VISIBLE CHRISTIAN UNION.

method devised to meet these wants is that of itinerant preaching. This, together with colportage, has been to some extent adopted, and with good results. At a late ministerial conference at Wittemberg, Pastor Brennecke, called by his friends "the street preacher," among other interesting facts related the following :-]

551

"No," replied his father, "that will not do; I have cut it up myself many times, but it grows again stronger than ever. Pull it up by the root, for nothing else will kill it."

Thomas pulled again and again at the dock, but the root was very deep in the ground, and he could not stir it from its place; so he asked his father to come and help him, and his father went and soon pulled it up.

"Some little time ago, after walking several hours, and being wet to the skin, I entered a public-house, and found the company engaged in a strong discus"This dock root, Thomas," said his father, "which sion, there being so much noise in the room that is an evil and fast-growing weed in a garden, puts the wind and rain without could not be heard. The me in mind of the evil things that grow so fast in topic on which the guests were thus eagerly disput- the hearts of children. A bad passion, even when ting was politics. The chief speaker, who had a found out, is hard to be removed; it is no use to glass of spirits before him, said, The guillotine must be erected. Millions must lose their heads; trifle with it; e is no way to overcome and deand first of all the rich, and those in high station; stroy it but to pull it up by the root. for all our misfortunes come from them.' I put my hands to my head to see if it was still in its place, saying to the brawler, One must take care that he loses not his head' (.e., understanding, as the German word used by the speaker also signifies), adding, What misfortunes come not from the rich? the potato disease, the famine two years ago, and the cholera!'

"The brawler started at these words, and his countenance changed. I embraced the momentary silence to show that famine, cholera, &c., were judgments of God, and remarked at the close, that each had his own cross in this world. One present asked me, 'Do you believe in the existence of the devil? on which I asked him, 'If he believed in the being of a God?' He answered, looking out of the window, A blind man must believe in the existence of God-nature! nature teaches it!' Pastor B.: · The Bible teaches us that there is a God, and this is confirmed by nature. There is not merely a nature out of us, but a nature within us, which, alas! is completely corrupt. The Bible also teaches us, that there is a Divine Being, and farther, that there is a devil, who is a murderer and liar from the beginning, and that our nature is corrupt-a fact which the wickedness of our hearts confirms. Tell me, whence come the evil thoughts of your heart? either they come from yourself, and then you are the devil, or they come from him, and then there is a devil.'

"One person remarked, that the Bible was full of fables. The brawler referred to Paul having forgotten his mantle. Pastor B.: That is a passage quite suitable for me, perhaps also for you. I am very forgetful. I see here that the great apostle could forget, and this comforts me, and admonishes me also, that I should endeavour to make good what I forget. I thought once like you, and forgot the one thing needful, but I now endeavour not to forget the goodness of God. Have you, brother, forgotten this? The man who, but a few moments before, had been wishing the death of millions, approached the pastor, and said, much moved, You remarked just now that every one had his cross. It is so (and at these words tears fell from his eyes). My wife has been many weeks ill, and now my daughter is sick. We are in the greatest misery, come and visit us.' The pastor went home with him, spoke earnestly with them on the state of their souls, prayed, and, after receiving their hearty thanks, went on his way.'

PULL IT UP BY THE ROOT. "FATHER, here is a dock," said Thomas, as he was at work with his father in the garden; "shall I cut it off close to the root?"

"You have often ceen in our garden, Thomas, that when the weeds are allowed to grow they spoil all the plants and flowers that grow near them. So it little boy is ill-tempered, we must not expect to find is with evil passions in the heart of a child. If a him in good-humour, cheerfulness, thankfulness, and desire to make others happy. And a little girl who is idle, we need not expect to be industrious, neat, or cheerful. As weeds injure the flowers, so bad passions will injure good qualities. If a child is undutiful to his parents, and despises the commandments of God, we might as well look for a rose or a tulip in a bed of nettles, as hope to find in his heart those graces and good desires that we love to see growing there. Now this is quite a sufficient reason why all bad passions should be pulled up by the root.

"Every bad habit, every evil passion which troubles you, you should try with all your heart and mind to overcome; you should, if possible, tear it up. ness, go straightway to that Almighty Friend who But as you will find your own strength but weakalone is able to strengthen and assist you. He can take from your hearts the love of sin; and this is the only way of destroying it, as we have destroyed the dock by pulling it up by the root."

