own interest, and to gratify your temper for a zeal to promote the interest of Christ? Consider, if we are influenced by the Divine Spirit, it shews us our own wretchedness and nothingness, humbles the mind, spiritualizes the affections, purifies the desires, regulates our disposition and conduct, and diffuses its lively and heavenly influence through the inward and the outward man.

You believe the doctrine of election, what evidence have you from God, and what proof do you give your neighbours and acquaintance that you are the elect?"What do you more than others?" Though this is a glorious truth, yet a bare belief of it will avail you nothing. Do you consider that the elect are chosen to holiness here, and to walk blameless in love, by an evangelical obedience to all the commandments, as well as to glory hereafter? If you do not make conscience of the former, it is in vain for you to expect the latter.

We profess to believe original sin: if so, what is the reason that any of us should have such high and exalted thoughts of ourselves, and be so prone to over-value ourselves and undervalue others? You that really believe this humiliating truth, manifest it by having the meanest thoughts of yourselves, and abhorring yourselves in dust and ashes before God, by humbling yourselves daily under a sense of your sins and imperfections, by daily application to the blood of Jesus, and be not ready to take offence, but be ready to forgive, and to be reconciled when you meet with a real affront.

You profess the doctrine of particular redemption by the precious blood of Christ; but what proofs do you give of your redemption from the dominion of sin, slavery of Satan, vain conversation, and the snares of the world? Are ye zealous for God, his cause and interest in the world, for good works, and religious duties? Does your conduct manifest that neither sin, Satan, nor the world, has the predominancy over you?

You profess the doctrine of effectual calling and of efficaci ous grace in regeneration: do you then manifest that ye are called by God from the death of sin, to the life of holiness; from darkness, into marvellous light; from the kingdom of Satan, to the kingdom of our Lord Jesus? Are you weary of your sins, your sinful ways, and sinful companions; desirous to separate yourselves and come out from among them? Do you experience a spiritual life infused into your souls, longing for conformity to the image and likenes of Christ? Are you willing to come to Jesus as poor lost sinners, by diligent prayer, reading, conscientious attendance upon a Gospel Ministry and

Gospel Ordinances? Shall the Lord rain manna round about your tents, and you not go forth to gather it? If you can make light of, or neglect these things, what proof do you give that you are called of God and regenerated?

Another Gospel truth you believe is, the perseverance of the saints: but, do you persevere in constantly watching over your hearts? Are you constantly jealous of yourselves in a faithful and diligent performance of all religious duties, whether they are of a private, public, personal, or social nature? Do you continue wrestling with God for the mortification of your sins; for more grace; the application of the promises; for all the ministers of Christ, especially your own minister; and stand by him in adversity; considering that your profit will be in proportion to your love, esteem, and regard for him? Do you continue to be studious, in promoting the peace and prosperity of Zion; regular and steady in supporting the worship of God, and zealous for all the means of grace? Do you persevere in guarding against every symptom of backsliding in love, faith, and practice; to avoid every temper, conduct, and passion that is unbecoming the Gospel, and that has the least tendency to disturb the peace of the Church, and to grieve God's people? Do you look upon those who are not disposed to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and who obey not Gospel rules and Gospel orders, thereby causing strife and contention in the Church, to be enemies of CHRIST, and his Gospel, and the pests of societies? Do ye discountenance and avoid them; for they are such who spread a spiritual plague, confusion, and every evil thing all around them? In a word, if you do not lay aside all malice, guile, wrath, hypocrisies, envy, and all evil speaking; and, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, you give no proof that ever you have tasted the Grace of God in truth; at least, you are far from giving proof that you continue T. P. in the exercise of it.

Righteousness of the Law.

Christ's righteousness is called, The righteousness of the law, Rom. viii, 4. For though righteousness does not come by our obedience to the law, yet it does by Christ's obedience to it. Though, by the deeds of the law, as performed by man, no flesh living can be justified; yet, by the deeds of the law, Dr. Gill as performed by Christ, all the elect are justified.'

Christian Academies in the First Century.

(Extract from Mosheim.)

