that God, who is the author of the Bible, and inflicts serious injury on his best interests. It is vain for such a person to pretend any regard either to moral obligation, the will of God, or his own true welfare.

3. Notwithstanding these solemn facts, however, what are the results? Do we find a profound interest in the truths of Scripture generally prevailing? Are the majority of men diligent readers of the Scriptures, treasuring up in their minds the lessons they contain? Do they manifest an anxious desire to regulate their lives by this authoritative book? Do they regard it with esteem and reverence, with thankfulness and admiration? Are their views and treatment of the Bible in accordance with unquestionable duty? The very contrary is the fact. This holy volume is utterly neglected by vast multitudes; as much disregarded as if it were only a human production, treating on topics of a temporal nature: nay, more so; for while the Scriptures are scarcely ever opened by these individuals, they will peruse the news of the day, or some secular treatise, with an eagerness and attention quite remarkable, and most praiseworthy if it were only enlisted in a better cause. But, by their culpable carelessness of the word of truth, they deprive their souls of that light and nourishment which their immortal nature demands. Hence they become mournful illustrations of that inspired saying, "That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good," Prov. xix. 2.

4. Nor do professing Christians always come up to the extent of their duty in this matter. Many of them, there is reason to affirm, do by no means pay that attention to the Divine word which is required of them; and to this may be traced, in part at least, the feebleness of their piety, and the inconsistencies of their conduct. If they were more diligent in searching the Scriptures, more in prayer for the aid of the Holy Spirit to understand them, and to feel their heavenly influence and power, they would exhibit more fully in their lives the virtues of the religion they profess; and their knowledge and enjoyment of Divine things, as well as their usefulness, would be greatly increased. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." February 29th, 1848.

LOVE AND FAITH.

M. H.

THE love of God is the best preservative against the love and practice of sin. If proof of this is required, it is found in abundance in the Bible, and in the experience of Christians. Besides, it is clear that the two are opposite both in nature and in action. If a man truly loves God he will obey him, and the disposition to sin will be effectually checked; for sin is simply disobedience of the Divine commands. In proportion, then, as the love of God exists in the heart, will holiness be found there, and manifest itself in the life. On the other hand, in those who have no love to God, sin reigns. This is the predominant characteristic of unconverted men. While they love sin, and habituate themselves to the pursuit of it, how can they have any love to God? It is impossible! for, if they loved God, they would delight in his ways, and the dominion of sin would be destroyed.

Faith in Christ is the grand means whereby

the love of God is produced in the heart. God reveals himself to us through Christ,-offers us pardon and reconciliation for his sake,-hears our prayers; supplies our wants; and brings us to heaven, through the merit of his Son, who died for us, that we might have life everlasting. Love to God is inseparably connected with faith in Christ; and hence, he that believeth not the record that God hath given of his Son, cannot love God; for disbelief of God's word, and rejection of Him who came forth from the Father, is malignant rebellion against God himself. It is in vain, then, for Deists, and practical unbelievers of all sorts, to profess any love to God, since Scripture justly concludes them as his enemies; and, if finally such, they must meet with a doom fearful in its nature, but suitable to their character and their doings. H.

March, 1848.

CALVARY CALMING THE CONSCIENCE. MAN Surveys the magnitudes and the glories of creation, and much of the fair and lovely are seen in them; but the volcano, the earthquake, the storm, the pestilence, awakens his fears, and unsettles his confidence. He "hears the law" of God, and listens to its sanctions, and admits that it is just and good; but what mean the thunderings, and lightnings, and voices whence it proceeds? He hastens to the hill of Calvary, and there his fears are quelled, and there his hopes arise, and there his joys abound, and there every pang, and every prayer, and every look, and every sigh of the man of sorrows convince-more than satisfy-him that God is love. From Calvary's summit, no thunderings, no lightnings, no voices proceed. The sympathy creation feels in the scene is too deep for thunders to express, too wide for lightnings to be its messenger. Creation feels in dumb amazement. The sun shines not; the earth reels and staggers, but there is no speech, no language, no voice heard. Creation feels,-feels from its very core to its widest extremities, that GOD IS LOVE.-Smith's Sacred Biography, Second Edition.

RELIGION THE BASIS OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY.

