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listen with interest to the kind message of a crucified Redeemer! Those vain excuses must melt into bitter tears; that hard heart must be broken: he must feel and know his own unrighteousness, and the denunciations of God's wrath against his transgressions, before he can be said to have made a single advance towards renouncing the false doctrines of the unchristian world. Self-righteousness, and dependence upon his own works or deservings, are among the first things to be forsaken by the returning penitent. He must begin to adopt, in the place of proud and worldly sentiments, others of a more lowly and scriptural kind; of salvation only through the obedience and death of his Saviour, and by faith in him. He must take up the words of the publican, "Lord be merciful to me, a sinner!" not pleading his own merits, as by nature we all do, but the merits of the only-begotten Son of God, who gave himself a ransom for men.

3. In a word, as was mentioned in the third place, we are to be sepaBated from the world in its general spirit and design.

If there be truth in the Divine records, the way of the world is broad and easy, and many there are that go in thereat;-while the way to heaven is strait and narrow, and few there be that find it. Hence we learn, that the whole spirit of the world is wrong and inconsistent with the hopes, and joys,and conduct of one who expects a better and a heavenly inheritance. It is not a slight change, then, that is required; the forsaking of a few sins which happen to press hard upon the conscience; but, to use the expression of the Apostle, it is being" renewed in the spirit of our minds;" being "regenerated," "converted," "transformed," "turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." It would be very possible for an individual to forsake the pleasures of the world, and become a hermit for life, with

out renouncing the spirit of the world. On the contrary, it is very possible to mix in society, as far as our station may require, and diligently to attend to the affairs of this life, without a worldly spirit. In order, however, to this, an important change of character is necessary. God demands from us our love, and our judgment, and our affections; but before we can give all or any of these, we must have renounced a worldly spirit-in other words, we must be the very contrary of the heedless beings who come under the scriptural description of the world. Are their hearts set upon things terrestial? ours must aspire to things celestial. Are they bounded, and engrossed, and absorbed with the concerns of the body? we must make the care of the soul, and the acquirement of the one thing needful, our highest object of solicitude. Do they love the things that perish in the using? we must seek objects eternal and incorruptible. Do they live by sense? we must live by faith. Do they consider themselves as having their portion here? we must live as pilgrims and strangers upon earth, looking for a heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God. The very frame and fabric, as it were, of our soul must be altered; a clean heart must be given us, and a right spirit renewed within us.

Thus have we seen something of the nature of what is meant by coming out and being separate. It is "to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh."

II. We may now proceed, secondly, to consider "the blessed encouragement held forth in the text for so doing." "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you; and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."-What a divine compensation is this, even were we to endure every possible suffering and

indignity for the cause of our Redeemer! He hath himself told us, that there is no one that shall lose houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or lands, or children, for his sake and the Gospel's, but shall receive a hundred fold even in the present world, and in the world to come shall inherit life everlasting.

In order to discover the fulness of the blessing of God becoming our Father, let us examine what relation the Almighty bears to those who are of the world. He is their Judge; he is justly displeased at them for their sins: he is angry with the wicked every day. Or if we view him in any respect as Father, it can be only as an of. fended one; ready in just indignation to cut them off for ever from his heavenly inheritance-a Father, indeed, whose pity and compassion are great who willeth not the death of his prodigal child, but whose laws have been so rebelliously violated, whose long-suffering has been so long despised, that at the last day all his once-offered mercy will but cause a greater aggravation to the punishment of the impenitent offender.

Again; the relation which man bears to God, before the change of character spoken of in the text, is not that of a dutiful and happy son; it is that of a profligate and disobedient child-a voluntary and rebellious outcast from his Father's household, whose feeble arm has been raised against the Majesty of Heaven, and who has just reason to expect the displeasure of the Almighty in this world, and his eternal indignation in the next.

