the Virgin bathed her infant Jesus; and he adds, that "in this village there was an enclosure wherein slips of this balsam-tree, brought from Mecca, were cultivated, and from which, when cut like the vine, precious drops were caught, well known in pharmacy, and with which the Eastern women used to give freshness to their complexion, and to fortify their stomachs."

The leaves are like those of rue. Belon, who saw them when he was at Grand Cairo, enumerated nine to be the plants known by the name of Xyllo Balsamum, or Balm of Gilead, which the caravans brought from Mecca; they were aromatic, having a scent similar to that of cardamomum. This precious plant is lost to Egypt, where the pachas do not stay long enough to think of any thing but the interest of the moment. It was not to be found when Maillet was consul at Grand Cairo, and at the time Savary wrote, 1777, he says it was scarcely remembered. Vol. i. p. 127.

It is unnecessary to dwell further on this interesting detail, than to conclude that this Balm or Balsam of Gilead, now so prevalent, was one of the earliest sanative plants in the promised land of Canaan, when it was first divided in allotments to the children of Israel, after Joshua's investment of that country, A. M. 2553, a. c. 1447, which

ON THE UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

THE question respecting the union between the church and state, though undoubtedly in some points of view of much real importance, is not of a plain, practical character, in the determination of which, individual salvation is concerned: it appears to involve considerations which demand uncommon acumen and very extensive knowledge. Its thorough investigation would require a mind feeling itself simply the servant of the Lord Christ, capable of rising above all times and circumstances, and possessed of knowledge sufficient to enable it to take a clear view of the subject, in all its bearings on the past; and with a holy sagacity and discernment, competent to the consideration of the present signs of the times, and of the opening prospects of the church.

Controversy on this and kindred subjects hitherto, has had so large an infusion of bitterness, that holy and peaceable Christians have refrained from mooting them, and trembled to see others do so; otherwise, liberal discussion might by this time have been the means of diffusing more light. But the time, I trust, is approaching, when Christians may, without the hazard of irritation, meet each other; and freely discuss every point connected with the interests of the church of Christ.

With considerable diffidence, and with all proper deference to the good and the great who hold opinions on either hand, I present the following thoughts, under a hope that they may be calculated to stimulate others, better prepared, to render the church a service in the investigation of the question.

In principle, the two jurisdictions do not appear to me to be separable; but that they are essentially, and must finally be, one: there are but two principles of government in the universe,-the divine, and the satanic. A government perfectly good, would be vice-divine, ruling in the name of the Prince of the kings of the earth, who is head over all things to the church, with undivided authority over the state, whether considered as ecclesiastical or civil. I confess I have a strong suspicion that those who have pre

sented themselves as the opponents of the union of church and state, have had but very indistinct and inadequate views of the whole case. They seem to argue as though the difference between church and state were precisely the same as between the church and a heathenish worldly government. But if it were so, it would be the vainest of all expectations that such a state should, on the ground of equity, grant protection to the church. The decree which has said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed," must be repealed, before the world can acknowledge the church, as such, to be worthy of its protection. God ruleth over all, and he knoweth how to turn man from his purpose, and to cause circumstances to arise and concur, to render it expedient for the men of the world to protect the flock of Christ, or assuredly the carnal mind, which is enmity against God, and naturally hates the reign of Christ, and abhors his image, would never tolerate a Christian. Had it been left to its proper operation, the sons of God would long ago have been exterminated from the globe. But for the elect's sake, days of persecution have been shortened, and, under the marvellous providence of the all-wise God, circumstances have combined, and institutions have been formed, which, under the direction of the divine Spirit, have occasioned its preservation to the present day. And by that providence it is, that in this country, not only has Christianity come to be acknowledged as the religion of the state, and the Bible to be fundamental to its laws; but many of its princes and statesmen have been eminently the servants of Christ. By the divine over-rulings also, it has come to pass, that the people of Christ have attained to such political importance, that even the government and constitution are brought to be dependent upon the inviolable preservation of religious freedom.

In this state of things, it appears to be the plain duty of Christians to labour and pray that the government and the nation may become entirely Christian. In that event, there would, I conceive, be no distinction between church and state. The state or the nation would be a church, or (not to differ about a word) a combination of churches. There are no duties incumbent on a man, as a member of the state, whatever may be his post, but what has its foundation in religion, and is a christian duty. It cannot therefore, I apprehend, be correct to argue as though the difference between the church and the state is of an essential character, as the case stands between the church and the world.

