has again become a necessary part of education; and to preach and teach the truth as it is in Jesus, urging all, both old and young, into an experimental enjoyment of it, is the only safeguard, under God, wherein we can venture to confide. It matters not whether violence be Independent, Presbyterian, or Prelatical; still it is violence, hateful in the sight of God, and ruinous to the peace and to the salvation of all whom it possesses. Let our sons and our daughters, having found mercy first of all, and having their feet set upon the Rock, and their "goings established," be ready to contend, throughout future life, in a meek and Christlike, but indomitable spirit, "for the faith once delivered to the saints."

A WORD IN SEASON.

"THY testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart."-God's testimonies are an heritage for ever. As they were to holy men of old, who spake as His inspiration gave them utterance, so are they to the readers of those inestimable sentences from generation to generation. The one unchanging truth, the compassion of God towards His children through every age, and in every circumstance unfailing; the ever-varying application of the one unvarying promise; the minute coincidence of language when the Holy Spirit speaks, with the experience of those whom the Holy Spirit teaches,—all this demonstrates the certainty of our blessed Saviour's promise, that, although heaven and earth shall pass away, not a jot or a tittle of His word shall fail. Nor is the providence of God, in regard to the readers, less conspicuous than the original inspiration of the writers. It would seem, oftentimes, as if the angel of His presence had turned over the leaf, and directed the eye to the very sentence which, of all others, was most proper to be then perused. Myriads of living witnesses could now attest the justness of this remark, and illustrate it by passages in their own remembrance; but seldom have we met with a more remarkable coincidence between the letter of Scripture and the circumstances of the

reader than one which occurs in the recently-published Memoirs of Sir Andrew Agnew, by the Rev. Dr. M'Crie.

When Sir Andrew was devoting himself, with indomitable perseverance, to the great purpose of legislation for the better observance of the Lord's day, unmoved by torrents of ridicule, both in Parliament and out of it, such as scarcely another man is known to have suffered, it was his custom to withdraw from society, and gather strength from the Source of all power and might, by prayer and the reading of the holy Scriptures; and, "unusual as it was with him to make such avowals," '—we borrow the words of his biographer," he has confessed, that at this period he felt, in the perusal of his Bible, at all hours, a sweetness and an applicability to himself of its sacred texts, which he had never experienced before. One day, he said, when reading his favourite book, the Book of Psalms, a half-drunken ballad-singer turned into Manchester-buildings, the street where he lodged; a somewhat uncommon occurrence in that retired locality, which afforded no thoroughfare. He happened to be reading the sixtyninth Psalm, and had just come to the twelfth verse,-'They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards,'-when he overheard this poor man shouting out some profane ribaldry about himself and the Sabbath. He actually started at what appeared the literal fulfilment to him of what has ever been in this world the portion of the children of God, as it was of the Master Himself. He remembered that the servant is not greater than his Lord; and felt that he could bless God, that as he was a companion in the tribulation, so should he be also in the consolation, of His people." And this incident, trifling as it might appear, contributed not a little to the continued prosecution of that most important object, which has yet to be attained,—the prevention, by law, of the more flagrant forms of desecration of the Lord's day.

SANCTIFICATION.

BUT now let us suppose that justification, that change of relative state, to have taken place; Adam thus far reinstated;

his fall thus far annulled; his sins forgiven and blotted out, so as to be remembered no more; the way to the fullest and freest communion with God, as a son that has never left his father's house and favour, opened wide; the voice of the Father heard calling that justified one to draw near, and delight himself in His glorious presence, and holiness, and love, and worship. Is Adam prepared to respond? We have supposed him changed in his relative state toward God, so as to be delivered from the condemnation of sin. But as yet we have not supposed any inward change of spiritual character, of affections, of heart-so as to be delivered from the indwelling dominion of sin. As yet we have supposed no renewal of likeness to God: hence no restoration of holiness, no return to that community of character without which there can be no mutual communion. We know very well that, in point of fact, this restoration of holiness does always accompany the restoration to peace; that the inward change of character is never separated from the outward change of relative state; but as these are distinct in nature, we now suppose them separate in fact, for the sake of illustrating, what men are very slow to believe or bear in mind,-that could a sinner be pardoned without being changed in heart, it would be of no avail to his salvation; an insuperable barrier to his happiness in God would remain.

