I returned a few days ago, after visiting the five schools in my district. They are rather thinly attended at present, on account of the children being employed in the fields at the potatoe harvest. As you will, no doubt, feel anxious to know how the meetings are doing, I shall give you a brief account of such as I endeavour to attend at fixed periods. Rathgram. I continue to hold a meeting here once a week; the number that attend varies from twelve to twenty. T. House. Being invited by R. B., I held a meeting on last Lord's day evening, for the first time, in his house; about fifteen attended. I hope, by the blessing of God, to be able to attend here in future once a fortnight. Deenode. I attend here once a week, when at home, and although the congregation is usually small, yet it is encouraging to find that a few Roman Catholics are in the habit of regularly attending. At the last meeting I noticed four. Drumnagoole. I attend here once a month as usual. The attendance varies from sixteen to thirty. And here I would observe, that the gospel is evidently gaining considerable ground in this neighbourhood, and even a favourable impression is resting on the minds of many of the people who have been in the habit of attending your preaching here for the last two years, with regard to the peculiarities of our denomination. Kilanumry. I hold a meeting here once in the three weeks or month: the last time there were about twenty present, seven of whom were Roman Catholics. Coolaney. I continue the Thursday evening meeting here, also on Lord's day morning. Distributed during the last three weeks, giving only one to each person, ninety-seven tracts. With regard to the dissemination of tracts, I have one circumstance to mention. About six months ago I intentionally dropped a tract (No. 169, On the New Birth) on the high-road between Coolaney and Drumahair, enclosed, with this superscription, "To you, if you never experienced the new birth." A few weeks ago I called at a small cabin about two miles from this place, and perceiving a tract on a window, I took it up, and finding it to be the same that I had left as above, I inquired of an old man how he came by it. And from what he said, it appeared that it was the same tract, which a neighbour of his had picked up, and having read it himself, he lent it this man, and recommended him to read it with attention, and return it safely. This was an introduction to a long conversation with this old man, not only on the nature of the new birth, but also on the ground of a sinner's acceptance with God. I left him another tract, which he thankfully received. Contributions, some omitted last month, some very kindly sent in answer to our appeal in relation to the debt of the Society, and some usually sent this season, will appear in February number, the committee having determined to continue the Chronicle monthly instead of quarterly, as was intimated last month. Printed by J. Haddon, Castle Street, Finsbury. THE BAPTIST MAGAZINE. FEBRUARY, 1838. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PARAPHRASED BY PROFESSOR THOLUCK, OF HALLE. (Translated from the original German by the Rev. Robert Menzies.) come a pure mirror; for therein shall the Divine Being reflect his image. Blessed are they who diffuse around them in the world the peace which they carry within their own breasts; for they shall be extolled as the children of God, the God of peace. OUR Saviour having spent the night | Blessed are they whose heart has bein solitude upon the mount near Čapernaum, and the multitudes having again assembled around him at the early dawn, he calls forth the twelve, descends along with them to a more level place, takes his seat, forms them into a narrower circle around him, and directing his eyes chiefly to them, but partly also to the larger crowd, he begins to speak. In order fully to realize the impression of the discourse, we must remember that the scenery around was of the most charming description, resembling the environs of the lake of Geneva. Before him lay the sea of Galilee, encircled by the finest landscapes and fruitful heights -on the north, the snow-clad Hermon and on the west, the woody Carmel. Add to this, the cloudless sky of the south, and the solemn silence of the early dawn. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. Blessed, he began, are they who feel that they are poor inwardly; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that, under a sense of their poverty, mourn; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they who, conscious of their poverty and distress, are meek and humble; claiming nothing, they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they, the hunger and thirst of whose souls is after righteousness; for they shall be satiated. Blessed are they whom the attainment of righteousness has filled with compassion towards their brethren; for they shall, in their turn, meet with compassion. YOL. I.-FOURTH SERIES. The world, to be sure, will judge otherwise; but blessed are they that, for righteousness' sake, are persecuted upon the earth; they have a home in the kingdom of heaven. Yea, blessed are ye when men shall revile you to your face in words, and by deeds persecute you, and falsely speak ill of you behind your back, provided that the cause is your union with me. On these occasions rejoice, yea, exult aloud! The reward destined for you in heaven is great: you thereby join the ranks of those messengers of God, who have gone before you. Let not such treatment drive you into solitude, your vocation is too important. What salt is as a seasoning to food, a corrective of its insipidity and putrefaction-what salt is as a seasoning to a sacrifice for God, that are ye to the world, otherwise the prey of moral corruption. Were the salt itself to lose its savour, wherewith could it be salted? No longer good for any thing, it would have to be cast out from the household, and trodden under foot of men, And so should you also, excluded from God's church, become objects of contempt. What the light of the sun is to this terrestrial world, viz. the me H dium of all perception, that are ye to the world spiritual. So exalted is your position, that you must needs draw upon you the eyes of mankind; for ye are as a city situate upon a hill. Having once lighted a candle, the master of the house does not cover it with a bushel; he puts it upon the candlestick, so that it gives light to the whole family. Now, in the same way ought the light imparted to you to shine before all, that your good works may