gospel, and the flame cannot rise too high. True zeal will find its choicest aliment in cultivating the spirit of Jesus Christ. At a great remove from that false fervour and electric fire, which has its origin in a selfish and ambitious mind, which hurries men on to act without consulting the sober dictates of their understanding, and which is distinguished for its subtility, turbulence, and fickleness, it takes its rise from the meek and gentle spirit of holy love. It is warmed and fanned into flame by every breath of heavenly affection. It is simple, because it has nothing to disguise. It is strong and steady, because it is deliberate and cautious. It is unwearied, because, like the heaven-born charity from which it flows, "it seeketh not its own." And where shall we look for such a spirit, if not in Christians? Where are there incentives to such a spirit, if not in the cross of Christ? Where did Paul find it; where did the primitive Christians find it, but in the love of Christ? What can support such a spirit, but those awful and touching realities, those weighty and tender truths, which are exhibited with such irresistible energy and vividness, in that wonderful redemption which is the foundation of all your hopes? A light and cursory view of duty will not answer the purpose of your high calling. The mind must be roused to the importance of it; you must think intensely, and feel deeply; every power of body and mind must be awakened and invigorated in the service of the Divine Master.

There is another topic on which I will make a few observations; and that is, the importance of exercising a kind and fraternal spirit. Charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity is not easily provoked. Charity thinketh no evil. Charity beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Oh, if this spirit of kindness-this mutual forbearance-this patience of injury-this freedom from suspicion and jealousy this spirit of fraternal love and confidence were more prominent in the character of Christians, how would they adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, and recommend religion to the world! If I do not misinterpret nor pervert the signs of the times, the day is near when there will be a peculiar demand for the cultivation of this spirit in the American churches. "If a man say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar; for if he love not his

brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" How often have we seen the usefulness of Christians lamentably circumscribed through the want of a kind and affectionate spirit! There are those who need nothing but brotherly kindness to make them patterns of every thing that is praiseworthy. I know that the constitutional temperament of good men is various; but there is no apology for the man whose external light is on the wane, because the glow of kindness declines within. You live in such an evil world -a world where there are so many occurrences that are unavoidably painful— so many wrongs to be encountered and forgiven, and where there are such frequent requisitions for the exercise of a kind spirit, that if you do not take special pains to cultivate it, all the better feelings of your hearts will be suppressed, and the manly and generous spirit of a hea ven-born religion will lose its glory in envyings and suspicions of an earthly and selfish mind.

Would Christians be useful, let them beware of an earthly mind. Let them cherish an habitual impression of the vanity and unsatisfying nature of all earthly things. Let them set their affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Nor is the providence of God in this respect at all at war with his word. God does not require Christians to depreciate worldly good; to exclude themselves from human society; to immure themselves in cloisters, for the sake of mortifying an earthly, and nurturing a heavenly mind. It is altogether a mistaken view of their duty that has induced some persons to retire altogether from the world, and to renounce all the intercourse and activity of social life. The Author of our nature has, with wonderful wisdom, adjusted the claims of eternity and time to the relations which his people sustain to both worlds. He does not require them to disregard the claims of earth. He does not require any such divulsion of our nature as necessarily sets the parts of it in perpetual warfare. The design of the gospel is to elevate and sanctify the whole man; to give the best and most benevolent direction to our entire existence; to raise up from the ruins of the apostasy a new creature; and to show its power, not in destroying man, but in regenerating him. Regenerated man is fitted for both worlds. A

due regard to the engagements of time does not interfere with the most direct and quiet course toward heaven. The Christian never appears more in the true glory of his renewed nature than when he carries his religion into the world, and lets his light shine on all the departments of active and secular duty, and there amid the dust, and noise, and conflicts of earth, pursues his way toward the skies. It is a much more difficult thing to carry religion into the world, than to keep at a distance from the con flict. Religion does not consist in living at a distance from temptation, any more than in running needlessly into it; but rather in encountering and overcoming temptation when it plainly meets us in the path of duty. By becoming Christians we do not cease to be men. The world has its temptations, and the world is every where. It is in the recesses of the wilderness. It is in the solitude of the ocean. It is in the retirement of the closet. It is deep in our own hearts. We shall find the world wherever we find our own unhallowed passions-passions which no solitude extinguishes, and which often gather strength from seclusion. No man can run away from the world without running away from himself. The presumptuous Christian will find the world following him into his retirement; while the subdued and chastened Christian will find, amid all the complications and cares of business, a solitude in his own bosom, a little world of tranquillity within, a retreat more inaccessible than his closet, where, while his body is occupied in its ten thousand labours, his soul lives for God, and where amid all the confusions of earth, he possesses his mind in peace. There is such a thing as living in the world while in the deepest solitude; and there is such a thing as being in solitude in the midst of the world. What Christians have to guard against is a worldly spirit. This will destroy their usefulness. If their treasure is on earth, their hearts will be there. If this world is their aim and object, they can accomplish little as Christians. If they would be useful, their great end and aim must be things unThey must not forget their high

seen.

calling.

They must not forget why, nor for whom they were sent into the world, but every where so set their affections on things above, that they shall appear like pilgrims and strangers on the earth.

In concluding these remarks permit the writer in a word to say, that it be comes the people of God to aim to pos sess that uniformity of character which the gospel requires. It is worth much effort, watchfulness, and prayer, to guard against the more common faults and blemishes of Christian character. It concerns good men to cultivate every grace and virtue, and to be adorned with all the beauties of holiness. The usefulness of a Christian depends much on this uniformity of character. As "dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour, so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour." Little things have more to do in the formation of a spotless moral character, than we are at once willing to believe. Especially beware of little deviations from sterling rectitude. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is much; and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much." It is impossible for the man who neg lects little things then to command respect, or to be extensively useful. It is this uniformity of character which conciliates confidence and veneration, and which every where bespeaks a benevolent and elevated mind. Such a Christian will not live in vain. He may have his superiors in some particular traits of excellence, but in that happy assemblage of excellences that go to form the useful Christian, he is one of the lights of the world. Not merely will he find the light of truth and holiness kindled within his own bosom; but he will become the source of light to others. He will be like a city that is set on a hill. Men will see him, and see him from afar. And when he is removed from this lower sphere, while it will be seen that one of the lights of this world is extinguished, it will be gratefully confessed that it is removed only to shine on a wider and brighter orbit.

то

CONVINCED AND

"DAVID said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand," 1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33.

By this instance, we are not only reminded of the observant and controlling providence of God, but also of the truth of Solomon's proverb: "A word spoken in due season, how good is it." "Who can tell what evil it may prevent; what relief it may afford; or, how large a measure of peace it may instrumentally impart to the alarmed and burdened sinner, anxiously inquiring after the way and means of salvation?

At various places, as well as where the writer ministers in word and doctrine, there have recently been held special and protracted religious services, in the hope, under God, of promoting an improved state of religion in our churches; of rekindling dormant impressions in the hearts of such as have often resolved to give themselves to the Lord, but are still on the side of Satan; and of arousing the absolutely careless, henceforward not to live to themselves, but to him who died for sinners.

In many instances, these pleasing effects are apparent, and there are not a few who are inquiring with a depth of interest and solicitude, which they never felt before," Men and brethren, what shall we do?" To this class of persons, with your permission, Mr. Editor, I am anxious to offer some admonitory coun sels, in the hope of relieving their anxieties, and of guiding them to Jesus, as the source and means of salvation.

Permit me, with all affection and fidelity, in the first instance, to admonish you, as convinced and anxious inquirers, to reflect seriously on your past history and conduct.

The great evil by which many are brought to ruin is inconsideration. Man is naturally unwilling to think on his state as bad and dangerous; he is prone to deceive himself by false views of his own conduct; and to flatter himself with hopes which will never be realised. Deeply impressed with a consciousness of the existence of this evil, Moses, with emotions of strong solicitude, said con

66

cerning the Israelites, "Oh that they would consider their latter end!" Deut. xxxii. 29. When Jehovah, by the psalmist, had spoken of the detestable character of insincerity in his service, he addressed to the people the voice of solemn admonition," Now consider this, ye that forget God," Psalm 1. 22. Concerning this subject also, he spoke in the language of complaint, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider," Isaiah i. 3. They regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands," Isaiah v. 12. "They consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness,' " Hosea vii. 2. Attention to the subject is enjoined by positive command. Twice in one chapter we read, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways," Haggai i. 5. 7; and under the sanction of Divine authority, the apostle charges us, "To consider him that endured," &c., Heb. xii. 3.

Allow me, dear readers, seriously to inquire, Have you hitherto lived neglect. ing to consider the past? Are you now aroused by the remembrance of the past, earnestly to inquire, "What shall

we do ?"

