shall come. Then eminently shall he see in restored | then they who have gone forth weeping shall doubtless Israel many trophies of his redeeming power and grace, return with joy, bringing their sheaves along with them. in whom he shall see of the travail of his soul, and 4. Another lesson suggested from what is recorded be satisfied." It will be eminently the day of the glad- of the restoration of the people of Israel to their own ness of his heart. Now, do we love the Lord Jesus land is, that we should rejoice in the prospect, not Christ? Do we feel our infinite obligations to his re- merely as it shall affect the state of the people of Israel, deeming grace? Are we placing all our dependence but as it shall confer benefits of inestimable value on upon him for salvation? Then how must we be grieved all the nations of the earth. It stands intimately conto see him despised and rejected of men, to behold the nected with the bringing in of all nations into the sheepdishonour put upon him in the world, to see the kings fold of Christ; that as there is but one Shepherd, there of this world usurping his authority, and setting them- may be but one sheep-fold throughout all the earth. selves in opposition to God and to his Christ! But The ensign is to be lifted up in Mount Zion, that all then shall we not rejoice in the assurance that it shall nations may come unto it. It is the banner of salva not be so always? The time is coming when he shall tion unfurled, that, as is foretold in Isaiah Ix. 3, "the be openly acknowledged, and when, as he is praised in Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the heaven, he shall be praised on earth; when to him brightness of thy rising." If we love our brethren, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, when then,-if we would desire to see truth, and peace, and all his enemies shall be made his footstool, and when righteousness every where prevailing upon the earth,— this earth, that was once the scene of his deepest hu- then we should rejoice in the prospect of the great miliation, shall be the scene of his exaltation and things which the Lord hath promised to accomplish in triumph. Such prospects cannot fail to be deeply in- behalf of his chosen people Israel; and we should teresting to all who love the Lord Jesus. And rejoicing earnestly desire that the Lord would hasten them in in the prospect of what will certainly come to pass, his time. For it is in connection with their return they will be disposed to sing with David in joyful an- that a time of favour is awaiting all nations. This ticipation of the glory of Christ yet to be revealed, appears in that prayer of the Jewish Church, in behalf "His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be of her own enlargement: "O God, be merciful to us, continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed and bless us; and cause thy face to shine upon us. in him all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be That so thy way may be known upon the earth, and the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doth won- thy saving health among all nations." And again, in drous things. And blessed be his glorious name for the same Psalm, "Let the people praise thee, O God; ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. let all the people praise thee. Then shall the carth Amen, and Amen." yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shail bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the

earth shall fear him."

5. I have only to suggest further, as the improvement of this subject, that the lessons of instruction already suggested have a special reference to those who are brought near to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Such only can enter into God's pans-can rejoice in the manifestation of his glory, in the coming of Christ's kingdom upon the earth, in the prospect of the exaltation, and peace, and prosperity of his chosen people, and in the pulling down all the strongholds of sin and Satan, and in the extension of the blessings of the Gos pel to all the nations of the earth. But the subject that has been under consideration ought to arrest the attention of those who give themselves little concern about the plans and purposes of God, as he hath revealed them in his Word, and who are satisfied just to pursue their own plans and purposes, and suffer themselves to be engrossed by the pursuits and pleasures of this world. The intimation contained in the Word of God respecting the great changes to be made on this earth, to prepare the way for the fulfilment of all that he has promised to his chosen people, should sound an alarm in the ears of thoughtless sinners. The Lord is about terribly to shake the nations, and to draw a

