historical, not malicious. Christianity finds man in this state. God does not create difficulty to show skill and power in overcoming it. There is no problem which He cannot solve-no impediment which He cannot remove-no opposition which He cannot overthrow. These opportunities of display are embraced by Him, but they are not courted. The necessity of the Gospel must prove the Gospel, and not the Gospel assume and assert its own necessity. Christianity does not say, "All men are depraved, because Christ came to save sinners." It says, "Christ came to save sinners, because all men have sinned and need salvation." Instead of being blamed for the degraded condition of the world, it is to be praised for all that is hopeful, useful, and good in it. It is the salt that preserves from corruption-not the tainting medium, as many say. It is the physician that describes and attacks the disease-not its occasion.

That the disorder exists you cannot doubt, if you read history and look around you instead of involving yourselves in metaphysical debate. Amid all that is noble in man, there is this degradation; amid all that is beautiful, there is this dark spot; amid all that is mighty, there is this weakness; over all that is splendid, there is this gloomy cloud. Intellect is perverted to the invention or the defence of error; conscience is wrested to the justification, or disqualified for the detection of crime; memory is loaded with shame; imagination grovels in the vulgar; ambition is devoted to iniquity; love is poisoned with envy; even worship is polluted with selfishness.

On the other hand, all that can give purity, honour, and happiness to life, and all that can render a blessed immortality certain, is brought to light by the Gospel. "Godliness is profitable unto all things," and the Christian life is the highest form of godliness.

See its bearing upon the spiritual character and pursuits of men. What occupation does it afford for the intellect! It proclaims the awful importance of truth, and the power of conviction over experience. Thus reason ceases to be regarded as a toy, and is seen to be invested with a solemn responsibility. What stimulus does it administer to the vigilance, what quickening to the power, of conscience! It points to the great remedy for depravity whether inherited or acquired. It makes sin appear repulsive, and gives to virtue the additional charm of holiness. See its influence upon imagination, holding out pictures of heaven, throwing over the future the halo of its own magnificence, and bringing in the inspirations and

restraints of faith. Ambition is ennobled into the desire to be useful. Disappointment is neutralised by the assurance of advantage. Grief has no sting; joy no snare. Death blights no hope; separation destroys no fellowship. Worship is no longer presented to "the Unknown God." Prayer, whilst the utterance of desire, is the indulgence of trust. Obedience has the inspiration of gratitude. Devotion glows with the fervour of love. Every boast is the protest of humility; every thanksgiving is the confession of dependence. Hope builds on a surer foundation; praise resounds with a louder song.

And this is life. To think without sophistry, to believe without error, to imagine without absurdity, to aspire without vanity, to regret without despair, to love without idolatry, to pray without presumption, to serve without avarice, to hope without solicitude, to trust without indolence, to wait without impatience, to suffer without discontent, to sacrifice without reluctance this is life; and such life is brought to light only by the Gospel.

It is from the same source that we obtain our best evidence of, and our best preparation for, immortality. To an intelligence so noble as man, with capacities so great and with aspirations so high, were it not for the mystery of Death the thought of annihilation would never occur, or, if it did occur, would be rejected as an absurdity. But what has become of those who are gone? We cannot draw aside the veil which hides them from our view; we cannot unravel the mystery of their doom. Amid this silence so utter, in this mist so dense, we ask :-"If a man die, shall he live again?" Not knowing where they are, not seeing what they do, we wonder whether they still exist, and conceive the dismal possibility that their death was their extinction. Speculation has only made the problem more perplexing. Reason has only served to show how deep is the darkness. Genius, yea, even instinct may realise the hope of eternal life; but every-day facts discourage it. Until Christ appeared, the whole world was lost in appalling and remediless uncertainty on the subject nearest to its heart. Philosophers had recorded their speculations; but they confessed in every age and in every land that "the wish was father to the thought." Poets embodied their dreams in song; but when the music ceased, the world relapsed into its ancient melancholy. The immortality of the old religions was, in fact, no immortality at all. But before Christ left the earth, He gave a solution to the mystery which the most downcast sceptic need not doubt, and announced a

He

destiny for man, in which the humblest and the greatest may alike rejoice. He, too, died; He died entirely. As never man more assuredly lived than Christ, so never man more assuredly died. His enemies vindictively rejoiced over His death; His friends only thought of His tomb with consternation and despair. But He rose again-He, the same Jesus, who once had groaned with a loud voice -who had bowed His head-who had given up the ghost. came forth from the grave; not a new creation, but a restoration— redeemed from death by the power of Immortality. And now He is in Himself a demonstration of His own majestic words: "I am the Resurrection and the Life." Blessed Saviour, we accept the testimony; we accept it, and rejoice-we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. "Though the earthly house of this our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Yes, thou victorious Prince-the Captain of our Salvation! we trust Thy gracious word, that "whosoever believeth in Thee, though he were dead, yet shall he live;" and in the gratitude of that faith we consecrate that life and immortality which Thou hast brought to light to Thy service and Thy praise.

