Ilim who loved us with an everlasting love, and with great mercies hath gathered us.

In confirmation of these views, I may appea. to experience; and first, to the experience of those, who, whatever opinions they may entertain as to the importance of religion and morals, have, nevertheless, refused as yet to receive the Gospel in its simplicity and freeness; who have not yet been so thoroughly humbled out of all self-righteous confidence, as to feel the necessity of casting themselves at once, and altogether, on the free grace of the Saviour, and who, consequently, have had no experience of that blessedness which arises from the free forgiveness of sin. I ask them, have they ever yet enjoyed real peace of conscience? have they been able to look up to God with affectionate confidence? or, is religion to them a willing and cheerful service,-a source of any thing like lively comfort or joy? On the contrary, are they not sensible that the restrictions which they have themselves imposed on the freeness of the Gospel, have had the effect of keeping them under the constant bondage of fear; that, in so far as they trust to their own righteousness as the ground of pardon and acceptance with God, they are resting on an insecure foundation, which can ill support a living hope; that the misgivings of their own conscience are quite sufficient to prevent all peace and joy in the prospect of an eternal world; and that they cannot cherish any thing like habitual love to God, or delight in his service, so long as their salvation is thought to hinge on the alternative of their own cbedience? If such be the result of their own experience, it is to be regretted, not only because they are thus deprived of sensible comfort in religion, but far more, because they are left without that motive to holiness which would inNor will sure their progressive sanctification. they ever be delivered from their present bondage, or taste the true blessedness of obedience, until emptied of all self-dependence, they feel that "they have much to be forgiven;" and come, like the woman that was a sinner, or like the penitent other plea, than that prayer, publican, without any which never yet was sincerely uttered in vain,"God be merciful to me a sinner."

May I not appeal, secondly, to those who have already tasted that the Lord is gracious, and ask, whether it is not the very consideration that much has been forgiven, which is felt by them in their best moments, to be the most constraining motive to a life of new obedience? Do they not know experimentally, that love to the Saviour is the only sure and steady spring of progressive holiness; and that the intensity of this love depends on their views of the magnitude of their own guilt, and the freeness of the Saviour's grace? When was it, let me ask, that they were most deeply penetrated by the amazing condescension Was it and long-suffering patience of Christ? not when they looked to his cross from the lowest depths of self-abasement-when overwhelmed by a sense of their own unworthiness, they heard him

calling them to come to him "without money
and without price?" Has not a believing view
of that love melted their very hearts within them;
and the more freely he offered salvation, did
they not feel that he was the more to be loved?
When was it that they formed the strongest resolu-
tions to aspire after all holiness of heart and life?
when was it that they most cheerfully devoted
themselves to his service, and most ardently de-
sired to follow in his footsteps? Was it not when,
perhaps at the communion table, their hearts were
most sensibly impressed with a persuasion of his
love to them? And is not their own experience,
then, sufficient to shew that the Gospel is, in this
respect, admirably adapted to the principles of their
nature, inasmuch as it exhibits a practical proof
of the fact, that the very same grace which freely
forgives the sinner, sanctifies him too; and that
so long as "he that has had much forgiven, will
love much," so long the grace of God cannot be
a motive to licentiousness, but is, on the contrary,
the real efficient spring of all holiness, as well as
of all joy.

Christians! frequently recal to mind your in-
numerable obligations to the Redeemer: reflect
on the nature and magnitude of your offences-on
the sufferings which his love prompted him to
endure for you, and the invaluable blessings which
you have received and yet hope for at his hand;
and feeling, as you must, that you have had much
forgiven you, Oh! see that you love much, and
show your love to him, as this poor woman did,
True, you cannot
by your conduct towards him.
anoint his feet with ointment, nor show him the
same personal attentions which she was privileged
to render, but his own Godlike words point out to
in which you may still express your
love to Him. "I was hungry, and ye gave me
meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was
ye
clothed me; I was in prison, and ye
naked, and
"Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the
visited me."
least of these my Brethren, ye did it unto Me."

you

the

way

ANGUSINA, A GREENLAND CONVERT. The following is abridged from a very interesting work, entitled "Greenland Missions, with Biographical Sketches of some of the Principal Converts."

