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It is evident, that the mind can seldom be duly prepared for a service which requires such high qualifications, while yet in the first stages of early youth. A child can scarcely be said to have any very fixed principles of his own; he takes his sentiments, in general, from his parents and instructors; and, in the ordinary course of things, cannot be expected to have examined for himself, or to have adopted his religious principles from the deep and enlightened conviction of his understanding.

Glorious day! when the Son of God shall come again-when the grave and the sea shall give up their dead-when the redeemed of the Lord shall come together to Zion, from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down together in the kingdom of God-when the great redemption shall be completely finished-when the children of God shall all be one-shall all be blessed in one great and But let it be observed, that the period of this selfundivided society when the infirmities, the strug-dedication is not to be rigidly fixed by the number of gles, the bereavements, the sorrows of mortality-years which a professing Christian has passed; because the varieties in their lot, in their attainments, in the operations of divine grace are not thus limited.their tempers, and in their expectations-shall all Alas! there are many, who, though far advanced in age, be lost in the vigour and triumphs common to are mere infants in the Christian life. They have yet to begin their preparation for heaven, and are altogether them all, and in the fulness of eternal joy. there are others, who, though youthful in years, are raignorant of the nature of Christian communion. pidly advancing towards manhood in religious attainments; and shall we venture to restrain the ardent desire which these young aspirants feel to lay the first fruits of their ingenuous hearts on the altar of their Saviour, when he himself has said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven?"

Amen. Salvation to our God and to the Lamb! Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, to him who sits upon the throne, who liveth and reigneth through eternal ages, and to the Lamb for ever and ever! Amen and Amen.

FORM OF ADMITTING CATECHUMENS
TO THE PRIVILEGE OF PARTAKING OF THE LORD'S SUP-
PER, USED IN THE PARISH OF RUTHWELL ON THE

But

No, my friends! Not by the number of their years, but by the preparation of their hearts-by the progress they have made in Christian principles and Christian

SATURDAY PREVIOUS TO THE COMMUNION SABBATH, practice-must we determine the period when those

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ORDINARY SERVICE IS CON-
CLUDED.

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BY THE REV. HENRY DUNCAN, D. D.,
Minister of Ruthwell.

THOSE young persons, who propose to join with us, for
the first time, in obeying the dying injunction of our
common Saviour, by partaking of the Lord's Supper, are
now about to give a public profession of their faith, and
of their solemn resolution to devote themselves hence-
forth to the service of their divine Master.

But, before we proceed to this important duty, it may not be unsuitable to say a few words, with regard to the circumstances which ought to determine the period when the young Christian should first unite with his fellow-worshippers in surrounding a communion-table.

It seems sufficiently obvious, that, before any person can be duly prepared for this sacred duty, he must understand its nature. It is a feast of commemoration. This is easily comprehended. The most simple may be made readily to understand what it is to celebratethat is, to call publicly to remembrance, at stated seasons a great and amazing event, in which his happiness is intimately concerned. But this is not enough we must also know, how our happiness is concerned in that event. Now this implies an acquaintance with the great scheme of salvation; it supposes a deep conviction of our fallen and naturally ruined condition, and an enlightened knowledge of the means by which we are brought from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God."

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But further: Though knowledge is necessary, it is not all that is necessary. Not only should our understanding be informed, and our judgment be convinced; but, before we can be duly prepared to do this in remembrance of Jesus, our hearts must be affected; and religion the faith of the Gospel-must become the moving principle of our conduct.

Such considerations as these serve to fix the period, when it becomes the duty of the worshipper to unite with those who surround the table of their crucified Lord.

This service was suggested by the practice of the Genevese Church, and the form still used there has been partly adopted. That Church is endeared to Presbyterians as the modern birth-place of their own; and though its pastors have degenerated from the faith of their fathers, its forms are still worthy of our affectionate regard.

who have been already devoted to God in baptism, should be anew devoted to him at a communion-table. So soon as they have examined themselves with understanding hearts, to discover the nature of their faith, the sincerity of their penitence, the fervour of their love, the firmness of their resolutions, and, after such an examination, can look up to heaven, and say, with humble confidence, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,"

from that moment delays become both dangerous and sinful. To these, whatever be their age, the table of their Saviour is open-they are permitted they are invited-they are commanded, to partake of the feast prepared for believers, at the foot of the cross.

