brother would not, through mere forgetfulness, have been recently disappointed of thy presence, conversation, and prayers, had he not been an obscure, and a poor man. Had he been less deserving of thy compassionate regard, he would have been favoured with it.' Alas, my brother, there is reason to fear, that few ministers, on this ground, stand perfectly free from censure, at the bar of a tender conscience!"

It is at the same time, necessary to add a caution to the members of churches, against rashly judging of their public teachers, from the circumstance of their being more in the company of some than of others. Different things ought to be taken into the account here. Some members of churches have more leisure than others, and in this way have it more in their power to spend a little time in conversation. It is usually the same persons, too, whose minds are more cultivated with reading, than those whose time is necessarily occupied with daily labour, and this, of course, makes their conversation more useful. These, and similar circumstances, ought to be considered as affording sufficient reason for a pastor spending more of his leisure hours with one class than another. The object of the preceding hints to public teachers, on this subject, is, that the attention paid to a few may not interfere with the duty they owe to all. If this duty is not neglected, in consequence of the time that is spent with a few, no one is entitled to find fault.

A FEW QUESTIONS, FITTED TO PROMOTE AMONG CHRISTIANS A SPIRIT OF MUTUAL FORBEARANCE.

In order to soften down those asperities which are too often produced where Christians differ in sentiment from one another, and to promote, in such cases, a spirit of mutual forbearance, the following questions may perhaps be proposed with some advantage.

Suppose, in some points, I have discovered the Divine will, where others of my Christian brethren I think have not: Have I kept that discovery in its own place? Am I certain I have not attached a disproportionate importance to it; and is not this as really improper as overlooking it altogether?-Has not my attention been directed to this portion of Divine truth by the circumstances of my situation; and had it not been for these, is it not probable I should have indulged prejudices against it, as well as others ?-Am I certain that there is no other portion of the word of God which I am neglecting, either from my criminal carelessness, in not searching the Scriptures, and thus overlooking it altogether, or, under the influence of prejudice, resisting evidence which ought to command my assent ?-While I am conscious of many deviations from the path of duty, where I know what that path is, may not my guilt be greater than that of those who do not discern some parts of the will of God, though it be owing to some false prepossession they continue ignorant of them? Nay,

do I not here too much resemble those who even resist conviction where it is felt?

Again, am I authorised in any case to suppose, that a man resists conviction, though he is not convinced by evidence which to me appears most eonclusive? Is it not easy to account for his overlooking that evidence, or his not feeling its force, by his early education, by those circumstances in his past history or his present situation, over which he has had little or no control; and ought I not to ascribe his not being influenced by such evidence to this cause, instead of charging him with deliberately resisting a conviction which he really feels! Have I not contributed to strengthen the prejudices of some, against what I believe to be a part of divine truth, by the unsuitable temper with which I have sometimes defended it; by manifesting a feeling of conscious superiority, and treating, with a certain degree of contempt, those who hold an opposite opinion from me, or by laying an undue stress on the particular point on which we differed, and overlooking the far more important truths in which we were agreed?

Farther: Few deny that forbearance ought to be exercised on some subjects where there is a difference of sentiment, and all maintain that there is a point at which it should stop; that there are differences quite incompatible with Christian fellowship. Now, suppose I have acted conscientiously in regard to the exercise of my forbearance, can I decidedly say that I have clearly discovered that point beyond which it should not extend; that I

have in no degree deviated from the standard of Scripture, by declining Christian fellowship with those with whom it will appear at last I ought to have maintained it; or by holding it with those from whom I ought to have separated ?—When constrained, from a sense of duty, to separate from others, have I not only done so at the precise point where it was proper to do it, but have I done it in the manner, and in the spirit, which the great Lawgiver will at last approve!—While acting with others in a church capacity, have I at all times manifested that patience and forbearance with those who viewed things in a different light from myself, which I ought to have exercised ?-Should not the possibility of my own deviations from the standard of truth and duty on these points, lead me to judge with tenderness of those who differ from me?

Above all, if I conceive that I have by any means discovered some parts of the will of God, which others have overlooked, of which they are either ignorant, or which, through the influence of certain temptations, they neglect, though they know them; has this increased knowledge been accompanied with that increase of humility, of spirituality of mind, of devotedness to the glory of God, which ought to have accompanied it; or have I never been inclined secretly to plume myself on my supposed clearer discernment, and more extensive knowledge, and thus converted that into an occasion of sin, which ought to have led to an increase of holiness? Let every one professing to be a disciple of Christ, to whatever denomination he belongs, bring home

these questions to his own conscience, but let him, at the same time, observe with what view they are proposed; not to lead any one to conceive, that it is of little moment whether on any point he hold truth or error. No! To a man who feels that reverence for the divine authority which he ought, and who is looking forward to the second coming of the Lord, nothing in this world can be half so interesting, as discovering the will of God as communicated in his word, and acting agreeably to that discovery. But these questions are proposed with a view to promote a spirit of mutual forbearance among those who, though in some points they differ, are united in the faith and hope of the gospel-that forbearance which, in this world of remaining imperfection, they certainly ought to cultivate, by which they will be preserved from throwing those stumbling-blocks before the world, which have often been occasioned by the want of it, and in the exercise of which they will most effectually adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

PRINTED BY R. MARSHALL, EAST ROSE STREET.