bless the memory of this gracious woman!

May we follow her as

she followed Christ Jesus! May we all meet her in the skies, where pain and parting are no more! Amen! Now to God, &c. &c.

HYMN SUNG AT THE FUNERAL.

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give this sacred relic room
To seek a slumber in the dust.

Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear
Invade thy bounds, no mortal woes
Can reach the lovely sleeper here ;
And angels watch her soft repose.

So Jesus slept: God's dying Son

Past through the grave, and bless'd the bed,
Rest here, fair saint; till from his throne
The morning break and pierce the shade.
Break from his throne! illustrious morn!
Attend, O earth, his sovereign word;
Restore thy trust, a glorious form;

She must ascend to meet her Lord.

THE TRUTH OF GOD DEFENDED.

DEFENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION.

(Concluded from page 28.)

But to avoid transcribing the greatest part of the Apostle's epistles, let us see if he never spoke directly to the point in question. Upon inquiry, I find him in our translation using thrice the word exclaimed against, and every time very much to the purpose, to show you were mistaken, Sir, when you supposed that he discountenances feelings in your text.

The 1st is in the xviith of Acts, verse 27, where he is not ashamed to exhort the wise and learned Athenians "to seek after God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, as he is not far from every one of us." It is true, the word in the original means palpare, but it has still a near relation to feel, when it signifies sentire, as it would be absurd to feel after that which cannot be felt, perceived, and found.

A man may properly enough be said "to feel after God," when he is enabled to obey the command of our Church, Lift up your hearts unto the Lord, and to find him, and get a sense of his glorious presence, when "the peace of God, passing all under

standing, enters and keeps his heart in the knowledge and love of Christ," for God is Love, see 2 Cor. iv. 6.

The 2d place is Heb. iv. 15, where the apostle represents Jesus Christ himself at the right hand of God, as "touched with the feeling of our infirmity." What, Sir, shall we impute our Saviour's being touched with such a feeling in heaven to the weakness of his nerves? Or, shall we beg of God to give us hearts to love and dread him, such hearts as may be touched, first, with a feeling of our sins and miseries, and then, with such a due sense of his inestimable love as that they may be unfeignedly thankful?

The 3d place is Eph. iv. 19, where, after having begun the picture of heathens by saying that their "understanding was darkened, and that they were alienated from the life of God by the ignorance that was in them, because of the blindness of their hearts," the apostle gives it the last stroke but one by adding they were past feeling.

Past feeling! what? bodily pain and pleasure? No-for he says, that they gave themselves to lasciviousness, the basest pleasure of sense. They were then past feeling in their hearts, "the blindness of their hearts" being mentioned just before-past feeling any shame or remorse, past feeling any horror of sin, or dread of the Lord.

David means the same thing when, speaking of stout-hearted sinners, he says that he delights in the Lord, but that their heart is "fat as brawn:" according to St. Paul, the veil is still upon their heart, (2 Cor. iii. 17;) "their heart was waxed gross," Acts xxviii. 27; yea, "after their hardness and impenitent heart, they heaped upon themselves wrath against the day of wrath," Rom. ii. 5.

It is not, then, without reason that God sums up all inward religion in this glorious promise, Ezek. xi. 19, "I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh," a feeling, instead of a callous heart-and it is to be feared, that banishing feeling out of religion, in a zeal against enthusiasm, will not a little countenance people in the hardness of their heart; they feel little enough already, God knows: why, then, should they be encouraged from the pulpit to feel less still? when the horrible consequence is to become past feeling in the end, and then work all manner of uncleanness with greediness, as too many baptized heathen daily do, and glory to do.

To the above-mentioned passages, I may add a fourth one which is no less to the purpose, it is the last verse of the vth chapter to the Hebrews, where strong believers are said to have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. From thence, it appears, that one that is born of God has spiritual senses, (aio Tngia) just as the natural man has bodily senses. He is endued with spiritual sight and taste; "See and taste how good the Lord

is:" "his love is better than wine, his word sweeter than the honey-comb," &c. with a spiritual feeling, whereby, through the power of the Highest overshadowing him, he perceives the presence of him in whom he lives, moves, and has his being: and in particular feels the love of God shed abroad in his heart through the Holy Ghost given unto him. Yea, with spiritual hearing, so that he hears the voice of the good Shepherd, and hearing it today, he hardens not his heart.

The opening of these spiritual senses in a heart that was past feeling, blind, hard, and deaf before; or the faith, the living faith, whereby a man is born of God, born again of the Spirit, is one and the same thing: and the living by the faith of the just, is nothing else but the exercising continually some of these spiritual senses on their proper objects. If we deny this, what can we make of St. Paul's definition of faith? It is, says he, "the substance of things hoped for, and the demonstration (λɛyxos) the Divine evidence of things not seen: I say, the Divine evidence, because I speak not of a speculative, human, historical faith, but of the faith unfeigned, the saving, justifying faith, that "works by love:" even that faith which is "of the operation of God," Col. ii. 12, whereby a man passes from death unto life.

To these passages of the Apostle of the Gentiles, I beg leave to add one or two of the Apostle of the Jews, (1 Pet. i. 8,) “Whom having not seen ye love, and in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory:" Now, Sir, could such unspeakable joy be unfelt?

