and earnest in commanding their children and their house holds after them, to walk in the ways of the Lord, restraining them from the pernicious liberty of finding their own pleasure; imparting to them instruction in righteousness, and setting them such an edifying pattern as may be expected to convince them that the duties of devotion are not only reasonable, but in the highest degree beneficial and pleasing to all who exercise themselves unto that vital godliness which is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to

come.

We exhort the humble in station to remember, that to them the Sabbath of the Lord ought to be peculiarly pre cious, as it provides for them, not only a periodical relaxation from toil, but frequent opportunities of calmly considering the things which belong to their peace, and making preparation for entering on the rest which remaineth for the people of God. We beseech them to call to mind the honourable distinction which their fathers possessed in times past, when almost every household, poorly provided as it might be with the accommodations and comforts of life, offered up the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and praise, day by day continually, and when more especially the mornings and the evenings of the day of holy repose were passed, either in sweet meditation on the power and glory of God, or in taking sweet counsel with brethren and companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. How unlike to such days of refreshing fellowship, are the polluted Sabbaths to which many lost souls must for ever look back as the wide gate and the broad way which swiftly and surely led them to endless destruction. Let it no longer be the reproach of this land, once so renowned for purity of faith and decorum of christian practice, that there are many of its degenerate inhabitants who have broken down the domestic altars, and profaned the sanctuaries, and on whom the weekly Sabbath opens and closes with no other distinction except that of being more exclusively than any other day devoted to folly, dissipation, and vice. Encompassed as you are with light, how great will be your condemnation, if of you it can be said, that in the tabernacles of grace neither your prayers nor your alms ascend in memorial before God; that the words of truth and soberness are seldom heard in your families; that not one thought of yours is bestowed

on the care of the precious souls for whose good you are bound to watch, but that every expression, every action, and every relaxation, is as carnal, earthly, and devilish, as if man had been created for the purpose of dishonouring his Maker, degrading his own nature, and multiplying injuries and sorrows to his fellow-creatures,-that clamour, strife, sensuality, violence, and worse than brutal intoxication, with other kindred offences, fill up the measure of that day which God, in his mercy, appointed for the refreshment of man and beast, but which is so far from yielding refreshment to infatuated myriads of human beings, that, more than the most laborious of their other days, it exhausts their strength, and wastes their substance, and impairs their present comfort, while it fails to awaken any solid hope of future happiness.

Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we would persuade and adjure the hardened, by all that is bitter in remorse, by all that is intolerable in an awakened and unpurified conscience, by all that is fearful on the death-bed of impenitence, by all that is searching in the frown of an unreconciled Judge, by all that is repulsive in the fellowship of accursed spirits, by all that is wofully agonising in the gnawing of the worm that dieth not, and in the fire that is not quenched, to awaken from the dream of guilty insensibility, and to flee from the wrath to come to the hope set before them in the gospel. Most tenderly do we beseech them by the mercies of God, by that forgiveness which is with him that he may be feared, by the love and the pity, the blood and the agony of the Lord Jesus, whom they have crucified afresh, and by the ineffable consolations of the Spirit of Grace, to whom they have done despite, that they seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. It is presumptuous to expect that the Spirit will always strive with the rebellious sinners who do always resist and grieve him; but, while the door of hope is not shut, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

We need scarcely admonish those who have experience of the holy satisfactions of a religious life, to continue to walk in the ways which they have found to be pleasantness and peace. But we entreat them to suffer this word of exhortation. Let no one say, Am I my brother's keeper?-when he sees a fellow-creature walking in the way which leadeth_to_destruction. It is the office of brotherly

kindness to warn and rebuke, to restore and counsel erring souls, and not to suffer sin upon them,-" of some having compassion, making a difference, and others saving with fear pulling them out of the fire." To such labours of christian love, applied to the godlike object of gathering the outcasts, and regaining the lost, the highest rewards have been promised and secured. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise." "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."

"Now, unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and Amen."

ever.

THE WORLDLY-WISE MAN.

