ridly bad a thing, that God cannot tolerate it. Were it in the power of man, after being unrighteous and evil, to patch up his ways, and mend himself so as to stand before God, there would then be no need of grace. The very fact of the Lord's being gracious, shows sin to be so evil a thing, that man being a sinner, his state is utterly ruined and hopeless, and nothing but free grace will do for him-can meet his need.

"A man may see sin to be a deadly thing, and he may see that nothing that defileth can enter into the presence of God-his conscience may be brought to a true conviction of sin; yet this is not 'tasting that the Lord is gracious.' It is a very good thing to be brought even to that, for I am then tasting that the Lord is righteous, and it is needful for me to know it; but then I must not stop there, sin without grace would put me in a hopeless state. Peter had not tasted that the Lord was gracious' when he said Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' and therefore he thought that his sin unfitted him for the presence of the Lord.

"Such too was the thought of Simon the leper, respecting the poor woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.-Ah, if this man had been a prophet (if he had known the mind of God), he would have sent away this woman out of his presence, for she is a sinner.' And why? Because he did not know that the Lord was gracious. He had a certain sense of the righteousness of God, but not the knowledge of his grace. I cannot say that God ought to be gracious, but I can (if ignorant of his grace) that He ought to cast me, as a sinner, away from His presence, because He is righteous.

"Thus we see that we must learn what God is to us, not by our own thoughts, but by what He has revealed Himself to be, and that is the God of all grace.'

"The moment I understand (as Peter did), that I am a sinful man, and yet that it was because the Lord knew the full extent of my sin, and what its hatefulness was, that He came to me, I understand what grace is. Faith makes me see that God is greater than my sin, and not that my sin is greater than God. God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' As soon as I believe Jesus to be the Son of God, I see that God has come to me because I was a sinner and could not go to Him.

Man's ability to meet the requirements of the holiness of God has been fully tried; but the plainer the light came, the more did it show to man his darkness; and the stricter the rule, the more did it bring out his self-will. And then it was, when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly'-' when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' This is grace.

"God seeing the blood of His Son, is satisfied with it; and if I am satisfied with it, this is what glorifies God."— Words of Truth, &c. pp. 115–122.

But what is the effect of grace, then, believed by the sinner? Peace with God and a holy walk with him through this wilderness. Being justified by faith we have peace with God. The perception of God's gracious character, the belief of his forgiving love, removes the gloomy dread of him which the awakened conscience entertains, and we see in him a Being such as we can rejoice in, such as we can hold fellowship with, even in the full consciousness that we are the chief of sinners. Acquaintanceship with God produces peace as its immediate and sure result, and the soul being at peace with him delights to walk with him in holy fellowship and filial trust,

seeking to be entirely like him whom he loves, and to spend and be spent for him who has removed his sins from him as far as the east is from the west.

"The effect of the gospel is to carry the soul into the presence of God, not in disturbance or doubt, but in perfect and settled peace, to carry up our hearts into the thoughts and mind of the God of peace. We have this peace as our portion through Christ having died and risen again, carrying us up in spirit where nothing can disturb our peace. Here, if the least thing is out of order, or where our wills would not have it, that is sufficient to disturb our peace. The place of peace is the presence of God. There we have the unclouded, settled light of God's peace in our souls-our past sins and present failures humble us, but they do not break in on this peace, their end is seen in the cross, and we have passed into that place where they come not. If we see them at all, we see them in God's presence, where they come to be the measure of the extent of God's love to us, we see them in the perfect peace in which God has set us free from them all. The gospel of peace' carries us into rest with God, as it is said, We, which have believed, do enter into rest,' we are brought to God.' Sin cannot enter there. When there we are undisturbed by the conscience of sin,-there is no more conscience of sin.'

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"Neither do troubles reach that place that world to come, whereof we speak-a bit more than sin. All is calmness around the throne of God. When we get to God there is an end of troubles.

"It was in this calmness and peace that Jesus always walked when on earth. Though He had the fullest consciousness of the suffering and shame that awaited Him there, He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem,' His 'feet' were 'shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. When His disciples asked Him, Master, wilt thou that we call down fire from heaven, as Elias did?' His answer was, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them; and he went into another city. All the day long was He tried by the wickedness of men, who sought to entangle Him in His talk, but this only brought out more of the perfectness and grace of that place from where He spoke. He was emphatically the Son of man who is in heaven.'

