Lutheran, you are right, very right, to be as such; but if you are Calvinistic, if you address yourselves to Calvinism, then do not act, do not speak, as if you were Lutherans ; and so hinder, and frustrate, and destroy the principle of Calvinism, in the very bosom of Calvinism itself.

We shall not now enumerate all the excesses to which too strict an application of the principles of Lutheranism has led. From thence has arisen the aristocracy of the clergy, the excessive authority of the pastor, or rather of the confessor, (for with the Lutherans each member has a minister whom he calls by this name ;) and in consequence, during the last century, these confessors having become infidel, the simple Lutherans being always very submissive to them, the infidelity spread among these poor churches with inconceivable rapidity. It has even been asserted by some of the Lutheran body, that the spiritual leader who is appointed by the competent ecclesiastical authority, ought to be followed, though at the same time he were a stranger, opposed to the faith! Calvinistic Christians will never recognise such a maxim. They will always regard the Bible above the pastor; and if there should be any decided discrepancy between the one or the other, then, sooner than allow themselves and their children to be conducted on to error, they will separate from their pastors, taking refuge under the word of Christ; and in so doing they will take the church with them, and leave the sect with the pastor.

Moreover, gentlemen, from this ecclesiasticism proceed the different constructions which are given to the confessions of faith by the Lutherans and the Calvinists. The Lutherans regard them as rules of faith-normæ normatæ, rules regulated, (by the word;) they have even proceeded so far as to affirm, that their authors were endowed with a certain kind of inspiration, an inspiration deutero-canonical, as the Roman Catholics say, in reference to the Apocryphal books. On the contrary, the Calvinist regards the symbolical books but as the expression of the faith of the Church: "our churches do not say to those who present themselves as candidates for our pulpits, Believe! but, Do you believe?" So it was proclaimed in the pure spirit of Calvinism, five-and-twenty years ago, at Geneva, when reprinting the Helvetic Confession, by those men who are so dear to us, Cellérier and Gaussen;-and, gentlemen, allow me here, in passing, though the privilege belongs to another, to place with reverence a flower upon the grave of that faithful servant of Jesus Christ, who a few weeks since was snatched from us, full of days and of honour, and whose glory it will ever be, after a century of infidelity, to have been the first to raise again in our country the standard of evangelical reform.*

* M. Cellérier died at Geneva, on the 22nd of March, 1844, in the ninety-first year of his age. "His lot was cast in days of Arianism and infidelity. He remem

Again, then, I repeat it, the church comes from faith before faith comes from the church. Such is our watchword; and who is there that will dare to say that the moment is come when we ought to strike our flag, and submissively enlist ourselves under the ensign presented to us by others, an ensign raised by the papacy itself, ages since? If any of our brethren believe that it ought to be done, we tell them firmly, that we will not do it, convinced as we are, that at this moment, to uphold the principles of Calvinism, is to save the Reformation.

But should it be said, that if the absolute maxim that faith comes from the church, leads to the Inquisition, yet the maxim, that the church proceeds from faith, conducts to separation; we could not deny that it would follow from an excess of the principle, and that that excess is indeed to be seen in our own days. But we do deny that an abuse ever overthrows a principle. No; the principle of Calvinism is not essentially a principle of separation: no; it does not necessarily follow from it, that Christianity ought to be divided into a thousand sects. Without doubt, it is the right, it is the duty, of every Christian, as was done at the Reformation, (and since then has often been repeated,) to separate himself from every community which does not confess Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the sole justification of his people. But to make incessant separation a duty, is to trample under foot a large class of passages of the word of God; it is to excite that which the apostle Paul has declared ought to be repressed, "strife, seditions, heresies." Gal. v. 20. Thus spoke Calvin, "I say that under the plea of some little differences, we must not lightly separate ourselves from a church where the fundamental doctrine of salvation is preserved entire, and where the sacraments are legitimately administered in accordance with the institution of our Saviour." (Institution Chrétienne, iv. liv. chap. 1.)