Such being the case of the worldling, we may the more fully appreci ate the blessing promised in the text to those who come out of the world, and forsake it. God will be their Father, and they shall be his children. We might, indeed, have thought we should be rejected as we deserve; we might have expected that, having loved the world so long, the Almighty would not now accept

the offer of our late obedience and affections. But in this, as in other things, his ways are above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts. He is willing even now to receive us : he waiteth to be gracious. It was a great and exalted blessing for Adam to have been created a child of God: but how much greater the promise, that we, who had forfeited all title to that distinction By our sins, may yet be restored; be adopted once more into the family of God, and become heirs of his everlasting kingdom! Come then out from the world, and its vanities; resolve, by the grace of God to dedicate yourselves to his service. Renounce yourselves, and cleave with full purpose of heart to your Redeemer. For why did this Saviour agonize, and die, but that he might redeem us by his blood, and that in consequence we who name his Name, and call ourselves his disciples, might die also to the world and sin? Like the Apostle, then, let us die daily, continually mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living, thus perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. If, in our attempts to do so, we find that temptation is strong, and our spiritual powers feeble, let us look up with humble confidence for the influences of that blessed Spirit, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; that Spirit who gave us the first desire after salvation, and to whom we must be indebted for every future assistance in its attainment. Let us remember also the reward; it is nothing temporal, or frail, or changeable; but it is that God shall be our Father, and we his sons and daughters to all eternity.

Behold, then, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God;" and' while we admire the greatness of the blessing, let us earnestly endeavour so to perform the command in the text that by the grace of God we may become partakers of it.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ON FEMALE EDUCATION IN

IRELAND.

(Concluded from p. 434.)

THE third objection is one which deserves serious consideration. The New Testament abounds in warnings, respecting the danger of a too great love of human applause. This very sin is the leading feature in the often-repeated condemnation of the pharisees. Even, if the poisoned exhalation passed over this world innoxious, it is a vapour which cannot ascend to heaven. It is therefore a sad confusion of right and wrong, to render human praise the spring of action, or to point to it as a reward and recompence, and thus to substitute the creature in the place of the Creator. This topic suggests the notice of another error, which seems to lurk unsuspected, in connection with labours in all other respects most beneficial. In the public annual catechetical examinations which are held in some of the principal towns in Ireland, the children be longing to charity schools are mixed indiscriminately with children of other descriptions, who offer themselves at such examinations. The appointed task is commensurate with the powers of all: perhaps the poor child has the advantage in having fewer objects to draw aside the attention, and to fill the memory. Accordingly, we find, that in this competitory trial, the children from charity schools bear away in triumph a large proportion of the premiums. But do the feelings of exultation, which this triumph naturally produces in the poor child, consist with the due cultivation of that obedient and submissive spirit which is demanded both by the laws of God and man?

It would be very easy to remove the ground of these objec

tions; but the advocates for the
system urge, that, as in the sight of
God all mankind are equal, it is
presumptuous to introduce the dis-
tinction of rich and poor into acts
of religion; and that to the rich,
the mixture inculcates a salutary
lesson of self-abasement. In both
these positions there is a fallacy.
The examinations, though upon re-
ligious subjects and carried on in
a church, are as far removed from
being a religious act as the exami
nations in the hall of a collegiate
institution. The examinations in
the church, like those in the col-
lege hall, are instituted with a
view to appreciate and reward the
comparative ability, knowledge,
and diligence of the candidates.
To the rich, the being thus asso-
ciated with the poor will afford no
lesson of self-abasement; although
it may sharpen the sting of dis-
appointment, to be supposed to be
inferior in capacity or application
to a charity child. The touch-
stone of pride is not applied by
our contact with persons decidedly
many degrees below us in life, but
by intercourse with those whose
stations nearly approach to our
own, and with whom that inter-
course may seem to place us upon
a level: The truly Christian child,
under any circumstance, will be
humble, because she knows that
otherwise she cannot be the dis-
ciple of Christ. She is aware
that in the word of God it is writ-
ten, "Whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased. Mind not high
things, but condescend to men of
low estate.
Be not wise in your
own conceits, but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better
than themselves." If she be igno-
rant, or negligent, of these Divine
precepts, her humility, however
acquired, will be false and spuri-
ous; a mere delusive semblance,
which conceals self-complacency

under a graceful condescension, be found to form one of the most potent shields of virtue, and one of the strongest safeguards against temptation and vice.

