NEW JERUSALEM. Behold the measure of the promise fill'd, COWPER. IN drawing a comparison between Old Jerusalem, in its present state, and the city which St. John describes in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation, let us first inquire what is the meaning of the name? Translated literally into English, it is "an inheritance of peace." The ancient city, the capital of Palestine, was part of the inheritance of the descendants of Abraham, when they came out of Egypt, but it was not originally built by the Lord's people, it was planned by idolaters, and built with a wall round it, as all cities in those days were, when it was customary to accumulate wealth in them, and to protect that wealth by a defence, which it would take their enemies much time and trouble to throw down, when they coveted treasure, thus accumulated. The wealth which was from time to time amassed within the walls of Jerusalem, was frequently coveted by the kings of Babylon, who were permitted by the Almighty to punish his people for their propensity to laspe into idolatry, by seizing their wealth, destroying the beauty of their city, and carrying them captive to Babylon. But in the school of affliction they were taught a lesson of repentance, and David beautifully expresses in the 137th Psalm, how they wept by the rivers of Babylon, when they thought of their own beautiful city. By the waters of Babel we sat down and wept, And the harp which our fingers so often had swept, For they that had conquered and led us away, And while in the torpor of bondage we lay, In the land of captivity how shall we sing, If e'er I forget thee, mine own native land! May the tone of my harp, and the skill of my hand, May my tongue then remember its office no more, Thy image engrav'd on my heart's inmost core, By the severity of the chastisement they were cured of their propensity to worship false gods; and never again, as a nation, relapsed into idolatry. Jerusalem fell before Titus; it was, when he conquered it, one of the most beautiful cities of the earth; and so strongly fortified, that its conqueror, who was master of the whole civilized world beside, said, on mounting her bulwarks, and admiring her towers, "surely we have God for our assistance in the war, for what could human hands do against these towers!" “Proud Cæsar's plough-share, o'er her ruins driven, On the rebellious race that crucified their Lord." The above lines were given to me by a lady, who is one of my most valued friends in Sydney; they were written by one of her cousins. H. V. B. Various were the sins of the inhabitants of Jerusalem against their God, but their most heinous offence was crucifying the true Messiah. This was the sin for which they have been, and are still, visited with the most severe affliction; outcasts from the land of their fathers, and scattered through all lands: but the nations whose rulers have been instruments in the hands of their God to punish them, are all doomed to destruction. Ancient Babylon was conquered by Cyrus, and is a type of all the cities which are ultimately to suffer punishment for the manner in which they have persecuted both Jews and Christians for the last 1850 years; and in this general destruction must Palestine be included, as it is situated in the midst of Idolaters and Mahometans, who, with the Anti-christian nations of Europe, are all included under the name of "Babylon the Great." King David, who was a prophet himself, and all the other prophets, predict a great destruction of the enemies of the Lord by fire; but whenever this is the subject of their prophetic warnings, there is a place of refuge spoken of for the redeemed or the righteous. In the 144th Psalm we find it thus written :— "Bow thy heavens O Lord and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Send thine hand from above; rid me, aud deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace; that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets. That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." It is evident that the street here spoken of, where the Lord's people are to enjoy all worldly advantages as well as "liberty of conscience," must belong to a large country capable of containing oxen, sheep, and ploughed fields, and not a city surrounded by a fortification, as all cities were built before the invention of gunpowder. Had the prophet been writing a description of Australia, could it have been more accurate? The 34th Chapter of Isaiah's prophecy contains a prediction of the destruction of the nations of the world, and gives as a reason, their persecution of his people: "For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. But in the 35th chapter there is a country alluded to, in which, although a wilderness, the Lord's people were to find refuge. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, in the habitation of dragons, where each lay shall be reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." In reading this chapter, and comparing it with Australia, it is worthy of notice, that the cedar tree, for which Lebanon was remarkable, is so plentiful in Australia, that it is used for firewood; and that in such an extensive, and thickly-wooded country, no lion, nor any ravenous animal has been found. In the 64th chapter of the same Prophecy, Isaiah thus alludes to the final destruction of the enemies of the Lord: "Oh! that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!' "In the fourth and fifth verses, how encouraging are the promises to the Lord's people: "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways." In the 65th chapter, the punishment of the proud and self-righteous is predicted, which say, "stand by thyself, come not near to me: for I am L |