that chain of evidence on which is founded the whole system of Christianity,—taken along with the conviction which every man receives of his actual moral condition, from the voice of conscience within. The sincerity of the offer we derive from our impression of the unchangeable attributes of the Deity. Accordingly, he who believes is said to give glory to God,—that is, to receive his statements with absolute confidence, and to form an honourable conception of the sincerity of his intentions. He who believes not rejects the statements of the Almighty as false,— and treats him with the contempt which we apply to one whom we suppose to promise what he has no intention to bestow. The man who comes to God with the hope of acceptance is therefore required to come in the assurance of faith, or an implicit conviction that he is sincere in his intentions of bestowing the blessings which he offers; and whosoever hath not this assurance does dishonour to the divine character,or "maketh God a liar."

ALLIES OF RELIGION.

THERE are a thousand allies of religion in the many aspects of nature, to the heart which education grants not wholly to the avocations of life, but opens to the remote relations of things, and the hour of musing. Whether we come to the ever-sounding sea; or bend on the high thunder-smitten hills; or go down into the dim-sounding and peopled forest, where the lion stands distinct but in twilight by the tusky roots of the immemorial tree; or whether, when evening hath

wept her cold and tearful dews, and darkness composes the hushed and decent earth, we watch the well-ordered stars coming forth, multitudes, ten-thousand-fold in beauty, that stud the dim hangings of the night;-O! there is a voice in them all, and man is made little by the things of the universe, that Christianity may find him humble, yet in love with greatness, and glad at her alone way to be exalted. The disciplined spirit of a man goes beyond the first appearances of things; and if Christianity sharpen his native apprehension of their relations, he sees over all the world a spirit and interest, as really above the mere pictures of common observation, as the warm and animated beauty of life, that claims a thousand moral affections, is above the dumb and bloodless beauty of a statue.

A GOOD DIRECTION.

To obtain the aid of the Spirit, it is expressly given as a rule, in Scripture, to pray for it; "If ye being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it." To have His continued operation in our hearts towards ultimate perfection, the rule is equally distinct in its parts,-not to grieve the Holy Spirit;-not to do despite to it ;-to walk after the Spirit;-to be led by it; and in the duties which these imply, to have so much, that more may be given us.

Prayer is the first rule of our sanctification : while we honour God over all,-by our submission; and Christ,-that for his sake, and in his

name, is our supplication; and the Great Spirit that can give us at once the love of God without any prior fear,-by our earnestness for his aid,— aware of our own frailty, and His eternal power and office graciously assumed to raise our hearts to those heavenly things after which it is the glory of man to aspire ;-the influence of this exercise is doubly in our favour; sanctifying us even while it engages the sanctifying Spirit; raising us above earthly affections, while it asks so to be renovated; and mingling deep resolutions of amendment with every confession of frailty, and every supplication for the aid of Heaven. In him who ceases not to invoke the Spirit, his devotion becomes a sublimity of thought and purpose; and his heart in humility, is yet gradually raised in devotedness of determined and noble aim; and this is the fine obedience that grows from both,-"Here am I, Lord, send me."

To grow in the divine life by the continuance of the same aid, we must be led by the Spirit, and again entreat his assistance; giving scrupulous attention to every motion of conscience, His organ; never banishing, but seeking to renew every feeling of devotion,-in the faith, that, in so endeavouring, we give occasion to that mighty Operator who works when we work, who supersedes not, but co-operates with ourselves.

SELF-EXAMINATION."

DID a man accustom himself each night, before addressing himself to sleep, strictly to review the conduct of the day, his thoughts, his words, his actions, wherein at fault and wherein worthy

of our high nature, his circumspection would grow clear and watchful, and his apprehensions tender, the elements these of conscience, the representative of God, and the organ of His Spirit in man ;-his soul would come forth every night and sit on her clear tribunal, and ere long the man would grow afraid to offend, as if there were a higher power within him, and distinct from himself. In worldly prudence, in religion, here is an equivalent to the most distinct confession and its obligation, on the principle of selfconsistency, to amendment; whilst progress is reported, and the points to be corrected clearly marked. To a quicker conviction of the tempting folly or sin when it again approaches, is added a strong suggested argument from the severe occasions of self-rebuke; nice self-honour becomes a caution against vice,-the tender feeler of the soul-a shrinking apprehension from selfstigmatised guilt; and to such a man there is a higher value in that Heaven which holds us above anxieties of duty,-above all temptations to low vice.

SOMETHING EASIER TO BE CONSIDERED
THAN NAMED.

THE first and unceasing requisite towards exciting the love of God in man, and maintaining it, is a strong representation of Divine goodness incalculable, heightened to the human heart by a rueful detail of our own sin and rebellion and un

happiness, again stamping the incontrovertible character of love on Him who forbears in the one, who is reconciled in the second, who is our

heaven in the third,-who hath saved us in all. And in no mode of instruction, nor in any season, is this inculcation to be forgotten; impressed in its benefits which they can understand on infants' minds, and in its deeper characteristics ever as they grow up; made to conquer indifference, and peculiarly impressed on every moment of excitement; inwoven in curiosity and every suggestion of the soul, that when every cloud passes by and obstructions cease for a little, it may be mirrored in the heart, in the pure depths of our affections.

AN ARGUMENT, AND ITS CERTAIN RESULT.

THE declaration of our Saviour is borne out by experience, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." Habits of just thought, as well remarked by Paley, grow from good habits of action. It is only to undepraved hearts of natural and good issues, 1 to men who acknowledge in their lives the restraint of Christian precepts, that their value, and that stamp of divine excellence which makes up the strong internal evidence in their favour, can have their weight; vice versa, these are nothing to the sensualist. The powers of his understanding are weakened by vice, and the tender apprehension of whatever is excellent. To the tacit rejection of religion implied in his daring to do what that religion forbids, is superadded this si lent argument in his mind in favour of continued indulgence-the second act, in virtue of its numerical name, takes for granted that the question was settled on a former occasion, that religion