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till one in the morning, he has passed by and overheard persons engaged in prayer. Many a bush formed a shelter for a soul communing with its God; and along the brown ridges of the fallow, by stooping, so as to cast the figures between the eye and the clear margin of the horizon, dim forms might be discerned, either alone, or two and three together, kneeling and pouring out their wants at the footstool of mercy. The captain of a king's ship, which lay for a considerable time off the island, who, in pursuing his sports, has crossed and recrossed the lands in all directions, bears witness that he never met with any intoxication, any profanity, nor indeed a single person engaged in any occupation which might tempt him to wish to shrink from public inspection, except during their frequent retirements for prayer. He mentioned, in particular, his having entered a wood-yard in the town of Stornoway, to enquire into the progress of some repairs making on his boat, when he saw two men retire behind the logs to pray together, and though their Gaelic was unintelligible to him, their occupation, and obvious abstraction from the world, and solemn impression of the divine presence, softened and subdued the man of the sea, though not given to the melt

"He said,They are an extraordinary people here; one cannot but be struck with their honesty, kindness, and sobriety. I am told they make a good deal of whisky for sale. It cannot be for home consumption, for I think I never met a drunk person out of the town. One hears of Religion elsewhere, but one sees it here in every thing.'

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gaze with which they beheld him was not an intelligent, | Uig and that at all hours, from eight o'clock at night but what Wesley used to call a stupid attention.' This lasted but one month, when he began to observe one and another melt into tears, and a tender wistful listening, a living ear' substituted for the former stupid one. Presently enquirers came to obtain private instruction, and the exigencies of the people led to the extension of religious opportunities such as a lecture on Thursdays, and many regular prayer meetings, which still exist, and are attended with avidity. In 1827, upwards of 600 pupils, of various ages, attended the schools and in 1834, mention is made of 13 Sabbath schools in that one parish. Auxiliaries were required to aid the teachers and catechists, and every thing seemed to be in a state of lively movement. When Mr M'L. first entered on his office, all the people of a certain age were accustomed to flock to the table of communion. He had reason to apprehend that few of them discerned the Lord in the feast, and preached to them carefully for a year, before he ventured to celebrate that solemn ordinance; and so much had their light increased, that but a small portion of the old communicants presented themselves, and they with silent tears.-It is very remarkable, that in the course of years wherein he has acted as their pastor, he has scarcely been obliged to reject or keeping mood. back any one from this feast of love. Indeed there are many whom their pastor would be glad to admit, who keep back perhaps from some erroneous apprehension of the nature of the ordinance. This is the case in several other Highland parishes. At the communion services of 1828, the island seemed to be moved with one emotion, for 9000 people flocked to Uig on that occasion. Then and subsequently, the days and nights, from the fast to the thanksgiving days, have been occupied in exhortation and prayer, by the various ministers and elders, amongst whom the name of John Macdonald of Farintosh or Urquhart stands pre-eminent. In 1833, an immense concourse of persons attended, following and seeking the truth, from the isles of Harris and Uist, as they had done for a year or two before; and the cautious pastor, speaking of this and similar occasions, describes to a Christian friend the deep impression' which was then made, the deepening work,' the new and old converts,' the liberty of the ministers in preaching,' the refreshment of the people in hearing,' and the fervent longing for another such season.' He also speaks of the knowledge and experience of the people, of the Gospel prospering in Lewis,' of many new converts being brought in during the solemnities.' It is not in our power to give much particular detail, the honourable and judicious caution of the faithful pastor, for the present, declining to bring into public view the cases of individuals in whose real devotion to God he has much comfort. General results, however, are in the possession of the public, and may be thank fully and humbly stated, to the praise of that blessed Spirit who has wrought such changes. In proof of the minister's own enjoyment of his scene of labour it is pleasing to state, that he remarks in 1834: Ten winters have I passed here, all wonderfully short, pleasant and delightful;' and his teachers are all so much interested in their occupation, that they would rather expend their lives in that retired region than remove to wealthier and more southern districts. We hope the faithful records preserved by him who watches for their souls as one who must give account, will, at no distant day, be published, to revive the drooping Church. In the mean time, all that we are about to relate of the general aspect of society there, we mention as detailed by witnesses much interested in stating the truth correetly:

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1. The prayerfulness of the people.-One gentleman, who annually visits the Lewis, mentions that he has often walked forth at eventide to have his spirit refreshed by observing the devotional temper of the people of

We have pleasure in mentioning, as another example of the devotional habits of these people, what a friend, who was rowed up the Loch Roag, witnessed. The way being long, it is customary to stop to rest and refresh the oarsman. When they had drawn their boat up into the little bay, and ceased from their toil, the men, before they tasted of their food, raised their blue bonnets, and united in prayer.

"It may be proper to state, that the cabins of the inhabitants, consisting of but one apartment, furnish no opportunity of retirement; and this explains in part the custom of praying in the open air. There is, however, another and more affecting reason. The people want to repair far more frequently to the footstool of mercy than at morning and evening; and as their occupations are in general out of doors, or on the waves, so also are their

prayers.

"There are five natives of the parish of Uig who were enlisted when a regiment was raised on the island, and having gone with the army to Egypt, lost their sight by ophthalmy, and after their return have become acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel. It is common with them to bless God for having taken away their bodily eyes, since they regard that as one of the instruments in his hand for opening the mental sight, which was before in a state of darkness. Three of them are active fellow-helpers in the extension of Christian truth and consolation. One is a most efficient and zealous elder in the parish of Uig; of another we shall have occasion to relate a curious circumstance under the head of liberality; and of the third we present the following well authenticated narrative, under the head of prayerfulness.

"This blind man, whose name is even unknown to us, had the affliction of losing a wife who was a very pious character. She left a daughter old enough to distinguish the excellencies of her mother. In the course of time the father took another wife, of a very feeble constitution, who, though a good woman, had not attained to the Christian advancement of the first. The girl was most exemplary in all her duties, obeying and reverencing her stepmother as if she had been her own mother. She was in all respects a most promising and pleasing character; and her father having often enjoyed

would doubtless have done so, and held themselves guiltless. But now it was not so. Every portion was accurately weighed or divided, and as their necessities were so great that they had nothing then to pay, their affectionate minister gave a promissory-note for it, knowing well that the excellent lady, whose property the lands are, would not suffer him to be impoverished. The people knew this also, but none took advantage of it, all were occupied in economising to the utmost till one after another they had repaid their debt. Thus they obtained not only the great blessing of necessary food, but preserved the still greater blessing of integrity, and a spirit free from covetousness.

spiritual conversation with her, was, from these mutual | communings, fully satisfied of her happy state. On a Saturday, when the weather was tempestuous, the young people, as was customary with them, were going out a-fishing. The father urged his daughter to remain at home, but she said her mother liked a fish for her dinner, and she would try to catch one for to-morrow, as it was the only sustenance she cared for. They went to fish, when suddenly a huge billow swept the face of the rock on which they were set. The boys managed to scramble up the rock, but the beloved daughter of the blind veteran was swept into the boiling ocean. The last view her terrified comrades had of her, was sitting on the crest of a wave, with her fishing-rod in one hand, and basket in the other. They returned with the sorrowful tidings; and from the nature of the rocky coast, and the course of the tides and currents, no one entertained a hope of finding the remnants of her mangled body. The Christians around, came as they did of old to Martha and Mary, to weep with the afflicted father, and passed the mournful night in prayer. His mind, though before so satisfied, became filled with alarm and concern about her final state, now that she was gone, and his soul refused to be comforted. In the course of prayer he was led to reiterate the petition, that if she were one of the assembly of the redeemed, he might know it by this token, that the sea should give back his dead, and that he might bury her. In the morning those who passed along the shore in their way to the house of God, found the dear girl gently deposited on the sand, her limbs decently composed, as if she had been adjusted for burial, and in no way defaced or in-trict where the lecture is held and thus, without poor jured. Then went the weeping father, and with solemn joy took up his dead, witnessing that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints; that their very dust is dear to him; and also, that he is verily the hearer and the answerer of prayer.

