solemn intercession to the sacrifices he had presented; a procedure very much resembling this has been observed by our Lord ever since his ascension to heaven, where, "Because he continueth he hath an unchangeable priesthood." We acknowledge that all the labours of our glorious Redeemer are peculiarly interesting: we trace his footsteps with exultation, through the dark passages of the grave we behold him with triumph, breaking up the empire of death, and leading captivity captive: but do not let us imagine that his mediatorial career terminated with these circumstances; "He was made a priest after the power of an endless life;" therefore, "When he had purged our sins, he sat down for ever on the right hand of God." All this implies that Jesus Christ continues to sustain the priestly office in heaven, and that as he assumed a body to die for us, so he re-assumed it after he had completed the expiation of sin, to live in more glorious forms for us in the upper world. "I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for ever more, and have the keys of hell, and of death." Now one principal reason of the continuance of the priestly office in the person of Jesus Christ, is to advocate the cause of his people in the presence of "God the Judge of all." This was his view in rising from the dead, in ascending to the court of heaven, and in presenting the blood of the covenant before the throne of his Father. This part of the sacred office of our Lord was pre-figured by the incense that was burned in the sanctuary.' The high priest on the day of expiation was not allowed to enter the oracle, unless he took a censer full of burning coals, in order to cover the mercy seat, and to fill the holy place with a cloud of sweet incense: in a similar manner did our glorious Advocate, as soon as he entered the celestial world, fill all its regions with the savour of his intercession. But though the Advocacy of Jesus Christ is an object of faith, and a source of great consolation, yet it is impossible for us to determine the manner in which it is performed. Advocacy implies pleading and praying, and I do not know that these exercises are at all inconsistent with the present exalted state of the Redeemer, because he still sustains the office of Mediator. It is in his glorified state that he is encouraged to ask for an extensive empire. "Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance;" yet it should be observed, that the manner in which he performs this office in heaven, is consistent with the grandeur to which he is raised as the "Head of all principality and power." In this world he prostrated himself before his Father, and uttered his griefs with strong cries and tears; here his soul was exceedingly sorrowful; here he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood; but that mode of interceding would not comport with his present glory: it is enough for him, in heaven, to plead the efficacy of those cries and tears, of those earnest prayers, of those great drops of blood, and to derive from them a claim which he began to urge in the depths of Some have doubted whether Jesus Christ intercedes for his people in heaven, by offering verbal petitions to his Father, supposing that his appearance at the right hand of God, in that body which suffered the pains of death, to be a virtual intercession, and therefore quite sufficient for all the purposes of advocating our cause. Admitting the efficacy of this virtual intercession, and acknowledging that it is enough for us to know that our glorious forerunner appears in the presence of God for us; yet, may we not imagine that there are some seasons of extraordinary devotion in the upper world, in which the innunierable company of angels, and the spirits of the just made perfect, assenible more particufarly to examine and adore the abysses of human redemption; and while they encircle the throne of the Eternal, and cry with millions of voices, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God," may we not suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ, clad in his mediatorial glories, appears as the sublime Advocate of all his people, relating their sorrows and prayers, and fears and hopes, in an audible Vol. VII. voice, and accompanying that relation with a full display of those wounds which atoned for their sins? I am not aware that there is any extravagance in this supposition, but we can determine nothing. Now we see through a glass darkly, soon, introduced by our incarnate God, we shall see face to face; now we know in part, then shall we know, even as we are known. Let us for the present wait with patience, and till the invisible world shall unfold. to us "All we desire or wish below," let us be satisfied, let us rejoice, that "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." This office, which is so ably sustained by the Son of God, gives us a very just and beautiful idea of his pity and condescension. An advocate supposes a client: but who are the clients