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I have said that scriptural knowledge and Christian piety are essential qualifications for this solemn service; but think not that it will be any acceptable excuse for the neglect of your Saviour's dying command, that you are destitute of these qualifications. Ignorance and indifference in such a case are themselves sins, for which no apology can be pleaded; and it were folly to attempt to excuse the commission of one sin by another. ligion is the one thing needful for a being such as man, born as he is for immortality, but standing on the brink of eternal misery. We live in a land of Christian light; and, if we do not know the things which concern our everlasting peace, it is because we voluntarily and perversely shut our eyes. Let no man, then, satisfy himself with the plea of want of knowledge, or of devotional feeling. We invite him not to come forward in such a frame of mind; but we tell him, earnestly yet affectionately, that he is altogether inexcusable for being in this frame, or continuing in it. "This is the condemnation, says Jesus emphatically, "that light has come into the world, and ye have loved darkness rather than light, your deeds being evil." The amplest means for your instruction are provided. You have the Scriptures of truth in your hands-you have the ministers of the Gospel at your doors-you have the Holy Spirit asking admittance into your hearts. of these means, and God will shed his grace on your souls, to prepare you, according to the preparation of the sanctuary.

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From such aids no period of life is excluded. They are equally the inheritance of hoary age bending over his staff, and trembling on the edge of the grave-of

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manhood toiling amidst the bustle of a world full of and of unripe youth passing through slippery paths. Whosoever hath ears to hear, and an understanding to perceive, and a heart to feel, to him is the invitation given. But youth is the season when religious impressions may be expected to be deepest and most permanently stamped on the soul. Then the affections are peculiarly warm, and the heart, devoted at that carly period to the service of the Saviour, glows with characteristic fervour, and moves in the path of duty with a gracefulness all its own. How beautiful was the character of Timothy, of whom it is said that from a child he knew the Scriptures! He remembered his Creator in the days of his youth his soul was ennobled by the exercise, and as he grew in stature, he grew, like his divine Master, in favour with God and man.

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You, my dear young friends, have "chosen that better part, which shall never be taken away from you. You come this day publicly to declare, that you have taken the God of your fathers to be your God-the Saviour of your fathers to be your Saviour-the hope, the confidence, the joy of your fathers, to be the only treasure of your souls. If these be indeed the sentiments with which you are animated, we do most sincerely congratulate you: For what is our crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ? In this hope, I now call upon you to make a public profession of your faith.

[The Catechumens here stand up.] QUESTIONS.-1st, Are you deeply convinced of the truth and importance of the Holy Scriptures? Do you acknowledge them to be the inspired Word of God, receiving them as the only rule of your faith and practice? In particular, Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, the preserver and governor of all things in heaven and earth; in Jesus Christ his only begotten Son, our Redeemer; and in the Holy Ghost, our comforter and sanctifier? Do you acknowledge, that you are fallen and guilty creatures, naturally in a state of sin and misery, from which you cannot save yourselves; that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you can be saved but the name of Christ; that he died for your sins, and rose again for your justification, and ever liveth to make intercession for you; that he will come again to judge the world in righteousness, and will bestow eternal blessedness on his servants, while he says to those who reject his salvation, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire ?" All these things do you solemnly profess to believe?

[The Catechumens here express their assent.] 2dly, Are you resolved, in humble reliance on the aids of the Holy Spirit, to perform the duties which these doctrines imply, and which Scripture enjoins; to impress upon your hearts the obligations which you lie under to God as your creator and lawgiver, and as in Christ Jesus, your never-failing benefactor and friend, morning and evening to kneel before him, and pour out your souls in thanksgiving and supplication; on all occasions to remember that he is present with you, and to bow, submissive and resigned, to his holy will? To strengthen and increase your piety, are you resolved to search the Scriptures diligently, and to be regular and devout in your attendance on divine ordinances? As in the holy communion you profess to be members of one body, are you resolved, as much as in you lies, to live in peace and charity with all men; to love your neighbours as yourselves, and to do to others as you would that they should do to you? Do you, from the bottom of your heart, now renew your baptismal vows, by which you are bound to renounce the vanities of the world, to dedicate your lives to the service of your God and Saviour, to keep a constant guard on your appetites and passions, and to live in the uniform exercise of temperance, holiness, and piety?

