would give you concerning yourself and your duty in this case, is simply this, you must now turn to him from whom you have revolted. You must bring the affections you have taken away. You must restore the moral sacrifice which you have plundered from God's altar. You must not be found in coldness of prayer, and then in all the activity of your character giving yourselves to the world; but there must be such a return to him as will return all which you have taken from him. Then shall you be made free in the liberty wherewith Christ makes all his people free. Do you suppose that the Redeemer has died to leave you all your lifetime subject to bondage? No. He gave himself for the purpose of casting a light round such a case-to illuminate the mind with the knowledge of the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. We have only to look away from earth. We have only to look to the mansions that Christ has prepared in the skies. We have to see in them that which will draw our affections from earth, and raise them to heaven. Constant and habitual contemplation on the things of God, will be found to promote fervent supplication. Let the full tide of moral power, whether in darkness or in light, in the midst of man's energy or comparative imbecility, be directed to the Redeemer's throne, and it will be found to be rolled back with a sanctifying influence, which will quicken all the graces of our spirit.

5th. Let me address this question to those christian characters who, amidst the many cares of the world pressing upon their spirits, give themselves to those cares without remembering that the LORD JESUS has bought his people by his blood, from the world, as well as from the vengeance of his Father's wrath. We would say, then, to such, "Have I been so long time with you," that, in the midst of worldly cares you should be found not to know that he presides over you?

It is sometimes said that a parent's care for his children should never be slackened by his profession of the gospel. Now, I must confess, that this appears to me to be a position that should be taken with certain qualifications. We should ascertain what was his care over his family before he made a profession of the gospel. Was it not an undue care? He has laid down a certain elevation which he must arrive at for his family,

but he must ascertain whether this is consistent with the gospel or not. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." "I have been pursuing my worldly schemes," you may be ready to cry, "if I relax, there must be a deficiency of my gain. Must I retain all my worldly circumstances-occupy the ground upon which I stood previous to knowing the gospel, after I have become acquainted with it? Yes, I must still be found giving all my time, and energies, and powers, to business." Has Jesus been so long time instructing you in the duties you owe to him, and yet hast thou not known him? "We have occupied a certain elevation, and we must attend to that elevation. O! we must not sink, because we have professed godliness. We have around us certain establishments, certain channels of business, certain profits, and, in the midst of all, we must acquit ourselves like men.' I would say to such, while you would discharge the duties that belong to you, see that they are in consistency with your christian profession. Let this be ascertained. Make this the standard by which you judge, or else we must say to you, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?"

But, to illustrate this part of the subject, let me remind you of a practical case. When the apostle Paul preached to the inhabitants of a Pagan city, they were filled with superstition. Do we

find that these individuals, after they had embraced the gospel of Christ, took the ground that is frequently taken now? Did they say, notwithstanding they had made a profession of the gospel, we must still stand high in the estimation of men;-let us cast our salvation on Christ, and let us be found still maintaining a respectable appearance before men? This was not their argument; but they came with their property, and nobly committed it to the flames, as an evidence of the all-important fact, that they had given themselves to God, while they rested on his Son for acceptance. They had nothing left; they were compelled to seek for some honest calling, instead of obtaining their livelihood by the polluting circumstances in which they had previously been engaged. But they shewed by this devotion of property to the great cause of God, (for consuming it was a devotion of it,) that they had adopted new views from the

gospel, and so became new men in Christ. They were ready to run in a new race, and previously to doing so, they rid themselves of every incumbrance, that they might run with greater alacrity in the race set before them. I do not say that you are to give up every thing; but I do say, that every thing must be given up that is inconsistent with devotedness to the Lord, or else we must put the question, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?" He that loveth father or mother, sister or brother, house or land, his own life itself, (is there any thing beyond this that can come within the description of temporal peace?)" he that loveth any of these more than me, is not worthy of me," is the principle laid down by Jesus Christ. "Have I been so long time with you," impressing upon you this lesson," and yet hast thou not known me?"

But without dilating further upon this part of the subject, let me briefly notice,

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF AN IMMEDIATE AND DIRECT APPLICATION OF THIS QUESTION TO THE CASE OF EACH OF THESE CHARACTERS.

you

Has Jesus been so long time with and yet hast thou not known him? If this be the case with regard to any who do not believe in his name; with regard to the formalist who professes to believe in his name; with regard to those who, from the order of their spirits or other circumstances, are risen above the deadness of formality; with regard to Christians themselves, who entertain mistaken views of the master they serve, then let me say to all, is it not time to adopt strong mental decision with regard to this all-interesting question of the Redeemer? Does he not tell us from the word of his truth, the voice of which is equal to the authority of the skies, that he has been so long time with us, and yet

we do not know him? And if our consciences feel that the declaration concerning our case is founded on truth and justice, we have not a single moment to lose in coming to a decision. Shall we wait till he arraigns us before his throne, and tells us, that he was with us, and we knew him not? Shall we wait till the descending cloud discovers him to our view before we are convinced that he was with us, and we knew him not? Or rather as our time is so short-as our time is so uncertain-as the darkness is so thickening-as our imbecility is in

creasing imbecility-as our distance from God is creating a still greater distanceas all the habits we are forming are increasing let us cast them all off, let us burst our trammels and escape to that liberty which is given us by the Son of God, and by which we shall be enabled to cry, "ABBA FATHER!" We have no time to lose in this great question. We cannot arrest the progress of our advancement, and tell our souls to remain in their present circumstances, till events more favourable shall come round, and enable us to make a bolder step in the spiritual warfare. Our ignorance of the Lord Jesus must increase while we allow it to remain. It is said, "Possession in law gives right;" and it may be said, in precisely the same way, with regard to our minds, that the possession of the mind by certain habits, makes the mind more effectually the creature of those habits. If, then, we would give the mind its freedom, and rise above the controuling influence that keeps us down; and since Jesus has been so long time with if we would now know him, let us rend asunder every chain by which we are bound; let us cease to look down upon the world, lest some unworthy object attract our vision, and expose us to eternal ruin, while our hearts should be engaged looking upwards. The wife of Lot looked back: she stood fast, and her condemnation was sealed; in a moment, she became a pillar of salt. This may be the case with us, unless there is a bold decision upon this great and interesting question. If the Redeemer is saying to

us,

us, "Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me?" let our reply be, We admit the accusation: thou hast been so long time with us, but yet, from the vileness of our character, we have not known thee. But if other lords and other gods have had dominion over us, we will henceforth yield ourselves to thee, LORD, and to thee alone. Then there will be the relief which is given by a full and entire surrender of our powers into the hands of Him who will keep them for the enjoyment of everlasting life. While we divide our allegiance with the Redeemer and the world,-while we divide our affections with God and Christ, and the things that perish in the using, we are found halting between two opinions. We are not ready to be offered up, though the time of our departure is at hand. We shall not look with unhe

sitating firmness to our march across Jordan, expecting that our great highPriest will dry up the streams, and prepare our way to the Canaan that lies before us. This division of our lives will secure our rejection at the portals of heaven. Let us, then, give ourselves wholly to the Redeemer; and if we have not known him, let us now know him in the attractions of his own personal excellency, in the attractions exhibited in the greatness of his doings, and in the perfection of his Father's purposes. Then we shall find perfect repose. Then we can say, when the king of terrors pays us his visit, Lord, thou hast been long time with us, and we have known thee. The time of our departure is at hand, and we are ready to be offered up. Our decision has been made; our hopes, our desires, our powers, our feelings, all tend heavenwards. This message is only in keeping with our general wishes; he has come to fulfil our desires, and we are ready to depart with him.

This is a freedom of spirit that gives to the whole character a spiritual supremacy over the things of the world, and relieves it from every thing by which the men of this world are bound down; and whilst their consciences have their smitings, and their bosoms their throbbings, we shall feel ourselves free from the world. We have nothing to do, nay, we are ready to wait for the general conflagration, and rise untouched by the flames by which it must be effected, when the kingdom of our God shall come, and those that know Jesus, will find themselves at the right hand of his everlasting throne. AMEN.

THE SABBATH SCHOLAR.

Hosanna, my glad voice shall raise, Hosanna to my King:

Should I forget my Saviour's praise, The stones themselves would sing.

MONTGOMERY.

NEXT to the office of the christian ministry, I know of no one more responsible in its nature, or important in its consequences, than that of the Sabbath school teacher. He is a teacher of babes. In some instances he has to instruct those who are altogether neglected by their parents, and in some others to eradicate principles, which by their example, they have instilled into the minds of their children. In all cases the pious teacher

has to aim to dispel the mists of error, to sow the seeds of truth, and carefully to watch their growth, and to train the youth committed to his charge, for the mansions of heaven. In a very important sense he feels

""Tis education forms the tender mind;

Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."

