Carre,spaiAntr. THE SABBATH A NATIONAL BULWARK. BY REV. H. AUG. SMITH That nation into which the observance of the Sabbath has instilled a reverence for "pure religion wreathing household laws," has taken a step from which it cannot retrograde. Thought can never die'in such a country. It has attained its spiritual majority—its manhood. The sense of duty braces the nation's heart, and overcanopies its life. Thera .is_in spiration in such a people. Compare Presbyterian Scotland with Papal Italy to-day. Scotland, with her crystal lakes and granite hills, is full of inspiration and vigor ; while the beautiful shpres of Campania are the stronghold of banditti ; while Pisa, and Florence, and Genoa re call, in their deserted palaces, a magnifi cence that has passed away. Contrast Holland with Portugal ; contrast the col onies of Protestant England with those of Papal Spain in America. " The people of New England," says Bancroft, " were full of affections. They enjoyed religion. The consequence was, univer sal- health, one of the chief elements of public happiness. The average duration of life in New England, compared with Europe, was doubled; and the human race was so vigorous, that of all who were born into the world, more than two in ten, full four in fifteen, attained the age of seventy. Of those who lived be yond ninety, the proportion, as compared with European tables of longevity, was still more remarkable." Who, then, that looks upon our coun try with a patriot's eye, will not prize our time-hallowed, time-sanctioned, Chris tian Sabbath, as the very bulwark of our liberties ? We have great dangers to encounter here. When we see the ten dency to licensed and revolutionary democracy ; a foreign population pouring in, untaught to - revere the Sabbaths and untrained in the school of freedom; when we see the multiform infidelity of the age marshalling its hosts for one grand and final onset, under the very guise of liberty seeking to ally itself with the dominant spirit and civilization of the Age ; and when we look at the increas ing power of Popery—cool and wary, but bloodthirsty still—when we think of the profound and subtle affinities that bind together these foes of free. institu tions—infidelity, popery, and the spirit of mobs—it is not without alarm that we see them commingling on a theitre of action so transcendent as this country and this age of ours. We shall need the Sabbath thrown up, as a stupendous bulwark and breakwater against the tre mendous sea that is raging in upon us. Only then may we predict the stability of the great Republic, when all over ,.. its. imperial expanse, from the green 'hills of New England to the prairies of the West, and the golden gates of the. Pacific slope, each Sabbath's sun shall look' upon as sembling multitudes going up together to worship the Lord in the beauty of holi ness. JOTTINGS FROM A PARtSH , JOURNAL. NO. IV. In a city not quite so important and not quite so old as this goodly city_of William Penn, there was, in the fall of 1862, a very great religious interest. Under God the movement was the result of a refreshing visit from the Rev. E. 'P. Uammond. Most of the Presbyterians of that community were from the mother country, and not a few of them from the land of Livingstone and Samuel Ruther ford—the land of the MeCheynes and Bonars—the land of Chalmers. Yet ;while in theory they professed to believe in the possibility of a revival, it was not in a Yankee revival. Probably, had Livingstone. or Chalmers risen from the grave and given them a,psaltn of Rouse's Version, " line upon line," they might have attended .a revival service ; but Hammond sung hymes, which was a very serious drawback to the revival devotions. Then Hammond held " in quiry meetings," something new in con nection with the staid and stereotyped forms of Presbyterian Christianity to which they had been accustomed. But the most grave and, in fact, unsurniount able obstacle in the way of CONSCIENCE, was that Mr. Hammond allowed chil dren to speak for Christ; nay, in fact, that he encouraged the young to pray, sing and speak of the precious blood of the Lamb of God that bad purified their young warm hearts and consecrated them to God. One of the pastors of the goodly city in question, in his round of pastoral visi tation during this season of refreshment, happened to call on a devout and exem plary family from the Highlands of Scot land., This family were models of Chris tian consistency. They walked in all the commandments of the Lord blame less. A junior member of that Christian household had been brought to Christ during the revival, and after passing through a dreadful struggle—a conflict which few young persons have to., en counter—the young convert had found peace with God. This pastoral visit was intended more especially as one of eon _ gratulation—a rejoicing over the lost piece of silver—a making of spiritual mirth over thelPreturning prodigal. It was a happy visit. The' matron of the house, now ripening in years, but fresh and healthy, welcomed the pastor with teaks of joy rolling down her cheeks. Often had she greeted the welcome min ister on entering her happy home be fore, but never till this day did she feel as she expressed it, that her "bairn, had entered the kingdom." It was a joy ful meeting. The young convert sat down with calm, composed and modest mien, and in the most pleasing simplicity of heart told her