All these duties, in a devout reliance on that strength

which is made perfect in weakness, do you now solemnly promise, assiduously and faithfully, to perform?

[The Catechumens again express their assent.] In consequence of these declarations and promises, which I pray that the Holy Spirit may bless, I do now, in the presence of Almighty God and before this assembly of his people, admit you to the high privilege of sitting down with your fellow Christians at the table of your common Saviour, that you may partake with them of that holy Supper which commemorates his sufferings and death, and from which believers, in all ages, have received spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. May Jesus be made known to you in the breaking of bread!

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My young friends,-whom I shall so soon be enabled to address by the still more endearing title of fellow communicants,-remember, I earnestly beseech you, the importance of the engagements which you have this day formed, or rather which you have now formally and publicly renewed. Your vows have been made not to man, but to God the Searcher of Hearts, and to Christ the Saviour of sinners. On the genuineness of the faith which you have now professed, and on the manner in which you adorn that profession in your life and conversation, depends your happiness or misery, not in time only, but in eternity. Live, then, as becomes those who name the name of Jesus. "Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father in heaven. "Pray without ceasing." Read assiduously the word of God. Watch that ye enter not into temptation. Avoid evil commu nications. In devoting your first years to your Redeemer, you will soon become accustomed to that service which is perfect freedom, and will find, by happy experience, that his yoke is easy, and his burden light. God will bless you. He will give you that peace which the world cannot give. His eye will be upon you for good. His ear will be open to your call. The blood of Christ will purify you from all sin. Be not afraid: greater is he who is for you, than all that can be against you. You will be enabled to pass through lite in the fear of God, and to perform the duties which you owe to your brethren of mankind, and to your own souls. And at the hour of your dissolution, when the world, with all its vanities, shall have vanished from your view, and every earthly prop shall have failed, you will be supported and cheered by a sense of the divine presence. Through the valley of the shadow of death Christ himself shall bear you in his arms, and carry you safe into the abodes of everlasting joy. Amen.

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

"The Habitation not made with Hands."-Through the great goodness of the Lord, my poor clay taber nacle is in tolerable good repair, although the beams and rafters seem to grow weaker. When the Builder i tends taking it down, I know not; and as I may and ought to expect that the time will shortly arrive, whe I must quit my present habitation, I desire, wish, and pray that my next house may be built of better mate rials, and not subject to any decay. I sometimes take a peep at the place where my new house is to be built; but through the dimness of my sight, and the weakness of my understanding, I cannot as yet comprehend the beauty of the situation, nor rightly understand the form of the house; but I am informed by the Builder, that he will make it like his own habitation. I have somewhere read about the form of the city, and the beauty of the streets; and the description is so de gantly grand, and glorious, it is enough to stir up a sire and a longing in the heart to be there. I am told, farther, that there is a vast number of inhabitants in the place where my house is to be built; and also, that

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they all live in love, and in peace, and no foe can enter the city, so that the inhabitants live without fear; L and I am farther assured, that their employ will be praising the Builder of the city; and as you and I love singing, I humbly hope our voices will be properly tuned, for I should like to sing as well as the best, for really no one will have greater cause to sing than I. Lu Now, I being a tenant at will, the owner of my tabernacle has a right to turn me out at a moment's warning, nay, without any warning at all; therefore, I daily pray that I may be enabled to obey his commands, and that is, to be always ready." I find a vast number of things want rectifying and altering in my poor tabernacle; but I humbly hope, that as the Builder, I trust, intends my tabernacle for a habitation for himself, he will subdue every thing contrary to his good pleasure, and cleanse the house thoroughly, making it a fit and proper habitation for himself. The glorious Builder of my house has left upon record exceedingly encouraging words of promise, to comfort the wayfaring man while on his journey to the desired city. He has also set up way marks, and given proper directions, insomuch that if the traveller keeps his eye upon the directing post, and walks according to the plan marked out, he will not greatly err; besides, there is something more encouraging still the traveller has for his guide One who is perfectly acquainted with the way to the city, and also knows all the dangers, enemies, and difficulties of the way through which the traveller has to pass; and the guide is more than a match for all the foes that infest the road; nay, he has the power over all countries invested in his hand, and all his enemies, and his followers' enemies, will shortly, and for ever, be put under his feet. You, dear madam, have had a taste of the fruit of this upper and better country, and the taste makes you long to feast more bountifully upon the heart-cheering, soul-comforting viands. The earnest of your future possession you have already received, which is a token or seal, that the full enjoyment shall be experienced in due time; in the meantime, it is the pilgrim's duty and privilege, to be desiring, hoping, watching, and striving, till the time of deliverance comes; and as the heavenly manna is daily spreading round your habitation, I humbly hope and pray that you may experience abundance of increase, that you may daily rejoice in full assurance of hope, of for ever enjoying the house not made with hands, in a kingdom that shall never be moved.-THE LETTER OF A POOR BUT PIOUS MAN.

