their royal palaces into the small, cold, and dismal "house appointed for all living." He has easily triumphed over the most renowned conquerors that ever displayed their skill on the field of battle, and he has caused the morbid worm to crawl upon their brow. The most robust giants that ever signalized themselves by their undaunted courage and strength, have been crumbled to dust by his mighty and chilly hands. And besides, he has a poisonous sting, with which he envenoms the soul to irretrievable destruction. And the grave is the strong prison in which he incarcerates the human family-there they are, as it were, securely deposited and locked up, bound in the chains of mortality, while the power of God's anger is sufficient to consume all the sources of the soul's comfort, and cause it to weep and lament throughout the untold ages of eternity.

But, listen! a greater than death and the grave is here. Here also is one whose atonement is an ample refuge from the destructive storm of divine wrath. He has gloriously triumphed over the former; and has completely appeased the fury of the latter. He loudly exclaims in reference to his people, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plague ; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Let us address him in the for

cible words of the poet :

"Death of death, and hell's destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan's shore:

Songs of praises,

I will ever give to thee."

Finally, the salvation which he effects for believers, includes the elevation of the soul into the full and eternal enjoyment of heavenly bliss and glory; the resurrection of the body from the tomb of mortality; and their united glorification in the mansions of immortality and joy. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working," or as the Welsh version renders it, the mighty working, "whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."

3. Let us notice the examples of his saving power as exhibited in the Scriptures. We shall classify them under three distinctions-sinners of all ranks and stations-of all character and description-in all circumstances and emergencies.

He has saved sinners of all ranks and stations. We shall mention

only one instance of each kind. He has saved a king-David, the king of Israel. He has saved a prince—Abijah, the son of Jeroboam. He has saved a prime minister-Daniel, in the Chaldean court. He has saved a lord-lieutenant-Joseph, in Egypt. He has saved a chancellor of the exchequer the mighty eunuch under Candace, queen of Ethiopia. He has saved a member of the Congress or Parliament-Nicodemus. He has saved a chamberlain of a royal city-Aratus. He has saved a

counselor-Joseph of Arimathea. He has saved an attorney at law— Zenas. He has saved a physician-Luke. He has saved a collegianSaul of Tarsus. He has saved a collector of taxes, the chief of them— Zaccheus. He has saved a toll-collector-Matthew. He has saved a mechanic-Aquilla. He has saved a jailor-the one in Philippi. He has saved an unfaithful servant-Onesimus. He has saved a beggarLazarus. "Mighty to save."

He has saved sinners of every character. He has saved an idolater— Manasseh. He has saved a voluptuary-Solomon. He has saved a worldling Zaccheus. He has saved a blasphemer and persecutor-Saul of Tarsus. He has saved a backslider-Thomas. He has saved a harlot— the woman of Samaria. He has saved a thief-the one on the cross. He has saved murderers, nay even his own murderers. His blood was sufficiently efficacious to wash away the stains of guilt stamped on their conscience, by shedding his own innocent blood. It is more than probable that many of his executioners were numbered among the three thousand souls saved on the day of Pentecost. Just observe the description given of the atrocious characters which he saved at Corinth: "Fornicators, idolaters, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and extortioners: and such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."—" Mighty to save.” He is mighty to save in all circumstances and emergencies. He saved Thomas from the powerful grasp of unbelief. He saved Peter from under the destructive claws of the roaring lion. He saved Solomon from the enchanting delusion of carnal pleasure. He saved Daniel from the of ferocious beasts. He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the burning, fiery furnace. Such were the displays of his power on their behalf, that, on the one hand, he peremptorily ordered the devouring element to consume their bands and fetters, and, on the other hand, restrained it to singe a single hair of their heads, or even to pass its smell upon their clothes. The fire had no power over them, because the mighty Saviour was present with them. He saved Jonah from the whale's belly. He saved the thief on the cross from the very jaws of destruction, and snatched his soul into paradise, as a trophy of his victory over the powers of darkness. In short, the immensity of his power will not be fully developed, until the unnumbered multitudes of the redeemed shall be exhibited to the universe of intelligences at the final day.

But what is necessary in order to realize the saving power of Christ in our own souls? We must be conscious of our lost and perishing condition; we must renounce all confidence in human merit, and surrender ourselves, as hell-deserving sinners, to his care and custody. May God grant us a heart to believe in him, being "fully persuaded that he is able to keep that which is committed unto him against that day." Amen.

DISCOURSE LVII.

WILLIAM REES.

THE REV. Mr. Rees is a minister among the Congregationalists. His father's and mother's names were David and Anne Rees, who lived at a farm called Cheribren Isaf, in the parish of Lansanan, Denbighshire, North Wales, where William, the subject of our sketch, was born in the year 1802. He is, therefore, in his 55th year.

He entered the ministry about the year 1830. In 1831 he received and accepted the unanimous call of the Congregational church in the town of Mostyn, Flintshire, N. W., where he performed the onerous duties of his office with great acceptance and success.

In the year 1837 he accepted the unanimous and urgent invitation of the church assembling in Swan-street, Denbigh, N. W., as the successor to the late devoted and faithful servant of Christ, the Rev. D. Roberts. Sometime about the year 1847 he accepted the unanimous and importunate call of the Congregational church assembling in Great Cross Hall, Liverpool. About the year 1852 he resigned his charge at this place, and accepted an invitation from another church of the same persuasion and in the same town, assembling at Salem Chapel, where he now remains. In all the above places, he has been owned by his Master as a "workman that needeth not to be ashamed."