THE following is one of the sayings of Washington:-"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of men and citizens. The mere political, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in the courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education, on minds of a peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

THE BELIEVER LONGING. WHAT has been your most ardent desire, since first you learned to love, confide, rejoice, and glory in Christ? Has it not been for more of Christ? More of Christ's love, of Christ's spirit, of Christ's image? Is it not

then enough to make death wear in your eyes the smiling aspect of a welcome friend, when you reflect, that the moment it has torn aside the veil of mortality which hides from your view the Saviour that you love, you shall see that Saviour face to face, unveiled in all his glory? You shall have Christ himself in all his fulness, as your own for ever-you shall hear his voice-you shall bask in the sunshine of his smile-you shall dwell in his immediate presence-you shall be perfectly like him, and uninterruptedly with him for ever,-never, never more to grieve, doubt, distrust or displease him for one moment, throughout eternity! Again, I ask, will not an eternity with Christ be indeed a blissful eternity? And when you look on death as the portal of such an eternity, are you not ready with St. Paul to exclaim, "I have a desire to depart and be with Christ!" and with St. John, on hearing, at the close of the apocalyptic vision, the Saviour's voice declaring, "Behold, I come quickly!" in a transport of holy joy to cry out, "Even 80, come Lord Jesus!"-Rev. Hugh White.

REFORMATION OF CONVICTS.

A LETTEK from a gentleman, who has been for eighteen years a prison inspector, contains the following excellent remarks relative to the proper persons for prison officers :

My second remark is, that moral and religious instruction are indispensably necessary to the success of any penitentiary system. A prudent, pious, and intelligent chaplain, whose heart is in his work, and who labours continually for the spiritual welfare of those under his charge, I will see the fruits of his labours in the reformation and conversion of many of them to God. The spirit of the gospel is a subduing spirit, and uniformly produces obedience and industry. I once asked an overseer of the Eastern Penitentiary how a certain refractory prisoner behaved. His reply was, Getting good.' 'How do you know that?' said I. I know it,' was his reply; for he is more civil than he was, more industrious, and more cheerful.' The prisoner became a Christian. My third remark is, that all the officers should be men of mild dispositions, of few words, and conscientious Christians. Like produces like. At all events, the officers of a penitentiary should be moral men, of mild tempers, courteous and kind, and firm in government. A profane swearer or tippler should never be permitted to hold an office in a penitentiary."

IS IT RIGHT?

SHOULD you ever be in doubt as to what is right in the way of duty, there are two guides to direct you-one, your own conscience; the other, the word of God. We are assured that the commandments of the Lord are all right; they call upon children, and say, "Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right;" and from that stage of life up to the period when we mingle with the world, all its instructions and counsels are equally good and right. Does the

Bible call upon you to remember your Creator in the days of your youth; and is it right for you to disregard this exhortation, and to delay it until you grow up to manhood? Are you exhorted to seek first the kingdom of heaven; and is it right to leave this duty to the last? Is salvation offered to you to-day-now; and is it right for you to treat this great matter lightly, to leave it alone until it is too late? The Lord has assured us that our souls must live for ever, either in heaven or hell; is it right to be careless about their everlasting state? The ungodly say, there is no need for you to be so much concerned about religion, at any rate not while you are young; the Bible exhorts you to give your hearts to Jesus Christ, and to love and serve him with all your might: now, is it right to obey man rather than God?

THE DIGNITY OF MAN.

WITH What an overwhelming importance does eternity invest the character of man! The freshness, and beauty, and loveliness of the vegetable world please the senses, and command a momentary admiration; but the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, than the grass and the flower withereth, and the grace of the fashion of them perishes, and is forgotten. The inferior creation enjoy the highest satisfaction of which their natures are capable; but that happiness is limited to a few years, or months, or days, or hours; but everything about man wears the aspect of eternity. The infant comes into the world with an organism of immortality; faculties begin to expand, that will continue to expand through interminable ages; affections manifest their presence, which will, in time and in eternity, be reciprocated by a holy universe, and will share the love and joy of God, or will wander over the vast creation in quest of an object, but will find none; a body is nursed and watched that will be a dweller in the house of many mansions, or will be destroyed in hell. As the infant grows to youth and manhood, he marches to eternity. His thoughts, his words, his actions, all affect that eternity. He sows to the flesh, and will, in eternity, reap the fruits; or he sows to the Spirit, and will, in heaven, reap life everlasting. In a word, his circumstances, his relative connections, his employments, his enjoyments, his sufferings, and sorrows, are all intimately linked with his eternity.-Smith's Sacred Biography, Second Edition.

THE WAYS OF THE MOST HIGH.

THE world looks upon some of their families coming out like a fresh blooming flower in the morning-their cheeks covered with the bloom of health-their step bounding with the elasticity of youth-riches and luxuries at their command-long, bright summer days before them; -the world says, there is a happy soul. God takes us into the darkened room where some child of God lately dwelt. He points to the pale face where death sits enthroned-the cheek wasted by long disease-the eye glazed in death-the stiff hands clasped over the bosom -the friends standing weeping round; and he whispers in our ears, "Blessed are the dead!" Ah! dear friends, think a moment, whether does God or you know best?

