not afford us pleasure to know, that an absent friend, endeared to us by many proofs and pledges of tried affection, still remembers us? Does it not comfort and delight us, to receive from them ever and anon some token of their unchanging affection, some proof that they think of us? How, then, ought the reflection to cheer and to solace our minds, while as yet we are awaiting the hour of our full admission to our Father's house, that he does not forget us; that he who is so well able to bless us, and who has promised to supply "all our need," is incessantly thinking of us! Be this, then, our consolation; and when the thought of our own infirmity distresses us, let us encourage ourselves in the Lord our God: his grace is sufficient for us; he will never forsake us; he evermore thinketh of us. G. J.

Glastonbury, April, 1848.

have a young friend who needs advice as much as myself. I hope you will excuse me troubling you with these lines, for I am sure your time is greatly taken up. Our situations are so perplexing, that I hardly know how to state them. I have been married eight years; and nearly three years ago the Lord was pleased to take to himself a dear sister, which, I trust, has made a lasting impression on my mind, and led me to seek him for myself; and I hope I am not deceiving myself, if I say I have found Him whom my soul loveth. Indeed, dear sir, it is my chief desire to live near to the blessed Lord and to do his will; but I must confess, with shame, that my heart is more prone to wander from him, and I am often grieved to find it so hard, after all that my dear Redeemer has done for me. And next to this grief is one that lies heavy on my heart; it is, sir, my dear husband: he is opposed to my going to chapel, which I have done ever since; and last May twelve months, you, dear sir, first administered to me the emblems of our Saviour's dying love. Ever since that time I have had many trials which I did not expect. I thought, that, after a time, he would go with me; but it is not so. He is not so violent now as at first; but I have lost all power in reasoning with him, and he will not hear anything I read or say to him. Dear sir, what can I do? I have no reason to expect he would have been better if I had not joined the church; but he makes that an excuse for all his conduct, because I go and do things against his will.

TO?

SUPPOSE the day of judgment already come, the Judge seated on the throne, and all nations coming to be judged in their classes.

The first class approaches, to whom the Judge says, "And how came ye hither?" They reply, "We thought God was merciful; that he never designed one soul to be lost; and if we did as well as we could, and at last called upon him to save us, no more would be required."

But the Judge admonishes them: "Did I not tell you, and did not my servants repeat to you, that'except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' You have not repented, never a tear fell from your eye for sinning against God, as you implored forgiveness in the name of Jesus. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never approved of you."

As the first class retires, the second draws near, to whom likewise the Judge says, "And how came ye hither?" They answer, "We have been sober, honest, and virtuous; we never did any one harm; were ready to do a kindness to those who desired it; and so we thought that if it did not end well with us, woe be to thousands."

But the Judge replies to them also: "Did not I tell you, and did not my servants repeat to you, that except ye repent, ye shall all perish as those on whom the tower of Siloam fell? You have heard, and shown contempt for that declaration. In the love and practice of sin you lived; and not one of the thousands of sins you have committed both in public and private, have you sorrowed over, or sought for

As the second class retires, the third class comes forward; again the Judge says, "And how came ye hither?" They say, We have been honest and virtuous; we read the Scriptures daily, attended to prayers, and worshipped with the Lord's people. We complied with the requirements of the church, and, as we had means, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and comforted the afflicted. Seeing that we had done so much more than many of our neighbours were doing, we thought all must be well."

But the Judge reminds them, "Did not I tell you, and did not my servants repeat to you, that, except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' You sought not this great change, but lived and died with an unholy nature. Moreover, heaven is a world where purest thought and feeling dwell. Its air cannot be corrupted by the breath of one unholy soul. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never approved of you."

As the third class retires, the fourth class nears the Judge. The Judge questions them not; they fully anticipate their doom. The hour is terrible, a sad sight. The remembrance of sabbaths desecrated, the name of God profaned, the ministers of the Gospel scorned: these are arrows piercing the soul. And now the Judge sounds the knell of their doom: "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

All these retiring to feel the woe that knows no end, now comes up the fifth class, to whom, as before, the

Judge says, "And how came ye hither?" They answer, "We felt that we were poor, unhappy, undone sinners. Then it was that we listened to the Gospel with eagerness. By that means we saw more and more, that the way of hope for our souls was to come at once, as we were, by faith in the one atoning sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on Calvary. And as we were praying, and trying to believe, feeling no rest unless forgiven, life and joy came to our hearts, more than we can tell; it was like beginning to live anew. And although at times our hearts have been sorrowful, and doubts have run through the mind, whether we should ever reach heaven, still we prayed hard, believed hard, and struggled

hard, always looking to Christ; and now, unworthy as we are of the least of the Lord's mercies, angels have brought us here."

