of friend, fellow citizen and Briton? We impress on our readers the present important duties of the British Christian with regard to Popery; to oppose it in its political encroachments by all constitutional instrumentality, and in its spirit and doctrine by the exercise of the Christian temper and evangelical truth, "A spirit of love and of a sound mind." While I am willing to cooperate with my neighbones in any attempt at local improvement, can I shew them that I am painfully anxious about their souls-their eternal salvation!

Such questions as these may well be put by every one who feels himself, this fresh year, in the more immediate presence of Christ; and if they be propounded honestly each will be prepared, at whatever cost of self-indulgence, to abide by the answer which shall echo in his conscience. He will not, like Pilate, ask what is truth, and go away; but, like Paul, he will make the

response the rule of his whole life. Have you this year, have you this morning, do you intend every day of the year, to place yourself in the presence of God your Saviour, and say "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

II. It is important for us also to consider, that all we do for our Lord through the year, must be performed according to his wILL and PLEASURE.

Saul had followed his own will in the School of Gameliel, and in the superstitions of the Pharisees! and he was on his way to Damascus to fufil the pleasure of the Jewish Council, hostile to Christianity, when he was met by Jesus Christ, and when he sought direction of him whom he had before persecuted. His own will had been leading him fast to self-destruction; the will of the Sanhedrim had prompted him to injure and destroy. the saints of God. In the light of the Saviour's presence, he sees his folly, his madness, the enormity of his own wilful course: he pauses, he falls prostrate to the ground, he seeks a better guidance, and earnestly prays" Lord, what wilt THOU have me to do?" how the lion is changed into the lamb -how the haughty and relentless per

O!

secutor is converted into the meek and docile Christian-a little child might lead him. Who, acquainted with the grace of God in Saint Paul, can question its power to subdue and transform the stoutest and the most perverted mind? Let the year, then, urge upon us the cultivation of teachablenessthe yielding and cheerful going whither another may lead us.

And the Christian does perform his duties according to the will and pleasure of his Lord and Master

1. When he obeys his word. The Rule of faith is the Rule of conduct; and he who, with Abraham, believes, will likewise resemble him in his obedience. What saith the Scripture? must be our daily enquiry. This is the oracle by which a devout question will receive a divine response. We err, not knowing the Scriptures.

In giving all diligence, therefore, to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, and to make your calling and election sure, you must be guided by this instructor. In efforts to bless your family, and to promote the welfare of the congregation, of the church, and of the world at large, regulate your actions by the word of the Lord.

Let me likewise impress on your minds, that you perform the duties of the year, BECAUSE Jesus Christ commands you to do them. I must be actuated by a divine motive even to do that which is right. Not the custom

ary routine, not the fashion of the world or of the church, not the agreeableness of the action to habit or taste -not, indeed, the will of man, but the will of God, must prompt and regulate me in all I do for my own edification, for the salvation of my family and friends, and of the world. Brethren, let us prepare the sacrifice according to the pattern shewn in the Mount, and then confidently expect the heavenly fire. Here, "the Master said it,' is the true philosophy and the perfect freedom.

2. When the Christian relies on the grace of Christ in the performance of duty, he does that which his Lord would have him to do. Self-sufficiency,

as well as self-righteousness, made Saul an active persecutor; he was now beginning to learn, that when he was weak in his own estimation, he was strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Let me, then, urge you to seek most believingly and earnestly, grace to prepare you for the discharge of every duty, whether private or public, whether for your own good, or for the benefit of others. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord, and reading and hearing, and prayer and praise, and sacramental privileges, and all the efforts you make to subserve the welfare of the church and of the world, will succeed in proportion to the fit and prepared state of your own mind; Nor am I less anxious to impress upon you the necessity of grace for the discharge of duty. The ground, however prepared and sown, will bring forth no fruit unto perfection without the constant energy of the Creator to bless its virtues; and without the showers and sunshine, and the breezes of heaven. The more you can depend on this gracious influence, while employed in collecting and in distributing good, the more power will you carry through your work, and the more happy and successful will you be. You can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth you without him you can do nothing.

When with a prepared heart, and in the strength of the Lord, we have attempted our own edification and the salvation of others, let it be remembered, that even then, all will prove abortive without the blessing of God. Paul

may plant, and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase. O! for earnest prayer, when we spread our canvas, that God may fill it with heavenly wind-for prayer, till the Spirit be poured from on high.

3. When all is done to the glory of Christ, then do we act according to his will. No Christian man liveth to himself. He feels his obligation, he adores his Saviour, and desires to crown him Lord of all. The love of God absorbs the love of self.

This Christ-exalting spirit destroys self-righteousness-lays vanity and

self-conceit in the dust-and rises above the lines and the hedges of party. The relative and neighbour and fellow-worshipper, is not invited to see our zeal, but to admire the grace and beauty of Christ; the children are taught not to laud our kindness, but to sing Hosanna; the Temple is not disfigured with our name, but stands to the glory of God. Nothing will render the year more delightful and happy to ourselves, and more beneficial to others, than the annihilation of self, and the feeling, THAT CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL. O! what a blessed exchange-to lose self and find an All-Sufficient and Glorious Saviour. May this delight, this usefulness be yours, and you will indeed say, "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness."