... It is a happy

thing to live in the favour of God-to have peace with God-to frequent the throne of grace-to burn the perpetual incense of praise-to meditate on his word-to hear the preached gospel -to serve God; even to wrestle, and run, and fight in his service, is sweet. Still God says, "Blessed are the dead!" If it be happy to have his smile here, how much happier to have it without a cloud yonder! If it be sweet to be the growing corn of the Lord here, how much better to be gathered into his barn! If it be sweet to have an anchor within the veil, how much better ourselves to be there, where no gloom can come ! "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." Even Jesus felt this-God attests it. "Blessed are the dead!"-Rev. Mr. M'Cheyne.

so will the forming future character of the man grow and fix itself. This great law is found in the moral government of God, and its results proclaimed in terrible language by evil parentage, training, and government. It is utterly impossible to prevent our children from being moulded in exact conformity to the bias and impressions you give them. These will govern; they will be masters. You cannot counteract their shaping moral power. If you imprint the lovely image of virtue, and the sweeter and lovelier impress of piety, in childhood, so as to give the balancing power to character, you will see the same image, bold, beautiful, distinct, in the man. If you deform the character in childhood by vicious principles, and their results, you are able to determine, even in childhood, the full-grown man, his habits fixed, his character stereotyped, his destiny decided. Such is usually the power of first principles in giving bias and formation to the ultimate man. Washington is an eminent and lovely illustration of this great principle. In childhood his teachings and impressions were of the right stamp, and they moulded his character and decided his destiny! And what a sublime one it was! Napoleon, the terror of all Europe, is a terrible example of the opposite result. By the power of early impressions and associations, the destiny of that great captain and warrior was decided.

CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL.

CHRIST is our sov'reign Lord; Christ is our Priest;

Christ is our Prophet; our Protector's Christ; Christ is our Shepherd; Christ our Judge so dread;

Christ is our Saviour; Christ our Chief and
Head;

Christ is the Alpha, e'er the ages past;
Christ is th' Omega, which must always last;
Christ is salvation's source as well as end;
Christ is our Pattern, and ne'er-failing Friend;
Christ is the ransom for transgression paid;
Christ is our offering, sacrifice, and aid;
Christ is our treasure; Christ's our only gain;
Christ is the Saviour of the faithful train.
In all the earth beneath, or skies above,
There's not a Saviour so replete with love
As the incarnate Word, nor such another
As Jesus Christ, our God, and yet our Brother.
Let soldiers talk of war and battles fought,
Let sailors talk of wealth from India brought;
Let misers talk of chests with gold well stored,
But let the Christian's talk be of the Lord!

From the "Welshman's Candle."

ADVICE TO AVOID BAD COMPANY. FOLLOW a prophet, he'll enlighten thee; Follow a rabbi, thou shalt walk by rule; Follow a saint, and thou a saint shalt be; Follow a fool, and thou 'lt be still a fool; Follow thy Saviour, both in deed and word, And tread the path which he himself once trod; Perform with zeal the mandates of the Lord, And never deviate from the sacred road.-Ibid.

PRAYER.

PRAYER is good in every land and clime;
Prayer is good for men in every sphere;
Prayer is good at every hour and time;
Prayer is good on all accounts whate'er.

With faith, with rev'rence, with a soul strung high,

With ardent zeal, and minds that never stray,
With knowledge, with a strong incessant cry,
With close attention, 'tis that men should pray.
Prayer, of old, a mighty giant slew;
Prayer the lion's mouth shut up of yore;
Prayer the gates of iron open threw ;
Prayer can save a man at any hour;
Prayer lock'd up the heavens long from rain;
Prayer the ocean turn'd to solid land;
Prayer raised up the dead to life again ;
There's nothing can the force of prayer with-
stand!
Ibid.

THE DRUNKARD.

Of all the slaves wherewith this world is stored
The worst is he who is his belly's slave;
For while he lives he 'll seek no other lord
O'er him supreme authority to have.
'Tis bad to see a judge disguised with beer,
Or find a justice sprawling in the street;
'Tis bad to see a reeling, stammering peer,
But 't is far worse a drunken priest to meet.
Woe be to him who, only to disclose
His neighbour's weakness, puts about the bowl;
The Lord incensed will rank him with his foes,
Because he tries to slay his neighbour's soul.
The drunkard's wages are, a shortened life-
An empty lodging-an uneasy bed-
A stomach foul-companions fond of strife-
A tatter'd doublet-and an aching head!—Ibid.

