Sapphira, recorded in Acts 'v. 3: Peter asks, "Why worse than worthless. For instance, take the folhath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy lowing thus referred to by Dr. Burton: "When St. Ghost?" and verse four says: "Thou hast not lied Paul says, He that spared not his own Son, but deunto men, but unto God." The passages before ad-livered him up for us all, how shall he not with him duced prove the distinctness of the three Persons; and also freely give us all things?' The inference is not thus I feel satisfied in my own mind that the doc- true, that God will certainly give us all things, if we trine of the Holy Trinity is amply and clearly estab- understand by his own Son a mere human prophet or lished on the sole and solid ground of holy scripture, teacher, whom God sent into the world, and permitted without creeds, without tradition. Let men but be to be put to death. Though it was an act of mercy content to leave the matter here, and we incur no on the part of God to send such a teacher, and we risk of heterodoxy, we need fear no scoff of the unbe- might perhaps infer from one such act of mercy that liever. others might be expected, yet we should not be justified in arguing that God would therefore freely give us all things: the argument would then be from a less to a greater, and would not be consecutive. But, if God literally spared not his begotten Son, but delivered him up for us all, we may then argue from the greater to the less, that God will freely give us all things; for there is nothing which can be so dear to God as his own begotten Son." And this argument is yet more forcible if we render the words not "freely

What then, it may be inquired, is the use of creeds or confessions of faith? Whence did they spring up in the Christian church? They arose from the necessity of the times; and their object is to cast up a barrier against error, and elevate the standard of truth. The ingenuity of perverted reason, and the subtilty of the great spirit of darkness, combined to torture the simplicity of the gospel, and extenuate the brevity of the scripture creed into all the varied and complicated shapes of those deadly heresies that dis-give us all things," but "freely forgive us every thing; tracted the body of the primitive church, and wrought perdition on many of the professors of the first faith of Christianity. First came the impugners of the humanity of the Saviour, then the impugners of his deity; one making his body a phantom, another abstracting the human soul, and letting deity supply its place; so that the body of the faithful had to declare him perfect God and perfect man. The early church, indeed, was driven by a special Providence, we may say, to prove the humanity rather than the divinity | of the Saviour. In the apostolic writings this is most remarkably manifest. They insist upon the truth that, though he were a Son, yet learned he subjection by the things that he suffered; and that, though he was equal with God, he took upon him our nature, and was in all things made like unto his brethren. Then, after the worse Gnosticism retired, Arianism succeeded, and well nigh absorbed the catholic faith. Using the language of orthodoxy, but veiling beneath it a deadly heresy, calling Christ God, they worshipped him not as a God, but made him an inferior deity, a created God. Then that portion of the creed was required which asserted him equal to the Father as touching his godhead, inferior to the Father as touching his manhood. One affirmed Christ to be so one with the Father, as that he would say the Father died to redeem. Another so severed them as to be a worshipper of two several Gods. Then it was necessarily enunciated that, when we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, we neither may confound the persons nor divide the substance. So heresy after heresy arose, to be negatived by some decision of orthodox believers, which was thenceforward to be embodied in the established creed. The Socinian, indeed, goes beyond the Arian, maintaining that Christ is no more than an exemplary man-a teacher, indeed, sent from God on a high and holy errand, who was so earnest in his work, that he scrupled not to die for what he taught, and that God, to shew his approval, raised him from the dead: a theory thus not only at variance with many express statements in scripture, but making many other passages

the word xapire@aι having this sense in Rom. viii. 32, and Col. ii. 13, iii. 13. Or, take yet one other passage, instances from Dr. Waterland (46): “There are no two motives more affecting or more endearing, or more apt to work upon ingenuous minds, than the love of the Father in sending his beloved Son to redeem us, and the love and condescension of our blessed Lord in submitting to be sent: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 'In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.' We see here what a stress and emphasis is laid, not merely upon this, that life, eternal life, is the benefit bestowed, but that it is conveyed in such a manner and by such endearing means by the only begotten Son, * an emphasis not made out on the hypothesis that Christ is a mere man. But suppose him a creature, and the very first and highest of all creatures, before he came down from heaven, yet neither does that supposition sufficiently answer the purpose; for, considering how honourable the service was, and how inconceivably vast and large the reward for it, it might more properly be said that God so loved his Son, that he sent him into the world in order to prefer him to a kind of rivalship with himself, to advance him to divine honours, to make the whole creation bow before him, and pay him homage and obeisance * * so that, denying the divinity of Christ robs us in part of one of the most endearing and affecting motives to Christian charity."