ANGUSINA, the subject of the following narrative, was

born at Tunnuliarbik, in South Greenland, in the year
As yet no kind-hearted Missionary had set his
1721.
foot upon the icy shores of that country; but its in-
habitants were truly sitting in darkness, and in the sha-
dow of death. The year in which he was born, how-
his birth, in the same year, the Rev. Mr Egede arrived.
ever, was a happy year for Greenland; for soon after
The early part of the life of Angusina was spent in
roving from place to place, in company with his father,
four brothers, and three sisters.
sirous of possessing, was an abundance of seal's flesh for
He had no kind
food, warm furs for clothing, and a house to shield him
parents to teach him, and to pray for him, for their
from the piercing blasts of winter.
minds were as dark and ignorant as his own; he had no
Bible to read, no affectionate minister or Sabbath-school
teacher to instruct him, or to care for his soul.
time he, with his family, lived in the South, at another

All that he was de

At one

time at Kangek, a third at Disko, and thus continually changed his abode. These frequent changes may appear to the eye which looks only on external things, to be the result of mere caprice, but in the words of the Rev. Richard Cecil, "The most trivial events may determine our state in the world. Turning up one street instead of another, may bring us into company with a person whom we should not otherwise have met; and this may lead to a train of events which may determine the happiness or misery of our lives."

and the more intelligent Christian of our own country might learn with no small advantage.

But while Daniel exhibited such proofs of his ardent real for the conversion of his countrymen, the salvation of his own relations, as might be expected, was espe- | The Christian is no Stoic, the cially near to his heart. religion of Christ only tends to make the natural affecDaniel's soul burned with a tions purer and stronger. fervent desire to see his dearly beloved father, and brothers, and sisters, partakers of the same benefits with himself and his wife. His anxiety soon became so painful, that he was constrained to open his mind to the Missionaries; at the same time, with earnest importunity, requesting their permission to undertake a journey to the north, in quest of his family. The brethren endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose, on account of the various dangers that were to be apprehended, both for body and soul; but as he could find no rest in his spirit, his urgent solicitations obliged them to acquiesce in his undertaking, and they dismissed him, in the year 1753, with the blessing of the congregation, in the company of Jonas, another of the Greenland helpers.

These humble Missionaries travelled about 140 leagues northward, declaring, like our blessed Saviour, their Master, the word of atonement wherever they met with any people, and especially among their relations. They soon returned to their friends at New Herrnhuth, who were anxiously concerned for their safety, bringing The labours along with them some of their relatives. of this journey were abundantly repaid, for the whole of Daniel's family followed him, were baptized, and, we are told, prospered in the congregation. In a letter of Daniel's, in which he alludes to his journey to the "When I visited the heathens in Kannorth, he says, gek, I could think of nothing to tell them but our Neither have I myself any inSaviour's sufferings. clination for other topics, for nothing is so agreeable to me as his passion and blood-shedding; and this is the most powerful-this is the greatest thing we can tell mankind." "I," said the Saviour, "if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

66

Thus far the brethren had reaped much pleasure, and But they were now little pain, from this man of God. about to experience that painful feeling which St. Paul speaks of when he says, "I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." Daniel had hitherto walked humbly with his God, ascribing unto him all the praise; but now the praise of man gradually infused its subtle poison into his spirit, and so benumbed the better principles of the inner man, that he was once induced to make a vain- glorious display of his powers, which was as the breaking forth of waters," the breach The alteration in Daniel's becoming wider and wider. spirit soon became so visible, as to excite the anxious His discourses fears of the Missionaries on his account. were no longer attended with their usual unction and power. Perhaps if the reader would examine himself, his own conscience would tell him that poor Daniel is not a singular instance of such depravity. The Lord did not, however, utterly forsake him, but led him back into the way of obedience with the sharp rod of affliction. Daniel had one surviving daughter, a girl of 15 years of age, upon whom his affections rested with the She was able to read the Word of fondest tenderness. God, which she did frequently to her father; and was therefore endeared to him, not only as a child, but as an important assistant in the work of instructing his The world contained no obfamily and countrymen. ject half so dear to the heart of Daniel as his daughter | Beata: his being, in every sense of the word, was, as it were, bound up with hers-to wound him here, would be to wound him at the heart; but Daniel had deeply sinned, and upon this tender part his merciful Lord saw it necessary to inflict the friendly stripes. Beata sickened,