3. These glorious prospects, held forth to us in Scripture respecting the return of the people of Israel to their own land, should be deeply interesting to Christians, as they regard the people of Israel, and the blessed change that shall take place in their condition. Does it not delight the hearts of Christians to hear of the great things that shall be accomplished for them in the Lord's time? Their sad, scattered, and outcast state for so long a period may well call forth our sympathy. It is one of those dark dispensations which we cannot at present fully comprehend. But we are called to weep with them that weep. Can we remain unaffected, when we hear the daughter of Zion pouring forth her mournful complaint? "How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! how has she become a widow that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces! how has she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; and from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!" Can we refrain from weeping over the out-marked line of distinction between them that serve casts of Israel, even as our Lord wept over the city of Jerusalem? But in proportion as we sympathise with them in their sorrows, we are called to rejoice with them in the bright and glorious prospects that are awaiting them. The Lord will again have mercy upon Zion, and the time to favour her, even the set time, shall yet come. God himself calls us to rejoice in the prosperity of Israel: " Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolation; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her as a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dundled upon her knees." Yea, when the Lord shall turn her captivity,

him and them that serve him not. They should inquire seriously, then, Are we on the Lord's side? are we approving of what the Lord is doing? and tan we really rejoice in the prospect of those bright manifestations of the divine glory that shall then be made upon the earth? In order that men may be enabled to give a satisfying answer to such questions as these, they must be assured of their own personal interest in the salvation of the Gospel. What to them who believe mey be looked forward to with desire, and hope, and joy, as the year of his redeemed, is to his enemies the day of vengeance, when he will tread them down in his anger, and trample them in his tury, and when he will stain all his raiment. The lesson suggested from this subject, to those who are yet carelessly going on in sin, is, that they should now acquaint themselves with Christ, and be at peace; and thereby good shall come

to them. Now Christ is holding forth the golden sceptre of his grace, that sinners may touch it and live. Now his language is, "Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of men. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your souls shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Hearken to his gracious call, comply with his kind invitation; and in receiving him you shall receive pardon, and life, and salvation, and shall be enabled to rejoice in the hope of that glory that is ere long to be revealed.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER WAUGH, D.D.
MINISTER OF WELLS STREET CHAPEL, London.
BY THE EDITOR.

PART II.

THOUGH Mr Waugh's official duties called for his residence in London, his affectionate heart often looked back with fond recollections to the home of his fathers. He loved Scotland; he delighted in its romantic scenery, in the shrewdness and sagacity of its hardy peasantry, in the primitive simplicity of its worship, and the efficient education of its parish schools. Reminiscences of his early days often filled his soul with longing desires to revisit the scenes of his childhood, and he was accustomed almost every year to snatch a few weeks from his laborious employments, that he might refresh his mind and body by a trip to the banks of the Tweed. It was in the course of one of these

tours throughout the country. Every year his chararter was more highly esteemed, and in 1815 the Senate of Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he had partly received his education, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor in Divinity. Such a distinction, emanating from the quarter whence it came, was peculiarly gratifying to his mind.

From the beginning of 1807 Dr Waugh's health was for many years vigorous. He preached three times every Sabbath, besides discharging the other duties which belonged to the ministerial office. In May 1823, however, he met with a severe accident by the scaffolding giving way at the laying of the foundation-stone of the Orphan Asylum at Clapton, from which his constitution suffered to a great extent.

"

"As a proof of my dear father's anxiety to fulfil his public engagements,' says a member of his family, "although the day on which this dangerous accident city, where he had pledged himself to preach in the occurred was the Monday after the sacrament in the evening, and though his friends, seeing that he suffered much from his fall, expressed great anxiety that he should return home and see his medical adviser, yet no entreaty could prevail on him to give up his duty, and he preached with uncommon spirit. When he reached his home, he was quite unnerved, and burst into tears. He passed a very bad night, and did not leave his bed the next morning; but, to the great surprise of his family, he rose in the afternoon, saying, that he must meet the children in the vestry, and attend the prayermeeting. All persuasion was in vain; he considered it his Master's work; he would not give it up; and per

excursions that he providentially escaped from ship-formed it to the astonishment of every person. But

wreck,

a deliverance which he never afterwards mentioned but with the liveliest gratitude to the Father of mercies. Speaking on this subject, one of his family remarks,

"When my beloved father reached the shore, he immediately walked to the churchyard, and, kneeling behind a grave-stone, poured out his heart in gratitude to his God and his deliverer. After which, finding himself quite worn out with fatigue and anxiety, and wanting much the comfort of a Christian friend, he wandered through the burial-ground to find an introduction to one who served his Master. On a newly made tomb, it was said that the departed had died in Jesus. This was what he wished: he went to the house where the family resided, introduced himself, and told his interesting tale; and with the aid of their kindness and hospitality was soon able to pursue his journey. I have often heard him speak, with the tear in his eye, of the despair and anxiety the poor sailors felt, when they feared their little bark would sink, and with what pleasure he saw them join him in his prayer to God for protection and deliverance."

when it was over, all could see the great effort he had made. His sufferings were so severe, that his friends were obliged to help him home: when he left the coach he could not stand; and he did not leave his room for three months afterwards."

