handled to the consciences of his hearers.

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mately acquainted with the deceitfulness of the human heart, he pursues the conscience through its turnings and evasions, its thousand Protean transformations, till, in a voice of thunder, the words reecho from its inmost depths-Thou art the man! Such is the preaching that commands attention in all ages. Had Saurin's excellence been merely outward-a prepossessing appearance-a fine voiceand graceful elocution—whatever his fame while living, it would have descended with him into the tomb. He would have been long since forgotten. But, reared on the foundation of solid and extensive erudition, as witnessed by his Discourses, which, says the Encyclopædia Britannica, are "full of learning;" shaped into beauty and harmony by finely-developed powers; and consecrated as one great temple by the high and holy purpose which, like a golden cement, gives coherence to every sentence he penned, Saurin's works, are indeed his monument- -a monument which will be esteemed so long as men reverence self-denying and successful effort to do one's work in the world worthily and well.

On

To strangers Saurin was cold and reserved, and hence at first seemed proud and ambitious. closer intercourse, however, this passed away; and, as acquaintance ripened into friendship, he was seen as he really was, generous, amiable, and warm

hearted. In reading his sermons, we cannot fail to be struck with his clear-sightedness in dealing with the heart and conscience: and yet, as not unfrequently happens with those that are eminent in this department of human knowledge, he was simple as a child in the every-day concerns of life.

One more fact we must mention to his honour. Not only did he care assiduously for his suffering fellow-countrymen, but if not the first, he was among the first, to advocate the duty of the Church to send forth missions to the heathen. He planned a foreign missionary society for the propagation of the gospel among the heathen, especially in the colonial possessions of his adopted country. Of this he gives an account in the preface to his Abstract of Theology and Christian Morality, published in 1722. Seventy-four years after this, in 1796, the General Assemby of the Church of Scotland, in a house of one hundred and two members, decided by a majority of fourteen, to do nothing in favour of missions, mainly on the ground that it was proper and absurd to propagate the gospel abroad, while there remained a single individual at home without the means of religious knowledge." All the more honour is due to Saurin and others of his day, who were clear-sighted enough to recognise what every section of the Church now regards, not merely as a duty, but as a high and holy privilege.

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Prayer

WHICH SAURIN COMMONLY OFFERED

BEFORE SERMON.

LORD, our God and Father, Thou beholdest us prostrate in Thy presence, to

render to Thy majesty the homage which we owe; to confess before Thee our sins, and to implore Thy grace. If we should follow the first impulse of our consciences, we could not dare to raise our eyes to heaven-we would flee from Thy face. We are creatures vile and helpless, more unworthy a thousand times, by our actual corruption than by our natural vileness, of appearing before Thine eyes. But, Lord, if the thought of our sins and our miseries casts us down, Thy grace raises us up again. Thou art a merciful God, full of pity, slow to anger, abundant in goodness. Thou willest not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should turn and live; and Thou hast given Thy Son to the world, that whosoever believeth on Him should have eternal life. Such blessings, such promises, speak peace to our trembling hearts, and inspire us with the boldness we now manifest in coming to the throne of Thy mercy, and imploring the powerful succours of Thy grace. At

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Memoir of the Rev. James Saurin.

all times we stand in need of grace, but now, O Lord, we feel that it is specially necessary. We are in Thy house, to learn the mysteries of our salvation, and the rules of our conduct; but, O God, our aim exceeds our strength; we cannot accomplish it without Thy holy Spirit. Give to us a double portion of His sacred influences, to us who are to declare Thy word. Grant that, having understood the meaning of Thine oracles, we may be touched in our own hearts with the truths which they convey, before proclaiming them to others; and grant that we may set them forth in a manner befitting their excellence. But suffer not that we labour in vain; dispose those who hear us to receive Thy commands with submission, and obey them with carefulness; so that together, animated with the same spirit, and reaching forward to the same goal, we all may sanctify our conduct, and live conformably to the grandeur of our vocation, in the name of Thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Conversion.

THE DANGER OF DELAY.

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."-ISA. lv. 6.

HAT is a startling oath which is narrated in the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse. St John saw an angel; that angel was

clothed with a cloud, a rainbow was upon his head, his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. He stood upon the sea and upon the earth. He lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever that there should be time no longer. By this oath, if we would follow some learned men, the angel wished to declare to the Jews that the measure of their iniquity was full, that the time of their merciful visitation was expired, and that God, by giving the rein to the armies of the Emperor Adrian, was about to complete the vengeance which He had begun by the soldiers of Vespasian and of Titus.

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