TEMPORAL advancement is the object after which he aspires. In its pursuit he will often display the most astonishing sagacity and foresight. He marks, with the keenest observation, every circumstance which is fitted to promote his designs. He displays the spirit of an exact and sober calculator, not only in the bargains which he makes, but in the habits which he forms, and in the society which he cultivates. He converts religion itself into the handmaid of his avarice or ambition. His integrity may be unimpeachable-his mode of life may be blamelesshis attendance in the house of God may be exemplary. But to what are we to ascribe all these commendable qualities? Not to the love of CHRIST, but to the love of Mammon. Whilst he worships in the sanctuary-whilst he is just, and temperate, and industrious, he is all the while serving the flesh. He is punctual in his payments, because he has the shrewdness to perceive that honesty is the best policy. He has acquired habits of sobriety, because he has found that licentiousness must waste his substance, and debilitate his body, and impair his intellect. He avoids the company of the giddy and the dissipated, because he fears that their intercourse may diminish his gains or detract from his respectability. He waits upon the ordinances of religion, because experience

has taught him, that, even in a temporal sense, godliness is profitable. Such is the worldly-wise man-and what shall be his recompense? He seeks after the gold that perisheth, or the honour that continueth not, and he shall, in all likelihood, obtain it. God, however, shall condemn his hollow and his selfish obedience. Piety, indeed, has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come; but worldly gain is only one of its secondary advantages. It is a blessing which is sometimes added unto those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But, if we maintain the profession of the Gospel, simply from such low and sordid motives, we are only mocking our Maker-we are making merchandise of the truth-we are bringing down christianity from its dignified position as an authoritative revelation from the Ruler of the universe, and converting it into a matter of remunerating speculation. If we are religious, merely because we believe that godliness brings great gain, we are sowing to the flesh, and we shall reap corruption. The Judge of the whole earth shall number us amongst those: who are walking after the course of this world, and who are serving their own hearts' lusts. Notwithstanding all our fair appearances, he shall pronounce upon us the awful sentence-" I never knew you-depart from me ye that work iniquity." P.:

DEITY OF CHRIST.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN. FA SIR,

THE opponents of the Proper Deity of our blessed Lord have never attempted to give any answer but one to the argument founded upon the very peculiar construction of the language of the Old Testament respecting God. I cannot say I ever felt, that there was as much force in this answer as their constant reiteration of it would imply they supposed there was. In the early part of Genesis, particularly, it is well known that plural nouns are often joined with verbs singular; and the Supreme is frequently represented as taking counsel with himself; thus: "And God (Elohim) said, Let us make man," &c. again-"And the LORD (Jehovah) said "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language." Now the answer to this, which seems to be relied on, is, that it is the ordinary practice of kings and of

other dignified personages to speak in the plural number. But to this the reply is unanswerable: that it is not the ordinary language of Scripture kings, or other dignified personages, whose language is recorded in the Inspired Volume, except on those occasions where they are represented as taking counsel, or acting along with others: and I very much question whether it could be shown from Pagan writers that such was the language of kings, even at a period comparatively recent. The following autocratic style was uniformly that of the Scriptare kings: "I, even I, Artaxerxes, the king, do make a decree."-Ezra vii. 21. "Therefore I (Nebuchadnezzar) make a decree."-Dan. iii. 29. "I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace."-Dan. iv. 4. Now if the an swer had any strength, the pronouns in these and all similar instances should have been we and our, and not “I” and "my." But even if this could be shewn to be the language of the kings of early times, we could scarcely expect to find a more simple account of the origin of such an extraordinary custom. than to suppose that man, in his arrogance, presumed to adopt the language of the Supreme Ruler of the universe.

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I am not aware that the advocates of the Scripture doctrine of the Trinity have observed at least two passages in the New Testament similar in their construction, and involving a knot which I cannot conceive how the adversary can unloose in any other way than by the usual resort in such cases; namely, by cutting it. Paul, at the 1st Thessalonians iii. 11, thus prays: Now God himself, even (xa) our Father, even (za) our Lord Jesus Christ, may he direct our way unto you," the verb is, xarsuduval, the third person singular, optative mode, in which there is none of the ambiguity of the verb in our English translation; for, "direct our way," may be taken either as "may he direct," or "may they direct." Again, at 2d Thessalonians ii. 16, 17, "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, even (xα1) God, even (xa) our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope, through grace, may he comfort (aganaλsoal, the third person singular, optative) your hearts, and may he strengthen (snar, third person singular, optative again) you in every good word and work." Here again our English translation is ambiguous: "Comfort your hearts, and stablish you," &c. But in the original there is no possibility of any mistake: