municated their ideas to each other frequently, on the subjects contained in the prophetic writings. The pearls mentioned in the 21st verse, are emblems of purity. Sea-ports in Europe are, generally speaking, hot beds of vice, from the circumstance of strangers from all countries introducing manners and customs unfavorable to progressive virtue: but when the following prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled the sea-ports of Zion will be different. "The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

*

We find by this prophecy, that as the Red Sea was dried up, to enable the Lord's people (who had no ships then,) to reach their old "inheritance;" so the Pacific Ocean is now the way appointed by the same Almighty Ruler of the Universe, for his ransomed people to reach their new "Inheritance of Peace;" and as they by degrees occupy the ports, and assist in making laws and regulations, for governing them on benevolent and Christian principles, not on selfish and Anti-christian ones, they will make this new "Inheritance," a praise in the earth.†

When we find St. John describing the street of the

* Isaiah li. 6, 9, 10, 11. † Isaiah. lxii. 7.

city as composed of pure gold, we must remember that gold is emblematic of perfection. Such expressions even in conversation, are frequently heard as the following, viz., "a golden opportunity," "golden opinions," a golden moment," &c.; and as knowledge was to be increased, and the arts and sciences brought to perfection, before the prophecy was understood, the golden street, probably means a rail-road. And if we could imagine a rail-road carried through this great island from east to west, with vineyards, olive-yards, and orange orchards growing on each side of it; and as nearly as the natural impediments of mountains, rivers, &c., would admit, constructed along the 30th degree of south latitude, St. John's prophecy would be fulfilled. This does not appear to me a more impracticable project than constructing a tunnel under the Thames, which I have always considered waste of industry, as there were plenty of bridges over it.

The following description, which Shakspeare gives of Great Britain, well expresses the condition to which Pride and Competition have reduced her inhabitants in the present day. How thankful then ought those younger sons and daughters, who are excluded from a share in the lands of England, Scotland, and Ireland, be, to have a land to come to, where they can purchase an inheritance for their children, and which they will find equally "bound in with the triumphant sea."

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise ;
This fortress built by nature for herself,
Against infection, and the hand of war;
This happy breed of men, this little world;
This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or, as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the

envy of less happier lands;

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,

Feared by their breed, and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,
(For Christian service, and true chivalry,)
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry,
Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's son :
This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear, land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leas'd out, (I die pronouncing it,)
Like to a tenement or pelting farm :
England, bound in with the triumphant sea,
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds;
That England that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.*

* Richard II. Act. 2.

THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.

The Saints above are stars in heaven;
What are the Saints on earth?

Like trees they stand, whom God has given,
Our Eden's happy birth.

Faith is their fixed unswerving root;
Hope, their unfading flower;
Fair deeds of Charity, their fruit,
The glory of their bower.

KEEBLE.

WHEN the Almighty ruler of the Universe called Abraham out of a world, then sunk a second time into vice and idolatry, to be the father of the people to whom He was untimely to give laws for the guidance of all the nations of the earth, we are told by the Sacred Historian the reason of his being thus chosen. "And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."*

We thus may learn the manner in which a "Tree of Righteousness," may be a pillar in the Spiritual Temple. And if we could imagine 144 thousand such heads of families, each a king and a priest in his own well regulated household, occupying the best portions of land, north, south, east, and west of their "Inheritance of Peace," we might imagine a temple erected, well pleasing in the sight of him who said, "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For

* Gen. xviii. 17, 18, 19.

all those things hath my hands made, and all those things
have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that
trembleth at my word.” * St. Peter addressed his first
Epistle to the," Strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctifi-
cation of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: grace
unto you
and peace be multi-
plied. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye
holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written,
be ye holy; for I am holy." The rest of the chapter
contains much practical Christianity; and the second
chapter, after encouraging believers to study the word
of God, thus describes the manner in which the Spiritual
Temple is to be formed by unity amongst Christians."
"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To
whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of
men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture.
Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious;
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto
them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed the same is made the head of the corner,§ and a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them
which stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto
also they were appointed, but ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you

Isaiah lxvi. 1, 2. † 1 Peter. i. 1, 2, 15, 16.
Isaiah xxviii. 16. § Matthew xxi 42.