what every one knows. It may be replied, Who is so ignorant as to require to be told that he must die? Who is there that has the slightest acquaintance with the holy scriptures, who has not heard of a future state, of the eternal happiness prepared for the righteous, and of the fire that is not quenched, which is prepared for the devil and his angels, into which they also will be cast who work wickedness, and are despisers of God and of his Christ? Alas! how many are there who have been brought up as Christians, who have been instructed in the scriptures from their infancy, who can repeat various porof them, who have been taught to pray to their Father which is heaven, and to keep his commandments, and to believe in Christ, and to rely on his atoning sacrifice for acceptance with God, and to pray for the assistance of his Holy Spirit to instruct and comfort them; and who, with all these advantages, are as careless and indifferent respecting a future state as the most ignorant and uninstructed. the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. Who shall give us flesh to eat?" Alas! how many have an equal disrelish for the word of God; how many to whom the words of the prophet Jeremial may be applied: "Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken; behold, the word of the Lord is to them a reproach, they have no delights in it." They prefer any book to the bible. Under such circumstances how can we be surprised at the increase of infidelity and profligacy? How can we be surprised at seeing so many manifestations of the wrath of the Almighty?-if we hear of the conflagration of whole cities, of the destruction and massacre of great armies, of dreadful explosions by steam, of frequent shipwrecks, of earthquakes, of famines, of plagues? And have we not heard of these awful visitations for a long series of years? Who is there that does not perceive Brethren, the holy scriptures are in our in them the just judgments of God against hands: they are the same as they were when the infidelity, the impiety, the profligacy, and in the hands of the primitive Christians: the wickedness which is so prevalent in every they convey the same important doctrines part of the world? The yellow fever, which that they did then, and are therefore no less destroyed so many thousands in the West calculated now than they were 1800 years Indies and in America; the cholera, which ago to make every one wise unto salvation raged over India, Russia, England, and other that reads them with an earnest desire to un- countries of Europe; the snow and the frost, derstand those important truths, and with fulfilling the words of the Almighty, and prayer to God for his grace to assist them in which were the instruments of his destruction their pursuit. But, alas, the holy scriptures for an army of infidels, led by their infidel are as much unknown to many protestants as and once victorious chief; the convulsions in if they were a sealed book, as if they were civilized and Christian countries, attended with withdrawn from public perusal by a decree cruelties and horrors which have scarcely The word of God, like the been equalled, and never surpassed, even Lanna which fell from heaven to feed the among the heathens, who were worshippers Israelites in the wilderness, lies as it were of idols, and had no knowledge of God-are in the public path, and is open to the perusal so many indications of the wrath of the Alof every passenger. There is no scarcity of mighty. Surely, in the rapid succession of bibles, or of persons to explain them. There these awful visitations, we may find some reare also places adapted for the service of semblance to that dreadful period foretold in Christian congregations in every direction. the revelation of St. John, the beloved disciWhence then, it may be enquired, whence ple of our Lord, in which the fifth angel arises that famine of hearing the word of the poured out his vial upon the seal of the beastLord which is so prevalent? Whence is it" and his kingdom was full of darkness, and that so many are feeding on the husks of human philosophy and learning, when they may drink of the water of life, and eat of the bread which came down from heaven? To sach an enquiry we must reply, that the word of God is as unpalatable to many who call themselves Christians as the manna was to many of the Israelites. "The people spake against God, and against Moses, saying Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. We remember they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and of their sores, and repented not of their deeds." We frequently hear that of late years there has been a great change in the world for the better, that there is a greater zeal for religion, that the clergy and ministers of every Christian denomination are more earnest in their exhortations, that the great and important doctrines of the gospel are more faithfully preached. The great doctrines of faith in the Lord Jesus, and redemption by his atoning blood, together with the ne- | cessity of holiness of life as the fruit and proof of a sincere faith, under the effectual operation and influence of the Holy Spirit, are indeed more faithfully and zealously impressed now than they were some years past. A great change for the better has been made in these