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Difference between the Christian and the Man of the World. The grand difference between the Christian and the man of the world is, that the burden of the one is gathering while he proceeds, while that of the other is becoming lighter and more easy. The man of carnal mind and worldly affections clings more and more to his beloved earth, and new cares thicken around his death-bed: his burden is collecting as he advances, and when he comes to the edge of the grave it bears him down to the bottom like a millstone. But the blessed Spirit, by gradually elevating the Christian's temper and desires, makes obedience become more easy and delight ful, until he mounts into the presence of God, where he finds it "a service of perfect freedom."— Wolfe's Remains.

On the Every Day Sorrows of Life. This is a chequered life, and the changes are mercifully accommodated to our circumstances. Continual comfort and prosperity would be unsafe for us. Continual affliction would be hard upon us. Therefore our gracious Lord appoints us changes. Comforts and trials are interwoven in our dispensations, and so closely that there is hardly an hour passes in which we have not many causes for thankfulness, and some exercise for faith and patience. I am pleased with a passage in Bishop Cowper, in which he compares the life of a believer to a piece of worked

cloth, the threads of which, from end to end, through the whole length of life, are comforts; but the warp, from beginning to end, filled up with crosses. Surely it is so, for though we are favoured with days and spaces in which we can hardly say we have one cross from the hands of the Lord, we have, in default of these, an unhappy ingenuity in contriving and making up crosses for ourselves. A word, a look, or the holding up of a finger, is sufficient to disconcert us in our smoothest hours, to spoil the relish of a thousand blessings, so that the sun shines upon us almost in vain. We suffer much from imaginary evils, as much perhaps from apprehension of what may never happen, as from the impression of what we truly feel. Thus we put loads on our own shoulders, and then we say, "Alas, how heavily I am burdened!" So great is the goodness and faithfulness of God, that we are usually enabled to stand under heavy trials. Such likewise our weakness, that we are frequently ready to sink under small ones. Could we see the hand of the Lord equally in the great and the small, and consider every thing we meet as designed to practise and forward us in the lessons we profess ourselves desirous of learning, we should be much more happy. We are called to die unto self, to cease from man, to learn that all things are uncertain and vain, to forgive injuries, to overcome evil with good. And the events of life are adjusted so as to give us a frequent opportunity of discovering and proving our proficiency in these lessons. But we would rather suppose ourselves patient without having any thing to bear; disposed to forgive without any thing to forgive, and possessed of a spiritual mind, while, at the same time, we are pleasing ourselves with the hope of a sort of earthly paradise of enjoyments. Yet we believe that our Lord was a man of sorrows; the object of contempt, and that in this situation he wept over his enemies, and prayed for his murderers.-NEWTON.

Suffering, the Portion of Believers.-Remember, believer, when the lamb was eat, it was with bitter herbs. -ASHBURNER.

"What

Christ is Willing to Save.-Mercy looketh downward, and can quickly spy a sinner in the dust; but cannot leave him there, nor deny him compassion and relief. Art thou cast out as helpless, wounded by thy sin, and neglected by all others that pass by? Thou art the fittest object for the skill and mercy of Him that washeth sinners in His blood, and tenderly bindeth up their wounds, and undertakes the perfecting of the cure, though yet thou must bear the surgeon's hand, till his time of perfect cure be come. Now thou perceivest the greatness of thy sin and misery, thou art fit to study the greatness of his mercy; and with all saints (to strive) "to comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." Now thou hast "smitten upon the thigh," and said, have I done?" Thou art fitter to look upon him that was wounded and smitten for thy transgressions, and to consider what he hath done and suffered: how he "hath borne thy grief and carried thy sorrows, and was bruised for thy iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and we are healed by his stripes; all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Art thou in doubt whether there be any forgiveness for thy sins; and whether there be any place for repentance? Remember that Christ is "exalted at God's right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins ;" and that he himself hath spoken it, that "all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, except the blasphemy against the Spirit." And this forgiveness of sins thou art bound to believe as an article of thy creed, that it is purchased by Christ, and freely offered in the Gospel.-BAXTER,

SACRED POETRY.

