In order to assist us in answering these inquiries, if we are in earnest upon the subject, and to excite us to be in earnest if we are not so, let us weigh well the import of the passage under consideration; and may the Holy Spirit mercifully incline our hearts to receive the spiritual edification which by his blessing it is adapted to promote !

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There are three points which the Apostle seems particularly to impress upon us in this passage namely, that the believer makes a deliberate choice; that in the choice thus deliberately made, he, by the grace of God, resolutely persists, notwithstanding every temptation to a contrary course; and that he is amply justified in his choice by the infinite benefits which result from it. His choice is deliberate—it is persevering-it is wise.

First, then, the true believer, the man who really credits the promises and the threatenings of God, makes a deliberate and corresponding choice. His religion is not a matter of chance: he is not a Christian, so called, merely because his parents were so before him, or because Christianity is the established religion of his country; on just the same principle upon which he might have been a Mohammedan or a Pagan, if he had been born in a Mohammedan or Pagan land. Neither does he take up his religion as a blind impulse of the imagination, or a momentary excitement of the passions, without being able to give any satisfactory reason for his conduct. On the contrary, he is convinced that he has good grounds for his choice. He knows that God has spoken, and he believes it to be both his duty and his privilege to obey what he commands. Abraham would not have quitted his country, to sojourn in a foreign land, or set out on a still more painful journey to offer up his son, had he not had clear grounds for believing that the command to do so was from God; and this one point being ascertained, there was no place for further doubt. His

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conduct, strange as it must have appeared to those who knew not the principle on which he acted, was truly rational and consistent. the same manner the other acts of faith mentioned in the chapter before us, were in obedience to the known commands of God; in the full assurance that what he threatened he would accomplish, and that what he promised he was also able and willing to fulfil.

Now, this deliberation of choice is the characteristic of true religion. Good and evil, life and death, are set before us. The world, and satan, and our own corrupt hearts, tempt us to prefer the latter; our Creator exhorts, and encourages, and commands us to select the former. To choose aright there must be faith in the declarations of God. We must believe what he has revealed to us: we must understand what is our real character in his sight; what he has said concerning us; how we may obtain his favour, and receive the pardon of our offences against him. He tells us, that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." He commands us to come out and to be separate from the sins and vanities of the world; to repent and obey the Gospel; to make our calling and election sure; to be conformed to the image of Christ, and to live to the glory of God. He exhibits to us in his word a Saviour, who, by the sacrifice of himself, made an atonement for the sins of the world, and through faith in whom we may obtain justification and peace with God. But he also tells us, that we cannot serve two masters; that we cannot obey God and mammon; that "if we live after the flesh, we shall die; but if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live." The joys of heaven and the pains of hell are thus set before us; there is no alternative between them: we must therefore make our choice between the world and God; between the pleasures of sin which endure but for a

season, and the recompence of an eternal reward. Deliberately to make this choice-to repent of our sins, to forsake them, to implore the pardon of them, to turn to the service of our God and Saviour, to feel the vanity of the world, and to "seek a better country, that is, a heavenly," is the first decisive step in true religion.

But, secondly, the choice thus made is to be persevered in. We read of some who "believed for a while, but, having no root, in time of temptation, fell away." Demas forsook the Apostles, having loved the present evil world more than that "better country" which he professed to have made the object of his choice. But not so those holy men whose example is set before us in the text: "If they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned." The world is ever ready to receive back those who seem for a time to have forsaken its unhallowed paths. But shall we thus renounce our profession, and resign our hopes, and turn back to our evil deeds? Trusting to our own strength, we both may and shall do so; but humbly relying upon the grace and assistance of our Divine Redeemer, we shall be mercifully preserved from thus going back to perdition; for he is both able and willing "to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." But how is it that we are to be preserved? Not by an overruling force, operating against our will, and contrary to our endeavours; but by our will, our understanding, our affections being renewed in true holiness and obedience, so that we earnestly "desire" and seek" that better country, and could not be contented with any thing the present world can afford. Love and faith thus lead to prayer, and vigilance, and dependance upon God. We become well content to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge

of Christ Jesus our Lord; we cherish tenderness of conscience; we fear to grieve the Holy Spirit of God by which we are sealed to the day of redemption; we endeavour, so far as we walk worthy of our high privilege, to avoid every temptation to evil: for heaven being the object of our intense desire, and all other things being nothing to us in comparison with it, we fear lest we should be allured to revolt from our God, and thus lose the eternal inheritance which he has promised to those who make him their portion. Thus, "we are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation."

