"Honoured and beloved Brother,-You are now on the eve of departure from Ireland, for the many and arduous labours which await you in a wider and more onerous field of usefulness. We had hoped that you would have continued to exercise your ministry on our own shores. But the Lord, it would appear, has otherwise determined. And now we cannot let you depart without a word of sympathy, affection, and true confidence. The several years in which you have exercised your ministry in our midst, have given us many pleasant and endearing recollections. We have no feelings of a painful character, none even shaded with regret, save those which are awakened by a sense of your departure.

"It is to us a solemn and a tender thought, that your place will be no more amongst us; that your presence will no more cheer us; and your tongue, voicing the endless truths of the Gospel, will be silent around us. This loss, great in itself, is felt to be all the greater, as the body of Christ in Ireland is weak, and cannot afford the loss of even one of its members.

"We rejoice, however, in the wide and effectual door which is now open before you in the sister land. Hoxton Academy Chapel is a spot highly honoured of God in its past history, as connected with the preaching of the cross, and the salvation of souls. It is one of those noble monuments which tell of the life and labours of the munificent Thomas Wilson. Some of the best men of his age preached there to a countless multitude of souls; and some of the richest associations connected with religion, in London, will retain and adorn his memory, when time shall be no

more.

"But I need not enlarge: our object in meeting is to say, 'Farewell!' And we mean much when we use that sympathetic word. We desire that, as a minister of the Lord Jesus, in your life, doctrine, labours, and usefulness, you may fare well; that as a pastor, husband, father, and friend, you may fare well; and that in respect of health, and every needed blessing, temporal and spiritual, for life or death, for time and for eternity, you may fare well. Once, again, then, beloved brother, Fare thee well. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen,' Philemon, 25.

"Signed, in behalf of the Congregational Church at Kingstown,

"JOSEPH DENHAM SMITH, Pastor." From the foregoing it will be seen, that as Mr. Hermann was not in the pastorate, the matter was necessarily of a fraternal character an expression of the love and of the confidence of those Christian ministers and friends with whom, during his brief stay in Dublin, he had become acquainted. Mr. Hermann has commenced his labours with every prospect of comfort and success; and the church, the first time since their existence, now begin to experience the happiness arising from compliance with the arrange

ments of the Heavenly Master, who is exalted for the express purpose of giving, not "Supplies" for the hour, the day, the week, or the month, but "Pastors," men who shall be over them in the Lord; breathing the Master's spirit, spending and delighting to be spent for the purpose of promoting the welfare of "the church, which he hath bought with his own blood."

RESIGNATION.

Dundas-street Chapel, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland.-The Rev. Samuel Watkinson, after twenty-six years of diligent and faithful labour, has deemed it his duty, on account of advancing age and declining strength, to resign his charge. The announcement of this resolution was received by his attached people with reluctance and deep regret; but, at their desire he has remained with them to aid in the needful steps respecting a successor. This end has been happily secured. The Rev. William Parkes, of Manchester, has received and accepted the unanimous and most cordial invitation of the church; and purposes to enter on his ministry in October. Mr. Watkinson, during his long residence in Sunderland, has secured universal esteem. His friendship has been greatly prized by ministerial brethren of various denominations; and his ready co-operation in every good work has caused his usefulness to be felt beyond the immediate circle of his charge. Some years ago, the chapel was burdened with a very heavy debt; by combined exertions, in guiding which their pastor was ever indefatigable, the people have succeeded in completely removing this incumbrance. The situation, amidst a dense and rapidly increasing population, gives special importance to the sphere. Most cheering anticipations are entertained in respect to the ministry of Mr. Parkes; and the friends of the Redeemer's cause may breathe a prayer, that where one has laboured, another may "enter into his labours."

RE-OPENING.

Workington, Cumberland. The Congregational chapel at the above place, having been completely remodelled, was re-opened for Divine worship on Friday, Aug. 17th, 1855. In the morning, after the reading of the Scriptures and prayer, by the Rev. William Brewis, of Penrith, a very appropriate discourse was delivered from Psa. lxxxvii. 3, by the Rev. Archibald Jack, of North Shields. In the afternoon a public tea-meeting was held in the adjoining school-room, which was very numerously attended. In the evening, after the introduction of the service by the Rev. Henry Sanders, of Whitehaven, Mr. Jack preached from John ix. 25; and the Rev. William Southwick, of Cockermouth, offered the concluding prayer, and pronounced the benediction. On the following Sabbath (Aug. 19th), the Rev. Wm. Brewis preached in the morning, from Neh. x. 39, and in the evening from Judges vii. 20, 21

No point connected with the economy of the Jews was more remarkable than the special care which was taken to prevent their mingling with the surrounding heathen. The importance of this duty, which was specially provided for by law, was so great, that on the return from Babylon, means were adopted for breaking up all those unions which had been formed with the heathen; and sad was the scene which occurred on that occasion.