of Jesus Christ? Those who have been righteously charged by the justice of heaven, with having violated the divine law: those who are self-condemned; those whom the scriptures denominate carnal, weak, indigent and ruined: for such and such ouly, did Immanuel become a voluntary Advocate. He could not be encouraged to undertake their cause by any promise of reward from them, for they had nothing to pay he could not entertain hopes of succeeding, by supposing that their faults would admit of extenuation, for they were associated with aggravations too glaring; yet in the most gracious manner, he engaged to manage their cause, when no creature in either heaven or earth would touch it. How can unbelief itself resist the encouragement which this consideration proposes? I Penitent sinner, afflicted backslider, disconsolate and misgiving believer, do not let the sense of your unworthiness prevent you from coming to Jesus: this is the very feeling with which you should come, he does not undertake any but desperate causes; those who can plead for themselves will never find an Advocate in him. Jesus Christ is perfectly qualified for this important office." He is able to save to the uttermost, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. His views of saving were extensive; they did not relate to a redemption from hell only; but comprehended the bestowment of the Holy Spirit; the support of his people under their trials, the mortification of their sins, the conquest of death, and the enjoyment of eternal glory. His ability is equal to his designs, for he has given us his Holy Spirit; he has borne his people through persecutions and death he has granted them innumerable pardons, and has scattered their enemies with the breath of his mouth: can there be any doubt then of his perfect fitness for the grand employment of his interceding for them in heaven? If when oppressed and afflicted, if when insulted by men, attacked by devils; and overwhelmed with the indignation of heaven, he still pressed onward, and completed his immense designs; can there be any doubt of his success now? Now, when he has all power in heaven and in earth, now, when he dwells beneath the full beamings of his Father's face? An additional encouragement - is derived from the character of our great Advocate. The Apostle John denominates him "Jesus Christ the righteous." Were a client capable of committing to the hands of his advocate a fair, open, and conscientious statement of his innocence, with what perfect calmness might he wait the issue of the trial! Now those for whom Christ pleads can make no pretensions to such a statement; nor does he found his advocacy on the supposition of such a statement; he makes no excuses for their sins, he admits every charge that is brought against them, by an injured law, and indignant justice, and yet he is determined to rescue them from the punishment they deserve. But how does he proceed? He pleads his own righteousness, he refers the law to his constant and meritorious obedience, he refers divine justice to the sorrows and curses, under which he bled and died on Calvary, and shows that all the perfections of Deity were illustrated by his wonderful death. "We have an Advocate with the Father." One Advocate, who possesses so much worth, and who has so much interest in heaven, is sufficient. Difficult and various as our causes are, we want only one Advocate; numerous and aggravated as the charges are, which are brought against us, we want only one Advocate; separated as the people of God are by time, distance, and circumstances, they want only one Advocate. All the saved millions in heaven, ascribe their triumphs and glories to him only. "Thou hast redeemed us out of every kindred, and nation, and tongue." 'We have an Advocate with the Father.' Then afflictions shall not overwhelm us; you may arm yourselves with poverty and na kedness, with sword and flame; but you shall act in subserviency to the divine will; your assaults, calculated as they are to depress us, shall merely afford an opportunity for the Redeemer to display his power aud grace in our support, and instead of effecting our ruin, shall only awaken our admi, ration and increase our triumphs. 'We have an Advocate with the Father.' Then you shall not subdue us, Satan; nor you, internal corruptions; nor you, earthly allurements; for we shall receive strength from our exalted Advocate to oppose you: by the blood of the Lamb we shall overcome you. The Lamb will inspire in our souls an increasing aversion to you; and feeble as you may deem us, contemptible as we may be in your eyes, these trembling hands, invigorated by Omnipotence, shall put you to flight, and your mortification will be proportioned to the arrogance and cruelty with and cruelty with which you assail us. F FRIENDSHIP. S. S. It is a mark of the " tender mercy" of our heavenly Father, that the sweetest and most refined pleasures are open to the enjoyment of all. Of this nature are the pleasures of friendship, in