Thus, then, Christianity is the great revelation of mercy. It changes nothing that truly ennobles or delights us. It creates nothing that degrades or afflicts us. The powers that glorify our nature it has left unrepealed;-rather has it invested them with higher authority, and enlarged the sphere of their operation. The sins that have disgraced our character and embittered our experience were committed, not only without its instigation, but in violation of its pure spirit. Finding us polluted, it directs us to the fountain set open for all sin and uncleanness. Finding us guilty, it proclaims the method and the condition of pardon. Finding us miserable, it will banish our remorse, and will heal our wounds. Finding us grovelling in gloom, it will shed over us a rich and ever brightening illumination. Finding us shivering with the fear of death, it will give to us the steadfast assurance of immortality and heaven.

Surely our gratitude to God should bear some adequate proportion to His mercy to us. Our lives should tell how we love Him. Let us be devout in our service, intelligent in our convictions, and constant in our zeal. Let no carnality degrade our thoughts, no selfishness restrain our devotion, no fear obscure our faith. Then He who has brought our life to light will crown that life with His

goodness. Then He who has made our immortality certain will sweeten it with His fellowship and glorify it with His glory.

EPISCOPOS,

Practical Hints to the Members of our Churches.*

BY THE LATE REV. JAMES WEBB.

EAR BRETHREN,-The following address, as some of you know, originated in a resolution passed at your last annual association.

As no special topic was recommended to the writer, he will, agreeably with the title which this communication bears, submit to your candid attention some practical suggestions. With a few exceptions, we had to regret the state of our churches as reported in their several letters. While the sovereignty of God, in the effusion of the Holy Spirit, is, without doubt, displayed in His conduct towards the Church, yet, we think, that recurrence to this fact should be the last, and not the first, method of accounting for the absence of spiritual prosperity. If a close and serious investigation could detect no other hindrances to its enjoyment, perhaps Christian societies might justly trace their depressed condition to Divine sovereignty. We need not remind you that, when this course is faithfully pursued, they will seldom have occasion to extend their researches beyond their own sphere. Usually the causes of moral depression will strike the attentive eye long before it fixes on the sovereign throne of God. Into those causes which may obstruct your prosperity the writer does not design to institute a minute examination. He will, indeed, make no further reference to them than the purpose he contemplates may require; for he esteems it a more grateful task to proffer advice than to pass censure.

Christian churches, to "prosper and be in health," must consist of Christians imbued with the spirit which the Gospel breathes, and

These "Practical Hints" were addressed by our departed brother to the "Members of the Churches composing the Leicestershire Baptist Association,” in 1838. They are as timely now as they were forty years ago, and the Editor is glad to be able to reprint them.

devoted to the work which the Gospel enjoins: so "the glory of Lebanon," in the beauty it displays, and the fragrance it breathes, depends on the verdure and fruitfulness of the individual trees of which it is composed. Owing to various circumstances that need not here be mentioned, the age in which our lot is cast is distinguished by great mercantile competition and political excitement. In consequence, it is not without difficulty that we shall be able justly to balance the respective claims of time and eternity-to preserve our secular interests, maintain and extend our political rights, and, likewise, "give diligence to make our calling and election sure." We entreat you, dear brethren, never to merge "the powers of the world in the transient concerns of the present life. We must not bury the gems of Christian excellence beneath even golden dust, nor dim their chastened splendour by needless contact with a world that "lieth in wickedness." But we do not advocate that morbid sensitiveness which scrupulously shrinks from the discharge of civil and political duties. We are not to neglect those secular obligations in fulfilling which we may possibly be exposed to temptation, but, in their performance, to " see that we walk circumspectly." Still, let our society be chosen, our friendships formed, and our alliances made among "the saints that are in the earth, in whom," says one who could have had princes for his chosen friends," is all my delight."

to come

We fear that, amid the hurry and bustle of life, the important and beneficial duties of a careful perusal of the Holy Scriptures, selfexamination, and secret prayer are often but imperfectly discharged. Unless we are guided by the Divine Word we shall wander; if we walk not in the sun-light of truth, our way must be dark and dreary. If we neglect to commune with our own hearts, and our spirits do not make diligent search, we shall be lamentably deficient in that sort of knowledge which is suited to give depth to our penitence, spring to our gratitude, and decision to our character. If we do not often "enter into our closets, and pray to our Father which is in secret," our piety will be stunted in its growth, and our efforts feeble in their influence.. "Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom;" let our supplications at "the throne of grace" be frequent and fervent; in fine, let our intellects be lit with the truth of God, and our hearts warmed with His love, and we shall hallow the enterprises in which we embark, and "the shield of salvation" will preserve us from danger.