Love to God is the source of all personal happiness, of all social comfort, and expanded philanthropy; as the contrary is the fearful, fruitful source of all individual, domestic, and social misery. Science, arts, and arms have been followed. Some have been frugal, some prodigal. One has cherished habits of self-denial, another of dissipation; a third has roamed to the ends of the earth, and a fourth has been stationary as the poles. One class has climbed to high places, and another has courted the shade. Always shutting out God from their thoughts, however, they have all been constrained to confess that they have been disappointed in the attainment of their object. These have all sought and all failed to find what men of an obscure and despised condition have abundantly realized; for it is what the bustling by activity, the great by power, and the wise by wisdom, can never obtain. They in vain cry out, "Who will show us any good?" while they will not allow the Lord to "lift upon them the light of his countenance."

Men have tried long, and they are attempting still, to be happy without God, and independent of God; but against this there is raised a barrier which human power and skill can never overthrow. God is the sole Dispenser of blessings as well as of life; and no more can creatures have happiness without God than they can have existence. Thus all things are of him, and all things depend upon him. Such as disavow allegiance, and declare for independence, fall under a twofold evil: they "forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew out to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, VOL. XII.

that can hold no water." Were all the wealth, and power, and pleasure, and fame, that the whole universe could furnish, accumulated on the head of one man, it would still leave him unblest!

Such is the pleasure of God, as made known by Scripture and experience. But the love of God, whatever man may think of it, accomplishes this in the minutest, the poorest, and most despised and afflicted of our species. This has upheld the martyr at the stake, and the slave under the lash; this has reconciled men to the loss of all things, and been considered as more than a compensation. It has preserved the countenance serene, and the heart tranquil, under stroke upon stroke and sorrow upon sorrow; while every substitute, under every circumstance, has proved a miserable comforter. It is allowed on all hands that man is a wretched creature; that he is born to trouble; that the whole chain of his being is only a succession of troubles; that the body has scarce begun to breathe when the heart begins to bleed. Infancy is spent in cries and tears; the prime of life in care, labour, and sorrow; and the taper expires amid agonies, and groans, and convulsions. This admits of no dispute. Let the wisdom of the world tell us the cause; let them prescribe the means of cure. Alas! they cannot; but the Apostles can. Man becomes happy when he is brought once more to love his God. This proves a sufficient antidote to the miseries of human life. It is the star of a morning, to be succeeded by the splendours of an eternal noon of perfect bliss and unsullied glory.

The lesson, then, from all this, is clear and simple. It is only for the creature to surrender himself, and cleave, in loving confidence, to his Creator. This is the provision of our pilgrimage. This is at once the staff which supports, the bread that nourishes, the shield that defends, and the light that guides the pilgrim's path. To let this depart from our hearts is to lose all, and to fall back again into the fearful pit and into the miry clay. Immersion once more in the pollutions

2 K

of the world is the inevitable consequence of "departure from the living God, through an evil heart of unbelief." The love of God is the principle of moral order in the universe. The mass of mankind are up in arms against their Maker; and because he is hated by them, they break his commandments; for the keeping of the commandments and the love of the Great Paternal Ruler are identical terms. Amongst vast and numerous tribes of men, and throughout extensive tracts of territory, he is almost and altogether unknown, even by name. His pleasure is neither consulted nor regarded. His approbation is not sought for and not desired. He has ceased to be the object of homage and of love. His laws are all rejected, and trampled under foot. They have established an order of things according to the dictates of their own hearts. They have made gods to themselves, and worshipped them in the manner they chose. They have devised and adopted an order of laws for regulating the conduct of mankind, in all their relations and intercourse, in which the God of truth and love, grace and mercy, is utterly ignored! They themselves are the lawgivers, the judges, and the avengers. Now these laws are in everything defective -defective in origin, in adaptation, in sanction. Hence it is that the earth is filled with violence, and its habitations with cruelty. This is the cause of all the evil and anarchy which afflicts families, nations, and empires. This is the price which the world pays for its rebellion even here; and it is a faint image of the condition, disorder, and sorrow by which it will be succeeded in a future world.

