than there really were by 34,000." Indeed, the returns of 1833, as including all schools and colleges except the two universities, are proved, by the reports of societies, to fall short of the number of children actually receiving education in different schools. The National Society for promoting the Education of the Poor on the Principles of the Established Church, in their report for 1837, give as the grand total for England and Wales, in connexion with the established Church, 12,391 places, 16,924 schools, 996,460 scholars. The report for 1839 is not yet published; but from an abstract read at the annual meeting on the 1st of May, there appears to be a considerable increase; and if the increase has been proportionate to that of former years, the number of scholars must considerably exceed one million; for during the 6 years preceding 1837, there was an increase of 3610 schools, and 96,048 scholars. From the report of the British and Foreign School Society, it appears that during the year ending March 1838, 218 schools had been visited, and 20,547 children examined by their inspector; but no return is made of the number of schools conducted and scholars educated throughout the country upon the principles of this society, which is supported by both Churchmen and Dissenters, "has no connexion with Sunday-schools, no catechism or creed is introduced, nor is any form of prayer taught or used in the schools." The secretary stated to the select committee of the House of Commons, that he "should suppose the number of scholars must be very large." "The schools of the Sunday-school Union are said to have been doubled in their amount within the last fifteen years." This society is supported by both Churchmen and Dissenters, and requires the conductors of its schools to be persons of good character, and believers in "the deity and atonement of Christ, the divine influences of the Holy Spirit, and that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God." No opinion is given as to the accuracy of the report of the Sunday School Union as to its numbers, which were stated to the select committee: if correct, they nearly equal the whole amount returned in 1833, and quoted in the report of the com. mittee of 1838. It is, however, but common justice in this account, to state the great efforts which have been made by this and other societies in establishing and conducting Sunday-schools. In the report of the select committee, the Sunday-scholars of Dissenters, inclusive of Roman Catholics, at Manchester, are returned at nearly 23,300; and at Birmingham and Leeds at 12,000. The other societies for the promotion of education are, the Society for the Support and Encouragement of Sunday-schools throughout the British dominions, which arose out of the exertions of the Rev. T. Stock, of Gloucester, who, supported by Mr. Raikes, had the high honour of leading the way in the establishment of Sunday-schools; and the Home and Colonial Infant-school Society, and the Central Society of Education, both recently established.

The returns as to the common day and dame schools are very defective; and yet it appears that the number of children instructed at such schools throughout the kingdom is very large. It appears from a table published by the select committee, that at Liverpool 14,024 children attend better schools, and 11,336 attend

very indifferent schools of this description; at Man. chester nearly the same number; and at Birmingham 6,180 attend indifferent schools, being double the number of those who attend better schools. The aggregate, therefore, of day-scholars educated at the schools of private individuals and societies, will not be overstated at one million, and the Sunday-scholars at one million and a half. At any rate, let this amount of education be assumed, that there may not be even an appearance of exaggerating the deficiency of the existing provision, which will be found sufficiently appalling. According to the population-returns which have been made, "it appears that one-fourth of the population of any given place may be considered as children between the ages of 5 and 15; and a still larger proportion between 3 and 13. Taking, therefore, the population of England and Wales, in round numbers, at 16 millions, daily instruction should be provided for 4 millions; and yet the numbers receiving daily instruction were returned in 1833 at only one million, although it included all who were receiving education, with the exception of the youth at our universities. But if the middle and higher classes be deducted, and large allowance be made for those who, from obtaining early employment, or assisting their parents at home, are prevented attending school, the select committee considered it would be unnecessary to provide daily school education for more than one-eighth the population of any large town." Assuming this proportion to be right, although Prussia has one-sixth of her population receiving education at her primary schools, still it would leave more than one million of the children of the labouring classes without education at a day-school. This deficiency is not equally spread over the country, but is concentrated in some districts with an intensity of evil which hardly seems to admit of remedy. The select committee, quoting from a return of the Statistical Society of London, gives the case of 5 parishes holding a mean station between the more opulent parishes of the west, and the lower and more crowded parishes of the north-east and south-east of London, in which, as a general result, some sort of daily instruction is afforded to about one in 14 of the population; and that afforded to one-third the scholars is very indifferent. But the case of the populous parish of Bethnal Green, with a population, according to the census of 1831, of 62,000, is far worse: "there are, at this moment, from 8000 to 10,000 children in Bethnal Green alone, not only without daily instruction, but for whom no means of daily instruction are provided. They hold it to be an established fact, that in that one parish, thousands are growing up uninstructed in their duty either to God or man. And when it is added, that this is only one parish out of many, and that the neighbouring parishes are almost as poor and as destitute of the means of education as this, they think they have established a claim to all who are interested in the welfare of London." The conclusion to which the committee come is, that "throughout this vast metropolis, the means of useful daily instruction are lamentably deficient." Nor is this deficiency confined to London; it is even greater in some of our large manufacturing and seaport towns, where the general results are, that one in 12 receive some sort of daily instruction, but only about one in 24 an education likely to be

