great Deliverer, shall have put all our enemies under his feet! How will they then embrace and congratulate each other on their escape from all their terrors and fears! How will they welcome one another into that blessed and secure abode of eternal peace and joy! How, may we suppose, will they enquire of one another how they past through those days wherein they were separated! what difficulties they met with in life, after the others had left them! — with what apprehensions or terrors they past through their last agony! and what comforts or supports they had under it! One will say, I remember you were a prisoner in bondage to Sin, and under the slavery of divers lusts; how were you set free? how did you conquer those great and stubborn enemies we left you conflicting with?' "I remember," will be said to another," you were with child in those days, laden with the incumbrances of the world, the cares of getting and keeping riches, and providing for a family, in a degree above what was necessary, either for their happiness or your condition." To another, You was on the bed of sickness in the time of this alarm, oppressed with distracting crosses, domestic disturbances, foreign enemies, and oppressed with inward pains and diseases, how did you go through all your infirmities? how did you escape, who were not able to stir from your bed?' With joy each will reply, " God did all this for us!" 6 THE TRAVELLERS. Almighty Saviour! be our constant Friend, ← And safely keep us to our journey's end !' TRAVELLING through this wilderness and valley of tears, is it not matter of great joy that we shall soon reach our journey's end?-that our pilgrimage will ere lang be finished, and we shall go up to possess the land of the Lord our God? Yes, believer; it is a cheering thought! we shall not live here always: there rematneth a rest for the people of God!' Various are our situations in this life; but these distinctions will soon be dissolved: - in a very short while, it will make no difference whether we possessed all the treasures of the universe, or craved our bread from door to door. Soon we must part with our dearest friends, must bid an eternal Adieu to our studies, our books, our employments, our every object, and descend into the silent grave! Ere long, these mortal bodies shall lie mouldering in the dust; but, happy consequence! our souls shall be with the Lord, we shall be with our glorious Jesus! Those vexing clouds which sometimes intercept our communion with our dear Lord, shall then be eternally dispelled; and we shall see him face to face, we shall dwell for ever in his presence, where there is fulness of joy; and at his right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore.' Sorrow shall have fled, afflictions shall have been removed, and trials shall have ceased for ever! Satan shall no longer tempt, nor shall the world allure; sin shall no more grieve,we shall be holy! This we know, that when Jesus shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is: Christ will be all in all !' |, Blessed be the day we were convinced of sin, and led humbly to the feet of Jesus to seek pardon and holiness! Glory to the Holy Spirit, who helped us to believe in Him who loved us, and gave himself for us!' Thanks be to God, who excites our desires for sanctification, and affords us such happiness in the prospect of death and eternity! Before this glorious anticipation be fully realized it will not be long, our course will soon be run, soon give way; perhaps, this night! our tottering frames will Reader, Are you ready to meet your God? Are you reconciled to God, through the blood of Immanuel, the only Mediator? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and, as the fruit of genuine faith, do you adorn his doctrine in all things? Is your house set in order, that you may die in peace? Is your lamp burning? Are your loins girt, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and are you fully prepared, to depart and be with Christ, which is far better?' Are you ready to leave the world and its transient objects, and to glorify God in Christ, through all eternity? These are im portant enquiries. -May we seriously pursue them! - May the Eternal Spirit bless them!-May we die the death of the righte ous, that our last end may be like his!' Meantime, O believer! we will continue our journey, leaning on Him whom our souls love, in His strength, who will never leave nor forsake us! Come let us walk on in his ways; for they are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace!' Yes; peace with God, peace of conscience, peace in reflection, peace in prospect! PILGRIM THE CHURCH - YARD. The man how bless'd, who, sick of gaudy scenes, To read the monuments, to weigh his dust, THE serenity of the weather invited me, a few evenings since, to take a short excursion in the Church-Yard, where the pleasantness of the walks was increased by rows of ancient lime-trees, through whose leafy apertures, ever and anon gleamed the beams of the moon, emerging from behind the silver-mantled clouds, affording a lively representation of that beautiful and sublime description of Night, in Milton's Paradise Lost, book 4: 66 Now glow'd the firmament Apparent queen, unveil'd her peerless light, And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw !" The tombs and grassy hillocks, those mementos of mortality, weminded me of the shortness and certain end of our flesting lives! Whilst looking over them, I discerned graves of all dimensions; from the infant, who had but just come into this lower state and immediately retired, as if displeased with its appearance, to the full-grown man, who had pursued his weary way through this vale of woe for many years. Here I could not help feeling the truth of that declaration, That Death pays no respect either to age, person, or circumstances. Here the following verses of Dr. Watts came across my mind; and, as I repeated them, 1 almost fancied I could hear them reverberating from tomb to tomb: "Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound! My ears attend the cry! Yo living men, come view the ground Princes, this clay must be your bed, In spite of all your tow'rs! The tall, the wise, the rev'rend head, Must lie as low as ours!" Passing up one of the paths, my attention was suddenly attracted by a newly-opened grave. The unexpected appearance cast a momentary dread over my mind, and my blood involuntarily ran chill over my body. I enquired of myself, Whence arises this sudden gloom, which depresses my spirits, and steals over my frame? Why do I cast my eyes so cautiously around, as if apprehensive of meeting some danger? Here all is peace and quietness! - the voice of dissention is not heard!