and this is experienced in its quickening and invigorating power, by those who honestly embrace and live upon that truth.

For he who has begun to know himself, and to meditate on the relation in which he stands to God, as the creature of his hand, the dependent on his bounty, and accountable at his bar ;-he who feels that nevertheless he has forsaken this his Maker, rebelled against his authority, and brought upon himself his righteous indignation; he who perceives that such a state can never go on with security, but must involve in itself everlasting misery; -he desires to escape this misery, to return to God, to cast away his transgressions wherewith he has transgressed, and to make him a new heart and a new spirit, that he may not die, but live. And he thus comes into that state of mind which is called in Scripture, Repentance;-which was experienced by those who came to John's baptism, confessing their sins; by the mourning sinners who eried to Jesus for compassion during his ministry on earth; by the multitude who were pricked to the heart upon the day of Pentecost, crying, Men and brethren, what shall we do? by the Samaritans who gave heed to Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God; by Cornelius, when he prayed to God alway; by the Philippian gaoler, when he sprang in, and came trembling and said, Sirs,

what must I do to be saved? and by the Ephesian converts, when they were baptized unto John's baptism-and which is described so vividly by St. Paul in the seventh chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. The man has become alive to the perception of moral excellence he discovers with selfabhorrence his own contrariety thereto he begins to loathe sin-he renounces the devil, the world, and the flesh-he struggles with himself—he labours after moral freedom-he longs to please God by an altered character- -and his whole soul is fixed on holiness as absolutely necessary to a rational and accountable being; his only happiness here, his only security hereafter.

What, then, in this state of mind, is the one thing that he needs, in order to complete his deliverance from the power of Satan-to enable him to persevere in the resistance to which he has been roused-to inspire him with power to accomplish his resolves, to fulfil his vows, and to become indeed, in his habitual character, dead unto sin, and alive unto God? He needs just that which God exhibits in his son-just that which Christ came down from heaven to proclaim and to seal by his most precious blood-just that which is the essence of the gospel revelation,-peace with God; assurance of reception by Him, far as he has strayed away,— of pardon for the past, and kindness for the pre

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sent, and help for the future, of all that re-animates the fainting spirits, and infuses hope and energy through the exhausted mind;-in a word, of lifespiritual life-that life of holy cheerfulness, confidence, and vigour which springs from this one feeling: "God is my Father, my Protector, my Deliverer, my exceeding great Reward !"

And just this life it is, which is expressed in Scripture by the term, the Holy Ghost. And to receive the Holy Ghost, is to experience the first awakening, or the increase and invigoration, of this life, through the mysterious influence of Him who is the author and giver of it-God the Holy Ghost. All holy and religious thought, feeling, and action is derived from the Spirit of God. And in proportion as his influences are experienced, is the clearness of that thought, the purity of that feeling, the energy of that action; and therefore, also, the enjoyment of that gladness which is so inseparably connected with the fulness and successful exercise of life in all its forms. Even as it is the greatest animal gratification to feel instinct with life-to be borne along by the flow of pure, untroubled spirits

to be happy we know not why, but simply because we are happy to bound along with the elasticity of youth, and leap and laugh with the buoyancy of gladsome childhood, exuberant in its joy; just so is it the highest spiritual blessedness to

feel ourselves instinct with spiritual life-the rapt soul full of God and things divine—the heart leaping up with inward buoyancy towards its congenial home-the whole mechanism of the mind touched as by light from heaven, and sending forth a hymn of praise and adoration; - one thought pervading us,-God my Father!-one feeling stirring gently and yet mightily,-love to God through Christ!— and one will, consequently, issuing from this harmonious wholeness of the soul, with a concentrated and therefore a triumphant power, to speak, to suffer, or to act, according as the time requires, and the spirit moves. Such was the spirit which came on Elizabeth, when she "was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women!" And on Zacharias, when he "was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people !" And on Simeon, when he "came by the Spirit into the temple, and took the child Jesus up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation !" Such was the spirit which animated the disciples on the day of Pentecost, when " 'they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." And again, in

answer to their prayers against the threatenings of their enemies, when "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with boldness." Such was the spirit which filled Cornelius and his company when "the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word, and they did speak with tongues, and magnify God." Such was the spirit which St. Paul enjoined the timid Timothy to cherish, when he wrote to him, "Stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind"

of energy, zeal, and steadfastness for God. And such is the spirit which every Christian man should seek to be possessed of; seeing that the same St. Paul admonishes the Ephesians, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Such then is the Scripture notion of the gift of the Holy Ghost, generally. And a similar temperthe same in kind, however varying according to differences of temperament, of country, of manners, and of circumstances, in the degree, or in the mode of its manifestation a similar temper is that