VISIBLE CHRISTIAN UNION. IF the visible manifestation of this unity be in itself so desirable, it is an object for which we are bound to make sacrifices. We should sacrifice to it our love of sectarian aggrandizement-our desire to control the opinions of our brethren-our strife for ecclesiastical power, and even, if it be necessary, the good opinion of the members of our own sect. Christ, and the members of his spiritual body, should be dearer to us than any human organization. If it be not so, where is our love of Christ? And if it be asked, How far shall this sacrifice be carried? I answer, Up to the point of sacrifice of principle. We cannot, for the sake of unity, do wrong, or be parties to wrong-doing; we cannot declare that to be true which we believe to be false; or perform, as an ordinance of Christ, what we do not believe that Christ has commanded. When this limit meets us, we can go no farther. To go farther than this, would be to surrender up a conscience void of offence, and to value union with men more than union with Christ. But so far as this it is our duty to go: we should testify our love to our real brethren in Christ, by uniting with them in every thing, so far as we can do it, without the surrender of truth and a good con

science. When this limit has been reached, we must separate; but we should separate, not in unkindness, but in mutual love; co-operating in all, and always keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." He who is not willing to do this, has much yet to learn of the Spirit of Christ. He who is willing to render wider the apparent breaches which already exist between the various persuasions of Christians, and, by magnifying their points of difference, withdraw them farther and farther from each other, is wounding Christ in the house of his friends, and holding up the Church of Christ to the merited reproach of a thoughtless and gainsaying world.

to the American Fur Company, and soon antasɛsed a small fortune, married into one of the oldest and most respectable French families, and settled down

for life. His addition to St Louis was one of the most valuable ever made, and, if managed properly, would have yielded an almost inexhaustible revenue; but the flowing bowl and fashionable life have many allurements to win the virtuous and prosperous from the even and happy tenor of their ways, and Lesperance became a worldly man.

His fortune, acquired by years of industry and hard labour, was spent in less time than he was employed in making it; his old friends and associates, as soon as his property was gone, became tired of his society; his wife was snatched from him by the hand of death, and even his relatives, to whom he had before looked for support, now forsook and even shunned him. Houseless, friendless, and bankrupt in purse, he rambled the city for some year or more, gaining a scanty sustenance from the cold home of charity, until at last, as an act of kindness, he was sent to the county farm as a common pauper.

And if it be demanded, in what way may we cultivate in our own hearts, and make manifest to others, this spirit of universal love to the whole body of Christ, the answer, from what has been already said, is obvious. We cannot do it by striving to convert all men to our individual opinions. To do this is manifestly impossible, when men enjoy freedom of discussion and investigation. Why should we wish to do it, until we ourselves become omniscient and infallible? Nor should we strive to bring all men to imitate our particular practice. Differences in action must follow from the necessary differences of opinion. Why should we judge another man's servant? "To his own master he standeth or falleth." After faith- Here he remained for some time, until at last his fully and kindly setting forth the reasons of our belief bodily infirmities, and the knowledge of his wrongs, and practice, we should rest. But we must go farther. dethroned reason, and death put an end to the furHaving done this, we must still strive for unity. Wether miseries of the maniac pauper. He died, and must do this by cultivating in our own hearts a more fervent love to Christ; and just in proportion to our love to him, will be our love to his image, as it is displayed in the members of his spiritual body. Overlooking the narrow limits of sect and party, we should cultivate a spirit of universal love to the whole assembly of the redeemed of every age, of every sect, and of every variety of social condition. Wherever the spirit of Christ manifests itself, there it should be sure of our sympathy. Whenever our brethren are in adversity, we should proffer them our aid; whenever they are in prosperity, we should rejoice in their success. Wherever they are labouring to advance the interests of truth and righteousness, we should remember them, without ceasing, at the throne of grace, and unite our efforts with theirs, as we may have opportunity. It is thus that we shall bring the Spirit of Heaven down upon earth, and it shall be seen that God is in the midst of us of a truth. Though separated in matters of opinion, as must be the case with honest, independent men, the disciples of Christ will still be one, and the world will believe that he is the Messiah sent by the Father. -Dr Wayland.

THE WORLD AND ITS FRIENDSHIPS.

WE recently (says a foreign paper) announced the death of John B. Lesperance, a name familiar to every old member of the community, but at the time we were not aware that the last three or four months of his life were spent at the county poorhouse, and that he died a maniac pauper. Such, however, was the case, and it affords but another evidence of the cold-heartedness and selfishness of this world, and the value that should be attached to worldly friendship.