Upon these last the Judge looks with favour: "Well done! I know when you turned from sin to serve your Maker. Angels rejoiced over you at that time. Your tears, and prayers, and faith, have all been reported to heaven. I have been with you in all the way you have come. Well done, good and faithful servants, I know you have prayed hard, believed hard, and striven hard to get through a world of such adverse influences; now ye shall be rewarded, heaven is yours, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Sept. 15, 1848.

T. GARLAND.

FELLOW-CHRISTIANS,—I closed my last letter with a quotation from Dr. Pusey, in which he mentions the qualifications to which the clergy of your church have been indebted for the respect and deference of their people.

If the testimony of Dr. Pusey be not thought entitled to credit on this subject, bear with me while I adduce the confessions of two or three living clergymen of a very different stamp. The Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, speaking of the manner in which baptism is often administered in the church, represents it as an affair managed by wicked parents and wicked sponsors; and then adds: “ They present their child, it may be, to a minister

as ungodly as themselves; one devoted to the sports of the field; engaged in the dissipating amusements of fashionable life; who has never manifested, by any spirituality of temper, or zeal of conduct, that Christ sent him into the ministry." The Rev. Hugh M'Neile, in a speech delivered at Liverpool in 1843, referring to the time of the rise of Puseyism, made the following declaration : "The fox-hunting, and cardplaying, and backgammon-playing, and Sunday newspaper-reading tribes (of clergy), were at a discount. What was to be done? What new aspect could the natural man assume to hold his ground, and, if possible, to regain his influence? Ritualism, formalism, Pha

risaism; these having a semblance of piety, might answer his purpose for a time. They have done so." In a pamphlet on "Christian Comprehension," written by “a clergyman of the Church of England," and published in 1845, I find this passage: "At present the door of emolument is open to men who have interest with the Crown, the Chancellor, Ministers of State, and private patrons; and it tempts young men even without piety, learning, or even morality, to enter the church for lucre's sake. The life and conduct of these men often bring scandal upon the church to which they belong, and to the Christian religion itself."

Is this united testimony true, or is it false? Had it been written by any one of us, you might have sought refuge in suspecting its accuracy; but it is the testimony of friends high in repute among you, and extensively acquainted with things as they really are. They could have no inducement to say more than the truth on such a subject, nor to give to their representations a colouring higher than naked facts compelled. And these facts forced them to bear this truthful testimony -that in your church there have been, up to a very recent period, tribes of ministers who were fox-hunters, card and backgammon-players, or Sunday newspaper-readers; that when public opinion forced them to abandon such outrageous practices, they substituted for them ritualism, formalism, and Pharisaism; that still parents, in taking their children to the parish church to be baptized, in many cases take them to ungodly men who are devoted to the sports of the field, and engaged in the dissipating amusements of fashionable life; and that still young men without

piety, learning, or even morality, enter the church for lucre's sake, and by their life and conduct bring scandal, not only upon the church, but upon the Christian religion itself.

Take the map of the world, and turn your eye to every spot on it in which a Christian church exists; turn over the pages of ecclesiastical history, and acquaint yourselves with all the churches that have ever existed from the days of the apostles till now; consult the records of every Nonconformist church that ever has been formed in Britain, and then produce, if you can, a single instance of any unestablished church having ever tolerated such a proportion of manifestly ungodly ministers as ever has been, and still is to be, found in yours! And why are such ministers tolerated among you? Because you, in consenting to put your church under State bondage, gave up the power of keeping them out, or of removing them when once they are in. There is no other church in England that would tolerate such an abomination a single day. What, appoint ungodly men to teach godliness!—appoint men engaged in the dissipating amusements of fashionable life, to teach the people not to be conformed to this world !-appoint formalists and Pharisees to teach the people that God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth!-appoint men without piety, or even morality, to be ensamples to the whole flock!-appoint men to honour religion with their lips, who are covering it with infamy and scandal by their lives! How long do you mean to endure such a violation of all that is proper and scriptural?

Do you say you cannot help it? But