respects, and it appears to be extending in the world. But, alas, how much remains to be done; how much practical infidelity, and irreligion, and profligacy pervades every rank in society! Infidelity is not now confined mostly to the higher and more learned classes, as was formerly the case its poisonous and baneful influence extends among the most illiterate and ignorant. A great and terrible change has taken place in this respect in the world. Some new denomination of infidelity is continually springing up. Prayer to God, and faith in Christ, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the holy scriptures, are scorned and turned into ridicule. Whatever is sacred, or honourable, or respected, is vilified and despised. We cannot therefore be surprised at the too general desecration of the sabbathday. But shall we dare to suppose that God will not vindicate the breach of his own commandments, and the pollution of his sabbaths? Have we not reason to fear, if men will not repent and turn to God, that the earth will be visited with more grievous calamities than those to which allusion has been made? "O Lord (said the prophet Jeremiah), are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved: thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to return." It is not long since you heard of the awful destruction of nearly one hundred persons on their return to Paris from Versailles, at which place a great multitude had assembled on the sabbath-day, notwithstanding the remonstrance of their bishop, to witness a display of fire-works. They were in the short space of a few minutes torn to pieces or consumed by fire, while their minds were yet engrossed with the splendour of the scene they had but just quitted. Death was far from their thoughts: the grave, and the worm, and the corruption which awaited their bodies; the judgment to come, and an eternity of happiness or misery which awaited their souls, were subjects but ill-suited to the worldly gaiety and vanity of which they had so lately formed a part. Shall we hesitate to say that the miserable and painful destruction of so many on the sabbath-day, which they had so wantonly violated, was not a judgment from God? Shall we refer this dreadful calamity to some accidental cause? Shall we refer it to fate or misfortune, to want of precaution, or to mismanagement? Such, doubtless, is the language of the generality of mankind: they cannot see the finger of God in any thing that occurs. But, brethren, "to God belong the issues of life and death," and "not a sparrow can fall to the ground without his leave." Shall any man dare to say that whatever may be the sinfulness of men, or whatever degree of contempt they may show to his word, or however regardless they may be of his will, that he does not or cannot "visit them for these things?" Are not the sword, and the pestilence, and the famine, and the noisome beast, his four sore judg ments? Can he not pour out the vials of his wrath upon a guilty people? Shall we say that he cannot "punish every man according to the fruit of his doings?"" Brethren, "are not his judgments prepared for scorners?" " Man knoweth not his time." He knoweth not when he may be called hence, and be no more seen. "As the fishes are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the (sinful) sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." All men are sinners: all therefore may expect to meet with some dreadful visitation, except they repent. There are, indeed, gradations in sin all are not equally corrupt; but what man is there who is not conscious that he is unworthy of the least of all the mercies and blessings which he receives at the hand of God; and that it is only through the long-suffering and mercy of God, "who waiteth to be gracious," that he does not suffer the wrath which is due for his sinfulness, his disobedience, and his ingratitude? No man amongst us can plead ignorance of his duty to God and his neighbour. There are indeed too many, even in Christian countries, who have been brought up in sin and crime, and whose minds from their earliest infancy have been exposed to the corruption of bad examples. But, to the great body of people in every Christian country, it may be said of every commandment of God, "This commandment which I command thee is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee; in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it.' To every one who hears the gospel it may be said, "Sce, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee to love the ings, how much more was it necessary for those who were disgraced by those crimes of which they had been convicted! Brethren, who can look upon the spot in which so many sinful men were lately over Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes, that thou mayst live, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee." It is indeed an awful thing to reflect that there is no condition of life, however elevated, or however low, how-whelmed in the waves so unexpectedly, and ever enlightened by instruction, or destitute of it, which is not exposed to the pollutions of sin. It may indeed be often said of a whole country, that "from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, there is no soundness in it." Nothing indeed but that change in our