In the next chapter, verse 3, he charges Christians to desire the sincere milk of the Word, if so be they had tasted that the Lord is gracious: agrecable to which is the noted place, Heb. vi. 4, 5, where the apostle represents believers as people "enlightened, that taste the heavenly gift, are made partakers of the Holy Ghost, taste the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come." If the inspired writers could, without absurdity and enthusiasm say, that the faithful "taste that the Lord is gracious," "taste the heavenly gift, taste the powers of the world to come," why should it be thought irrational to declare, as our Church does, that the children of God feel in themselves the workings of the Holy Spirit, feel peace of conscience after pardon, know and feel the saving virtue of Jesus's name?

To conclude, Sir, if we are to insist upon rational goodness, benevolence, &c. exclusive of feelings in the heart, what shall we make of those Scriptures, which our Church places at the head of all our publick worship, "Rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord;" a troubled spirit, yea, a "broken and contrite heart," is the first sacrifice he does not despise. - VOL. XLIV. FEBRUARY, 1821.

* M *

Upon the scheme that excludes feelings, a man may say, tha the remembrance of his sins is grievous unto him, the burthen of them intolerable, and have been all his life as great a stranger to godly sorrow, as if he had not been conceived in iniquity. Upon the gospel plan, such a one is whole, he has no need of a physician, he draws near to God with his lips, while his heart is far from him he is an abomination to the Lord, though as sincere in his blind worship as Paul before his conversion.

Upon this scheme, a man may be a believer, if he give a rational assent to the doctrines of Christ, and has "a form of godliness," though he never felt the power of it in his heart. But upon the gospel scheme, he is to "believe with the heart unto righteousness" before he can make confession with the mouth unto salvation; and he is to turn away from such as "have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof."

Upon this scheme, again, it is possible for a man to be a true Christian, a penitent restored to God's favour, without ever going through the least trouble of mind for sin; whereas, upon the Scripture plan, Christ saves none but the lost, heals none, as says our Church, (Homily on man's misery) but those who have need of his salve for their sore; invites none to the living waters but the thirsty, offers refreshment and rest to none but those "that travel and are heavy-laden;" which, I suppose, they are allowed to perceive, it being absurd to call those people heavy-laden, who never felt the least load.

Upon this new scheme the pharisee, who had a rational conviction that he was not as other men, but benevolent, courteous, just, and chaste, must have gone to his house justified, as well as the publican who felt so much remorse, that he smote upon his breast; so much holy shame, that he durst neither draw near, nor look up to heaven. But upon the scheme of Jesus Christ, this man, who appeared to the composed pharisee such a low-spirited, silly wretch, that he thanked God, too, he was not such an enthusiast; this man, I say, went to his house justified rather than the other; for, says the Lord, Isa. Ixvi. 2, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor in spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

Agreeably to this easy scheme, a man may have the peace that the world knoweth not, the peace of God passing all understanding, and the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, without ever feeling any thing of either; whereas, this is impossible, according to the testimony of some of the best and wisest of men.

Paschal, the strength of whose reason was so much celebrated in the last age, thought that peace and love unfelt, and consequently unenjoyed, were of as little service to him as a painted sun to a plant under snow, or the description of some beautiful fruits to a man starved with hunger. Take one of his thoughts.

"To know God speculatively, is not to know him at all; heathens knew him as the infallible Author of geometrical truths, and supreme Disposer of nature. The Jews knew him by his providential care of his worshippers, and temporal blessings; but Christians know God as a God of consolation and love, a God who possesses the hearts and souls of his servants, gives them an inward feeling of their own misery, and his infinite mercy, and unites himself to their spirits, replenishing them with humility and joy, with affiance and love."

To the testimony of that Christian philospher, I beg leave to add that of the celebrated divine, St. Chrysostom, (Hom. xxiii. on the Romans) "How must he be ravished, (says he) who truly loves God! the state of such a one is the happiness of paradise itself; we may study what terms we please: we shall never be able to represent the happiness of that love. Experience only can give us a just sense of it. Let us then, taste and see, how good the Lord is, and we shall anticipate the life of heaven, and live on earth in the fruition of what the angels enjoy in heaven."

But why should we go into distant countries, when this island. has produced such clouds of witnesses of God's power, sensibly exerted in the souls of his children: Out of a thousand, take the famous Bradford, one of the brightest lights of our Church, who confirmed the truth he had preached, by laying down his life in the flames, (Mirror of Martyrs, page 276.)" He preached twice a day. In the midst of his repast he used oft to muse, having his hat over his eyes, from whence commonly trickled plenty of tears, dropping on his trencher. Such continual exercises of soul he had in private prayer, that he did not count himself to have prayed to his satisfaction, unless in it he felt inwardly some smiting of heart for sin, and some healing of that wound by faith; feeling the saving health of Christ, with some change of mind, detestation of sin, and love to God."

I shall close these testimonies by transcribing part of the xxth Article of the famous Confession of Augsbourg, drawn up and signed by Luther, and all the German reformers.

Faith, says St. Augustine, is not a bare knowledge that may be common to us and wicked men, but it is a sure confidence that lifts up those that are cast down, and fills with consolation those that are troubled in mind. By this faith we obtain remission of our sins, the Holy Ghost is given unto us, our hearts are renewed, &c. All this doctrine belongs to the fight of a conscience awakened and galled with sin, without which also it cannot be understood, which is the reason why it is rejected of the ignorant aud profane people, who suppose that "Christian righteousness is only civil righteousness," lifeless morality.

Now, Sir, I leave you to judge whether a man may have this