The apostle speaks, in the first epistle to the Corinthians, of Christian churches hav→ ing judgment of things pertaining to this life, so that they ought to keep the admi. nistration of civil affairs entirely within themselves. This I conceive amounts to a recognition of the church as an incipient state: and in fact the Christian churches in the midst of the Roman empire were distinct states; except that, from the necessity of the case, they were tributary to the heathen supreme government. It was therefore that they had no judgments with regard to those who were without, who were consequently left to the providential or miraculous judgments of Almighty God.

When in Jerusalem "the multitude of them that believed" had all things common, the church became in a great degree a civil commonwealth, as well as a church; and, to ease themselves in the government of temporal affairs, the apostles had deacons appointed, whose office neither necessarily included nor excluded the ministry of the word. In this state of things they certainly did not divest themselves of a paramount superintendence? there must have been a final appeal to them in all things. And when we consider the horribly disorganized state of society in Jerusalem, from this time to the day of its overthrow,- that the Christians were a proscribed sect, and that they could hope for very little protection from the Roman governors; recollecting also that there were frequently assembled in that city many myriads of them that believed, all looking up to James as a ruler-it is a matter of no strained inference, it inevitably follows, that he and his successors must have been in a great measure civil governors as well as ministers of the gospel. (To be continued.)

STRICTURES ON CONTENTMENT. MR. EDITOR. SIR.I have for some years been a wellpleased reader of your instructive pages, Perusing, however, the piece on Contentment, in your number for December last, I felt myself greatly disappointed. Having long been a disciple of sorrow, and a subject of continued trial, and not being yet able to "school myself into contentment" under the hard lessons exhibited on each hand; whenever a fresh work falls within my notice, my eye naturally fastens on any article in its index, that appears adapted to my circumstances. I therefore turned instinctively to the piece in question, hoping and expecting to receive another heaven-derived precept, in addition to those already drawn

from the Word of Truth; for I am free to acknowledge, that however well, in theory, I may be acquainted with the grand rules for contentment which that word holds forth, yet, to reduce them into practice, I as much stand in need of "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little," as ever untoward Ephraim did. Judge then of my disappointment, when, to the exclusion of motives drawn from the word of God, (for none of these are named,) I was taught to aim at, and to expect contentment even "under the severest disappointments and greatest crosses in life," from the mere exercise of unassisted reason! Indeed, sir, I esteem the noble faculty of reason as much almost perhaps as your respected correspondent I. L., and fully join with him in some of his sentiments and inferences; but ah, thought I, as every man is born to trouble, and therefore I. L. himself must have been initiated into a few of the commoner and easier lessons of sorrow's school, yet has he never been "taught by the briers and thorns" of the wilderness, the painful secrets of its upper forms. He has never yet experienced Israel's feelings, when he saw mountains on each hand, the sea before, and the enemy close behind; nor Jehosaphat's, when he exclaimed," We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do;" nor those of the Psalmist, when he said, "all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me," or he would have been obliged to lay aside reasoning for a time, (not to have discarded it,) and directly to have applied himself to the same glorious source, the same "strong hold in the day of trouble,' as these tried servants of God sought unto: or at least, if he still continued to reason, (for the ruling passion operates strongly in some minds,) his axioms and inferences would have been derived from the animating principles of the word of God, and not from those of cold heartless philosophy.

Although I venerate reason in its place, and would let it act with all its energies; yet I know, that when the heart is overwhelmed within us, it must have a far higher and more stable Rock to resort to for safety and repose, than the highest pinnacle its most elevated eminence affords. Moreover, there are cases, where, although the judgment and conscience fully allow and duly appreciate the claims of reason, yet are they altogether found far too feeble to stem the mighty torrent of wo that threatens to sweep away every earthly hope and prospect of the agonized individual concerned. The only reasoning likely to avail in such circumstances is not that which merely strives from

human motives "to overcome the affections of the mind, and to establish a habit of patient endurance," but that superior order of it, which, taking higher ground, rests all its strivings and actings on the statements, views, encouragements, and prospects, which the Bible holds forth. Supported by the power which revelation thus affords, reason may exercise her energies with some hope of success; but without that divine aid which the Holy Spirit communicates, all its efforts will be rendered ineffectual.