"This is the way in which we are called to walk, but until we have rest of soul we cannot draw from God the grace we need for this end. If our souls are at rest in their heavenly inheritance, the insults and scorn of men will not disturb our peace in God. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.' Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion, from the strife of tongues.' Nothing can throw us off our centre, for God is our centre.

"How far, beloved, in intercourse with others, do you pass through circumstances in peace, not letting their power come in between you and peace. When Jesus came into the midst of trouble, it was as oil on the troubled seaall was calmed. The God of peace is our God,-our portion, as believers, to dwell in God's presence in sure and unclouded peace.

"It is true that, through the weakness of the flesh, this peace may be disturbed, but I am showing what God's 'ARMOUR,' not what our FLESH is.

"It is abiding, thus, in the happy realized consciousness that being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ'-that peace has been spoken to us who were afar off-eternal, accomplished peace, through the blood of the cross;' it is this that makes the spirit of peace over flow and flow forth from our hearts, quelling the spirit that naturally dwelleth in us, of which the scripture saith not in vain' that it lusteth to envy,' and making of us messengers, and ministers, and men of peace. Knowing that we are predestinated to dwell together in the ceaseless harmony of heaven, we

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now, in spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil, in the power of Him who worketh in us, 'endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.""-Words of Truth, &c. pp. 250-254.

There are doubtless riches of grace', in God which 'eye hath not seen nor ear heard;' riches of grace which, for their full development, are reserved for the ages yet to come. (Eph. ii. 7.) We

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are told of the grace that is to be brought us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter i. 13.) Eternity alone will unfold these unsearchable riches, and disclose all their unfathomable depths. What openings up are yet to be made of God's marvellous grace! What a reserve of rich discovery is in store for the ransomed multitude, when out of the bosom of eternity new treasures of grace shall unroll themselves, as if all that is past had been as nothing when compared with what is still to come!*

ART. III.-Pastoral Recollections, addressed to his Parishioners at the close of his Ministrations in the Establishment; to which is added a Discourse preached before the General Assembly of the Protesting Church of Scotland. By the Rev. JOHN A. WALLACE, Hawick. London, 1843. J. Nisbet & Co.

One of the most interesting relics of Nonconformity is the volume of Farewell Sermons preached by silenced ministers on Bartholomew-day. The case of the Seceding ministers in Scotland is somewhat different. Though outed' they are not yet silenced; and, though they have taken leave of their former pulpits, few of them have bid farewell to their former flocks. Still it was an affecting occasion when so many godly ministers took their hearers to record that they had not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God; and among the memorials of the late solemn events which future generations will eagerly collect are such publications as the present, containing the review of a Free-Churchman's ministry, and the record of its close. To the attached parishioners of Hawick it will be a prized remembrancer of a minister, whose as

The first of the three works which head this article is a reprint of several valuable treatises. Without approving of all the modes of expression adopted in them, which sometimes mystify what God has left plain, we yet can recommend them to the perusal of our readers. The second of the three, Truman's Great Propitiation, is no doubt the treatise of an able, vigorous mind, contains many original remarks on the subject of propitiation, but it is in many parts defective. It professes to teach justification by faith, yet under faith it includes sincere obedience, repentance, and a variety of works, which yet, at the same time, are said not to be meritorious! The last of the three we leave to speak for itself. We have extracted from it at some length.

siduous labours and faithful exhortations have made him justly dear; and, to generations who come after, it will serve as a specimen of the manner in which the duties of the ministerial office were discharged by that division of the Church which our rulers have disestablished.