useful; and in Leeds only one in 41; in Birmingham one in 38; in Manchester one in 35.

But the deficiency in the amount of education is only part of an evil, which is fearfully aggravated by the very defective nature of the instruction given in many of the common day and dame schools, "the worthless nature" of which is such that in many places it may be left almost out of account; and if these be entirely omitted, then "the amount of instruction given in public schools will average one in 27 of the population, without allowing for the deficiency of attendance, calculated at 15 per cent, or for the increase in numbers since 1831." The select committee, which sat for many months during the last session, have collected a large and very valuable body of evidence on this subject, and have, in their report, given the following as the conclusions at which they arrived: 1st, That the kind of education given to the children of the working classes is lamentably deficient. 2d, That it extends, bad as it is, to but a small proportion of those who ought to receive it. 3d, That without some strenuous and persevering efforts be made on the part of the government, the greatest evils to all classes may follow from this neglect." The committee next refer to the evidence given by certain most competent witnesses, who "describe, in strong terms, the misery and crime likely to arise from the neglected education of the children of the working classes in populous places;" and then state their own full persuasion, that to this cause, embracing the want of religious moral training, is to be chiefly attributed the great increase of criminals, and consequently of cost to the country."

"It appears from the second report of the Inspectors of Prisons," laid before the last session of parliament, and quoted by Mr. Horner, in his preface to his translation of Victor Cousin's work on the state of education in Holland, that the "number of boys, aged 16 and under, committed to the gaols in the metropolis alone, in the year 1836, was 3132;" and from the extracts from the report which he gives to shew the enormous proportion of the offenders in England and Wales destitute of education, it appears further that, in that year, of the total number of 78,157 offenders, the state of instruction of 54,928 was ascertained, and it was to the effect that "40,992 might be said to have been deprived of all moral training from education." Mr. Horner also gives the results of the examination of 2000 children from 19 different factories, situated in different parts of Manchester, having "restricted himself to children of 13 and 14 years of age, in order to see the state of those whose elementary education ought to be completed, and who, by working twelve hours a-day, could have no time for their mental and moral improvement;" and the following is a summary of the results-of the 2000, 1067 could not read; 322 read the Testament with difficulty, and 611 read it with ease. "What proportion of these, upon further inquiry, would have been found to understand the meaning of what they read, there was no opportunity of ascertaining; but judging from an examination of some children of the more advanced classes in a Sunday-school in Manchester, made for that purpose, the probability is, that the number of those who had got beyond a mechanical facility of pronouncing the words, would have been very small."

The two principal societies for promoting the education of the children of the labouring classes, the National Society, and the British and Foreign School Society, fully admit and deplore the inadequacy of the existing provision. The committee of the latter, in the report for 1838, use this strong language: "England, comparatively speaking, is still an uneducated country; and your committee will not cease, year by year, to reiterate the painful assertion, so long as facts illustrative of its truth continue to crowd upon their notice." The committee of the former, entering at great length upon the subject in their report for the same year, make the following statement: "The committee have not ceased to urge upon the public, as testified by their reports, the deplorable ignorance and neglect of many rural districts and agricultural parishes, and to suggest remedies by which, with exertion, the evils might at least be partially removed;