nature, that new birth which the Spirit of God can alone produce, is a security against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. No worldly wisdom, no extensive acquaintance with ancient literature, no depth of knowledge in the arts and sciences can effect, this change; this only is the work of God: every system of public education must therefore be lamentably defective, in which the mind is not led to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Brethren, for which world are we living? For this world, or for the next? Of how few can it be said, that their thoughts and their hopes and their hearts are set upon the next! But the sinner, the impenitent sinner, may be cut off in the midst of his sins. He may have said in his heart, I know that I am a sinner, and that I have grossly sinned against God, but there is time enough before me: I have many years left: I will become serious and repent, and obey the gospel of Christ, when I am older. But perhaps the sentence has already gone forth, "This night stall thy soul be required of thee." Brethren, we have lately heard of numeroas shipwrecks on our coasts. But there are two to which I would direct your attention, those of the "Sabina," a Spanish vessel; and of the "Waterloo," a male convict ship. Twenty souls were lost in the former, and one hundred and eighty-nine in the latter; and of these one hundred and forty-three were under sentence of transportation. The inmates of the "Sabina" were all respectable in their several stations of life, and engaged in their lawful callings. The far greater proportion of the inmates of the "Waterloo" were the victims of sin and vice. Yet the solemn denunciation of the Almighty had gone forth against a consider able number of persons in each vessel, on the respective days in which they were lost, "This night shall thy soul be required of thee." Doubtless, brethren, if the solemn warning, that they should be prepared to die, is requisite for those who have been guilty of no disgraceful offence against the law of their country and were pursuing their lawful call in so short a period as a few hours, and not ask within himself, what is become of their immortal souls? Their oaths and their imprecations, and their foul language, are silenced for ever-they are cut off in their sins. But were they, in the midst of the roaring of the wind, and the buffeting of the waves, and the shattered fragments of the vessel, only thinking of their personal safety as far as regarded their bodies? or were they chiefly thinking each of his eternal salvation, and crying out in agony, "Lord, save me, or I perish:" "Lord, have mercy upon me:" "Christ, have mercy upon me, and forgive me all my sins:" "O, save my immortal soul? "O, who would not (if any were so situated) rejoice that he had lived as became his Christian profession; that his conversation had been such as becometh the gospel of Christ; that, renouncing all hopes of salvation through any works of his own, his only hope and trust was in the merits of Christ, who had died, the just for the unjust, through whom he trusted to be presented holy and unblameable, and unreprovable in the sight of God, and to be an inheritor of everlasting happiness? Such, among the sailors and soldiers with their wives who perished, let us hope, were the three fathers, with their wives and children, and the mother with her five children, who were ingulfed together in the same watery grave. Let us hope that while they called unto God “out of the deep," they were comforted with the blessed hope of a joyful resurrection; and that, when the sea shall give up her dead, they will be united together in that eternal inheritance which God hath prepared for them that love him. But, brethren, it is impossible to represent to ourselves the internal workings in the guilty minds of the wretched and sinful convictstheir terror, their despair, their bitter reflections, their self-reproaches-while they saw, as it were, written on every surf, and heard on every gust of the storm, a declaration not unlike that conveyed by the hand on the wall to Belshazzar, " MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN," which announced to each of them that he had been "weighed in the balance and had been found wanting," and that his life was departing from him. Their shrieks, and their tears, and their regret availed them nothing. Brethren, it was on the sabbath-dav. Were there no sabbath-breakers in the "Waterloo" among the poor and miserable convicts?-none who had habitually absented themselves on the sabbath-day from the courts of the Lord's house, and had devoted to the pursuits of sinful pleasure that day which the Lord himself had given them as a holy rest from the cares and interests of this world, to serve him, and praise him, and to pray for his blessing? How many must have then wished, while they heard the distant tolling of the bell for the worship of God, that they had never turned a deaf ear to the solemn call! O, how fervently might some pray that God, of his infinite goodness and mercy, would save them in this their hour of peril-that he would forgive them for his dear Son's sake; they would never again turn their back on the Lord's house, they would keep holy the sabbath-day, they would love the Lord Jesus, they would worship