degrees, among other changes in both language and doctrine, it began among the Latins to be called, from one part of its original intention, confirmatio, confirmation; and it is perhaps this change of title, that has contributed to introduce a very inferior and defective notion of this sacred rite. But this by the bye. What I am immediately concerned in, is the character given to the church here, of a moin hhathum, a fountain sealed. A fountain (moin, a well-eye) pouring out, diffusing, and spreading the waters of life and purification, not from herself, or of her own store, but in union with, and by communication from, Christ, the mequur, bason, grand inexhaustible reservoir, opened and issuing into the moin, the church, for her to carry thein forward and distribute them, (like the great 'artery receiving its impulse from the heart, the mequur of animal life), in just proportion to, and through, all the various members of the spiritual body;' and this fountain sealed with the seal of the living God', the Holy Spirit of promise, the life-giving Lord, (τον Κυριον τον ζωοποιώντα, Nicene creed), sanctioning her commissioned functions, and marking, stamping, signetting her to be the chaste spouse, the unrivalled property of her

BELOVED.

Rev. vii. 2.

VER.

VER. 13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, camphire, with spikenard. VER. 14. Spikenard and saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices.

What an exuberance of fine description we have here, and under a collection of the most delectable emblems! I am afraid we are not sufficiently acquainted with the excellent qualities of the scripture aromatics, to be able to ascertain the pertinency of this complicated allusion in every particular. No doubt the composer of this Song had a personal knowledge of their natures; and the guidance, under which we believe him, would instruct him how to point his spiritual direction of them. I shall in general observe, that the old serpent has meddled with most of this collection, and usurped them to his own use. Thus we find him seizing the pomegranate )רמון,emun) which Jehovah had appropriated to his own service', and making a god of it, called Rimmon*; so our bard in his Proverbs 3, brings in the strange woman 4,' (the adulterous mother of idolatry), perfuming her bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon': And, in another place he represents her as having lips that drop honey

2F

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• honeycomb,' but so far from having the 'scarlet ' sign of salvation,' that he tells us', 'that her feet

go down to death, and her steps take hold on 'hell.' These Satanic usurpations of Divine property, Jehovah has, by what are called his positive institutions, and by the ministry of his prophets, always reclaimed to himself, as could be shewn, if necessary, in every instance, and has employed them to their original purpose of conveying spiritual knowledge by corporeal impressions, according to that maxim which philosophy has adopted, that' nihil est in intellectu quod non prius fuerat in 'sensu-nothing can come into the understanding, 'but through the channel of sense. Thus, the orchard, the paradise of pomegranates, the spikenard, and saffron, with all this catalogue of sweet spices, by the fragrant virtues with which creating wisdom has designedly impregnated them, exhibit to us, not the virtues and moral perfections of fallen and corrupted man, as the pride of nature may vainly imagine, but that plentiful diversity of gifts, graces, and operations, which are all wrought by that 'one ' and the self-same spirit, who divideth to every 'man severally as he willeth.' And, though in our humble attempts to explain these emblems of Jehovah's nomination we may fail in assigning each or any of them to its particular correspondent in the spiritual line, we shall find no small comfort in the attempt; and may rest satisfied, that, if flowing from from a pious intention, and soberly conducted within the prescribed limits of revelation, the 'words of our mouths and meditations of our 'hearts,' upon such a delightfully extensive subject, will be acceptable in the sight of Jehovah * our rock, and our Redeemer'. The emblems in the enumeration before us are of the reclaimed class, and are here made over to the church; but in what point of view requires to be considered.

Thy plants, says the Beloved, are a paradise of pomegranates, &c. Plant, in our common acceptation, and in the scripture-use of the word, as signifying, setting, putting, grafting into,' is always expressed in scripture by other words, either

,

tooshathl. Our word here is of a different, indeed a contrary meaning. It is shalahhi, masculine, from the root שלח shalah to send, send forth, or extend: And under this radical idea, which never varies, though often metaphorically used, the old translations render it here, Jerom and the Vulgate, emissiones, Montanus and Calasio, propagines, the LXX. αποτολαι, which, by the very sound, enables us to fix the meaning to what occurs so often in the New Testament, the word apostleship, which needs no explication. So here, 'thy apostleships, missions, (a common and proper word in ecclesiastic style), are, &c. But

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has

has the church any such that can be called hers? We have two early and authentic instances: 'The 'apostles which were at Jerusalem', the then 'church, sent to Samaria Peter and John,' &c. and

The church that was at Antioch 3, at the call of the Holy Ghost, sent away Barnabas and Saul 5; and they being sent forth, emissi, by the Holy Ghost',' It was the Holy Ghost's act, but it was from and with the co-operation of the church to which they belonged, so was the church's act too. These were early apostolai, shalahhi, missions of the church, and she has continued, and does continue such to this day, by repeated emissions of her shoots, her propagines, whom she has been nourishing with her infused sap, to the great office of planting and watering, in faith and hope of the chief apostle and sender giving the increases.' If it shall be asked how all this will quadrate with the flowery description before us? let one of these old venerable shalahhi return the answer 2 : • He that wrought ef'fectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circum'cision, the same was mighty in me towards the 'Gentiles,' the same God who worketh all in all oo. And what the great St Paul says of himself, every succeeding emission, though of inferior dignity and honour