which every one has an opportunity of sharing. There is no one whose habits, feelings, dispositions, or opinions, are of so singular a cast that he cannot find a kindred spirit—an individual possessing qualities, and espousing sentiments, more or less in unison with his own. Nevertheless, that friendship is often but a transient enjoyment, is a complaint that echoes through the world. The charm of friendship is easily broken, and that unanimity of disposition, that principle of mental attraction, in which it takes its rise, and on which it depends for its continuance, is ever in danger of being destroyed. On a nearer and longer acquaintance with those, to whom a real or fancied resemblance of character had united us, we have been surprised with the discovery of some hidden contrariety of feeling or of temper that has ended in a sudden and continued separation. Those connections are generally the most lasting that are formed in early life, when the mind is more susceptible of friendly emotions, as well as more amiable in itself, than at any later period. In youth and childhood the dispositions of the mind are very similar in every person, and it is then that our characters most naturally assimilate, each imbibing, in some measure, the distinguishing qualities of his companion. The society, also, of those who have been our friends, from early life, whether they were adults, or of our own age, is peculiarly delightful. The sight of our former play-mates, school-fellows, and juvenile associates, of our brethren and sisters, or, even of our parents, and aged relatives, awakens within us the remembrance of all the pleasurable feelings of youth, and enables us, sometimes, almost to realize for a while, the joys of that interesting stage of existence. The sensations of that period are so different from those of later life, that to a thoughtful mind, it seems as if they had inhabited a different world, that has passed away, leav ing no memento of its pleasures, but a few of its former inhabitants, to whom they are in general fondly attached, as being those who have dwelt with them in that fairer region; and who can listen with sympathy to their tale of other times. We look back upon these days with the same regret as Adam must have felt on recalling to his memory the scenes of the Garden of Eden, whence he had been banished; and experience a delight in the society of our early friends, akin to the pleasure he must have enjoyed in the company of Eve, the partner of his joys during his residence in that happy place. Worldly friendships, however, at the longest, will last only for the span of this life. It is a meJancholy truth that many of those whom we here look upon as united by the closest ties of affection and esteem, are journeying to a place, in which they shall be friends no longer-where, during the lapse of eternity, neither a friendly word nor a look of tenderness shall pass from the one to the other, to light up their gloomy countenances, or to infuse a drop of comfort into their disconsolate and wretched spirits; but where they shall for ever heap curses on each other's head. When we think of an impenitent sinner stretched on the bed of death, and ou the point of bidding his friends a last farewell, one cannot at the same time help imagining, with what irreconcileable aversion he shall regard these companions in iniquity on opening his eyes in the world of spirits. Real friendship is always begun in a persuasion that it will last, nor is our attachment ever sincere if it be accompanied with any dis trust of its continuance. Notwithstanding we are daily witnessing in others the warmest friendship degenerating into the most implacable hatred, still we cherish a belief that ours will be exempted from a similar fate. Could the wicked foresee the deadly enmity that shall subsist between them in the other world, they would not be friends in this. How highly, therefore, should we prize the Gospel, which has brought life and immortality to light, and opened a prospect of interminable friendship beyond the grave. Were believers properly mindful of this, many of those little animosities and contentions that now prevail amongst them, would die away and be forgotten. On the other hand, how cheerless is the creed that teaches there is no hereafter; and leaves us no hope when our friends are taken from us, (a season when we feel with most sensibility the workings of affection,) of ever meeting them again: and what a tendency to damp the ardour of attachment, has the consideration that, in a short time, our friend shall become a thing of as little account as the dust of the ground. Goodmans Fields. P. H. RELIGION IS LOVE. Extract of a Letter from the late Rev. S. Pearce, of Birmingham, to a Friend who had lately been settled in a new charge. "In vain should I attempt to tell you the joy which filled both my Sarah's heart and mine, when we found your present situation so suited to your wishes. I envy no one. I wish to regard that situa |