delighted pastor of all the joys she felt since she had found Christ. Her narrative was more like that of a ripe Christian than a young convert; yet it was so simple, so unaffected, and so heartfelt, that it did not fail to draw tears from her affectionate pastor's eyes. After she bad finished her sweet and re freshing tale of sorrow and of joy, they united in singing a couple of verses of the beautiful little hymn so frequently sung by Mr. Hammond at the children's meetings : "Nothing either great or small Remains, remains for me to do, Jesus died and paid it all, All that I was due." and the pastor united with them in prayer. On rising from their knees and taking up his hat, the devout and grateful parent requested him to wait for a few moplents, as the family had been greatl3rexercised by a visit which had been paid them on the evening before by an elder in one of the churches of the city—a man whom they believed to be a very wise man. Indeed they said he was called in the neelands o' Scotland " ape of THE MEN." The pastor was not utMlling to hear their troubles of conscience, and, seated himself for a few moments as he was re quested, when the conversation turned upon the wholesome counsels of the' "Man of Ross." " Fray what, objection has the good man to the revival meetings," said the minister. "I have seen him at some of those precious meetings." "-Oh, aye, he says he has been at some of the meet ings, but he does nae gae thfre to pray„ it's as a luker on!" Well;" : replied the minister, " Zaccheus went up on the fig tree as a looker-on, and he came down a weeping, praying pe t nitent." " Oh! aye ;,but D— is a far wiser and a far better man than Zaccheus ; that is, in his' own esteem." "Please," said the pastor, " mention his difficulties in regard t 6 sour -meetings." (At this very time, be it noted, there were three crowded meetings daily, be side a diet of open-air preaching going on in the city.) "Weel, ~ w eel, sir, what exercised us was just this : he says we manna sing hymes ; and when he was on his feet, stepping awa frae the door, he shook his head , and shook his cane, and said: Noo, Mrs. —; dinna let the bairns spealc, for its no shoocli shious. ~ To these grave objections the pastor felt it to be his duty to reply, and pulling out his pocket Bible, he said : " Let us read> Mattthew 'And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.' Here you see that the Blessed Master closed the com munion by singing a hymn !" " Aye, aye ; but we had that ower heed, and he told us that in the Gaelic it reads 'they sung a psalm!' He says that Mr. Hammond's hymes are no scam, and the .bairns should not be allowed to sing heresy. He says there's nae soup hymes in America, and that the deevil aye brings error into the kirk by singing it in first, then preaching it in afterwards." '" But," said the pastor. The para phrases are hymns. Why, sing them ?" "Peel, we telt him that, sir," replied the good woman, " and he said, the less we have o' the paraphrases the better. There's naething like the gude aul psalms of David in Gaelic or Hebrew.' " "Well, well," said the pastor; "let him sing them in Gmlie or. Hebrew ; but be assured Mr. Hammond's hymns will not do your family any harm. Can any one object to such a sweet anthem as There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins?"' And no sooner had he repeated the lines, than the young convert, as if by intuition, started the air, and we all united in singing the entire hymn ; when he said : "Do you feel any thing the worse of that ?" " Na, na ; :that's a precious hym I" was the reply. " Now," said the minister, when about 'to start ; " as to the bairds speaking; the good elder says, dinna let the bairns speak!' " Let us read Matthew xxi., 15 : 'And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the CECILDREN crying in the temple, and saying, Hosannah to the Son of David, they were sore displeased, and said unto him, illearest thou what these say ?' And Jesus said unto them, Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the mouths of BABES and SUCKLINGS thou hest perfected pritise ?' So you see that eighteen hurl; dred years ago, there were ELDERS who said 'Dintla let the bairns speak" and not only so, but they would neither speak for Christ themselves, nor let the bairns speak for him. They were lukers on..' If Christ were among us, he would let the bairns speak." On reading and expounding this pas sage, the pastor left this pious home, and at the next juvenile prayer-meeting the young convert opened her mouth and spoke for Jesus. This child of Jesus is now a member of the church, and an ef ficient, devoted teacher in one of the Sab bath-schools of that city. It were unjust for one moment to throw a shadow of doubt upon the personal piety of the elder in question. He is a con sistent Christian man, as many of the members of the church believe and will attest; but manifestly one of those Chris tian men whose views and habits in re gard to religious matters have been cramped and hampered by stereotyped forms, so that he cannot move one hair's breadth out of the beaten track. From THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1865 his earliest days he has never heard a hymn sung in the kirk of his fathers, and has been accustomed, all his life, to asso ciate hymn-singing with Methodism and all kinds of heresy. Re has formed the idea that Unitarians, Universalists, and