uttered the prayer of which our text consists, his body was being literally dashed to pieces; stones were cast at him from all directions, and he was being mangled and bruised in a most dreadful manner. But Stephen cared not for the killing of his body; he felt that his soul was his treasure, which he watched more carefully than ever the miser did his hoard. He kept it with all diligence, and when the time of his departure was at hand, the disposal of this his better part, was his chief concern. And ought it not to be so, my brethren, with all of us! Is not Stephen's example worthy of our imitation ? Our bodies must soon decay; houses, and lands, and friends, and property, and health and strength, will soon be gone; these mortal frames will soon crumble into dust, and only be food for worms: but these spirits which actuate us will live for ever, either in endless joys, or in torments inconceivable. Oh! then, my brethren, be persuaded to imitate Stephen. Amidst your severest trials, commend your spirits into the hands of Jesus-regard the care of them as the one thing needful, and say, whatsoever others do, I will attend to my soul.

I add once more, that this prayer of Stephen imports that he had a firm persuasion that his spirit would be safe in the hands of Christ. If he had not been so convinced, undoubtedly he would never have offered this prayer. But Stephen knew, from the unparallelled love which Jesus had displayed—from the uncontrollable power which he had exerted from the great redemption which he had purchased— from the kind and tender sympathy which he had repeatedly shewn—and from the unquestionable evidences of his faithfulness, which he had exhibited—for these things Stephen knew that he might, with the utmost safety, repose his immortal spirit in the hands of his Redeemer. There he knew it would prove safe and eternally free from fear of evil. Well might he therefore say, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! And, my dear brethren, we have the same encouragement to adopt this prayer as Stephen had. I need not say that our souls are of equal importance with his, and consequently that we ought to be as solicitous to commit them into the hands of the Redeemer as he was. Let me, then, urge you—let me encourage you to act the part of Stephen. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, while he was in the midst of showers of stones, and this animated him to pour out his heart in prayer, as described in the text. And is not this blessed Saviour now standing on the right hand of God, waiting to hearken to our requests ? Yes, my dear fellowsinners, indeed he is. There, crowned with glory, and invested with all power in heaven and in earth, he is listening to the petitions of his tempted, persecuted, and afflicted people. Be then persuaded, all of you, to cry to him in prayer, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit!"

In drawing a few observations from this subject by way of conclusion, I infer from it, the depravity of mankind, the divinity of Christ, and our inestimable privileges as Britons.

And first,—the depravity of mankind. This doctrine is strikingly included in the subject we have been discussing. When positive declarations of Scripture, and a close and convincing train of argument is found unavailable to establish a point in religion, it is well to have it in our power to appeal to plain matter of fact. This method, then, I adopt on the present occasion. I appeal to the matter of fact with which our text stands connected, to prove the important doctrine of man's natural depravity of heart. Here we find it recorded of numerous individuals who had enjoyed the benefits of a liberal education —who had the Holy Scriptures in their hands, and professed to be governed by them, and who were in the habit of attending the worship of God-we find such men, I say, falling with the utmost fury and rage on a boly and innocent individual : most barbarously treating him, not because he had been guilty of any crime, but merely because he was attached to the Lord Jesus, and had charged them with transgression. Nay, we see them encouraging themselves in their inhumanity by putting on the garb of religion, suborning false witnesses against this holy man, and then brutally stoning him as a blasphemer against God, as if they were acting the part of God's servants. My brethren, was all right within ? was there no natural propensity in them to evil ? Answer these questions agreeably to the dictates of a sound understanding, and I am sure you must say in the language of Scripture, their hearts were “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Hence, then, you must allow that our inference from the subject is appropriate and scriptural, that mankind are by nature fallen and depraved creatures.

I infer, in the next place, from this subject, the divinity of Christ. In other words, I observe that the drift of this discourse is an undeniable proof that the Lord Jesus Christ is none other than the mighty God, one with the Father. It is, as you know, idolatry to pray to any being but the one living and true God, and it must be a most delusive act to entrust our immortal spirits to any other being than the eternal Jehovah. Would, then, Stephen

-that holy man of God, whose face was as the face of an angel, who was filled with the Holy Ghost, who sealed his attachment to the cause of Christianity with his bloodwould such an illustrious character have poured out his dying breath in prayer to the Lord Jesus—would he have ventured to commit his eternal all into the hands of Christ if he had not been God over all, blessed for evermore ? What! was Stephen an idolater? what! was Stephen excluded the kingdom of heaven? If the Lord Jesus is not God, he was; for then Stephen died an idolater, and ye know that no idolater hath any inheritance in the king. dom of heaven. O, my brethren, suffer me to warn you against that awful doctrine of robbing Christ of his divine honours. Let us not be ashamed of honouring the Son even as we honour the Father. And with all the angels of God let us esteem it our high privilege to fall down and worship him.

Lastly, let us learn from this subject our inestimable privileges as Britons. What dreadful persecutions and cruelty were Stephen and the first Christians exposed to for their adherence to the religion of Christ! But, my dear friends, it is not so with us. We live in far better times, in this respect. Instead of the ungodly being authorized and encouraged by our national laws to persecute and oppose us for righteousness' sake, we are authorized and encouraged by the laws to attend to righteousness. Let us, then, adore and bless God for our innumerable privileges. Let us thank him that we are not like Stephen, and many others in later periods, in danger of being stoned to death. No, we can assemble without fear-we can collect our families together to adore our Master and Redeemer without any one making us afraid; we can meet a crucified Saviour at his table, and manifest the strongest attachment to him, and none dare openly oppose us. Let us, then, as British Christians, value our privileges, and be thankful to God for them! Let us, however, see to it that we improve in the use of them. God grant that every means of grace may be found a well of salvation to our souls. Thus we shall obtain a meetness for heaven, and when we come to die we may expect an abundant entrance into his heavenly kingdom : and then, like Stephen, our happy spirits will be received by the Lord Jesus, and placed at his right hand for ever and ever.

THE HISTORY OF RUTH.

Those who love to peruse the sacred writings, may often derive pleasure, as well as instruction, from a contemplation of the characters of the many of those holy persons, both male and female, the principal events of whose lives are there recorded. Amongst the latter, the short and simple history of Ruth is not the least interesting. We read in the sacred history, that during the period in which Israel was ruled by judges, it came to pass, that there was a great famine in the land. It is probable, that in consequence of the scarcity and dearness of provisions, many families of the Israelites were induced to emigrate for a time to the adjacent countries. Amongst the numbers who were obliged by this sad necessity to forsake the beloved land of their birth, endeared, as it must have been, to every true Israelite, by a thousand sacred and tender recollections, one family alone is mentioned in this place; namely, that of Elimelech, an Eprathite, an inhabitant of the city of Bethlehem Judah, which consisted of himself, his wife Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion ; and they went to reside in the country of Moab. The first incident recorded of them, after their removal into a strange land, was the death of Elimelech. After this sad event, Naomi and her sons still continued to sojourn there, perhaps because the famine had not yet ceased to desolate the land of Judah. It was truly remarked of the Israelites, that when they mingled amongst the heathen they learned their works; and Naomi must now have bitterly regretted the necessity that compelled her to settle with her children in Moab, when she beheld both her beloved sons unite themselves in marriage with the daughters of the land. Doubtless her sorrow on this occasion was deep and heartfelt; and such in every age must be the feelings of pious parents when their children form such important connexions with families, however gifted by