mitted to him. St. Paul teaches the same doctrine, when he tells us in 2 Cor ix. 6, "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." St. Peter, too, tells those who give diligence to make their calling and election sure, that "so an entrance shall be ministered unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." And the Prophet Daniel, xii. 3—to which, probably, the sermon you speak of referred-declares, that when they that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt, "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever:" that is, "the wise," meaning thereby the truly religious, shall shine in the kingdom of heaven in one great body of light, like what is called in the natural heavens the galaxy, or milky way, which consists of myriads of stars congregated together; while they who have been, not only themselves wise, but also zealous for the glory of God and for the good of souls, and who have been instrumental, whether by their preaching or example, in turning many to righteousness, shall stand out, distinct and conspicuous, as the leaders of the Christian host, each, like separate stars, with a peculiar brightness and glory, "for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead."

But in perfect harmony with this, there is another view of the subject, which should never be lost sight of, and to which perhaps your attention was more particularly directed.

A holy God could give to his creatures none other than a perfectly holy law. Nor could He compromise for a partial and imperfect obedience, and thus sanction sin, of any kind, or in any degree. His law must be, and actually is, expressly accompanied with this sanction, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." God's law, too, differs from man's law in this, that it claims to regulate, not merely the deeds and words, but also the thoughts and desires and purposes of the heart. This spiritual character of God, and of His law, once seen, the most self-justifying and self-righteous moralist must immediately admit that he has broken it, and consequently can no more be justified by the law which he has violated and transgressed than can the vilest sinner. As to justification, both stand upon the same level. The man who has committed only one murder can no more be justified by the law than the man who has committed fifty; and if he is to go unpunished, it must be by appealing to mercy, not to justice. Now this is the condition of the whole human race. We have all broken God's holy law, not in one, but in ten thousand instances; for not a single action of our unconverted lives was in motive pure, and fit to meet the holy eye of God. We are therefore debtors in ten thousand talents and have nothing to pay: because even if we were to serve God perfectly for the rest of our lives, this would be only what is absolutely required, and must be required of us by a holy God. We could only say, "We are unprofitable servants-we have done that which was our duty to do:" and therefore could lay by no store of supererogatory works in order to atone for the past. No, there is none righteous; no, not one. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are we justified freely by God's grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood.

This truth, that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law, is a foundation stone of the Gospel; and if pieced and patched with the rubbish of human works and human merits, will not support the mighty superstructure of eternal salvation. I call all works performed before justification, rubbish; not because I would pour contempt upon righteousness and true holiness, but because all works prior to justification and conversion are tainted by the corrupt nature from which they flow; because all are leavened and animated by worldly or selfish motives, none proceed from that pure love of God, and of man for God's sake, which the unconverted man cannot possess, and yet which alone can render any work acceptable in the sight of a holy and heart-seeing God. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. To the defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, because their mind and conscience is defiled. And even after conversion we can have no merit in the sight of God, not merely on account of the imperfection of our very best services, but also because all that is good in us is the effect of Divine grace, the evil only is our own. God by His Spirit hath wrought all our works in us. Who made thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? These are questions which should silence all boasting, and put down every swelling of pride in the heart.

But surely, though our justification be entirely free, and unmerited in any degree, yet when God has thus pardoned us freely for Christ's sake, and made us accepted in the Beloved,-when Christ has been made to us of God, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, God will feel and act towards His children whom He has adopted, and upon whom He has bestowed the riches of His grace, not as a weak and whimsical earthly parent, but as a wise and judicious, who looks with peculiar love and favour upon those who are most affectionate and dutiful, and even rewards the diligence of those who avail themselves of the teachers, and books, and other means of improvement which he himself, at his own cost, has provided for them,-though all the benefit of that improvement is entirely the child's, and fits him to occupy a position in the world more honourable and comfortable to himself.

