3. These riches are far superior in enjoyment to all earthly good. All the costly sacrifices, the expensive machinery, the rich vestments, the golden vessels, the silver trumpets, the grand and imposing ceremonies, with the august and majestic high priest, were but shadows; yea, the whole of that important dispensation, with Moses the prince, and Aaron the priest, was but a casket to hold Christ the jewel-but swaddling bands for God's anointed Son, and yet all types to set forth Jesus, and a gospel for the royal family to read in Arabia's desert.

We will not call in the wicked as witnesses, in their diversified classes, to tell us of their enjoyments; all have cause to complain that they were too long taken up with vanity and wickedness; and we found a serpent's sting in every sinful sweet, and poison dreadful in all worldly pleasures. Some have said that hell is paved with cardinals' sculls-this we know, that the broad road to hell is paved with the wrath and curse of God; happy those who escape damnation at the end of that dreary path! But who can describe the peace resulting from pardoning blood-eternal life, the gift of God-joys enjoyed in heaven's highway, when Christ is lifted up, and the soul drawn to him-when faith is given to work its way over all the mighty mountains of remote and recent transgressions, the depravity deep and dreadful of the human heart, and sue out a pardon for all in a Saviour's most precious and invaluable blood-puts on the princely raiment of her betrothed husband's righteousness, and longs to pace the golden pavement of the better world, and take possession of the longed-for mansion, built by him who built the world, and all the wonders of it! The enjoyment of these riches promote holiness of heart, lip, and life; and as they are all heavenly in their origin, and none can receive any thing except it be given him from above, so they lead to God, from whom they commenced. It is the very nature of grace to be active and aspiring: as soon as grace seizes the soul that has long been bending downward, it takes a different turn; a God above never before thought on, is now looked up to; mercy long despised is earnestly sought; a gospel much disregarded is now listened to with delight; saints, the best part of God's creation, hated, but now loved, and their company coveted. "The ransomed of the Lord shall return-all that the Father giveth me shall come to me." The riches of grace are now revealing-the mine of everlasting mercy is now opening its precious treasures, and what has lain hid is now discovering-another vessel is now preparing to receive a rich treasureanother sanctified bosom opening to take in the blessed bundle of life, that it may live in glory for ever! Everlasting love-distinguishing mercy-election grace-complete acquittance from every charge-a free pardon for all sin-the high and sweet enjoyment of God in all his ordinances-all the exceeding great and precious promises-the soul-refreshing visits the Lord pays his people, with the succours and supports he meets with in his way home to the kingdom, are all parts and parcels of these unsearchable riehes; and we must say of them, as the queen of Sheba did, that the one half has not been told.

Hampstead, Sept. 8, 1829,

JAMES.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

ON GRATITUDE.

WHAT a delightful and ennobling principle is gratitude!-ennobling indeed when it regards the meanest of our fellow worms, from whom we may have received offices of kindness and respect; but transcendantly more so when it is engendered in the breast by the Spirit of the living God, and exerts its joyous influence in ascriptions of praise to the Lamb in the midst of the throne! Man, as a link in the great chain of being, has constant and imperious calls for gratitude from all around him; while things animate and things inanimate join to demand its exercise. Do I share in the anxieties that constantly inhabit the parental breast? and can I be ungrateful for their tenderest regards? Are the affectionate and faithful counsels of a friend extended towards me?-and shall I be ungrateful for his generous esteem? Does my prosperity enhance the joys, or my adversity increase the sorrow of those around me ?-and shall not my bosom glow with this heaven-born principle? Are the ministers of Christ my friends, his people my companions, and their fervent prayers my constant benefactors and shall not gratitude inflame my heart, and kindle my best affections towards them? In a word, is Christ, who is "the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person,' my Saviour and my Friend?-and shall not inextinguishable gratitude possess my heart, raise me above the trials of life, transport my desires to a better world, and make my bosom glow with ardent wishes for his glory! Aspirative! Fountain of light and goodness! banish from my mind every ungenerous feeling towards others, and every base ungrateful thought of thee !-raise my devotion to a higher tone, kindle my affections to a brighter flame, and let the constant language of my heart and tongue be praise! W. H. G.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

A SECOND ADDRESS TO THE JUNIOR BRANCHES OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH.