Some there are, however, who have returned to God, and who are now the subjects of his government. These love him, and that love is habitually and universally operative in their souls and throughout their lives. God is solemnly adored and cheerfully served. The actions of these are in subservience to his glory, and performed from a wish to do his will, which is all their delight. As all the study, observation, and experience of a faithful and attached minister will be made to promote the welfare of his people; as all the labours and projects of an affectionate father are in order to further the ultimate hap

piness of his family; so they who love God will do all with a view to the promotion of his glory. Thus every act connected with social existence will be an act of religion and devotion. The motive and the end sanctify the means. Religion then ceases to be a matter of form alone, and becomes a thing of principle and action. God is ever with us; his law always before us.

The love of God is the grand evidence that we have "passed from death unto life," and have believed the Gospel of his Son: "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." "I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you," said our Lord and Saviour to a self-deceived race, who were anxious to pass for very holy people. Concerning the law, they might be blameless, but the heart and spirit were altogether wrong; and when this is so, no substitute can be found in anything else. Knowledge, and zeal, and martyrdom itself are but vanities put into the scale with love. "God is love;" the Gospel is a Gospel of love; piety, or true religion, is holy love. Take heed, then, we would say to every devout reader of these pages, that you have love, and that you abide in love; for to abide in love is to abide in God, and God in you.

The love of God is the source of all acceptable obedience. The force of education, certain constitutional habits, example, and regard to interest and to character, may constrain to probity and uprightness; but this is not Christianity. All the motives here are of an evil and a selfish nature; while the fear of God, future rewards, and accountability do not enter into the motives leading to such action. Such a state as this consists with total alienation from God, and utter contempt for the Gospel. It consists with the existence and predominance of the worst passions, and the indulgence of the worst propensities. It leaves the man under the dominion of sin, and exposed to its deadly consequences. Love to all that is good is nothing more than the love of God manifested in a variety of aspects. Attending to this we shall, in effect, attend to everything. This is to grasp the tree, and thus to command the branches; this is to preside over the fountain, and so to regulate the streams.

But it must never be forgotten that even the faithful in Christ Jesus are

in the utmost danger of departing from the love of God. This love is an object which is exposed to continual opposition, as there is much in our own hearts that is hostile to it, and almost everything without and around us naturally tends to diminish or depress it. When a person first becomes a Christian, there is generally a large effusion of grace in the soul, whereby the love of God is shed abroad in the heart. At such a season the enmities of the soul are all rooted up, and the Lord exercises the undisputed sovereignty. There he reigns without a rival. Like Pharaoh, however, in a little space the old man recovers, and returns to the assault with renewed vigour, to reimpose his chains. This awful event is seldom sudden, but comes to pass imperceptibly to ourselves. It is, however, always attended with marks which suffice for detection. The more sacred and spiritual exercises of religion will he neglected altogether, or they will become but lifeless forms. There will be no soul, no savour, no enjoyment of God in them. The poor, cold, and heartless repetition of a series of common-place truths and phrases will be the sum of the matter. Those things, too, which are studied and attended to for the promotion of spirituality, will be neglected or engaged in listlessly; and those sins, especially secret sins, which were once mortified and suppressed, will be again cherished and indulged. Where all looks sound and healthful without, the work of death is advanced and advancing within! How much need, then, to watch over our own hearts, and to be often and deeply occupied in the work of self-examination!

But if individuals are thus in danger, not less so are public bodies. This state is not merely a disease, but is likewise contagious, shedding a pestilential influence on those around. A few such persons in a church will do much to defile and destroy a whole society. Joshua, in his memorable address to the nation, at the same time appealed to them individually. The danger and the duty were common to them all; and the means of preservation were also common; and hence the unity and simplicity of his exhortation. The way by which a church can avoid declension is for each individual to see that he himself cleave to the Lord with

THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Psa. xxiii. 5, 6.