66

and died, departing happily to the Lord. Daniel was
so amazed and stunned at the stroke, that his self-pos-
session seemed quite to forsake him; he even absented
himself from the Lord's Supper; but he soon found that,
no affliction for the present seemeth to be joy-
though
ous, but grievous, it afterwards yieldeth the peaceable
fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised there-
by." He was convinced of his error, and in three months
The effect of
after the death of his daughter, he again, as a comforted
sinner, repaired to the table of his Lord.
this affliction upon Daniel's soul, appears in the follow-
ing letter :-

"These lines shall tell you the thoughts of my heart. Last year I was not rightly happy, because one of my daughters went home. But I soon felt that all was not well in my heart, and begged our Saviour for forgiveness with tears; and before the winter came, he comforted me again with his nearness, and gave me a happy heart. Afterwards, at the great absolution and comAlas! the man that seeks munion succeeding our winter-entrance, my heart was melted in a peculiar manner.

and loves any thing else but Him, cannot enjoy his
grace. But those that are poor and wretched in them-
selves, those that stand in need of him and implore his
grace, they experience it; for he came to relieve the
distressed. Therefore I will not conceal my sinfulness
They know me, and
from him, nor from his servants.

as for him, he sees the recesses of my heart."
Daniel no doubt felt anguish at the loss of his daugh.
ter, but this affliction proved salutary, for he immediately
He was not parmitted, however, to
looked upon earthly things as nothing and vanity, com-
pared with Christ.
remain long behind his beloved child, and the hour of
his departure was at hand. How well the Great Buil-
der of the Church had prepared and polished this living
stone for the place which he was destined to fill in the
spiritual temple above, appeared throughout the whole
of his illness. In a letter dictated immediately before
his sickness, he says, "I put my confidence solely in
my Saviour; he knows me best, and sees what I am
deficient in. He is our Teacher, Tutor, and Comforter."

The

Shortly after his re-admission to the Lord's Supper, his fatal illness began with pains in the side. brethren immediately opened a vein, and gave him what When they called on him, they althey thought might be of service to him, but nothing would relieve him. On the 2d of December, ways found him in a happy meditation and intercourse with the Friend of his soul. he said, with a peculiarly lively and cheerful look, “Now it is confirmed to me that I shall go to my Saviour; nor will it be long delayed, for the wedding-garment I waited for is ready. Oh! how well and happy am I! But how will it then be to me, when I, like Thomas, shall lay my hand in his side, and say,' My Lord, and my Oh! how will I thank him that he has chosen God!' me from among the heathen, has washed me with his blood, has given me his body to eat, and his blood to drink, and has kept me in fellowship with himself!"

When Daniel was visited, December 3d, in the morning, he was quite cheerful, and recommended his two sons and their mother to the care of the Missionaries. An extraordinary expression of love and peace exhibited in his countenance was observed by all around him. By degrees he lost his speech, and signified a wish to be blessed for his dismission, which was done by the laying on of the hands of the Missionaries, and a farewell kiss, and the whole was attended with deep emotion, and a The Missionaries left flood of tears from all present. him, and had scarce reached home, when word was brought that Daniel was at the point of death. They hastened back again, but it was only to behold the departure of this highly-favoured witness of Jesus into the joy of his Lord. All who were around him at the moment of dissolution behaved themselves as those who have a lively hope; yet they, together with the Mis

sionaries, embalmed his memory with innumerable tears.
His remains were, according to the Greenland custom,
sewed up in a skin; and being laid upon a bier, were
covered with a white cloth, over which the following
verse, in the Greenland language, was legibly marked
in red letters:—

"You bear me now to my repose,
As once they bore my Lord;
And as his sacred body rose,
So mine shall be restored."

enough for your pardon and for your justification? This
you cannot deny. "If they were mine, however," you
lieve it? Christ, in all his righteousness and grace, is
will add," which I cannot believe !" But why not be-
offered to sinners in the Gospel-is offered to their im-
mediate acceptance.
We are commanded to believe

without waiting for "signs and wonders," and without
waiting for fruits of holiness which are not antecedent
to faith-you must begin with Christ; and O, my dear,
do not make that elect and precious stone a stone of

On the day appointed for the interment, the corpse was carried to the tomb by six Greenland helpers, and attended by a large procession of Greenlanders and peo-stumbling, and a rock of offence-do not think you can ple from the factory.

A LETTER TO A LADY UNDER CONCERN tion.
FOR SALVATION.