all errorists sing only hymns, whilst the truly Orthodox and Evangelical Churches sing only Rouse's Psalms. Again, in the school to which he be longs, the belief is all but universal that it is the very height of presumption for any one, save such as have obtained the highest diploma in the divine life, to speak of Experimental Religion. The grand fallacy among this class of Christians is simply this---they forget that an infant is a Wing creature, as truly ., as is a giant; and that a. babe can scream, if it can neither talk nor sing that the child at school has a soul to feel and a mind to think, just as well as the philosopher. And why should not the infant cry, if there is a felt leant, and re joice and be merry, if the want has been supplied? If Christ loved.little children and, took them to his arms, if children are the heritage of the Lord, if babes and sucklings could only, cry " Hosanna," let npt their mouthS- lie stopped. In the church in glory: their voices are hymning the praises of the Lamb. In the "gene ral assembly and' "church of the fuck born" they blend their notes with the niinstrelsy of ,angels; why not, speak and sing on earth as well as in heaven ? Erskine's "STRIFE IN IlnA.v2N"is ,surely an orthodox piece. One of itS'-closing couplets deserves devout commendatiOn. It is so apropos, that no one will object to its insertion here "334.wis.thither caught from womb and breast Claimed right to sing above the rest, Because they found the happy shore They never saw nor sought before." A PUPIL (SF CHALMEF.§. AN ILLUSTRATION. OF CITY MISSIONS. MESSRS. EDITORS :—Last Sabbath I attended thelte*house of worship in the southivest Part, of'our city. I was much pleased to find there a very beautiful and commodious place of worship: It is in a part of the city, too, where one is much needed; and now, as the writer does not belong to this ,branch of the church, you may allow him to speak " somewhat" in praise of what he saw and heard. The house is neat, not gaudy;. Save perhaps, in the - point of Rev. Dr. Cox's expression of " Staining - the light of Heaven before they let it in" lt is guilty of this. But this has become so common, in these days, and we have.So many times transferred this item from our Episcopal brethren, that we begin to, feel that we have a denominational right to do it. We have heard it said that this house was built by the donation of one man; Mr. Baldwin. If Aso, it is a-deed worthy of all praise, and will be one of, the. " good works' that; will follow hini" to . heaven. We thank 'him for the deed. The people there thank him ; thewhole church thankk - MM. The writer` once went to him to. beg. for a benevolent ob ject. With a smile, the good man said, " how flinch do you want ?" And the answer was no sooner given, than, with the same benignant smile, the amount asked was handed over. It has also been said that the same man has built, or , largely aided in building, several other houses of worship, and in supporting the .ministers. - - One likes to ask, under such cases of wide-spread beneficence, is there but one man in Philadelphia, in all the churches, who is able and willing to put his hand to this work It -has been said, by those who ought, to know, 4hat there are more than three .hundred thousand souls, in this city for whom there is no room in the present churches. If this be so, what a resposibility lies upon Christians here. And what a debt of gratitude is due to the man who has built, or been the means 'of half 'a dozen houses of Worship ?' IS-there not a man in 'all the other denominations who will build one ? Air. Van I'leurs? text God for bid that I should glory, save°illy in the cross of our Lord Jesus phrist; by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." It was remarked—the term Cross is used in three different senses in the New Testament. Ist. It means the wood upon which Christ was crucified. Some have a great idea of this wood. 2d. It is used to represent the re proach and blame attending a Christian —" Christ bore the cross and despised the shame." '3d. It denotes the doctrines of the gospel. It is used in this sense in the text. In the next place, the preacher showed what was meant by glorying in the cross. Then he told us how the world was crucified, dead, to such as gloried in the cross. They did not seek its wealth, its honors, its fame, itc. So, also, they were crucified to it. The sermon was a plain, simple exhi bition of trath—no flourishing of trum pets, no proclamation of what the speaker was going to do—no "things hard to be understood ;" no hard words, even. It was delivered with feeling—as though the preacher ..pelieved what he said. While I was baring it, I thought it did not call for a prophet to tell why there has, been a constant revival, or constant additions to the church from this field. Our Danish brother is surely a pattern of simplicity, and we ban say of him, as Paul said of hipmelf, he used great .plainness of speech." While he preached with great simplicity, it was not simple preaching. It has been said over three hundred souls have been added to the church from this Mission since Mr. Van Deurs has preached there. Surely the plain, simple truth is all that Christ requires, preached with earnestness and simpli city. Now, ;this sketch has not been written to praise Mr. Baldwin, for he needs no praise ; nor to exalt Rev. Mr. Van Deurs, for he would not be