However, if a choice must be made between uniformity and error on one side, and diversity and truth on the other, Calvinism hesitates not she sides always on the side of the truth. Truth is her great end. (To be continued.)

bered to have seen in his youth Voltaire and Rousseau; to the fatal influence exerted by whom, he opposed the preaching of the Gospel in all its simplicity and purity. The pulpits of that republic, once famed for its evangelical ministry, were during M. Cellérier's early career filled by men who preached a lifeless utilitarianism—a Christianity without Christ. To these, he opposed himself. His sermons, which were published, incomparable in their style, and imbued with the spirit of the Gospel, led to the entire disuse of the Arian sermons, which for some years previous had been held in reputation as suitable for family reading." "As an expression of his adherence to evangelical truth, M. C. republished the Helvetic Confession of Faith, which formed a striking contrast to the virtual deism of the new catechism of 'the venerable pastors.' A few moments before his departure, with unimpaired faculties, the patriarchal saint faintly articulated, 'My God! to see THEE-TO SEE THEE!"-Continental Echo.

HEART-DEVOTEDNESS IN MINISTERS.

THE SUBSTANCE OF A PAPER PREPARED BY REQUEST FOR A MEETING OF MINISTERIAL BRETHREN.

HEART-DEVOTEDNESS IN MINISTERS is our subject,-is it not an affecting one?—it is so to me. The very phrase, "heart-devotedness,” leads us so immediately into the centre of our being, to the seat of our principles, to the source of our affections, the depth and delicacy of the subject are appalling. Who does not shrink from an inquiry that reaches there?—the probe there touches the quick, and nature feels as if such an extension of it was unreasonable. Devotedness of conduct could be understood, and an average Christianity would readily coincide with the demand for it; so of devotedness of effort, to employ our tongues in publicly proclaiming the salvation of the cross, and urging it upon the acceptance of man, to employ our hands in works of benevolence, and our feet in running the way of his commandments, our eyes in reading and our ears in hearing his word, this to all minds is fair, and to enlightened ones not unattainable; but here, if the truth were known, to many, the reasonable and the attainable end beyond this, the theory is fine; but, they believe, it is transcendental. The outline may be perfect beauty; but where, they ask, among the ruins of a fallen humanity, will you find the filling up?

But if there be much that is affecting in this subject, which the mere professing Christian brands as fanaticism, and which, shame to say, some from whom we should expect better things avoid, as "being righteous overmuch," there is at the same time, in the mere fact of taking up and pursuing such a theme, much to encourage. The heart is alienated from God,—the heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,"—"a nest of unclean birds,"—the inexhaustible source of all pollution. Heart-devotedness is the antithesis to all this; it is the assault of Satan in his own citadel, his conquest, and his expulsion,-it is more,-it is the surrender of that citadel to a "stronger than he," and a joyful dividing of the usurper's spoil,-it is therefore quite the work suited to the heroism of the Christian soldier. And then, dear brethren, is it not a high encouragement to feel that this subject can be understood by us, and is suited to us? our conduct has been such as will not suffer by comparison with that of the ministers of any other denomination,-"our zeal has provoked very many,"-and our conceptions of truth and our hold of principles have not only been invaluable to ourselves, and to our people, but, I hesitate not to say, have done much to enlighten and steady a generation which seems disposed to oscillate between the extremes of error. Do I mean to flatter by this, or am I speaking vauntingly? You shall see, brethren, before I conclude. No; but I must adore a gracious God, that what we want is not so

much high morality, sound and clear conceptions of Divine truth, or even ardent zeal, as “devotedness of heart." We want this, brethren; and of the higher qualifications of character, we want little else. Had we this, we should have the Archimedean TovσT on which our system of levers might be rested to raise our country; or, to use a more modern figure, had we this, we should have the power, the steam, by which our heaven-devised machinery would be impelled with irresistible energy on all the impediments which oppose themselves to the truth of God.

Let us then meditate for a little on this devotedness of heart,-on its absolute necessity to us, and on the way by which it can be cherished and increased.