However mysterious and inscrutable the dealings of God in this life may be, with respect to the selection of the objects of His grace, and the means and degrees of grace communicated to each, yet assuredly Scripture, no less than reason, every where forbids us to think that there will be any thing arbitrary, or capricious, or unaccountable, in the judg ment of the great day. We are expressly told that every one shall receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad:-that every man shall be rewarded according to his works: that every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour:-that we shall not find our labour vain in the Lord: -and that he who gives a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward: we are encouraged with the saints of old to look to the recompense of the reward, and exhorted not to be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not; and told that if we give diligence to make our calling and election sure, an entrance will be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If, on the one hand, he who has passed the gate of death impenitent and unbelieving will infallibly find that there is no repentance in the grave, but that as the tree falleth so it lieth; and that just in proportion to his ungodliness, and impurity of his heart, will be his future misery;

so, on the other hand, it were impossible to think that every one who has just passed as it were the boundary line of conversion, but who has made small advances in the Christian course, continuing through life though sincere yet weak and imperfect, is qualified and designed for equal happiness and equal glory, in the life to come, as he whose heart manifestly burns with love to God and souls, and whose whole life exhibits an ardent zeal to promote the object of the angels' song, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.'

(To be continued.)

LETTER FROM BISHOP CHASE.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I HAVE again received from my friend and brother in the ministry of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Rev. B. C. C. Parker, another letter from good Bishop Chase to the Rev. Dr. Cutler, Rector of St. Ann's, Brooklyn, New York. It contains a just tribute to men of excellence; and is a good indication of the gratitude the Bishop retains towards those early friends.

My kind friend and correspondent informs me that this letter was written in answer to one from Dr. Cutler, who on reading the "Reminiscences," in which the Bishop notices almost every circumstance of past attention paid him in England, wrote to the Bishop, and stated to him how much he was delighted in contemplating the view he had given him of various eminent Christian characters, and the satisfaction with which his mind recurred to them in the midst of the sin and corruption with which the world abounds. Dr. Chase's reply, I trust, will be read with interest, and, by its influence on the hearts of your Christian readers, help to further the good and holy cause in which the Bishop is engaged: and when they look at the fruits of the good seed sown by our oldest Missionary Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, above a century ago, as now exhibited in the present state of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, may it stimulate them to renewed and increased efforts in the great Missionary cause, and to say one to another, "Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." I remain, &c.

W. C. H.,

A Vicar in the North of Devon.

To the Rev. Dr. Cutler.

Jubilee (Illinois) Sept. 10, 1842. "MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,-I am glad, that you seize the good and avoid the evil on the pages of my "Reminiscences." God opened the door and drew aside the curtain which covered from our view the moral and religious beauties of our mother the Church of England; and if this discovery hath brought forth CHARITY, the queen of Christian virtues, let Him receive the praise. Man is nothing more than an instrument at best, and, nolens aut volens, his deeds will be made to praise the great Jehovah. Had not the difference between two persons, by you alluded to, existed, America would never have witnessed the extent of English excellence. In this view of the subject I rejoice; yea, and will rejoice.

You mention the names of Gambier and Marriott as having left us for a better world. It is indeed true, but their examples will never be forgotten. There is a fragrance in a good man's life like that of Lord Gambier, which filleth the whole nation, as the "whole house was filled with the odour of the ointment," in the Scriptural history mentioned by you. To this moment I feel the power of that dear nobleman's Christian character thrilling through every vein. My heart throbs, and my eye fills with tears, when I reflect on his stern integrity, his unostentatious modesty, his deep humility, his fervent piety, and his unbounded benevolence. Oh that I might be allowed to sit at his feet in the kingdom of our Lord!

My most grateful heart's best tribute to good Mrs. Cutler: would that I could hear more of you both. I have nearly broken down in my Northern visit in July and August, six Sundays. My son Dudley, now in orders, accompanied me. We had Divine services 60 times. I preached 39: my son 21: Confirmations 41: Baptisms 39: and instituted 5 new parishes. Two of these will have churches immediately built. One has been endowed with a glebe of eighty acres of the best land.

Oh that I had a press to publish all this. But, alas! here I am in the wilderness, without money and without price. They say I shall receive my pay in another world! Poor encouragement this to me, a sinner over head and ears already in debt to God! But it is a good excuse for a stingy world to urge, who have as little faith as modesty. Your faithful friend and servant in the Lord,

PHILANDER CHASE.

