"Of that vast ocean, we must sail so soon. 4. The thought of our immortality suggests the fourth, and most important circumstance, which gives solemnity to this world, viz.

That it is a state of probation to these immortal souls. We are placed here, to choose a part and form a character, which shall fix our condition, through our eternal existence. Every action here goes to form a habit.—every deed shall be brought into judgment at the great day of account, every movement of immortal beings is followed by everlasting consequences. If we could, during every period of our future existence, have the same power and privilege we now have to alter our condition and destiny, by repentance and turning to the Lord, the present moments though important, would sink into comparative insignificance. But the fact, that this is our only state of probation, that after it, our condition will be fixed, unalterably fixed, forever, so that he that is holy, will be holy still, and be that is filthy shall be filthy still, this is what renders the present a solemn, dreadful place.

It is doubtless a privilege to have a state of probation granted us, but as we have said of the others, we say of this also there is something solemn in this mighty privilege, and it is rendered still more solemn, by the uncertainty of its continuance. It may terminate, in a moment when we least expect it, and are least prepared. While we are forming our resolutions to repent to-morrow, we may be sent into eternity to day, with all our sins

upon our heads; "For yourselves know, perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh, as a thief in the night."

Finally; this is a solemn world, because it is a world of sin. Those who have offended a holy and pres ent God, who have broken his law, a bused his grace, and rejected his Son, and who are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath, occupy a dreadful place--and may well be afraid, when they are made sensible of his presence. All the other circumstances, which concur to render this a solemn world to us, derive additional weight and importance, from the fact that we are sinners, especially if we are impenitent sinners.

Let us see how this fact, adds a dreadful importance to each of the considerations already suggested.

It is solemn to stand in the presence of the holy and Almighty God. It is so, even to holy beings. Angels veil their faces, as they surround his throne, and cry 'holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.' If those who are themselves pure and holy, the objects of God's love and favour, are filled with awful dread, when made sensible of his immediate presence, how must those feel who are impure and unholy, when they are made to realize the presence of their offended Maker? Even, if, by repentance and faith, they have become reconciled to God, they will feel peculiar dread, from a sense of their remaining pollution. So Jacob, when he awoke from the vision of the Almighty, although it was in every respect, fitted to assure him of the favor of God, was yet afraid—“Surely,” said he, "the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. How dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Job also, who was acknowledged by God himself as his servant, and who received the testimony, that no other man then on earth was like him in holiness, exclaimed when he realized the presence of Jehovah, “I have heard of thee, by the bearing of

the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Isaiah, was a favoured prophet of the Lord, but when he saw the Lord, high and lifted up,and the heavens full of his glory, he cried -"Woe is me-for I am undone― for mine eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts." So the prophet Elijah, stood upon the mount, and beheld the great and strong wind which rent the mountains, broke the rocks in pieces, and was not afraid, for God was not in the wind; neither did the earthquake or the fire appal him, for the Lord was not in them; but 'after the fire, a still small voice,' then Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle, and stood while the Lord of Hosts spoke to him.

If such men, if men assured of the favour of God, feel such a holy dread at his presence, how should those feel, who have provoked his just indignation, and who live under his continual frown. Yet we are all in his presence, though perhaps we know it not. This universe, in which we live, is his dwelling place. He

is present in it, his eye is in every place, beholding the evil and the good. And if the heavens are not clean in his sight, and his angels are charged with folly, how much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water.'

The second circumstance mentioned, shewing the dreadful' station, we hold in this world, is, that we are here, not only acquainted with God, but under his moral government. But if being under the law of God be solemn, how much more solemn to be under the curse of that law, and exposed to its penalty, and to be accountable to a Being whom we have offended, who is angry with the wicked every day?'

The third and fourth facts mentioned in this discourse, to show how solemn is the world in which we live, were that we have immortal souls, and are in a state of probation for eternity. How unspeakably dreadful must these facts appear to those,

who have hitherto abused their day of grace, and who, if they should die in their present state, would be immortal in misery.

In short, to have the power to discover God, in his works, and to become more intimately acquainted with him in his word, to be able to learn his will, and to read his written law, by which also we must be judged, to know that we are immortal, and that eternal happiness or misery depends on the part we choose and the characters we form, during the few years we continue here, gives a solemn importance to our condition; but this solemnity becomes dreadful in view of a holy God, whom we have offended, in view of a state of probation abused, of the grace of God rejected.

"O may these thoughts, possess my breast "Where'er I roam-where'er I rest."

With such thoughts therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. "For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunk, be drunk in the night-but let us who are of the day, be sober." The light of Eternity, which shines around us, is a solemn light. The house of God, in which we assemble, is a solemn place.

