the little circle of his grandchildren with deeply touching words of love. With his family, including two most venerable sisters who had come to be with him, he received, at the hands of the Rev. John Hall, his last communion. After that final ratification of his union with Christ, and with the church that makes earth and heaven one, he seemed to have done with time; and manifestly withdrew more entirely into himself, to be alone with the Shepherd of the valley and shadow of death. At this point he seemed disposed to say farewell to all human comforters, that he might be left alone with that One. There was no need of further testimonies, and he had no longer strength to speak to others about them. On the eve of his death, he slept till midnight; when he asked for a cup of cold water, was turned on his pillow, and said, "Now I will rest." That rest was a profound sleep of many hours, which deepened almost imperceptibly into the perfect rest of death. He departed about midday of November 8th, 1860, in the seventy-second year of his age. A few days afterwards his remains were interred in Cheetham-Hill Cemetery, to mingle with much other dust of his own kindred and his own communion.

Mr. Lomas has bequeathed a good example to his family, and to the younger generation among whom he spent his latter years. Of his own character enough has been said; more, indeed, than he would have permitted. It may, however, in conclusion, be fairly summed up in the words of his son, Mr. George Lomas, who, by the grace of God, is taking his father's place in the service of Christ and the church :-" He was a thorough Christian; with a plain, straightforward understanding, a sound judgment, and vast energy of purpose and act. He was a man of perfect simplicity, exceedingly cheerful, who led a life of beautiful consistency, marked always by truth and uprightness." The simple account that has been given teaches to all the old lesson of the blessedness of the righteous in life and in death; but it has a special significance to two classes of readers. To those, namely, who are in the active service of the church; and to those who are laid aside, and waiting for their final discharge. It is the record of a life spent in a simple, severe, and comprehensive devotion to duty; of one who consecrated, not very high gifts, but man's common average of talents, to the public good; of one who was literally never weary of service, but so entirely rejoiced in it, that the suspension of that service, when it came at last, was a shock and a grief. It is the record of a life, therefore, which is open to the imitation of all. Every man of business may copy its integrity; and every office-bearer in the church may copy its devotion to the public good. For its only secret was a Christian and devout delight in doing the duty appointed by the Redeemer. And it is also the record of a death from which all who are waiting till their change come may gather consolation. For it shows that a good man may, even after the threescore years and ten, be still more willing to live than to die. And it shows that if this "willing rather" to live springs from a love of the usefulness of life, and does not take the

form of rebellion against God's will, and is not infected by a guilty dread of death, the gentle Lord is not strict to mark the lingering unreadiness to come nearer to Himself. And it shows that, before He requires the final sacrifice, He will take care to give the offerer a willing heart; that He will wait, in His mercy, until His grace has stilled the last quiver of reluctance, and the dying saint can say, “I am now ready to be offered."

RELIGIONS, POPULAR AND UNPOPULAR.

BUDHISM, Mahomedanism, Popery, command the homage of vast crowds. Protestant Christianity, on the other hand, lives and reigns among the few. There is this that operates somewhat to its disadvantage, as a public phenomenon, that even in the countries of its profession you find a large class of the people who have thrown off all recognition of its authority, and all respect for its forms. Every one of teeming millions in China and India, however ignorant or depraved, owns some deity, and trembles with some superstition. Mussulmans at market or in the field, treading the deck of the pirate-ship, or roving for plunder on the track of the caravan, are not ashamed of their religion. Papists, everywhere, are ready to avow their allegiance to their Church; and, whatever their character, have a never-failing hope that the merits of their system will save them. Of all the religions of the world, Protestantism seems to have the least hold of the masses; and, as regards the higher classes, it is only English statesmen, when legislating for schools in India, or colleges in Ireland, who have no religion! Enemies, reproaching us with the comparative powerlessness of our Protestantism, declare that, instead of sending Missionaries to convert the heathen, we should try to improve the condition of our own people. They insinuate that the religiousness of Heathens, of Mahomedans, of Papists, is better than the desperate irreligion of many in our own lands; and that it is a spurious charity, a blind sectarianism, that prompts us to attempt the evangelization of other nations while our own is in such a case. But it is a sophism to compare the religions of Mahomet, of Budhu, and of Antichrist, with that of the New Testament. The great difference between them is that which exists between the true and the false, the honest and the counterfeit. We do not pronounce that no Budhist, no Mahomedan, no Papist, can be saved; but that, if any of these be saved, it will not be by means of their systems, but in spite of them; and further, that, while the intelligent and obedient reception of the true faith of Christ is calculated to ennoble and purify human nature, submission to these other systems is sure to degrade and enslave it.