But, thirdly -We have scen then that the Christian desires to persevere in the ways of righteousness, in consequence of that renovation of his nature which makes him account the service of God perfect freedom, and the service of the world the most bitter bondage. But his spiritual judgment also is exercised, as well as his affections; when he deliberates on his choice, he not only finds it to be agreeable to his renewed desires, just as the ways of sin were once pleasant to him in the days of sin and folly; but he is fully convinced that his choice is infinitely wise.

The wisdom of this choice will

appear from two considerations; namely, the infinite value of that better country which the Christian desires; and the solid ground of hope which he has for obtaining it, namely, the promise of God; for "God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city."

1. The heavenly country which the Christian seeks is far better than any thing which earth can afford. In whatever manner we make the comparison, it is infinitely in favour of those delights which are unseen and eternal. On earth every thing is frail and uncertain; but the joys of heaven are unchangeable, and everlasting, and capable of satisfying every desire of the soul. The Chris

tian would not live here always. He knows the world to be a scene of temptation and danger; he observes also in others, and he feels in himself, innumerable cares and sorrows; and even were it otherwise, it is a world of sin: he is exposed to the evil suggestions of his spiritual enemy, to the corrupt desires of his own heart, and the delusions of the world. But in heaven "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying" for "nothing shall enter into it which defileth;" and sin being banished, sorrow will be unknown. It is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;' ""a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Its occupations will be prayer and praise; its enjoyments the presence and favour of God; its inhabitants," an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, God the Judge of all, the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant." Well then might the patriarchs of old, well may the faithful in all ages, be willing to give up whatever would impede them in their progress towards these mansions of everlasting blessedness.

2. But the wisdom of their choice further appears from the solidity of the basis upon which their hopes are founded; for they repose not upon the power or the wisdom of man, but upon the promise of God. He is not ashamed to be called their God." As they were not ashamed of Christ and of his Gospel when upon earth, he will not be ashamed of them when he comes in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels. Besides, "he hath prepared for them a city." Our blessed Lord, before his crucifixion, told his disciples, in order to comfort Christians under their afflictions, that in his Father's house there were many mansions; and that he went to prepare a place for them, that where he was they might be also.

Having justly excluded ourselves from the favour of God by our sins, we might justly be alarmed lest there should be no way open for pardon and acceptance with him: but he himself has removed the difficulty; his mercy has anticipated our necessities; he has given his Son to die for us, and will with him also freely give us all things. Thus have we the strongest grounds of hope and consolation; for, if God be with us, who can be against us? If we have chosen our Maker for our friend, and heaven for our inheritance, infinitely blessed is our lot. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but nothing shall fail of that immutable promise by which this invaluable and eternal possession is secured to all who truly seek it in the way of God's appointment.

One inquiry only then remains; but a most important inquiry it is: Are we prepared for this inheri-' tance? Have we deliberately preferred it to all that the present life can afford? Have we made it the great object of our pursuit? Have we duly considered how it is to be obtained? And are we willing to give up all things else to obtain it? Have we declared plainly by our conduct, that we have no wish to return to the vanities of the world, but are anxious to become more decidedly than ever the servants of God; as created by his power, redeemed by his mercy in Christ Jesus, and sanctified by his Holy Spirit? Then is our choice right for life and death, for time and for eternity. Unworthy as we are in ourselves, the infinite merits of our Saviour will plead in our behalf: he will be an Intercessor for us at the right hand of God, and at length introduce us to the presence of his Father with exceeding and eternal joy.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. A CORRESPONDENT, in your last Number, strongly recommends a parenthetical addition to one of the

collects in the communion service, when used by the clergy after their sermons: "Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears," &c. Now I would remind him that the allusion in this prayer is not confined to the sermon, but extends to the preceding service of the day. Dean Comber, in his valuable "Compapanion to the Temple," accordingly describes the above collect as "one of excellent use after the sermons or lessons of the day;" and he paraphrases it as follows: "The words which we have heard this day [preached or read out of the Holy Scripture]." Besides, the addition recommended is unnecessary, on the plain principle, that "a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit;" so that the collect, as it stands, must of course be understood as confined to the sound part of the discourse, and as imploring "the fruit of good living" only in respect of the passages read or preached, which have been "consistent with God's holy word." Those of a contrary nature, require a different stile of petitioning; and if any extempore addition is to be made, it should surely be the language of deprecation against the ill effects of any doctrine or precept inadvertently promulged in contradiction to the sacred oracles; or perhaps a prayer for pardon, for any defects in faith, or zeal, or love, even where the doctrine may have been correct.

