state (from weakness-not from wickedness, for the latter has departed from him, because he possesses another heart which is obedient to the Lord his God,) he soon perceives it; for it grieves him, even if through mistake, he should do any thing contrary to his gracious God. Nay, if he only utters a word which he thinks is improper, it pains him a thousand times more acutely, than the man of the world is pained, even by the commission of gross sin.

"Such is therefore our present discourse. It now becomes you to reflect and duly consider how you have hitherto applied this doctrine. . . . There is not one now present who might not attain to it in the way which has now been set forth, if he only heartily desires it. But you must begin by giving the living God the glory, and beseech him to grant you a real knowledge of your sins, and true repentance and contrition on account of them, and not rely upon the performance of any supposed good work, but you must have a truly contrite, broken, and humbled heart, like the publican, humbly acknowledging your sins, apprehending the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in his blood, by faith which is of the operation of God, and the Lord will then also shew mercy to you, so that salvation shall flow into you like an overflowing stream: it will then extend itself in you more and more, and become a 'well of water springing up into eternal life.' "Take heed therefore, that you duly attend to this doctrine, that you may be established on the basis of evangelical truth, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail."

The meetings for edification, which were held partly in the Orphan house and partly in the church,

were found by Franké to be a very important means of usefulness in his pastoral office. In the large hall of the Orphan house, immediately after its erection, Franké began to give a biblical address, every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, which commenced and concluded with singing. Franké mentions, that in the course of these services, which were numerously attended by the inhabitants of Glaucha and Hallé, he discoursed upon the whole of the Psalms, the history of the Passion, and after a brief and simple explanation of the text, gave the necessary directions for the proper and salutary application of them. Specimens of these addresses are found chiefly in his "Public Discourses upon the History of the Passion" and his "Meditations on Christ's Intercessory Prayer." Very important is the sixth of those discourses, on the denial of Peter; in which Franké observes, ; "Now this is written for our warning, and all the preceding circumstances are minutely recorded as a memento for us, and that it may become a standing maxim in our religion, never to trust to ourselves. Were a man to see a criminal or sinner condemned to death, and executed in a dreadful and miserable manner, because he had committed such horrible crimes as were utterly inhuman-still he must not say to himself, 'I should never have been able to have committed such a crime: how devilish the man must be, to have acted in such a manner.' But every one ought to think, ' I am derived from the same stock with this man; I have also within me the seeds of all the wickedness, sin, and evil deeds which this man has committed; and that I have not hitherto practised them, must not be ascribed to my virtue,

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as if I were destitute of the seed and source of all that is evil; but I have solely to thank the mercy of God, which has preserved me, so that the evil that is in me, is not permitted to break out and gain strength; and which has not suffered the opportunity to present itself to me; has given me a better education, &c.' Thus ought the man to come to himself and think, 'I am not better in the sight of God than this malefactor, but just such a one, when regarded in my natural state, and without the grace of God. Nay, what is still more; what are we all together but murderers, and that too of the Son of God? For was it not our sins that pierced the Lord and nailed him to the cross? Would the Lord Jesus have suffered death on the cross, if our sins had not been the cross, the hammer, spear, and nails which murdered him? We have therefore no need to think highly of ourselves, or imagine that we are not so wicked as others."

We subjoin a few passages more from the meditations on the 17th chapter of John. In the twentieth of these, upon John xvii. 20. Franké observes, "It is a sure symptom that every thing is still dead in a man, when he can listen in an inattentive manner to this intercession of the Lord Jesus, and not be powerfully affected by it. Certainly, where there is still a spark of faith and love to Jesus in the heart of an individual, however deeply it may be covered by the ashes, it begins to ignite anew, when he hears that these are the words in which it is described, how the Lord Jesus has prayed for him also....But it is to be lamented that men can so far depart from their baptismal covenant and its power, from all fellowship with Christ, and from all feeling and

sensation of his love, that when even such sublime, nay, the most exalted and important things are brought before them, their hearts still remain as unsusceptible as a stone; this, I repeat, ought reasonably to be lamented with tears. Who could have thought, that man, whom God has created after his image, and to the praise of his glory, should have no longer any consciousness of his Creator and his grace and love? Or that, since the great and costly work of redemption is complete, and the Almighty, by the sending of his Son, has manifested supreme love to the human race, men should now forget, disregard, and pay no attention to all the great mercy, which God has displayed towards them as lost and condemned sinners; even when this grace is recommended to them, and when they are encouraged to seek and receive it, that by it they may be delivered from perdition."

In the tenth meditation (upon John xvii. 10,) he says, "As these words, ('All mine are thine, and thine are mine') point out the most exalted, intimate, and glorious fellowship, which the Son of God has with his heavenly Father, since he is one with the Father in a very particular manner, not only as the Son of God, but also as the Son of Man, by virtue of the union of the two natures; so the same glory is also communicated to us, by his coming to us, receiving us, by his grace, into his fellowship, giving himself wholly to us, and taking upon himself all that belongs to us our sin, misery, and wretchedness, in order to take it away from us; so that in a certain sense, we may also say, 'all that is his, is ours also; and all that is ours, is become his.' In this lies the supreme power of faith, and if we imbibe it into us, it is im

possible to think of any thing more sublime or important. For it conducts us into the fellowship of Christ and God, and unfolds to us the whole plan of redemption, so that we are enabled truly to behold "This," says he, its glory. 66 was also the principle by which Luther was animated, But now," he continues, "there are thousands upon thousands of Lutherans, who are ignorant of the faith which Luther possessed-of his real sentiments-in what the power, the energy, and the marrow of his doctrine consisted-on what his heroic courage and boldness was founded, and from whence he derived such strong faith; for if they knew it, they would act in like manner."

In the eleventh meditation (on John xvii. 10, 11, 'I am glorified in them,') he says, "This is certainly

an abundant and ineffable consolation for all those whose hearts God has enlightened to perceive their folly and sinfulness, but who have also been favored with being enabled to approve themselves to be such as know the Lamb of God that has taken away their sins, and has given his sacred and precious blood as a ransom for them. For however weak their faith may appear to be, in the consciousness of their sinfulness, they have nevertheless apprehended and obtained the Son of God with his merits, and the favor of his Father. And although the consciousness of this favor is still accompanied by much weakness, so that they are scarcely able to term their little faith by its real name, when comparing it with the strong faith of others, and much less when considering of what nature it ought to be; yet still they find a consolation in this, that our Saviour assures them, he is glorified in them. Hence let all those amongst us