time when the apostolic era may be regarded as terminated. Although, therefore, it should be allowed to be almost, it cannot be truly regarded as quite apostolic. The long chain of episcopal genealogy which church history contains wants one important ring or link which should attach it to the church of the apostles; in the absence of which link the chain, whatever may be its length and splendour, is, in our view, as a logical and ecclesiastical concatenation, literally nothing. The bearing which this statement has on the question of the angels of the churches is simply this, that if, in apostolic days, Christian churches had not such officebearers as would be called bishops in the modern meaning of the word, it cannot be supposed that these angels of the churches, whatever else they might be, were bishops.

3. In agreement with the above statement it may be remarked, that on the supposition that such office-bearers existed in those churches, it would be natural to expect that in every one of these Epistles our Lord would speak directly to the bishop, and only indirectly to the church, so that each church should receive instruction through the medium of its bishop, whereas the churches are as directly addressed as are the angels of the churches; and accordingly the second person plural is repeatedly used, as in the following instances:-" The Devil shall cast some of you into prison." -"Ye shall have tribulation ten days." -“I will give to every one of you according to your works." "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

4. The contents of the Epistle to Laodicea are such as render it highly improbable that it was addressed to any one living individual, and especially improbable that it was addressed to superintendent of a church; for, in the first place, it is inconceivable that any one person is meant. Had only one member of the church been chargeable with that utter apathy in spiritual things which was so extremely offensive to the holy though compassionate

Saviour, we might have expected that besides expressing abhorrence of such a character, He would have done in this case what His servant Paul did in reference to an immoral member of the church at Corinth, namely, requiring the church to put away from them that person. Next, I remark that had a president and ruler of the church been meant, we might have expected that the Head of the church would either himself have ordered him to abdicate his office, or would have instructed the church so to act towards him. The probability is, that although every member might not be thus blameable, a preponderating majority manifested such a character, including the party, whoever that party might be, which was designated by the term angel.

These considerations strongly oppose the opinion that by the angel of the church in Laodicea a bishop is meant; and if this be the case with regard to Laodicea, there can be no adequate reason for supposing that the other angels were bishops.

It appears to the writer much easier to show what is not the import of that word, than what it is. We have already seen that the word itself-the literal meaning of which is messenger-does not greatly help us in the inquiry. We easily see why heavenly angels bear that name, since we are expressly told that they are "sent forth to minister (to perform kind services) to the heirs of salvation;" but what special services these angels of the churches were expected to perform we are not distinctly told. It may be presumed, indeed, that they were expected to receive copies of these Epistles from the Apostle John, and to give them to the churches; but this still leaves it uncertain what office in the churches they previously held. Some little help we may find in their being compared to stars— stars in the hand of Christ; as being under His care, and employed in His service. The churches are compared to candlesticks, or rather lamps. Light is characteristic both of the churches

and of the angels of the churches. Every Christian church which deserves the name is a light in an otherwise dark locality. There is much probability in the opinion that by the star in every church is meant an agency, one chief feature of which is instructiveness; and this, we know, is a principal work of pastors and their helpers. With this teaching may also be connected ruling, that is, directing the affairs of the society in conformity with the laws of the Head of the church. In this agency, I consider to be included pastors and deacons; in one word, the eldership or presbytery. In every well-constituted and rightly-acting government, the idea of unity is as prominent as that of plurality. The government, as a government, is one. Accordingly, we often use the singular number, when we speak of its determinations and acts. We say 66 the government is acting wisely.” The eldership in a church may be so regarded. Yet I am aware that some persons may find it difficult to understand why one angel in every church is addressed. The opinion of Hengstenberg and others, seems to me to be by far the most probable view of the case, namely, to regard it as an ideal personification of the eldership. Such a figure of speech would startle us, if we found it either in the historical or in the epistolary parts of the New Testament, but ought not to surprise us in the Apocalypse, and especially in this part of the Apocalypse. We are to remember that while this revelation was given to the apostle, he was in a profound sleep, or trance. He saw nothing with his bodily eyes, nor did any sound reach his ears. But his soul was in full life and activity, so that mentally he could both see and hear. He saw his beloved Saviour, but his Saviour, as then seen