But I must object further against any innovation in citing this excellent collect, on the general principle of its supplying a precedent to the ministers of our church to blend extempore alterations and additions with the language of her prescribed forms. I cannot readily see why similar temptations may not arise, and this from the most pious intentions, where the minister may consider the language of a collect as capable of being usefully varied or amplified.

I might also impeach the liberties occasionally taken with this collect, not only on the score of edification, but of propriety of language. For instance, we sometimes hear the following expressions substituted, or rather added:-" That they" (that is, the words just heard) "may produce in us the fruits of true repentance for sin, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and obedience to thy holy will;" and again, "That they may produce in us the fruits of a holy and religious life, to the honour and praise of thy holy name." Now, I would ask, whether these lengthenings and expletives do not enfeeble, rather than strengthen the prayer as a composition, while they add little to it in point of substance; and whether its original language, "That they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honour and praise of thy name," is not more simply elegant, and, for every purpose of edification, sufficiently comprehensive.

PHILO-RUBRIC, Jun.

DR. DIBDIN AND MR. LEWIS WAY.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. In the Rev. Dr. Dibdin's "Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany," ocCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 312.

curs the following extraordinary passage.

"On the day preceding our departure from Augsbourg, we fell in with the Rev. Mr. ***; a gentleman well known in our own country, for his zeal in the conversion 5 B

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of Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics. He had passed the winter amidst the snows of Russia, in the prosecution of his high emprise,' and had just returned from Vienna in the furtherance of the same object. The sight of a Jew operated like magic upon the sensitive state of his nerves; but I own, in the very amicable conversation which passed between us at the Table d'hôte, that I preferred topics of literature, and discoursing about those whom we found to be common acquaintances, to the themes which were connected with his exertions in the conversion of the Jews. This clergyman is a scholar, a man of fortune, and a founder of more than one place of Christian worship; but I must be permitted to marvel how, eminently possessed as he is of this world's comforts in which I include an amiable wife and family, he should be addicted to disport himself, as he doth, in schemes and journeyings for the recovery of what he may very honestly, and very laudably, no doubt, conceive to be the lost tribe of Israel.' Surely we have each work enough at home, without yielding to these chivalrous impulses connected with Breydenbach-pilgrimages to the holy land. On leaving Augsbourg, I shook hands with this worthy gentleman as I got into the carriage, which was drawn up to the door, and which contained the first Horace, in my portmanteau, and the Polish Protestant Bible standing between the legs of Mr. Lewis and myself." No reader can be at a loss to discover that the "worthy gentleman" alluded to, is the Rev. Lewis Way; an individual whose piety and zeal, whose unwearied philanthrophy and disinterested munificence, must command the warmest admiration, even of those who may doubt the soundness of some of his prophetic interpretations, or the judiciousness of any of his plans of benevolence. The writer of the remarks upon him is a clergyman equally well known

in another department of human exertion, as a devotee to bibliography and antiquarianism. Now in sooth there runs throughout the writings of this indefatigable" bibliomaniac" (as he has himself penned his own title), not excepting the very passage above quoted, a uniform kindness of spirit, and a playfulness even in his censures, which forbid any serious quarrel with him. But let me candidly ask this veteran "Roxburgher," whether such a passage as the above became him, either as a friend to humanity or a Christian divine? Is a "zeal for the conversion of Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics," a quality justly to be "marvelled" at in a minister of Christ, or a clergyman of the Church of England? Is it not rather to be "marvelled" at that any man who really believes what the Scriptures teach respecting the importance of Christianity and its necessity for the salvation of mankind, should be indifferent on the subject? Does not Dr. Dibdin himself pray, at least once a year, and that on the most solemn of all our ecclesiastical holy seasons, that God would have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of his word; and fetch them home to his flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites?" Is Mr. Way therefore to be censured? are the friends of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, or the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, or the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, or of any other Bible or Missionary Societies to be censured, because they really wish what they pray for, and prove their sincerity by their actions? Dr. Dibdin must often have admired Burke's sublime panegyric upon Howard, who also encoun tered "the snows of Russia," on a "high emprise" of benevolence; and on whose "sensitive nerves the sight of a prisoner" operated