IV. The gracious and obedient mind will learn what Christ would have him to do, by yielding a cheerful obedience to the PRESENT EVIDENT DUTY. Saul was commanded to arise, and go into the city, assured, that there he would be told what he must do. His first answer, therefore, was plain; and, as he yielded to this, he was in the way of receiving further instructions. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Obedience is a quick scholar. Soon was Ananias commanded to meet this convert at Damascus, and "putting his hand on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared to thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.' It was then the scales fell from his eyes-then he was baptised-and then he was apprised of the high and holy duty of bearing the name which he had persecuted before the Gentiles, Kings, and the Children of Israel.

The duty of the present moment is seldom concealed, and the performance of it will lead to the next duty; so we go from one stepping stone to the other till we cross the miry place. So the lanthorn throws its rays on the path immediately before us, though distant objects may be hidden in the obscurity of night. Each day, then, and each hour, ask, in an obedient spirit, what wilt thou have me Now to do; and

voice after voice answering, "This is the way, walk ye in it," will direct you throughout the year. What can I do this day, must be our morning's question, to promote my own salvation and that of my children, or servants, or partner? How can I this day aid the welfare of my relatives and friends, and neighbours-the prosperity of the rising generation, and of the congregation to which I resort? Every hour I hope to receive blessing at thy hand; Lord, tell me what thou wilt have me to do? I eat at thy table, O help me to perform thy work. It is found by many profitable to note down in the morning what ought to be done during the day but often we must act at the moment. Only let us be determined, through grace, not to have to say in the evening, with an illustrious Roman, "I have lost a day."

The way to know the path of duty is to proceed as far as we see it. Religion is practical. It is also learned by working out its instructions: it is more of an art than a science. How does the youthful artizan learn the art and mystery of his calling? It may be well for him both to read and to think, and to be acquainted with the principles of his trade, but he will never well understand it without personal labour. He begins with the easy, and ends with the more difficult parts. Practice makes perfect.

"Go on to seek to know the Lord, And practice what you know." He who will not dispatch the duty of this hour, shall be perplexed the next; he forsakes the high road, and will soon be entanged with thorns and briars. Work at Religion, and you will soon learn your business; for it is "God that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Nor would we lay less stress on the necessity of cultivating an obedient disposition as much as a good understanding. The grace of God is warmth as well as heat, and has indeed its seat chiefly in the affections, though the passage to that seat is the intellect. Religion is a spirit of love and of a sound mind. The more intensely

therefore, we feel on these momentous subjects, the more docile and dependent, the more we delight in God's commandment, the more clear and easy will be the path of duty. All the graces of the spirit make progress when the heart is constrained by the love of Christ.

Happily, my dear friends, will the year pass away, or blessed will be its trials, if you determine to do what you can-to act according to the will of your Lord-and to allow one duty to introduce you to another.

The present year, then, like some awful and mystic form breaking out of the vanishing past, prompts and urges the important enquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Let us second the voice of Time, and let us all employ the prayer of Moses, the man of God, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Some of you have, after prayerful self-examination, eaten of that bread and drank of that cup which the Lord's table furnishes. You seek fellowship with the Father, and with Jesus Christ his Son, and one with another. While I congratulate you on making this decided profession of devotedness to the Lord, I would entreat you to seek how you may best perform your Master's work, as well as partake of his food, most to your own advantage. Let each ask, "Lord, what will thou have me to do?" In what way, under the blessing of thy Holy Spirit, can I render the reading and hearing of thy word, private and social devotions, the Ordinance of thy Supper, and all the means of grace, most useful to my own soul? How can I best copy the life, as I shew forth the death of my gracious Redeemer? Can I encourage others, the young and the timid, whose hearts divine grace has touched, to give themselves to his church by the will of God? Can I throw more life and vigour, more piety and wisdom, more sanctified influence into the cause of Christ? Am I as working, as efficient a member of the Church as I might be? Do I exert all proper, possible influence to further the best prosperity and the efficiency of the cause of God-the cause of souls?

Do I act, speak, pray, contribute as I ought to do?

By the goodly number of teachers in the Sabbath schools, the question may well be asked, through the year, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" You look on the children who surround you, especially on your own respective class: : you think of their folly and sin and danger; on the hazard of their growing up without being won to the Saviour; on the difficulty of fixing their attention, and affecting their heart, and you say, What can I do? How can I render the class exercise more attractive, instructive, impressive? How can I improve my manner of conversing with them, and of deepening conviction and of endearing to them the Saviour? Can I be more regular in my attendance, and earnest in teaching? Can I be more fervent in prayer? "What wilt thou have me to do," that, through thy blessing, the souls of the children may be saved? O let the year prompt such enquiries; let every Lord's-day morning, let the God of the sacred morning, hear these enquiries, and it shall be told what to do, and shewn you, that you labour not in vain. And some of you, my friends, who are not engaged in teaching, may you not ask, whether you cannot strengthen the hands of the teachers, and secure the attendance of the children, by visiting parents and conversing with them on the privileges of such schools, and their duty of se

WARNING.

A FEW years ago a respectable family resided in a pleasant village in the county of N-. One of its members unhappily became the victim of intemperance, and notwithstanding parental remonstrance, sisterly affection and entreaty, friendly advice, and the conviction that he was ruining soul and body, he continued its slave. On one of these occasions he gave utterance to the awful wish, that "God would strike him dead." God was nearer to him than he thought, was more attentive to his prayer than he imagined, and answered it sooner, we fear, than he expected, or was prepared for an answer. In a few brief hours he was stricken by an unseen power; helpless

conding the efforts of the teachers? Do you sympathise with the sick and visit them? There are many ways in which you may be useful: only be in earnest, ask for work, and you will soon be employed. A divine voice says, "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."

The voice of passing years is powerfully eloquent to all. Do? some of you have have done nothing for your selves in the way of coming to Christ, and realising his blessings! Can this be doing the will of the Lord? Some by irregular or listless attendance prove that you are not earnestly asking, what you must do to be saved? It cannot be the will of Christ, that you should neglect his ordinances, his word, the throne of his grace. Do? Why, feel that you can do nothing but cast yourselves at your Saviour's feet, and take him, as he is made unto you of God, wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. Believe, and be saved. "Hear, and your soul shall live."

O that each who reads this Address, may make this important enquiry, and when years are no longer and labour has ceased, receive the highest expression of approbation-"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' J. K. F.

-senseless-speechless; and before the dial had gone its rounds, Henry was in eternity.

THE PRACTICAL HEARER. A POOR woman in the country went to hear a sermon, wherein, among other evil practices, the use of dishonest weights and measures was condemned. The next day the minister in visiting his hearers called upon her and asked her what she remembered of the sermon.

The poor woman complained much of her bad memory, and said she had forgotten almost all that he had said. "But one thing," said she, "I did remember. I remembered to burn my bushel." Can a door of the word be a forgetful hearer?

EXTRACTS FROM

GOD'S DECREES AND MAN'S
PRAYER.

"Therefore, there is all imaginable encouragement to sincere prayer, from this doctrine, that God doth all things according to the counsel of his own will. And this, surely, we are greatly concerned to consider in such a juncture of time as we are now cast upon; nothing can be more opportune. We have a dubious prospect before us; we know not how things may issue. Now to pray with hearts possessed with the sense that God doth all things after the counsel of his own will, is the best preparation for prayer, in reference to the present concernments of this season, that can be thought.

"That is, it is such a disposition of spirit that will, in this duty of prayer, be both most honourable to God, and most comfortable to ourselves.

"Most honourable to God; nothing could reflect on him more than to pray with a contrary notion concerning him; that is, that he doth not do things after the counsel of his own will, but as poor, foolish creatures here in this world, shall prescribe and dictate to him; they make him do anything, draw him to this or that by the importunity of their requests and desires. You cannot give a notion of God more injurious to him, or more repugnant to his very nature. For then we must suppose him a Being of mere power, absolute, almighty power, which any fool may command when he pleaseth. What a strange sort of Deity do we worship! particularly if we pray with such a notion of God as this. But nothing can be more comfortable to ourselves, than to supplicate him, according to this true notion of him, that he doth all things after the counsel of his own will. With what quiet minds may we pray; and acquiesce in all the issues of things! Things lie in the best hands they can lie. We have this to satisfy our hearts in; and though we pray as men, we are to expect he should answer as God. We can pray but with the wisdom and foresight of poor fallible creatures; but then we are

EMINENT WRITERS.

to expect him to answer according to the wisdom of an all-comprehending Deity. And as this is most highly honourable to him; so it will be most highly satisfying and comfortable to ourselves, and upon the best terms from which a reasonable mind can receive any satisfaction." JOHN HOWE.

RUNNING FOR HEAVEN. "They that would have heaven must run for it-and take this first direction.

"If thou wouldest so run as to obtain the kingdom of heaven, then be sure that thou get into the way that leadeth thither. For it is a vain thing to think that ever thou shalt have the prize, tho' thou runnest never so fast, unless thou art in the way that leads to it. Set the case, that there should be a man in London that was to run to York for a wager; now though he run never so swiftly, yet if he run full south, he might run himself quickly out of breath, and be never the nearer the prize, but rather the farther off. Just so it is here; it is not simply the runner, nor yet the hasty runner, that winneth the crown, unless he be in the way that leadeth thereto. I have observed, that little time which I have been a professor, that there is a great running to and fro, some this way, and some that way, yet it is to be feared, most of them are out of the way; and then, tho' they run as swift as the eagle can fly, they are benefited nothing at all."

BUNYAN.

THE SUBSTITUTION OF CHRIST.

"The substitution of Christ in the room of a guilty race receives all the advantage as an impressive spectacle, which it is possible to derive from this circumstance. He once suffered from the beginning of the world; nor have we the least reason to suppose any similar transaction has occurred on the theatre of the universe, or will ever occur again in the annals of eternity. It stands amidst the lapse of ages, and the waste of worlds, a single and solitary monument." ROBERT HALL.

C