portant is it, considering the vigilance | you as unto children, My son, despise of our great adversary and his access to our spirits, that we should not have to seek the sword of the Spirit when the enemy is making his attack; that we should have it, if I may so express myself, ready drawn in order immediately to defend ourselves. If our memory then places before us a text suited to our circumstances, how beneficial it may be to us. Let us at all times have on our minds some truth suited to our circumstances, whatever they may be. The omniscience of God and his displeasure against sin! What a preservative to the young, so that they may exclaim with one of old, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" "Thy word," says David, "have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee." And in regard to the young he asks, "How shall a young man cleanse his way?" He at once answers the inquiry, "By taking heed thereto according to thy word." Memory will furnish you with helps when other means and ordinances are unattainable. If your minds are well stored with scripture, you will be able, as it were, to rd in the dark; you may hear the spel and be comforted by its truth, in the field, or the shop, or on journey, or when engaged in the ious duties of no Christian near life; when you hayou, no bible, n preacher, you can draw forth by recollection something to instruct yo something to refresh you, something to edify you. In this instance, as in many others, "the good man shall be satisfied from himself." Further, an acquaintance with scripture will furnish you with arguments in prayer, with motives in prayer, with promises to encourage you, with certain rules to regulate you. Of what importance it is, under trials and afflictions, to be acquainted with the word of God! "Ye have forgotten," says the apostle, "the exhortation which speaketh unto FOL. X.-FOURTH SERIES. not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." He intimates that these extremes arise from their forgetfulness of the scriptures; from their inattention to the word of God. There is something in the scriptures suited to all our circumstances; and if we have a full acquaintance with the promises of God which they contain, they will promote our consolation. A full acquaintance with the scriptures will also prepare us for religious conversation. We can communicate only what we possess. Take a worldly man and press him as you will: he can talk only on those subjects which are interesting to his mind. Take a Christian, whose speech is seasoned with grace: it ministers to the use of difying. Our Lord says, "A good me out of the good treasure of his hea- bringeth forth that which is good." "Out of the abundance of the heart he mouth speaketh." Let me earntly entreat the young to avail them cives of the opportunity, which ty may not hereafter possess, of acquainting themselves with the word of God. Treasure up, my dear young friends, every chapter you read and every sermon you hear; have them ready for use. Timothy was commended for that from a child he had known the holy scriptures, which were able to make him wise unto salvation. Let it be the concern of all of us to acquaint ourselves with the blessed word of God. Let it be your guide in life, and then it will be your support [in trouble and in death. Fourthly, the disciples remembered this passage of scripture in consequence of their seeing the action our Lord performed. There we see how desirable and how necessary it is for us to compare the word of God and the works of God together, and how much an attention to the providence of God will aid us in our contemplation of the scriptures. 4 A The maraus vorks of God are natally tres by the aid of providence! There are many occasions when we can do it to advantage, if we seek the opporunity. It promote our thankfulnesse to car heavenly Father, and it will promote our ecfidence in the truth of God's word How delightful it is that the Saviour, in condescension to our infirmities, has instituted an ordinance in order to lead as to remember him! The Christian, in his best moments, will be ready to say, -I can never forget thee." But alas! present objects intrude upon his mind, and steal away his thoughts, and engross the affections of his heart. It is wonderfal that after such love we can ever forget our Lord; but so it is. Our Lord knows us better than we know ourselves; he knew how necessary such a memento would be even of love like his, and he has mercifully instituted this ordinance to revive the feeling in our breasts while we remember him. He has not driven us from his temple, though we have too often profaned it; but is continually drawing us by the tenging the SSD remen period is approaching when we ll be able with greater advantage call to remembrance the works of th Lord and compare them with his word. In eternity we shall perceive the harm of the whole. There, we shall see that very dispensation was illustrative of the character of God, and the scriptures of true. and we shall exclaim, "Just and right a thy ways, O Lord." There, our powers will be strengthened and perfected. There is not a sentence we have uttered, or a circumstance in our lives, which will not be present to our minds. The various dispensations of Providence will throw light one upon another, and the reasons for that