fruit of thy ground; blessed when thou comest in and blessed when thou goest out; in all that thou settest thine hand unto," let me beseech you to "hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God" in this matter-practically set up Joshua's resolution, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

And now, commending you to the grace which is in Christ Jesus, believe me to remain, dear Reader, Your servant for Jesus' sake,

H. G. S.

A LETTER.

MR. EDITOR.-THE following is the copy of a letter from a Minister to the people among whom he was once called to labour. And, thinking you will not refuse to admit it into the pages of your widely extended and truly valuable publication, I now forward it to you; accompanied with an earnest prayer, that under the Divine blessing it may be made eminently useful, not only to those for whom it was originally intended, but to many more of God's dear children.

M.

As you desire a token of my remembrance of you, I lose no time in sending you a sort of common letter, which you can read to all those in or elsewhere, who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. I am induced to write to all, whether they be rich or whether they be poor, from the consideration that the whole family of Christ having been purchased at the same infinite price, and reserved for the same glory, all ought to be loved by the Christian Minister with equal affection. What if one flower has a brighter colour or a finer stem; each and every flower of the

garden is the Divine workmanship, and beautiful in its kind! The foot is as necessary to the body as the head, and the body would be incomplete without it: so also in the body of Christ, we are all mutually a part of the whole and necessary to its welfare. Let me then in my present letter remind you of the duties incumbent on you in your present circumstances.

1. You complain of a scarcity of the public means of grace; this then calls you to the more diligent use of the means that are within your reach. I believe I have often told you that so far as my own experience went, I had found that my soul thrived more in private than it did in the more public means of grace-that the closet makes a man a thriving, healthy, and faithful Christian. "Enter, then, into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

2. There is another kind of prayer which is greatly overlooked by Christians in general. I mean ejaculatory prayer; and as this is the life of private, social, and public prayer, or rather an auxiliary or mean to them all, we never omit it without experiencing great loss. Many are the occasions when we may shoot the arrow of an holy thought into the third heavens for instance, when we have no time or opportunity for a more stated and large pouring out of the heart before God. Such was David's prayer, 2 Sam xv. 31, and 2 Kings vi. 18. Luke xvii. 5, Acts vii. 60, and Nehemiah ii. 4. Or when on a sudden temptations and dangers arise, as in Jehoshaphat's case, 2 Chron. xviii. 31, and Judges xv. 18: Isai. xxxviii. 14. The benefits resulting from this

habit of prayer are many and great. Hereby we are kept in constant readiness for all duties that may occur: hereby we have the best security against the breaking forth of the corruptions of our nature: hereby we are cast into a holy, heavenly, and thriving spirit: hereby we stand ready to enter not only into the gates of God's house with praise, but into the gates of heaven itself with Christ and holiness in our hearts. Therefore, "pray always, pray without ceasing, and watch unto prayer.”

3. Of course you never let a day pass in which you do not read your bibles; but how often is it to be feared you read them merely out of form, or to satisfy conscience. Endeavour, then, before you read to realize the presence and Spirit of their Author. Send up some such a request as David's, "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Seek for food wherewith you may satisfy and feast your souls. "Our fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they are dead, but whoso eateth of this bread shall never die." "Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man you have no life in you." "The words that I speak unto you, they be spirit and they be life."

4. Be diligent and active in doing good. When we talk of doing good we are too apt to confine our thoughts to acts of charity, or some duties of a public nature, which make a great noise in the world; but a man who is not worth a shilling beyond what he wants for himself or family, who has neither talent or opportunity to become notorious, or go far from home, has every day and every hour a most important work to perform, and one most honourable to God and

useful to man. He has to subdue evil in himself, to mortify the body of sin and death, and by his example and conversation to diffuse a divine spirit around him. His family, his fellows, his village, may really be greatly improved by a patient, meek, and holy walk with God. The very patience of the saints in suffering is often a more effectual appeal to the heart than all our noisy activities. Sometimes also we see a person who has only small means of advancing the kingdom of God greatly honoured with opportunity. What a privilege have you· * that to you are

intrusted the souls of the poor children of the School', many a score of jewels, not of silver or of gold but of immortal souls, which you may set in your Redeemer's crown when he cometh as the King of Glory, to be acknowledged the rightful Sovereign of the universe. Oh, then, let me beseech you to be more in doing than in talking of religion. See Luke vi. 47-49.

5. Take care that your religion be a religion of principle. This caution is the more necessary in the present day, when there is so much religion of speculation, habit, education, and excitement, abroad in the world. We read of many in the bible who though they did many things well, yet they had not a perfect heart. Jehu might say, "Come and see my zeal for the Lord of hosts ;" and yet Jehu never had the heart to love God, and in the end he perished in his sins. Yea, even a disciple of our blessed Lord broke down here he wanted principle, integrity, a regard to the whole law: he made way for Satan, and at last perished by a miserable death. See, then, that your religion is not one that expends itself abroad for the *Sunday School Teachers.

applause of men, and is never at home-ever active about others, but passive about self; but one without partiality and without hypocrisy; one that extends to the whole law; one of principle and integrity; one that will stand the test of judgment. All religion that does not proceed from the love of Christ is nothing better in God's sight than the tinkling of cymbals. He must not work for God only from mere habit, from fear of hell or desire of heaven, or from even the luxury of doing good, but from a real view of the loveliness and beauty of holiness. It must become our very nature.

6. Guard against little sins. It is said of a miser in giving advice to his son how he should conduct himself in the regulation of his affairs, and expenditure of his property, he said, 'Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.' We might say with more propriety to the Christian, take care of little sins, and the great ones will take care of themselves; for a man never falls into the commission of a great sin without having opened the way to it by first committing little ones. Remember Achan's case-I saw, I coveted, I took. A little hole removes the bar by which thieves enter into the house, and the goods are spoiled. It is a great matter to be aware of the potency of little sins. A little deviation from truth-a love of the marvellous-a desire to colour highly makes a liar. A little deviation from temper makes an irritable and passionate man. These are the little foxes that do the mischief in our vineyards. Oh what a master of conscience is a little sin! It has been well said, ' He who does not make conscience in every thing is secure in nothing,' has no