whatever name it may have, must have the glory of God for its end and aim, and must use all things for the attainment of this sacred object. When it seeks any thing else, or brings any thing into competition with it, it is rather to be termed falsehood, deception, hypocrisy, and cunning, than real wisdom."

In order how to instruct the young to co-operate in promoting the chief object he had in view in their education, when out of school, Franké gratuitously distributed amongst them religious tracts, chiefly written by himself, which appeared about this period, four times a year, after every public examination of the scholars. Amongst these was also his sermon on Deut. v. 29. From which we extract the following passages:

"Listen to me, therefore, my dear children, yea attend, ye little ones, and incline your ear to hear the word of God to you. Now, now, whilst your hearts are still unseduced, be careful to cleave to God with an undefiled heart; beg of God now, that he would implant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and love to him, in your hearts, and that he would give each of you an obedient, humble, chaste, and pure heart; entreat him now so deeply to impress and pervade your hearts with his fear, that you may keep all his commandments all your life long, and not love your own life so much as the doing of his will. Oh take this now deeply to heart!

"Listen! my dear young friends, and observe what I say; it is the cause of God's dreadful displeasure, when in your youthful years you do not fear the Lord, but yield your hearts to the lusts of the flesh, and set your affections on the things of this world.

You do not at present think so, but suppose it will cause you great pleasure when you can live as you list, in all the perverseness and petulance of youth; but you will at length find the case to be very different, and be conscious what grief and sorrow of heart is occasioned by so shamefully forgetting the Lord your God in your youth, and not fearing him.

"Take heed, therefore, that you turn unto God with all your heart, become truly united to Christ by faith, and temples of the Holy Spirit. For you will thus lay a firm foundation for your future welfare, and eventually praise God for what has now been said to you, if you only receive it, and betake yourselves to the good and right way, in deed and in truth."

Several of the tracts thus distributed after the quarterly examinations, were exclusively intended for the young. Thus, for instance, one which appeared in 1706, entitled "Philotheia, or love to God; " in which he first of all describes to the children, love to God as their chief and most incumbent duty. He then continues, "I imagine to myself, my beloved children, that you ask me, 'What is love to God? For we cannot obey the admonition, if we do not know what it really is to which we are admonished.' To this I reply, 'Love to God is a thing which a person must himself taste and experience in his heart, in order rightly to know what it is. Hence, although one may describe to a person, what love to God is yet he cannot duly and salutarily understand it as he ought, unless his heart be really inflamed with love to God.'

"But perhaps you think, 'Can you then give us no description whatever of that love, with which we

ought to love God?' I answer, 'Yes; some description may be given of it; but experience is requisite duly to understand the description. When I tell you that love to God is that real angelic sweetness, which entirely fills the heart, you cannot understand me, till God gives you to taste a drop of this sweetness; but if you had only tasted a single drop of it, your eyes would become as bright and clear as those of Jonathan, (1 Sam. xiv. 2;) so that you would see and know what love to God is.

"This love to God is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, by which we regard God as our supreme good, feel a cordial desire after him, seek our joy and sole delight in him, endeavour to please him alone, and long to be more intimately united with him, and cleave continually to him, that we may become, as it were, one heart and soul, and as the scriptures express it, one spirit with him.'

"See, my dear children, that you have now such a description of it, as is suitable for the present life; for in heaven-if you abide in Christ and thus attain to it-no description will be requisite. Duly consider this description of it, and you will perceive what an extremely excellent thing love to God is; yes, you will then at the same time understand how very different it is from the love of self and the world.

"But,' say you, 'how may we attain to this love to God?'....I answer, 'God's love towards you is a precious root, from which your love to God must shoot forth; and God has manifested his love towards us, in sending his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.'.... But in order duly to consider how God has thus loved us, so as

not to spare his only begotten Son, but freely to give him up for us all, (Rom. viii. 32,) you have the desired opportunity, particularly at this season of the year, which, from ancient times, has been set apart for the consideration of the sufferings of Christ, and for publicly expounding and discussing the history of the passion; although opportunity for this purpose is never wanting, since the whole year through, it is explained to you, how Jesus, who was crucified, is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; so that in this pure and clear mirror, you may continually study and learn to know the supreme love of God, if you do not yourselves turn away your hearts, and thus continue in darkness by your own fault. For this know most assuredly, that if you keep the eyes of your mind constantly fixed upon this mirror, the crucified Jesusit will so clearly reveal to you the love of God towards you, that you will feel greatly ashamed at having ever, much more at having frequently, offended such a kind and gracious father, and that you have not loved him in return, from your earliest infancy, with a most cordial and ardent affection.

"Whatever good God will do to you in time and eternity, will be revealed to you in this spotless mirror. For in Christ we learn to know God, and blessed are those who learn to know him in Christ, as love itself. For by means of such knowledge, I tell you once more, love to God is excited in the heart.

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However, my dear children, always remember, that you cannot attain to the love of God, either by your own strength and ability, or by a mere outward study of the word of God, or solely by meditating

upon divine truth. It is necessary for this purpose, that you beartily humble yourselves before God, and entreat him with all earnestness to bless his word, and to grant you his Holy Spirit. For it is the Holy Spirit's peculiar work, to shed abroad the love of God in the heart, and to produce love to God in believers, so that they are enabled to call God, Abba, dear Father!—that is, he produces both a cordial love, and a very childlike confidence in God as the individual's dear Father in Jesus Christ.

“ But you perhaps may suppose, that love to God is a thing which consists only in some good emotion, which is once felt, or that we possess it if we only feel a transitory devotion during prayer, after which we continue to live in sin as before.. Oh no, my dear children! love to God is something durable and permanent, and consists rather in the power of active obedience, stedfastness of progress in the way of righteousness, and in true patience and resigna- · tion amidst all inward and outward sufferings, than in sweet emotions. For God is wont to grant his children these, only occasionally; that by such sweetnesses he may allure them, and cause them to believe with the greater certainty, that he is their dear Father, and that they are his beloved children, and that in seasons of affliction they may supplicate him the more confidently, as children an affectionate parent.

"Now observe this well, my dearly-beloved children! When you are obedient to your parents and teachers when you associate not with the bad, but with the pious-when you love truth in all your words and works-when you are not slothful in that which is incumbent upon you to perform-when you