-even the piercing cries of pain and misery are all hushed! - the boisterous rage of anger, the mournful sighs of distress, and the loud, unmeaning laughter of the gay and thoughtless, are alike silenced! Here nothing is to be feared!-the inhabitants of these silent regions are all at rest! Why then should I not suppress all uneasy emotions, and carefully endeavour to improve the useful lesson which may be learned here? Before me I perceive, scattered up and down, fragments of bones! This hideous, unseemly skull, which now affrights with its ghastly appearance, was once the scat of the brain, and endowed with understanding and reason! — these unsightly hollows were once supplied with sparkling eyeel-rows of teeth were once arranged in these mouldering, vacant jaws!-and, perhaps, the whole, during life, excited the admiration of strangers and the affection of friends, by its pleasing and endearing form! Here I see the bone of an arm, which was once filled with marrow, strong with joints, united with supple sinews, clothed with flesh, and warm with vital blood! I cannot help indulging the fond idea, that perhaps it has often, very often been lifted up in prevailing prayer at a throne of grace! These feet, which have for many years borne their wner, are now cast aside, helpless and neglected! let me hope they have trodden the path of life, have pursued the way of God's statutes, and have oft time led the way to the sanctuary of the house of the Lord! Whilst I am looking on this open grave, the receptacle of all living, this lonely place, which, at one time or other (perhaps shortly) is to be my long home, how does the deceitful greatness of the world dwindle into nothing, and all the world calls good or great! - and as I here behold the end of all things, may it instruct me to rid my mind of the shackles of worldly affections, and be more heavenlyminded! May I be wise to consider my latter end, to redeem the precious passing moments of my time, before the night of death cometh, when no man can work! for what is our life? It is even as a vapour, which appeareth but for a few moments, and then vanisheth away for ever; and the place which now knows us, will shortly know us no more for ever, C. AN IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWERED. What is the reason that, although there is in man, in his natural state, a rooted aversion from gospel-truths, yet those places of worship where the gospel is preached, both in and out of the Establishment, are better attended than others? Ir is a melancholy assertion with which the statement of the question begins; but it is an assertion as true as it is awful: There is in man, while unconverted, a rooted aversion from gospel-truth.' The carnal heart hates God, and all its pride rises against the gospel-method of mercy, against confessing sin in deep humiliation, and especially against being under obligations to another's righteousness for acceptance with God. The truths of the gospel are therefore shut out from the heart with pertinacious care; and, in general, the preaching of them becomes the butt, against which little wits try their ironies. It might naturally be expected, that such sensations should make men hate the places where gospel-truths are promulgated; and we do in fact find it so. Pride and prejudice, worldly-mindedness and sensuality, all oppose attendance on the house of God, and exert themselves, with redoubled ardour, to vilify the doctrines, the men who preach them, and the people who profess them. All the religion of such men consists in their hatred to truth. Yet it is a fact allowed, that wherever the gospel is truly and faithfully preached, the attendance is large. How can this circumstance be accounted for? Perhaps the phenomenon might in part be explained, by recollecting that the number of places where truth is exhibited is very small, in proportion to the whole number of places of worship; those, therefore, who are at all attached to the gospel, have but few places at which they can attend, and those few places must of course appear to be crowded. It must, however, be allowed, that of the multitudes who attend on the gospel, great numbers do not know its nature nor feel its power;: but then the attend ance given by many of these may be placed to the account of habit and connections. Were they entirely at liberty to enjoy what they best loved, they would attend at other places, or per-haps spend the whole day in carnal pleasures: but when we have again made deduction for these, there will yet remain a great proportion who do actually attend upon the gospel, and who seem to be attracted by it: who, being still unconverted, and possessing all the native hatred of religion which a carnal state implies, it remains for us to account for a conduct which seems to be so directly opposite to their feelings. 1. Perhaps the first principle which presents itself, in order to explain this seeming contradiction, is curiosity. The appearance of the gospel in a village is a new circumstance; it appears too in a new place, some barn or cottage; and in a new manner, without the pomp of clerical dress, rites, and ceremonies. Curiosity is awakened, therefore, to know what will these people say? why do they come here?-or, if it appears in the parishchurch, by a new rector or curate, the news scon spreads, and gospel-truths being considerably different from what they had been accustomed to hear, the desire to know something wherein the difference lies is strong. If once a crowd collect, curiosity is still more strongly aroused to know what it is makes so many people go to such a place; - what it is that makes Mr. very popular; and the crowd is encreased by the mere desire of enquiring why it is collected! SO 2. Another principle, very operative in such a case, is fashion. - Many persons are guided in the choice of a minister, or place of attendance, by the multitude. They follow the stream indolently, and go as others go, because they do not take the trouble to resist; or they suppose there must be some peculiar excellency, where they see such peculiar attraction. As when a shop is reported to be so full of customers that you cannot get served, many will go there, concluding that it must be for the excellence of the commodities, though they are not able themselves to judge. Nay, as a crowd implies excellency, in the judgment of some persons, so to be one of that crowd is, in their opinion, to share the general reputation; and he stands a degree higher in his own estimation, and hopes he shall in his neighbour's account, who 1 |