*** The "difference between two persons," alluded to, refers, we suppose, to what occurred between Bishop Hobart and Bishop Chase in England. Bishop Hobart of New York wished that the General Theological Seminary in his own diocese should be the only institution for training young men for holy orders in the United States Episcopal Church; and he was much displeased that Bishop Chase proposed founding a similar establishment for the diocese of Ohio. Both Bishops arriving in England within a few days of each other to solicit aid for their respective institutions, Dr. Hobart opened a vehement warfare upon his Right Reverend brother; and the battle raged with warmth between combatants on either side. We had much intercourse with both the Bishops, and heard their respective statements. Bishop Hobart's chief argument was, that it is essential to the United States Episcopal church that its clergy should be educated in a central theological seminary, as a bond of union, and to promote uniformity; for that otherwise it might come to be divided into as many sections as dioceses. Bishop Hobart was what would now be called a Tractarian; and he wished to mould the United States Episcopal Church to his opinions. At the same time, we are sure that he was conscientious in his fears lest schism should arise from the multiplication of Divinity colleges. But on the other side, was there no danger that exclusive centralization would be attended with evils? Was it desirable that all the clergy should be trained under one dominant influence? Was it not advisable that there should be the salutary check of concurrent jurisdictions, all of them subject to the general law of the Church? Were it only to prevent a miserable narrow-minded sectarianism, which is apt to grow up where there is no counterpoise, we should say that the United States Episcopal Church ought

not to educate all its clergy in one theological seminary. In England we are not the worse off for having Cambridge as well as Oxford; and a multiplicity of independent colleges in each. But apart from these considerations, Bishop Hobart's plan would have stunted the Church to a dwarfish growth; for there were not, there could not be, funds sufficient to educate a competent number of young men at New York for the whole of the Union. It were preposterous to require youths from Ohio or Illinois, whose whole wealth might be their ability to labour, mentally or bodily, or both, and who can live where they are because their wants are few and the prime necessaries of life are easily accessible, to spend several years in the comparatively expensive and luxurious city of New York; and even if they could in every instance obtain aid to enable them to do so, their new habits of life might probably indispose them for enduring the hardships of back-wood settlements.

We are pained that our venerable friend should have had any cause for the concluding words of his letter. We do not indeed say that the body of the faithful are bound, or are able, to carry every zealous brother or father through all the enterprises of piety or mercy in which he may have considered it his duty to embark. It is obviously impossible for Churchmen in England, with the many overwhelming claims made upon them, at home and abroad, to do for Illinois, and so on for every new State in succession to Nootka Sound and California, even the little they did for New York or Ohio; much less all they could desire. But without too nicely calculating whether our venerable friend has always duly considered the cost; and admiring and reverencing the faith, zeal, and self-devotion, with which at an advanced period of life he has embarked on new and arduous services in the cause of his Divine Master, we protest against the inconsiderate, we might say cold-hearted, speeches to which he alludes; and which are neither just nor generous. The late Dr. Adam Clarke often complained of this unfeeling and exacting spirit. On one occasion, when he was worn down with writing, travelling, exhorting, and preaching, both in chapels and in the open air, we find the following entry in his journal:

“June 23.-I preached this morning to a congregation of upwards of 1200, and felt much freedom in enforcing and explaining the necessity of that salvation which God has provided for man. In the evening I preached to above 1500, but I found it difficult to speak, my voice and strength having been exhausted by the exertion of the morning.

24th. We set off early for Lisburne. Though I had been almost totally exhausted with my yesterday's work, they insisted on my preaching at Lisburne. In vain I urged and expostulated. They said, 'Sure you came out to preach, and why should you not preach at every opportunity?' 'I must have rest.' 'Sure you can rest after preaching?' I replied, 'I must preach to-morrow at Lurgan, and shall have but little time to rest.' Oh, the more you preach, the more strength you will get!' 'I came out for the sake of health and rest.' 'Oh, rest when you return home! I cannot rest at home, as I have got more work to do there than I can manage.' 'Then,' said they, 'you shall get rest in the grave!' I give this specimen of the inconsiderateness and unfeelingness of many religious people, who care little how soon their ministers are worn out; because they find their excessive labours comfortable to their own minds; and, should the preacher die through his extraordinary exertions, they have this consolation, God can soon raise up another! Though not convinced by this reasoning, I still preached, to a very crowded congregation; and it was a time of uncommon power."

"You shall get rest in the grave," said the Irish people to Dr. Clarke; "You shall receive your pay in another world," say the Americans to Bishop Chase ;-good and kind words, if used to console a fainting labourer; but not so, if meant to urge him to spend his strength and his resources without en