His published works are, "A Memoir of the late celebrated and renowned preacher, the Rev. William Williams, of Wern;" "An Essay on Natural and Revealed Religion;" "Providence and Prophecy," which has been published in English. In our author, there is, like Moses, a happy combination of the preacher and the poet. Several of his bardic productions have appeared in a volume entitled, "Caniadau Hiraethog; or, the Songs of Hiraethog,"-" Gwilym Hiraethog," being his Bardic name; the term " Hiraethog" being borrowed from a mountain of that name, near his native place. The most eminent of his poetic compositions is his "Ode on Peace," which is a distinguished prize poem.

Mr. Rees is a tall, slender man, long face and neck, with a prominent forehead, body well-proportioned, and features deeply marked with the small pox. He has suffered the loss of one of his eyes, probably by the ravages of that disease. He is a man of original genius and philosophic mind, cultivated and refined by hard study and close application. His self-possession, intonation, attitude, fluency, eloquence, and elevated sentiments render him one of the most renowned orators of the day. The following beautiful, condensed discourse will interest the reader, and give an idea of the peculiarities of his style.

SORROWING SOULS AND STARRY SYSTEMS.

"He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names."-PSALM cxlvii., 3, 4.

In this Psalm, the hand of Deity is seen everywhere: building up Jerusalem, and gathering together the outcasts of Israel; administering relief to wounded souls, and guiding the revolutions of stars; exalting the meek, and casting down the wicked; covering the heavens with clouds; pouring the fructifying showers upon the earth, thus clothing the hills with verdure, and producing supplies for man and beast; blessing the country with protection, plenty, and peace, and sending his "words" -his moral influence-swiftly through the earth. In truth, his agency here is traced the universe through: in the bright sky and the green fields, in the showers and the hoar frosts, in the life of the lower creation, and in every thing pertaining to the individual, social, and religious history of man. The birth of religion consists in the soul's waking up from the dream of common life, to the conviction that God works in all things. Its first words 66 are, Surely, God is in this place, and I knew it not.” Notice here, God's relation to sorrowing souls and the starry system.

I. HIS RELATION TO SORROWING SOULS. "He healeth the broken in heart." There are broken hearts and wounded souls in this world. The flowing tear, the pensive look, the deep-drawn sigh are everywhere symptoms of sorrowing souls. The whole human creation is groaning: there are hearts broken by oppression, disappointment, calumny, be reavement, and moral conviction. All this sorrow is of human origination. It springs not, as a necessity, from the constitution of things-it comes not through the regular working, but the positive infraction of God's laws. Misery is the creation of the creature, not of the Creator. "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself," etc. God works here to remove all this misery-to heal and restore. CHRISTIANITY is the restorative element he applies; it is the balm of Gilead; it is the tree whose fruit is for the healing of the nations.

II. HIS RELATION TO STARRY SYSTEMS. "He telleth the number of the stars." Astronomy informs us that one hundred millions of stars may be seen through the telescope in our sky, and that each of these is the center of a system, and has therefore a sky of its own, incalculably deeper and broader than these vast heavens that encircle us. In this supposition, there is involved a number of "stars" which no arithmetic can compute, and which baffle all imagination in the attempt to appreci

But this, it would seem, after all, is as nothing compared with the immeasurable universe. Yet these stars, though they cover immensity, thick as grass on earth's soil, or as sand on ocean's shore, are all known

to God. "He telleth the number," etc. He knows the age, productions, size, velocity, influence, and tenants of each. "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by name." He marshals them as the general his battalions. "He binds the sweet influence of Pleiades, and he looses the bands of Orion. He bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his season, and he guides Arcturus with his sons."

Looking at men in relation to this subject, they fall into three grand classes:

1. Those who deny God's active relation to both souls and stars. These comprehend two distinct sections of theoretic infidels-those who deny the existence of God altogether, and those who admit his existence, but deny his superintendence in the universe; the latter regard all the phenomena and changes of nature, as taking place, not by the agency of God, but by the principles or laws which he impressed upon it at first. The universe is to them like a plant: all the vital forces of action are in itself, and it will go on, until they exhaust and die.

2. Those who admit God's active relation to stars, but deny it to souls. They say that it is derogatory to infinite Majesty to suppose his taking any notice of broken hearts. He has to do with the great, but not with the little. What is man to the world in which he lives? He is as nothing compared with its towering mountains, majestic oceans, and mighty continents. And, then, what is this globe to the system of which it is a part? A dew-drop to the ocean—a ray to the sun! It can not be that the infinite ONE would condescend to notice this man-atom! There are two or three thoughts which make this objection appear very childish. One is, that man's great and small are but notions. When I say that a thing is great, all I mean is, that it is great to me. I call the tiny leaf on which I tread little; but to its insect population it is a vast universe. I call this globe great; but to the eye of an angel it appears but a mere spark in the sky. To God there is nothing great

nor small.

Another is, that what we consider small, are influential parts of the whole. Science proves that the motion of an atom must propagate influence to remotest orbs; that all created being is but one great chain, of which the corpuscle is a link which, if touched, will send its vibration to the ultimate points. In the moral system, facts show that the solitary thought of an obscure man, can shake empires, produce revolutions, and reform society. Analogy suggests, and Christianity favors the supposition, that man is influentially connected with the whole of the great spiritual universe, and that "to principalities and powers may be known," through humble man, some wonderful things.

Another thought is, that, even on the assumption of our conception of magnitudes being correct, we have as much evidence to believe that God is as truly at work in the small as the great. The countless myriads of