What

the mouth confession is made unto salvation"Rom.x. 10. And that solemn injunction of Christ, when he instituted the sacred supper: "Do this in remembrance of me." Is this the command you except from the law of the New Testament as the only one you feel at liberty to disobey? This one -so tender, so pathetic, so loving! This-delivered in sight of the cross, and only a few hours before our Lord endured those agonies by which you are saved! What! neglect the command of dying love! A command so positive, an invitation so gracious, an injunction, obedience to which is at once so honorable, so happy, and so useful. is your reason for this neglect? Do you tremble to make a profession because it is so awful? Does not this arise from superstitious rather than religious dread? Awful! to profess the faith you exercise, and to commemorate the death of Christ? Have you not mistaken the design of the Lord's Supper as simply a commemorative ordinance, and are you not contemplating it as envoloped with the mystery in which sacerdotal assumption has wrapped it up? But, "you tremble to make a profession, lest you should dishonor it, as so many have done." They have, indeed, and the painful fact should lead to caution, self-examination, and earnest prayer for grace, that another stumbling-block should not be furnished by you. But the very fear, will, if sincere, be your preservation from the object of your dread. The path of duty is the way of safety. Besides, are you less likely to sin without the pale

We invite you,

of communion, than within it? therefore, if you are partakers of true faith, to profess, or to use a Scriptural synonym, to confess it. The communion of saints, and the participation of the Lord's Supper will strengthen by God's grace the principle, and call forth the exercise of the Divine life, and be at once your honor and your joy.

And, as to you who are already to be found in the fellowship of the faithful, we congratulate you on the choice you have made, and on the decision to which you have come. To your pastors it is a source of unspeakable pleasure to receive you among the number of the followers of the Lamb. You, in an especial manner, are our hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing, inasmuch as we look to you, and those who may descend from you, to fill up the places of the more aged disciples, when they, according to the course of nature, shall be removed to the church triumphant. Acknowledge practically and gratefully the grace you have received from the Lord, by using your influence with labor and judgment, to engage other young persons, your relatives, and companions, to come and share with you the privileges, and enjoy the blessings of Christian communion. And to give effect to your persuasions, exhibit all the beauty of consistent example. Let religion be seen in you, combining with all its sanctities and spiritualities, that amenity of life, that amiability of temper, general intelligence, correct taste, and social excellence, which shall prepossess them in favor of genuine piety. Make it

evident to them, that true godliness is as happy a thing as it is a holy one. Convince them by what they see in you, as well as by what they hear from you, that you have found the secret of bliss-that your soul has touched the center. Let the richest excellences, all that can adorn the female character, all the most rare and delicate beauties that are admired, be strung together upon the golden thread of eminent piety, and be hung like a necklace of heavenly pearls round your profession. Thus 66 ADORN THE DOCTRINE OF GOD YOUR SAVIOUR IN

ALL THINGS.

The Bistory and Character of Martha aud Mary of Bethany.

"Now it came to pass. as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her"—LUKE X. 38-42.

THIS beautiful little gem of sacred history is replete with instruction in reference to every one of the individuals which it brings before us. It is a group of characters, each possessing its own peculiar excellence and interest. How much does it say for the condescension, kindness, and fidelity of the chief personage of the scene; and not less for the feelings and the excellences of the other two. In the person and conduct of Jesus Christ are always combined, without being confounded, all the uncreated glories of the godhead, and all the

milder beauties of the perfect man; and if, in the admiration of his humanity, we are not to lose sight of his divinity, so neither in the contemplation of his divinity are we to forget his humanity. Human nature had its consummation in him-he is its representative in its best estate-the pattern man. His greatness did not raise him above any branch or manifestation of goodness. Is friendship one of the virtues of our nature-one of the bonds of society-one of the blessings of life-a sweet and lovely flower that unfolds its beauty and exhales its fragrance in the garden of our social existence? Behold in Jesus Christ this virtue in perfection! He had his attachments, not indeed capricious ones; they were all founded on adequate reasons for their selection and exercise; but he had them. His nature was susceptible of special regards. He felt more complacency in some persons than he did in others, whom still he loved. He does so now. Hence the groundlessness of the cavil against Christianity that it nowhere positively enjoins the practice of friendship; for it does more- —it exhibits it in the character and conduct of its Divine Founder. For "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus ;" and this was so well known, that when Lazarus was ill, "his sisters sent unto Christ, saying, Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick." And where shall we find a more beautiful manifestation of friendship than is described in the gospel narrative of Christ's conduct when Lazarus was dead?