contention on words; we recommend a prayerful and careful examination on the subject, which will, we think, convince our friend of his mistake, as to the meaning of the word "backslide;" and then, as he says on page 14, "when I see I am wrong, I will confess it; no honest man would wish me to do it before."

On page 15 is the following, "conversion is a progressive work, regeneration is instantaneous; but conversion, which is sure to follow, is progressive." This is not a scriptural statement; we nowhere read of progressive conversion; the sinner who has been converted to God will be led more and more as he journeys onward to see the plan of salvation as revealed in the word, which the blessed Spirit will open up to his spiritual mind, giving him cause to prize still higher the matchless love of God the Father in electing him to eternal life before all worlds; of God the Son, in dying to redeem him; and of God the eternal Spirit, in quickening him and enabling him to see his title clear to the heavenly inheritance; but this we designate "growth in grace." We trust Mr. W. will be more cautious in his phraseology, and not give any occasion to his enemies to misrepresent him.

Mr. W. refers on page 6 to having the word mortal, as applicable to the Saviour's humanity, and with true christian candour, denounces the use of the word, and admits that it was improperly applied. Surely no one can require more; but we live in a day when many are waiting with eagerness to cavil at a servant of Christ; let this lead every one, therefore, that ministers in holy things, to look for direction to HIM who has promised to give mouth and wisdom to his servants, that no one shall be able to gainsay or resist.

POETRY.

PARAPHRASE ON FORMER PART OF JOHN XVII. 1.

THESE words spake Christ, our glorious covenant Head;
And lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said,
Father, the hour is come, the solemn hour,
The phials of thy wrath on sin to pour;
No longer stay thine hand, no longer hold,
The sinner's surety in thy Son behold:
The solemn hour is come, in which to prove
The Triune God a God of love,

Ordain'd before thy mighty works of old,
Before revolving years and months were told;
Before creation out of nothing sprang,
Or morning stars with joy together sang;
In thine Eternal mind thou didst provide

A partner for thy Son, a royal bride;
The church, her maiden name, supremely fair
As the pale moon, nor than the sun less clear:
'Twas thus I saw her, and she won my heart;
I loved her, wed and vowed we'd never part.
Placed in famed Eden, there brought forth to view,
Where sweetest flowers in rich abundance grew,
In virgin purity she walked with God awhile,
Ate of God's bounties and enjoyed his smile;

Of every fruitful tree, save only one,
Invited freely to regale upon;

She cheerfully obeyed her Maker's will,
Nor felt an inclination to rebel;

Till Satan, that curs'd foe of God and man
(In hellish treason 'gainst the Lord,) began
To hurl his pois'nous darts, and impious try
To tempt the woman her Maker to defy.-
"Yea, hath God said?" the crafty monster spake,
Ye shall not of yon beauteous tree partake;
Believe my words, there's nought beneath the skies
So much to be desired to make one wise,
So good for food, so pleasant to the eyes,
As the one tree, which God to thee denies;
Ye shall not surely die, God knows full well,
Eating ye'll be as gods, and ye shall tell,
Evil and good and be immutable;

:

Left to her own free-will, she took the bait,
Exposed herself and offspring to the fate,
That direful penalty, Jehovah's hand
Affixed against the breach of his command;
E'en death!-eternal death! ne'er to expire,
Lingering a long eternity in fire;

Her Maker's voice, once music to her ear,
Now souuds like thunder, fills her soul with fear;
Guilt, like a load upon her conscience lies,
While from the presence of her God she flies:
The tempter triumphed with satanic glee,
The ruin of God's creature man to see;
Expecting soon, with fiendish base desire,
To clutch them partners in his ceaseless fire.
But ah! brief hope, he soon was undeceived
The church nor Satan knew not or conceived
Of that eternal love a thousandth part,
I bare to her, the object of my heart;
Still less, that by Jehovah's own decree,
She was ordain'd my royal bride to be;
That I in love betrothing, had become
Her head, her husband, and eternal home:
'Twas when entrapp'd within the fowler's snare,
A lawful captive did my bride appear,
Trembling beneath Jehovah's broken law,
And justice stern about the sword to draw;
'Twas at that moment we in council chose,
The secret bond of union to disclose;

To give the promise, that the woman's seed,
Should bruise ere long th' accurs'd serpent's head."
This promise (given by Him who could not lie)
Made justice put his glittering sabre by;

Expecting at th' incarnate Surety's hands,
Full satisfaction to the law's demands.
And shall the Surety fail? it cannot be;

For "Lo! I come" is recorded of me

To do thy will, O covenant God, and save

My church, my bride, my sister from the grave.
To magnify the law, and satisfy

Its whole demands-to suffer, bleed, and die;

Till every jot and tittle is fulfill'd,

The ransom fully paid, the victim kill'd;

Shadows and types are now all driven away,
And at the dawning of the appointed day,
Justice shall own th' o'erwhelming work complete,
And Satan quiver 'neath his dread defeat.

Then shall my bride, the church, with glory crown'd
By God the Father, Son, and Spirit own'd,
Ascend with Christ her risen Lord to dwell,
And shout my Saviour hath done all things well.

Father, the hour is come, the solemn hour,
The phials of thy wrath on sin to pour;
No longer stay thine hand, no longer hold,
The sinner's surety in thy Son behold.

MINIMUS.

THE WINDING STAIRS-1 KINGS v. 8.

A TEMPLE did the king prepare,
And there was no confusion there;
Each stone was squared, each beam
as well,

No tool was heard on door or cell.
Three spacious rooms he likewise
made,

And winding stairs to them, 'tis
said,

And all that gain'd the topmost one,
Experienc'd first a many turn.

Now, poor believer, view this truth,
In things divine, thou wast a youth;
Thy sighs, thy groans, thy griefs and
fears,

Have prov'd to thee like winding
stairs.

A babe thou wast, and Zion's breast Did give thee peace, yea, joy and rest,

But when thy God his strength withdrew,

Like winding stairs this prov'd to
you.

Temptations then were felt by thee,
Then was the time that thou didst

see

No trust could be in all thy prayers; This prov'd to thee like winding stairs.

When drawn by love thy feet did

run,

But now thou oft dost sit and
mourn,

Hardly an heart to bow the knee;
This proves like winding stairs to

me.

Great Wakering.

What pangs did tear a Jacob's heart,
When Joseph did from him depart ;
My son, said he, is surely dead,
A winding path this was to tread.

'Twas hard for Joseph to be sold, But 'twas in love, as we are told; The pit, though dry, fill'd him with fears;

This prov'd to him like winding stairs.

His iron band his prison guess,
His prison fare his prison dress,
The troubles that did on him roll,
Like winding stairs prov'd to his
soul.

Jonah may hasten from the Lord,
But he did not escape the sword;
The voice of God he must obey,
Although 'twas in a winding way.

Israel possest the promis'd land,
Brought there by God's almighty
hand;

Yet foes by night, and foes by day,
Oft made their path a winding way.

And, O sweet thought, to saints
belov'd,

Their winding paths are known to
God;

His outstretch'd arm they may de-
pend,

Will bring them to their journey's

end.

A SUBSCRIBER,

THE

Spiritual Magazine;

OR,

SAINTS' TREASURY.

"There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST; and these Three are One."

"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

DECEMBER, 1834.

1 John v. 7.

Jude 3.

"AND WHEN PETER THOUGHT THEREON, HE WEPT."

THE best men may sometimes be implicated in the worst crimes; and the most sanctified, more or less evidence their imperfect condition, until gathered by the hand of love divine into the realms of eternal blessedness. Peter was a zealous apostle, and doubtlessly abhorred dissimulation; nevertheless the hour of temptation arrived, Satanic policy prevailed, and Peter denied his Master, than which nothing could be more mean or ungrateful. When we reflect upon the many advantages Peter had derived from association with the Saviour-when we consider the many expressions of unremitting attachment which he had realized, as also the frequent opportunities afforded him to judge of the reality and sublimity of the Saviour's character and engagements, perhaps we employ language by no means too superlatively, when we say, Peter was at the period when he denied his Lord, as much under the influence of inward corruption, as on any prior or subsequent occasion.

If the life of the Saviour had depended upon Peter's faithfulness, it must have been sacrificed, as it actually was through the perfidy and hypocrisy of Judas: so that if we fairly compare the want of sincerity between these two among the twelve, we shall find them more parallel in their consequences than we have been generally willing to admit them. It is true the circumstances which induced Peter to deny his Master, were vastly different from those which encouraged Judas to betray him; and consequently the characters of the two must appear very dissimilar that of Judas being the open, well-planned, deliberate commission of iniquity, that of Peter, its unexpected, undesired, and hurried manifestation. And yet we repeat the effect of Peter's negation, if traced in all its bearings, would be no other than that which issued from Judas' betrayment. From this we may learn the proneness of the wisest to act unwisely, -the liability of the most VOL X.-No. 129.]

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2 Z

zealous to become indifferent, and the possibility of those who have experienced the greatest displays of divine mercy and care, becoming the most ashamed of the source from whence those displays proceeded. We also learn the desirableness of the watch-tower, and decide that a secret given for spiritual help, will be more available than the most eloquent protestations of our constancy and uniformity. It is also obvious that the law of sin is in the members of the most devout pilgrim, and that the renewed character is still demoralized; for regeneration is not the restoration of innocence, nor the eradication of guiltiness, but rather it is the bestowment of an inward principle of holiness actuating us to desire the former and to restrain the latter: it is the implantation of the mind of Christ, that the creature may no longer cherish the sin within him, but that he may resist it in all its

overtures.

The mind of the christian is his most faithful diary, only legible to himself; and this will compel him to acknowledge the minglings of sin with every sacrifice. He who searches his heart with the candle of the Lord, he who tries himself by the infallible oracle of God, will be constrained to write "Tekel" upon all things: the word of Jehovah uniting with his experience to insist upon the truth" the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint." We may know ourselves years before we discover a good plant in the vineyard of the heart, but we shall not know ourselves many minutes before we behold innumerable weeds.

There is some satisfaction in the thought that we are in many respects as were the primitive saints-not that there is any consolation that they were constantly betraying their weakness and folly as we do, or that we do as they did in unrighteousness; but, assuredly, there is some consolation in the knowledge that their experience of the inward power of moral evil was as is ours, and that they were no more sinless or faultless than are we for instance, had we not their testimony of the plague which they endured with an evil heart, we might in the daily perception of its baseness be tempted to consider we had no connection with them but whilst we believe them to have been "men of like passions with ourselves," and contemplate the victory they enjoy through the blood of the Lamb, notwithstanding all their defection and apostacy, we are likewise animated to believe that we also shall be ultimately triumphant, and that we shall live to sing without a kindred sigh.

The unregenerate will not distinguish between the acts of a christian under the influence of indwelling sin, and those under the influence of divine holiness. They consider the act is the act of the man, and they argue that a good man has done such and such wickedness, and consequently conclude that his religion is nothing worth but great is the privilege to be led to adopt the just distinction; not indeed that we may thus give ourselves to work uncleanness, but only that we may defend religion, or the work of grace upon the soul, from all those inconsiderate attacks which are made thereupon, by creatures wholly