LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A YOUNGER BROTHER DURING HIS APPRENTICESHIP.

MY DEAR BROTHER,

LETTER III.

YOUR last letter is a very great improvement upon the former in every respect; and your apology for the faults I pointed out, fully satisfies me. I should have written to you sooner, but my whole time has been taken up in removing to our new residence.

You tell me you have been confirmed. Had you apprised me of your intention, I should have offered some seasonable remarks on the subject. I do not, however, imagine that you were ignorant of or thoughtless about the nature or intent of confirmation, and I doubt not Mr. Goode, your pastor, assisted you in those particulars with which you were unacquainted. It only remains, therefore, for me to express my affectionate solicitude, that as you have considered and submitted to it as a religious solemnity, you will endeavour conscientiously to fulfil all its requirements, carefully remembering, that it is an idle and profaned ceremony, except as it tends in some measure to establish you in Christian knowledge, experience, and practice, and in love to God and your fellowcreatures. Pray, then, that the pure word of Christ may "dwell in you richly," and that you may be built up thereby in your most holy faith:" this is spiritual confirmation, and will happily distinguish you from the mere formal attendant on religious ordinances.

The time I hope will arrive, when upon mature examination, under the divine direction, you will make up your mind on even the less important points of religion; for which purpose, as in every other religious concern, I hope you will "search the Scriptures diligently." You have hitherto been brought up in the communion of the Established Church; and it is your duty to abide by the mature opinions of

your parents, &c. till your own diligent examination shall determine you to adopt or depart from them; for, although the opinions of one fallible being neither can nor ought to be the standard of another, yet your own decision on every subject of importance should be the conscientious result of considerable time, thought, and inquiry:-nothing is more contemptible than for a youth to affect premature independence of mind.

The following seems to me to be the obvious meaning of the verses you wish me to explain. The Scribes and Pharisees having accused the disciples to Jesus for transgressing the traditions of the elders by eating with unwashed hands, he undertakes to justify them, by proving that there can be no moral evil in it, and that they were not bound to observe any human ceremonial tradition. This he enforces by a parable (Matt. xv.11). Wherefore, Peter, who knew not his Master's meaning therein, requested an explanation for the satisfaction of himself and the other disciples: and Jesus, after gently reproving them for their want of spiritual understanding (ver. 16), condescended thus to explain himself (ver. 17): Do ye not know, that whatsoever entereth into the mouth for bodily sustenance, though it be taken with unwashen hands, cannot morally defile a man? since, after having answered this single purpose, it passes through the body without at all influencing the mind to good or evil. "But (ver. 18) those evil things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man.” These he enumerates in ver. 19, and then draws the conclusion in

A monitory Epistle to a young Friend intending to travel.

A MONITORY EPISTLE TO A YOUNG FRIEND INTENDING TO TRAVEL*.

AN ADDRESS TO THE PARISHIONERS OF ST.
ALKMOND'S, SHREWSBURY.

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

THE following address, dictated by the sincerest desire for your present and eternal happiness, will, I trust, be perused with that serious attention which the important nature of its contents demands. Considering the relation in which I stand to you as your Minister, I could not acquit myself of the charge of criminal indifference, were I not to have recourse to every means in my power by which your spiritual prosperity might be promoted. This is a day of pride, of rebuke, and of blasphemy; and it is incumbent on all the friends of God and religion to exert themselves to repel those shafts of invective and contempt which are hurled at every thing of a sacred nature. And who does not see, it is only in proportion as genuine Christianity gains ground that the interests of infidelity will sink into all the infamy and disgrace they merit? It does appear to me that our discourses from the pulpit would acquire consider able force from an address now and then recalling to the recollection of those that heard them their awful responsibility, and impressing their minds with a proper conviction of the influence which they ought to have on the heart and life. That there is great danger of resting in the externals of religion to the neglect of all that is essential, will not, I believe, be denied. But surely

this is a miserable substitute for
that ingenuous repentance, faith in
Christ, and purity of heart and life,
which constitute its distinguishing
property and excellence.
"Know
ye not," says the divine Author of
our religion," that the kingdom of
God is within you?" A punctual
and full attendance at the house of
God is undoubtedly much to be de-
sired, and it is gratifying to its Mi-
nisters to behold it, who are anxi-
ous that all their hearers should