"The Christians took all possible care to accustom their children to the study of the scriptures, and to instruct them in the doctrines of their holy religion; and schools were every where erected for this purpose, even from the very commencement of the Christian church. We must not, however, confound the Schools designed only for children with the Gymnasia, or Academics of the ancient Christians, erected in several large Cities, in which persons of riper years, especially such as aspired to be public teachers, were instructed in the different branches both of human learning and of sacred erudition. We may, undoubtedly, attribute to the apostles themselves, and their injunctions to their disciples, those excellent establishments, in which the youth destined to the holy ministry received an education suitable to the solemn office they were to undertake. * St. John erected a School of this kind at Ephesus, and one of the same nature was founded by Polycarp, at Smyrna. But none of these were in greater repute than that which was established in Alexandria, ‡ which was commonly called the catechetical School, and is generally supposed to have been erected by St. Mark. §

Stepney, Oct. 5, 1811.

2 Tim. ii, 2.

W. N.

† IRENEUS, Adv. Hæres. lib. ii, cap xxii. p. 148. ed. Massuet. EUSEBIUS, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap. xx. p. 188.

The Alexandrian School was renowned for a succession of learned doctors, as we find by the accounts of Eusebius and St. Jerom; for, after St. Mark, Pantanus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and many others taught in it the doctrines of the gospel, and rendered it a famous seminary for Christian Philosophy and religious knowledge. There were also at Rome, Antioch, Cæsarea, Edessa, and in several other places, Schools of the same nature, though not all of equal reputation.

§ See the dissertation of Schmidius, De Schola Catechitica Alexandria; as also Aulisius, Delle Scuole Sacre, book iì, ch. 1, ii. p 5 -17. and ch. xxi. p. 92. The curious reader will find a learned account of the more famous Christian Schools in the eastern parts, at Edessa, Nisibis, and Seleucia, and, indeed, of the ancient Schools in general, in Assemanus's Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vatican; tom. iii. par, 11. P. 914-919.

Papers from the Port-folio of a Minister. Select Sentences from the Remains of H. K. White.

"1. Death and Judgment are near at hand.

2. Though thy bodily part be now in health and ease, the dews of death will soon sit upon thy forehead.

3. That which seems so sweet and desirable to thee now, will, if yielded to, become bitterness of soul to thee all thy life after.

4. When the Waters are come over thy soul, and when, in the midst of much bodily anguish, thou distinguishest the dim shores of Eternity before thee, what wouldst thou not give to be lighter by this one sin ?

5. God has long withheld his arm; what if his forbearance be now at an end? Canst thou not contemplate these things with the of death Art thou not a dying man; dying every day every hour?

eye

6. Is it not a fearful thing to shrink from the summors when it comes? To turn with horror and despair from the future being? Think what strains of joy and tranquillity fall on the ear of the saint who is just swooning into the arms of his Redeemer; what fearful shapes, and dreadful images of a disturbed conscience, surround the sinner's bed, when the last twig which he grasped fails him, and the gulph yawns to receive him."

Estimate of Human Life.

Extracted from Saurin's Sermons.

"So teach us to number our days!'-What is the total amount of human life? What is the sum of this accompt of days of nothingness and days of reality; of days of prosperity and days of affliction; of days of langour and days of delight; of days devoted to the world and days devoted to religion? My brethren, it is. God, it is God alone, who holds 'our times in his hand :' he alone can make an accurate calculation of them. It is not impossible however, to ascertain what shall be, in respect of time, the temporal destination of those that hear me this day. Let me suppose that the present solemnity has drawn together an assembly of 1800 persons. I divide them into six classes. I. From 10 to 20 years.

old, 530; II. from 20 to 30 years old, 440; III. from 30 to 40, 545; IV. from 40 to 50, 255; V. from 50 to 60, 160; VI. from 60 and upwards 70.

According to the most exact calculation, 60 of my present hearers must, before the beginning of another year, be numbered with the dead. In 10 years, of these 1800 will remain 1270; in 20

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years 830; in 30 years 480; in 40 years 230; in 50 years only 70. Thus, you see, my brethren, in what a perpetual flux the human race is. The world is a vast theatre, on which every one appears his moment upon the stage, and in a moment disappears. Every successive instant presents different scenery, a new decoration. 1 represent these vicissitudes to myself under the emblem of what is felt by a man, who is employed in turning over the pages of history. He pores over his book, he bebolds on this leaf one people, one king: he turns it, and lo, other laws, other maxims, other actors, which have no relation to what preceded.

Obituary,