To view the Lord as a Sovereign, who has an undoubted right to do what he will with his own, Jer. xviii. 6.—as a Father, who chastens us for our profit-a sympathizing Redeemer, who is touched with a feeling of our sorrows and infirmities, Heb. xii. 5, 6, 7. iv. 15, &c.-imparts more peace to the agonized heart, induces more control over the rebellious will, than all the abstract reasoning of which the most mighty mind is capable. Alas, alas! we are compelled to see that even the common afflictions, and lesser "disappointments and crosses in life," do not always give way to the reasonings of the well-constructed mind. The subjects of them have remained unhap→ py notwithstanding-and we have been obliged to notice persons, of whom we could not entertain a doubt as to the strength of their reasoning powers, nor of their duly exercising of them, who yet, not having the Only Refuge before their eyes, have, under the pressure of the "greater and severer calamities of life," made shipwreck of reason and hope, and finally put a period to their own earthly existence.

"An uniform complacency," it is said, "will beget that strength of intellect essential to the task of obliging ourselves to be

contented." True; but is it in the compass of human power only, to impart that "complacency" to the mind tortured with ten thousand cares, and groaning under accumulated and accumulating loads of sorrow? Let the above-alluded-to unhappy instances reply. They being dead, yet speak, and most loudly answer, "No!" Real "complacency" must and can arise from that source only, which the prophet Isaiah points out in xxvi. 3. "Amidst the dashing and conflicting of the surrounding waves, let the still small voice whisper to the heart such passages as these, Ps. 1. 15. lv. 22. Isaiah xliii. 2. Matt. xi. 28, &c. &c.; then if the billows do not instantly subside, they at once lose all their terrors-but it is not unfrequently found that they do subside, and that "immediately there is a great calm." Jan. 19, 1827.

JABEZ.

STRICTURES ON J. G.'S EXCLUSION OF THE

HEATHEN FROM SALVATION.

MR. EDITOR.

SIR,-Your correspondent J. G. of Elgin, has, in your number for March, occupied a considerable portion of your columns, in attempting to prove the impossibility of the salvation of those of the unhappy posterity of fallen Adam, who, having never heard of a crucified Saviour, cannot exercise faith in his great atonement for sin; nor consequently (as he supposes) become entitled to the spiritual and eternal benefits flowing to believers in Christ, by virtue of his redeeming grace, and the influence of the Holy Spirit of God upon their hearts.*

I am not disposed, sir, to depreciate the talent your correspondent has displayed in this charitable scheme, of excluding such a vast majority of the human race from the possibility of eternal salvation; or to deny the ingenuity with which he has pressed the attributes of Deity into the same ungracious service; but I must confess, I am disposed to quarrel with most of his arguments, and entirely to reject his conclusions: and, as the case is interesting, I must solicit the indulgence of a little space in your valuable columns, while I endeavour, briefly, both to point out some palpable defects in the proofs adduced by J. G. in support of his hypothesis; aud to advance a few reasons for embracing a contrary opinion.

In the first place, J. G. appears to take it for granted, that because our Lord has made faith in himself the sole medium of salvation to all that hear the sound of the gospel, so he has extended that condition to those also who have never heard of his name. And again, J. G. assumes as facts of divine revelation, that as without perfect holiness no man shall be saved, so this holiness can be obtained only through the knowledge of, and faith in, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of his arguments (if

such they may be called) in support of these assumptions, are as follow:

"The scriptures, in their general tenor, invariably connect salvation with the knowledge of Christ, and faith in him. There is not the slightest intimation given throughout the whole Bible, of a single individual being saved, without the efficacy of that grace which a knowledge of Christianity, and faith in Christ, impart.

"To suppose that a sinner can be saved in a state of heathenism, is the same as to suppose that he can be saved without the aids of the Holy Spirit; or that the Holy Spirit works savingly in the hearts of sinners in some other way than through means of the truth as it is in Jesus: either of which suppositions appears to be quite repugnant to every precept of the Bible, and to be quite derogatory to the character of God, the character of Christ, and the character of the Holy Spirit. To maintain that the heathen, as such, are the objects of salvation, is to maintain that they are led to heaven blindfolded, without so much as knowing there is such a place, or that they were on the way thither a mode of procedure this, which we cannot reasonably believe to be ever employed by God, in his dealings with his rational creatures."