Devotedness of heart may be distinguished, though it cannot be separated, from genuine devotedness of conduct. The latter is the certain fruit-the immediate result of the former. The means used for its production, is the truth,-the truth brought home with Divine energy, a realising view of the love of the Triune Jehovah, springing from the depths of the eternity past, and losing itself, to our view, in the glories which it enkindles in the eternity future. Of the amazing greatness of the sacrifice of Christ, and the perfection of his whole work,-of our utter vileness, and our utter worthlessness, and of the honours and privileges which are heaped upon us, "if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ!" To realise this, is beyond the power of unaided human nature,-to do so, we must be filled with the Spirit ; but to realise this, and not to be devoted in heart and soul, is impossible.

Heart-devotedness consists in the unreserved surrender of the heart to God-in the deep abiding feeling that we are not our own, but bought with a price, that price "not silver or gold; but the precious blood of Christ"-in complete self-dedication, an earnest and determined effort so to remove every impurity within, that "our bodies may become the temples of the Holy Ghost, that God may walk in us, and dwell in us, and be our God"—in delighting in God, his nature, his character, his word, his works: dwelling upon them with unsated admiration, inhaling them as the "breath of morn," feeding upon them with rapture, sometimes absorbed by them, lost in them!-in communion with God, the real felt intercourse of our spirits with the great Spirit-" our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ;" we give to him the overflowing of grateful hearts,-adoration too profound, feelings too intense, to find utterance in human language, not made for such purposes, and he communicating with us, through his word, but by his Spirit,-giving to that word a freshness, a peculiarity, an emphasis, as if spoken for the first time,-and spoken to us from the eternal throne-in aspirations after perfect holiness,-longings after the pure and good,"hungerings and thirstings after righteousness,"-utter

distaste for the highest of mere earthly joys, and unfeigned disgust at their general grossness and meanness, and a desire increasing in intensity every day, becoming necessarily and rapidly the master passion, -to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. This is my idea, in brief, of what heart-devotedness is; but, oh, it is an imperfect conception! I know it is, and I know why it is so were I in possession of the thing, I could describe it better.

II. Let us think a little of its absolute necessity to us,-to us, brethren, to each one of us. It is necessary to all Christians-it is doubly necessary to all ministers; but it is more necessary still to us Congregational ministers labouring in Ireland,* at the present

crisis.

Heart-devotedness is absolutely necessary to sustain us in the face of the difficulties by which we are surrounded. Every one, from obvious causes, is disposed to magnify the difficulties with which he has to contend. Bearing this in mind, and endeavouring to form the most impartial estimate of our position, we can still unhesitatingly say, that the difficulties of Irish Congregational ministers are great and peculiar: we are few and weak; "Thinly scattered on the wall," our communication cannot be very frequent, nor our union practically very close. Our opponents at the same time are in force around us,—their masses, differing among themselves, are all jealous of us; and their leaders seem well-disposed to lead them on, from different points, to our destruction. The ground is pre-occupied, not with an absurd, an antiquated, and a mouldering heathenism; but with different systems of Christianity,-more or less erroneous, as we believe, but all vigorous. Roused from the slumber of many years, and admirably, though variously organised, each deeply fixed in the affections of a large section of the community, and all dividing the land between them, they are ready at this moment to work with a power they never before exercised. On the contrary, we have no prejudices in our favour,— there is little stamina in our churches on which to fall back, when we are pressed from without. Small and feeble in themselves, our churches are made still more inefficient as supports to us, when we most need them, by constantly breathing the surrounding atmosphere -imbibing, unconsciously, prevalent sentiments on many, not vital, but still very important subjects.

The "man of sin" is here in the perfection of his strength. The hierarchy of the Irish church, too, from the antagonism of her position, is always prepared for war,-she is literally a "church militant;"

* It was intended to keep out of sight altogether the locale of this paper here; however, it was impossible, unless by the omission of the whole of the following passage. This was decided against for two reasons,-it is not wholly inapplicable to British brethren, and it may increase sympathy for those who much need it.