John B. Lesperance came to this city at an early day from Canada, a young man of talent, that bade fair to do well in the world. For some years he attended strictly to business, and every thing prospered under his guidance and control. He became attached

was buried, but of all his former friends and associates, of all who had in years of prosperity enjoyed his friendship and shared his bounty, but three could be found willing to attend his body to its last resting-place. Thus lived, died, and was buried, the unhappy Lesperance. Young men, let his dissipated life and miserable end serve as a warning.

Fragments.

Affectation is bad enough any where, but in the pulpit it is intolerable.-Quarterly Review.

If we are not intensely real, we shall be but indifferent preachers.--Fuller.

SCRIPTURE. It is a book of models as well as maxims.-Ibid.

The Holy Scriptures are the mysteries of God. Christ is the mystery of the Scriptures. Grace is the mystery of Christ.-Dyer.

Let not any one say he cannot govern his passions, nor hinder them from breaking out and carrying him into action; for what he can do before a prince or a great man, he can do alone, or in the presence of God, if he will.

grounded on a promise. Yet a good man commend No man can pray in faith whose prayer is not eth all things to the righteous wisdom of his God. For those who pray in faith trust the immutable Jehovah. And they who ask blessings unpromised lean on uncovenanted mercies. Prayer is a creais the magic sound that saith, "Father, so be it." ture's strength, his very breath and being. Prayer Prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence. Wherefore pray, O creature! for many and great are thy wants. Thy mind, thy conscience, thy being, and thy rights, command thee unto prayer-the cure of all cares, the grand panacea for all anxieties.-Martin Tupper.

Sound argument is the faithful friend of godliness; for, as the rock of the affections is the solid approval of reason, even so the temple of religion is founded on the basis of philosophy.-Ibid.

THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

553

SELF-SALVATION.

BY GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D.D.

he can or will believe, except as a part of self or auxiliary to it. Yea, the indictment in Isaiah may be taken up and issued against him. Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, "None seeth me." Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart," I am, and none else beside me." Thou settest thyself as the egotist and idol of the universe, thine own only object of belief and adoration. Therefore shall evil come upon thee-thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee-thou shalt not be able to put it off; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now, with thine enchantments, thou god of thine own creation, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherewith thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators of thy divinity, the calculators and

A GREAT and learned man once labelled a volume of Socinian Tracts in his library with this inscription,-" Salvation made easy, or every man his own Redeemer." It was a good satire; but the true title would be," Salvation made impossible, and every man his own Destroyer." This mistake of self-salvation comes from ignorance and unbelief of self-ruin; for no man ever dreams of saving himself who is made truly sensible that he has ruined himself. Real conviction of sin must either lead to despair or to Christ, and certainly to despair if not to Christ. And that self-salvation, which seemed easy at first without conviction of sin, only plunges the soul into the depths of misery. A man who goes into despair now because of conviction, may come to Christ afterwards; his very despair may drive him to Christ, just as the Israelites, shut up in utter hopelessness at the Red Sea, were compelled to throw themselves on God. But a man full of self-confidence now, for want of conviction, is sure to come to despair in the end. So let a man try to ride in the chariot of his own works, prayers, good-vouchers for the horoscope of thy self-rightness, aimableness, uprightness, into heaven, or over the Red Sea of his guilt; he may set out with great expectations, and may have an army with him; but God speedily takes off his chariot wheels, and he drives heavily, and then what he trusted in for support and safety only entangles him and sinks him, when God lets loose the billows. His armour and his harness carry him down like lead in the mighty waters. His self-righteousness is even worse for him than his sins. His sins might bring him to Christ, if he felt them; but his self-righteousness is the very blind of Satan over his soul,-it keeps him from seeing either his sins or his Saviour. His faith in self makes him an unbeliever at once in sin, in Christ, and in Satan; he thinks he has no sin but what he can cure by his own reformation; he thinks he needs no Saviour but that cure; and he thinks, consequently, that for him there is neither devil nor hell. If he believed heartily, truly, experimentally, either in sin, or Satan, or Christ, he would renounce self, and hold to Christ only; but believing in self, there is nothing else in which

eous theology, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from this power of the flame. Thus shall they be unto thee, with whom thou hast laboured; thy merchants from thy youth in the wares of thy flattery, thy self-delusion; none shall save thee. Moreover, because ye have said we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement, your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself upon it, and the covering narrower than he can wrap himself in it. Vast as the robe of a man's selfrighteousness may be, it was never yet large enough to cover the sinful soul.

So, then, there is no agreement that can stand but an agreement with God for Christ's sake. Salvation is wholly of Christ, by faith, not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the

death of self; and when self is weakest, then faith is strongest, and in proportion as self is lost sight of, Christ becomes visible, Christ rises on the soul as the Sun of Righteousness, and floods the soul at length with his light, and takes possession of the soul for ever and ever.

MEMOIRS OF DR CHALMERS.
No. II.

(Continued from p. 546.)

strong, but to the contrite soul that trembleth | perish! Nay, we come to Christ out of the at God's Word, and out of weakness is made strong. If thou standest at the Red Sea, and thinkest that thou wilt cross in thine own chariot, thou art an Egyptian, and the waters will cover thee. If thou hast no fear, it is because of thine ignorance. There are many things that unbelief does not tremble at, and that do not stagger the man of sense, but at which faith trembles, knowing the difficulties and dangers. Unbelief resorts to sense for encouragement, but faith to Christ. Sense is always visible, but Christ is not. Sense is a beast that starts fair, but throws its rider, or founders in the Slough of Despond, and is lost in the blackness of darkness. Faith seems to sense to be walking in darkness, but issues in everlasting light. The very essence of faith is to walk by things unseen. Faith regards an unseen Saviour, and this is the very trial of the soul. Art thou ready, God says, and willing to quit self and sense, and at the foot of the cross cry for mercy and trust for mercy, as a lost sinner? Wilt thou make application to Christ, wilt thou trust in him, wilt thou rest upon him, simply as thou findest him revealed in God's Word? That is the very first exercise of faith, such a belief in an unseen Saviour as makes you apply to him for mercy; this done, there follows more, there springs up an experience, out of which thenceforward springs a greater faith. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory." It is in this sense that faith is described as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The moment faith is exercised, then there is an experimental demonstration to the soul, a manifestation to faith of that Saviour and those realities, which sense cannot see. Then arise love, joy, peace, all the fruits of the Spirit; but they all wait for faith-they wait till the soul rests on Christ; and if the soul waits for them, as a sort of sensible encouragement to come to Christ, it will wait in vain, it will never come to him. The soul's encouragement to come to Christ is in its own ruin out of Christ, its utter guilt and misery, and not in any fancied grace

that it will have before it comes to him, as a
sort of swimming-belt on which to venture to
him. No all the grace it wants before com-
ing to him is that of faith in its own guilt and
ruin; that is the only faith in self to be allow-
ed, to be tolerated for a moment.
to Christ out of self-ruin. Lord, save

We come

me, I

Up to this time, Mr Chalmers had evidently no true idea of his position as a Christian minister. He valued the ministry chiefly as a profession, and the enthusiasm with which he was fired was purely intellectual and literary. Preaching and visiting were to him dull work as compared with the high pursuits of science and philosophy, and to these he devoted the chief portion of both his time and his energies. Some members of his Presbytery resolved to bring his conduct in lecturing at St Andrews before that court, with the view of either imposing a check or inflicting a censure. His indignation, when he heard of the projected interference, the entire sincerity of his idea (low as it was) reshows at once the strength of his literary passion, and garding the duties of the ministry. "It was bad enough in his eye that ecclesiastical despotism should grasp and try to use against him such a wea pon. What made it doubly worse was, that it had never thought of using this instrument when dealing with far greater delinquents than himself." Soon afterwards the following passage occurs in the Presbytery records :-" Sept. 4th, 1804. Dr Martin begged the presbytery to insert in their minutes, that in his opinion, Mr Chalmers' giving lectures in chemistry is improper, and ought to be discontinued. To this request the presbytery acceded. On which Mr Chalmers begged it to be inserted in the minutes, that after the punctual discharge of his professional duties his time was his own, and he conceived that no man or no court had right to control him in the distribution of it." Accordingly, a month afterwards he resumed his chemical lectures at St Andrews, and, as is well known, his first publication (issued during the following year) was devoted to the defence and illustration of his views on this subject.

"In January 1805, the University of Edinburgh was deprived of one of its brightest ornaments by the death of Dr Robison. As University patrons, the Town-Council offered his chair, that of Natural Philosophy, to Mr Playfair, by whose acceptance of it the mathematical professorship became vacant.

Mr

Chalmers presented himself to the notice of the patrons as aspiring to be Mr Playfair's successor; but although his claims were in many quarters favourably entertained, and the reception given him when he waited personally on the electors was gratifying, two other candidates had, at the very commencement of the canvass, chiefly attracted and almost engrossed the public regards. The Rev. Mr Macknight, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, who had acted as assistant to Dr Robison, was at first willing to resign his

MEMOIRS OF DR CHALMERS.