BY THE REV. JAMES SIEVERIGHT, A.M.,
Minister of Markinch.

enter into peace, or advance a step in religion, by stepping past that elect One, who is the Rock of our SalvaGo no farther without Christ-abide under the shadow of that great Rock. This you tell me it is your desire to do, but yet your soul is not satisfied nor saved. Now, if you will dismiss all prejudices, and the reasonings of carnal wisdom, and be content with what contents every saint in Heaven, and if you will simply receive, and build on, what Christ has done, as your foundation, and look unto him to make you complete, Christ will both save you and satisfy all your desire. What does God require of you but faith in his well-beloved Son,-and what is faith but to believe that Christ loved you and gave himself for you, to purchase forgiveness, and to bring forth his righteousness, that garment of praise, for your salvation? O, put it on, and cast away the spirit of heaviness for ever! "Love thinketh no evil,"-think no evil of Christ, then, but cast away carnal reasonings and objections of unbelief, (for, alas! many perish because they are too wise, and reasoning, and presumptuous, and will not, as the Apostle says, become fools that they may be wise,) and consult not with what others have experienced, but in simplicity of understanding say, "I am a lost sinner, ready to perish; here is Christ declaring his power and willingness to save me, and crying 'come unto me.' I come, Lord! I venture my soul on Thy love. Venture? as if it were doubtful-help that unbelief! I cheerfully commit and willingly confide my all to Thee-yea, had I a thousand immortal souls in danger, in Thy hands, undoubtedly, would I confide them all." O! give all to Christ, and be assured nothing shall be lost! Well may the soul tell to Christ

MY DEAR M, A week has nearly elapsed since I was favoured with your letter, and I am sorry at the long delay which has unavoidably taken place in replying to so interesting a communication. What a privilege it is to us that the great Redeemer is not like man, on whom, if a multiplicity of matters devolve, something will be overlooked, or less attended to than the case requires. But of the great multitude of souls looking unto Jesus from all parts of the wide world, not one is overlooked by Christ, nor is help denied beyond the time of need. From the contents of your letter I may infer that your soul is more staid on the Rock of Salvation than it was the day you told me your troubles you then assured me you were thoroughly convinced of your sinful guilty state, a sense of which distressed and made you miserable; and you seemed truly desirous to obtain relief—and when is real distress reluctant to be relieved? I know you are not reluctant, for you were breathing after relief with emotions of seriousness not to be repressed. Well, lay aside the knowledge of many things you have acquired touching experience and duty, and suppose you had never heard a Gospel declaration to this day—on that supposition this letter finds a poor, contrite, broken-hearted sinner, bemoaning a lost state, and earnestly asking, What shall I do? Now, in this state it is absolutely necessary to unlearn many things, and begin with the Gospel as if you had never heard it before. You are convinced of sin-you long It is a fit replyfor deliverance-you pant for salvation as the hart panteth for the water-brooks-and what you seek, that declare we unto you, in declaring Christ. It is the Gospel record that God, out of his great love to mankind, sent his dear Son to suffer, the just for the unjust to die, the innocent for the guilty-by the obedience of one to bring in a justifying righteousness, and by the shedding of his blood, to effectuate our redemption from the penalty of death. And justice being glorified by the death of Christ for our sins, and the law magnified by his obedience in our stead, every obstacle is removed, and grace proclaimed in the sinner's reconciliation, pardon, and acceptance with God-and it is only required of us that we believe God's love in giving Christ, and that we believe his righteousness is sufficient to justify any sinner, and his blood of price enough to redeem from any sins. Do you believe these things? I know you believe them, but let us go a step further. Do you believe the righteousness of Christ, and the death of Christ,

"Nothing but sin I thee can give."

"Nothing but love shalt thou receive."
faith in Jesus,-if the Holy Spirit do comfort your con-
And if you can only bring your soul to such actings of
Jesus in the simple, confiding, loving acts of direct be-
trite heart with one hour, or one moment's looking unto
lief, a miracle of grace shall be wrought, and then

"I'm healed! set free! from sin made pure,
Thy blood, my Christ, had wrought the cure;
I feel a power my will control,
Quench thy long drought my thirsty soul !
The living fountain now I've found
Diffusing streams of saving health around.
The Saviour call'd, the Spirit led me nigh,
What joys are these I feel! believing let me die !"

I write this under the impression that you are not yet escaped from bondage, and that you do still stand in suspense; and if it is so, allow me to quote the first lines of your letter to me :— -" Unworthy as I am, and feel myself, I must not allow this consideration to deter me from availing myself of the kind privilege you