In the discharge of his important duties the teacher has many discouragements. The seed frequently continues long in the ground before it springs up, and he sometimes fears that the chilling blasts of sin have entirely destroyed it. In many instances he never sees the fruit of his labours; and yet he continues to work in this holy vineyard, partly because he knows that such is his duty, and partly because he now and then sees that his best and most ardent desires are accom

plished in the salvation of sinners. It is my happiness now to glance at a few facts in the history of a female Sabbath scholar who belonged to my congregation, and who has lately exchanged worlds, at the age of fifteen years.

It is now eight or nine years since she was first admitted a scholar. At that time there was nothing remarkable in her character or conduct. She was mild in her demeanor, and rather dull than otherwise in the character of her mind. She manifested little or no desire to make progress in her learning, and evidently filled up her place only to obey the wishes of her parents, or as stimulated by the hope of reward.

It is now about three years ago, that her teachers began to observe a gradual but marked change in her conduct. She was not talkative or obtrusive; but she evidently increased in her attention to her duties, and became deeply interested in the engagements of the school. She manifested an ardent respect for her teachers; would frequently ask,in a simple but touching manner, the meaning of scriptural passages she read, and paid an undivided regard to the addresses delivered to the scholars on their eternal interests. The Bible became her favourite book; with the tickets given her for her punctuality and attention, she purchased a copy of this sacred volume, and committed to memory the far greater part of the evangelical histories, and some portions of the inspired epistles, besides several hundred hymns.

All these are facts which proved pleas

ing to her teachers; but they were not only gratified by her regular attendance and her increasing attention, but by her apparent sense of the importance of religion, and her devotion in the services of the sanctuary.

A few months since she was taken ill with a disease, or rather with a complication of diseases, which ended in her death. In the early part of her illness, though weak and faint, and sometimes unable to reach home after school, without the assistance of her school-fellows, she would never, if possible, be absent. And on being asked why she was so desirous of being there, she said, she loved so much to hear about Jesus Christ. I think, too, another reason might be assigned, she had a Bible of her own, and she loved it; she had a brother who was about going to sea, and as he did not possess this inestimable treasure, she was desirous of giving him one, and to accomplish this object, she probably attended school longer than it was quite prudent for her to do so.

But it was most conspicuous on her dying bed, that Ann had tasted the blessings of Divine mercy. She was, till within a few weeks of her death, backward to talk of her religious views and feelings, lest she should say too much, and express more than she had felt. As, however, she drew nearer to the gates of death, and tasted more of the gracious communications of heaven, she was ever ready to bear her simple, but delightful testimony, to the honour of the grace of God. From conversations held with her by myself and her teachers, I will present the reader with a few sentences.

In the commencement of her illness, she described herself as feeling so much of the depravity of her heart, and the wickedness of her conduct, that she feared the Saviour of sinners would not regard her.

She thought she should die, and feeling she was a sinner in the sight of God, it cannot be a matter of surprise that her fears were excited, and that she felt a wish to continue in the present life. After her views of the gospel method of salvation had become more enlarged and more clear, her fears were gradually removed, and her confidence in the Redeemer was strengthened.

It was about this time that I first visited her, and a conversation, as nearly like the following as memory can furnish, took place :

"Well, you seem very ill, Ann, do you think you shall die?”

Yes, Sir, I think I shall." "Are you afraid of death?"

"When I think, Sir, that I have been such a great sinner, I am afraid sometimes; but when I think what a great friend to sinners Jesus Christ is, I am not afraid."

"Yes, Jesus Christ is a friend to those who believe in him; but have you any reason to believe that he is your friend? For you know, Ann, it would be a very awful thing for you to be mistaken on so important a subject."

"Jesus Christ, Sir, has said 'Whosoever will, let him come, and I will in no wise cast him out:' and my Testament tells me, he came into the world to save the chief of sinners, and I pray to him, and hope he will save me.'

"Do you think he will save you because you have not been so wicked as some other girls?"

"Is it not, think you, a great mercy that the blessed Saviour ever taught you how you might be saved?