at his holy table, they would eat of his body and drink of his blood, and thank him for all his mercies. Alas, they then felt the truth of those scriptures which they had so long disregarded: "Those who hate the good and love the evil, shall cry unto the Lord; but he will not hear them, he will hide his face from them." Brethren, was not the vessel a receptacle, as it were, of every unclean thing, of every pollution and excess, of all impurity, dishonesty, and wickedness? But will these judgments of God (for in this light every serious person will regard them) have any permanent effect either on those who witnessed the appalling scene, or on those who hear of it; or, alas, even on all those who by the kind providence of God were delivered from impending death? Alas, we have reason to fear that the tide of wickedness will still continue to flow, that the sabbath-day will continue to be polluted, and darkness cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. Brethren, let us pray that these dispensations of Providence may be a warning to all of us; let us not be high-minded and justify ourselves in the sight of God, by comparing ourselves with others; let the warning voice of our Saviour teach us to be humble, and to fear always, and not to suppose that those who are thus cut off are sinners above all men. "I tell you nay (said our Saviour), but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." CHRISTIAN DUTIES, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES*. "And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, vir tue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.” and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to 2 PET. i. 5-7. IN speaking of faith, the apostle does not exhort his disciples to acquire it, but rather takes it for granted that they possess it, and supposes it as hortation is built-"Add to your faith, virtue." the foundation already laid, upon which his exThe persons whom St. Peter speaks of were believers; they had faith, they had persevered in it; some of them had the honour of suffering for it, and of undergoing ill usage both from Jews and Gentiles. He considers them as already persuaded of the truth of Christianity, and seriously engaged in that holy calling; but he judged it expedient to exhort them to a careful observance of all Christian duties; for, as a perfect faith comprehends them all, so a faith begun and carried on requires them all, and is a sufficient motive and inducement to the practice of them. When the apostle says, "Add to your faith, virtue," he means courage in professing the faith, faith requires; and we shall find that sins are and in sincerely practising the things which this usually attended with a defect of this quality. Injustice is a weakness which induces us to wrong others because we cannot resist some vile passion: intemperance is a weakness by which reason submits to sensual appetite: covetousness is a weakpride is a weakness which disposes us to think too ness which prefers sordid lucre to spiritual gain: well of ourselves, and too meanly of those who are our equals in every valuable acquisition. Hence the necessity of adding to your faith, virtue," that is, steadiness and resolution in welldoing. 66 of religion is necessary, and without it neither can "And to virtue, knowledge." A knowledge faith nor virtue be complete; and the more accurate that knowledge is, the more secure is the possessor of it from being misled either in matters of opinion or in matters of conduct, in his notions or in his actions. Ignorance sometimes is stubborn, and sometimes unstable. When it is presumptuous and self-willed it refuses instruction; and, when it is diffident and submissive, it surrenders itself too implicitly to human authority. But an understanding, duly cultivated and constantly exercised in the things pertaining to religion, enables a man to act steadily and consistently, to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good. "And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience." As he who is not master of himself is not likely to be a good servant to God, and a friend to man, St. Peter sets before us, in the first place, the duties relating to ourselves, namely, temperance and patience. By intemperance men dishonour and debase themselves; by impatience they trouble and torment themselves. Temperance and patience should be inseparable; for good and evil are so From "Elucidations of interesting passages of Scripture." 2nd series. An excellent work, and well adapted for the reading of the young. It is compiled by the authors (or rather authoresses) of the "Odd Volume," "Mornings with Mamma," "The Cabinet for Youth," and a variety of other publications, uniting, in an eminent degree, amusement and sound instruction, from some of which we have quoted in previous volumes of the magazine.