The plausible success of the false religions cannot, therefore, be compared with the beneficial success of the true, as though both were alike propitious to the interests of humanity. The progress or prevalence of Mahomedanism or Budhism does not represent the advance

of truth, or the real improvement of mankind. The nations under these systems are stagnating or sinking. Politically enfeebled, they are intellectually dead and morally corrupt. But a pure Christianity brings along with it ten thousand minor blessings, being "profitable unto all things." If only a few receive it in the love of it, they become "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." Hence, where it prevails, mind awakens, manners grow purer, politics are elevated, civilization and science are welcomed, and the abuses and vices of the past flee away. To say that a nation is Budhist, or that it is Pagan, does not mean that it is enlightened and free; while so much is implied in its being Christian and Protestant. If we hear that this tribe or that island has lately been converted to Christianity, it is understood that the people have emerged from the dark savagism of their forefathers to become civilized, intelligent, peaceful, industrious, and happy. It should be remembered, again, that these corrupt systems do not, for the most part, even affect to condemn or resist the moral evils of man. They often minister to the indulgence of his worst desires, and engage his worst passions in their service. Christianity teaches men to curb their appetites, and rebukes rather than encourages the promptings of the lower nature. But these popular systems-these religions of multitudes-do not appeal to the higher faculties of the soul. They twine about the sense, make conscience the slave of fancy, and blind the understanding with the mists of passion. Instead of draining the fountain of natural depravity, they are but enormous and cunningly devised channels along which it flows with greater ease, so as to become more widely destructive. Christianity is a temple built by God, where His glory is revealed, and man is reconciled to Him: but these dreary systems are strongholds of darkness, where souls die in captivity, having a stock or a stone instead of God, and where delusion fills the eye of hope. Indifference may find but little to choose between these opposites. To the man who has no religion it matters not whether his neighbour is a Budhist or a devil-worshipper, whether he is Protestant or Papist. Without eyes, and without taste, evil is good, and bitter is sweet to him. But it tells upon the happiness of a land, whether, at some crisis of its history, the doctrines of Christ's apostles, of Wycliffe and Luther, gain the ear and heart of its people, or whether Confucius becomes its lawgiver, or Mahomet its prophet. Would Germany have been the land of Luther, Leibnitz, and. Goethe, if Saracens and not Christians had been its civilizers? Would India have been the possession of an alien race, and its children an abject multitude, if it had exchanged its decaying Brahminism for apostolical wisdom, or if the teachings of Jesus Christ had been accepted before Mahomedan conquerors had forced their novelties upon the affrighted people? Where would have been the England of to-day, if no martyrs had burned on Smithfield, if no "two thousand" had borne their self-denying witness in 1662, and no revival had blessed the eighteenth century?

The great impediment to a rapid diffusion of pure Christianity lies. in its nature. It is spiritual. It is unlike fallen man. Yet, such a

system is the one needed by the world. Men do not require a reli gion merely to occupy certain natural faculties; or that, by its hopes and fears, social order may be assisted, and the power of the priest and the tyrant secured ;-though this has been a common theory of it, as a necessary fact in society and history. The doctrine of human depravity, implying the need of regeneration, has never been a realized truth among those thinkers on man's spiritual condition who were not acquainted with revelation. The intellectual philosophy of Greece made some approach to the humbling truth, in its discovery of the innate ignorance and prejudice of the mind, rendering self-denial and meditation necessary to the attainment of just views. And many sad testimonies are scattered over the remains of Gentile wisdom, concerning the inbred foolishness and perversity of human nature. But it was not distinctly perceived that this was the universal condition of man, and that the common disorder demanded some simple but sufficient remedy. Hence religion is exhibited as a duty, and even enjoined as a privilege, but never announced as the Divine means for moral renovation. Philosophy still dreamed, and faith found refuge beneath its shadow; but, stricken with a fatal sterility, that tree yielded no leaves "for the healing of the nations." So strong in man is the instinct of adoration, and so restless, even in his darkest periods, is the immortal spirit, that he must have a religion. But idolatrous systems, while they set up objects for worship and trust, bribed the imagination with false promises, or alarmed it with false threats; gained to their side the consent of the multitude, by suspending the ancient ordinances of morality; but never proposed or attempted the spiritual regeneration of mankind.