My Dear Young Friends,

HAVING thrown out a cautionary hint to guide you in the paths of social life in my last, let me now call your attention to a few things relative to your secret and public movements, connected with your spiritual welfare, passing through the plain of time: looking up to the great Inditer of the sacred oracle to direct my thoughts and penaiming at the glory of Jehovah, and breathing to heaven that my address to you may be the echo of the word, and reach your heart and conscience with persuasive power and lasting benefit; even so, amen.

There is an unceasing necessity to stir up each other's minds by way of remembrance, to point out the dangerous by-ways on the

road side, and caution the unwary traveller of the pits and snares on the enchanting ground.-Not as there is any fear of your final safety, that being unhinderable by the purpose of God, the redemption of Jesus, and the work of God the Holy Ghost; but for a good conscience, the honour of God, the mortification of the devil, and the confounding of the world. These are ends worthy your soul's ambition; more precious than rubies to possess, and will stamp lasting worth on your character. If you are kept near to the Lord in a life of dependence on his all-sufficient aid, and are enabled under the influence of his filial fear in your heart, to walk worthy of the high vocation whereunto you are called, it will not lift you up in pride and selfadulation, but lay you low in the dust, admiring the goodness, mercy, and power of a covenant God. There is not a believer in Jesus closing the day before the divine throne (even his most circumspect day) but the sight thereof would sink him into black despair, were it not for the asylum blood of Jesus, and his covering robe of consummate perfection. It is a mercy he buried all our sins in a grave never to be opened. We do not aim to live in the world that we may go to heaven by it, but because we are going there, we wish to shew it by the way we do not merely rejoice in absolute grace, certain redemption, and invincible power, because they ensure our heaven, but also we love the facts, because of their holifying effects on the mind, and their fruits in the life and conversation. He that drinks at these pure fountains will feel their regaling and influential effects. It is the rich viands from Calvary's summit that poison the streams of sin; and every fresh incoming from mercy's ocean taints the flesh-pleasing river that runs from Eden's banks. To a mind ennobled by sovereign grace, and under the influence of constraining love, the paths of righteousness are his delight, and as much his element as the air is the feathered hosts', and the sea the scaly tribes'. He only breathes with pleasure in the pure atmosphere of holiness, and all his new-born powers joyfully expand beneath the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every fresh discovery of his amazing love and discriminating mercy lays the sinner low, excites a holy concern for the honour of a covenant God, and raises a revengeful indignation at sin in all its direful forms. There is no occasion to be thundering commandment in the ear, while affection is on the watch to serve.

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But suffer the word of exhortation:-take heed to thyself, for earth and hell, and your own evil heart are allies against you, watching for your hurt, and using their united craft to ensnare your feet. Fight the good fight of faith," looking unto Jesus, leaning on the arm of his sufficiency; distrust self, hang on promises, and pray without ceasing.

Take heed to thyself in the world; be courteous in all your civil engagements; and be cautious how you speak of divine things-that you introduce them seasonably, not to make them common or trifling, but to maintain their solemn importance and majestic dignity. "Cast not your pearls before swine." Beware of a misguided zeal, which

is peculiar to those who have just tasted that the Lord is gracious, who have a warm heart, and a strong desire for the glory of God, and the salvation of others; but being in the twilight of the morning, see spiritual things but darkly, wishing to sweep all they know into the gospel net; they see not the designs of Jehovah in mercy's discriminating system of salvation, nor are they aware, that "the carnal mind is enmity against God." If you are snatched, my young friend, from the brink of eternal ruin, and favoured with a vital faith in a sin-pardoning God, and blessed to rejoice in hope of eternal life, vent out your heart before the divine throne, extol the wonders of sovereign love in your high praises to the saints, and be unashamed of the cross before men: aim to set out the excellencies of religion in a circumspect walk and conversation, that they seeing your good works may glorify your Father in heaven. Be more concerned for the vital and spiritual part of religion than the outward forms: the legality of the mind is an enemy to freedom and holy liberty in the ways of God. The Lord enable you to watch this foe, and lead you to an entire dependence on the Holy Ghost for his liberating influence and divine teaching.

