order to come out boldly as a Christian. But, in reply, it may surely be urged, that conduct supplies our only test of character, and that if Christian people conceal the faith which they are bound to profess, they have no right to complain of injustice when they are treated as unbelievers.

The mischief often is, that attachments are formed in thoughtless haste, and then, perhaps, the error is discovered when retreat would be dishonourable. As a point in casuistry, it may be asked-What is to be done when the engagement is already made, and the parties are so far pledged to each other, that withdrawment would involve a breach of promise? Vows, undoubtedly, are solemn things; and the psalmist, when describing the character of the man who should abide in the tabernacle, and dwell in the holy hill of Zion, mentions this, as one of his qualifications, that he "sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not," Psalm xv. 4. But I know a good man, who will always rue the day when he incautiously applied that maxim, to an engagement, made before he was a Christian, and fulfilled afterwards, in a marriage speedily followed by separation under the most distressing and humiliat

F

ing circumstances, such as have imbittered by far the greater portion of a lengthened lifetime, and which are now adding their pressure to the weight of declining years.

Of all human promises, that of marriage is the most sacred. No conceivable change of worldly condition, in either of the parties, can justify its violation. The promise of marriage, like the thing itself, is "for richer or poorer, for better or worse;" and the individual who treats it lightly, is an assassin who murders in the dark, or a fool who scatters firebrands, arrows, and death, and says "Am not I in sport?" But, sacred as is the promise of marriage, there is something more sacred still,-and that is, the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning us. Let me ask the Christian reader, who demurs, what advice he would have given to the men who had vowed that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul, Acts xxiii. 12. Perhaps, he answers-that they had bound themselves to do an unlawful act, and that therefore the sin would be less in the breach of their vow than in its observance. Admitted. But who shall say that the cases are dissimilar? The one act, is as truly a violation of the law of Christ, as is the other. And, if we plead for

the infringement of sacred precepts, where shall we stop? Each will have some favourite sin which he will endeavour to excuse, and mere caprice will supersede all moral obligation.

But, supposing the parties married-What is to be done? Clearly nothing, but to make the best they can of a ruinous bargain. They must do as they would if the one had found that the other was insolvent, and that marriage had involved liabilities which, at one fell swoop, had taken away all provision for the future, leaving them destitute, houseless, and hopeless. The mischief is done, and cannot be undone. The best plan, under such circumstances, is to look at the evil calmly, and to take the only precaution left, against calamities still more appalling. Let then the religious professor, who finds himself the husband of an unconverted wife, at once confess his fault, in some such language as the following:

“Well, my dear, we are married; and marriage is for life. The question now must be - Is it for death as well?-eternal death, I mean. I have ascertained that you have no religion. I might have known it sooner, had mine been worthier of the name. But I know and you make no secret of the matter.

it now,

The question therefore is-What is to become of us both? I feel that the feeble piety to which alone I can pretend, will be utterly overpowered and destroyed by the counteracting influence of your worldliness and irreligion. Therefore, unless you will resolve to be saved, the prospect is that we shall perish together."

Far different would be the circumstances, and for that reason, the conduct, of individuals converted in after life. Where one is taken, and the other is left, the utmost tenderness and forbearance will be required to recommend and enforce the religion of Christ. I have known instances, not a few, where, on the one side there was devoted piety, and on the other, the stupidity of indifference, or the recklessness of unbelief. In such a case, the sufferer deserves our pity; but, in the former instance, never can the erring party assume a position which would render counsel endurable, until with contrition of heart, a full acknowledgment be made, both of the sin and its consequences. Otherwise, the individual addressed, would of course retort" Physician, heal thyself! One who could like me well enough to marry me, could hardly think that there was so much amiss.”

On the subject of unequal marriages, I have

thought it necessary to be the more explicit, because I happen to know that some remarks of mine, which appeared, a few years since, in one of our religious periodicals, have been strangely misunderstood, and have even been cited in justification of a course which I would be among the last to defend or excuse.

Religious declension may, in some instances, not unjustly be ascribed to the frequency and love of company. There is nothing in the Bible to forbid the charities of life. On the contrary, we are even commanded to use hospitality, one to another, without grudging," 1 Peter iv. 9. But then, we have also another law, which is equally binding-"Whether, therefore, ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," 1 Cor. x. 31. It can hardly be supposed that Christian people are in the habit of such promiscuous companionship as merges all distinction between the church and the world. In every circle of society, there must be some line of segregation. And surely that which the psalmist has drawn, Psalm cxix. 63, and which Christianity has sanctioned, 2 Cor. vi. 14, is the most reasonable and the most obvious. I will not deny that I have heard of social gatherings where