and which cherishes pride whilst affecting to obtain its subjugation. The inference, then, which the remarks upon this part of our subject are intended to elicit, is, that the Christian child must be rendered humble, by other means than those in question; that the worldly, illinstructed child, cannot, by these means, be taught humility; and, that the poorer child, as we have seen, is rendered, by the system under discussion, the less fit for her future subordinate situation in life. These observations are to be considered as relating exclusively to that part of the catechetical plan which involves competition. In attending the lectures of a faithful and pious clergyman, all ranks may be blended with advantage to all: and, certainly, the presence of children of the higher ranks not only furnishes a powerful example, but exerts a strong at tractive influence over the minds of the poorer classes. Instead, therefore, of wishing to cast the slightest obstacle in the way of a practice in all other points so desirable, and so especially needful at the present day, the extension of it to every parish in the kingdom cannot be too strenuously urged. The conductors of every school, both for the rich and for the poor, should thankfully seek (where the case will admit of it) the spiritual help and guidance of the parochial clergyman, in directing and superintending the religious part of the education of the children committed to their care. Without this clerical aid, even though the same precepts be conveyed, and the same scripture lessons enforced, by persons of equal or of higher attainments, the same good effects will not follow; for by no other means can the infant mind be taught to associate the proper ideas and feelings, with the appointed and authorized teachers of the word of God; associations which, in after life, will

The fourth cause of failure refers, chiefly, to schools for orphans and foundlings; but extends, in some degree, to all other institutions in which children are at a very early age entirely separated from their parents. With respect to orphans and foundlings, the offspring of penury and misfortune, some humane asylum is needful to afford them shelter and protection. Their situation is peculiarly forlorn and helpless; and imperatively claims the hand of compassion and support. Providence, in infinite wisdom, has ordained the tie of parent and child. The dissolution of this tie in early infancy is a calamity which no artificial means can fully repair. The tender sympathy, which the very looks of natural love convey, calls forth in the bosom of the babe, the germ which in future years unfolds into all the kindly affections of our nature; which will "grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength." And the little being, who, in its dawn, has been snatched from the arms of parental fondness, and cast into those of halfpaid hirelings, is like the cankered bud, upon which the sun shines and the dew descends in vain: its verdure has been irrecoverably nipped. Polluted indeed must be that maternal habitation in which the human plant will not be reared in more perfection than in any other which the funds of a charitable institution can afford to procure. Can we then wonder, that in after-life, she should be found unamiable and unworthy, unattaching and unattached, who commenced her course in desolation of heart, without kindred, and without a name? What can remove from her the gloom of her opening prospects; what can rescue her from the dangers with which she is surrounded? Nothing, but that

she has "from a child known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ." This view of the subject, if it be correct, determines at once the advantage of daily schools for poor children, over those in which they are entirely resident. But the former possess two other circumstances of preference above the latter, and these of no slight value; the comparative smallness of the expense of the children's education and the nature of the instructions transmitted through the children to the members of their respective families. Numerous are the instances in which the benefits thus derived, are importantly conspi

cuous.

But the fifth cause of failure is by much the most momentous, and may be regarded as the sum total of the whole.

Where the school consists of children of different religious persuasions-who would, in some cases, refuse to attend if the word of God be admitted at all, and in others, if either note or comment be subjoined-it is plausibly alleged, that it is more wise to accommodate our plans to the prejudices of such persons than to reject entirely those whose very errors render them more the objects of compassion; and that to teach children, who must otherwise grow up in a course of idleness and vice, habits of neatness, regularity, and morality, is, independently of religion, to render an essential service to the rising generation. But St. Paul speaks to us a different language:"Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward." "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have

not heard? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Christian morality is that alone which deserves the name. It is the only morality which will stand firm amidst the vicissitudes and storms of life. It is the house built upon the rock. All other foundations are of sand, which the floods will assuredly wash away. A Christian cannot, consistently, countenance or support any scheme of education whatsoever which abandons the word of God. If we were sufficiently zealous in the cause of our Divine Master, we should refuse every such scheme, without hesitation. But in Ireland, generally, the alternative, with proper perseverance, would not be as above stated. The poor parents are most eager to procure for their children what they call "learning;" and although many impediments may, in some cases, be purposely thrown in the way, and many artifices may be used to discourage the patrons and to overturn the establishment; yet it will be found that a patient, steady, quiet, continuance, will finally render all the adverse efforts nugatory. But supposing the contrary to be the fact, and that the poor children must either be taught upon the above-mentioned unchristian plan, or not taught at all, it is assuredly more for their everlasting interests that they should remain uninstructed. For on what account should any child in the lowest classes of society learn to read? Not surely for the sake of intellectual cultivation; not to refine the taste, and to furnish literary amusement for a leisure hour, but solely for the purpose of enabling the child to read the Scriptures; to learn that God's commandment is life everlasting; and to know "the way, and the truth, and the life." To bestow, then, upon the children of the poor, the worldly, and to hold back from them the heavenly, knowledge, is more likely to con

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