We ask then again, What must fallen Adam do to be saved? What besides obtaining justification? We answer, Recover his fall in point of meetness to be a partaker of God's presence and communion; obtain the restoration of that image and likeness of God in which he was created, and by which alone he was meet for his Maker's fellowship. Nothing less. To become merely better, purer, more obedient, will not answer. It is not the mere brightening of the metal that is needed, but the change of its character. Holiness has been lost, and holiness must be regained. God is holy; and without holiness, Adam, now driven from His presence, can never see His face again. What then? He must be "created anew;" ;""born again of the Spirit" of God. A work as wonderful, and as much the work of God alone, as that of man's first creation, must be wrought. The present man must be put

off, and a new man, "created after God in true holiness,"

must be put on; a change so radical and universal, that present dispositions and affections in regard to God and His will shall pass away, and all become new. This is SANCTIFICATION: an internal operation of the Spirit of God in the sinner's heart, whereby he is fitted to enter upon that blessedness to which justification opens the door; a work of grace which, beginning when the sinner is born again of the Holy Ghost, increases as he grows in grace, and is finally perfected when the Christian is received to the joy of his Lord.

Now let us suppose the two blessings of which we have spoken attained in Adam,—justification, so that no sin is imputed to him, and sanctification,* so that no sinfulness remains; entire peace with God, and perfect holiness in His sight then salvation is finished; the fall is all annulled; Adam walks with God in perfect communion and blessedness. Suppose either of these to be wanting, and he cannot be saved. Suppose either to be incomplete, and his salvation is not perfected.

Now, then, instead of Adam, let it be any of his children and heirs of his fallen nature that puts the question, “What must I do to be saved?" The simple answer is, You must do precisely what Adam had to do. We all share his ruin: we must all have the same recovery. We must be justified, and we must be sanctified: we must obtain deliverance from sin, both as to its dominion and condemnation; restoration to God, both in His likeness, that we may be "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," and also in His favour, that we may be admitted to be partakers of that inheritance.

Blessed be God, there is abundant provision in the Gospel for both these wants. "The exceeding riches of the grace of God in His kindness towards us through Jesus Christ," are manifested in a scheme of salvation which wonderfully meets

* The statement would be more perspicuous if this order were retained, on to the end of the sentence. It would then be-Deliverance from condemnation, and also from dominion: the favour, and also the likeness, of God. -EDITORS.

this twofold necessity.

The last Adam, "the Lord from heaven," is the perfect remedy for all that we have incurred by the first Adam, taken out of the dust of the ground. Christ is "made unto us, of God, wisdom, and righteousness,” (that is, justification,) "and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Cor. i. 30.) "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.—And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight." (Col. i. 19-22.)-Bishop M'Ilvaine.

LETTERS FROM A MOTHER TO HER DAUGHTERS. Written many years ago by the Wife of a Wesleyan Minister.

In the introductory letter the writer thus prefaced her instructions:-"It is the extreme desire I feel for your present and eternal happiness which prompts me to address you on the following subjects. They have already been treated in a manner so superior to anything I can advance, that I should despair of my undertaking, were it not for the hopes I feel that your affection will lead you to pay more than ordinary attention to what a mother suggests. Perhaps these letters may exist when I am no more. The solicitude I have felt from the earliest dawn of reason in each of you, is known only to God and myself. I have, on this account, often waked when you were asleep; and for this cause I have many times poured out my soul in cries and tears when you have been recreating yourselves in the innocent playfulness of childhood. It was to fix right ideas of things in your minds that I strove in infancy to engage your attention by every object my imagination could devise. For this purpose I proposed different exercises for every evening, and viewed with pleasure that you were never more entertained or delighted than when your understandings were informed, and you comprehended the truths I wished to inculcate."