"Let not our weaker passions dare Consent to sin-for God is there."

And although we know that God is equally present in every place, at every time, yet such finite, limited faculties as ours, strive to give place to every thing, and naturally conceive of God, as more especially present, in those places, where he has been peculiarly manifested to our souls.

In our weak, imperfect state, this method of considering the subject, ought to be encouraged rather than condemned. God himself has countenanced it, when, in condescension to our weakness, he took upon himself a visible form, or at least made himself manifest, at particular times and places. Such were his appearances to the Patriarchs,-and such his dwelling between the chern

bim, in the most holy place of the tabernacle, which was thence termed -"the house of God." Such exhibitions of his presence are not only an accommodation to our weak conceptions, but are wisely fitted to give a peculiar sacredness in our minds, to the places where God has appear ed to be present with us, and thus to make them instrumental in renewing the same impressions at another time. Holy men, therefore, use them for the purpose for which they are designed. Jacob, doubtless knew that the universe was the house of God, yet he poured oil upon the stone, on which his head had rested during the vision, and named it, and the place where it stood, Beth-el, that is "House of God." Many years after, when he returned from Syria, and came to the spot, it brought forcibly to his mind the promises which God had there made to him, and he built an altar of earth, and called it El-Beth-el-because there God appeared to him, when he fled from his brethren.

In a similar manner, we should hold those places sacred where God has appeared to us, that they may become means of recalling the gooduess of God, and renewing the solemn impressions and holy resolutions, which they once witnessed.

In this view of the subject, a house of prayer, and public worship, is peculiarly, the house of God. There we assemble to meet our God, and to hold communion with him. There we meet, to hear his words, to make known our requests, to call upon the Lord, to praise his name and to realize, as in bis more immediate presence, all those circumstances, connected with our knowledge of him and of his holy law, which have been mentioned in this discourse, as giving solemuity to our present existence. And here, it may be added, his children, while engaged in the services of the sanctuary, do often receive peculiar and refreshing views of his presence and glory. The place, therefore, should be sacred in our minds. We should, if possible, suffer nothing

of a worldly nature, to be associated with the house of prayer,—the house of God. "Surely God is in this place, though we may know it not." He is here-speaking to us, by his word He is here, by his Holy Spirit, in the hearts of his children and perhaps of sinners, producing conviction of sin in some, and giving comfort and consolation, joy and peace in believing, to others. This is the house of God; for many with an awe and rapture, seemingly less than that of the Patriarch, have seen him here, and have felt his power while they have listened to his promises. His goings have been seen in his sanctuary. It is the house of God and the Gate of Heaven, where many precious souls have received those impressions and bopes which conduct to Heaven"They have seen thy goings," (says the Psalmist)" even the goings of my God, my king, in the sanctuary."

Let all the solemnity, then, which accompanies the view of a present God, of his holy law, and of Eternity, here settle on our souls. If no where else, let us at least, be thoughtful and solemn in the house of God. Let the vision of spiritual things alone occupy our minds. O let us realize and feel that it is none other but the house of God. May it prove to all of us the Gate of Heaven.

For the Christian Spectator. A brief Essay on Church Govern

ment.

WHEN an individual church, in any town or parish, possesses the power of christian discipline, even to the exclusion of offenders, and possesses the same power to discipline its pastor, as any other member; the government is denominated strictly congregational. And be the church ever so few in number, or ever so much at variance among themselves, there is no remedy, except it come from themselves. They may contend for years, two against two, or three against three, without a prospect of peace. They claim to be independ

ent, and amenable to no power or influence out of their own body; and, like all other small and feeble bodies, they are liable to those jealousies and prejudices, by which the judgment is impaired, and the heart embittered. And there is no appeal to any larger or more respectable body: no appeal to any but those, (as the case may be,) whose minds have long been agitated by the collision of adverse parties. And, of all men, these are the least qualified to judge and decide.

Being plunged deep in difficulty, the parties sometimes consent to a mutual council. A venerable council is convened, consisting (in many cases) of more and wiser men than the whole church that called them, and they come from out of the reach of every bias or prejudice. They are considered by all parties, as men of talents, and of enlarged views; men of integrity, and ardent piety. They hear and labor night and day, with many prayers and tears. They make out a result, which is communicated with much solemn advice and exhortation. But, unfortunately for both and all parties, this venerable council, the best situated and quali fied of all men to hear and judge and decide, is totally void of power. The result goes to the church, and there it is rejected. The council, conscious of having judged correctly, retire with grief and mortification, leaving the church in a worse predicament than they found them. Now they are ripe for an ex-parte council: and when and how will the troubles end? Nothing can safely be decided.