*

And here I would leave the doctrine in its scriptural fulness and simplicity, avoiding all the subtilties of scholastic theology and the technicalities which heresy has compelled the orthodox to adopt. The language of our creeds is human, language called forth by the necessity of the times; and, when we assert that they may be proved by most sure and certain warrants of holy scripture, we mean that the doctrine they negative is proved from scripture to be false: I allude more particularly to the Atha

should have no creed but God's word, if human nature were perfect. But it is not so. Grace does not flow in the flood: piety is not transmitted as an heritage from father to son; and hence we see the children of the pious and orthodox carrying out the principles of private judgment in matters of faith, while their hearts are yet unenlightened by the Holy Spirit, and their lips intact by the live coal from off the altar of the Lord. Hence they are intruders into holy mysteries, and are left to forget the name of him who was the God of their fathers, and lift up their hands to many a strange god. And so it is even in members of our own church. The same natural corruption is propagated, the same want of grace discernible in the children of the godly. But we have formularies to call us back to allegiance to our God, legal charters and covenants to restore our loyalty to him who is Sovereign of the universe. Let it be granted that creeds be an evil; but they are necessary to us in our present state. Our option lies between what some think voluntary bondage of the reason to human chains, and the risk of apostacy into deadly heresy, not in ourselves, at least in our children. God will keep his own stedfast in the faith; but their sins he will visit upon their children to the third and fourth generation; their sin being this, that they left the great truths they had been taught by the Spirit unguarded from misconception and perversion by those means with which they were entrusted. Evil as metaphysical dogmas and cumbrous creeds may be, we cannot do without them. "Such a result" (the abolition of creeds), says Dr. Hampden, "seems rather to be wished and prayed for, by a sanguine piety, than reckoned upon in the humbling calculations of human experience. In the mean time, it were well to retain, amidst all its confessed imperfections, a system of technical theology, by which we are guarded, in some measure, from the exorbitance of theoretic enthusiasm. It would be a rashness of pious feeling that should at once so confide in itself, as to throw down the walls and embankments; which the more vigilant fears of our predecessors have reared up around the city of God. In the present state of things, such a zeal for the faith would look more like the ostentatiousness of Spartan courage, than the modest discipline of the soldiers of Christ, trusting in his arm for success, and yet availing themselves of all natural means of strength which their reason points out."

nasian creed. It has been well observed, that "they
surely entirely pervert the nature of dogmatic the-
ology who reason on the terms of doctrines as if they
were the proper ideas belonging to religion, or who
insist on interpretations of expressions, whether as em-
ployed by our reformers or the primitive believers, in
a positive sense, without taking into their view the
existing state of theology and philosophy at the dif-
ferent periods of Christianity. Creeds and articles,
without such previous study, are as if they were written
in a strange language. The words indeed are signs of
ideas to us, but not of those ideas which were pre-
sented to the minds of men when the formularies
were written, or when they were adopted by the
church." I have not, therefore, thought it needful
to enter upon any discussion of any terms introduced
into our creeds, but endeavoured to confine myself
to the lively oracles of God. There is no attack
now made on any of those expressions, no necessity
therefore that time should be occupied by reading
their defence. But it is needful that men should be
reminded of great fundamental truths, great practical
doctrines, especially the one great distinguishing doc-if
trine of orthodox believers, the doctrine of the
blessed Trinity. Right views of God are necessary to
the right worship of God. Let our views of God be
defective, ill-defined, or misproportioned, and our
views of other doctrines will to a like degree become
tainted with error, our lives discoloured with sin. As
our understanding departs from the orthodex faith,
our affections will be misapplied, our feet will travel
into the way of transgressors. Error in faith must be
productive of some practical mischief either in heart
or conduct. Heresy leads to an immoral life. In-
deed, heresy is itself a transgression of God's law, as
much as murder or idolatry. We forget the name of
our God, and lift up our hands to strange gods. All
other doctrines are intertwined with and dependent
upon the doctrine of the Godhead. Our views of sin
and righteousness, our corruption and condemnation,
Christ's atonement and the Spirit's sanctification, are
all influenced by our conceptions of God. I do not
say that, if we are right here, we may not branch
off into error from other points; but, if wrong here,
we cannot but err on other material and highly prac-
tical points of doctrine. I would advocate a spirit of
free and candid inquiry, of the utmost tolerance of
opinion and religious liberty. I would have freedom
granted to every man to worship God as he believes
in his heart God can best be adored, the purity of the
faith best preserved, and himself best prepared for
glory. To his own Master he standeth or falleth:
why should I judge another man's servant? I would
cast no imputation on the conscientious dissenter: I
pronounce no anathema on his principles; but I can-
not hide from myself the danger he incurs for his
children if he rejects all human interpretations and
creeds. I cannot hide from myself the evil tendency
of his system. I cannot but be thankful that my lot
is cast in a church where, by forms of sound words,
and the bulwarks against heresy erected by the piety
and care of former generations, we are but slightly
exposed to temptations to deviate from the path of
orthodoxy. It would doubtless be better that we

It only remains that I should adduce evidence, for the comfort of the simple believer who is conscious that the subtleties of the Athanasian creed are beyond his understanding, that such an understanding is not necessary to everlasting salvation. If he is not infected with the heresy contradicted in the creeds, but believes the doctrine as simply stated in scripture, he need be under no apprehension. I will quote a passage from one whose orthodoxy is indisputable. It is a passage from Sherlock, adopted by Dr. Waterland. "Though it is necessary and essential to the Christian faith to acknowledge Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be one eternal God, yet there are a great many little subtleties started by over-curious and busy heads, which are not fundamental doctrines,

and ought not to be thought so. God forbid that all | contained about one-third water and one-third oil : the nice distinctions and definitions of the schools, about essence, subsistence, personality, about eternal generation and procession, the difference between filiation and spiration, &c., should be reckoned among fundamentals of our faith. For, though we understand nothing of these matters (as, indeed, we do not, and it had been happy if the church had never heard of them), yet, if we believe the divinity of each Person, we believe enough to understand the doctrine of salvation." And then Dr. Waterland (p. 73) goes on to state how the doctrine of the Trinity was rather hurt than befriended by the schoolmen; because they invented difficulties, overlaid a plain doctrine with subtleties and distinctions so as to obscure it; by dilating and perplexing they weakened it; "for it is much easier to oppose it as it stands, tricked up in that scholastic form, than as it stands in scripture and in the ancient fathers;" and lastly," they brought a kind of scandal and disgrace upon the doctrine, as if it subsisted chiefly upon scholastic subtleties."

"God knoweth the secrets of the heart; and it is far from improbable that God is even now searching us, because, amidst controversies on other matters, our faith has been led away from this great doctrine of Christianity, and, unawares, we have forgotten, or were at least in danger of forgetting, the name of our God, and lifting up our hands to a strange god."

"The pressure of the times may recall us ere it be too late, not to a spirit of intolerance, but to one of careful and humble inquiry into the grounds of our own faith, and cause us to be more firmly established in the doctrine we have been now considering; so that more simply and more stedfastly we shall adore the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity. God grant it may be so! Then, adoring one Father for his infinite love in providing for our redemption, trusting in the righteousness of one almighty Saviour for the blessings of free and full justification, enlightened by and walking in one eternal Spirit along the way of holiness, we all advance from strength to strength until every one appears before God in Zion. Then, fearing no forget fulness of God, or apostacy from him, we shall join the everlasting chant of adoration and praise, with all the heavenly hosts of saints and angels, to the triune Jehovah. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."

THE ACTION OF OIL UPON THE WAVES.