which while on earth we could not understand will appear; and if every sentence the believer has uttered, and every circumstance in his life, will then be present to his mind: so will it be then be awfully perfect. Oh, that the also to the condemned spirit. Memory sinner would reflect upon this before it will then be perfect. Sins long for- is too late, and turn unto God, that he gotten, motives carefully concealed, will may live ! all flash upon the memory, which will DUTIES INCUMBENT UPON CHRISTIANS IN RELATION TO THE PRESENT TIMES. BY THE REV. SAMUEL WALKER. THE great characteristic of all earthly things is change. We live in the midst of a world perpetually varying in its aspects. And it is necessary for us, in all our affairs, to shape our course of action and adapt our measures to meet the peculiarities of the times and circumstances in which we may be placed, in order to improve them to the best purpose. To the honour of David it is recorded that he "served his generation according to the will of God" in this respect his example ought to be imitated by all Christians. Not that all possess equal capabilities and opportunities for rendering service to their generation; but each one, in his own particular sphere and according to the extent of his influence, should endeavour to promote the temporal and spiritual interests of those by whom he is surrounded. Disinterestedness in doing good is an important feature of the Christian character. The true disciple of Christ lives not to himself; seeks not exclusively his own happiness, but the happiness of others; and to accomplish this object his energies are expended. Self is not the great or even the principal object of attention; his heart is dilated with love to the Saviour and with benevolence towards his fellow men, and by this powerful principle he is prompted actively to engage in the various duties of Christian philanthropy. It is the great duty of all those who have after mature reflection with sincerity and cordiality embraced the religion of Christ, to maintain and advance the interests of that glorious cause which they have espoused: it is incumbent upon them to do this, whatever may be the peculiar aspect of the times in which they may happen to live. But certain seasons occur when they are more especially called to set themselves for the defence of the gospel from every kind of attack with which it may be assailed by its enemies of various kinds and of different degrees of intellectual stature; and they are required heartily and actively to put forth their energies in aggressive movements upon the territories of error and sin, and to storm` the strongholds of wickedness. We greatly fear that many professing Christians do not feel sensible of that amount of responsibility which attaches to the character they have assumed. Too many, alas! who are fully awake to their secular interests, are lamentably apathetic to the spiritual claims of mankind; and even those who are aware of the duties that are incumbent upon them are too prone to slumber on the lap of indolence and neglect to perform them. This tendency should be carefully guarded against, and every individual professor of the religion of Jesus Christ should reflect upon the great responsibility that devolves upon him; and he energetic, enlightened, and persevering action in relation to the times and circumstances in which he may be placed. should instantly adopt a course of sively for the few, threatening literally to inundate the country with books. We are aware of the danger that may arise from the too rapid multiplication of books; namely, that many of them being of a very superficial character, time may be consumed by their perusal to no purpose. We have referred to the increase of books, which may be procured on the easiest terms, in order to show the facilities which are afforded to the people generally for the obtaining of knowledge. Christians should not be behind the age in which they live; but they should at least keep pace with it. We have no wish that they should read their bibles less than they have been accustomed to do, and we would impress upon their minds the importance of not merely giving to the sacred scriptures a superficial perusal, but intelligently and devoutly studying them; and to aid them in doing so they may read such works as serve to elucidate their meaning by reference to the manners and customs of the Hebrews, &c. According to their opportunities for mental improvement they should make themselves conversant with knowledge generally; but it is especially their duty to examine the evidences of Christianity, that they may be able to give a reason of the hope that is within them. Experimental evidence may be sufficient to satisfy their own minds, but this will not silence the sceptic. In this age of prevalent error and unbelief it is desirable that all who have embraced the religion of Jesus Christ should be well grounded in the evidences of revelation, so that they may be prepared to withstand the attacks of its enemies whenever they may be assailed by them. In dwelling a little more particularly on the subject of this essay, we remark, in the first place, that it is the duty of Christians, in relation to the present times, to cultivate a greater amount of sincere, ardent, and enlightened piety; to seek the improvement of both