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selves, though your immortal souls are upon the verge of destruction, and for aught I know you are hearing your last sermon, and may never more have an opportunity to have Christ offered to you!"

"Sometimes he would set before his congregation the agony of our Saviour, as though the scene was actually before them. 'Look yonder!' he would say, stretching out his hand, and pointing while he spake, 'what is it that I see? It is my agonizing Lord! Hark, hark! do you not hear?-O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done!" This he introduced frequently in his sermons; and one who lived with him says, the effect was not destroyed by repetition; even to those who knew what was coming, it came as forcibly as if they had never heard it before. In this respect it was like fine stage acting; and indeed, Whitefield indulged in an histrionic manner of preaching which would have been offensive if it had not been rendered admirable by his natural gracefulness, and inimitable power. Sometimes at the close of a sermon, he would personate a judge about to perform the last awful part of his office. With his eyes full of tears, and an emotion that made his speech faulter, after a pause which kept the whole audience in breathless expectation of what was to come, he would say, 'I am now going to put on my condemning cap. Sinner I must do it: I must pronounce sentence upon you!' and then in a tremendous strain of eloquence, describing the eternal punishment of the wicked, he recited the words of Christ, 'depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' When he spoke of St. Peter, how, after the cock crew, he went out and wept bitterly, he had a fold of his gown ready, in which he hid his face.

"Perfect as it was, histrionism like this would have produced no lasting effect upon the mind, had it not been for the unaffected earnestness and the indubitable sincerity of the preacher, which equally characterized his manner, whether he rose to 'the height of passion in his discourse, or won the attention of the motley crowd by the introduction of familiar stories, and illustrations adapted to the meanest capacity. To such digressions his disposition led him, which was naturally inclined to a comic playfulness. Minds of a certain power will sometimes express their strongest feelings with a levity at which formalists are shocked, and which dull men are wholly unable to understand. But language which, when coldly repeated, might seem to border upon irreverence and burlesque, has its effect in popular preaching, when the intention of the speak er is perfectly understood: it is suited to the great mass of the people; it is felt by them when better things would have produced no impression; and it is borne away when wiser arguments would have been forgotten. There was another and more uncommon way in which Whitefield's peculiar talent sometimes was indulged; he could direct his discourse towards an individual so skilfully, that the congregation had no suspicion of any particular purport in that part of the sermon; while the person at whom it was aimed felt it, as it was directed, in its full force. There was sometimes a degree of sportiveness almost a kin to mischief in his humour.

"Remarkable instances are related of the manner in which he impressed his hearers. A man at Exeter stood with stones in his pocket and one in his hand, ready to throw at him; but he dropped

it before the sermon was far advanced, and going up to him after the preaching was over, he said, "Sir, I came to hear you with an intention to break your head; but God through your ministry, has given me a broken heart." A ship-builder was once asked what he thought of him. 'Think!' he replied, 'I tell you, sir, every Sunday I go to my parish church, I can build a ship from stem to stern under the sermon; but, were it to save my soul, under Mr. Whitefield, I could not lay a single plank.' Hume* pronounced him the most ingenious preacher he had ever heard; and said, it was worth while to go twenty miles to hear him. But, perhaps, the greatest proof of his persuasive powers was, when he drew from Franklin's pocket the money which that clear, cool reasoner had determined not to give: it was for the orphan-house at Savannah. 'I did not,' says the American philosopher, 'disapprove of the design; but as Georgia was then destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have been better to have built the house at Philadelphia, and brought the children to it. This I advised; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore refused to contribute. I happened, soon after, to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the copper; another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all.”

THE LOSS OF FRIENDS.

"Friend after friend departs.

Who has not lost a friend?

How often have we uttered over the dear form of a beloved friend, the words of the patient, and submissive man of God, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." He gave, he has taken away, he has done well. This we admit, yet still we say; who has not lost a friend? We may be resigned; we must submit. It is done, and who can undo? God gave, it was his gift. He might have left us without it, but he did give. Oh, a precious gift it was! One we could call friend. How sweet the

One of his flights of oratory, not in the best taste is related on Hume's authority. After a solemn pause Mr W. thus addressed his audience: "The attendant angel is just about to leave the threshold, and ascend to Heaven; and shall he ascend and not bear with him the news of one sinner, among all the multitude, reclaimed from the error of his ways!" To give the greater effect to this exclamation, he stamped with his foot, lifted up his hands and eyes to Heaven, and cried aloud, "Stop Gabriel! stop, Gabriel! stop, ere you enter the sacred portals, and yet carry with you the news of one sinner converted to God!" Hume said this address was accompanied with such animated, yet natural action, that it surpassed any thing he ever saw or heard in any other preacher.

sound, my friend-my dear friend-my bosom friend-my beloved friend! What a gift? It was God's gift-I might have known it-who else could have been the author of such a gift? I could not claim it. It was given-given for a limited time-I knew not how long. But did I use it well? God did me no injustice in taking it if well used, how much less if I abused it? Yes. He did perfectly right in taking it back. Yet it was a loss, and no small loss. It might not have been to my friend-it might be gain; for it is gain to die, if we die in Jesus. It was my loss-I have lost a friend.

