see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the righthand of God," becomes a new proof of Christianity to the individual himself-a ground of certain assurance, which others can partake in very imperfectly through his testimony, but which is not the less absolute and certain in itself, to him who has felt and known the power of the truth. In this sense, "He that believeth hath the witness in himself;" and a depth of solid conviction may be attained, even by the unlettered Christian, which far surpasses the cold deductions of mere antiquarian learning. This evidence, also, though we cannot here dwell upon it more fully, is one which admits, in its own nature, of the utmost variety, and perpetual increase. Every form of spiritual affection, whether in the depths of spiritual sorrow, or the heights of spiritual joy; every new temptation from the world without, or the hidden passions of the heart-and every new deliverance; each instance of a Divine promise fulfilled, of a latent emotion developed, of a spiritual faculty called into exercise by the changing events of life; all the combinations of hope and fear, of earnest desire, and the actual enjoyment of Divine promises; every stage in the progress of spiritual life, from its feeblest dawn to the bright noonday of apostolic zeal and holiness, may all furnish new confirmations of the Gospel, by the experienced harmony between its simple descriptions, and the actual history of the Christian's heart, in its continual aspirations after fuller light and more perfect holiness. It is like the good land of promise a wide country, where there are waymarks at every turn, to mark the footsteps of former pilgrims, and to prove to those who come after, that they are travel. ling in the same road, partakers of the same blessed hope, refreshed by the same Spirit, and heirs of the same promise. And hence it is an evidence which carries us far beyond the reach of any mere intellectual speculation, and plants the faith of the Christian on a rock which no subtleties of worldly logicians, and no refinements of a false philosophy, have the least

power to disturb and overthrow. It was in the strength of such a deep conviction, established by an inward experience of the power of truth, that the beloved disciple, at the end of his days, could contemplate without a cloud of uncertainty, the mighty mass of unbelief in the heathen world, and say, in those simple and touching words, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

Indian Illustration.-The foregoing paper is by the late Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., Professor of Moral Philosophy, Cambridge. The Rev. Lal Behari Day, Professor of History and English Literature, Hooghly College, in a lecture delivered in Calcutta in 1863, thus describes his own experience:

"I myself was once a Brahma, though not in name, yet in reality. I disbelieved in book-revelations, and like you believed that repentance was a sufficient expiation for sin. I conscientiously believed in those doctrines, and endeavoured to act according to the light I then enjoyed. I became sorry for my sins, and prayed to God to forgive them. But I enjoyed

no peace of mind. I could not be sure that He would pardon my sins. I had not His word of promise. This led me to think what consolation I should have, if I could have God's word of promise. This again led me to enquire more fully, than I had done before, into the proofs of a positive revelation. I also endeavoured to reform my conduct, to amend my life. I tried to banish from my mind all evil thoughts, all sinful desires. The more I tried, the more signally I failed. I began to see my moral deformity more than before. I began to feel that I was a great sinner, a vile transgressor of God's law. My good works such as they were, seemed like filthy rags. Formerly I comforted myself with the thought that I

was better than many of my neighbours, and thus laid the flattering unction to my soul. But now I appeared before myself in all my naked deformity. I abhorred myself. I was in despair. Then it was that the Lord took mercy upon me. He opened my eyes, and shewed to me Christ, in all the lustre of His mediatorial Glory, and the charms of His ineffable Love. I then saw that Christianity supplied all my wants. I was a breaker of God's law, but Christ had suffered for my sins-He had vindicated the Justice of God-He had upheld the majesty of the Divine Law. I then saw that Christ, not repentance, was the propitiation of my sins, and not of my sins only, but the sins of the whole world. It was then, also, that I perceived, how true penitence was created in the human heart, not by its own ability, but by the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit. I found all my wants supplied in Christ; for Christ was made unto me "Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption."

X. THE INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE ON

NATIONS.

Most wondrous Book! bright candle of the Lord!
Star of eternity! the only star

By which the bark of man could navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely; only star which rose on Time
And, on its dark and troubled billows, still,
As generation, drifting swiftly by,
Succeeded generation, threw a ray

Of Heaven's own light and to the hills of God,
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye.

Pollock,*

Truly, in whatever light viewed, the Bible is the most wonderful book in the world.

The Bible is the oldest book in the world. It is

*Course of Time, Book II.

true that different parts of the Bible were written at different times, but the date of its earliest parts is anterior to that of any other book in the world. The Rig-veda, no doubt, is an old collection of hymns, but no part of it is so old as the book of Genesis. Within the four corners of the Bible is to be found the oldest piece of human composition, and were there nothing else in the Bible to recommend it to us, its very antiquity should extort from us our profoundest veneration.

The Bible is the greatest and most widely read book in the world. The Vedas, the Zendavesta, the Dhammapada, the Koran, are great books. They have exercised the minds and shaped the conduct, whether for good or for evil, of millions of the human species. But the number of their readers has never been large, -the doctrines contained in them being taught, for the most part, orally by Brahmans, Mobeds, Lamas and Maulavis. The case of the Bible is quite different. From the dawn of authentic history down to the present day, millions of men have in every age perused these lively oracles. The Bible is read by all classes of men, for it is intended for the whole family of man. The man of science finds in it much to admire, and the plain man of no culture finds in it much to understand. As the sun shines on the high mountain top and the lowly valley, so the Bible illumines and cheers the philosopher and the peasant.

The Bible, from a literary point of view, is the best book in the world. On this point it is sufficient to produce here the deliberate opinion of the great linguist and accomplished scholar, Sir William Jones, who left recorded on the fly-leaf of his Bible this testimony: -“I have regularly and attentively read the Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion that this volume, independent of its Divine origin, contains more sublimity and beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever language or age they may have been composed."

The Bible has exercised greater influence on the world than any other book. An eloquent American writer, who did not believe in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, speaks of its influence thus: "This collection of books [meaning the Bible] has taken such a hold on the world as no other. The literature of Greece, which goes up like incense from that land of temples and heroic deeds, has not half the influence of this book from a nation alike despised in ancient and modern times. It is read of a Sabbath in all the ten thousand pulpits of our land. In all the temples of Christendom is its voice lifted up, week by week. The sun never sets on its gleaming page. It goes equally to the cottage of the plain man and the palace of the king. It is woven into the literature of the scholar, and colours the talk of the street. The bark of the merchant cannot sail the sea without it, no ship of war goes to the conflict, but the Bible is there. It enters men's closets, mingles in all the grief and cheerfulness of life. The affianced maiden prays God in Scripture for strength in her new duties; men are married by Scripture. The Bible attends them in their sickness, when the fever of the world is on them. The aching head finds a softer pillow when the Bible lies underneath. The mariner when escaping from shipwreck, clutches this first of his treasures, and keeps it sacred to God. It goes with the pedlar in his crowded pack; cheers him at eventide, when he sits down dusty and fatigued; brightens the freshness of his morning face. It blesses us when we are born; gives names to half Christendom; rejoices with us; has sympathy for our mourning; tempers our griefs to finer issues. It is the better part of our sermons. It lifts man above himself; our best of uttered prayers are in its storied speech, where with our fathers and our patriarchs prayed."* And it is a peculiarity of this marvellous influence of the Bible that it is ever-living and ever-increasing. The Vedas, the Zendavesta, the Dhammapada, once exercised

* Parker's Discourse of Matters pertaining to Religion, pp. 317-18.