"Are there some who read this fact, that count it the extreme of credulous superstition, and stamp the work in Lewis as of this character for its sake? That is because they do not know the sweet intimacy and communion that subsists between the Father in heaven and his reconciled children. They cannot judge of a case in which they have no experience. Perhaps even some of those who believe in the efficacy of prayer, may say there is a want of caution in narrating this story. Why then should we be cautious to hide what God reveals? His own spirit dictated the narration of the prayers of Gideon, how he selected his tokens himself once and again, and they were granted to him. And if Gideon, who knew the Lord only by the more obscure early promises of redemption, could venture to ask so much, are those who have heard all that we have of the benignity and the compassions of Jesus, not to come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need? Is the divine character changed? Is he not the same God who filled the fleece with dew, and left the earth around dry; and again bedewed the ground, and preserved the fleece from moisture, that heard the cry of his afflicted servant in the Lewis? His mighty billow swept the lamb from the rock into the engulphing ocean. His gentle wave restored her vacated tabernacle to console her father, and answer his doubt, by an assurance that she was that day with her Saviour in paradise. If he hath done the great thing of dying for us, will he despise to do the less of consoling us, and proving that his eye is upon us

still?

2. "The uprightness of the people.-On occasion of a year of famine, the natives were put to great straits, and in danger of perishing for want. A vessel laden with meal was driven upon their shores by stress of weather. Did the famine-stricken natives seize on the ship, and lawlessly apply her cargo to the supply of their necessities? If they had, hurger would have formed for them a plausible excuse. Twenty years before, they

"It is the rule in this and the other isles of the He brides, that when a man meets a stray sheep on the moor, he is entitled to carry it home as his own, and obliged to make an equivalent offering in the collection for the poor on the Sabbath day. After the commencement of the revival in the Lewis, many came to confess to their minister the trouble of conscience they experienced by reason of having what they called a black sheep in their flocks some having had them for several winters. The minister always directed them to make restitution now in the appointed way, and in one season the sum of L.16 was deposited in the plate. The number of sheep annually lost has wonderfully diminished since the commencement of the revival, leading to the conclusion that the loss imputed to accident arose from dishonesty.

3." The Christian liberality of the people.It has long been the custom to make a collection at the Thursday lecture, for the most necessitous persons in the dis

rates, these people support their own poor. For many years they have contributed L.13 or upwards to the Gaelic School Society, sometimes L.16, and one year when the society was in difficulty, the contribution amounted to L.20. On transmitting L. 16, which was the sum collected in Uig in 1830, Mr M'Leod remarks

Considering the circumstances of the people, I bear testimony that their liberality and zeal in this case have cause to provoke very many to similar duties. It was most delightful to see the hoary head, and the young scholar of eight or nine years, joining in this contribution. The will preponderates over our purse, so that we cannot do exactly what we would.' In 1831, Mr M'Leod, while he petitions that a teacher may not be removed from his present station for another year, says, 'A poor man in that station declared to me lately, that should the directors demand one of his cows, he would readily give one before he would part with the teacher.'