TRUST IN THE SAVIOUR.

NOT seldom, elad in radiant vest,
Deceitfully goes forth the morn;
Not seldom evening, in the west,

Sinks smilingly foresworn.

The smoothest seas will sometimes prove
To the confiding bark untrue;
And if she trust the stars above,
They can be treacherous too.

The umbrageous oak, in pomp outspread,
Full oft, when storms the welkin rend,
Draws lightning down upon the head
It promised to defend.

But thou art true, Incarnate Lord!

Who didst vouchsafe for man to die; Thy smile is sure, thy plighted word No change can falsify.

I bent before thy gracious throne,

And ask'd for peace with suppliant knee; And peace was given,-nor peace alone, But faith, and hope, and ecstacy.

WORDSWORTH.

HOPE IN THE REDEEMER.

YES! it was true, my Saviour died
To rescue man from sin and wo!
My heart at once the truth applied,
And could not, would not let it go.

I felt it was my last lorn hope

A stay to the lone shipwreck'd given;
And grasp'd it with a drowning grope,
As sent to me direct from heaven.
In confirmation, word on word

Rose sweetly, too, from memory's store;
Truths, which in other days I heard,

But never knew their worth before. Lodged by a pious mother's care

In the young folds of thought and sense, Like fire in flint, they slumber'd there,

Till anguish struck them bright from thence. The beacon lights of Holy Writ,

They one by one upon me stole ; Through winds and waves my pathway lit, And chased the darkness from my soul! CAMPBELL.

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Valuable Life Saved. When the late Dr Davidson, formerly Mr Randall, of the Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh, was a child, he experienced a remarkable preservation from death, which he sometimes mentioned to his friends, and always in terms of the liveliest gratitude to the Almighty, who had so evidently interposed to rescue him from going down to the grave. In the neighbourhood of the manse at Inchture, where his father, Mr Randall, was for some years minister, there was an open well, which often gave rise to much apprehension and dread in the minds of parents, lest their children should fall into it. One day, Thomas Randall, when amusing himself near the well, fell in. There being no person at hand when the accident occurred, the child must have perished but for the following remarkable circumstance: The parish schoolmaster, Mr Peebles, and his wife, both very worthy persons, and who had a large family, happened to live in the immediate vicinity. Mrs Peebles one forenoon missed one of her children. She expressed great alarm to her

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husband that their boy might perhaps be drowned in the well. Both parents ran together to the well in quest of their child; and on descending the few steps which led to it, Mr Peebles observed something in the With a trembling heart he pulled it out, when to his astonishment, and that of his wife, it was not their boy, but the minister's son, Thomas Randall! On mentioning this striking event to an intimate friend, Dr Davidson remarked, "the preservation was of God; can a sparrow fall to the ground without our heavenly Father?"

An interesting Reminiscence.-The late Dr Samuel Martin, minister of Monimail, in a letter to a friend af ter Dr Davidson's death, having noticed the above anecdote, thus speaks of that pious and devoted man, whose memory is hallowed in the minds of all who knew him :-" He studied divinity at Glasgow College. Thomas and I lived together, companions and fellowstudents; and I being some years older, was considered as a kind of guardian. On looking back to that period, in reviewing fully sixty years intercourse and friendship, I ever found in him, from first to last, genuine and unaffected piety, affection, benevolence, r gular, exemplary, amiable deportment. I recollect, with pleasure, the family devotions of our little society. I well remember an exclamation, on one occasion, to me, after rising from prayer—a striking proof of his charac teristic humility, gratitude, and tenderness of conscience, O, Martin, it is the divine goodness, of all things, that humbles me most!'"

The Faithful Minister's Dying Declaration.-When the late Rev. Sir Henry Moncreiff Wellwood, Bart, was on his death-bed, his attached friend, Dr Thomson, of St. George's Church, Edinburgh, was much with him. On one occasion, it being the Sacramental Sabbath, Dr Thomson was engaged to officiate in the pulpit of St. Cuthbert's, at the evening service, instead of Sir Henry, and before doing so, he called to inquire for his dying friend. He found him in a very weak state, and after conversing with him for a short time, he met tioned his intention to occupy his pulpit for him that evening. Immediately the old man seemed to revive, and his eye assumed, for a moment, its wonted animetion. "I shall never preach to my people more," said he. "O! I could go through the whole world preaching salvation through the Cross of Christ."