Deeply humble yourselves before God at the remembrance of having received so manifold favours at his hands, which have never been acknowledged.

He has preserved you in being when you were striving and fighting against him; he has multiplied towards you tokens of providential goodness, though you have continued to misuse and abuse them; he has loaded your lives with mercies; he has sent you the tidings of salvation; he has frequently and solemnly admonished you by his word, by his servants, and by the dispensations of his hands: but hitherto you have lived almost entirely regardless of all remonstrance, of all warning, and of all entreaty.

Do you now suffer at the remembrance of your faults? Do you now inquire, with emotions of strong and auxious solicitude, "What shall we do ?"

Go and confess your ingratitude and inconsideration before God; go, and with penitential remorse, deplore the hardness and coldness of your hearts; go, and acknowledge with bitterness of

regret, that the Bible has not been rightly regarded, and that the Sabbath has not been carefully and diligently improved; go, and lament before God, that you have hitherto lived so much under the influence of practical unbelief, - that prayer has been so little attended to, and that many of your prayers have been more likely to grieve and offend God, than to bring down the promised blessings of his grace.

In further admonishing convinced and anxious inquirers, permit me, in the second instance, to say, Reflect on the nature and importance of personal religion as it is revealed in the Bible.

From a feeling sense of past indifference, are you now prompted seriously to inquire, What is true, personal, experimental godliness?

It is not a mere form, or name, or profession; it is something more. It is a living principle of grace in the heart; it is "the answer of a good conscience towards God;" it is that holy fear of God which is indicated by a hatred of all that is evil; it is that fruit-bearing wisdom which descendeth from above; it is that love to Christ which is shown by obedience to his precepts; it is that increasing and enduring regard to the authority of Christ, which braves all the dangers of time, and which inspires the Christian with a wellgrounded confidence, that "his death will be gain," and that when he is “absent from the body, he will be present with the Lord." Is this religion? Then consider its excellency; it is of God; and reflect on its personal importance; you cannot escape perdition if you neglect it; you cannot get to heaven, if you do not possess it.

My next advice to convinced and inquiring sinners is, Reflect on the sin and danger of trifling with the convictions of conscience.

When God would warn the inhabitants of the old world concerning their guilt and danger in this respect, he said to them, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man;" thereby intimating that he would do it a little longer, but that if they still continued to show disregard, he would leave" those who had sown to the wind to reap the whirlwind." And how dreadful was the sequel! The world was depopulated by the desolating judgments of Heaven, and its presumptuous and hardened inhabitants were sent to hell to learn the folly of their ways.

It may be, that among the readers of this paper, there may be some, who have not only heard, but who have also felt the claims of the truth; its solemn warnings may have often excited strong emotions in your bosoms; the riches of the Saviour's grace, and the solemnities of judgment may have often deeply impressed your minds; and the discipline of Divine Providence may have often made you feel that your state is not safe; but still the voice of remonstrance has been disregarded, and God has been so greatly and so frequently grieved and dishonoured by your conduct, that you have great cause to fear, lest you should never be made to feel again; lest you should be left "to believe a lie;" lest you should be given over to a fatal slumber, only to be disturbed when its fearful and everlasting conse quences cannot be avoided.

Are you, dear reader, the subject of conviction? cherish it; for it is an awful and aggravated sin to stifle it. Saul, the king of Israel, confessed his guilt, but he went on doing evil, until the Divine for bearance was worn out. "When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by urim, nor by prophets," 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. Felix trembled, but he suppressed the feeling, and we do not read that he ever trembled again; and at the bar of God, it will be found that all who have lived and died in their sins, who have been favoured with the word of truth, and the means of grace, have perished because they would not come to Christ that they might be saved; and the perpetual remembrance of this, will constitute the climax of their

woe.

To convinced and inquiring sinners, I would farther add, Reflect on the im portance of going at once to Christ, as the Redeemer and Saviour of the guilty.

Are you deeply sensible of your guilty and polluted state; of your wretched and hopeless condition as sinners? Go at once and make full confession of all your guilt before God, and pray that you may be aided by divine grace henceforward to forsake and avoid all that is evil. As sinners, who feel that you have justly deserved the wrath of Heaven, go at once and plead for mercy through the blood of the cross; sue for mercy as those who feel that they must perish without it; implore its bestowment as those who are thoroughly convinced that Jesus Christ is both able and willing to save them; as