cannot in any case prevent the volitions or the actions of spirit; and that he cannot be limited by spirit, appears from this consideration,-that all finite spirits have proceeded from Him, are continually dependent on Him, and exist only by His permission and pleasure.

Q. 8. What do you mean by an eternal Spirit?

A. One that always was, and always will be.

From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.

From Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. Q. 9. What arguments can reason furnish in confirmation of this truth?

A. It is impossible that something should be produced by nothing. Something now exists. Hence there never could have been a period when nothing existed. Something must have existed from all eternity; and that something is God.

cause:

Every effect presupposes the existence of a hence, every creature presupposes the existence of a Creator; and the only Creator is God.

As the existence of God is not derived from any other being, nor dependent on any other being, it cannot be terminated by any other being; and therefore must continue for ever.

Q. 10. What Scriptures teach the immutability of God?

A. I, the Lord, change not.

The Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.

Q. 11. How may this be shown on rational grounds? A. None of those causes which produce changes in creatures have any influence on the Creator.

Mutability is totally incompatible with that absolute perfection which belongs to the Deity. Every change is either for the better or the worse. A change for the better would imply an accession of excellence or bliss; a change for the worse, a diminution or loss of the same; neither of which is possible to God.

Q. 12. How can the immutability of God be reconciled with what Scripture says of God's repenting that he had created man; his repenting that he had made Saul king;

his repenting of the evil that he had threatened to do to the Israelites; and the like passages?

A. Such expressions denote not a change in the Deity himself, but a change in his dealing with his creatures; and a change in the dealings of God with his creatures is the natural result of a change in the character and conduct of those creatures.

Q. 13. But if God be immutable, does it not follow, that whom once he loves, he will always love; and whom once he disapproves of, he will always disapprove of?

A. No; not unless the character of the creature be finally and unalterably fixed. The regards of God towards his accountable creatures are regulated by their character and conduct. He always loves the righteous, the meek, the humble; those who fear, love, and serve him and he always views the unrighteous, the proud, the impenitent, the disobedient, with disapprobation. So that, while a person is in a state of probation, God does not view him either with invariable favour, or with invariable displeasure; but is at all times either pleased or displeased with him, according to his present state, character, and conduct. (To be continued.)

SCRIPTURE TRUTH EXEMPLIFIED.
No. I.

PRIDE DISPLEASING TO GOD.

PRIDE is a sin extremely offensive in the sight of God; and variously has he marked it with his indignation. His word abounds with threatening denounced against those who have yielded themselves to its power. Of this character were King Hezekiah (Isaiah xxxix.); the King of Asyria (Isaiah x.); the Moabites (Zephaniah ii.): but had Jehovah limited the condemnation of this principle to the mere revelations of his displeasure against it, men might be disposed to conclude, that it is not very offensive in his sight. He, however, who has threatened has also punished; and by the infliction of awful judgment, he has fully manifested that he "will not deny himself." Numerous are those examples which are recorded for our warning, that pride is an abomination to the Lord.

Truth." Thine eyes are upon the haughty that thou mayest bring them down.”

Exemplification-1. Example of Miriam. This vainglorious female was the sister of Moses, who watched by the river when he was placed in the ark of bulrushes, and found by Pharaoh's daughter. But, notwithstanding she had witnessed God's care over him, and the great honour God conferred upon him, she dared to call in question his appointment to be the sole governor in Israel; and accounted herself to be equal to him in delegated authority from God. Her assuming spirit was displeasing to the Lord," whose anger was kindled against her," and who abased her in the sight of the people, by smiting her with leprosy; one of the most loathsome diseases the human body can be visited with. Her relationship to Moses, the Lord's faithful servant, her former exaltation of the Lord with timbrel and song, after the passage of the Red Sea, were insufficient to shelter her from the wrath of Him who resisteth the proud.”

