human mind; and then all will have those clear perceptions of the truth, and of its importance, which will deeply penetrate the heart; and produce such a simultaneous movement for its universal propagation, that the bright vision of one of our favourite poets will be fully realized; when

The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks
Shout to each other; and the mountain tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy;
Till nation after nation taught the strain,

Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round."

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Mrs. Stevens. But I fear, Sir, that we shall not live to see that blissful hour."

Mr. Ingleby. "We may not live in this world to see it; but if not, we shall see it from a more commanding point of observation. For as the traveller who has gained the summit of the hill can take a more extensive survey of the neighbouring, and the distant scenery, than he who has pitched his tent at the base, so the inhabitants of Mount Zion, whose power of vision is unobstructed by material elements, can perceive more clearly the progress of Messiah's kingdom than those agents who are now employed in its extension; and when he comes in his glory, to cast down the prince of darkness from the throne which he has usurped, they will behold the mighty conflict, and celebrate its glorious termination."

Mrs. Stevens. "I generally observe, that from whatever point you start, you contrive to get to heaven at last."

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Mr. Ingleby. Why, Madam, I am not aware that I can get to a better place;

'There my best friends, my kindred dwell,

There God my Saviour reigns.'

My locks bespeak my age; and though I have strength to labour in my Master's cause, and patience to wait the hour of dismissal, yet I often lean on the top of my staff, and sing,

"But, Sir,” said Mrs. Stevens, "I hope you will live to a good old age, much beyond the allotted age of

man; for if the shepherd be smitten by death, the sheep of his fold will be scattered."

Mr. Ingleby.

be lost."

Mr. Guion.

"They may, but none of them will

"The infliction of the sentence of death · on man is the most calamitous event which awaits him in this world; and if he have no blissful hope of immortality it must, when the hour is come, sink him into unutterable agony. But yet the majority around us live as though that hour would never come; and if we venture to warn them of their approaching danger, we are either censured for our folly, or condemned for our uncharitableness."

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"But I trust," said Mr. Roscoe, "that we have a good hope through grace, that when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. It is this that explains the enigma of our existence that raises us up above the brutes that perish— that ennobles us-that invests the hour of our death with a more solemn, and grand, and sublime degree of interest than any preceding hour of our eventful life; that throws a dimming shade over the brightest terrestrial vision; and that awakens in the human soul anticipations of delight which surpass all that the eye hath seen, or the ear hath heard, or the tongue can describe." Yes, Sir," said the venerable Mr. Ingleby, if the revelation of life and immortality, which the Scriptures contain, should prove at last a cunningly devised fable; and if the efficacy of the atonement, in purifying the conscience from guilt, should eventually turn out to be the mere phantom of fanaticism; and if these sublime anticipations of future glory, which we indulge, should never be realized,-we shall sustain no injury after death by cherishing our present belief. For if we should be annihilated at death, we shall not be conscious of our loss; and if we should pass into another state of existence, where the good and the evil mingle promiscuously together, the Supreme Being will not be offended with us for repenting of our sins, and endeavouring to please him."

Stereotyped by J. HADDON, and Printed by 3, S. HUGHES, 63, Paternoster Row.

"I recollect having met, some time since, in the course of my reading, with the following judicious reply to a satirical question which a Catholic Bishop proposed to a Protestant,Where was your religion before the days of Luther?' In the Bible, Sir.' The Bible, as Bishop Stillingfleet very justly ob-serves, is the religion of Protestants."

London:

ON ATTENDING AN EVANGELICAL

MINISTRY.

"There stands the Messenger of Truth; there stands
The legate of the skies!-His theme divine,
His office sacred, his credentials clear.
By him the violated law speaks out

Its thunders; and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.
He 'stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
And, arm'd himself in panoply complete.
Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms,
Bright as his own, and trains, by ev'ry rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war,
The sacramental host of God's elect."

Cowper.

As Mr. Roscoe had devoted a large portion of his life to biblical studies, and the various branches of literature which are inseparably connected with them, he was qualified to discuss theological questions with great facility; and his passion for disputation having subsided into an ardent love of the truth, he no longer lebated in argument for the honour of gaining the victory, but either to vindicate his opinions, when assailed,' or to acquire more correct information on subjects which, till recently, he had but very imperfectly understood. The native hauteur of his spirit had now left him; and though he still displayed the insignia of a high mental order, yet there was so much amiability in his manner, and so much docility in his temper, that, while he commanded respect, he did not fail to win esteem. During the first serious impressions which he received from the conversation of his daughter, the light of truth shone with too feeble a ray to produce that perfect and plenary conviction which permits the mind no longer to vaccillate; but when it came, not in

word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, he received it with mingled emotions of astonishment and joy; and while he still retained his constitutional independence and ardour, these high qualities were so softened and animated by the love of Christ, that they gave a charm to his cha racter and his conversation, of which every one was conscious but himself.

As his more public profession of religion was free from the charge of ostentation, so it was without reserve. It was not made to gratify caprice, or cast a reflection on the indecision of others, but in obedience to the authority of the Saviour; and as he had, before his conversion, acquired such extensive information on theological subjects, when that great event took place, like the apostles after the descent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he was enabled to advocate the cause of truth with considerable ability, without requiring that preparatory course of instruction which is in general necessary. He still felt a veneration for the Establishment, which he had never forsaken; and though he respected the private character of the Rev. Mr. C, whose ministry he had been accustomed to attend, yet he now felt it to be his duty to attend a more evangelical ministry. This step had been anti-. cipated by his friends; and while some of them commended him, others were much displeased; but as he was too frank in his disposition to conceal a determination, when formed, he was too independent in his spirit to be controlled.

It was on the evening preceding the Sabbath that Mr. John Roscoe ventured to allude to the subject; when he informed him, that it was his intention in future to hear the Rev. Mr. Ingleby, whose views of truth were more in unison with his own than his old friend's, the Rev. Mr. C.

Mr. John Roscoe: "I am not surprized at your determination, because I know that it is a very general thing for those who embrace evangelical principles to prefer an evangelical ministry; but will not such a step grieve your old friend, the Rev. Mr. C❞

Mr. Roscoe. "Perhaps it may; but ought I to