4 him." It likewise gives us a likeness to him, and is an evidence of our belonging to his family, all of whom, "through much tribulation, enter the kingdom." It gives us a new view of the beauties and excellencies of Scripture; the subjects of whom we find, for the most part, to have been characters who have not enjoyed a calm and settled peace, which, indeed, cannot be expected in the present state of things; but men of like passions, and exercised with the same trials as ourselves. And the promises of the word of God, under these circumstances, appear peculiarly delightful; because we find them directed chiefly to those who are maintaining the same combat, and travelling the same enemy's country with ourselves and it is moreover an evidence, that we are not of the multitude who are hastening on the downward road; for tho in danger of destruction, like the silly moth, they are insensible, and sporting near the flame whose touch is death. Sin to them is no burden; it is the only element in which they can find pleasure. Hence, they "glory in their shame;" and they never sigh over the corruptions of their nature, nor express ardent desires for deliverance from them They know not what it is to mourn after an absent God, for they have never experienced the joys of his presence: but the believer is alive to all these feelings; and if they afford him not present comfort, they are proofs that he is not left to perish in his sins. If the soul is alive to God, it will be either rejoicing in his presence, or mourning his absence. A dead calm is as unfavourable to the Christian as it is to the mari ner. 3dly, What should embolden and afford us consolation under the sharpest trials to which, as Christians, we are exposed, is that this conflict is certain as to its event. Victory is already determined in the purposes of God, and his decrees must be fulfilled. Many a wave may still pass over our heads and menace us with destruction; but, at length, we are certain of obtaining the haven: - many a blow we may yet have to receive from Satan; but our life cannot be destroyed, for that "is hid with Christ in God; and he has given the promise, "Because I live, ye shall live also:" many a cloud we may still pass by, which may enwrap us in midnight darkness; and the valley of the shadow of death lies in our way to the heavenly city, and may occasion many a trepidation to these fear-ful hearts of ours: but neither the waves of trouble, should they arise mountains high, the buffetings of Satan, though more severe than a Paul experienced, nor clouds of soul adversity; no, nor even death itself, "can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Herein is our confidence; and it is not unscriptural, nor presumptuous, resting on the eternal immutable love of God, to say, "I shall never be moved." Let us then be found in the Lord's ways, though they may be rough at times, and painful to flesh and blood; let us be found fighting rather than parleying with the enemy. It is more honourable, though we should fall, to have the sword in our hand, than to be signing the preliminaries of peace with the enemy; and it will save us much anxiety of mind to keep continually upon the watchtower of All-prayer, thus to mark the enemy's approach, and be prepared for his reception, rather than to attack him when he has gained the outposts of the kingdom. If I may be allowed the simile, "Thoughts are the suburbs of the soul:' if we suffer them to be the prisoners of Satan, he advances easily then to the next post Desire; if not repelled here, he knows how to secret himself in ambush, in the post of Opportunity; and, at length, to spring the mine that shall give a decisive action, and cause us, if not to make a surrender, at least a cowardly and shameful retreat. We cannot too strongly guard our thoughts: the outposts of a kingdom are generally most fortified; when an enemy gets posses sion of these, he advances with little difficulty to its center. Hence, we should not resist evil only, but likewise the appearance of evil, recollecting, that though the shadow of a sword cannot hurt, it is the representation of what can; and that if we are pursued by the one, we may be assured that the other is at no great distance. G. R. LETTER FROM A WIDOW TO HER SON AND DAUGHTER, My very dear Children, A WISE and righteous God has seen fit to deprive you of the best of fathers in your infancy, which, with regard to mortal friends, is an irreparable loss to you. You have lost the wise, the affectionate, and pious guide of your youth; the faithful guardian of your tender years. Those eyes that often beheld you with an overflowing tenderness, are now closed in death! The tongue that daily addressed the throne of grace on your account, and earnestly begged the best blessings for you for time and eternity, is now silent in the grave! His care and tenderness for you continued to the last in the near and immediate views of death, when struggling with the agonies of dissolving nature, he called for you both, and took a most affectionate leave of you, committing you cheerfully to his dear and gracious Redeemer; and expressing a joyful hope that the Lord would bestow his saving grace on you, that you should meet at the right hand of Christ, and spend an eternity of happiness and glory together in Heaven! The great and glorious Lord of Heaven and earth is witness how sincerely and fervently I wish and pray, that the prayers and hopes of your dying father may be answered, in the eternal salvation of your precious immortal souls! Before you read these lines, the loss of an affectionate mother will be added to that of your excellent father. I too shall be gone to my long home. This frail body shall rest in the grave, and the clods of the valley shall cover it; and, I trust, through the free grace and infinite love of my gracious aud dear Redeemer, I shall meet the amiable and dear companion of my happiest years on earth (whose loss now fills my heart with a tender and almost overwhelming sorrow) on terms of infinite advantage, shall meet to feel the agonies of separation no more; but shall join with him, and with the multitudes of holy and happy spirits above, in ascribing eternal glory and praise to the great, the gracious, and glorious Author of our complete and eternal salvation! And oh! what a dreadful thing would it be, if either of you, my dear children, should exclude yourselves from those soul-reviving hopes in this mortal life, those gracious supports at the awful hour of death, and from those glorious mansions of eternal felicity and joy beyond the grave, by a wicked and irreligious life, or an unbelieving heart! As surely as you now live and breathe, so