exalted by anything that the writer could say. These men, it is not doubted, are doing their duty.; and the object of this paper is to ask, who else will come up to this work of preaching the gospel to the poor in this city ? What other man will build a church ? What other Church, besides Calvary, will support a Missionary ? There is not a more promising field for missionary laborers, on earth than Philadelphia now presents. There are men and women who have no knowledge of the way of salvation. There are those , who are being educated for the peniten tiary. As soon as one crop passes to their home = the poor-house or the prison —another comes. Our grog-shops-rare doing the work of destruction at a fear fUl rate. We make one, hand wash the other—by the grog-shops, we make "the paupers, and then have the largest poor house in the world, for which we tax ourselves to support them. I would advise a different course. Spend money to keep these persons frpm idleness, and sin. Better do that, and save their bodies and souls, than support them in the almshouse, and let them "be destroyed, both soul and body in laell." Let this work of, prevention of sin be tried. Let, every church member do what he can to save these poor, misers , ble creatures, and in one year the whole city Would be regenerated. W. 14. C. CHAPLAIN STEWART'S LETTER! WASHINGTON, D. C.,,March 10, 1865 RELIGION IN OUR ARMIES REAR BROTHER :-A poet prophet, many centuries since , promised, that in the good time coming, " There shall be, an handful' of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains." A very un promising locality, however, both with respect to soil and climate for an early or a bountiful harvest. Yet does the same writer assure us, " The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon." Often already has the fulfillment of this been verified in unexpected and wonder ful ways. The most unpromising moral fields, both as it respects individuals and communities, have not unfrequently been made 'to bloom like the garden of tie, Lord. No field in' itself is more un -promising for the conversion of sinners and sanctification of believers than lirge 94.P5. Xet through the labors of Chaplains, the large hearted liberality of the Christian' Commission in either fur nishing entire, or assisting in the provi sion of suitable places for religious wor ship;in 'connection with the services of many faithful delegates, all 'accompanied with God's blessing, there exists a con dition of things at present in the Army of the Potomac and James, perhaps un equalled since the days when Cromwell's army, sang Psalms, offered prayers, and gained victories. During a late visit, extending through the entire Army of the Potomac and James, a fair opportunity, both. by in quiry and personal observation, was afforded for judging of this matter. Ac cording to human judgment, sinners-are converted, the lukewarm revived, and the earnest strengthened. A single in stance of my own experience may convey a just conception of matters in camp. Preaching in a tent of the Christian Commission, at Henry Station, in the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, one Sabbath evening, I reasoned with. the men of righteousness, temperance, and, judgment to come--urging upon them an earnest, distinct, and manly profession of Christ in camp. About two hundred were pre - sent, entirely filling the tent. Deep earnestness, attention, and stillness were manifest during my preaching. It is not my wont to call out or - invite any mani festation from the audience after sermon, but allow the hearers quietly to retire and meditate on what has been heard. The congregation, on this occasion, had other feelings, and intents. For pre sently, after, the sermon, one got up and , said he was already on Christ's' side; another, that he was now going to place himself there akatiother asked all to pray for him, that he might not be ashamed of Christ, and thus another and another arose, until nearly the whole were up. Talking, singino• prayer, and exhorta tion continued until a late hour. After we were all asleep in the cabin house of the Commission, we were waked by a knocking at the door. I arose and asked what was wanted. Two young Soldiers desired admission to talk and pray. The door was opened, a light struck, myself dressed, and a fire started, as it was a chilly night and now one o'clock. The young men had been at the evening service ; gone to their quar ters and lain down, but could not sleep. They talked long together, without com fort; finally they 'had risen and walked to a wood near brand prayed, but found no peace ; and had now come that I might talk and pray with them. Long, earnestly, add affectionately we com muned together, carrying their cases before the mercy seat, and before the dawn separating, not perhaps to meet again till at the judgment bar.' God's Spirit was working in their hearts; whether effec tually, the end will show. Although all this is very hopeful, yet must not Christian friends at home be too sanguine nor mis-judge the real con dition of things. With all the large hearted provision for the religious ac commodation of our soldiers in their win ter quarters, perhaps not a tenth of - those now in the army could be accommodated though all were packed to their utmost capacity. Nine-tenths perhaps never enter one of these places of worship,- neverwish to enter—are growing harder and