ABOUT 70 years ago the peculiar smoothing action of oil upon rough water was introduced by Dr. Franklin to the notice of scientific men in this country. The attention of that ingenious philosopher was first attracted to the subject during his passage to Madeira, when, the weather being warm, and the cabin windows constantly open for the benefit of the air, the flaring of the candles at night was a source of great annoyance. He therefore formed a floating light in a common glass tumbler, and, by means of wire, suspended it from the ceiling of the cabin. The glass

the rest was left empty, in order that the sides of the glass might protect the flame from the wind. A little wire hoop was used to contain the wick; and it was furnished with corks, to keep it afloat on the oil. The lamp diffused a good light all over the table. In the evening, at supper time, happening to look at the lamp, Franklin remarked that, though the surface of the oil was perfectly tranquil, and preserved its proper position and distance, with regard to the brim of the glass, yet the water under the oil was in great commotion, rising and falling in irregular waves, which continued during the whole evening. The lamp was kept burning as a watch-light all night. In the morning, Franklin observed that, though the motion of the ship continued the same, the water was now quiet, and its surface as tranquil as that of the oil had been the evening before. At night again, when the oil was put upon it, the water resumed its irregular motions, rising in high waves almost to the surface of the oil, but without disturbing the smooth level of that surface.

This appearance may be produced anywhere by the following contrivance : Fasten a piece of string round a tumbler, with strings from each side meeting above it in a knot at about a foot distance from the top of the tumbler. Pour in water, so that it may occupy about one-third of the glass: then lift it by the knot, and swing it to and fro in the air, and the water will remain steady. Pour in gently about as much oil, and then swing the glass as before; when the water will become agitated, the surface of the oil remaining quite tranquil.

Franklin showed this experiment to a number of persons. He says: "Those who are but slightly acquainted with the principles of hydrostatics, &c., are apt to fancy immediately that they understand it, and readily attempt to explain it ; but their explanations have been different, and to me not very intelligent. Others, more deeply skilled in those principles, seem to wonder at it, and promise to consider it. And I think it is worth consideration; for a new appearance, if it cannot be explained by any old principles, may afford us new ones, of use perhaps in explaining some other obscure parts of natura knowledge."

On his arrival in London, this subject excited the attention of Franklin's scientific friends; and, at length, a paper on the subject was read before the Royal Society, on the 2nd of June, 1774. It appears that the action of oil in smoothing the surface of agitated water had long been the subject of popular remark. Pliny mentions this property of oil as known particularly to the divers ; who made use of it in his time, in order to have a more steady light at the bottom of the water. It was stated, also, that on the Spanish coast the fishermen were accustomed to pour a little oil on the sea, in order to still its motion, that they might be able to see the oysters lying at the bottom, which are very large, and which they take up with a proper instrument. Our sailors also have remarked that the water is always much smoother in the wake of a ship that has been newly tallowed than it is in one that is foul.

occasions, to modify the violence of waves when in the midst of them, so as to prevent their breaking. He also thought it might be of use on those shores where the force of the surf prevented persons from landing. His idea was that, by sailing to and fro at some distance from a lee shore, and continually pouring oil into the sea, the waves might be so much diminished before they reached the shore, as to diminish the violence of the surf, and thus permit an easy landing.

Pennant also observes of the seal-catchers of Scot- | but something might perhaps be done, on particular land that, when the seals are devouring a very oily fish, which they always do under water, the waves above are observed to be remarkably smooth; and by this mark the fishermen know where to look for them. Franklin also says that, in 1757, being at sea in a fleet of ninety-six sail, he observed the wakes of two of the ships to be remarkably smooth, while all the others were ruffled by the wind, which blew fresh. “Being puzzled with the differing appearance," he continues, "I at last pointed it out to our captain, and asked him the meaning of it. 'The cooks,' said he, “have, I suppose, been just emptying their greasy water through the scuppers, which has greased the sides of those ships a little.' And this answer he gave me with an air of some little contempt, as to a person ignorant of what everybody else knew. In my own mind, I at first slighted his solution, though" Centaur," with the long-boat and barge towards I was not able to think of another."

Franklin was also informed, by a gentleman from Rhode Island, that it was a common remark in the harbour of Newport, that the sea was always smooth while any whaling vessels were in it. Also, that a Dutch vessel near the islands of Paul and Amsterdam met with a storm, in which the captain, for greater safety in wearing the ship, poured oil into the sea, which 'prevented the waves breaking over her; and to this he attributed the preservation of his vessel.

With all these testimonies in favour of the tranquillizing action of oil upon rough water, Franklin tried a variety of experiments, two or three of which may be noticed here.