surely you must die: however active and healthy your bodies now are, they must shortly moulder in the cold and silent grave; and, which is of infinitely greater importance, your inmortal souls must, immediately after their dismission from the body, appear before their Judge, to receive the great decisive sentence, which must consign them over to an immortality of happiness and bliss, or to the blackness of darkness and eternal despair in Hell for ever! O rest not in a dreadful uncertainty which must be your case; but while time and life is continued to you, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Fly to the Lord Jesus, that glorious hope set before you, as for your life; even the life of your precious and immortal souls. There is no other name given, under Heaven, amongst men, by which you can be saved; but he has graciously promised, that those who come unto him, he will in nowise cast out. As ever you would see us your parents, with comfort, at the awful tribunal of the Judge of all the earth, as you would then desire his favour, which is life, and as you value your own eternal happiness, lay hold on his gracious promise, and come to him, that your souls may live, may live for ever! Such indeed is the guilt and depravity of human nature in its present fallen state, that of ourselves we can do nothing truly good; but 4 A the Lord has promised to give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him. O apply earnestly to God, in humble and fervent prayer, for the influences and assistances of his good and holy Spirit to change your corrupt and degenerate natures; and to work in you that faith, without which it is impossible to please God, or to be accepted of him. I cannot, in this way, lay before you those grounds and principles of the Christian faith which it is necessary you should be acquainted with; but, unless it is your own fault, you may enjoy better instructions, in the way of your duty, and the glorious method proposed in the blessed gospel for your salvation, than I am capable of giving you, by means of a pious and faithful guardian. Before I conclude this my last address to my dear children, I would endeavour to guard them against a few of the many dangerous snares, with which they will be surrounded in the unexperienced years of youth; and, 1st, I would earnestly desire you to beware of the dangerous soul-destroying snare of vain and wicked company. Avoid them as you would your own destruction. More than your temporal happiness is at stake, if you give way to this fatal temptation. All your immortal hopes are lost if their attempts prevail. I recommend to your reading, and to your attentive consideration, Dr. Doddridge's Sermons to Young Persons, and particularly that on this subject, and the sixth.-2dly, Beware of Sabbathbreaking, of trifling away that holy day, that sacred portion of time, in idle visits, in business, or amusements. Rather look upon it as a most desirable blessing, that you have such an opportunity to confine your regards to those things which concern your everlasting peace; and, indeed, your present happiness too, if rightly improved. Be diligent in your at tendance on public ordinances; and be careful to spend the remaining part of that day of sacred rest, in prayer, reading the Scriptures, and neditating on divine subjects. - 3dly, Avoid a needless expence of time and money in dress, and the other vain amusements with which youth are too apt to be pleased; and consider that your time and your fortunes were given you for robler purposes. What you waste in extra vagant expences on yourselves, might give you a much nobler pleasure if employed to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry industrious poor. You might even relieve Christ in his poor members; and he has declared, that what is done to his people, he will regard as done to himself. 4thly, Avoid and guard against a slothful indolent disposition. If you are unemployed, you are in great danger of being ill employed. Let some useful innocent study or business fill up the time which is not set apart for religious duty. 5thly, Guard against a covetous or ambitious turn of mind. If you could succeed in an avarice of wealth or fame, neither of them could make 1 you happy they are empty and unsatisfying in their nature, and by no means suited to the exigences of an immortal spirit. 6thly, If you should live to an age that you should think of a married state, beware of suffering giddy Fancy or sordid Avarice to direct your choice in an affair of so great importance. Let Reason and Religion be called in to your assistance; and never make or listen to any addresses, with a view to it, without earnestly imploring the direction and blessing of God. An amiable temper, joined with a good capacity, and, above all, a virtuous pious disposition, is the most Jasting and most desirable ornament in either sex. And now, my dear children, I come to take a last farewell of you till we meet in the world of separate spirits. To the protection and the blessing of an all-sufficient God, and gracious Redeemer, I earnestly recommend you; and am your most affectionate mother, whilst AGNES MUNCASTER. HINTS FOR A PLAN TO PROVIDE FOR THOSE UNHAPPY FEMALES" Who have been seduced from the Paths of Virtue; but who, feeling their wretched and awful Situation, would gladly return to the Exercise of virtuous Habits, yet have no Means to rescue themselves from Infamy. How delightfully varied are the social duties which oc cupy the persevering attention of the sincere and active Christian! When the performance of duty is found to be an employment highly pleasurable, when the obligations of religion are regarded only as blessed opportunities of testifying gratitude and love to the best of friends and benefactors, it is no inconsiderable satisfaction to the believer, that his obligations and duties are numerous. The fountain, whose waters are pure and grateful, suffers nothing in our esteem, because its abundant streams convey, in every direction, comfort and joy. - - On such principles as these, how actively have Christians. employed themselves in our day! Our Sunday-Schools, our Missionaries, our stated and itinerant labourers, our institutions for the Promotion of Religion, for the Suppression of Vice, for the Diffusion of Knowledge, and for the Comfort of the Afflicted, are scenes which the eye beholds with unwearied delight. But have Christians done all that is necessary? May they now sit down and contemplate the fruit of their labours? Ono! The performance of duty is a Christian's privilege and joy; and whilst any remain the slaves of sin, or the victims of grief, his opportunities of indulging this |