He was not able to resume his pulpit duties till the 5th of October, when he was so far restored as to preach once, and this part of the service he continued to perform till the following spring. The lameness caused by this accident remained with him through the rest of his life, and his constitution was never after so vigorous as it had once been. During the winter and spring of 1825 he was remarkably active, but towards summer his weakness returned, and he was advised to set out for Harrowgate. His visit to that celebrated watering-place was blessed by Providence for the res~ toration of his health, and on his return to London, he was able to undertake his three services on the Sabbath. The death of his old friend and brother, Dr Bogue of Gosport, which occurred in November of this year, deeply affected him, and he preached a solemn and impressive funeral sermon on the occasion to his own congregation in Wells Street. From this time till the summer of 1826, with the exception of a month's confinement in January, he was able to perform all his public duties. In August he left town with his family for Tunbridge Wells, where he preached once every Sunday. On his return he resumed his usual labours, preaching three times every Sabbath till Au

From the time of his settlement in London, in 1782, to 1806 he had occasionally suffered severely from a gouty affection of the stomach, accompanied with great weakness. At the close of 1805, indeed, so debilitated had his constitution become, that he was compelled, though with the utmost reluctance, to discontinue his pulpit labours, and for several months he was confined to bed. On his partial recovery to health he set out for Scotland, where he spent the summer and autumn,gust 1827, when be set out for Brighton. and returned to London in a state of health the most gratifying to his family and flock. He now devoted himself with greater ardour than ever to the great cause in which he was engaged, labouring assiduously in his own congregation, and occasionally in missionary

The following beautiful reminiscence shows how tenderly, how faithfully, how affectionately, he discharged the more private functions of the ministerial office :

The last time I saw your dear father was on the

2d of April 1827. Affliction had entered our dwelling; | he heard of it, and came to administer consolation. Looking on my dear dying babe for some moments with much interest, he said (for I shall never forget the affecting scene), We will approach the throne;' and, amongst many striking thoughts, in his most impressive prayer, the following sunk deep into a mother's heart: Our Father and our God, if it be thy will, spare this beloved child, and restore him to his now sorrowing mother; but if thou hast not so willed, may the unspeakable happiness be hers of knowing and believing that he is removed from her afflicted bosom into the sympathising bosom of his Father and his God.' After concluding a prayer which might have dropped from the lips of him who leaned on the bosom of Christ, he turned to me with one of those looks of kindness which, I had almost said, he only could give, and said, 'Take comfort, my dear lassie; for if this dear boy be spared, I feel assured it will be for a blessing; and if he be removed, yours will be unspeakable happiness of knowing that you were honoured to nurse an heir of glory. Yes, my beloved friend, he has a father on earth, and a Father in heaven; but you will be his only recognised mother in heaven, to all eternity.'"

from him. On being asked how he was, he replied, I am very ill, but just where it has pleased God to place me; pray for me, that I may not be impatient!'" "On the arrival of one of his daughters from the country, she (anxious to satisfy herself of the state of his perceptive faculties) whispered to him, Do you know me, father?' He replied, To be sure; you are my youngest child, my good daughter.' And he raised his head and kissed her. Referring to a paper written by a dear friend in a late number of the Evangelical Magazine, under the title of Elijah's Journey, he expressed how much it refreshed him; and said to his children: My journey is near its close; all the way by which God has led me has been mercy and truth; I have his light still to guide me, and that staff to support me on which I have so long leaned; and the blood of Christ is the only staff I need in my way to the grave. It is a blessed journey, which ends in heaven.'"