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"The journal of the superintendent, in stating the examination of one of the schools in Uig, mentions the case of a man, named Norman M'Leod, who is one of the many hundreds of souls in the isle of Lewis that have come out of gross darkness into the sweet and blessed light of the knowledge of God, partly by means of the Gaelic schools, and partly by the ministration of the truth: Norman M'Leod is a native of this parish, and at an early age enlisted into the army, went abroad, and was in several engagements.' Balls,' says he, whizzed about me in numbers, but the Lord directed them so that they did me no harm.' He was in Egypt, and there lived in drunkenness and profligacy. 'There,' says he, in his native Gaelic, the Lord took from me my bodily sight. I came home, and on the way was wonderfully preserved. At length I found myself in my native land. Here I found things not as I left them. I found the Bible of God, of which I was totally igno rant, among my friends; and schools amongst them for teaching the knowledge of that blessed book. I found such a work among them with Bibles and schools as was altogether new to me. Nay, the very children would correct and reprove me, though an old man. In one of these schools, the Bible caught my ear, it sunk into my heart; it there opened an eye that sin had ever

kept sealed; it read to me my deeds, it led me to trace my former ways; yea, times, places, and deeds that were quite banished from my memory, were recalled into full view. It recorded a black catalogue against me, and seemed to fix my portion amongst the damned. I thought my case altogether a hopeless one, but the same Bible brought to my ears tidings of unutterable worth --salvation through a crucified Saviour.'

"The superintendent mentions this as a preface to a little story, which, were the honesty and simplicity of the old man known to the reader, would be considered more interesting still.'

"I began," said Norman to his minister, to think how these Gaelic schools came to be planted in my country. I thought on the state of my country when I knew it before in my youth, and on the blessed fruits of these schools among my kindred. I contrasted both, and wondered, and thought, and wondered again. Said I, what is this? What a change of things! Blessed God! Blessed Bible! Blessed people, that sent their schools! and blessed schools that teach the Bible of God to perishing sinners! and blessed teachers, men of Christ! I thought what would my poor country be, but for the Bible and these schools. I was led into their history, and traced them to a society in Edinburgh. They engrossed my attention, and I thought them really the schools of Christ. I thought I would pray for them, and so I did; but this, thought I, is not enough. When the Lord took away my eyesight, he gave me a pension. I thought I should give some of that to help his schools. A public collection was proposed by you. I felt happy at this, and prayed that the Lord might open na sporain dhubhà (that is, the black purses, an appellation given to the purses of greedy worldlings), and I myself gave two shillings. When a collection was proposed this year, I think,' said I to myself, I shall give this year four shillings, double what I gave last.' It is enough for you,' said something within me, to give what you gave last year, two shillings.' Here follows a long and most original debate, between Norman with the enlarged and melted heart, and the old worldly-wise Norman. Sometimes he would give double, then five, then ten, then back to five. During all this debate he was in great agitation, having, as he felt, lifted up his hand to the Lord that he would give so much. He thought of Ananias and Sapphira, and dared not go back; while the same inward voice asked him, Ah, Norman, what are you about; you are now going crazy altogether; you are a poor blind man, you cannot work, you have a family of seven to support, and the money God gave you as a provision for your family, you should apply to the object for which it was given, which will be most acceptable to him.' I then began to ruminate on the whole process, and at length I thought my opposition might be the suggestion of Satan to keep me from giving so much to the cause of Christ. On reflecting on this for a while, I felt convinced it was he. I started upon my legs, and lifting up my hand with defiance, I said, ' Ah! you devil, I will give a score of them. I will give a pound note every year I live, so the further you follow me, the more you shall lose.' From that moment the temptation ceased.'

score of

thousands. Poor Norman contributed his shillings' both last year and the present, and says he means to do so while he lives, unless the king becomes bankrupt!' We have pleasure in stating that Norman is not weary of his liberality, as he adds one penny to his pound for every year that God adds to his life.

"Their pastor, knowing that, by losses at sea and a bad harvest, they were one season unusually impove rished, did not call in the collection as usual; but they collected it among themselves, and carried it to him. He said he feared they could not afford it, but they would not be excused.