If, instead of multiplying councils, evidently selected for party purposes, the churches would unite, and covenant together to become one body, of many members, instead of many bodies of few members; the work of discipline would be easy, correct and efficacious, and this was exactly the form of all the apostolical churches. The church of Jerusalem consisted of one body, and many members. It consisted of about five thousand men;

how many women and children we know not. But they were all one body, under the pastoral care of many elders. Such were all the apostolical churches. They were one united body, under the care of a suitable number of elders, called the presbytery. The church in every city or district was a completely organized Consociation. This venerable body of elders, together with delegates from all the churches, has always possessed the right of self-government: for this is the legitimate body of Christ, consisting of all the saints, with the bishops and deacons. To them, in the apostolic age, were the difficult causes referred, by the minor churches, for a final decision. They were the church, in the highest sense of the word.

And, according to the congregational principle, it was fit and suitable, that they should be a standing council for the government of the various branches of their own body. It would have been altogether improper for the church, in the highest sense, to be amenable to the church in the lowest sense; or for the consociation to be subject to the individual churches. But there is very little subjection in this case. There is a right of appeal to the united wisdom of all the pastors and brethren in the connection, to hear and decide cases of peculiar difficulty. And who would not rather submit a cause to the wisdom of ten or twenty churches, all in perfect harmony, and under mutual bonds of love and faithfulness; than to a few brethren, whose wisdom is certainly inferior, and whose judgment, is more likely to be swayed by prejudice and party spirit?

But, aside from matters of government, let us consider some of the benefits of the union of the churches. The benefits are realized chiefly by the brethren of the churches, rather than by their pastors and elders. It brings the brethren out of obscurity. It brings them forward, one after another, to attend to the most importaut and interesting discussions, both

of a doctrinal and practical nature. It brings the churches, to deliberate, by their delegates, and co-operate with their pastors, and give their votes on the most important questions. Delegates of the churches, when they return from meetings of the consociation, realize, that they have been attending a most excellent and profitable school; and, with pleasure, they communicate to their brethren what they have learnt in the consociation; so that information circulates through the whole body of churches.

Another thing, in which the churches have greatly the advantage of ministers, in the consociation, is, that on account of the delegates of vacant churches, there is generally, a majority of delegates in the meetings of the consociation. Ministers propose to relinquish what little power they have possessed, and give it into the hands of the churches.

Heretofore, our ecclesiastical concerns have been transacted by the association. The association has convened a number of times a year, as a private body; and has attended to, and transacted the most important concerns of the churches, without any to inspect their conduct. But the plan of consociation brings all these concerns directly before the united churches; and gives them an agency in every transaction of an ecclesiastical nature.

Not only does it give the churches an agency, but a preponderance, in the decision of the most important matters. In voting, they command a majority. These things being true, how unreasonable is the cavil, that ministers are assuming all the power, and trampling on the rights of the churches! Directly the reverse of this, is the truth. Surely, the breth ren of the churches, if they are under no wrong bias, must be ardently engaged to effect, as soon as possible, the union of the churches.

We notice another benefit of this union; and that is, that vacant churches derive great advantages from their connection with the consociation.

Being destitute of ministers and spiritual guides of their own, they have a claim on any, or all the ministers in the connection for that aid, direction, and fatherly care, by which they are kept from going astray, and are enabled to obtain faithful ministers of the gospel. It is no small privilege to enjoy the aid and assistance of those ministers, who are in the closest bonds of union and fellowship. The vacancy of churches is, in a great measure, filled, by the union of the pastors and churches in the vicinity. The pastors, by this union, become like the pastors of the apostolical churches; fellow labourers, workers together, fellow helpers, and fellow servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But there are still greater benefits resulting from the consociation of the churches. It is a great check to the progress of prevailing errors and heresies. If the consociation is, as it most certainly ought to be, a standing council for the examination and ordination of ministers, within their own limits; there will be but little danger of the introduction of heretics into the sacred office. Instances are very rare, if any have occurred, in which heretics of any name have gained an establishment in the midst of a harmonious consociation. But where no bond of union exists, in the churches, there is a continual struggle between the advocates for the various systems of religion. Unitarians and universalists claim the congregational principle, and introduce their disciples almost imperceptibly into our vacant congregations.

On the whole, if every degree of union, fellowship, and co-operation of sister churches, in discipline and practice, is wrong and oppressive; then, in fact, there is no church or der in the world, except, perhaps, in Massachusetts. But what is the form of church government in Massachu setts ? It is extinct. There is not a shadow of union of one church with another. Instead of union and cooperation, one church with others,