be seen, and that glory may be given to your Father in heaven, who, from the fountain of light in himself, has imparted the light unto you. Do not suppose the purpose of my coming to have been to abrogate the law and the prophecies: I have not come to abrogate, but, on a far nobler enterprise, to fulfil and realize. For I solemnly assure you, that till the period when the course of the world shall terminate, and the heaven and the earth itself shall assume a new form, not even the most minute particular of the law shall perish in an outward way, without the spiritual fulfilment thereof having succeeded into its place. Whosoever, therefore, declares the least of these commandments to be invalid, and teaches men so, that man shall be accounted little in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever, conformably to the end and aim of the law, which is but a prefiguration of spiritual blessings, fulfils all in a spiritual way, shall be reckoned great in the kingdom of heaven. Hitherto you have never heard of any other fulfilment of the law, than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, but the man whose righteousness does not exceed theirs, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. What I mean by this higher fulfilment of the law, I shall explain. When listening to the reading of the law, you have heard that it was said to the ancient race, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall be amenable to the undercourt. You have supposed that the transgression of this command begins with the hand being put forth to slay; but I will disclose to you its deeper import. Whosoever is even inwardly angry at his brother (without a cause), is liable to capital punishment, by the under-court; and whosoever, giving vent to passion, says to his brother, Thou simpleton, is liable to be stoned to death by the Sanhedrim. But whosoever, with still stronger passion, says to him, Godless man, is liable to be burned to death in the vale of Gehenna. Such is the standard by which God shall one day judge the transgression of that commandment! If, then, thou hast violated it, and hast brought thy victim to the altar, and there, on the spot where thou supplicatest the pardon of sin, rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, this do, interrupt the service, all-sacred though it be. Let the victim wait: go first of all and seek to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer it, for then only is thy gift acceptable to God. Agree quickly with thine adversary, whilst thou art yet on the way to court with him; otherwise he may deliver thee up to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and thou mayest be cast into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not get out until thou hast discharged thy debt to the last farthing. Ye have heard that it was commanded, Thou shalt not commit adultery: and this, too, you understand of nothing but the finished act of adultery. But I say unto you, the commandment is transgressed in many other ways besides. He who yields to lust so far as but to look upon a woman with intention to gratify his desire, has already in mind committed adultery with her. Thus easy is it to fall into sin. But if what you best love give occasion for you to do so, sacrifice it at once: better it is for you to lose the dearest of all you possess, than that your whole man should go to perdition. It has been declared, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement." Even in this respect ye transgress the law which forbids adultery. For I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, save on the ground of fornication, thereby authorizing her to marry again, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever marrieth a woman divorced, doth commit adultery. So sacred, according to its original institution, at the creation, (Matt. xix.), is marriage to be reckoned, that, except when dissolved de facto by adultery, nothing but death can separate the parties. Again ye have heard, that it was said to the ancient race, "Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths." When ye have fulfilled that, ye think ye have done enough for the honour of God, although, times without number, ye thoughtlessly use the name of God in true assevera even on them sending the rain from heaven. If ye love them which love you, what is your reward? Is not that virtue to be met with even among those who, according to your estimate, stand the lowest in the scale of morality-viz. the publicans? And if to friends alone ye show kindness, is that uncommon? Do not even the publicans the same? You, however, according to my command, ought to take not publicans and tions. But I enjoin upon you a far higher sort of veneration for the Lord your God. Not merely must you, from reverence towards him, not swear falsely, but not swear in any way.-I allude to those oaths which, in common life, ye are accustomed to swear by the creatures, lest you thereby sin against God himself. For all the grandeur and sublimity which the creatures possess, and on whose account you invoke them in your oaths, is derived from him. Ac-heathens as the model of your perfection, cordingly, you must not swear by hea- but the perfection of your Father which ven, for therein God is enthroned; not is in heaven. by the earth, for it is his footstool; not by Jerusalem, for the Great King has declared it to be his dwelling-place: nay, not even by your head, for so much does it belong to him, that thou canst not make one hair white or black. Let your discourse consist in simple affirmation, with Yes, or No; for whatsoever is superadded to that, belongs to the kingdom of Satan. CHAP. VI. Such, then, let your righteousness be. In practising it, however, take heed that it be not before men, in order to be admired of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, when they distribute their charity in the synagogues and streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, with the human praise after which they strive, they have obtained all the reward which they can ever expect. But when thou givest alms, let not thy very left hand know what thy right hand has been Ye have heard that it hath been said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," and this commandment which Moses delivered for the magistracy, you make the rule of your intercourse with your brethren; and when you have restrained the passion of revenge to the point of not retaliating more evil than you have suffered, ye think ye have ful-employed in doing, in order that thine filled the law of God: but I say unto you, "So far ought you to restrain your passion, as not even to resist evil." Much more, whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Whosoever begins a lawsuit with thee, in order to get possession of thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. Whosoever assesses thee in a mile, go with him two. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. So totally ought ye to master your revenge. Connected with this ye have also heard that it hath been said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy," but I say unto you, so far must ye rule your hatred as rather to love your enemies: if they curse you, bless them; if they show their hatred to you, do them good; and in case you cannot reach them with your deeds, pray for them who injure and persecute you. In way ye will show yourselves to be the children of your heavenly Father for he does good to the wicked and unrighteous, making the beams of his genial sun to rise even on them, and this alms may remain secret. Thy Father who seeth even in secret will one day recompense thee publicly. Likewise when thou prayest, be not like the hypocrites; for they love to stand praying in the corners of the synagogues and streets, with a view of drawing the attention of men to what they are about. Verily I say unto you, that all the reward they have to look for, they have already received in receiving the praise of men. But when thou prayest, go into thy closet, in order more securely to withdraw from every human eye; and having shut the door, so pray to thy Father which is in secret: but thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. When you pray, take heed also not to use many vain words, as is the custom of the heathen; for they believe that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Now, you must not be like them. You have no need to force by such means an answer to your prayers. He whom you call your Father, knoweth, as you are aware, what things ye have need of before ye ask him. In the following manner, ac cordingly, ought ye to pray, each supplicating at the same time for all what he asks for himself: "Our Father, thou who hast begotten us into this bodily and spiritual existence, and who art for us, and that transcendently, all that we behold imaged forth in the earthly father, but exalted above all human and terrestrial limitation and infirmity! Let thy glory be acknowledged and revered among men! Ever more and more do thou bear rule within us all! Let the time come when thy will shall be done on earth, as it is among the unfallen spirits! What we need for our temporal existence give us this present day! The guilt that weighs us down do thou forgive us, as we too in the strength of thy love forgive our debtors! In the future protect us from all that tries our weakness, and deliver us from sin and evil!" For if it be that ye live in love, so as in the strength of it to forgive men, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you approach him with prayer for forgiveness, without being yourselves willing to forgive, neither will he forgive you, for then your prayer is like a mockery of God. Moreover, when ye fast, put away the rueful exterior, and be not as the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, in order to show to men that they are fasting. When they have obtained praise of men, they have obtained all the reward they have to expect! But thou, when thou fastest, assume rather the marks of joy, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who seeth in secret; he will reward thee. Let all that you do be done with a regard to the invisible world! Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal them. But lay up for yourselves treasures in the invisible world, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do break in nor steal. For towards the place where ye have laid up your trea- | sures, will the bias of your heart be turned. The eye is a light to the whole body; if therefore the eye be sound, the whole body will have a share in the light;—on the contrary, if the eye be diseased, the whole body will be dark. Now, thou hast also an eye within, which ought to be a light for thy whole inward man. Take good heed how it is directed, and whether it be light; for if, being intended as it was by nature to be light, it is dark, how dark will then be the part of thy being which by nature is darkness, and ought to be enlightened by that eye. Do not imagine that it is possible to make the treasure in heaven and the treasure on earth equally the object of your aim. No man can at one and the same time acknowledge and serve as master two persons whose wills are contrary; for then he will either prefer the one and despise the other, or despise the one and prefer the other. In the same way, ye cannot serve both God and temporal good at once. God ought to be your only Lord, and every other service not co-ordinated, but sub-ordinated to his. Therefore ye ought not so to take thought for your life, as if God did not do so; viz., what ye shall eat or drink, or for your body, what ye shall put on. He who has given the greater, without care of yours, can likewise certainly give the less. Having received both soul and body without your own care, how should you not receive those things, without which soul and body cannot subsist? Would ye perceive how little the solicitude of the creature is needful for its support? Behold the fowls that fly about in the air, without any to provide for them. They sow not, neither do they reap or gather into barns, as men who are provident for the future do-and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And how very little can your care accomplish? Which of you can add so much as a cubit to the length of his life? And why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field, cultivated by no hand of gardener, how they grow! They practise no tillage, they neither raise nor spin flax for their clothing; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon himself, when he appeared in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the field-plant, which springs up to-day, and even to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Torment not yourselves, therefore, with such cares as these,-saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall drink? or, With what shall we clothed? On temporal good of this kind, it is that the Gentiles fix their care. But he whom you acknowledge as your heavenly Father, knoweth that ye have need of all these |