will be peace. The hope of the glory that awaits the Christian far outweighs, even in the present world, the contempt of men; and it will not be long before those who ridiculed his conduct will wish that they were partakers of his reward.

Let us not fear then to advocate the doctrines of the cross of our Saviour. Let our conversation and spirit prove that we are not ashamed of prayer, of praise, of studying the Scriptures, of devotional intercourse, or of that divine operation of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, which constitutes so important a doctrine of Christianity. Let us explicitly act up to our sentiments. It is not unusual to find dying persons lamenting their former want of sincerity and firmness in this important particular. We know not what poignant regrets we are laying up for our departing hours, if we recoil, while in health, from an unreserved and constant avowal of our religious principles. When we come within view of eternity, nothing will more grieve our minds or darken our prospects, than the consciousness of having, through fear of the reproach of Christ, concealed, perhaps even from our dearest intimates and friends, our views on the most important of all subjects which can interest a human being. Having acted disingenuously towards our Saviour in our days of health and

usefulness, how can we expect that he will irradiate our expiring moments with his divine presence and manifestations? The written rule of God's conduct is, "them that honour "me I will honour," and why should we think that in our particular case he will reverse it? When eternity approaches, it usually appears so unspeakably important, and the opinions of men so completely lose their former influence upon the mind, that the repentant sufferer is astonished at the fatuity of his own conduct in not acting up to the plain, unsophisticated spirit of his heavenly profession. How often do we hear of persons, constitutionally the most timid, summoning around their death-bed their thoughtless relatives and dependents, to declare to them, for the first, and, perhaps, the last time, what they bitterly acknowledge ought to have been their own conduct, and what they affectionately trust will be the conduct of their surviving friends? Piety never yet excited a blush in a dying man:

"Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die."

Let us not then ask, as persons too commonly do, what will men say were we to begin to make a consistent profession of religion? Let us ask rather, what will conscience say if we neglect to do it? What will the holy angels say, when they see before the bar of

Heaven, an accountable and immortal being who knew what his heavenly vocation required, but who feared the momentary contempt of man more than the eternal wrath of God? What will condemned spirits say, when they find that their malicious arts have seduced us into an inextricable snare? Above all, what will be the language of the omniscient Judge, when in the dreadful day of account we appear before his impartial tribunal? How do the opinions of mortals vanish into nothing before these important considerations!

Let us then regard the world as it really is; or, what is much the same thing, as it will appear to us when we are about to quit it. Let us view it as false, as unsatisfying, as probationary; and let us habitually contrast it with that unchangeable and eternal world towards which we are so rapidly approaching. This will be a powerful argument against being ashamed of Christ; for what is the frown or the applause of a few misguided mortals to the man who expects in a few days, or years, to be a glorified spirit in the presence of his omnipotent Creator, enjoying the delights of Heaven for evermore?

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THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK.

LOVE to God and charity to our neighbour are the sum and substance of the Decalogue. The latter part of the duty forms that "new commandment" which our divine Lord gave to his disciples, and which is an epitome of the second table of the other ten.

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The universality of the duty of loving our neighbour does not, however, prevent its applying with peculiar force to the more intimate relations and connexions of life. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brethren and sisters, masters and servants, are placed by the gospel under particular obligations to the practice of this delightful command. There is also another connexion which is frequently and pointedly mentioned in the New Testament; namely, the sacred and responsible relation, between spiritual pastors and their flock.

Emancipation from ecclesiastical tyranny is reckoned, and justly, among the privileges of modern times. But in throwing off a burden

some and useless yoke, in restoring conscience to its just and unalienable rights, may not men, in the usual spirit of innovation, have done more than was necessary, more than was wise? The present age has not indeed materially abridged the immunities of the church; but has it not introduced, what, to a clergyman who really values the souls of his fellow-creatures, must appear far more injurious, a general diminution of affection and esteem for its ministers; has it not discarded most of those innocent prepossessions in their favour, which, with whatever disadvantages it might be attended, once formed also a plentiful source of usefulness? Compared with former days, how little do we now hear of persons applying to their religious teacher for advice in difficulties, for direction in scruples of conscience, for mediation in cases of contest and dispute?

The laity, in fact, tend to fill the church with indolent, unskilful, and irreligious ministers, by not making it a public disgrace not to be the very reverse of these characters. Were they unanimously to show, that they expect from their pastors, not simply the accustomed public services, but private advice and instruction, and an example of all the holy, humble, self-denying graces of the Christian and ministerial characters, improper persons would be in a great measure excluded from the church,