"In 1835, when, in addition to all their usual collections, they in one day at church gathered L20 for church extension, they were favoured with such a successful fishing season, as enabled them to supply all the wants of the winter. The fishing had for many years failed, and the people observed that, by means of this wealth bestowed on them from the sea in 1835, they were amply repaid for all they had been enabled to give. This is another of those facts which we note to the glory of him who is nigh unto all them that fear him. He knoweth what we have need of, and they who scatter in faith shall still increase. Let not any of those contributors shrink from this mention of the gracious dealing of God with them. The effort of their liberality was known to those interested in the church extension scheme, and the plentiful fishing was told in the newspapers. May those who see the divine hand give him the praise!

"Dr Chalmers, who is well acquainted with the amount usually collected in such a situation, observed that L7 would have been a handsome contribution for the parish of Uig. The parish of Lochs must also be mentioned as rivalling its neighbour in liberality, having contributed as much as L20 to the Gaelic School Society in one year, influenced by the same feeling of gratitude and concern for the ignorant. It is pleasing to be enabled to trace this to the only genuine source of liberality. The faithful pastor at Lochs has lately been cheered by seeing several new souls awakened, and the good work has been going on prosperously in the early months of 1836. May the spirit of the Lord cause this thing to grow!"

DISCOURSE.

BY THE REV. ANDREW GRAY,

Minister of Woodside.

"Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."-REV. iii. 17.

THESE words were not addressed to heathens, my brethren, but, to persons within the pale of the visible church, and who professed to be Christians, as you do. Many of them must have sprung from Christian parents, and received the ordinance of baptism in their infancy, for the Laodicean Church was now of at least from thirty to forty "How interesting and encouraging it is to mark the wonderful and merciful working of God in preserving years standing. But if language like this can apthis poor blind man abroad, and in bringing him in safe-ply to persons who have been born in the bosom ty home to his native land, until, by your instrumentality, he should be made acquainted with the ways and salvation of God. Thus, from Egypt all the way, a blind scholar has been brought to your schools. Thus, the Bible having been blessed to a poor blind man, in a remote hamlet of your land, has drawn forth the prayer of his heart in its own cause, and as much out of his small pittance for the cause of Christ, as out of the purses of those who have their hundreds and their

of a Christian community, it certainly does appear to follow, as a consequence, that the great moral and spiritual change called conversion, is not necessary for heathens alone, and cannot be reckoned a phenomenon, which is incompatible with the circumstances of the Christian world. And the truth, my brethren, is, that notwithstanding the Christian name we bear, and the Christian pri

vileges we enjoy, from the first moment of our fore good store of the current coin of the eternal existence, each of us as much requires to be con- | world, and are possessed of riches that will endure, verted, as did our less favoured ancestors, who after the present system of things has passed away. propitiated idol deities with human blood. The 2. "And increased with goods." These words change, no doubt, externally, cannot be, by any embody an additional conceit of the unconverted means, so striking; but, considered essentially, man. He is rich, and his wealth is not in the and in reference to the heart, it is the same; and, course of decay; on the contrary, it is rising in with all our supposed Christianity, so long as we its amount, it is accumulating fast. He has a have not experienced that change, it is true of us, good capital; and, in mercantile phrase, he is as it was of the Laodiceans-we say we are rich, doing well. and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

I. The unconverted sinner's estimate of his own condition.

1. "I am rich." The word "rich," is here used in its most extended meaning, as descriptive of the possession of that which is of great value. "I am rich." I possess much; and what I possess is well worth having. I have great reason to be satisfied with the abundance of excellent things which I can call my own.