2d Example. Nebuchadnezzar. He was the son of Nabapolassar, and the most famed of all the sovereigns of Babylon. When young, he was sent by his father with a powerful army against the Egyptians, whom he subdued; and extending his conquests over Canaan, he took Jerusalem, and bound Jehoiakim, the king, in chains, but allowed him to continue to reign as his vassal. This was the prince who carried Daniel, and other Hebrew youths belonging to the royal family, captives unto Babylon; whom he named after his idol gods, and appointed them to be instructed in all the learning of the Chaldeans. On the death of his father, he ascended the throne; and in the second year of his reign, he had a remarkable dream. This being interpreted by Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar exalted him to great dignity. With the extensive riches which he amassed by his conquest, he erected an image of gold in honour of his god, Belus. Placing it in the " plain of Dura," he commanded all to bow down and worship it, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refusing to comply, were cast into the furnace of fire, from which they were delivered by the power of the God of Israel. But the majesty which Nebuchadnezzar had seen the God of

heaven display, did not abate his own exalted notions of himself. On the contrary, elated with the extent of his empire, and the glory of his renown, his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride." Forgetting his de pendence "on the high God, who had wrought wonders toward him," when walking in the splendour of his palace, he exclaimed, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" Thus boasted proud man before his Maker: but "those that walk in pride, God is able to abase;" and by Him this mighty monarch was "brought down." Immediately he was visited with a peculiar distemper, Under its influence he was

bereft of reason, and became brutish in his disposition and habits; so that "he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." Such was the degradation of him who had gloried in his wealth, and in the honour of his greatness; fully attesting the truth, "that the haughty shall be humbled."

3d Example. Herod Agrippa. This Herod was the grandson of Herod the Great, and brother to the infamous Herodias. He was raised to kingly dignity by Caligula, Emperor of Rome, and made deputy king of Judea by Claudius Cæsar. Inheriting all the enmity of his grandfather against the Christian religion, in the spirit of persecution he caused James, the son of Zebedee, to be put to death, and also sought to take away the life of the apostle Peter. With the design of honouring the Emperor Claudius, he repaired to Cæsarea, to celebrate the accustomed games of the Romans. When there, the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, who had subjected themselves to his displeasure, sought to be restored to his favour. Through the intercession of Blastus, his chamberlain, he was induced to grant their deputation an audience. Gorgeously arrayed in royal apparel, and seated on his throne, he made an oration to them; and when thus employed, his flattering sycophants shouted, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man: " and, instead of rebuking them for their blasphemy, he received their impious homage. But the eyes.

of God were upon this haughty prince; for he is "a jealous God," and will not allow his glory to be given to another. At that moment the angel of the Lord smote him; worms preyed upon him, and he gave up the ghost: an awful proof that "pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." From these examples we may learn, that pride is the abominable thing which the Lord hateth, and is ever dangerous to man. It is the parent of numerous crimes, degrading to all its subjects, and ought to be avoided by those who would maintain the true dignity of intelligent beings, and the character of the Christian. Hear, then, ye mortals, the voice of the Lord: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time."

London.

N.

ASTRONOMICAL SKETCHES.

No. VII.

THE MOON.

THE Contemplation of the works of an infinitely wise, powerful, and good Being, are fully calculated to produce in our minds sentiments of reverence, delight, and love. These works are infinitely diversified, and afford a neverfailing source of mental pleasure to all who delight in them. "The works of the Lord are great, sought out by all them that have pleasure therein."

Among these amazing and multiplied productions, some are more conspicuous than others, and strike our senses at once with their magnitude, lustre, and beauty.

The Sun that shines daily upon the Earth is at once beautiful and glorious. The stars that shine by night afford the most delightful prospects to the eye, and endless employment for our most soaring thoughts. And the pale Moon that rules the night, affording light to millions by sea and land, influencing our atmosphere, and governing the mighty deep, is, next to the great orb of day, the most interesting of the celestial bodies, and affords to the studious mind full scope for all its powers.

The Moon is the nearest of all the heavenly bodies to our Earth. She is its faithful companion and attendant