lous man pales with shame, and retires in his profound ignorance. Still, the Divine record explains to us the continuity in the law of existence; for in the Tertiary are found many animals and plants the same as now exist,—the red-deer, the cat, the goat, and the fox. In this re-creation there is not once added, as in the first chapter, " And God saw that it was good." The work of creation was not then new.

As these eras of the past lie before us, we feel how natural it was for God thus strikingly to typify the seven dispensations of our economy in this history of the first Church, in the opening of this first seal, in the sounding of this first Gospel trumpet, in the pouring out of this first vial. (vii. 2 3, 4, 10, viii. 10, 11, 12.)

It is said there are seven colours in the rainbow; and, what is very remarkable, the bow is twofold, to typify to us the covenant made with man concerning the Deluge, and the everlasting covenant, "To be a God unto thee." The bow is twofold, distinguished by the order in which the colours stand, -the one, the ordinary or primary bow; the other, the extraordinary or secondary, enclosing the primary. In the ordinary bow the red colour stands uppermost, and the violet undermost. In the extraordinary this order is inverted. The ordinary bow is formed by two refractions, the one when the ray enters the drop, the other at coming out, with one intermediate reflection. If the angle at the eye, formed by the issuing ray and a line parallel to the incident ray, contains 42 deg. 2 min., the red colour appears; but if only 40 deg.

17 min., the violet; and, between these two angles, the other colours in their successive order. In the extraordinary bow there are two refractions and two intermediate reflections. If the angle formed, as before, be 54 deg. 7 min., the violet appears; but if 50 deg. 57 min., the red; and, under the intermediate angles, the other colours in inverted succession.

Such is the natural and Divine science of the rainbow. It tells us there shall not be another Flood upon the earth, and that God is still in covenant with His people; and it tells us, too, of the seven dispensations which God in this history of the Flood has so wonderfully set forth to us. But, my dear reader, note well what I say, that if I have taught the Scriptural truth of seven dispensations before the Church be perfected as a body, perfected as on the seventh day when God rested in glory, I have taught also, and I do now most emphatically teach, that this does in no way affect individual experience. "Come unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." "He that believeth shall be saved" is the absolute doctrine of the whole Bible. My theory of seven dispensations has nothing to do with the freeness of God's grace; that remains unchanged, free to every one, and to all who will accept it. David said, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me." It was a wrong expression: God never takes away His Holy Spirit from any one. "The dove found no rest for the soul of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark. The dove came in to him in the evening." And so we read,

"The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul."
"My Spirit shall not always strive with man."
never takes Him away; He departs grieved.

God says,

But He

I cannot conceive how any one can be an unbeliever. To see the Son of God come forth, and standing upon the old ruin of our earth, proclaiming life, Himself the one Being in whom all is to be gathered, recovered, is to me the most stupendous phenomenon in earth or heaven. I do see the Destroyer foiled, aghast before the God with whom he had commenced a warfare so disastrous. Oh, I say, the spectacle is grand-the old dragon, the devil destroyed, and in Christ all made alive!

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

I BEGIN this chapter from the eighteenth verse of the ninth chapter of Genesis, because the historical element of Revelation is so important; I must therefore beg my reader to take up carefully the chain of history from this first chronological record after the flood, and to retain the roots in his memory as we proceed; by doing so the justice of God in His dealings with the world will be clearly seen: He is longsuffering and merciful, it is true; but, I again repeat, His justice will be seen and also acknowledged. The apathetic man will not trouble himself about justice; he will talk of meekness and forgiveness, but he has not firmness of character enough, strength of principle enough, a Divine morality enough, to administer justice. The proud man, the tyrant ignores justice, it has no place in his creed or practice; he is too self-seeking, selfglorifying, to administer justice; but God is just, "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face." It is true God will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax;

but He is a being of infinite justice: love is an attribute of perfection; justice is an aftribute of glory: justice is the most dazzling attribute of the throne of God; the finite mind cannot scale that height of glory; the eye of sense cannot reach, behold that splendour: "There shall no man see me and live." See David's sublime commentary upon the attributes of God. (Ps. lxxxix. 13-17.) We are amazed at the presumption of Moses, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory."

God said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” "For all these things I will bring thee into judgment." It is these attributes of justice and holiness that call forth the praises of "The Most High in heaven,"-" Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory." Throughout Scripture we find all heaven celebrating these praises of God and of the Lamb; but I only know of one place where the Son of God and the Holy Ghost are heard and seen celebrating the praises of God the Father; and it is very remarkable that that once is a celebration of His praises because of His high attribute of justice. The strains of angels and archangels, of seraphim and cherubim, were not high enough to swell that anthem; they were not deep enough to reach the lowest note of that Divine wonder, justice; and so Light of Light, the very God of very God, struck the chord of that highest note; and it now resounds on earth, calling her to a higher, nobler service, to one with the Church triumphant: "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art,