upon their baptism. On the same principle, when they arrive at the years of discretion, they may, in taking upon them their baptismal engagements, by a becoming profession of the Lord Jesus, demand a seat at his table, as their privilege which the church cannot deny. Their allegiance to him as their Redeemer, their King, and their God, is inseparable from their birth-right. The question, then, with them, when they reach that period of maturity which qualifies them to judge for themselves, is, not whether they shall contract or avoid an allegiance which has hitherto had no claims upon them: but whether they shall acknowledge or renounce an allegiance under which they drew their first breath? Whether they shall disown the prince of life, and wave their interest in his church? Whether they shall disclaim the God of their fathers; forswear their consecration to his servicetake back the vows which were made over them and for them when they were presented to him in his sanctuary; his blessed name called upon them; and the symbol of that "blood which cleanseth from all sin," applied to them? Not whether they shall be simple unbelievers, but whether they shall display their unbelief in the form of apostasy? That · is the question: and an awful one it is. As they value their eternal life, let them consider, that every hour of their continuance in their neglect of Christ is an hour of contempt for his salvation,

and of slander on his cross. How shall their hearts endure or their hands be made strong, when he shall come to reckon with them for their treading him under foot, and counting the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing? Reckon with them he will, and precisely for their not owning him; for they cannot, no, they cannot shake off their obligations to own him; although in the attempt they may destroy themselves for

ever.

"According to this representation," I shall be told, "the condition of many of our youth is very deplorable. It is their duty, you say, to profess the name of Christ, and to seal their profession at the sacramental table. This, they cannot do: for they are conscious that they do not possess those principles and dispositions which are requisite to render such a profession honest. What course shall they steer? If they do not profess 'Christ, they live in rebellion against God: if they do, they mock him with a lie. Which side of the alternative shall they embrace? Continue among the profane, and be consistently wicked? or withdraw from them in appearance, and play the hypocrite?"

The case is, indeed, very deplorable. Destruction is on either hand. For the UNBELIEVING shall have their part in the lake of fire,* and the HYPO

* Rev. xxi. 8.

CRITE's hope shall perish: * God forbid that we should encourage either a false profession, or a refusal to make one. The duty is to embrace neither side of the alternative. Not to continue with the profane, and not to act the hypocrite; but to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in truth, and to walk in him. "I cannot do it," replies one: “I and one, it may be, not without moments of serious and tender emotion upon this very point: "I cannot do it." My soul bleeds for thee, thou unhappy! But it must be done, or thou art lost for ever. Yet what is the amount of that expression: in the mouth of some a flaunting excuse, and of others a bitter complaint-I cannot? Is the inability to believe in Christ different from an inability to perform any other duty? Is there any harder necessity of calling the God of Truth a LIAR, in not believing the record which he hath given of his son, than of committing any other sin? The inability created, the necessity imposed, by the ENMITY of the carnal mind against God? It is the inability ?† of wickedness, and nothing else. Instead of being an apology, it is itself the essential crime, and can never become its own vindication.

But it is even so. The evil does lie too deep for the reach of human remedies. Yet a remedy there is, and an effectual one. It is here“ Į will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be

Vol. IV.

* Job viii. 1.

† Rom. viii. 7.

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clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A NEW HEART also will I GIVE you, and a NEW SPIRIT will I PUT within you: And I will TAKE AWAY the STONY HEART out of your flesh; and I will GIVE you an HEART OF FLESH. And I will PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, and CAUSE you to walk in tutes; and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.* Try this expedient: Go, with thy filthiness" and thine "idols:" Go, with thy stony heart" and thy perverse spirit, which are thy real inability, to God upon the throne of grace; spread out before him his "exceeding great and precious promise," importune him as the hearer of prayer, in the name of Jesus, for the accomplishment of it to thyself--wait for his mercy it is worth waiting for-and remember his word; Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be GRACIOUS UNTO YOU; and therefore will he be exalted that he MAY HAVE MERCY upon you for the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for him.†

The rights and duties of the children of believing parents, arising out of their relation to the church, is only part of our second result, as they are mutual, let us now turn the question and view it in its relation to the rights and duties of the Christian church toward such children.

A right to provide for the proper education of their youth, has always been claimed, and exer† Js. xxx. 18.

Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27.

cişed in some form or other, by every civilized community. It is, indeed, inherent in the very nature of human society; as it springs out of that great, universal, and essential principle of manself-preservation. The risen generation, is, for the most part, fixed. Their habits are formed, their characters settled, and what is to be expected from them may be ascertained with sufficient exactness for the principal purposes of life. Not so with the rising race. No sagacity can foretell what characters shall be developed, or what parts performed, by these boys and girls who throng our streets, and sport in our fields. In their tender breasts are concealed the germs, in their little hands are lodged the weapons, of a nation's overthrow or glory. Would it not, then, be madness; would it not be a sort of political suicide, for the commonwealth to be unconcerned what direction their infant powers shall take; or into what habits their budding affections shall ripen? Or will it be disputed, that the civil authority has a right to take care, by a paternal interference, on behalf of the children, that the next generation shall not prostrate in an hour, whatever has been consecrated to truth, to virtue, and to happiness, by the generations that are past?

If this is the common privilege of human nature, on what principle shall it be denied to the church of God? Spiritual in her character, furnished with