If he is a young man, he, peradventure, rejoices in the rapid growth and extensive range of his literary, and scientific, and professional acquirements, and his heart bounds within him, as the strong hope arises of approaching distinction and fame. Each new stage in his progress he reaches with fresh satisfaction and delight; he is more and more confirmed in the belief, that the literature, the science, the professional skill he has already got, and continues to get, are the very things which it is most important for him to have; and, as onward he speeds with untiring enthusiasm, adding one attainment to another, he seems to say,"I am rich, and increased with goods."

humble arena, has presented himself for admission into the fellowship of the Church, and has passed, with great eclat, the scrutiny of pastoral examination; and who, having now entered some circle of religious companionship, is foremost among his brethren in apt and fluent quotation of Scripture, and in the ease and fulness with which he can discourse respecting doctrinal, practical, or experimental Christianity. When such a man is unconverted,―for unconverted such a man may be,―he, regards his attainments as most creditable to himself, and his progress as being of the most satisfactory kind; he feels as if he could, without presumption, make the boast of the Pharisee, that he is not as other men are; and his whole carriage proclaims, as distinctly as his mouth could declare, that he thinks himself rich," and increased with goods."

If the unconverted sinner has money, he is proud of it. He looks upon it as a great portion. He distends with the idea of the consequence he I have adverted to one case, but there are others. derives from it. You have only to look at him, There is the case of him who has made large acin order to discover his feeling to be that he is rich. quisitions of religious knowledge; who, perhaps, But many of the unconverted have no money to has figured in the Sabbath school, and won the be proud of. That circumstance, however, does encomiums of his teachers, and the admiration of not prevent them from finding out that they are his friends, by the application of rare powers of rich. Perhaps they have respectable family con- memory and of judgment to the statutes and annections, or they have a goodly personal appear-nouncements of God's Word; who, leaving that ance, or they possess superior talents. In any such case, the mind fastens with special complacency upon the circumstance, and feels all the satisfaction attendant upon the consciousness of being rich. There are those of the class to which our observations have reference, who have amiable tempers, generous dispositions, benevolent hearts; whose charity is extensive; whose deeds of mercy are countless, and whose steady aim it seems to be, to reduce the amount of human misery, and communicate happiness to all around them. Respecting such persons, far be it from me to say any thing that is harsh. But the truth must be spoken. The kindly emotions and sympathies with which they are conversant, the alms-givings and charitable acts which they practise, do sometimes stand forth in conspicuous array before their minds, and, as they review them, they whisper to themselves, "we are rich"-rich in good hearts, See, again, that man who has left behind him "rich in good deeds." There are those of upright the gay period of youth, and has arrived at the principles, too, who always hold the scales of justice years of maturity and wisdom. He is no longer even between themselves and those with whom what he once was. The fire of passion is modethey transact, and who are the most sincere and rated, and the grosser immoralities of early life unflinching enemies of every species and every de-are abandoned. He does not now rush headlong gree of fraud; and we shall find among the unconverted, not a few of decent and honourable character, who uniformly employ the weight of their influence in favour of morality, and for the suppression of vice. Such men stand high in their own estimation. They are gratified to think that, being enabled to call principles so exalted, and conduct so exemplary, their own, they have there

into the practice of folly, and of flagrant and open sin. He does not now take a pride in setting at nought all the decencies of society, and in violating its most obvious duties. In extravagance, and vanity, and vice, he perceives not those attractions which he formerly felt to be overpowering. No. He has forsaken the pursuit of pleasure. He has renounced the habits of licentiousness. It is ma

