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us a great insight into the mysterious providence of God with respect to his dealings with his creatures. We presume not to fathom all his counsel in the dispensations either of his wrath or his mercy-" it is high as heaven, and deeper than hell" (Job, xi. 8); but this we may venture to affirm, that one purpose of the afflictions which he sends-nay, the great and paramount purpose-is to bring us nearer to him. So that in this view afflictions are the greatest of his blessings. But when the Spirit of God has ceased to strive with a man, afflictions may be withdrawn, because that man having withdrawn himself wholly from God, the great end of afflictions, viz. the bringing him nearer to him, is no longer to be attained. Therefore the man is left to the ordinary course of events during his little stay in this world, and is often found in a state of great external prosperity-health good; high in worldly honour, circumstances, and respect; life prolonged; little of sorrow, or trials, or troubles of any kind—not visited here, because reserved for punishment hereafter. But David's afflictions did bring him nearer to God; they brought him back to God, and therefore were they sent. God pardoned him, but he punished him; he punished him, because he pardoned him; he punished him in this life, that he might pardon him in the life to come. So that when we see those who put their trust in God still under his chastening hand, we may confidently hope that they are under his special care and protection; and, on the contrary, when we see those who are far from God in great outward prosperity, we may justly fear for them that the Spirit of God has ceased to strive with them, and that Ephraim is left to his idols. The sinner's punishment, however, generally begins in this world. When or how he shall be visited, is known only to Him to whom vengeance belongeth; but he will probably find, as David did, that " wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same shall he be punished;" and that his sufferings shall be, as it were, the fruits of that tree which his own hand has planted. If he has injured the domestic peace of others, his own domestic peace shall probably be broken. If he has been an ungodly father, he may expect disobedient children, and that there shall be enmities, and bickerings, and strivings, around his own hearth, and sitting at his own table; or he shall see his children dying by untimely deaths, and leaving disgrace and shame, and, it may be, families without food, behind them. In some way or other, the sinner shall generally give evidence to the truth of the wise king's observation, that "whereas men have lived dissolutely and unrighteously, God has tormented them with their own abominations."

But to those whose sins are a heavy burden to them, and who grieve after a godly sort, to such we say, that although the sins of David afford no encouragement to the sinner, his repentance affords every encouragement to the penitent. God put away the sins of David, deep and complicated as they were; he forgave him for Christ's sake, because he as deeply repented as he had deeply sinned; he forgave him, because he did not seek to conceal, or to deny, or to excuse his sin, but because he at once confessed and bewailed it, and earnestly prayed to be forgiven: he put his trust in God's mercy, and God was merciful to him. And so he will be merciful to every sinner who turns to him in true and earnest repentance. Let the unrepentant sinner think of David and tremble; but let the penitent sinner think of him and rejoice. For if he repent and believe, as David did, let him rest assured that he who pardoned the sins of the one, will also pardon the sins of the other. The great sacrifice for sin to which David looked in the person of Christ, whose sufferings and exaltation he is ever celebrating in his hymns of praise, shall be efficacious for all those who trust in his atonement. There is one sentence which is worth volumes to the repentant sinner-" the blood of Christ

cleanseth from all sin." It was to save sinners that that blood was shed. His own invitation is to all"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest;" yea, rest unto your burdened souls. Did I not pardon David? and is it not in my power to pardon you? Is my hand shortened that it cannot save as once it did? or is my ear become heavy, that it can no longer hear those confessions of penitent guilt and cries for mercy which it heard when David offered them? Where are all my promises of old? Have I not said to all who return unto me, "I will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more?" and "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool?"

And now what need I say more than to entreat you all to think of the punishment of David, and to fly from sin; and to think of the pardon of David, and to fly to repentance through Christ. And should you again unhappily fall, never, as you value your soul, never try to palliate your sin, or to excuse it, or to lessen the sense of it in your own mind, for you cannot lessen it in the sight of God. But return unto the Lord with increased earnestness, and with yet deeper humility than before-say, "I am not worthy, O Lord, to draw nigh unto thee, but thou art a God whose property is always to have mercy; have mercy then upon me. Not only forgive me my sin, but make me to hate sin; and when in thy mercy thou dost pardon the past, in thy mercy also give me grace for the future. Help me according unto my need, for I pray unto thee in the name of Him who died to reconcile sinners unto thee." Thus turn, and thus pray unto God, coming unto him in the name of Christ, and he will in no wise cast you out. And if your faith and repentance be sincere, you shall find him to be, what the Scriptures uniformly declare him to be, a God forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, able and willing to save all them unto the uttermost who come unto him through Christ.