"On the Wednesday the symptoms of the disease appeared more aggravated, and his mind more wandering. Dr Darling having again expressed himself most anxious that his patient should be kept from talking, he said: I'll be as dumb as a heathen god.' His family, to occupy his thoughts, read and repeated hymns that, when this plan failed occasionally to compose his to him incessantly; and it is most worthy of remark, mind, the reading of any portion of the Bible immediately succeeded in doing so, and was listened to by him with the most silent and devout attention."

"When a slight improvement in his appearance was mentioned to him, he replied, 'I feel a little better; but it is like lying on a hot summer day at the foot of a stay brae: we forget that we have yet to climb it.' How beautiful was this image!-and most true it is of the tendency of human nature in all scenes and at all periods."

In October he returned to town, and from that time till his death he was able to take only a part of the duty on the Sabbath. On the 9th of December, the last Sabbath of his ministry and of his life, he was employed both in preaching and dispensing the Lord's Supper in Albion Chapel. That evening he returned home tolerably well, with the exception of a cold, which he had caught some weeks before. Next day he remained in much the same state, till towards evening, when, as he was about to leave the house on a visit to a dying person, he was seized with sudden illness. On retiring to bed "During Thursday his strength became quite proshe felt more comfortable, but still uneasy. One of his trate, and he could make no effort to raise himself in daughters was standing near, and stretching out his bed, but was lifted, when it was necessary, by his four hand to her he said, "Let me talk to you, my lamb; One of them said, ' Father, do you know where you are?' 'Yes, assuredly; in my own house,' he refor I am very ill, and I shall never get up any more.'" plied. Being asked, 'Do you know that you are dying?' She expressed a hope that he might yet recover, and Yes, I know,' said he, that I am dying, and my mind accomplish much in his Master's work. To this he re- is as much composed at this moment as any man's in plied, "No, no, my child, my work is done. Let me London.' One of his family inquiring if he was able talk to you while I can; I have very little time." He to tell the state of his mind, he said, 'I will try.' After then spoke of the necessity of being constantly pre- having spoken in general terms of the depravity of hupared for death, and gave her some solemn counsels.medy provided-I am thankful for the Word of Truth. man nature, be added, But I am thankful for the reHis spirits now rapidly sunk. He asked for his sons, saying, "Send for them; they are good lads, and 1 cannot die in peace without seeing them." On being told that they were sent for, he replied, "God bless you, my child! God bless you!"

The closing scene of this good man's life was peaceful

and serene. His sun set without a cloud, in so far as his spiritual prospects were concerned, though in the taking down of the frail tabernacle he endured much pain. The account of the last few days of Dr Waugh's life we extract from the excellent and judicious biography which was published after his death :

"During the whole of Tuesday he was restless. He was often lifted, at his own request, out of bed by his sons; and his thirst continued very distressing. His cough was very violent; and he said, "I feel as if there was a stone in my lungs." His impression during all his illness was, that he should burst a blood-vessel. He frequently exclaimed: O my friends, my friends, pray for me! for the band of the Lord has stricken me. Pray that I may be submissive, and enabled to exhibit the suffering graces, and not bring disgrace on my holy profession!' During this day more blood was taken

sons.

.

I have endeavoured to live as near to the rule as I could: I cannot say that I have experienced the degree of assurance and close communion with God which some have been privileged to attain; but I have lived by faith, and die in the faith of the Son of God. And this I principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things know, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord:" then, emphatically elevating his hand, he added, with earnestness, This is enough for me;' and pointing to those who surrounded his bed, and for you, and for you, and for you!""

"Mrs Waugh having asked him to bless his children, he raised his feeble arm and eye to heaven, and, with great animation, prayed, O that Thou wouldst rend those heavens and come down, and crown them all with thy loving-kindness!' Such prayers have a record in heaven and in the hearts of the young, and are the best legacy a parent can leave."

"Towards the close of Thursday, when his mental and bodily powers were drawing near to dissolution, Mrs Waugh said to him, When you are now in the deep Jordan, have you any doubt that Christ will be with you?' He replied, Certainly not! who else?