BE KIND TO EACH OTHER.

Be kind to each other!

The night's coming on, When friend and when brother Perchance may be gone! Then 'midst our dejection,

How sweet to have earned
The blest recollection

Of kindness-returned!
When day hath departed,
And memory keeps
Her watch, broken-hearted,
When all she loved sleeps!

Let falsehood assail not
Nor envy disprove-
Let trifles prevail not

Against those ye love!
Nor change with to-morrow,
Should fortune take wing,
But the deeper the sorrow,
The closer still cling!

Oh! be kind to each other!

The night's coming on,

When friend and when brother
Perchance may be gone!

CHRIST ALONE.

Charles Swain.

WHERE can we find a name so holy as that we may surrender our whole souls to it, before which obedience, reverence without measure, intense humility, and most unreserved adoration may all be duly rendered? This ought to be the inquiry of our whole nature-intellectual and moral, no less than religious-and the answer to it should in like manner express the rule of our personal conduct, and be the centre of all our moral and religious convictions. One name there is, and one alone-one alone in heaven and on earth; not truth, not justice, not benevolence-but Christ!

PAUL'S CROSS.

THIS celebrated structure stood at the northeast part of St. Paul's-churchyard, near the spot where a tree now grows. It was famous in ancient times as the place where proclamations were set forth-sermons preached-curses, bulls, and excommunications read-and other public business transacted. Here the Pope's sentence against Martin Luther was read with much pomp ; here many persons who had been charged with heresy were obliged "to do penance," by carrying faggots on their shoulders, before all the people, on the Sunday. Here Popery was proclaimed, in all the length and breadth of its iniquity. Here, too, it received its deadliest blow, by the faithful gospel-preaching of our bold and uncompromising Protestant Reformers. Sermons were preached here until the year 1642, when it was pulled down.

is, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.'" The impression was not transient; the minister often recollected the hint with profit.

The wicked dwell more on the faults of God's children than on their graces; as the flies settle on a sore place, and as vultures fly over the gardens and delight to pitch on carrion.-Man

ton.

A gentleman having lost a son said, when some friends offered him condolence, "I would be content was it possible to lose a son every day in the year, might I but be favoured with such manifestations of God's presence and love as I have experienced on the present occasion." -Gifford.

As soon as pride is humbled enough not to enter into controversy with God about the justice of his own declarations, every man confesses himself a guilty sinner, in danger of eternal ruin.-Venn.

Paulinus, when they told him that the Goths had sacked Nola, and plundered him of all he had, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Lord, thou knowest where I have laid up my treasure!"

A good man was once conversing with some pious friends, who were in better circumstances than himself, on the nature of true faith, and pertinently observed, "You have, I have no doubt, felt its effect; but to know its true value is to be called to exercise it when the Lord keeps the key of the cupboard."

None are transplanted into the paradise above but from the nursery of grace below.-Boston.

Nothing can reconcile the soul to afflictive allotments but looking on them as covenant dispensations.-Mason.

"Riches," says Solomon, "make to themselves wings and fly away." The best way to confine the bird in its nest is to keep its wings well cropped by benevolence.-An old Writer.

God made man in his own image; and man (to be even with him, as it were,) will needs make God after his image.-Trapp on Rom. i. 23.

The pages of Scripture, like the productions of nature, will not only endure the test, but improve upon the trial. The application of the microscope to the one, and a repeated meditation on the other, are sure to display new beauties, and present us with higher attractives.-Hervey.

God himself is the stability of our spiritual strength. Were the stock in our hands, we should soon prove broken merchants.-Gurnall.

Of a small handful of outward things I am ready to say, It is enough; but that which I long passionately for is a large heartful of God in Christ.-Arrowsmith.

What a transformation did the day of Pentecost produce! They who had so long been children grew in one hour to the stature of perfect men; like Aaron's rod, which brought forth almonds in a night.-M'Leod.

Mrs. Joyce Lewis, when she was condemned to be burnt for the Protestant religion, said, "As for death, I fear it not; for when I behold the amiable countenance of Jesus Christ, my dear Saviour, the ugly face of death does not much trouble me."

SUDDEN AND IMPRESSIVE DEATH OF THE LATE MR. CHARLES DODGSHAM, OF HAMBURG.