experience the healing waters of the sanctuary, and be restored to the enjoyment of God. And is it not a point of serious inquiry with you, my dear friends, whether this be your happy experience? Your fellow-creatures are dropping around you like leaves in autumn; and called away from all their worldly employments, possessions, and connexions, most solemnly admonish you to prepare to meet your God. Every tolling bell you hear, every funeral procession you see, every bereaved family whose sorrows you witness, addresses each of you as the Prophet did Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live." This admonition every one of you would do well to apply to himself. The current of time is rapidly carrying you into the ocean of eternity; and the place which now knows you, will shortly know you no more for ever. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? Three years have now elapsed since I entered on my ministry amongst you. In this short period death has made great havock in the parish, and has in some instances appeared in a peculiarly awful form. Two houses has the king of terrors entered, in each of which the husband and wife have been summoned into the eternal world nearly at the same time, and their remains consigned together to the gloomy mansions of the tomb. How impressive the lecture which these solemn events read to all those who are connected by the same endearing tie! and how strongly does it urge them to be daily disengaging their affections from this sinful world, and to give all diligence to secure, after their mortal life shall end, their reunion in those blissful abodes where their peace and happiness shall be com

472 An Address to the Parishioners of St. Alkmond's, Shrewsbury.

plete, and meet with no interrup-
tion through everlasting ages! May
the word preached from time to
time, being mixed with faith, profit
all who hear it! Sanguine, indeed,
as my hope is of some who attend
the sanctuary, I cannot but remark,
there are others over whom I sin
cerely mourn, whose lives testify
they are enemies to the cross of
Christ. Their worldly-mindedness,
intemperance, lewdness, blas-
phemy, enmity to God, and aver-
sion to his cause and people, but
too loudly proclaim that at present
they are in a most fearful state, no-
thing but the slender thread of life
preserving them from everlasting
torments. Even of these, however,
I will not despair. The Gospel of
the grace of God possesses a suffi-
cient remedy to heal their distem-
pered souls, and to restore them to
spiritual health, peace, and happi-
ness. The blood of Christ cleans-
eth from all sin, and his salvation is
kindly proposed to sinners of every
description under heaven, without
money and without price. This
warrants all to accept of it. May
God, by his Holy Spirit, enable
you, who are rejecting his coun-
sel against yourselves, to cast away
the weapons of your rebellion, re-
ceive the mercy he offers you, and
believe in Christ to the saving of
your souls!
No truth is more
clearly revealed in the Scriptures,
than that man in his natural state,
or in that condition in which he
came into the world, is quite unpre-
pared to die. His heart unchang-
ed, his mind at enmity with God,
his conscience burdened with the
guilt of innumerable sins, and his
soul and body in every faculty de-
praved, he must be born again be-
fore he can enter the celestial para-
dise. Were it possible for him to
be admitted into heaven in his
sins, it would be no heaven to
him he could never learn that
new song, which it is only the
privilege of the redeemed of the
Lord to sing. His jarring notes

would interrupt the harmony of
all its blessed inhabitants; and
instead of that sweet unison of
heart and voice which pervades its
blissful regions, nothing but discord
and confusion would be introduced.
To be convinced of this momentous
fact is necessary to a cordial recep-
tion of the Gospel, which is a mes-
sage of good news, or glad tidings
to sinners. It reveals Jesus Christ
as the propitiation for sin, makes an
illustrious display of all the divine
attributes, magnifies the riches of
God's grace, the fountain from
which all the blessings of salvation
emanate; directs the guilty, op-
pressed, polluted, and distressed,
where they may be pardoned, jus-
tified, cleansed, comforted, and
saved; gives to all the most kind
and pressing invitations to partake
of the water of life freely; and
blessed, thrice blessed they who
know the joyful sound.
No one
has any reason to fear a repulse
who comes to Jesus Christ with a
broken heart and contrite spirit, to
question his willingness to receive
him, or to harbour one suspicion of
the efficacy of his blood to wash
away his sins, renew his nature,
and render him meet for the inherit-
ance of the saints in light. His
arms and his heart are open to
every returning prodigal, and ag-
gravated indeed will be their con-
demnation whom neither his gra-
cious overtures will persuade, com-
passions move, nor tender mercies
allure to accept his proffered kind-
ness. How shall they escape who
neglect so great salvation?

There is a holy energy attending
the word when fully and clearly
preached, which all the pride, pre-
judice, impenitence, and unbelief
of the unrenewed heart cannot
withstand. To the truth of this
position, some of you can bear tes-
timony. The same spirit which
raised up
Christ from the dead, has
quickened you by the Gospel, who
were dead in trespasses and sins;
and to draw nigh to God in the du-

LETTERS FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON. [Continued from Page 65.]

As you are no longer favoured with the sound of the glorious Gospel, I wish it were in my power to supply even in a small degree that defect: as enabled, it is my privilege and bounden duty to do all I can; and here let me entreat you frequently to call to mind the many advantages you have enjoyed in sitting so long under the joyful sound, and seeing the effects produced by it through the teaching of the Divine Spirit upon the soul of the true believer: it makes men