SACRED POETRY.

BY JAMES CHAMBERS, ESQ.

No. I.-Origin and early History.

IN arranging the following papers on Sacred Poetry, I have deemed it expedient to commence the series with an account of its history from the earliest times to the present period. Since "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," are almost the first examples of religious verse, I shall be led to notice the progress of congregational psalmody, its use among the early Christians, and its influence in furthering the glorious work of the Reformation.

While pursuing the chronological succession of the writers of sacred poetry, I shall allow myself to allude at greater length to those who have drank deepest at the twin fountains of poetry and religion-whose strains, pre-eminent alike for subject and execution, have surrounded their memory with a halo of glory, and made their names "sounds of pleasant import." Surely it will prove an interesting task to contemplate the progress of that "muse of sacred song" with which the "sweet Psalmist of Israel" was wont to solace his troubled soul, or rejoice his glad spirit-that muse which can boast the names of Milton, Montgomery, and Cowper, among her chosen votaries.

Deeply feeling my own inability to treat such a subject in the manner it deserves, I yet trust that a diligent study and fervent admiration of sacred poetry,

joined to some considerable research and labour, has in a measure qualified me for a task which ought to have been undertaken by one who possessed (in addition to a thorough acquaintance with the subject) the "pen of a ready writer." When any of my readers shall detect inadvertencies, defects, or omissions, let them consider the author to request, in the quaint, though beautiful words of the industrious Strype, "that they may be forgiven in one who looks upon himself as a frail and fallible man, and is apt enough to have mean conceits of his own performances, and is very ready to be set right, and thankful to be instructed."*

Poetry, considered as the spontaneous product of the most powerful feelings, probably owes its origin to those emotions which superstitious fear or religious veneration excite in the human breast. History cannot confirm this assertion, although, by the clear light in which it exhibits the early connexion of poetry and religion, it affords presumptive evidence that such was the case.

The Old Testament, which is by far the most ancient specimen of written literature, abounds in examples of lyrical, didactic, and prophetical poetry. In the book of Exodus, where it is recorded that, at the glorious triumph of the Lord over his enemies in the Red Sea, Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out with her,-we find the praises of the deliverer of Israel celebrated in a lyrical hymn, which, for grandeur of imagery, loftiness of sentiment, and splendour of expression, has never been rivalled. As I shall have a future opportunity of speaking of the Old Testament poetry, it will not be necessary to allude to it at present, any farther than to state that the composition of sacred hymns and musical accompaniments constituted one of those employments to which the candidates for the prophetic office were accustomed to dedicate themselves.†

In the New Testament, we find that the custom of praising God in psalms was sanctioned and adopted by our Lord himself (Matt. xxvi. 30).

Leaving the sure testimony of holy writ for the assertions and evidences of profane history, we find numerous declarations of the fact, that the earliest station of poetry was in the temple, her primary office to minister at the altar. Plato affirms that the most ancient poetry was addressed to the gods, under the appellation of hymns. Tacitus informs us that the most savage Germans were in possession of songs to the gods, which, by means of oral tradition, had descended through several generations. In the Greek chorus, in the rude lyrical productions of the most desolate of the Americans, the inhabitants of Gaul, Albion, Iberia, the most ancient people of Asia, and the known natives of Africa, we find abundant proofs of the close alliance which ever existed between their poetry and their religion. Indeed it would be difficult to point out any pagan poetry which does not contain frequent allusions to the national mythology. In like manner have the fables, morals, and doctrines of the Koran furnished subjects and illustrations for the gorgeous strains of the Persian and Arabian poets.

The primitive Christians were wont to edify themPreface to the Life of Bishop Aylmer.

+ Horne's "Introduction to the Critical Study, &c. of the Scriptures," vol. ii. p. 468, 3d edit., 1822.

selves, not only with the Psalms of the Old Testament but also with original lays, celebrating Christ as the Redeemer of the world. The early Greek and Latin Churches adopted singing in their public worship, considering that it formed an important part of religious devotion. In St. Jerome's seventeenth epistle to Marcella, the following interesting passage occurs:"In Christian villages little else is to be heard but psalms; for which way soever you turn yourself, either you have the ploughman at his plough singing Hallelujahs, or the vine-dresser chanting forth somewhat

of David's."

The disciples of Wickliffe in the fourteenth century, and those of John Huss and Jerome of Prague in the sixteenth, were celebrated psalm-singers; and many of those who died at the stake, comforted themselves in their last moments by singing the praises of Him who had endued them with sufficient strength to endure the fiery trial.†

The great Martin Luther (with his usual acute discernment) foresaw what a powerful instrument psalmsinging would prove in furthering the Reformation, and on this account eagerly availed himself of it. Having embraced the assistance of many others to versify and set to music psalms in the German language, he himself rendered the most valuable assistance in both parts of the undertaking. The best account of the intention, plan, and execution of this work is furnished in his own modest and simple words. He writes: "I and some others, to give a beginning and set the example to such as are more capable, have collected some spiritual songs to further and bring into use the sacred Gospel." And, speaking of the tunes, he adds, “ they are arranged for four voices, for no other reason than that I am anxious that young people, who should and must be educated in music, should have wherewith to get rid of their lasciviousness and carnal songs, and instead of them learn something salutary, and receive what is good with pleasure, as to youth is meet."§

About this time, Clement Marôt, the favoured bard of Francis I., "that prince of poets and poet of princes," translated fifty of the Psalms into French verse. This project was suggested by Vatable, the professor of Hebrew; and there is very little doubt that he materially assisted Marôt in his version, because, although the latter was unacquainted with the Hebrew language, they are said to be "traduitz en rythme Français selon la vérité Hébraïque."

He gives us to understand that he had received assistance

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Marôt's version was received with such enthusiasm, that the printers were not able to strike off a sufficient number of copies to supply the public demand. Theodore Beza, who had somewhat assisted Marôt, speedily published a version of the remaining Psalms, which possessed this advantage over his predecessors, that they were admirably fitted to the violin and other instruments." Ten thousand copies of this work were immediately sold. Calvin, who perceived with pleasure the increasing predilection for psalm-singing, had engaged some of the finest composers to furnish the musical accompaniments to these "songs of Zion." Some time elapsed before this was discovered; during which period Huguenots and Catholics alike solaced themselves with the psalms and music; but when Calvin appointed the psalms to be sung at his meetings, and they were affixed to the catechism of Geneva, the fulminations of the Sorbonne were directed even against Marôt-psalm-singing was declared to be synonymous with an open declaration of "Lutheranisme," and all true Catholics were enjoined "henceforth to forsake the heretical practice." It soon became an established form of devotion in the religious services of the reformers; and was carried from the peaceful abode of the sanctuary to the camp and the field of war. In many of the battles which occurred between the Protestants and their persecutors, a devotional psalm, shouted forth by the whole army of the former, served as a signal for the onset. Dr. Doddridge (in his sermon on the 107th Psalm) considers that the 149th Psalm was used in a similar manner by David's army when going forth to war against the devoted nations.

The vast and mighty change which the Reformation effected in the course of men's thoughts, not only caused a revolution in the manners and feelings of the age when it occurred, but also gave a particular direction to literature and the arts. No where was this more evident than in England; the holiest of books had before been bound with the chain of papal bondage-a worse than Egyptian darkness had covered the land; but the Bible was now unbound, and the pure rays of truth had begun to dispel the clouds of ignorance and superstition. The Scriptures were studied with a deep sense of their importance, and several paraphrases of some portions attempted.

Though the singing of psalms was a common practice at the very earliest period of the Reformation, it does not appear to have received the sanction of legislative authority until the year 1548. Encouraged by a license which was then promulgated, and assisted by several coadjutors, Sternhold and Hopkins composed the entire version of the Psalms, which was adopted by the Church of England, and appended to the book of Common-prayer. The accompanying tunes were chiefly selected from the Lutheran and Calvinistic tune-books. Besides the primary use to which they were devoted, viz. public worship, the

authors desired to furnish the common people with songs which would set aside the profane and licentious ballads in such common use at that period; reform their manners, and elevate their devotional feelings. Fuller tells us that "they found their work afterwards met with frowns in the faces of some great clergymen," who, we may suppose, forgetting the many and important advantages arising from the public singing of devotional hymns, foresaw those abuses into which it has at times unfortunately degenerated. To detail the progress of congregational psalmody from that period to the present time, would neither be interesting to the reader nor compatible with my plan.

Among those writers whom I shall have occasion to speak of, in tracing the history of English sacred poetry from 1562 to 1839, are Southwell, Davison, Fletcher, Drummond of Hawthornden, George Wither, Herrick, Quarles, George Herbert, Crashaw, Milton, Ken, Watts, Young, Blair, Blackmore, Thomson, Parnell, Addison, Smart, Pope, Cowper, Watts, Wesley, Hurdis, William Hayward, Roberts, Grahame, Heber, Wordsworth, Montgomery, Pollok, Milman, Croly, Dale, Moultrie, Hemans, Caroline Bowles, Jane Taylor, Hannah More, &c. &c.

I shall occasionally intersperse among my remarks on these authors and their writings, some of those valuable though scarce scraps which, while equally remarkable for the real poetry and fervent piety which breathe through their verses, remain almost unknown except to the poetical antiquarian. Garsden, near Malmesbury, Wilts.

THE WITCH OF ENDOR.†

THE singular transaction which occurred at Endor, of the raising of the prophet Samuel, has caused considerable discussion. The history of it may be expressed in a few words. After the death of Samuel, Saul, being engaged in hostilities with the Philistines, encamped at Gilboa in the immediate neighbourhood. His affairs being desperate, and the Divine protection withdrawn from him (1 Sam. xxviii. 5, 6), he resolved to consult a woman that had a "familiar spirit ;" and he was informed that one lived at Endor. He had previously banished all those persons; and hence it was necessary to disguise himself, lest the woman might refuse to perform what he desired. Having given her a solemn promise that she would be safe, she asked the disguised king whom she was to raise, and he replied, "Samuel." As soon as the woman saw Samuel, she recognised Saul, and began to entertain fears for her safety; but the king soothed her, and said to her, "What sawest thou? and the woman said unto Saul," I saw gods ascending out of the earth." The Hebrew word elohim, here translated gods, is often rendered in the singular, as a god or a great person, which is the true meaning in this case. Others translate the words, I saw a judge or a person like a judge; but if the plural be retained, we may suppose that, to fix Saul's attention, and to confirm his opinion of her art and power, she pretended that she saw gods rising out of the earth, as if she had brought up several beings by her enchantments. From

I refer more particularly to many hymns in the Moravian, Methodist, and other collections, which, after making allowance for the peculiar opinions held by the bodies of Christians who use them, cannot escape the condemnation of those who, in addition to true piety, possess pure taste or a cultivated understand. ing.

↑ From the Scripture Gazetteer.

the description which she gave of the person whom she raised, Saul "perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself; and Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more neither by prophets nor by dreams; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do." The prophet, or the figure resembling him, immediately declared his ruin and his death: "The Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me;" meaning, not literally the next day, but very shortly the king and his sons would be numbered with the dead. "Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him." The events happened as predicted; the Israelites were defeated, the sons of Saul were slain, and the king ran himself through with his own sword in despair (1 Sam. xxxi. 1-6).

