dealeth very treacherously!' and that we often love to be deceived by it! It is, however, good, very good, that there is no plague about us which Jesus and his grace are not infinitely well suited for removing. What plagues will not that promise cure, I am the Lord thy God, that healeth thee!' - and this divine declaration, The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin!' Let it be our study to make use of this remedy, and no other; for all others will but fester and corrupt our wounds.

The state of religion here is in a miserable case. The godly are dying away from us in every corner; while we cannot say of others, that This man and that man is born there :' but what a mercy it is, that the church's Head, our great Immanuel, cannot die, nor will utterly leave us! Thanks to Him, to the Father, and the blessed Spirit, that we have the infallible assurances of his promise and oath, that the isles shall wait for his law; that the heathen shall be given to him for his inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth for his possession.'

"O, when it is well with you, remember me and mine! It stings me to think how useless I have been in Christ's church the many years I have had since I first knew you! What a sad -verification am I, that bodily service profiteth little!' May the Lord give you and your family a large measure of the consolations of Christ! and that will produce conformity to him. Had you and I these two unspeakable blessings, we might defy Hell and Earth to make us unhappy!

YOUR correspondent, J. R. p. 458, last volume, has offered a few Thoughts on the Doctrine of Election, as it is held by the Calvinists; and he says, that God's making some to differ from others, by bestowing on them regenerating and sanctifying grace, is all the Calvinists understand by personal election.'

I believe it is no uncommon opinion, that the doctrine of Election, or Predestination to Eternal Life, by the free and unmerited grace of God, is held exclusively by the followers of Calvin. This is certainly a great mistake; and on that account, I should esteem it a favour if some of your clerical friends would point out, in as succinct a manner as possible, what are the peculiarly distinguishing sentiments of Calvin, as opposed to those of Luther. The doctrine of Election or Predestination, might as well be called Lutheranism as Calvinism; for it was taught by the Wittem.

burg Reformer, quite as clearly and emphatically as by the Reformer of Geneva: and, lest your correspondent J. R. should think otherwise, I beg leave to refer him to Luther's book De Serto Arbitrio, which was written in answer to the attack of Erasmus, upon this doctrine. A long extract from Luther's reply, may be seen at p. 39 and 40 of his life, prefixed to Mathews and Leigh's edition of Luther's Commentary upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, 8vo, 1807.

With respect to the article of justification by faith alone, Calvin did not at all differ in sentiment from Luther; nor, indeed, did even Arminius himself hesitate to subscribe to Calvin's doctrine, as it is explained in the third book of his Institutes. Upon the whole, then, I am sorry to find how erroneously professors in general ascribe certain notious and tenets to particular persons, as if they only ought to be accounted orthodox; thus, as it were, rending the seamless garment of Christ, and making groundless divisions among his true members! In Heaven we shall neither be called Arminians, nor Calvinists, nor Lutherans; and I know of no good reason why, on earth, we should be solicitous to keep up such nominal distinctions, or to call any man our Master.' London. I am, &c. &c.

ON THE DUTY OF RESISTING SIN.

B. L.

THOUGH faith is the grand mean of successful resistance to the adversary of the soul, the doctrines of Christianity do not tend to encourage spiritual sloth; they declare it to be our duty to cast our cares upon the Lord, who careth for his people; yet they caution us by the information, that the devil goeth about seeking whom he may devour; and thence they argue and enforce vigilance, activity, and firm resistance. Be ye sober, therefore, that ye may so resist the devil that he may flee from you. Assaults may be expected from this experienced and potent adversary; assaults furious, malicious, and well planned. Long experience through all ages of the world, has made him capable of every art to effect his purposes; and much success has greatly emboldened him. The prince of the power of the air worketh mightily, and will work to the utmost extent of the last link of the chain by which the Almighty restrains the excess of his rage: he hates the people of God with a perfect hatred; and he is hostile to all the true happiness of the human race. Many of the latter he leads captive at his will; and while he knows he cannot work the final ruin of the former, he barrasses with his snares, and is the first to triumph over even the least of the miscarriages to which he can seduce them. If God's children advance in piety, his malice grows exceedingly; and he reiterates assaults to perplex and grieve those whom he is not permitted to cast down. Not a thing, nor a circumstance, in worldly affairs which he is

not ready to strive instantly to convert to a snare! not a religious duty but he is at hand to interrupt, and, if possible, to pervert to evil! Thus assailed, the Christian must not yield nor parley; he must resist, should it be even to blood. Flee he may from all occasions of temptation; and so he should: flee he may from himself, as to self-dependence; but he must not flee from the contest against evil whenever he is called to the conflict. He must not flee from his profession, back again to the world: he must not flee from the banners of the Captain of his salvation, and so reproach the Holy Spirit as if unable to maintain the soldiers. of King Jesus. Salan may solicit, but cannot compel compliance with his temptations: he never triumphs until the will of the object assailed is seduced: till he is entertained as a guest, he never becomes the conqueror. Satan should not be parleyed with about the circumstances of sin; our resistance should be to the principle of sin. Instant endeavours should be made to quench a fire on its first appearance, rather than to be wasting time in enquiring how the fire happened. On the first motion to cvil, it would be best to resist by instant refusal, because it is sin; fleeing by prayer to almighty strength for succour, if the temptation returns, and is pressed close by the adversary, and aided by inward depravity.