Now, sir, the preceding quotations contain, in my opinion, several very exceptionable positions; for although I grant, that no individual can be saved, without the efficacy of that grace, which a knowledge of Christianity and faith in Christ impart; yet it is not true, and it never was true, that "the efficacy of that grace" is limited to that knowledge, or to that faith. If this were so, then, not merely the whole body of ancient as well as modern heathens, but every pious JEW under the Mosaical institution; and almost every upright THEIST of the Patriarchal dispensation, from righteous Abel down to patient Job, and including the regal and sacerdotal Melchizedeck

is an unjustifiable intrusion on the secret counsels of the Most High; in which his own culpability is completely involved. The business, however, of my reply is to shew, 1st, that the scriptures are not silent upon the subject; and, 2dly, that they decide in favour of the salvability of upright heathens, accord

dispensation; while I cordially admit the vast superiority of the Christian dispensation over both the Jewish and patriarchal, of which latter the ancient and modern heathen were the legitimate successors. A man, or a nation, may assuredly drink of a stream, whose fountain is concealed from their view; so also may hea thens derive salvation from the merits of a Saviour, whom they will never know till they see him in glory!

out that faith, when they could not possibly hear of the Saviour's name.

But, sir, that heathens ever have been salvable by obedience to "the law of nature," written on their hearts by the Holy Spirit, without faith in Christ, is clearly manifest from the express declaration of the great apostle of the Gentiles-"For these (saith he) shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness”—(to its truth and purity.) Rom. ii. 14, 15. And hence the same Spirit testifies that "in every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him," Acts x. 35. Now, the common principles of equity assure us that an upright heathen must be thus accepted, according to the degree of light, faith, and consequent holiness, he hath; and not according to that he hath not. Hence also the scriptures tell us, that there are gradations in the scale of eternal glory; even as one star differeth from another star in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead," 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42. The upright and saved heathen will rank lower than the perfect Jew; though both were alike ignorant of the gospel plan of salvation by faith; while the perfect Christian far outshines them both in the kingdom of glory. In the two former cases, the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ' secretly operates in the hearts of its obedient subjects, who feel the influx of its hallowing power, without discerning the sacred fountain from whence it springs; but in the latter case, "the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ;" while its happier subject is "changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord," 2 Cor. iii. 18. iv. 6. Hence it is most clear and true, that although "faith in Christ" is ordained of God as the grand and direct medium of salvation under the Christian dispensation, yet both Jews and heathens ever were salvable by grace, with

"The mystery, which hath been hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to his saints-which is Christ in you the hope of glory," &c. Col. i. 26, 27. And again, "The mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men," &c. Ephes. iii. 4, 5. I grant that Abraham had

As to the objection here started by J. G. that "heathens, as such, must be led to heaven blindfolded," &c. I think it weak and puerile; more or less this will be also the case, with the most perfect. Christians; for they must walk to the verge of eternity,

not until the glories of the invisible world will burst upon their beatified spirits, when divested of the shackles of mortality, that even their eyes will clearly see, or their hearts fully conceive, the " things which God hath prepared for them that love (and obey) him," in every age and country. And surely infants are led to heaven as much blindfolded as the heathen: the one in the nonage of nature, the other in that of grace; but both equally the objects of redeeming grace, of tender mercy, and boundless love. It is not, therefore, as J. G. asserts, "To adopt," but to deny, "the doctrine of the salvation of the heathen," that "would be inconsistent with the reverence which is due to revealed truth:" (col. 232.) and I will add, inconsistent also with that mercy of God which is "over all his works," and which flows in rich and abundant streams of salvation, to Jew and Gentile, Christian and Heathen, according to the various dispensations of grace under which the providence of God hath placed them.

In the latter part of his essay, J. G. attempts to soften down the rigour of his former impossibility, to the bare improbability of the salvation of the heathen. But this is a mere solecism in his argument, marking his own inconsistency, but deciding nothing in his favour; for if his bold and unqualified assertion be true, and of that universal application which he has given to it, viz. that "their whole lives are spent in the commission of every species of iniquity, which could render them guilty in the sight of God, and expose them to his awful displeasure;" (col. 234.) and if, as he asserts, they are excluded from all benefit of redemption, for want of faith in Christ; then it is most evident that the salvation of all heathens is not merely improbable, it is absolutely and for ever impossible.

But who or what hath authorized J. G.

a glimpse of this; and, possibly, Job also; but still the veil of mere Deism was upon the hearts of those illustrious saints of the Old Testament; or, at best, the dawn of Judaism was the only light which shone upon their obscure dispensations.