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Such is the substance of Saul's interview with the witch of Endor and the raising of Samuel; and the discussion which has originated on this subject has turned chiefly on the points, whether the appearance of Samuel was real, and if real, the power by which it was produced; whether it was an imposition on the part of the sorceress, who might have been acting in concert with a person who made the responses in a feigned voice; or whether it was an evil spirit who appeared with the body and mantle of Samuel, spoke articulately, and held this conversation with Saul. must be admitted that the history does not say Saul really saw Samuel, and, as his circumstances were desperate, he was in a state of mind peculiarly liable to imposition; but, on the other hand, it is evident that the sorceress herself, who probably at first only intended a delusion, became terrified at the result, and she cried with a loud voice" when she perceived Samuel. It has been strongly maintained by some that the spirit of Samuel was evoked by this woman, and came on the compulsion of her powerful art; and in deference to the ancient fathers of the Church, who ascribed to magicians and necromancers the power of calling up the souls of the dead, they have supposed that Samuel actually appeared to Saul. But this explanation has been keenly rejected, and even Sir Thomas Brown, who is often on the side of credulity, opposes this literal assumption in the first book of his "Vulgar Errors." After alluding to the opinions of the heathen philosophical schools on this point, he says, "More inconsistent is the error of Christians, who holding the dead do rest in the Lord, do yet believe they are at the hire of the devil; that he who is in bonds himself commandeth the fetters of the dead, and, dwelling in the bottomless pit, calleth the blessed from Abraham's bosom-that can believe the real resurrection of Samuel, or that there is any thing but delusion in the practice of necromancy, or the popular raising of ghosts." It has been therefore urged that the whole story is repugnant to the order of the natural world, and to the doctrines of revelation respecting the state of the dead; that it is inconsistent with our knowledge of the attributes of God to believe that he permits the souls of the departed, even the most eminent prophets and saints, to be remanded back by the practice of the most execrable rites, and at the call of some of the vilest of human beings; and that reason confirms the testimony of Scripture, which represents all magical arts as flagrant impositions. For these and other reasons many believe that the witch of Endor was merely a " cunning woman," who was familiar with the state of public affairs; that, suspecting from the first that the tall stranger who assured her of safety could be no other than the king himself, and being well acquainted, as most of the Israelites were, with the per

son of the deceased prophet, she undertook the task of deceiving Saul; that Saul did not see the appearance, but trusted to the woman's statement that she saw it; and that the voice which was heard was either producd by the powers of ventriloquism, or by an associate, who imitated the voice and personated the appearance of Samuel. Others, again, who deny that witches are able to disturb the souls of good men, much less of prophets, are nevertheless of opinion that those wretched women caused the devil to counterfeit the souls of the dead, and that in this instance an evil spirit appeared before Saul in the likeness of Samuel; but this notion is met with nearly the same objections as the preceding, and is utterly inconsistent with the fact that the spirit which appeared to Saul was not a tempter, flatterer, or deceiver, but a very severe reprover of wickedness and impiety.

Without giving any opinion on the merits of a controversy which has caused much curious speculation, and on which there will always be a variety of opinions, we merely state a few facts connected with the inspired narrative urged by those learned commentators who contend that the appearance was really that of Samuel, but who deny that the power of the woman or of the devil had any share in the production. The sacred historian expressly calls the appearance by the name of Samuel, nor is there the least hint given that it was not the real prophet to whom Saul was speaking; and hence it is alleged that when the woman was preparing to employ her incantations, Samuel actually appeared by God's permission, to the astonishment and terror of the sorceress herself. This was the opinion of the ancient Jewish Church, which we find expressed in the book of Ecclesiasticus (xlvi. 20), where it is said of Samuel, "After his death he prophesied, and shewed the king his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people." On this passage, Dr. Delany, in his "Life of David," observes, "The son of Sirach, who seems to have had as much wisdom, penetration, and piety as any critic that came after him, is clearly of opinion with the sacred historian that it was Samuel himself who foretold the fate of Saul and his house in this interview." Josephus also speaks of the appearance as really that of Samuel. The appearance must therefore be ascribed, not to the power of an imaginary enchantment, but to the immediate appointment of God, as a rebuke and punishment to Saul. opinion is maintained by Waterland and defended by Delany, but combated by Dr. Chandler, with objections which, so far as they affect the Scripture history of the matter, are answered or obviated by Farmer in his "Dissertation on Miracles." Dr. Hales, in his "New Analysis of Chronology," inserts an able article on this view of the subject, in which he thinks that the following were among the reasons for the permitted appearance to Saul :-1. " To make Saul's crime the instrument of his punishment, in the dreadful denunciation of his approaching doom. 2. To shew to the heathen world the infinite superiority of the oracle of the Lord inspiring his prophets over the powers of darkness, and the delusive prognostics of their wretched votaries in their false oracles. 3. To confirm the belief of a future state by one who rose from the dead even under the Mosaic dispensation." On the whole, we agree with Bishop Horne, that " it remains either that the whole affair of Samuel's appearance was a contrivance, or that, by the interposition of God, there was a real appearance, which the woman did not expect and could not have effected." The same view is also taken by Dr. Gray in his " Key to the Old Testament," to which and to the other works mentioned the reader is referred.

