of our blessed Lord.-It must also be maintained,

7. That the Christian spirit is a resigned spirit. If a young person yield to fancy and feeling, he may begin to compare his own lot with that of others; and then he will probably complain, that he does not enjoy what many young persons enjoy, and that his circumstances are unfavourable to his being so good or so useful as he might be. There lies at the bottom of this a mixture of discontent and of unmortified self-will. This is to be guarded against. A wise and gracious God gives each his portion here; fixes the bounds of his habitation,; places him in what condition He sees fit. If you have not the real or apparent advantages that some have, you have not their trials, dangers, and annoyances. If you have certain evils to bear and to contend with, (and no station is exempt from what we call evils,) bear them as a cross-improve them as a discipline. Learn to be thankful alike for your blessings and for your trials. Honour God in your circumstances, and He will honour you. Will He not most largely bless those who cheerfully submit to His dispensations towards them ?once more, be it observed,

8. That the Christian spirit is a heavenly frame of mind. "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." Our treasure, if we be true Christians, is above-and there too our thoughts and affections ought to be-will be. Inculcate here no fervour,

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fancy, or irregular movement of the soul; but that frame of it which is the result of sanctified views and feelings. Where this is, there will be a subordination of all earthly things-there will be a delight in, and a mingling with, and a cleaving to, and a resting upon things invisible, divine, immu'table, eternal, infinite. Ah! my young readers, did we duly remember the presence of God, the love of Christ, the grace of the Spirit, the glory of heaven, the hatefulness of sin, that holiness in which the perfection of the soul consists,- -we should be heavenly in our frame of mind, our piety would be felt by others, and we should be exalted, and happy in ourselves. To talk of religion, and to profess it are easy things; but to be spiritually religious to have religion, and to keep it, as the life of our life, as the spring of spiritual movements and feelings-is not an easy thing. What prayer, meditation, and circumspection are essential to the attainment and preservation of a pure, noble, and happy piety!

Let these few observations suffice.-The greatest importance is to be attached to plain, sound, and pure views of scriptural truth: but the greatest importance is also to be attached to spiritual and practical godliness-to a conformity of heart and conduct with the spirit and laws of the gospel. Our views, however correct they may be, are no further rightly improved by us, than as they lead to the vital and practical result. A mere doctrinal

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A mere

Christian is only a person of notions. practical Christian is only a person of mechanism. Who, then, is the true Christian? The vital, holy, spiritual Christian, whose mind is instructed by divine truth, whose heart is renewed by divine power, and whose conduct is regulated by the divine law.

I would again remind you, my young readers, that the due maintenance of the Christian frame of spirit is a very difficult part of piety. It is comparatively easy to learn what is true, and to do what is useful and correct: but to maintain, (sinful and worldly and feeble beings as we are, and surrounded as we are with a noisy, seducing, and perplexing world,) a truly Christian frame of mind and heart, humble, meek, charitable, forgiving, patient, sedate, resigned, and heavenly, this is the labour, this is the task. This excellence, however, is not only desirable, but essential. This is the kingdom of God in the soul. By cherishing and cultivating this spirit, you will adorn religion, silence gainsayers, overcome opponents, comfort and benefit your fellow Christians, and enjoy the purest happiness in your own souls. The more heavenly your spirit is, the more meet you will be for heaven. Many of us have knowledge; and many of us do much that is laudable: but, alas! how few of us excel in the Christian spirit; in that interior piety, in that spirituality and life of thought and feeling, which prove that our souls

move in that elevated sphere which is filled with the holy elements of the celestial regions! O gracious God, we fall in the dust before Thy footstool, and are filled with shame and self-reproach.

THE COLLECT.

"O Lord, from whom all good things do come; grant to us Thy humble servants, that by Thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by Thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ." Amen.

THE PRAYER.

O Merciful and Gracious God, the more I meditate upon sacred things, the more I see of their excellence and beauty: but I also see how contrary they are to the sinful nature of man. Thy grace, however, is sufficient to overcome the perverseness of the human heart. Daily grant me, I beseech Thee, fresh supplies of Thy heavenly grace, that I may be a Christian not only in name, and by my profession of Thy truth, but in the settled and habitual frame of my soul in Thy sight. Let that mind be in me which was in Christ Jesus. Let the spirit of the gospel be my spirit. Make me humble, meek, benevolent, forgiving, patient, calm, submissive, resigned, and heavenly. Thus let me happily experience, and make it evident, that the kingdom of God is within me. Thus let me be a

new creature in Christ-new in the principles, affections, and operations of my heart. O enable me thus to adorn the Gospel for the benefit of others, while I also enjoy the true blessedness which it gives to its faithful disciples. Thou knowest, O Lord, the corruption and weakness of my nature, and the number, arts, and powers of my enemies. Mercifully perfect that which concerneth me: forsake not the work of Thine own hands but grant that I may daily grow in grace, and flourish and abound more and more in the virtues of the Christian character. On Thee, O Lord, I depend: to Thee I look and I beseech Thee to grant, of Thy great goodness and tender compassion, that I may prosper in the spiritual life. pass unhurt through the trials and evils of this mortal state, and continually become more meet for the perfect felicity above through eternal ages. Thus be with me, and bless me, O gracious Father, for the sake of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.