they have repeatedly dwelt upon the wretchedness and spiritual destitution of large masses of the population in the colliery, the mining, and manufacturing parts of the kingdom; and they have earnestly called for a supply of resources, and a combination of exertion, without which it was vain to hope that any effectual remedy could be found. In confirmation of their former arguments, and in proof that it is no imaginary evil to which they refer, they can now appeal to experience gained by a series of inquiries conducted on an accurate and systematic plan. They refer especially to an address made, at no distant period, to all places in the kingdom having a population of 1000 souls;to inquiries twice instituted in every parish and chapelry of the kingdom, when the general school circulars were issued in 1831 and 1837; besides which, they have before them documents issued recently by parliamentary committees, shewing, among other things, that there are 720 places, with a population of above 200 souls, without any kind of school whatever; and 2806 places of smaller population similarly situated; that where schools of some description do exist, there is an urgent necessity for their extension, and for the establishment of additional schools ;-and from other returns, received in the last year by the society itself, that in 2071 places Sunday-schools are carried on in churches or chapels of ease, for want of what ought to be the appendage of every sacred edifice, a sufficient and well-arranged school-room. With an accumulation of such facts continually present to their view, they want no argument for appealing to the friends of the Church; but notwithstanding, they feel themselves bound to call attention once more to another important subject, viz., the necessity of a permanent improvement in the character of existing schools and of the instructions which they impart-objects which, if they are effectually pursued, must occasion great additional labour and expense. A large and increasing demand for teachers of schools has been apparent in recent years. Between thirty and forty applications on the subject have come before the school-committee in the last twelve months, which they have been unable to meet. Inquiries for a higher and better qualified class of persons are constantly made by the managers of schools; but the committee must again insist, as they have done publicly before, that the condition of these persons must be improved, if we

standard. The desirableness of the object admits of no question; and in consistency with the declarations of their former reports, they are disposed to sum up this matter by stating three propositions, which appear to be evident in themselves, and which all their experience tends to confirm :-they are satisfied that (1.) without a good system of moral and religious education, the nation can never be prosperous, or look for the blessing of God; (2.) that without good teachers, such a system of sound and wholesome education can never be brought into operation; and (3.) without adequate pecuniary remuneration, or other advantages, it is vain to hope that the services of good and well-informed teachers can be secured."

The

After this temperate and very forcible statement and appeal, it is unnecessary to adduce further evidence in proof of the deplorable deficiency which exists in the means of obtaining secular and religious education, open to the children of the working classes: it only remains to state very briefly what has as yet been done towards the remedy of this appalling evil, so injurious to the best interests of the country. plan of the government has been to afford aid, through the National and British Foreign School Society, only in building school-rooms. In this way upwards of 100,000l. have been expended during the last 5 years, ending 1838, in the following proportions: through the National Society, 69,710.; through the British and Foreign Society, 35,2851. It appears from the report of the National Society, that the government grants have been awarded to 707 applications; and that 160 fresh applications have been recommended to the lords of her majesty's Treasury, which, if granted, will secure a farther outlay of 51,420., and additional accommodation for 29,471 scholars. Parliament granted 10,000l. for the establishment of schools for teachers, no part of which has been as yet applied. The National Society last year appointed a committee of inquiry and correspondence, with a view to the improvement, development, and extension of their system. The result has been already a fair prospect opened to the society of greatly extended usefulness and increased support. Local boards have been formed in several dioceses, with a view to the attainment of the following objects: 1. To provide a better class of teachers, by improving the education, condition, and prospects of schoolmasters. 2. To ascertain and bring into notice such improvements in the management of schools, as might with advantage be introduced into those in which the national system is followed. 3. To offer to the middle classes, on moderate terms, a useful general education, based on the religious principles of the Church. Such are the plans which the committee have proposed, "in order to remedy the defects and evils which are experienced at present, and to extend the operations of the National Society to new wants and further purposes." Encouraged to endeavour to take up a more commanding and useful position, by the good which, with very limited resources, they have already been enabled to effect, the National Society for promoting the education of the poor on the principles of the established Church, now make a strong appeal to the Church and country at large. Hitherto the measure of sup

when compared with the wide and barren field which required cultivation. Established in 1811, incorporated by royal charter in 1817, during the 27 years of its existence, its annual subscriptions have never reached 1000. Its principal means have been drawn from collections made under the authority of royal letters, which have been applied in building schoolrooms; but the produce of these royal letters, with a certain proportion of benefactions and legacies, and with about 20,0001. supplied by district committees, make a total, thus appropriated, of only 140,000l.,-less than half what the far less wealthy kingdom of Prussia expends annually on national education. May the pious hopes which have cheered the committee and lightened their path, "amidst all their labours and anxieties for the moral and religious welfare of the labouring classes," be at last realised; and may they receive the support, both from the government and country, which they so well deserve, and are so justly entitled to ask! It is vain to expect from private charity an amount of funds sufficient to supply the fearful deficiency which exists in the present provision for the education of the labouring classes; it is therefore the duty, as it is the interest, of the state, to provide useful, sound, and religious education, for even the poorest and most degraded of the subjects of the sovereign, who now, in vast numbers, in the haunts of vice, and amidst scenes of profligacy, are, from their earliest years, trained up in the paths of sin and wretchedness; and, victims of a guilt not their own, become a curse to themselves, a pest to society, and a foul blot upon England as a Christian country.

Biography.

ROBERT FERRAR, BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S.

Or the subject of the present memoir comparatively little is known in very early life. He was one of those, however, who, in the dispensations of God's providence, were led to testify at the stake their uncompromising adherence to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, at a period when popish thraldom threatened to enslave the nation, and the pure light of Divine truth was in danger of being extinguished. Robert Ferrar, ancestor of the Ferrars of Little Gidding, memoirs of whom have appeared in the pages of this work, was born in the parish of Halifax, Yorkshire, about the beginning of the 16th century. Having been educated at Cambridge, when young, he was appointed canon regular of St. Mary's in Oxford, a religious house of the order of St. Austin, whither he removed; and at length, through the teaching of Thomas Garrett, curate of Honey Lane, London, a Lutheran, was led to embrace the doctrines of the Reformation, as they are usually termed, but more properly the doctrines of the Gospel promulgated at the Reformation. In 1533 he became B.D., and was chosen prior of St. Oswald's monastery, Yorkshire. He was subsequently appointed chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, and married-a heinous offence, be it recollected, in those days, when the abominable doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy was insisted on with the utmost rigour.

Mr. Ferrar was much engaged in public affairs. In 1535 he accompanied Bishop Barlow in an embassy to Scotland. He was also entrusted with the removal of some books of great value from the dissolved monastery of St. Oswald's to the Archbishop of York. In 1548 he was appointed Bishop of St. David's,

through the influence of the Duke of Somerset; and was consecrated at the archbishop's house at Chertsey. Soon after his consecration, he resolved to visit his diocese, great disorders having therein taken place. His notice was particularly directed to the gross corruption existing in the chapter of Carmarthen, where Thomas Young, chanter, and Rowland Merick, canon of St. David's, commissioners of the diocese, had spoiled the cathedral- church of plate, jewels, and ornaments, to the value of five hundred marks, or more, converting the proceeds to their own benefit. They had also sealed many blanks, during the vacancy of the see, without the king's license. The bishop accordingly issued a commission to his chancellor to visit the chapter, as well as the rest of the diocese. The chancellor, in drawing up the requisite form, worded it incorrectly. Instead of asserting the king's supremacy, the old form used under the papal ascendancy was employed; though the bishop professed to visit in the king's name and authority. This informality afforded a handle to the two guilty individuals referred to. Availing themselves of the absence of the requisite authority for legalising the commission, they not only refused to obey it, but accused the bishop of a præmunire, as having exceeded his powers. With them was leagued his registrar, George Constantine, a person on whom he had bestowed preferment. At the instigation of these, and other enemies, information was laid against the bishop before the council, by Hugh Rawlins, a priest, and Thomas Lee. It consisted of fifty-six articles of accusation; and he was obliged to go to London to exonerate himself. How absurd many of these articles were, may be judged from the following, selected from among others :

"48. Item. To declare his folly in riding, he useth bridle with white studs and snaffle, white Scotch stirrups, white spurs, a Scottish pad, with a little staff of three quarters long, which he hath not only used superstitiously these four or five years, in communication oftentimes boasting what countries he hath compassed and measured with the same staff. 49. Item. He hath made a vow that he will never wear a cap; for he saith, it is comely wearing of a hat; and so cometh in his long gown and hat both into the cathedral-church, and to the best town of his diocese; sitting in that sort in the king's great sessions, and in his consistory, making himself a mock to the people. 50. Item. He said he would go to the parliament on foot; and to his friends that dissuaded him, alleging that it is not meet for a man in his place, he answered, I care not for that; it is no sin.' 51. Item. Having a son, he went before the midwife to the church, presenting the child to the priest, and giving his name Samuel, with a solemn interpretation of the name, appointing also two godfathers and two godmothers, contrary to the ordination; making his son a monster, and himself a laughing-stock throughout all the country. 52. Item. He daily useth whistling of his child, and saith that he understood his whistle when he was but three days old. And being advertised of his folly, he answered, they whistle their horses and dogs, and I am contented; they might also be contented that I whistle my child;' and so whistled him daily, all friendly admonition neglected. 53. Item. In his ordinary visitation, among other his surveys, he surveyed Milford Haven, where he espied a scal-fish tumbling. And he crept down to the water-side, and continued there whistling by the space of an hour, persuading the company, that laughed fast at him, that by his whistling he made the fish to tarry there."

The charges were appointed to be heard before Sir John Mason and Dr. Wotton; and the bishop having cleared himself, Constantine and Young came forward as witnesses; but finding their statements to be deficient, they obtained a commission for the examination of witnesses in the country, and were allowed three

months for that purpose. The bishop was meanwhile detained in London, lest he should be enabled to obtain proof against his enemies, who returned with strong evidence against him; no less than a hundred and twenty-seven witnesses having been examined. Even Cranmer was influenced by the testimony adduced; although afterwards he saw his error. Thus Ferrar was, through the malice of his enemies, kept in prison during the latter part of Edward's reign.

On the accession of Mary he was still an object of suspicion, and was still retained in the Queen's Bench. His companions were Taylor, Bradford, and Philpot; men whose names cannot be mentioned without reverence by every true friend to the Protestant cause. It was intended by the queen's council, the next year, that the bishop, with others, should be sent to Cambridge to a disputation; but this project was ultimately abandoned. Of Bishop Ferrar little is known for some time after this, until the 4th Feb., 1555, when he was summoned before the Bishop of Winchester. It was proposed at first to condemn him, but he was remanded to prison until the 14th; when he was brought up before Gardiner, Tonstal, and others, and treated in a very harsh and cruel manner. Many false accusations were brought against him. It was stated that he was in debt to the queen, and that he had an ill name in Wales; on his disclaiming which imputations, Gardiner called him a false knave. Ferrar then rose up (for he had all the time been kneeling), and said, "No, my lord; I am a true man; I thank God for it. I was born under King Henry VII.; I served King Henry VIII. and King Edward VI. truly, and have served the queen's majesty that now is truly with my poor heart and word: more I could not do; and I was never false, nor shall be, by the grace of God." Gardiner then said, "How sayest thou, wilt thou be reformable ?" "My lord," replied Ferrar, "I have made an oath to God and to King Henry VIII., and also to King Edward, and in that to the queen's majesty, the which I can never break while I live, to die for it." The Bishop of Durham objected, that he had made another oath before, and a vow. This he simply denied. Gardiner observed, "that he had made a profession to live without a wife:" to this he answered," that he had made profession to live chaste, but not to live without a wife." Finding him still resolute in adhering to his oath, they called another of the prisoners, and dismissed him. He was now removed from his confinement, and sent to Wales for condemnation. On the 26th he was conducted by Leyson, the sheriff of Carmarthen, into the church of Carmarthen, and presented before Henry Morgan, who had supplanted him in the bishopric of St. David's; Constantine, his former registrar, acting as public notary. Morgan, having discharged the sheriff, and received the prisoner into his own custody, committed him to the charge of a keeper, and at the same time declared to him "the great mercy and clemency which it was the pleasure of the king and queen's highness should be offered unto him, and which he there offered to him; that is to say, that if he would submit to the laws of this realm, and conform to the unity of the universal Catholic Church, he should be pardoned." Finding the bishop answered not, Morgan laid before him the following articles:

1. Whether he believed the marriage of priests lawful by the laws of God and holy Church, or no? 2. Whether he believed that, in the blessed sacrament of the altar, after the words of consecration pronounced by the priest, the very body and blood of Christ is really and substantially contained, without the substance of bread and wine? To these articles Morgan required the bishop to answer upon his allegiance; to which Ferrar replied, that he would answer when he saw a lawful commission, but would make no further answer at that time. Nothing more now

passed. He was ordered back to prison, until a new monition should be had; and was instructed to employ the intervening time in deliberation concerning his answer to the propositions.

