of men?" Matt. xv. 9. And when made an indispensable term of communion, are not the responsible parties exposed to that closing condemnation of a Divine revelation, "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book?" Rev. xxii. 18. passes for Confirmation is of a widely different, erroneous, and delusive character.-It consists in a merely human ceremony, performed generally upon young, inexperienced, and irreligious persons, by men too frequently as destitute of religion as themselves; attended by promises and vows impracticable and impossible to be fulfilled, and declarations 2. It is performed generally upon at once unwarrantable, presump-young, inexperienced, and irreligious tuous, and dangerous. If these persons.-This is notorious, notwith things are so, then multitudes in this enlightened age and Christian land are miserably deceived in matters of eternal moment! The blind are leading the blind. And that these things are so will clearly appear by a little further careful consideration of the subject. This the writer proposes to give, and if the reader will seriously and prayerfully accompany him in the inquiry, some really beneficial results may be anticipated. SERIOUS OBJECTIONS TO THE CE REMONY OF CONFIRMATION. standing the careful endeavours made, in some cases, to prepare them, as it is called, for Confirmation. A very small modicum of knowledge is required,-little more than an ability to say the Catechism. Nothing of piety, a new heart, or love to the Saviour, is looked for; so it is very seldom found. And even immorality of conduct is little or no impediment. The scenes commonly witnessed immediately after the ceremony are evidences of this fact. These are confirmed, not in piety and grace, but in superstition and wickedness. And should there 1. It is a merely human ceremony, be a few solitary exceptions, it can-not of God, but of man's device not be ascribed either to the system and art." The law and the testi- or the working of it, but to that mony" are altogether silent respect- sovereign grace of God which someing it. No type or prophecy affords times brings light out of darkness, a shadow, no command of Christ or and good out of evil, but forbids us counsel of his Apostles lays any ever to do evil that good may come. foundation for this ceremony. Scott, 3. This ceremony is too frequently the great Commentator, and a performed by men as destitute of Church clergyman, has acknow- religion as the young people themledged there is no authority what-selves.-The minister of the parish, ever for the rite of Confirmation in however learned, venerable, and the word of God. In the scrupulous faithful, and although he adminiobservance of it, therefore, is there sters every other ordinance, from the no danger of the Saviour's rebuke, cradle to the grave, is held as incom"In vain they do worship me, teach-petent for this matter of Confirming for doctrines the commandments ation. But why so? Is it of greater Or importance than the ministry of the word, Baptism, or the Lord's Supper? Have no hands the necessary virtue but those of a Prelate? did the legislators, in the appointment, intend to make up for the want of Divine authority, by the pomp and circumstance, the wealth and dignity of one designated a "Right" or "Most Reverend Father in God?" And that such dignitaries should be destitute of humble piety, no one can marvel who is at all acquainted with human nature, the influence of distinction, and the course of this world. But what a sad and sorrowful scene is thus presented to an intelligent observer, and in the presence of the great Spirit! A pompous ceremony, of no Divine authority, performed upon young, inexperienced, and irreligious persons, and by men as destitute of real religion as themselves! But this is not all; for, 4. It is attended by promises and vows impracticable, and impossible to be fulfilled.—The principal design of the service is to relieve godfathers and godmothers of their responsibility; the young people assuming to themselves the engagements made in their name at the time of their baptism. See the Catechism: "Q. What did your godfathers and godmothers then for you? "A. They did promise and vow three things in my name: "1. That I should renounce the Devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. "2. That I should believe all the articles of the Christian faith. And, "3. That I should obey God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life." From this turn to the "Order of Confirmation," and read: "Then shall the Bishop say, Do ye here renew the solemn promise and vow that was made in your name at your baptism, ratifying and confirming the same in your own persons, and acknowledge yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things which your godfathers and godmothers then undertook for you?' And every one shall audibly answer, 'I do."" Now, attentively consider the nature, particularity, and extent of these vows; and what humble and sincere person would not shrink from making them, with even the most extravagant expectation of Divine assistance? Did any one ever fulfil them? Can it be reasonably expected that any person ever will? If not, is it not an awful thing that so many young persons should be led, or misled, so blindly and presumptuously, as thus to commit themselves? Forbear, ye instructors and directors of the rising generation! and ye, young people, " cease to hear the instruction which causeth to err from the words of knowledge." See Prov. xix. 27. Also, 5. Declarations at once unwarrantable, presumptuous, and dangerous, are made in this ceremony of Confirmation. The Bishop