But who has not lost? Friend after friend departs. What a mercy that they go one after another! Job lost all his children at one stroke, and that from God. A pestilence sometimes sweeps away whole families and neighbourhoods at once. 'Tis kindness in God to take one at a time, one after another. We think it hard to lose even one, and we mourn as they depart. God does not forbid mourning. Holy Job did pour out his complaint to his friends. "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me.' We may mourn, for it is our loss. One after another they go, their number begins to lessen; soon, very soon, all will be gone-not one left-no-not one. We shall go too. Yes, to friends and kindred we shall soon say-Farewell. O! what a struggle will the last be. As one friend departed, the rest became most choice friends. So it continued, until we had to say, "I have lost my friend."

How often have I heard the widow say, I have lost my friend, my only earthly stay. Now am cast on this cruel and unfeeling world. Here are my children, they are fatherless; poor little things, they know not what they have lost. They had just learned to lisp the endearing name of father; but now he is no more. At such times we should not forget the goodness of God. I gave you a friend, he says, you loved him; this was right. But you forgot the giver. Your earthly friend is gone, but here is one in his place; a better friend. A better friend you ask? Where can there be a better found? Oh if you did but know him, you would find that as friends they will not bear comparison. He is not only a friend, but near as a brother; yea, "he sticketh closer than a brother." Not only a husband, but more,-The father of the fatherless. What a dear friend he must be. How sweet his name must sound. 'Tis Jesus.

That is his name;
How sweet it sounds
In a believer's ears.

A believer is only a friend of his, and Christ will be his friend. He

Sooths his sorrows,
Heals his wounds,
And dries his tears.

Oh! what a friend, when other friends depart! We may lose all others, we may follow them to the tomb and bid adieu even to their dust. But this friend never fails, he is ever near those that will own him as their friend. The very place where others fail and die, He gives peace and joy; yes he causes death itself to die.

Oh! have you this friend? Do you complain of loss of friends! Will you have one, you never can lose, one who will never leave, never forsake you? Then, make Jesus your friend, and you will always have a friend.

THE SACRED CANONS AND GENERAL COUNCILS

Obligatory on Papists.

Every thing in the way of doctrine and practice in the Roman church, is obligatory on its members in their several stations. To the bishops and priests certain duties belong, arising out of their offices. So of the people in their relation to the church.

The first article heading their symbol of faith is as follows:

"I. N. believe and profess, with a firm faith, all and every one of the things which are contained in the symbol of faith, which is used in the Holy Roman Church."

In the next to the last article, it is as follows:

"I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the SACRED CANONS, and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and likewise I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever, condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the church."

The last article as follows:

"This true Catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess, and truly hold, I. N. promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold and profess the same whole and entire, with God's assistance, to the end of my life; and to procure, as far as lies in my power, that the same shall be held, taught, and preached by all who are under me, or entrusted to my care, by virtue of my office. So help me God, and these holy gospels of God."

Follow on now my reader to the few quotations we have made from the sacred canon law, which every Romanist, freely professes, truly holds; promises, vows, and swears that he will hold until death; and remember that he declares none can be saved who disbelieve and deny such iniquitous doctrines. Has not the Lord indeed given them over to believe a lie?

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De Judiciis. Part 1. Title VI. Sect. XI.

Non Juramenta, sed perjuria potius sunt dicenda, quæ contra utilitatem Ecclesiasticam attentantur.

They are not OATHS, but PERJURIES, which are proved to be contrary to the good of the Church.

Ib. Si quis, quando juravit, habeat in mente ut veniret contra canonicas sanctiones; non juramentum, sed perjurium potius extitit; nec est aliqua ratione servandum.

If any one, when he hath sworn, believes that it will turn out to be against the Holy Canons; IT IS NOT AN OATH, but rather PERJURY; nor is it by any means to be kept.

Ib. Non juramenta, sed potius perjuria sunt dicenda, quæ contra utilitatem Ecclesiæ, et Sanctorum Patrum veniunt Instituta.

They are not to be called OATHS, but rather PERJURIES which prove contrary to the good of the Church and the instructions of the Holy Fathers.

To these quotations we may add one, from the 4th general council of Lateran, the original Latin of which will be found on page 221 of this Magazine for 1836.

If the temporal lord shall refuse to purge his land of heretics and after being excommunicated, scorns to satisfy; it being made known to the Pope," He shall absolve his subjects from their oaths of allegiance, and may expose his country to be seized on by Catholics, who exterminating the heretics, may keep it in the purity of the faith, &c.

THIS IS MY BODY.

Matt. xxvI. 26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take eat THIS IS MY BODY. (27.) And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it, (28.) For THIS IS MY BLOOD of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (29) But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth, of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Luke XXII. (19.) THIS IS MY BODY, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me.

I. Cor. xi. 24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, take eat: THIS IS MY BODY which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, THIS CUP IS THE NEW TESTAMENT in my blood. This do ye; as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (26.) For as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord's death till he come.

But

Roman Catholics are continually harping upon the text, This is my body, &c. declaring that it means, that the wafer which they offer up in the mass, is the real body, blood, soul and divinity of our Saviour. That any of them do really believe it, we have always questioned. That the passages do not prove it, taken in connection with those in the vi. ch. of John, no one who will read them will believe. why use the expression in relation to the body, and not to the blood. If "THIS IS MY BODY," is literal, the other also; THIS (wine) 18 MY BLOOD. THIS CUP, IS THE NEW TESTAMENT. But perhaps they hold it so, as they withhold the cup, and the New Testament both from the people.

But it is to be done in memory of Christ's death, and it would appear very singular, to have the body, blood, soul and divinity, ever before us, in remembrance of itself. But it is in remembrance of one who will no more eat nor drink with us, until we surround his board in heaven.

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