THE church of God is often compared to a martial host, both in scriptural and common parlance. In an earthly army, besides the rank and file (the importance of whose service is indeed well appreciated by the commander, but whose names never appear in the Gazette,) there occur leaders and standard-bearers, who are honoured with the posts of peculiar danger and peculiar distinction. Thus, too, it is in God's church militant. In every age there have been Christian Davids, who have, with the uncarnal weapons of holy preaching and living, borne down and disarmed many a vaunting Goliath of infidelity, who had defied alike the armies of the living God and their Almighty Leader. Standard-bearers, too, have been and still are to be found, who by high talents, or an elevated position in human society, are qualified to uphold and defend the banner of Christ, in a manner to which their equally pious brethren have neither call nor capability. But although the private soldier in an earthly army is not commonly, he is occasionally, placed in a position to conduce more than many a leader to the safety and success of an enterprise. Such, for example, is the honourable responsibility of the sentinel on his lonely watch, to whose vigilance is committed the safety of the sleeping garrison; and still more so that of the vidette, stationed on the utmost line which demarcates a hostile country, and who is called to be all eye and ear, for the smallest indication of aggressive movement on the part of those foes by whom he knows himself to be surrounded. And is not this post of watchful observation strikingly illustrative of the position of the believer, whose lot is cast, either alone, or with but a handful of faithful comrades, in the midst of a vicious, worldlyminded, God-contemning community? Such was the post assigned, in the providence of God, to the young, amiable, and, alas! early removed subject of this memoir; and the manner in which he fulfilled his appointed service, the vigilance with which he kept watch over himself, lest the evening should steal upon him unawares, and the zeal with which he sought, not only to maintain, but to extend, the territory of his Divine leader, must surely have found favour in his eyes, since he so soon relieved him from the post of conflict, and called him to enjoy the fruits of victory in his own immediate presence.

Mr. Charles Dodgsham, whose early (not untimely) death we now deplore, was born at Morley, near Leeds, on the 19th of December, 1820, but was sent at an early age to Hamburg for the purpose of learning the German language, with a view to his after settlement in that great commercial city as a wool-merchant. Confided to the care of a pious relative, he grew up in every respect moral and amiable, but without any permanent religious impressions, although there is reason to believe that he was not without occasional strong convictions of the importance and necessity of religion. But he continued to say to every such intrusive thought,

"Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will send for thee," until, in November, 1844, he was roused from his spiritual lethargy by a sermon preached from Rev. vi. 15, 16. "I then began," says he in a letter now before me, "to feel that I needed a Saviour, and left the place of meeting, praying that it would please God to give me a new heart, and to renew a right spirit within me; and I trust that he has, according to his precious promise, given me that repentance which never needeth to be repented of. Of my religious views I would briefly state that I have been led, by the grace of God, to see the dangerous position I was in as a rebel against God, and have, I hope, felt deeply convinced of the depravity and sinfulness of my own heart, and of the great necessity of devoting my whole self to him, in and through Jesus Christ, who alone is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. I trust I have been led, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, to cast all my care upon him, knowing that he careth for us, and to seek forgiveness where alone it can be found,—at the foot of the cross. I live in dependence upon my Saviour, placing implicit confidence in him, feeling that in and of myself I can do no good thing. I am at times assailed with doubts and fears, but they soon vanish when I can go and pour out my heart to Him who is a very present help in every time of trouble."

These passages occur in a letter written in July, 1845, in which he expressed his desire to be admitted a member of the English Independent Church in Hamburg, then without a stated pastor, and whose fewness of members, and depressed outward circumstances, assuredly offered no temptations to a worldly-ambitious mind. His application was, after due investigation, acceded to, and from that time, up to the time of his fatal illness, he continued "to walk in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless." On this point I would not stand alone in my testimony, though convinced that I may without fear of contradiction assert, that in all the relations of life-as son, brother, husband, father, friend, and citizen-he was scrupulously faithful in adorning the doctrine of his God and Saviour, by an exhibition of "whatsoever things were lovely and of good report." I prefer, therefore, to quote the following passage from the eloquent, feeling, and deeply impressive sermon, preached by his sorrowing pastor, the Rev. James Smith, on the 16th ultimo, being the Sunday after his death, in the hearing of many who but a short fortnight before had seen him come and go from the house of God, the sentence of death no more legibly written on him than on themselves, from the appropriate text, Matt. xxiv. 44:-"The exhortation, 'Be ye also ready,' is further enforced on our attention by the daily events of Providence. I recount not instances; the event which has surprised and afflicted us all is sufficient. Since last we met here an immortal spirit has gone from our midst ! On Lord's-day week there he sat and worshipped with us,-only permitted in the providence of God to enter upon another year,to renew his vows unto the Lord in the presence of all his people,-to sit down at the table of