Steadfast faith in all God's word, in its holy doctrines, in the cross of Christ, in the ascension of the Redeemer, so as to be girt about with the truth,' is the great weapon of defence, and which shall make God's children finally victorious. The understanding should be divinely illumined through diligence, in obtaining scriptural instruction; the judgment be made pure, and the affection warmed by frequent applications to the doctrines of the gospel, and by earnest prayer to the Spirit for the growth of faith in the truth, if we would successfully resist the great adversary of souls.

NEGLIGENCE

IN

ATTENDING PRAYER-MEETINGS.

1

AMONG many other evils existing in the church of God, there is one, much to be lamented in some places, and which is a source of great grief to those ministers and Christians who retain something of the life of God in their souls; I mean, an awful neglect of, and disregard to, the duty of social and public prayer. Notwithstanding the commands of God in his word, the promises made to prayer, and the encouragements held out, there are still those, whom we might charitably hope well of upon the whole, living in the almost total neglect of that important obligation. They pray in their families and in their closets; but we seldom see or hear them in the house of God on the

above occasions. One would suppose, from such conduct, they thought Ged himself had forsaken his house at those times, or had relaxed in fulfilling his promise! What can be the reason with those, who otherwise profess to wish well to Zion, that they do nothing towards its success in a way of social prayer! They use the language of the Psalmist in their own houses,- Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem!' but will not join the inhabitants of Zion in public for that purpose! Can we indulge a thought that this neglect is owing to pride in some Christians! I mean those upon whom the Lord has smiled in respect to this world. Are they afraid of its being said by the world, Such a one goes to prayer in the chapel, or meeting-house?' If this be the case with any, I would ask, how can they answer it in their own conscience before God, or how would they answer it at the bar of the great Judge, when he says he will be ashamed of them before his Father and the holy angels, who have been ashamed of him before men? Some there are who have run well, who have attended to the duty of public prayer, and that with great acceptance. Such to whom the Lord has granted the gift of prayer, in a much higher degree than to many others, and yet after all, as though they had seen a serious evil in opening their mouths for God, they seem to repent of their past conduct therein; and after they have put their hands to the plough, look back again! O! what base ingratitude to God! They have received a talent from him; but are like the evil servant, burying it as in a napkin! O! how it wounds the minds of their praying friends! and puts arguments against religion into the mouths of infidels, and wicked men of every class! I would ask, Are the prosent times so favourable that there is little need of prayer? or is there but scanty example of social prayer in the church of God at large No; neither of these. Is it then a matter of small concern whether the heathen, who are given to Christ as his inheritance, and are purchased by his precious blood, should be called by the gospel or not? or whether missionaries should be sent to that end? Is it of no importance whether the bloody sword which hath slain its thousands and tens of thousands, remain yet unsheathed? and, Is it of ne moment whether the interest of Christ prospers at home, or whether the hands of ministers should be held up or let fall? or do some wish to pray for all these important objects by proxy? O! careless Christian, rouse from your supineness, and resume your post at the throne of grace in social prayer. Time is short, your tongues must be soon silent in death; use them for God and his cause while ou can; and remember that they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength!' that they who seek him shall find him! then shall your latter end be crowned with peace, and your prayer be soon turned into praise !

THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER:

THE RAINBOW.

WHEN a ray of light passes obliquely out of a rarer into a denser medium, as out of air into water, it is refracted, or bent downwards, or towards a perpendicular line, drawn from the point where the ray enters the water : if out of a rarer into a denser medium, the contrary happens. Thus, if a shilling, or any other visible object, be fixed to the bottom of an empty bason, so that it cannot move, and the bason placed in such a situation, with respect to a lighted candle, as to reflect the shadow of one of its sides on the shilling, on filling the bason with water, the shadow will recede near the side, the rays of light from the candle being bent downwards from the perpendicular line. Again: Let the bason be emptied, and a spectator so place himself as just to see the shilling over the edge of the vessel which contains it, while another person fills the bason with water, the shilling will appear as if removed some distance farther from the spectator, the ray of light issuing from the object, through the den er into the rarer medium being refracted or bent from the perpendicular. Every ray of light is a compound body, consisting of the following colours: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red; but mingied in such proportions as to produce the appearance of white; and, as when the ray is turned out of its course, some of these colours are liable to be more refracted or bent than others, it is easy to separate them, the violet being the most refrangible, and the red the least. It is this property of light which accounts for the production of the rainbow; which is never seen except during rain, and when the sun shines; and always in a direction opposite to the sun. When a ray falls on the upper part of a drop of rain in a cloud, it will, after refraction, proceed to the inner surface of the back part of the drops, from whence a part of the ray will be reflected to the lower part of the drop; at which place, passing into the air, it will suffer a second refraction, and be bent towards the earth, and thus reach the eye of an observer whose back is turned to the sun; - but by these refractions the ray will be divided into the different colours, and some of the drops will be in such a situation as to emit the red colour, the next drop the orange, the next the yellow, and so on, till the whole seven fall on the eye; and since, under the same angles, the same appearance will be observed, these various colours will necessarily appear in the form of an arch. When the sun is at its greatest height, the bow appears the smalle t; but, as the sun descends nearer the horizon, it increases size. There is often seen, above the rainbow, a secondary, fainter bow, produced by a double reflection from the drops of rain; and hence its colours are less lively. tis supposed by some that, before the flood, there was no rain,