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compared to the immensity of space, with all its orbs of light and habitable dwellings, and that he who created all, must be above all, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; that he should be united to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, is a wonder above all wonders; an astonishment incomprehensible; it is a depth beyond our power to fathom! When love wrought so powerfully in Deity as to assume human nature, we need not doubt of his will and power to save all them that come unto him, and that believe on his

name.

The next work in order to believing is repentance, or turning from the guidance of our own wills to be governed by the precepts and example of Christ. None can be said to repent of actions in life which they have not truly forsaken, and that for ever. If we have truly repented of our former ways, and turned from them unto God, our life will be a life of holiness, unspotted by the works of darkness; and should we be overtaken by our former evil passions, it should be a stimulus to us to be ever on our guard against sin, and determine us more to persevere in the path of duty, that no person take away our crown. The scholar, when he commences his career of study, perseveres until his education is complete; he desires not to return again to his days of ignorance; when arrived at manhood, the pursuits of life engage his attention,

and his infantile labours and pleasures please no more. So they that have truly repented desire no more to roll in the mire of sin, but their great desire is to be dead unto sin, and alive to righteousness. With the apostle they exclaim, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" They feel what is termed the remains of the old man, or the corruptions of the heart, when they rise in opposition to the gospel of Christ, as death, as a mortification spreading over their members; and when such is so painful in the mortal frame, no wonder it should cause an agony in the spirit aspiring to perfect holiness.

The next work in order to repentance is to bring forth fruits or works which shew repentance. At the approach of spring the fruit-tree shews first the bud, then the blosom, after that the fruit is formed. Previous to the fruit being formed, a bitter blast may blight the promised fruit, and the fine unfolding blossom wither in the bud. The works which shew repentance are performed in the spirit of charity, unostentatious in their nature, and persevered in amid all reproach. When they are formed into habit, they are like the fruit formed after the spring blasts have spent their force in vain, and they shall ripen to a glorious harvest. The path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Where this light

has been kindled in the soul it burns amid all opposition, dispelling the darkness within; it brightens the path of life, it illuminates the valley and shadow of death; it is the dawning of that glorious day of heavenly joy; no clouds can overcast its splendour; no billows of adversity can overwhelm the soul in whom it dwells, even hell itself shall not prevail.

It is evident that every Christian act is personal; believing is personal, for another's conviction enlightens not our understandings; prayer is personal, for another's prayers connect not our spirits with the hearer and answerer of prayer; praise is personal, for it is then the spirit can join the heavenly choir in hallelujahs; all, all is personal, for every one must answer for the deeds done in the body; and out of our own lips we shall be acquitted or condemned. But though all be personal, "it is the spirit of God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure." None ever saw themselves in a true light, but they acknowledged, that in themselves there was nothing but vileness, that they were unprofitable servants, that of themselves they can do nothing, but through Christ who strengtheneth them. To cultivate ourselves, to enlighten our reason by the Scriptures, it must be done by supplication and prayer to him who is a spirit infinite, and who only can enlighten our spirits. By prayer our spirits rise in connexion

with Deity, and the influence of the Divine Spirit on our spirits we only can tell by what we feel, and by new light bursting on us in prayer.

None who have tasted of the sweets of intellectual improvement would barter them for the world's wealth. The soul thus enlightened looks down on all the glories of the British crown; it looks forward to the time when it shall possess in full enjoyment the promises of the gospel; when the evolving periods of eternity lessen not its beauty, nor detract from its happiness; when time, with all its eventful periods, has passed away, and an unclouded day of glory for ever reigns. To be a sharer in this happy state it is necessary to improve the present moments, by looking inward to ourselves, and by the grace of God reform the errors of our life, and ascribe all the praise to him who has redeemed us by his blood.

G

LETTER XIV.

His second coming, who at first appear'd
To save the world, but now to judge mankind
According to their works ;—the trumpet's sound,-
The dead arising,-the wide world in flames,~
The mansions of the blest,-and the dire pit
Of Satan and of woe,-O Muse! unfold.

MICHAEL BRUCE.

Edinburgh, 15th March, 1821. IMPRESSIVE is it to witness the trial of a criminal for his life, and to follow him through the varied stages to his exit. The Judges seated on the bench of justice in their ermined robs, the jury impannelled, the Solicitor General broadly declaring the pannel's crimes, and the witnesses unfolding the minute circumstances of iniquity, which the providence of God suffered not to remain concealed. Varied must be his feelings of hope and fear; hope, that it will not be clearly proven; but when the evidence is strong, and his own advocate endeavouring without success to palliate his guilt, and the Judge giving his charge to the jury of his full con

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