earthly mammon, justly forfeiteth the treasures of heaven; and he who is made vain and covetous by money, however honestly gotten, renders that a curse to one which was designed as a blessing to many, and drowns himself in the spring which should have watered all around him.-Bishop Horne.

Wealth obtained, by the rigorous enforcement upon the unfortunate, of laws which were enacted against the dishonest; by trick or exaction upon the ignorant or necessitous; by arbitrary abatement in the price of labour; by evasion or cupidity in matters of trade; by the unjust exercise of power; or by wickedness, intrigue, or untruth,-is counterpoised in the balance of heaven; and descends upon its unhappy inheritors in the displeasure of a disregarded Providence. The conscientious Christian must be wary indeed; for all the appetites are susceptible, and the indulgences and vanities of life press upon him in illusive and seductive forms. Happy the man who humbly looks to his God, and withstands them.

11. SLANDER.

"O LORD, my GOD, in thee do I put my trust; save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me."-Ps. vii. 1.

To a tender and ingenuous spirit, the persecution of the tongue is worse than that of the sword, and with more difficulty submitted to; as, indeed, a good name is more precious than bodily life. Believers, in every

age, have been persecuted in this way; and the King of Saints often mentions it as one of the bitterest ingredients in his cup of sorrows. Faith and Prayer are the arms with which this formidable temptation must be encountered, and overcome. The former assures us, that God can save and deliver us; the latter induces Him so to do.-Bishop Horne.

"Every day they wrest my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil."— Ps. lvi. 5.

We think it hard, when men use us in this manner; but surely we either forget

that the SON OF GOD was so used before us, or that we are His disciples. O my GOD, how can we repine and murmur, when we see the blessed Redemer thus hated, slandered, and persecuted.-Bishop Horne.

12. PERSECUTION AND PERSECUTORS. "Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt."-Ps. cxxiii. 1.S.

Unbelieving and worldly men have always been ready to cast upon the afflicted servants of Christ some portion of that reproach and contempt, which were so plentifully poured upon their blessed Master, in the day of his humiliation. With these all such may justly complain that "their souls are exceedingly filled," insomuch that they are compelled to exclaim with redoubled earnestness, "Have mercy upon us, O Lord,

have mercy upon us." And let them know, that the Lord will "have mercy upon them" in that day when sensuality shall be succeeded by torment, and pride shall end in shame and confusion; when patient poverty shall inherit everlasting riches, and oppressed humility shall be exalted to a throne above the stars." -Bishop Horne.

13. RETIREMENT.

"And I said, O that I had

wings like a dove; for then

at rest."-Ps. lv 6.

The calamitous situation

would I fly away, and be of the Israelitish monarch, forced from him a wish, that, like the bird of innocence and peace, he could in a moment banish himself from the distractions of his rebellious kingdom, and enjoy, in holy solitude, that repose which his sceptre and his guards were not able to procure him. There are few crowned heads, perhaps, which have not, more than once, found occasion to form, if not to utter, a wish of the same nature. Much more must it have been the wish of that King of Israel, whose crown was literally one of thorns; and it often will be the wish of the devout christian, who, sensible of the sins and follies that overspread the earth, is taught to aspire after this heavenly country, and to delight in that resemblance of it which the closet best affords.-Bishop Horne.

14. GOD IN EVERY THING.

I will never consent to shut GOD out of His own universe; nor divorce Science and Religion, which He has joined together, and which ought to dwell with each other in unity and love.-Legh Richmond.

15. GOD WITH US.

It is the glory of the world that He who formed it, dwelt on it; of us men, that He lived among us, yea that He lived and died for us; that He assumed our flesh, and carried it to the heavens, where it shines as the eternal ornament and wonder of the creation of God. It is the chief event in the annals of time and history; and it is the glory of the great lines of Providence that they point at this, as their centre; that they prepared the way for its coming; and that after its coming they are subservient to its ends, though in ways mysterious and unsearchable.-Maclaurin.

Nothing can give a man so exquisite a satisfaction as to reflect upon the actions of a well-spent life: that he has made GOD his friend; that he has secured an interest in the favour of that Being who is the eternal source of all good; infinite in mercy, as well as in power; not only able, but willing and ready to assist and help him in all his difficulties; a Being to whom he may have recourse under every trial and

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temptation, under the greatest calamities and troubles of life-to whom he may lay open all his wants and infirmities-pour forth all his sorrows and afflictions, and, at all times, with confidence look up, knowing that he has a powerful intercessor, even Jesus Christ the righteous.-Melmoth.

"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me."-John v. 39.

16. SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE.*

Men are sometimes apt to think that if they could but see a miracle wrought in favour of religion, they would readily resign all their scruples, believe without doubt, and obey without reserve. The very thing that you desire, you have. You have the greatest and most striking of miracles, in the series of Scripture prophecies accomplished; accomplished, as we see, in the present state of almost all nations-the Africans, the Egyptians, the Arabians, the Turks, the

*This article (in addition to its being strictly appropriate in an "Introduction containing subjects for Meditation and Study,"-) is intended as a respectful notice of a Review of the small volume entitled a "Synopsis of the Evidences of Christianity," and particularly of the remark-"We confess that the external evidences in favour of the truth of Christianity are those which to our minds are the least striking and indisputable."-See also the Resurrection of Christ, sect. 19, page 35.