-ED. blended in this present state, that we are perpetually obliged to exercise both. Prosperity and adversity are the two usual trials to which we are exposed. The ancients saw and knew this, and one of their wise men has said, that morality consists chiefly in two things, in bearing and in forbearing, that is, in patience and in temperance. We have a beautiful instance of patience and resignation in the trials of Job. "And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life: but put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils, from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips" (Job ii. 4-10). And again, when accounts came pouring in upon him of the death of his sons and his daughters, and of his oxen and sheep and asses and camels being carried off or destroyed, it is said: "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Elessed be the name of the Lord" (i. 20, 21.) The famous Dr. Boerhaave was once asked by a friend who admired his patience under provocacations, whether he knew what it was to be angry, and by what means he had so entirely ppressed that impetuous and ungovernable pasg. He answered, with the utmost frankness and sincerity, that he was naturally quick of resentment, but that he had, by daily prayer and editation, at length attained to this mastery over Linself. "And to patience, godliness." Godliness or piety is the principle which is to animate every virtue. This is the character which distinguisheth the Christian from the Pagan moralist. We may find amongst the Pagans examples of justice, equity, sobriety, patience, liberality: but piety is peculiarly the effect of revealed reFion. If there were no God, or no providence, still without virtue civil society could not well subsist; but if there be a God, it is a shame not to direct our actions to his honour and glory. Since therefore virtue or moral goodness is a quality which the world, bad as it is, expects from us, we must choose whether we will be good for the sake of pleasing our heavenly Father, or for the sake of pleasing a world to which perhaps we have no great obligations. That excellent man, the late king George the third, gave many proofs of his sincere piety. At his coronation, when the king approached the communion table in order to receive the sacrament, he inquired of the archbishop whether he should not lay aside his crown. The archbishop asked the bishop of Rochester, but neither of them knew or could say what had been the usual form. The king determined within himself that humility best | became such a solemn act of devotion, and took off his crown, and laid it down during the administration. A similar act of piety is related of Canute the great, who took the opportunity of a solemn occasion to acknowledge his sincere submission to Almighty God, his Lord and Sovereign he deposited the golden crown which he had been accustomed to wear, in the church at Winchester, and never afterwards placed it on his own head. One of the first acts performed by the young monarch, George the third, after his succession to the throne, was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who should be called to preach before him, from paying him any compliment in their discourses. His majesty was led to this from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver in the chapel royal; and for which, instead of thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his majesty observing, "that he came to chapel to hear the praises of God, and not his own.” The celebrated Linnæus always testified in his conversation, writings, and actions, the greatest sense of God's omniscience; yea, he was so strongly impressed with the idea, that he wrote over the door of his library, "Innocui vivite, numen adest"—" Live innocent, God is present." "And to godliness, brotherly kindness." Every virtue is connected with every other; and all virtue with piety. For, without the love of God to excite us, and the fear of God to restrain us, and the word of God to direct us, and the grace of God to strengthen us, we shall neither behave to our fellow-creatures nor govern ourselves in a proper manner. There is, in truth, a mutual connexion and dependence amongst the several graces and duties of a Christian: where there is one grace in sincerity there is a constant care to secure all the rest; and, where a Christian for conscience sake performs one duty, he will be anxious to perform the rest. The duties of both tables will be religiously observed by him, both as an argument of his sincerity and as an ornament to his holy profession. In the year 1734 the smallpox was introduced to Greenland by a boy from Copenhagen, who, dying with the disease, communicated the infection. It soon became a pestilence among the people, equally unskilled in its nature and the manner of treating it. Of two hundred families, who lived in a circle of ten or twelve miles around the Danish settlement, scarcely thirty escaped, nor was the settlement free from its fatal influence. In this calamitous situation many Greenlanders, when the fever began to attack them, sought safety among the Danes, and particularly flocked to Hans Egede, in whom their confidence was perfect. He received as many as his house could accommodate; nor was this all. His wife and himself attended, cheered, and consoled them during their sufferings. Such was the mortality, he was often obliged to remove the dead bodies in the middle of the night, lest the survivors should perish from the stench; still he continued to receive such as implored his help, and by this kind of conciliating conduct gained more proselytes than the Spanish fanatics in America ever obtained by their severity and cruelty. Among those who, as it were, died in his arms, was an |