The Effect of Missions.-The Rev. Dr Philip, of the Cape of Good Hope, states, that the Honourable Justice Burton informed him, after a circuit tour, that he had made three journies over the colony as a circuit judge; that, during these circuits, he had nine hundred cases before him, and that only two of these cases were connected with Hottentots who belonged to missionary institutions, and that neither of them were aggravated cases. On a comparison of the population at the missionary stations with that of the rest of the colony which was under the jurisdiction of the circuit cour the fact stated by the judge makes the proportion of crimes as one only to thirty-five.

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ations will be realized. The existence of the evil among the good gives occasion for the exercise of graces which would be otherwise unknown, and thus forms a kind of gymnasium of moral training for a better state. The existence of the good among the evil, restrains their excesses, stimulates by example, and leaves them without excuse if they remain as they have been. To accomplish ends such as these, which appear the more momentous the more we consider them, God has

it should be our nature and duty to aspire after, though we never arrive at, perfection. The attainment of it, universally, were a subversion of the whole purpose of the present state of being.

BY THE REV. HUGH RALPH, LL. D., Minister of the Scotch Church, Oldham Street, Liverpool. PERFECTION is not the character of the present scene. It is placed before us as a point after which we are to aspire, but, like the horizon, it eludes our grasp whatever advances we may make towards it. The painter has before his mind's eye a more per-wisely constructed our present condition so as that fect idea of beauty than is embodied in the works of the first masters which he studies, and yet he is unable to transfer conceptions, even so embodied, to his canvass. Harmony, more accurate than they give expression to, is always sounding in the ears That imperfection characterises the purest Chrisof the most accomplished musicians. Nor will the tian association, is graphically illustrated in the statesman succeed in applying merely abstract views parable of the tares. It is drawn from a familiar ocof government. Human nature continues to pre-currence in husbandry. A noxious plant, approachsent features to which theories do not bend; so that, on the most refined principles of legislation, room enough is left for the discontented to cavil. The Church of God is not excepted from the influence of this universal law. The marks of its members, plainly enough laid down, are sufficient to guide us in pronouncing on our own characters, and holding intercourse with our fellow men. Nevertheless, as in the world of nature, the animal passes by such imperceptible shades into the vegetable kingdom, that we are unable often to conclude to which, particular objects belong; so, in the visible Church, some Christians are so feeble, and some hypocrites are so plausible, that it is difficult to distinguish between them. God's care over the former is such, that, rather than that they should be endangered, the latter are allowed to be confounded with them. Not even the Church is perfect. It is yet, like every thing else, in a pre-explaining a well known part of her service, has paratory state of being.

This fact is one of the many proofs of the foolishness of God being wiser than men. Our idea of things in the present world is, that our conceptions of it should be immediately transferable to actual existence. But, on this supposition, many important ends would be unattainable. The mind of man, through its inability to reduce its own theories to practice, is kept continually on the outlook for a condition in which its finest imagin

ing nearest our darnel, and not at all to be confounded with our wholesome and often useful tares, is wont to grow up, along with corn, in Palestine, so resembling it in leaf and ear, that it is not easily distinguishable from it until it blossoms. While, therefore, the weed was immature, there would be danger in endeavouring to extirpate it. It were better to wait until it could be removed with safety. Out of materials so simple is delineated the peril of an attempt to mark, with unfailing precision, the line between the precious and the vile, in the visible Church of Christ. May we imbibe the lesson; and, lest we should injure one “for whom Christ died," let not our judgment be too severe, or our discipline go beyond knowledge and profession. In searching for the mind of the Church, at the anxious season of a communion, the wisdom of these few words, in

often guided and cheered me: "But if there hath been an imprudent and uncharitable exercise of discipline, in debarring of some wrongously, then the pastor's doctrinal opening of the tables, and inviting such from the Word of God to approach, although debarred by the key of discipline, may nevertheless comfort themselves in the Lord, who will be a little sanctuary unto them who are thus roughly and indiscreetly treated by the watchmen. From all which we may gather, that it is

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