side of piety. These motives will place morality upon a broad and immoveable basis; and whenever they are brought to bear upon a man, they will affect his entire character, purify and expand his affections, weaken the power of irreligious principle, and gradually prepare the soul for a close and uninterrupted association with God and all the great spirits of the moral world, after death has released it from its earthly tabernacle. This being the case, it is certainly our duty to inquire whether these necessary elements of the Christian character, and of all intrinsic excellence, belong to ourselves. We are bound to look at our moral image, not in the flattering mirror presented to us by the children of the world, but in the faithful glass of revealed truth, which cannot deceive us, and which will exhibit to our view a correct delineation of every feature by which we are distinguished. It is to the neglect of this duty, and to the proneness of men to follow the example of the Corinthians, whom the apostle condemns for measuring themselves by themselves, that we must ascribe much of the self-complacency and superficial opinions concerning real piety which prevail in all ranks of society. Were we able to bring the thoughtless, the worldly-minded, the pharisaical, and the cold formalist, to examine themselves by the elevated standard of Christian practice and Christian feeling which the religion of the New Testament prescribes, we might then anticipate the most salutary results. In how many instances would the pride of the humau heart be abased, the specious sophistry which beclouds the understanding be dispersed, and the baseless fabrics in which the self-righteous repose be at once annihilated,

leaving them destitute, exposed, and compelled to betake themselves to Christ, the only refuge from the storm, and covert from the tempest. In how many instances would they who deem it sufficient to keep within the line of demarcation which the lax morality of the world prescribes, discover their deficiencies, finding that they never felt any real pulsations of love to God, and that while they thought themselves secure, they were all the time in a state of insensibility, clinging to the world as the supreme object of their affections, and indifferent to the great question relating to their reconciliation with God.

4. Self-examination ought to be prospective; that is, it should be conducted with a view to the consequences of our general conduct.

It is a thought solemn and pleasing, according to its application, that our actions have, to a certain extent, perpetuity of existence. They do not die with the fleeting moment of their birth, but long survive it in their influence upon human character. The wicked deed which an immoral man has been tempted to commit, has sown the seeds of iniquity, which will propagate themselves, and, by reason of the connexion subsisting amongst human beings, they may spread in multiplied forms, and extend their pernicious influence to distant ages, when he, the immediate agent in whom all this mischief shall have originated, is numbered with the dead, and long lost in oblivion. The evil, it is true, may be checked by the operation of other counteracting principles, and a variety of supposable circumstances. But this is its natural tendency. On the other hand, to the good man it is de

consequences of his conduct, modified as they may occasionally be by remaining imperfection, have, upon the whole, an auspicious influence upon his character, weakening gradually the power of unholy principles, strengthening his religious habits, and advancing him towards the perfection which, through the sanctifying agency of the Spirit, he will acquire in the heavenly world, where all evil will be done away, where moral beauty, in every conceiv. able form, will rise betore his admiring contemplation, and where he will find himself for ever associated with the whole assembly of the great and the good in the kingdom of his heavenly Father. But it is a melancholy and appalling thought, that a man may be turning his back upon these splendid prospects, that he may be taking a contrary course, and be sinking daily in the scale of existence, and approaching the tribunal of the God whom he despises, and who may see it necessary, for the sake of maintaining order amongst his yet untainted and happy subjects, to make him a fearful example of his righteous displeasure. "Examine yourselves, therefore; prove yourselves.

Finally, self-examination should be conducted in the spirit of diligence and perseverance.

The preceding rules which we have laid down will evince the importance of this, and the value of the object proposed will suggest ample motives for its application. At no period of life can we be exempted from the obligation of pondering the paths of our feet, because there is no period when we are not responsible to God, and in danger of incurring his disapprobation. The most matured Christian will acknowledge the

propriety of habitually bringing his conduct to the test of an enlightened conscience. And with him the duty will not be a slight and occasional exercise, but will assume the character of a settled principle. The knowledge of ourselves is a most important acquisition, and cannot be secured any more than any other valuable attainment, by transient and inefficient efforts. In every department of literature, science, and commercial life, we practically admit the necessity of diligence and persevering application. The philosopher, merchant, and husbandman steadily keep their respective ends in view; and, by dint of patient and sustained labour, reach the consummation of their wishes. And shall we, who have an object to compass inconceivably more interesting than any which they can propose, pursue it in an unconcerned and indolent manner? We are immortal beings, making the voyage of life. Let us not abandon our little bark, in which our all is deposited, to the perils to which it is exposed. But let us imitate the mariner, who, when sailing in a dangerous latitude, does not neglect at any time to employ the sounding line, and to cast around the eye of careful observation, that he may safely steer the vessel consigned to his charge amidst the rocks and quicksands with which she may be surrounded. As professing Christians, let us not forget the admonition of Him who spake as never man spake, and who recommended the duty of self-examination with more than usual emphasis, when he uttered the words, "What I say unto you, I say unto all-watch!"

