it be when I shall be no longer in the flesh, and the flesh shall no more weigh down the spirit!" In a few sentences further she expresses her sympathy with her friend, who had been suffering with pain in his face; and then adds :— "I almost forgot to thank you for the little tract that you enclosed in your letter. It is beautiful. You know my taste too in books as well. Perhaps you remember it was a favourite thought of mine, All fulness dwells in Jesus.' What sweet words!" The tract which had been sent her was one entitled, "The Fulness of Christ; " and it was always to be seen in the little basket, which lay on her pillow, containing her various books. After writing the above she was seized with a further accession of illness, so that her letter was not resumed for some weeks. She then adds: "Since I began to write this, I have had the ague and fever every other day very severely, so that I have not been able to receive many visits from my Christian friends; but my Jesus visits me every day, every hour,- never leaves nor forsakes me. Sometimes He hides His face for a small moment, but soon I see Him again, brighter than ever. Precious, lovely, holy, Lord Jesus! During these heavy days He has abundantly supplied me with His holy supporting grace, so that I have been filled with my Redeemer's love; for which refreshment I ought meekly and humbly to thank my Heavenly Father, and I hope I really do. 66 Praying that you may be made strong in the joy of the Lord, I am, yours affectionately, "EMMA M-. "Dec. 4." What state of mind can be conceived more delightful than this; or, what could more highly magnify the grace of God? For this is not the language of a heart buoyant with life, and vigorous with the exercise of duties. It came from a bed of intense suffering, exhaustion, and languor. It came at the close of five years of confinement. Is there not reality here? Contrast, for a moment, the death-bed of Rousseau, with its contemptible and unnatural affectation; or of Paine, with its horrible terrors; or of Gibbon, with its cold indifference. Contrast the uncertainty of some who have looked to their own works rather than to Christ, and have lost, in consequence, the comfort of His sufficiency. No; this is reality: and if this be real, what becomes of all that religion which stops short of a complete faith in the Son of God? 89 CHAP. VI. "Would'st thou the life of souls discern? Helps thee by aught beside to learn; * * * "Even so, who loves the Lord aright! Since Christ on all hath shined." CHRISTIAN YEAR. AMONG the tests of the governing presence of Divine grace in the soul, there is not one so frequently mentioned in Scripture as that of love to one's neighbour; or, in other words, our HABIT OF MIND TOWARDS MEN. There is not one, moreover, which we can so readily apply to ourselves: it is always at hand. And the reason of its repeated mention is, that in itself it is the most direct and, practical test of our love to God, as well as the most difficult part of our moral discipline. In the Divine character and dealing there is every thing to command our admiration and respect. The more we examine, the further we trace His attributes as they shine out from His revealed word, or from His works, the more we are constrained to admit, even if we do not love Him, that God is worthy of being loved. Not so with man. Here all is sin, or, at the best, imperfection. In fact, God and man are like their respective works; the instrument which reveals the perfections of the one, detects only the poverty of the other. Where such disparity exists, how is it possible to extend anything like a similar affection to both? Yet it is this very difficulty which constitutes the truth and force of the test. Our love to man is a fruit of our love to God; nor can any one be said rightly to love his neighbour, or even his dearest friend, until he has learned to love God first and best, and his neighbour in Him. (1 John, v. 2.) We are apt to confound natural with spiritual affection, for it seems harsh to class so many tender emotions among the things which perish. But it is even so. Let us only ask whether none will be found among them that are cast out, who have known what it is to love deeply, passionately, and perseveringly? Oh! it is a solemn, painful thought, how much of the noblest part of man's nature has failed in its mission, because it was unsanctified. Can we impress too often upon our hearts, that their affections are only safe while held in subordination to God? Can we too often urge upon parents and children, husbands and wives, and the friend that is dear as our own soul, that the love which each claims, and which we are but too free to give, must be first brought to Christ for a blessing, and must then be kept in its own subordinate place? But in this, as in all things, we must learn of Him. And what does He teach us? Is it not a lesson, embracing at once the rule and the motive? "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if have love one to another." Here we have special love. But He goes further" If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them which curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Here, then, is universality. Our love, like our other affections, must submit to rule. If we would ye |