THE MISSIONARY'S REWARD.-A missionary in a heathen land had been preaching on the Lord's day about heaven; at evening he was standing by the couch of a dying convert from idolatry to the inspiring faith and hopes of the cross. Said the dying one-"Teacher, I understand that you have been preaching about heaven to-day; before another Lord's day I shall be there, and the first thing I shall do

Nor is it difficult to perceive some decisive advantages which result from this figurative mode of speech. In agreement with the general character of the Apocalypse, it is of the nature of poetry, so far as relates to the style of speaking, and thus the instruction given is rendered the more attractive and impressive. Besides which consideration, it seems to have been wisely ordered that no one individual should be ad

dressed. Had any one man been evidently meant, other persons, though equally needing the admonition, might have thought themselves excused from paying attention to the rebuke; whereas, as the case is, every individual in the church, whether in or out of office, was the more likely to be induced to take to himself whatever truth might be applicable to his own character and state. All this is in agreement with the practical and personal command, seven times repeated, "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear." This leads to our concluding remark, that it is not so much by our being able to give a certain explanation of unfulfilled prophecy, as by our "keeping those things which are written," that we shall realise the benediction with which this book begins. B.

Clifton.

after I get there, will be to go right to Jesus, and thank him for sending you from your home across the ocean to this dark land, to teach us poor heathen the way to heaven; and then I shall return to the gates of paradise, and there wait, wait, until you come; then I will take you by the hand and lead you right to Jesus, and tell Him, 'This is the man who taught me the way hither."

THE winter session of Edinburgh University was lately opened by the Principal, Sir David Brewster, who delivered an introductory address, which embraced a wide range of topics. The subjoined extracts will be found interesting:

Were we asked to characterise the age in which we live, we should describe it as remarkable for its love of the mysterious and the marvellous; its passion for the supernatural, and its morbid craving for what the eye cannot see, nor the ear hear, nor the judgment comprehend.

I refer to the so-called sciences of physiognomy, but more especially to that morbid expansion of it called the physiognomy of the human form, which has been elaborated in Germany, and is now likely to obtain possession of the English mind. The fundamental propositions of this new art are, that the outer form of man has been designed on purpose to represent his mental character;" "that the invisible is revealed in the visible;" that the body is the image of the mind;" and that every man's mental nature may be discovered in his external form.

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they dogmatically declare that the expressions of rage, or grief, or fear, have been " divinely designed on purpose that the inner mind may be known to those who watch the outer man." We know very little of the true inner life of our neighbours, and we should not like that our neighbours knew much more of our own. In some persons, their inner life appears to be openly and injuriously displayed. In others, it is artfully. wisely, and advantageously concealed ; and frequently it is hidden by the very marks which are supposed to display it.

In every class of society we encounter faces which we instinctively shun, and others to which we as instinctively cling. But how frequently have we found our estimates to be false! The repulsive aspect has proved to be the result of physical suffering, of domestic disquiet. or of ruined fortunes; and, under the bland and smiling countenance, a heart deceitful and vindictive, and "desperately wicked," has often been found concealed. The countenance, too, which in manhood was noble and benign, we may have seen scarred in the battle of life, and furrowed with the deep lines which the baseness of friends, and the injustice of the world, never fail to im print. And when the manly aspirant after wealth or fame has been cruelly worsted in the race of ambition, and has displayed on the outer man the impress of the emotions which disturbed himhow often have we seen him, under altered circumstances, resuming the joyous expression of his youth, which misfortune has but temporarily disguised. These views will acquire additional support, if we examine large groups of individuals living under the same influences, and therefore likely to have the same external development. In the haunts of vice-within the precincts of the gaol -in the stock exchange-and in the

The

marts of commerce, we shall find the same variety of form and expression, and the same difficulty in discovering vice or virtue in the outer man. criminal in the dock, charged with murder, will often bear an honourable comparison with the functionary who prosecutes him, the advocate who defends him, or the judge who tries him.