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THE Sovereignty of God is manifested in all his dispensations; but in none does it shine forth more clearly than in those which have reference to the redemption of his people.

In the solemn address of which these words form a part, the general principle of that sovereignty is stated on the highest authority; even by Him who is truth itself: "Even so, Father; for so it seemeth good in thy sight." In the same passage also the application of this great principle is variously exemplified. It is traced in the mediatorial appointment of the eternal Son of God: "All things are delivered to me of my Father." It is illustrated by the method by which Infinite Wisdom has seen fit to communicate that knowledge of the Father and of the Son, which is essential to salvation: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." And it is evinced in the selection of the persons to whom that saving knowledge is graciously communicated: "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

And this sacred train of instruction concerning the deep and mysterious proceedings of the Divine sovereignty is adopted by our blessed Lord as an appropriate introduction to that most cheering and encouraging announcement of his grace; "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

The simple but important lesson conveyed in this address is, that Christ alone is able and willing to give deliverance from sin and its consequences. It therefore involves three leading topics. It sets forth

I. An oppressive burden. II. An all-sufficient Deliverer. III. An effectual relief.

May the Holy Spirit of God graciously fulfil his especial office, by leading our minds into a richer knowledge and a deeper experience of the sacred truths connected with these momentous subjects.

I. This address, then, of our blessed Saviour commends itself to those who are suffering under an oppressive burden, and who are consequently described as weary (or labouring) and heavy-laden."

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• Preached before the University of Oxford, 1838.

Although there are various modes of application in which this figurative language may be employed, it is obvious that the Divine Speaker refers primarily to sin, and subordinately to other evils, inasmuch as they proceed from sin, or are connected with it.

The burden of sin consists partly in the state of condemnation under which the sinner lies, and partly in the state of bondage to the absolute dominion of sin in which he is involved. Yet it is not simply the fact of being thus enslaved to sin, and subject to condemnation, which constitutes the character whom our Lord here addresses. All men who are not converted by the power of the Spirit are oppressed by the tyranny of sin; and all are by nature so involved in guilt, that if Divine grace interfere not for their rescue, they must sink under its weight into utter destruction. But many feel not their misery and danger. Now the combination of the epithet ye that labour (a word which implies weariness), with the other descriptive term, heavy-laden, specifies those who not only lie under the burden, but are painfully conscious of its existence, and long to obtain deliverance from it. It intimates the removal of that self-satisfied habit which characterises the unawakened conscience; and the experience of that selfabasement, which of old compelled the Psalmist to confess "there is no rest in my bones, because of my sin; for mine iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me:" and which still renders appropriate to every spiritual communicant at the table of the Lord, that emphatic acknowledgment, "The remembrance of our sins is grievous to us, the burden of them is intolerable."

This state of mind is not a result of natural reasoning or human wisdom. It is produced only by the operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart; and it is manifested by the fruits of deep and genuine repentance.

1. Consequently, it does not consist in a mere vexation on account of the present or even the future consequences of sin. It is true that the consciousness of deserved punishment must unavoidably be one ingredient in the heavy burden; and until the fulness of the and power of the great grace Deliverer be revealed to the heart by the Holy Ghost, the soul cannot but feel overwhelmed with some degree of dread and horror in the anticipation of that deserved punishment. But this portion of the weight forms a part of the fictitious repentance of a Saul or a Judas, as well as of the genuine contrition of a David or a Peter.

2. There is, however, another burden, independent, in a great measure, of the fear of consequences, and far more oppressive to

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