On one occasion, while in company with sir John Pringle and others, in a boat on the Derwent lake, it was found that, by pouring a very small quantity of oil upon the surface of the water, the waves, which were in great agitation, were instantly calmed, and that to so great a distance round the boat as seemed incredible.

The next' experiment was tried on Clapham Common, on a pond, the surface of which was very rough from the action of the wind. On dropping a little oil upon the water, it spread with surprising swiftness upon the surface; but the effect of smoothing the waves was not produced, because he had applied it on the leeward side of the pond, where the waves were largest, and the wind drove the oil back upon the shore. He then went to the windward side, where they began to form; and there the oil, though not exceeding a tea-spoonful in quantity, produced an instant calm over the space of several yards square, which spread amazingly till it reached the lee side, making all that portion of the pond, to the extent of perhaps half an acre, as smooth as a looking-glass.

Franklin explained this phenomenon, by supposing that wind, passing over the surface of water, raises it into wrinkles, which, if the wind continue, are the elements of future waves; but that, when water is covered with a film of oil, the wind slides over it, and leaves it as smooth as it finds it. He thought that advantage might be taken of the fact, to suppress the waves in any required place, provided we could come at the windward of the spot where they take their rise. This can seldom, if ever, be done in the ocean;

To test these practical views, Dr. Franklin, in company with captain Bentinck, sir Joseph Banks, Drs. Solander, Blagden, and others, visited a part of the English coast between Haslar hospital and the point near Tillhecker, on a windy day, when the wind made a lee shore. They proceeded from his majesty's ship

the shore. The long-boat was anchored about a quar-
ter of a mile from the shore: some of the company
were landed behind the point, and placed themselves
opposite the long-boat, where they might observe the
surf, and notice whether any change occurred in it
upon using the oil. Another party in the barge plied
to windward of the long-boat, as far from her as she
was from the shore, making trips of about half a
mile each, and pouring oil continually out of a large
stone bottle, through a hole in the cork. The ex-
periment had not all the desired effect, for no material
difference was observed in the height or force of the
surf upon the shore; but those who were in the long-
boat observed a tract of smoothed water, the whole
of the distance in which the barge poured the oil,
gradually spreading in breadth towards the long-boat.
"I call it smoothed,” says Franklin, “not that it was
laid level, but because, though the swell continued,
its surface was not roughened by the wrinkles or
smaller waves; and none, or very few 'white caps
(or waves whose tops turn over in foam) appeared in
that whole space, though to windward and leeward
of it there were plenty."

MISSIONARY RECORDS.

No. V.

"Awake, and shine! Your light is come,
Fair islands of the west :
Awake, and sing! once deaf and dumb,
Now islands of the blest:
Shine! for the glory of the Lord

Your coral reef surrounds:
Sing! for the triumph of his word
O'er all your ocean sounds.

Poor Africa! through thy waste of sands,
Where Calvary's fountain flows,
Deserts become Immanuel's lands,
And blossom like the rose.
"India! beneath the chariot wheels
Of Juggernaut o'erthrown,
Thy heart a quickening spirit feels,
A pulse beats through thy stone.
China! behold thy quaking wall;
Foredoomed by heaven's decree;
A hand is writing on it-" Fall!"
A voice goes forth-" Be free!"
Ye pagan tribes of every race,
Clime, country, language, hue!
Believe, obey, be saved by grace;
The gospel speaks to you,"

MONTGOMERY. THE PORT OF LONDON." In this port," says the report of the Prayer-book and Homily Society, "dur

ing the year, there have been 4,359 ships and other | which had been thus created, united in forming the vessels visited or revisited. On board these vessels 1,127 prayer-books, 6 family prayer-books, 8 books of homilies, and 503 homily tracts, have been purchased by seamen: 649 copies of a book of select homilies, and 1,250 homily tracts, have been supplied to the ships gratuitously." Since the year 1824, 45,904 vessels have been visited or revisited in the port of London only; and 23,065 books of common prayer, 273 books of homilies, and 500 homily tracts, have been sold to seamen, besides 17,112 books and tracts supplied to the ships gratuitously.