Taken as an example of the amount of labour performed, and of instruction conveyed, during the quiet course of a conscientious ministry, this volume is very interesting. Mr Wallace has been ten years minister of Hawick, and during that interval has lectured through the first 16 books, or 426 chapters of the Old Testament, and, besides action sermons, and sermons to the young, has delivered ten series of discourses on the doctrines of Christianity-on its duties on Christian experience-on the history of Christ-on the Lord's Prayer-on the Redeemer's Headship-on the Epistles to the Seven Churches-on the Beatitudes-on the Parables-on the character and work of the Holy Spirit, and has altogether addressed his people on one thousand and forty-seven separate occasions. The volume itself contains sufficient proof of the orthodoxy and completeness of the instruction thus conveyed, and of the freshness and force with which it was communicated; and though it were only to be found in the affectionate cordiality with which the people have followed their pastor in his testimony to present truth, there is abundant evidence that his labour has not been in vain.*

Some one will question whether it be expedient to restrict the Sabbath's ministrations to such courses of sermons and lectures as the present work recapitulates. Except when the half-yearly communion broke the series for a single day, there seems to have been scarcely any interruption to the strictly consecutive arrangement of subjects in Mr Wallace's preaching. This orderly method has certain advantages. Like the prelections of a theological professor, it secures a large amount of instruction. It also provides for the eventual discussion of every scriptural truth, should the ministry be sufficiently prolonged. Where the course has been sustained with sufficient animation, it has often secured a more eager audience. In the singularly beautiful sketch of the late Mr Martin of St George's, prefixed to his sermons, it is mentioned that the series of discourses which he delivered at Glenisla, on the character of Elijah and John the Baptist, and the history of the apostle Paul, 'were especially interesting to a number of young persons, who became strongly attached to his ministry, and waited on it with the

We are by no means prepared to accord with all the author's expressions of friendliness toward the Residuary Establishment. We have something else to do than to go actively forward to its overthrow; but we should not regard its downfall as a 'national calamity,' (p. 131):-nay, we should rejoice in it as the opposite.

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greatest advantage and delight; feeling almost impatient during the week for the coming Sabbath, when the subject was to be resumed. And there have been instances where the full exhibition of truth, and the rising urgency of a course of sermons on the most important subjects, have been greatly blessed by God. Thus a series on the fundamental doctrines of Christianity pioneered the revival at Moulin forty years ago. But where an entire ministry is summed up in one series of sermons after another, there is a risk lest the evangelist should merge in the doctor, and the people lose in impression what they gain in instruction; and we are disposed to think that both ends would be answered by continuing both methods,-devoting, for instance, one-half of the Sabbath to some regular course of lecturing or preaching, and reserving the other half for such occasional sermons, or short series of discourses as the exigencies of the congregation may require. No rule is of universal application, and it must be conceded in behalf of the method which Mr Wallace has hitherto pursued, that his own mind is essentially systematic.

As a specimen of our author's style, in which a dignified kindness mingles with much earnestness, and natural simplicity is aided by academic elegance, and which is at once vivid and flowing, we quote the concluding sentences from his remonstrance to the neglecters of God's ordinances.

"You think, perhaps, my friends, that your responsibility is in a great measure nullified, because you are living in the total neglect of divine ordinances -because you never listen to the preaching of the gospel-because you never join in the solemn service of communion at the table of the Lord. You say that you have never made a profession of religion, and therefore you shelter yourselves under the specious plea that you have a great deal less to answer for than other men-men who are giving themselves from day to day, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, to the observance of God's ordinances, and yet living inconsistently. Nevertheless, we cannot see, even on the supposition of its being well-founded, how such a plea can really operate to your advantage. For the fact of your casting contempt on the ordinances of God, while you have it in your power to observe them, is sufficient of itself, and apart from every other consideration, to extinguish all hope of salvation, and to make it evident beyond all contradiction, that remaining in the same state, you must have your lot and portion at last with the fearful, and the abominable, and the reprobate, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death; and it will surely be the source of little comfort, when you find yourselves there, and when the gates are closed upon you for ever, that there are others around you whose guilt has been somewhat greater than your own. Besides, we do not see that the plea itself holds good, or admits of application to the

They were mostly founded on the 16 texts of a tract once well known, entitled 'Short Sermons.' The texts are Mat. xvi. 26; 1 John iii. 4; Rom. iii. 23; Gal. iii. 10; Rom. vi. 23; Acts xvi. 30; Mark i. 15; 1 Tim. i. 15; John vi. 37; Rom. v. 1; 1 Peter ii. 7; Heb. xii. 14; Tit. ii. 13; Luke xi. 13; Heb. xii, 27; Heb. ii. 3.

VOL. XVI. NO. III.

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