more abandoned because some are becoming softer and more in earnest. As a class, these religious influences in camp do not reach nor seem to' influence our officers. The rarest thing imagina ble is to see a shoulder-strcip at any kind of-a religious meeting in camp. Nor, is our sanguine hopes for great results, must it be forgotten that excite ments of any kind "are easily gotten up in camp—religious ones not excepted. The soldier is accustomed to excitements ; lives on them as far as possible ; and can be led into religious excitements also without,any special or extra efforts. Yet may these pass away almost as readily as - any other 'camp excitements. The turmoils, the dangers, the weariness and the wickedness of an active campaign are generally sufficient to banish from the soldier's mind-nearly every good im pression ; make him almost forget there is a Bible, a Sabbath, or a God. This especially unless these impressions have been worked into principles,, and the soi -1 dier have also e faithful chaplain or some such teacher from God to accompany him through all his exposures -; in order to warn, entreat, rebuke, and encourage. Such at least have been my own experi ences and impressions after long trial. BENJAMIN,FRANKLIN'S PROPOSAL OF PRAYER IN THE CONVENTION FOR FRAMING} THE CONSTITUTION When the body that were assembled to form. our national ConstitutiOn had been in session several weeks, the vene rable Franklin rose, and made a solemn address to the President, in which, after adverting tithe fact that the y', had been examining constitutions and searching for models of government through all history, and still were groping in the dark to find political truth, he proceeded thus :-- '" In the beginning of the contest with. Britain, when we were sensible of dan ger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and were graciously an swered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have obServed frequent instances of a superintending Provi dence in, our favor. To, that kind Provi dence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of es tablishing our future national felicity. " And have we forgotten that power ful Friend ? or do we imagine we no more need his assistance ? "I have lived, sit, a long time; and the longer live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God gov erns in the affairs of men. We have been assured, Or, in the sacred writings, that except" the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this, and I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no bet ter than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little, partial, local in terests, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word to future ages. "I, therefore, beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the assist ance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held , every morning be fore we proceed to business." That august assembly, not of mere politicians, but of noble statesmen, felt that they needed God's wisdom, and they reverently asked for it. Wonderfully were they guided in adjusting its princi ples to the complicated and conflicting interests of different States. Experiment hae shown that the man agement, as well as the formation, of this vast machinery, is attended with diffi culty-. Equally, if not more, is prayer now needed by our rulers, and for them to guide and preserve our glorious heri tage. WITH ME IN PARADISE. , c To-day shalt thou be with me in Para dise." What a day to that dying map I How strange the contrast between its open ing* and its close—its morning and its night ! Its morning saw him a culprit, condemned before the bar of earthly judg meat; before evening shadowed the hill of Zion, he stood accepted at the bar of heaven! The morning saw him led out, through an earthy city's gate, in company with one Who was hooted at by the crowd that gathered around him; before night fell upon Jerusalem ; the gates of another city, even the heavenly, were lifted up, and he went up through them in company with one around whom all the hosts of heaven were bowing down, as he passed on to take his place beside the Father on his everlast ing throne. Humblest believer in the Saviour, a like marvellous contrast, is, in store for you. This hour it may be, weak and burdened, tossing on the bed of agony, in that dark chamber of stifled sobs and dropping tears; the next hour, up and away in the Paradise of God, mingling with thejust made perfect, renewing death broken friendships, gazing on the unveiled glories, of the Lamb. Be thou, then, but faithful unto death—struggle on for 'a few more of -those numbered days, or months, or years, and of that day of your departure hence, in His name I have to say it to you, Verily thou shalt be with me in Paradise. Rev. Dr. Hanna. SOUND AND TIMELY SUGGESTIONS. - To every pastor, ruling elder, and gen. erous-minded Christian in our church, we commend the following sensible and well expressed views of a cotemporary of the Episcopal church, the Christian Times: A well-conducted religious jcurnal sup plies a place in every parish that nothing else can fill. There is a vast variety of subjects which properly come before the at tention of the Church, though wholly un suited to the pulpit. We have ne diposi tion to magnify the press at the expense of the pulpit, yet it is evident that the pulpit cannot consistently attempt' to do every thing and perTorm all the work of the Church. It needs the press as an auxiliary. Besides, few of the parochial clergy can command the attention of their congrega tion for more than fifty-two short half-hours in the course of a year. In this brief time comparatively little can be done. There is no space for anything more than an exhi bition of the prominent tedchings of the Gospel, and hence, in families where'no re ligious paper is regularly taken, can we ex pect to find an intelligible understanding of the general condition of the Church, and a proper acquaintance with Church work? We believe not; and in those cases where a certain midnight darkness prevails in gon.