To man, as he is, religion is a struggle. It is "the good fight of faith." The contest is too fierce for victory to be gained by him that fights "as one that beateth the air." It introduces a law to the mind which opposes the law in the members, judging all acts, words, and thoughts. Heretofore, the man did what was right in his own eyes, without a thought of the moral character or the consequences of his actions. The claims of Deity, the laws of a higher tribunal than his own reason, he regarded not. When these obligations are enforced, his first feeling is rebellious resentment. "What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?" Yet, increasing light demonstrates the law to be "holy, and just, and good." And now begins the true conflict of the soul; between clear conviction of duty and the desire for self-gratification. Christ's law makes no compromise; it yields no requirement. "If a man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Herein consists its superhuman, its Divine excellence. It would not be suited to man's need, if it compounded with the love of sin, or connived at its indulgence. He needs complete deliverance from his mortal disease, and an unskilful or double-dealing physician will not heal him. The old man is to be "crucified"-is to die: all "old things" must pass away, and the sinner must become a new creature." It is not enough to pay part of the price, to honour God

with the lips, to relinquish some sins, to do some good or great thing. The demands are simple and unalterable. No gold can bribe, no power can coerce, no authority can terrify, the Sovereign who holds the keys of this kingdom. If years and opportunities are wasted in vain procrastination, or in the fruitless trial of expedients and substitutes, at the end of the experiment the conditions remain the same. The last books of the Sibyl cost the Roman Emperor as much as would have bought the original nine; and man's late repentance only places him where an earlier submission would have brought him. It is because of this unyielding, uncompromising spirit, that the many reject Christianity. "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life," therefore "few there be that find it." Heathenism evades these difficulties, and is popular. It has never said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven!" It has never denounced "the works of the flesh," as Christ and His apostles denounced them. Of the fruit of the Spirit," (which is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness," and the like,) it knows nothing. It offers terms with which sinful nature can comply. A man need not be "converted," to become a Mahomedan. Popery, though ever guarding itself, hiding its art, and disguising even its imitation of Christianity, has been compelled to come nearer to the right standard. Hence its offers of pardon and salvation are scarcely so easy to fallen nature as those of blank Paganism, yet are still within the reach of unsanctified man. The unregenerate can do all that Popery prescribes among the conditions of eternal life. Anyone may confess to a priest, do penance, go through works of austerity or charity, without truly giving his heart to God, or ceasing to love sin. Therefore this, too, is the religion of millions. "Many there be that go in thereat."

In the countries where such religions prevail, there will be no visible distinction between the church and the world. A few will acquire a reputation for superior wisdom or propriety; and sects of Pharisaic strictness or Sadducean freethinking will separate from the multitude. But the world will be the church. Compliance with specified external conditions will entitle to membership, and to all the benefits of the system. Scriptural Christianity, on the other hand, distinguishes between the professors of religion and those who "have their portion in this life." And it expects a further discrimination hereafter, within the sacred circle of the visible church, between the sheep and the goats. Viewing these facts, and the manifest opposition of fallen nature to the doctrines and precepts of the Cross, we may ask with trembling, "Are there few, then, that can be saved?" Nothing seems clearer than that the majority of the adult population of the earth has been, through all time, going the wrong way. even in enlightened lands, where the purest truth is freely diffused, various reductions must be made from the numbers of those professing to own it; while the native enmity to the Most High displays itself in a wholesale public departure from the very forms of godliness. Such facts are appalling. Their bearing upon the moral pro

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