has to say, "Almighty God! who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast granted unto them the forgiveness of all their sins, . . . defend this thy child, that he may continue thine. . . . We make our supplications for these thy servants, upon whom we have now laid our hands, to certify them by this sign of thy favour," &c. Thus declaring each confirmed person to be a child or servant of God, regenerated by water and the Holy Ghost, their sins all forgiven; they are certified of the favour of God, and so good is their state, they have only to continue and increase in it, and they shall assuredly attain to the kingdom of heaven! Now, are these unqualified declarations according to fact and truth? Is the case of all who come to Confirmation so safe, and good, and happy? Is it not wonderful that the great man should confidently affirm all these things concerning parties of whom he is entirely ignorant? And must it not be pernicious to the souls of the young and gay, the heedless and hardened, to be assured by an authority so high of the goodness of their state, notwithstanding the vileness of their principles, and the wickedness of their lives? Oh, for very shame,-for truth, reason, and our holy religion,-as we would not mock God, make infidels, and destroy souls, let these outrageous evils be amended, or be abandoned at once and for ever! Biography. JULES CHARLES RIEU. J. M. L. ness and utter inability to do anything as of himself, but learned to look for grace and strength to God alone, and to regard himself as but a worthless instrument when wielded by another than the Creator's hand, to every obstacle, and found that he could do all things through Christ which strengthened him. The career on which he was entering became to him a spring of joy and hope and abounding consolation, and he was solemnly set apart to the service of Jesus Christ, his heart glowing the while with an ardent desire to enter on his ministry whenever it should please his Master to call him to its exercise. JULES CHARLES RIEU was born at Geneva in the month of August, 1792, of a distinguished family. The humility of his character, and his self-distrust, caused him for a time to close his ears to the inward call he felt towards a profession de--from that moment he rose superior manding a higher order of talent, and a far greater purity of faith and feeling than he believed himself to possess. More than once, even after entering on his theological course, he had nearly withdrawn. Such, however, was not the will of God, who had ordained him to become a burning and a shining light in this dark world, who desired to show forth his tender mercy towards him by an early ripening for the recompense of faith in heaven,-and he persevered. By the careful reading and meditation of the Holy Scriptures, in which he soon found his chief delight, and which he ever studied in a prayerful humble spirit, he grew and strengthened rapidly; and from that moment, when by the grace of God he felt his own weak He was not permitted to remain long inactive. The office of pastor in the Reformed Church became vacant at Fredericia, a colony of French refugees, and in 1817 the Consistory addressed a call to Rieu. He was scarcely twenty-five years of age. Strong in the Lord, he overcame the bias of the warmest and most legiti mate affections of his heart; the love of Jesus is an all-absorbing love; without hesitation, and in the spirit of a true apostle, leaving all he loved on earth, he departed at once to carry to the icy regions of the north glad tidings of redemption by the blood of Jesus. It was now that the inextinguishable light, kindled by the Redeemer in his soul, began to shine more and more brightly, and when it had brightened into perfect day he was judged fit to enter the eternal kingdom, for which through faith in Christ his soul had been made meet. His ministry was not destined to be of longer duration than that of his Master on earth, but in three short years and a half how much was he honoured to achieve! By the blessed influence of his instructions and his example, and with the help of the Lord, which he never failed to implore, he succeeded in that short space of time in effecting a complete change in the moral and religious aspect of the colony. While cordially admitting that it is the duty of a minister sedulously to cultivate his talents for the more effectual expounding of the truth of God, he never forgot that the real test of a faithful sermon is not that it shall present sonorous and well. balanced sentences, that it shall be written with fastidious pur ty of style, that its plan shall be studiously conceived, and elaborately divided and wrought out; he thought that to give undue importance to such matters were to preach himself; and desiring only to preach Jesus Christ, according to the commandment laid upon him by the Lord, his earnest and constant endeavour was to present to his flock the grand truths of the Gospel, and the great moral lessons that flow from them, with all the simplicity and force he could impart; he was always eloquent, though his was Christian eloquence, verv different from that of the world. "The spring and secret of my oratory," he was wont to say, "is prayer;" memorable words which ought to be engraven on the heart of every preacher of the Gos pel. He never separated Christian doctrine from Christian morality; they were blended and entwined, both in his heart and in his preaching, like sun and sunlight, just as they are in the Word of God itself. The Fall and spiritual misery of man, the necessity of a Saviour, the redemption wrought out by the expiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ, justification by faith in him and regeneration by the Holy Spirit,—the final judgment, an eternity of happiness or misery, these, with repentance, sanctification, and the observance of our relative duties, were the never-failing subjects of his discourses. Although I have not seen all his sermons, I know enough of them to feel assured that all, to the number of nearly two hundred, amid a peculiarly rich and felicitous variety of circumstance in the treatment of his subjects, and in the selection of the points of view, are built upon the same foundation,Jesus Christ, the only one a Christian can lay. It was not his poor ambition to have the reputation of a splendid preacher, but to sound forth God's Word into the ears of sinners, in all its solemn simplicity, to brighten their faith, to sanctify their hearts, to excite in them repentance unto salvation, and to point them to the Lamb of God "that taketh away the sins of the world." Having determined the point of view in which his subject should be placed, he would cast himself upon his knees before the Lord, and implore the guidance of his Spirit, entreating that he would himself provide such nourishment as he should see to be best fitted to promote the growth in grace of those he was preparing to address: he would then take up his pen and write with fire and fluency a discourse that never failed to edify, because it was ever full of the Spirit and the Word of Jesus Christ, of that Word which never returneth void to him from whom it emanates. During nearly four years he continued to compose two sermons weekly; rarely if ever did it happen was unremitting in his private study of the sacred writings, for that was his chief joy and consolation; in very deed he hungered and thirsted after righteousness; such nourishment was as indispensable for the sustaining of his soul as was his daily bread for the supporting of his mortal frame. He had a habit of underlining those passages which struck him most particularly, and one of his favourite exercises was to meditate upon the word, verse by verse, with his pen in his hand, educing all the ideas, the lessons, and the blessed truths he found therein. Each day also he committed to memory a portion of the Greek New Testament. It was, indeed, in the read that he delivered an old discourse. He rose, it is true, at four o'clock in the morning, and like a faithful steward he made a profitable use of every moment of the time his Lord vouchsafed to him, limiting his hours of rest to what was absolutely necessary to revive exhausted nature, for, as a faithful shepherd and a duteous son, he felt it was a duty to preserve his health. The Sabbath was to him the brightest day of all the week. At nine in the morning he ascended the pulpit and preached in French; he then visited in succession three or four sick members of his flock, who had been for years condemned by their infirmity to absence from the house of God, and for each of them he held a private service. At two o'clock in the after-ing of the word alone with singlenoon he preached again in German, and then he taught a numerous Sabbath class. To conclude all, this apostle opened wide his doors at six o'clock in the evening, and received crowds of eager visitors, who came to be edified once more by the reading of the Word of God, and by the intelligence he could give them of the progress of the cause of Christ throughout the earth. The Lord's day thus employed and terminated, this faithful pastor prayed again in secret for his flock, and felt within his heart an earnest of the sweet and satisfying reward of all his labours, a veritable antepast of that undying recompense, on which he was -alas for us!-so soon to enter. ness of heart, and in fervent prayer. that he recognised the fountain of his strength. Besides this load of work, he found time for the regular observance of domestic worship, morning and evening, for the superintendence of his school, for reading and taking notes from several standard theological works, for various other incidental occupations when he believed them to be useful, and for an extensive correspondence, both regard ing ecclesiastical affairs, and with his relations and friends, with whom. indeed, he kept up an intercourse of the most constant and tender kind. All his letters were of an instructive, edifying, and consolatory nature,— During the week, in winter, he truly apostolic epistles. Let it not held at the least two most edifying be forgotten that he went, besides, and instructive evening reunions, continually from house to house, besides two meetings for the religious with a zeal that knew no relaxation, instruction of his catechumens; he exhorting sinners earnestly, tenderly read the Bible regularly with seve- comforting the sick and the afflicted. ral persons who had requested him strengthening weak believers, and to do so; and gave lessons in reli- carrying everywhere along with him gion, reading, writing, orthography, the words and heavenly blessings of arithmetic, &c., to a young teacher his Lord. The above enumeration whom he was training for a school conveys but a faint idea of the exof which we shall have to speak tent to which this faithful servant hereafter. He was also one of the improved the talent that had been most active members of the Bible confided to him. He held the purSociety of Fredericia, to whose foun-suit of science and of general knowdation, indeed, he had mainly con-ledge to be in itself honourable and tributed. useful, but felt at the same time It is unnecessary to add, that he convinced that the minister of |