now glad to hear of you and the rest of friends, and that the Lord doth not leave both you and me destitute of the most tender mercies: though I doubt our unfruitfulness under them is very great. And experience of unexpected goodness ought to be of an attracting nature, and to draw our minds into a desire to bear the image of goodness in God, even so it is pleasing to Him to see the same likeness and similitude in us. And if that be wholly aimed at in our most sincere desires, Christ hath promised such shall be filled. It is time for us now to leave our childish crying after the father, and to lie at the breasts and to be dandled on the knees; and to be greatly concerned in the business of the kingdom, house, and vineyard, and as grown repose at children to take our shade and And proper seasons. to take heed lest we grow cold and drowsy through sloth and idleness. And then if the dispensation procure these things, it will more engage vigorous souls in actions tending to the removing of the distemper, and we know that health is quickly sensible of its necessities, and therefore we cannot choose but be hungry and to thirst and desire: and the scripture saith the Lord will fulfil the desire of them that fear him and satisfy the longing soul with goodness. But, my dear brother, all my hope for you is in the Lord, and for the rest of friends, unto whom I see myself to be so exceeding useless, that thereby I am brought very low. I have been in weak estate of body since I last saw you, but now I am pretty well, and hope shortly to see you, though 1 fear almost to come, lest I should be as useless unto you. WILLIAM PARDOE.

The Demoniac.

When a person of estimable character, and one from whom we have received many and great favours leaves our world forever, his actions are traced with refined pleasure, through all their progress, from their commencement to their consummation. Death surrounds them with a melancholy charm that pleases, and a gravity and dignity favourable to that moral impression which good example should make. The very path he has often printed with his feet is a favourite walk to the living, because the glorified saint had there often conversed with God and immortality. The books he was accustomed to read, the opinions often expressed in his conversation, as his own, and in Vol. III. C

short, all the amiable passages of his life are valuable; because, like a good picture, they remind you of him you admire and love-they illustrate his valuable character, and for the loss of his real presence, they are the best substitutes.

The life of the Redeemer is therefore of geat value to every Christian. It is a moral picture of him on whom our best affections abide, from whom favours, infinitely great, and to endure forever, have been received, and who in all he ever felt, ever uttered, ever performed, may safely be im tated by us, as to the spirit in which it was done, the rule that regulated the whole, and the end to which it was all directed.

The miracles of Christ merit particular attention. We will select for our present consideration the deliverance of the Demoniac. An account of the miracle now alluded to, is to be found in Luke's gospel, ch. viii, 27-35. In this passage it is plainly asserted, that a legion of devils had entered into the man, yet the reality of these possessions has been questioned. Not to enter upon a refutation of those arguments, which are urged in support of such an opinion, it may be of use to observe, in defence of my own sentiment, the several proofs of real possession afforded by this passage. The scriptures assert that this poor man was possessed. This is plain narrative; there are no evidences in the account, that favour any other interpretation. The address of the demons is unaccountable, and in no way to be reconciled with truth, but by supposing a real possession. 30th & 31st verse. Christ addresses a real spirit, and is answered by a legion of devils, who intreat him not to command them to go out into the deep. Their entering the swine is a circumstance clearly establishing the reality of the possession. And here we see the scripture fulfilled; The devils believe and tremble. These believed Christ's great power, and trembled lest it should be displayed to their misery. Thus we see an infidel commits a sin which devils have not wickedness enough to do, and persons who pray to God from mere selfishness, without any love to him, have just as much, and no more, religion than devils possess.

An objector might still ask, why demoniacs abounded in the time of Christ, and his apostles, when they do not so abound now? Several answers to this have been given; but there are two, which alone satisfy my mind. Their existence was permitted (for we may suppose them always sufficiently willing to afflict mankind in every possible way) to prepare the way of Christ and to afford him triumphs. It is a bright character of divine providence and grace that satanic agency, while it at

tempts the production of evil alone, is made subservient to the glory of God and the happiness of angels and of men. Sin and death came by Satan, grace and heaven by Jesus Christ. The first made the last necessary; and the last has not only to millions, made the first harmless, but even a blessing. So, in the case we are considering, these real possessions seemed to prove the existence and the malevolence of fallen spirits, and by so doing, they alarmed mankind for their own safety and happiness; and made Christ the Saviour the more welcome. The triumphs they afforded Christ is another reason for their permission. By casting them out he displayed his power, and as will be seen below, proved his divine mission. For reasons like these it was, evidently, as proper for Jehovah to permit the existence of demoniacs, n the primitive times, as at the beginning, the existence of sin.