the heart and the intellect. A high-toned religious feeling, emanating from a sanctified heart, is always important and never unnecessary; but it is of paramount importance in this age of constant activity and bustle. Amidst all this the spiritual interests of the soul may be endangered; for when there is so much to occupy the mind, the heart may possibly be neglected. But the present times demand from Christians not only the cultivation of the heart, but also that of the mind. There must be mental improvement. These times are distinguished by progress. Who has not repeatedly heard of the march of intellect? In past generations "darkness covered the earth," and, in the most comprehensive sense of the phrase, "gross darkness" the minds of the people. The human mind was almost every where sunk into a state of the greatest torpidity. To the masses the treasures of knowledge were inaccessible, the thoughts of the learned being for the most part buried in languages which the common people did not understand. But what a mighty revolution has taken place in the literary world since the middle ages! The people generally have begun to read and think. Reading societies have been instituted in almost every town and village, offering to lend books on the easiest terms. And the press is continually pouring forth a mighty torrent of publications; printing for the million and not exclu It would be both tedious and superfluous to dwell in this essay on the duty of Christians to support the various institutions which have for their object the propagation of the gospel both at home and abroad, and the various other schemes of Christian benevolence to which our attention is frequently directed. These we shall therefore omit, and others we shall notice with great brevity. A greater amount of Christian union is demanded by the present times. To some extent union does already exist ;we deem it desirable and necessary that it should be increased. It has done good in promoting the objects of the tract and bible societies; and in other practical measures it appears possible for Christians to unite in order to advance the general good and the prosperity of the Redeemer's cause. Considering the number, character, and resources of the enemies of religion, and the formidable barriers which impede its progress, it does appear to be the duty of Christians to promote union, and practically to co-operate with each other, whenever it may be possible to do so for the advancement of God's truth, in opposition to those who would obscure it by their tradition, or those who seek entirely to extirpate it from the earth. We do not want merely the talk about Christian union, but the thing itself. It may be very well to talk about it in order to get people in love with it; and it must be very edifying for believers of different denominations to meet together and join in religious exercises. We want Christians to divest themselves as much as possible of denominational prejudices and sectarian selfishness, and practically to exhibit union without uniformity or compromise ;-union which admits the free and unfettered expression of our peculiar and distinctive sentiments. And why should not all evangelical Christians be thus united? There is something about the gospel uniting and comprehensive. Believers are represented as a family; a representation which embodies the idea of union, for the members of a family are united by the strongest and closest ties. Notwithstanding the shades of difference with regard to individuals and communities of Christians, there is an essential similarity of character among them all; and they have received the same fundamental truths, possess the same blessings, and are laid under the same obligations. They have the same Lord, the same hope; and one chord vibrates through every heart. One principle influences them in rendering obedience to their common Lord, and they all expect ultimately to be associated together in one great community of the spirits of just men made perfect; and if Christians are to be one in heaven, why should they not try to be one on earth by way of preparation for heaven? The present is not the time to widen breaches and to magnify discrepancies. The principle of love and concern for the glory of Christ should induce believers to look less at their differences and more at the essential points in which they are agreed, and to combine together for united action, presenting a mighty phalanx to the antagonists of truth and righteousness. Union is strength, and mighty will be the conquests of the Israel of God when all sects point their weapons against the common foe instead of directing them against each other. We admit that there are obstacles in the way of Christian union on a large and comprehensive scale; but these stumbling-blocks must, if possible, be taken out of the way. One of the greatest of these in this country is the existence of a religious establishment. It is true that some of the enlightened and pious members of the established church have so far broken away from their trammels as to meet with dissenters of different denominations for Christian intercourse and worship. We are glad to hear such men as the Hon. Baptist W. Noel express their Christian regards towards all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; but as a clergyman of the |