IN these words, we have a beautiful recognition of the parental provider for his people. He spreads the table, and he covers it, an act which, under any circumstances, would be comforting and cheering; but in the presence of enemies it is peculiarly and emphatically so. But this great parent of good, not satisfied with sumptuously providing for his children, is careful of their personal attire, and attentive to everything that may make for their happiness. With his own hand he anoints the head with oil, and at the same time makes the cup to overflow. The Psalmist, looking with gratitude on the present, darts into the future, drawing the consolatory inference that this goodness and mercy will follow him to the end of his pilgrimage. He wants nothing more than goodness to supply his wants, and mercy to meet his sins; he is thus constituted a child at home, rejoicing in the privileges of adoption. Life, however, will have an end; and a time will come when earthly comforts will be no longer required. The great question therefore is, what is to follow? and about this David was solicitous. Nothing could bring rest to his soul but the assurance that he shall dwell for eyer in the house of the Lord.

The imagery of the text, while thoroughly domestic and strongly appealing to the wants of nature, is beautiful and impressive. Bread means of course the Gospel of Christ. This is a favourite mode of presenting it: "Wisdom hath builded her house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars; she hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table." How rich the figures here employed, although they come infinitely short of what is spiritually implied. Isaiah looked at the Gospel through the same atmosphere: "And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make

unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." The great Lord and Master of all employed similar phraseology: "I appoint unto you a kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." This was a custom prevalent in the East: "Go thy way; eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works. thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment." It is pleasing to observe the exact conformity of the earliest heathen writers in these matters, to the inspired penmen. Homer, for example, in B、k x. speaks thus:

Let

"Descending to the sea, their necks and limbs from stains of toil they cleansed; and so refreshed and purified, their last ablution in tepid baths performed; each thus completely laved, and with smooth oil anointed, at the well spread table they sat and drank the wine delicious."

The great idea then set forth in all these Scriptures, is that of fellowship with God, as constituting the perfection of felicity. All reasoning on the subject must turn on principles; but no principles are availing until they produce affections, and the result of the whole must be happiness, for the Gospel is "good news,' -" Glad tidings of great joy." It is important to deal with principles; but we must not rest there, since a mere religion of logic is not the religion of the New Testament: the heart must be touched, or there is nothing done. Let us have doctrine in all the abundance with which the Scriptures supply it; but let that doctrine be so received as to terminate in holy feeling, commonly called by the people of God, "experience." Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament are most decided on this point. "Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased." How was this done? Was it by anything material? Not so, but by the "lifting up" of the Divine countenance upon the spirit. In the "light" of God the Psalmist saw light, and that light filled him with joy. The best illustrations of this are to be found, not in the commentaries, but in the records of the conversions of eminently

The

Christian men. The lives of Adams, Brainerd, and Whitfield present the best illustrations that occur to us. These men were all the subjects of a sound conversion; and their peace was preceded by deep depression resulting from the convincing power of the law.

A special preparation is everywhere represented as necessary for the enjoyment of this fellowship. The soul, through regeneration, becomes partaker of the nature of God; it shares in the knowledge of God; it is brought into harmony with the will of God. This done, the character is formed and essentially prepared for what is to follow. It is capable of becoming the subject of Divine approbation; it is qualified for Divine service. It is rendered meet for the Saviour's society. God himself can alone communicate this preparation. This he does through

his truth and by his Spirit. Men often wait for supernatural power, not to assist, but to supersede their own endeavours, and seem not to understand that" all things are ready" for sanctification, as well as justification; and that it is through their own exertions, and not independently of them, that the Spirit, through the word, operates in producing the Christian character. God deals with men as rational creatures, supplying them with moral motives for the discharge of moral duties; and it is in and through these that he works upon them both to "will and to do of his good pleasure." Men, however, must be on their guard against mistaking for experience all the sensations, or emotions that pass through their minds. Sweet emotions may be strong and various, and even partake of a religious fervour, while utterly destitute of a religious nature. Religion is neither more nor less than conformity to the Divine character, resulting from a participation of the Divine nature. It is having the heart fixed on the Divine perfections, and the understanding enlightened by Divine truth.

Again, it is needful to guard against mistaking a part for the whole, and, though partially right, being very largely wrong. Christians may wish to establish some peculiar truth as the essence of doctrine; or some peculiar feeling as the essence of experience, and yet neglect the just proportion and harmony of the Divine plan. But that plan is a whole, and so the character