LETTER III.

DECISION OF CHARACTER WITH REGARD TO RELIGION.

It may seem as if I were still lingering on the outworks; yet it is so important, in entering on the duties of life, to take at once a firm and decided stand, that it may not be superfluous to speak a few words to you on the subject of decision of cha racter, before entering more explicitly into the duties of daily life. The subject lies at the root of respectability of character, and consequently of usefulness in our parts and duties. I do not apply the French proverb in all its extent to the Christian's outward walk; I do not say, 'Il n'y a que le premier pas qui coûte,' but there is nothing ultra in the statement, that the first step is the most difficult, and that when that is really taken, much has

been accomplished. We refer the more willingly to the subject of decision of character, because it is by no means, one of the virtues of our day.Among the most felicitous of Hannah More's Moral Sketches, is the one entitled The Borderers;' had that excellent lady been still alive, she might have described the portrait of another class of individuals, their very near relatives, and whom by way of distinction we may call The Waverers.' It would lead us too far to point out all the traits of this numerous class; it is the less necessary to do so, as we can scarcely enter into any religious society without meeting with some individuals who might serve as specimens of the whole.

"One

I entreat of you to be decided and firm. is your Master, even Christ," and "what concord hath Christ with Belial?" You cannot join together what God hath eternally severed. "You cannot serve two Masters." You cannot have both the friendship of the world, and the friendship of God. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Thousands have deceived themselves on this point; they have thought to reconcile the en

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joyment of the world and the service of God. cannot be. God will not accept a divided heart"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways," and instability is a certain obstacle to the attainment of excellence. They who are not sincere in the desire to give Christ all, give him, in fact, nothing. 'My son, give me thine heart." Shall we, dare we, give our heart to the world, and a few externals, trifling, unimportant, mocking externals to God? O that the voice of the holy prophet Elijah, inspired by the Holy Ghost, could sound in our hearts!" How long halt ye between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." Stability of principle must be the forerunner to steadiness of action. "He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." Do not be carried about by every wind of doctrine. Know what you believe. Seek, to have clear views of Christian truth, in order that you may lay hold of right principles of action. There is such a thing as being "rooted and built up in Christ and stablished in the faith." There is such a thing as "continuing in that faith, grounded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel."

There is such a thing as being made "perfect, stablished, strengthened, settled." I press this point on your prayerful attention. Half religion may occasionally pass under the sunshine of worldly prosperity; it will not stand and survive the wear and tear of common life; still less will it stand in any stead in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment.

"He that is not with me," said our blessed Saviour," is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth." A heathen lawgiver, amid the darkness and ignorance of paganism, had the sagacity to discern, and the spirit to denounce, the laggards who take no decided part in great public contests. The law of the Athenian Solon should pour shame on those who look upon the mighty conflict between heaven and hell; profess to know which side to take, and yet range themselves in effect, though not by name, with the enemies of Christ. The description of the great grandfather of By-ends in the Pilgrim's Progress, 'a waterman looking one way, and rowing another,' is, it is to be feared, too applicable to many who keep up the name of godliness. Would that all the soldiers of Christ could answer the description given of the

warriors of the tribe of Zebulun, (1 Chron. xii. 33,) "Such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank they were not of double heart."

Be firm. Be decided. You will say that I am falling into repetition, but it is the lesson that I wish you to learn. And I might say, like Bishop Latimer, when, preaching before Edward VI., he repeated his text, "Take heed and beware of covetousness," several times at the commencement of his sermon, 'What, and if I should say nothing else?' It is not the quantity that we read or hear, but it is the impression that what we read or hear makes on our hearts, which is the point of importance. Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, he who could say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ," is an example to us with regard to decision, as he is with regard to many other things. He did not give precepts to others without exemplifying them himself. Mark his firmness in Christian principle. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able also to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Mark his decision in conduct as well as character. "When I therefore was thus minded,