Church Education Society for Ireland. The immediate and chief object of this society is to afford the means of religious education to the poorer children of our own communion. But an earnest desire being felt to extend the benefit of the schools to other communions also, not only is the freest access given to all, but every thing is done, which can be done consistently with principle, to take away every hindrance to their availing themselves of the advantages which they afford. While the reading of the bible forms a portion of the business of the schools-in which all children, when qualified, are expected to take a part the formularies of the church are required to be learned by none except the children of its own members. And, although the attendance of Roman catholic children at the schools of the Church Education So

SEAMEN REFORMED.-The society's usefulness has not only been manifested in the case of individuals, but whole ships' companies have reaped benefit from its labours. A clergyman thus addressed the visiting secretary of the society: "Can you tell me where we last met? Do you remember what part of the coun-ciety fluctuates considerably, as ecclesiastical authotry you were visiting in the month of June, 1827? I will tell you," he said. "You were at Gravesend, on board a large ship, bound to Calcutta. I was then going out as a chaplain to India. The captain of that ship was a pious churchman: you supplied him with more than 100 prayer-books, and a large number of books of select homilies. We had on board that vessel a ship's company of seamen and troops, numbering altogether about 500. When we got well out to sea, I was called upon to perform the regular church service. We immediately sold, at your reduced prices, all the prayer-books with which you supplied us; and the homilics were divided to portions of the crew and to the troops. The effect was most gratifying. The men regularly came to church, and, with the help of their books, joined in divine service with the most devout attention; and some of them, after a while, were evidently very deeply impressed with the important truths which they learned under the means of grace" (Prayer-book and Homily Society's Report).

rity is more or less actively exerted to restrain it, yet on the whole there appears no room to doubt that united education has been effected in a much higher degree in the schools of this society than in those of the National Board." The prelates having stated that appeals to the legislature and the government had been urged in vain, add justly-" We cannot bring ourselves to think it possible that the striking inequality of the measure which has been dealt towards the established church of this country, in the important concern of education, and the great hardship of the position in which it has thereby been placed, can fail ultimately to attract towards it such fair consideration as may procure for it due sympathy and redress." And they conclude-"We cannot believe that our brethren in the faith in England will look on with apathy, while the church in this country, faithful to its high office as 'a witness and keeper of holy writ,' is struggling, unaided, to discharge its most pressing duties." Let it be the aim of those who are engaged in this sacred cause, by God's help, to do his will, leaving the issue of these labours-the time and measure of their success-altogether to his wisdom. "And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." To this appeal I fervently add, may God speedily give our rulers the heart to render truer "justice to Ireland."

THE CAFFRARIAN CONVERT.-A Caffre-a fine, tall, athletic, young man-addicted to all the debasing and demoralizing customs of his nation—one night resolved to go into the colony (of Chumie) for the purpose of stealing a horse; which is a common practice with them. He immediately left home came into the

IRELAND. We, of the purified church of Christ, truly live in days of evil omen. In proportion as the sky of protestant truth is brightening in France and Germany, it is growing dark and overcast in our dear native land. Under the sceptre of a former queen, England was blessed of God as the stay and bulwark of the true faith, "once delivered to the saints." But the time, the fearful time is come, when its rulers, ruling in the name of a sovereign who is indebted to the blood of protestant martyrs and the wisdom of protestant statesmen for the crown she wears, hold our the right-hand of their patronage to a system of education which employs a bible adulterated by priest-colony, and watched for an opportunity of accomcraft as a means of religious training, while they withdraw their aid altogether from a society, the corner-stone of whose teaching is that gospel which alone is the wisdom of God unto salvation! That in this sad comment we have no ways over-stepped the truth, will indeed appear from the subjoined extract from the "Address of the Irish Prelates,” in behalf of the Church Education Society for Ireland :-"The exclusive appropriation of the parliamentary grants for education having left the church destitute of its accustomed aids for the instruction of the children of the poor, the clergy and laity, to supply the want

plishing his purpose; which soon presented itself. He found two horses, grazing in a sheltered situation near a bush; and he instantly seized one of them, and made off with it as fast as he could. Elated with his success, and rejoicing in the prospect of securing his prize without being detected, he proceeded towards Caffreland; when all at once the thought struck him, "Thou shalt not steal." He could go no further, but immediately drew up the horse, and said to himself, "What is this? I have heard these words before, in the church; but I never felt as I do now. This must be the word of God." He dismounted, and held the