In refutation of assertions (with regard to the revelation of genius by the eye) we assert that there is no expression whatever in the human eyeball consisting of a transparent cornea, a coloured iris, with the pupil in its centre, and the white sclerotic coat. You may as hopefully search for expression in a watchglass as in the cornea; as hopefully in a coloured wafer with a hole in the centre as in the iris; and as well in a piece of white kid leather as in the sclerotic coat.

Such is a brief notice of the new science which is to maintain the waning excitement of more dangerous and offensive speculations. The talents and eloquence of its German and English expositors may obtain for it a temporary popularity; and philosophers, male and female, will doubtless study and apply its symbols.

Among the more remarkable characteristics of the age in which we live, is the predominance of the military spirit in every civilised nation, whether it be at peace or at war.

This triumph of ambition, or revenge, over the holiest of man's affections and the sternest of his obligations, admits but of one explanation: nations have no faith. War is their master-crime, for which no atonement has been provided; and its issue is in national disaster, and in those stern retributions which conquest, and pestilence, and famine, often reserve for the third and the fourth generation. But it is on its bearing upon civilised life, more than in its sanguinary phase, that I wish you to acquire just notions on the subject of war. The great duty of nations-the great duty of man-is to promote the

race.

moral and physical amelioration of his Humanity enjoins it, religion enjoins it, and even national policy, not always the safest of counsellors, adds her sternest injunctions. When war is in the ascendant, all the springs of society are shaken loose. On the property of the nation, whether fixed or moveable, war makes its first inroad. The financial pulse beats in feverish excitement. The plough ceases to travel over the heath and the morass; and the rich cargoes floating on the ocean become the prey of the pirates of civilisation. Art and science are summoned from their peaceful labours, to fabricate new weapons of destruction. The institutions of charity and philanthropy are paralysed in their labours of love; and the missionary and the schoolmaster carry on their blessed work with more limited means, and within a narrower range; and thrice happy is the nation that has weathered the storm of war without agrarian or political convulsions. If this be a true description of the civil consequences of war, how deep is the obligation upon each of us to teach the lessons of peace in our families, and to propagate them throughout the sphere over which our influence extends. On you who are to be the teachers of youth in the school or in the sanctuary lies heavily the duty of enforcing the great Christian precept―" to live at peace" with all men-of checking that love of military adventure and dispelling that ignis fatuus of national glory, which has so often accelerated the fall of the mightiest of empires. In thus pleading for universal peace, you will not suppose that I disapprove, or am callous to, that great national movement in which many of you have taken so noble a part, and which cannot fail to avert from our beloved shores the very calamities I have been deploring. Before this century began, I have myself trodden the pavement of our old university in the garb of a volunteer; and could it, as it cannot, avail, I would proffer in the same cause the feeble arm and the tottering limb that have been spared.

2. To the Flood.

3. To the wickedness and destruction of the Cities of the Plain.

4. To the institution of Circumcision. II. Quotations from and references to the book of Exodus, namely:1. To the revelation at the Burning Bush.

2. To the Passover.

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3. To the law of the Ten Commandments.

4. To the Mosaic law in general. III. References to the book of Leviticus, namely, to the law of leprosy and the law of purification.

IV. Reference to the book of Numbers.

V. Quotations from the book of Deuteronomy.

THE INSTITUTION AND LAW OF MARRIAGE.GENESIS II. 24.

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And be answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives but from the beginning it was not so. -Matt. xix. 3-8.

In the parallel passage in Mark x., our Lord puts the question, "What did Moses command you ?"

THE FLOOD.-GEN. VI. TO VIII.

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.-Matt. xxiv. 37-39.

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They

did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.-Luke xvii. 26, 27.

THE WICKEDNESS AND DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.-GEN. XIX.

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife.-Luke xvii. 28-32.

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.-Matt. x. 14, 15.

Parallel passage, St. Mark vi. 11:

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. -Matt. xi. 23, 24.

THE INSTITUTION OF CIRCUMCISION.-
GEN. XVII. 10-14.

Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the Sabbath-day circumcise a man. -John vii. 22.

THE REVELATION AT THE BURNING BUSH.EXODUS III.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.Matt. xxii. 29-32.

And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.-Mark xii. 26, 27.

Now that the dead are raised even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,