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Yes, Sir; I can never be thankful enough that I went to the Sunday School, for that was where I first heard about Jesus."

This is the substance of the conversation; but I cannot communicate to my reader the interest of the scene; I cannot depict her emaciated form, nor describe the avidity with which she hung upon my lips, or the artless simplicity of her whole deportment. In subsequent conversations she evinced her love to the Scriptures and to prayer. She lamented that she was too ill to read, but said she could lie, and be happy in thinking of what she had committed to memory when she was well; and though she could not kneel to pray, she could lift up her heart to God as she lay on her bed. She delighted greatly in the company and prayers of her teachers; begged that all her companions might be exhorted to love Jesus Christ; and was perfectly resigned to the will of God, willing to live or die, as should best please him.

I cannot omit to state, that the nearer she approached an eternal state, the more

concern she manifested for the spiritual interests of others. She was heard more than once, privately praying, with great earnestness, for such of her relatives who as had never seriously attended to the Bble, well as for her schoolfellows and teachers.

A few hours before her death, I was called on to visit her for the last time. I entered the chamber of death, and found all stillness. I found her mother weeping over her daughter, who was reduced too low to speak, excepting in a scarcely audible whisper. Ann's hymn book and "The Young Cottager" lay on a chair at the foot of the bed, and I could not but be struck with the similarity between my young friend and her whom the sainted spirit of a Richmond has immortalised in that delightful tract. I asked her if she felt happy now. She whispered "Yes." "Is Jesus precious?" Her pale dim eyes seemed for a moment to renew their lustre as she again whispered, "YesOh! yes!" You feel you are dying, and are you afraid of death?" "No." Her teacher repeated shortly after, these lines of Watts.

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"Jesus can made a dying bed,

Feel soft as downy pillows are; While on his breast I lean my head, And breathe my life out softly there," and asked her if she felt them true; for the last time she pronounced the delightful "Yes." As her teacher left her bedside, Ann presented a short petition for her happiness: she spake no more, but in a few hours entered, I doubt not, the mansions of glory, where many of the children of the poor have been led by the teachers of Sabbath schools.

No pomp marked her funeral. She was attended to the grave by her teachers, who hope to meet her at the last day, at the right hand of God. J. B.

BIBLICAL ESSAYS.

NO. IX. THE NECESSITY AND ORDER OF
SCRIPTURE STUDIES.

"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." 1 Thess. ii. 13.

THERE are few things of more importance to a person who is but partially acquainted with the diversified contents of the Holy Scriptures, and who is desirous to augment his stock of biblical knowledge, than the adoption of a well

digested plan of study, and a regular method of pursuing it. Without these, whatever may be the anxiety of such a person to increase his knowledge, and whatever his diligence in seeking its acquirement, he will make but little real progress; he will be ever learning, and never come to a knowledge of the truth. Desultory and unconnected reading, however frequently repeated, will tend but little to the attainment of a sound knowledge of the plan of the Divine economy, as exhibited in the Scriptures, or to lay open the numerous and unrivalled beauties of the Bible, and the beneficent contrivances of God our Saviour, for securing the present happiness and final salvation of his people. We would not willingly distress or discourage, for a single moment, any one who, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, has been led to embrace the glorious truth revealed in the oracles of God, that whosoever believeth on the Son of God-however scanty his learning, however incompetent he may be to adjust the respective claims of conflicting interpretations, to reconcile apparent contradictions, to answer critical enquiries, or sceptical objections-that whosoever believeth on the Son of God has passed from death unto life, is accepted in the beloved, and is complete in him. We would not purposely discourage the mind of any such person by overcharged representations of the necessity and importance of scriptural learning, and the studies necessarily connected therewith. But while we would studiously avoid this on the one hand, we would not, on the other hand, disguise the truth or hide it from his view, that to neglect the means of obtaining a comprehensive and accurate acquaintance with every part of the Holy Scriptures betrays a lamentable indifference to the high and authoritative claims of revelation, and to the divinely appointed and exclusive means of promot ing and increasing our own personal happiness and the glory of God. We fear that it is by no means uncommon for religious professors to imagine that there are other sources of spiritual instruction, other instruments for promoting personal holiness and conformity to the divine image, than the written word; that the influences of the Holy Spirit, which they seek for in private and social prayer, are conferred upon the devout worshipper independently of the holy Scriptures; and therefore, that although these are good and valua