The miracle now under consideration is of much importance, as a proof of the truth of Christ's mission, and the benevolence of his character. The first of these points we will now attempt to establish. That the demons were ejected is positively asserted in the 35th verse. Now I affirm that if Christ had not been the Son of God, the true Messiah, this miracle had never been done by him. Nicodemus spoke as a christian and a man of sound sense, when he said, We know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. John iii, 2. We reason thus: The power of God alone could eject these evil spirits. Who can doubt this? Spirits cannot be seen, nor felt, nor coerced by any power of body, and as to the influence of our minds over them, no desires of ours, nor any cloquence we can employ, will infallibly govern the spirits of a fellow man; and surely an angel of evil, so powerfully set on wickedness, would not submit to us. It is plain that divine power alone could effect the deliverance we are considering. The objector might say, what the Jews did, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the decils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your childrencast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Matt. x, 24-28. How sensible this re

ply of Christ! How stupid this evasion of His enemies! Who could say, but the desperate Pharisees, for even they did not believe it, that Satan would possess men to torment them, and deliver them from such possession, to make them happy? Can the same sun be the source of light and darkness? Can the bliss of heaven grow in the same soil and climate with the agonies of hell? Would a politic commander despatch one division of his army to take an important city, and as soon as it was done, another to storm the place, destroy its defenders, and eject them. Christ could not cast out devils but by divine power. This power I believe was his own essential power as God, but if it be said it was imparted by his Father, as he again gave it to his disciples, still my argument is good. For would God give such a power to an impostor, that he might the more certainly deceive and destroy? Christ stiled himself the true Son of God and the Messiah, and solemnly assured the Jews that unless they believed it, their destruction was certain; and if this was not true, he was an impostor; and if Jehovah had given him such a power, he would have been an accomplice! To say which any one must be a greater fool than if he had denied the existence of God. All those, therefore, who admit the truth of scripture, must believe that Christ is the Son of God, even from this single miracle. And if any one should be so desperate in unbelief as to reject all the accounts of revelation, yet we have to say, that Julian, and Celsus, and Porphyry, who lived so near the time, and who had so much inclination to deny the existence of Christ's miracles, admit they were done; but say, it was by magic. The testimony of these infidels, that the miracles were done, is sufficient, the way of accounting for them is absurd and impossible, as we have seen.

Thus the following points are established: 1. That Christ cast out devils. 2. That he could not do it without divine power. 3. That God would not give divine power to an impostor. 4. That Christ must be the Son of God, and the true Messiah, because he claimed these characters, and would have been a deceiver had they not been justly claimed. Let the believer rejoice, his chief teacher is the Prophet of God, his great Master is the Lord from heaven. The followers of Mahomet may expect a future paradise, they will awake in eternity and find it a dream. But the disciple of Jesus believes and is sure, that he shall possess immortal glory and honor; that his soul will enjoy an endless life of purity and happiness. The divine Teacher of truth has thus described his destiny, and he who possesses the thrones of heaven, and will forever live to fulfil his word,

has said of his children, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

The benevolence of the Redeemer's character is by this miracle strikingly displayed. Grace and truth, it is written, came by Jesus Christ; and our miracle shows that grace and truth were the ornaments of his life. Compassion and grace shine in the action before us. The condition of this afflicted man was deplorable indeed. Read the account in Mark v, 1-5. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs: and no man could bind him, no not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. Who does not pity this miserable outcast from human society? As if to say his felicity was dead, his dwelling place is among sepulchres. See how he cuts himself with stones, hear his terrific cry, and observe, he is like the troubled sea that cannot rest. Now he has been with Jesus, behold him sitting at his feet, quiet, gratefully adoring his Lord, clothed, and in his right mind! The fierce inhabitant of the tombs no longer shuns the living; he who was injurious is now kind, he who was the servant of satan, is now the servant of God! Such were the Redeemer's miracles. They proclaimed the power of his mighty arm, and the benevolence of his gracious heart. The blind cry, and he rejoices them with the light. The lame intreat his mercy, and leap as the hart. The dumb appear before him, and sing his praises. The widow of Nain is following her only Son, they who carry him, bear also, all her comfort, and when he is buried, all her earthly joy will be entombed. Christ looks at her tears, and effectually to wipe them away, bids death resign his prisoner, and the young man sits up in his coffin. She left her dwelling without a single blessing she could enjoy; she returned to it without a desire for one more than she possessed. The thousands that followed him were not fed with five barley loaves and two small fishes out of ostentation, but he knew they had been long without food, and on them he had compassion. He could have taken his arguments, to prove the divinity of his mission, from miracles of a different complexion. Thus, instead of giving sight to the blind, he could have deprived those of it,