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nifest to all men that he is changed. From being the universe, and who has consequently forfeited, a person of no character, he is become a person of a thousand times over, the well-being of body and good character. He is inferior to none of his soul for ever. Survey him again, watch his be neighbours in moral standing and respectability.haviour, and say what indications he gives of being He is a prudent, a well-behaved, an honourable sensible that the grace of God is necessary to sanc citizen. In consequence of the improvement tify his heart, and purify, and regulate his life. which has taken place, the man fancies that he Do you see about him the humble carriage of one has great reason to be satisfied with himself. The who is deeply affected by the thought of the perperiod of his moral bankruptcy has been succeeded verse and corrupt tendencies of his nature, who by what, in his estimation, has proved a most has made the mortifying discovery that his own prosperous period-a period that has been signal- righteousness is at best but as a filthy rag, and has ized by so goodly an accumulation of merit as to become convinced that the skill of an Almighty compensate, and more than compensate, for the Physician is indispensable to remove his spiritual shortcomings of the past. This feeling is pre- disease, to cure the grievous wounds and bruises cisely the counterpart of the feeling of the world- with which he is overspread, and to cleanse and ling, who rejoices in the wealth he has amassed, heal his putrifying sores? Do you find that he and says,"I am rich, and increased with goods." avails himself of the privilege of access to the 3. "And have need of nothing." In these mercy-seat, with that frequency and earnestness, words we are presented with the unconverted man's and pours out his desires before God with that climax. It is a great thing to be rich, still better fulness and fervour to which such sentiments and to be making vast acquisitions of wealth, but, be- convictions would infallibly lead? No. He is not yond comparison, it is best of all to have reached given to prayer. He has no experience of holy that degree of prosperity at which all anxiety and desire. The gracious words of the Saviour, “ask care can with safety be dismissed, and the man and ye shall receive," prove no stimulus to spiritual can congratulate himself on his fortune being made; activities or religious exercises on his part. He on provision being secured for all his wants; the sees them not to be suitable to his case. Well fitobjects of his most ambitious desires being realised; ted they are to set those in motion who have little and an independence attained, so firm and well- of their own, whose resources are spent, and whose founded, as to baffle the power of adversity to over-energies are gone. But he belongs not to that throw it. One might be rich and increased with goods, and still require many things which he did not possess; but surely there is no room for improvement in his condition, who stands in need of nothing. The prosperity of his state has arrived at the superlative degree.

class of unfortunates. He can do for himself. He can subdue and discipline his own spirit. He can correct and govern his own ways. He has no occasion to stoop so low as to supplicate and look for the bounty of the God that made him. It is true, my brethren, that the unconverted man often repairs to the house of God, but the circumstance that he carries none of the divine benefits away, that he returns as empty as he came, proves him to have taken the idea along with him that he had need of nothing. You may see him approach the wells of salvation, but you will never see him drink of their waters. You may see him standing where the manna has fallen, and where the bread of life is dealt out to the famishing soul; but you will never see him taste of the heavenly food. He neither hungers nor thirsts after righteousness. Unmoved he beholds the display of the new covenant mercies of the God of salvation, and from the glorious exhibition of the varied and inexhausti ble fulness of Christ, he walks away with a composure and an apathy which proclaim that, in his own opinion, he is independent of it all, and has need of nothing!

Perhaps you ask, where is that man? It is not our present business to answer such a question, or to enquire whether he can be found in any part of the world. Enough for us, in the mean time, that we can point to one who fancies he is the person, and who seems to view his own circumstances so favourably as to conclude that he is in the happy predicament of having no wants, that he is, in every respect, so well supplied, and so felicitously situated, as to have need of nothing. Look there to the unconverted man, the respectable, benevolent church-going sinner, whose heart is a stranger to the renewing grace of God. Does he need pardon? Is he at all dependent on that forgiveness which the Scriptures assure us may be found with a merciful God? He appears not to think so. His bearing is any thing rather than that of a criminal, conscious of his demerit, and aware that his ruin is inevitable unless the clemency of that God, whose law he has despised and 1. "He is wretched." Consider the original whose authority he has rebelled against, should in- state of mankind. Think of its enjoyments, its terpose to save him. The unconcern and tran- privileges, its honours, its prospects. How blessquillity which he displays, are such as it were im-ed was that state! think of a world which sorrow possible to reconcile with the supposition that he knew the fact even of a human law being about to arrest him for the penalty incurred by its infringement; and far less can we reconcile them with the idea that he considers himself as one who has traversed every statute of the great moral code of

II. The unconverted sinner's real state.

could not trouble, which disease never ravaged, and which death durst not darken with his gloomy shadow; a world to which angels delighted to resort, as to an abode of purity and peace; a world where man appears with the diadem of innocence yet gracing his brow, and announcing his dignity,

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