To the Editors.-Your valuable work was in a most laudable manner employed by you, to give the earliest and most extensive information to your numerous readers, on the pre-eminently important subject of revivals of religion; and your pages have, at various times, contained valuable papers, calculated to awaken serious attention to it. To witness, therefore, the general anxiety manifested throughout the country, by Christians of various denominations, to obtain a larger supply of life-giving influence from the Spirit of God, and the numerous special meetings for prayer for that blessing, must have afforded to you the more peculiar satisfaction, as you at so early a period directed your labours to produce that lively concern on the subject. While you and all earnest Christians rejoice in this concern for heavenly grace, and in the prayers it has called forth, I am persuaded, you will not think the language of admonition needless. We are all liable to great self-ignorance, and even self-deception, as to the motives on which we are acting, and the ends we are pursuing, in a period of general excitement and effort. Borne along by the impulse of sympathy, nothing is more easy than to bear our part in the proceedings of crowded meetings, convened either for business or devotion, and to feel the general fervour communicated to our own minds. While many, who swell the numbers, and contribute to the animation of such assemblies, are far indeed from distinctly perceiving the spiritual glories of the object pursued, and experiencing the power of hallowed,

spiritual motives in their own hearts. Against this danger, so fatal to individual salvation, and in the result so destructive of general zeal, we cannot be too frequently warned. The case alluded to by holy Mr. Baxter in the following extract is briefly this. Among the serious grounds of complaint against the hierarchy urged by the faithful puritan confessors, was the general neglect of discipline that in their day prevailed in the national establishment-an evil that prevails to the present hour, and which seems indeed a vice inherent in the system of associating religion with the state. Against this evil, so destructive of all the purposes for which Christian churches were designed by our Great Master, the puritans bore a faithful testimony. They prayed, and laboured, and longed for the time of reformation. Their hearts were athirst for the time when they should enjoy the opportunity, and possess the power of exercising a godly discipline in their respective parochial charges. At length, in the providence of God, the long-desired period arrived, when faithful pastors were favoured with an open field of liberty, and power for maintaining scriptural discipline in the church of God. The language of good Mr. Baxter, in the following quotation from his invaluable work, but too plainly implies how great were the numbers of those ministers and private Christians, who proved unfaithful to the prayers, and professions, and conflicts by which they had sought an opportunity to do that which, when the opportunity was granted, they never attempted to effect.

Are we in respect to revivals, in no danger of a similar delusion and unfaithfulness? Are we in no danger of asking from God a revival of religion, without duly considering what a revival really is, what it will require of us, and what we must do to obtain it? The first danger is, that we should conceive of a revival, as something very desirable and delightful; but without considering how much spirituality, self-denial, and devotedness we must attain, if ever we would either share in the blessings, or promote the objects of a special communication of heavenly influence. With such a deficient and mistaken idea of a revival, we may with undissembled, yet unsound and delusive earnestness, unite to implore what, were God to grant our request, would be most unwelcome to our carnal hearts. Our second danger is, that we should conceive a revival to be a blessing, of which we are to be the mere passive recipients, as if nothing were required on our parts, but to stand still, and witness the influence of heaven operating as a charm in rectifying all the errors and disorders of the church, diffusing spiritual blessedness through every heart, and effecting the spread and triumph of the Gospel in every direction; or at least, that to ask for the blessing, is the utmost extent of our agency and instrumentality in obtaining it :-an Antinomian folly, which is much more likely in a subtle manner to influence our conduct, than in a distinct and palpable form to be entertained as a point of our belief. No language I can employ will be so effectual to describe and expose these fatal errors, as the pungent sentences I have extracted from the "Reformed Pastor," and for which,

W.

"How long have we talked of reformation (revival?) how much have we said and done for it in general, and how deeply and devoutly have we vowed it for our own parts. And, after all this, how shamefully have we neglected it, and neglect it to this day! We carry ourselves, as if we had not known or considered what that reformation (revival) was which we vowed. As carnal men will take on themselves to be Christians, and profess with confidence, that they believe in Christ, and accept of his salvation, and may contend for Christ, and fight for him, and yet, for all this, will have none of him; but perish for refusing him, who little dreamed that ever they had been refusers of him; and all, because they understood not what his salvation is, and how it is carried on; but dream of a salvation without flesh-displeasing, and without self-denial, and renounc