The last day of February he was again examined before Morgan, when interrogatories in writing being presented to him, he again refused to answer until a lawful commission and authority could be produced. Morgan now pronounced him contumacious, and for the punishment of his contumacy to be accounted pro confesso, and accordingly declared him to be so by a written instrument. On the 4th of March, he submitted himself as ready to answer to the articles and positions before mentioned, only requiring that he should be furnished with a copy of the articles, and that a competent time should be allowed him to answer for himself. March 7 being appointed him for that purpose, he delivered a written answer to the last articles proposed by Morgan, which were to the following effect:

1st, That he required him, being a priest, to renounce matrimony. 2dly, To grant the natural presence of Christ in the sacrament under the forms of bread and wine. 3dly, That the mass is a propitiatory sacrifice

for the quick and the dead. 4thly, That general councils, lawfully congregated, never did, nor can err. 5thly, That men are not justified before God by faith only, but that hope and charity are also necessarily required to justification. 6thly, That the Catholic Church, which only hath authority to expound Scriptures, and to define controversies of religion, and to ordain things appertaining to public discipline, is visible, and like unto a city set upon a mountain, for

all men to understand.

To these articles Bp. Ferrar refused to subscribe, affirming, "that they were invented and excogitated by man, and pertain nothing to the Catholic faith." A copy of the articles was now delivered to him, and the Monday following was appointed for his answer and subscription to the same, either affirmatively or negatively.

On that day he came again before Morgan; but his subscription to the articles, to which he subjoined tenens se de æquitate et justitia esse Episcopum Menevensem," was not such as to satisfy his judge, who, with the hope probably of inducing him yet to acknowledge the authority of the papal Church, still further delayed pronouncing the final sentence until the Wednesday following. He was once more demanded by Morgan, "whether he would renounce and recant his heresies, schisms, and errors, which hitherto he had maintained, and if he would subscribe to the Catholic articles otherwise than he had done before." Ferrar

then exhibited a certain schedule, written in English, appealing at the same time from Morgan, as from an incompetent judge, to Cardinal Pole. Morgan, however, proceeded against him, and pronounced sentence from a written document, condemning Ferrar "as an heretic excommunicate, and to be given up forthwith to the secular power." His degradation from the priesthood followed, and he was delivered up to the sheriff of Carmarthen for execution.

On Saturday, 30th March, he was led out to the place of execution, in Carmarthen; the stake being prepared on the south side of the market-cross. He endured the torments of the fire with great patience. He had pledged himself, indeed, to bear his dreadful death with fortitude; for when, shortly before his execution, a person named Richard Jones lamented to him the painfulness of the death which he had to suffer, he observed," that if he saw him once to stir in the pains of his burning, he should then give no credit to his doctrine." Being bound to the stake, he never moved, but held up his arms while they were gradually burnt to stumps; until at length some compassionate bystander struck him on the head with a staff, and caused him to fall lifeless amidst the flames.

T.

THE CONFESSORS AND DENIERS OF JESUS CHRIST:

A Sermon,

BY THE REV. J. KING, M.A. Minister of Christ Church, Hull.

LUKE, xii. 8, 9.

"I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God." WITH what calm and natural dignity does the Saviour put forth his high and just pretensions to the universal homage of mankind! Could we suppose him to be nothing more than man, the demand of the text would seem most arrogant. Let us imagine to ourselves any human being, however highly distinguished by tokens of Divine regard—such as Moses, or Elias, or St. Paul - claiming, as Christ here does, the recognition of his authority and the profession of devout attachment to his name; and how incongruous, how vain, how blasphemous, should we deem the assumption !

But when we regard the Son of man as the Son of God, we are no longer oppressed by the difficulty which such lofty language would otherwise present. We feel that we are in the presence of One who has a right to speak with Divine authority, while he also condescends, on other occasions, to speak with more than human sympathy. The extremes of dignity and tenderness meet in the same person. He who denounces judgment against sinners weeps over their doom; and yet there is a consistency and harmony in the several parts of his mysterious character, which imposture could never have feigned, nor art have imitated.

Keeping in view, then, the fact, that Christ here addresses himself to us as the Searcher of hearts, before whose judgment seat we must all appear, let us, with seriousness and prayer, receive his words as a solemn message to our own souls; making such application of it to ourselves as shall, by the Divine blessing, incline us to maintain a full, practical, and consistent profession of discipleship to Christ; a profession which he, according to his promise, will finally meet with an honourable acknowledgment that we are the sheep of his fold, the objects of his love, and the inheritors of his heavenly kingdom.

To understand the true import of the text, it will be proper to inquire:

I. What is meant by confessing, and what by denying Christ before men.

II. What is the consequence of such confession or denial to those by whom it has been made.

I. We have two opposite characters set before us; one of persons who confess Christ,