CONTENTS. I. A Mother's Hinderances Duly Weighed II. A Daughter's Principles Analyzed THE MARYS; ов THE BEAUTY OF FEMALE HOLINESS. No. I. A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES DULY WEIGHED. It is worthy of special observation, that, whilst the earliest prophecies concerning the Church of Christ on earth foretell, chiefly, the numbers of his disciples, the later prophecies abound in descriptions of their spiritual and moral character. Thus, when God pointed Abraham to the stars of heaven and the sands on the sea shore, as emblems of the Saviour's offspring, it was only their innumerable "multitude" and not their beauty or purity, that was appealed to: but when God pointed David to the "dewdrops of the morning," as an emblem of the offspring of Christ, he left their numbers to be inferred, and confined the attention of David to "the beauty" of their "holiness." Psalm cx. The reason for this difference in the revelation of the same fact is obvious; the day of Christ had just been shown to David as a "day of power," which should make people "willing" to follow Christ, and as a period of gracious and unchangeable priesthood, which should encourage them to follow holiness; whereas neither of these facts was fully disclosed to Abraham, when he saw the day of Christ afar off. What was shown to him was, chiefly, the certainty of that day, and not the glory of it: and therefore its results were given in numbers, not in characteristics. This illustration will apply to the prophecies at large. Just in proportion as they unveil the glory and grace of the Saviour to the Church, they exhibit or enforce the necessity and beauty of holiness. The clearer lights they shed upon the mediatorial way of acceptance with God, the stronger lights they pour upon the " way which leadeth to everlasting life." narrow This is an interesting fact. It leads us to |