Search the scriptures-the sacred oracle of heaven-the copy of God's thoughts-the epitome of Christ's heart-the great charter of heavenly blessings-the map of your celestial journey-the sacred standard of all truth-the vital spring of experience-heaven's greatest tangible gift you can possess on earth! O ye youthful travellers to a far country! make much of this lamp, let down from heaven to light you thither. Do you want to redeem the time?-spend it over this divinely inspired book; search the scriptures, as a legatee would a will, to know what is bequeathed to you:-all things are yours. Do you want fuel for devotion, matter for praise, armour for the war, a shield in the hour of temptation, conformity to Christ, subject for endless meditation ?-search the word. Do ye want to be spiritually wise, to be rich in faith, to be exalted, to live near heaven?-then search the word. Do you want to honour God by an acknowledgment of him in all your ways?-then search the word; listen to no man who either says the law is your rule of life or the gospel, but embrace the whole will of God as revealed in the bible; every prohibition, caution, exhortation, or precept you meet with either in the old or new testament, receive as the will of God; for who authorized any man to parcel out the word for our conduct? This was a stumbling block to me in my junior days; but now, through mercy, I clasp the whole authority of my God in his holy word, and listen to no man: the Lord the Spirit help you to do likewise, keeping you incessantly dependent on himself as the Spirit of wisdom and illumination. Let the bible give place to no good man's works; the writer has done so to his great loss. If you have little time, let this be your resort; there is nothing so sanctified to abide in the memory as the words of the Holy Ghost-here you are sure of truth. I can say, through boundless mercy, for sixteen years it has been my daily companion; I prize

it as hid treasure-an invaluable treasure-the greatest visible bestowment of the God of all grace! See to it, ye that are just bleating your way to heaven, that ye keep beside this shepherd's tent; lay up this heavenly treasure, you will find it durable riches, that time can never spend, nor eternity waste.

Beware of pride, that rampant evil of our day. How much precious time is wasted in outward adorning! Ye youthful saints, beware of this contagion, and put on as the elect of God the gracious ornaments of the heavenly wardrobe; spend your precious moments over the word of God, and let not this dunghill for.worms take up your precious time. Be concerned to be dressed in the robe of infinite perfection, and the garments of salvation, that ye may appear before God: be clad with the cloak of zeal, with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit; and let your outward appearance be becoming a stranger and pilgrim on the earth.

Be particular in your companions and associates in the way to the kingdom; let them be such as are chaste in their conversation, not levitous, nor given to foolish talking; let them be spiritual in their communications, not busy bodies in other people's matters, the world, fashions, &c. Know no one after the flesh, but as fellow-heirs of the same inheritance; friendship on this ground will last, and you will be mutual helps to each other.

If you have entered into a voluntary covenant of friendship with the church of Christ, see to it that ye fulfil your engagements. Be punctual at the stated times of worship, and shew that you esteem the ways of God by giving yourselves up to his service.

Finally, "Flee youthful lusts;" shun the paths of vice and folly; abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; parley not with temptation; resist the devil, in all his flesh-pleasing overtures: "Stand fast in the faith; quit you like men, and be strong" in the Lord! May you dwell under the shadow of his wing; his presence light you; his arm preserve you; and may He

"Guard you through all the streets of life,

And crown your journey's end."

Golden Square, London,

August 15, 1829.

E. M.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

SALVATION.

No subject can be of so great importance as this, and yet there are few but what have more attention. Many who have and continue to make it their study, frequently state it in such obscurity and mystery, that it is difficult to understand their meaning: others delineate the different branches, or blessings, of this important subject in such a way as to lead the people to conclude that they are salvation; when the truth is, they are no more than streams flowing from this vast

ocean.