- nection with such points, how can the clergy expect to awaken a proper dearee of inter est when appealing to their parishioners in behalf of the work and institutions of the Church ? Full intelligence must always precede zealous and united action. The people need to be kept constantly informed of what is going on in the Christian world. They must be made acquainted. with all our religious and benevolent enterprises. Whyte there is no knowledge, on these points, there will be no life, activity, or interest. Now do the clergy at the, present time realize this as they should ? Do they, con-, sides how much they would actually be aided in their work by having a good reli gious paper constantly read in every familY under their charge? Do they realize what an advantage it would be to have the minds of their congregations previously prepared by facts and figures for every appeal they make to them in behalf of our missionary and benevolent institutions? Do they also realize that every hour spent by families in perusing the religious journals on Sunday, is an -hour saved from communion with worldly, and often pernicious sources of lit erature ? —Every religions paper that enters a family banishes something else, and in a large majority of cases the outgoing publi cation would be one devoted to sentimental trash of a skeptical bearing, such as robs our churches of thousands of worshippers every Sunday.. Let all the friends of reli gion remember this fact, and cheerfully give their influence to sustain the publications of the Church. No family can afford to do without a good religious journal. It re turns a hundredfold for the annual invest ment. It will "awaken the interest of the young in all matters relatinc , to Christ's kingdom; it will ..keep. alive the zeal of those who have long labored in its support; it will everywhere encrender an intelligent and zealens activity, and hold up the,hands of burdened and laborious Rector. We therefore urge alien all classes the necessity of entering upon the support of the religious - press with a feeling of deeper appreciation. We especially invite the parish clergy to aid us in extending our own circulation. They do not hesitate to ask the press to help them ; why, then, should we hesitate to return the compliment? • A. M. STEWART ist~Uan nto, OUR PUBLICATIONS-THE CLOSER WALL Our publications are too little known, even among our ministers. Their distribu tion throughout our congregations would do much to promote growth of Christian character. They would furnish instruction to the people which would be a good basis for the minister to build upon. One of these books is "The Closer Walk," by Dr. Darling_ Its object is to hold up to our views •_the beauty of holiness, and to point out some of the means of attaining a higher degree of satisfaction. The meaning and character of santification are given. It is a growth, a progressive work It is a part of the Christian's life work "to grow in grace." No one can, without blame, remain " a babe in Christ." Progress .is shown to be an essential eharacteristic of true piety. We learn more from example than precept. The author, recognizing this fact, gives Paul as an example of sanctification. One chap ter is devoted to the methods by which he came to such strength of Christian charac ter. The key to this chapter is found in_ Paul's own word's :--"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing r do, fiirgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ." The connection between holiness and use fulness is the theme of one chapter. The usefulness of the Christian depends upon his deep and abiding sense of the condition of sinners. Feeling that God works by human instrumentahty—that he may be a colaborer with Him—he earnestly engages in every good work. Will you not seal this "closer walk with God ?" Your higher usefulness demands it. You must be good to do good. The perils of religious declension threaten you if you do not advance.. If, with you, in the dine life, there is no progression, there must be retrogression. The way of santification is the only way that leads to a "full assurance of hope." To make your " calling and election sure,' you must.diligently cultivate in your life every grace of the Spirit. And each new step which you take in holi ness here, will add new lustre to that un fading crown of glory that awaits you in heaven." Pastors have you carefully read this little book and commended it to your congrega tions 7--Christian Herald. Gon will, accept your first attempts to serve him, not as a perfect work, but as a beginning. The first little blades of wheat are as pleasant to the farmer's eyes as the whole field waving with grain.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers