conduct. But, oh how delightful that the prayer of faith maketh all things possible, and that, though we begin in darkness, and helplessness, and error, if we follow the Savior, He will show unto us the light of life. Yours very truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

[3d April, 1852.-DEAR SIR-My daughter tells me that you wish to know the date of the letter I had the pleasure of receiving from the venerated Dr. Chalmers. I can not say exactly, but I think it was about the year 1834, or 1835, or 1836. It was on the occasion of a discussion I had with some clergymen of the Church of Geneva about the Divinity of our blessed Savior. I cited Dr. Chalmers as the head of the Presbyterian Church, consequently Mr. M.'s chief, as being peculiarly opposed to a heresy which, I think, tends to subvert the foundations of Christianity, and I took the liberty of writing to the great and good man himself, to confirm the truth of the opinion which I had ventured to assert as being his. I am, my dear sir, your obedient servant, The Rev. W. Hanna. CATHARINE OSBORNE.]

No. CCXLII.

MY DEAR LADY OSBORNE-You must forgive my writing in another hand, as I am very much over-worked. And I hope to be further excused if I do not go into the subject of your letter at any great length.

It appears to me that there are two grounds upon which an error in theology might be fatal: first, the error might be so opposed to the clearest light of scriptural evidence as to imply the utmost moral unfairness in the examination of holy writ, or a hard rejection of the Divine testimony. With my views of what I hold to be the obvious sense of the word of God, I could not be an Arian without incurring this delinquency. The second ground on which an error in theology might be fatal, is the great moral and practical importance. of the doctrine which is either vitiated or disowned. I could not renounce my opinion of the divinity of Christ without at the same time renouncing what I at present regard as the most essential and characteristic principle of the Gospel. Dilute this article of Christianity, and you in the same propor

tion dilute other articles of the faith-no less vital and fundamental than itself—as the value of the Atonement, the depth of the enormity of the guilt that calls for Divine expiation, the need of a regenerating influence from on high, the unchangeableness and authority of Heaven's law, and the dignity of its moral government. Those are the great elements of the Christian system; but by detaching the sentiment of Christ's divinity, we should take all the force and the spirit from them.

This doctrine strengthens and impregnates the whole of practical Christianity; and whether it be the trust, or the gratitude, or the obedience of the Gospel we are urging, they can only be urged with effect along with the belief that Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of the faith, is absolutely and from eternity God. The first chapter of Revelation, the beginning of the Gospel of John; Romans, ix., 5; 1 John, v., 20; Philippians, ii., 5, 8; and the first chapter to the Hebrews, appear to me the most decisive passages of the New Testament in favor of the godhead of Christ and the Old Testament appears to be the more impressive and convincing the longer I attend to it: for this let me refer you to the sixth of Isaiah, quoted in John's Gospel, and applied by him to the Savior; Isaiah, viii., 13, 14, quoted in the same manner by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans; Isaiah, ix., 5, 6; Jeremiah, xxiii., 5, 6, where the Lord our righteousness is Jehovah; Micah, v., 2; Zechariah, xiii., 7; Malachi, iii., 1. I entreat you to excuse the brevity and the imperfection of these hurried statements. The subject on which you have called me to express myself is fitted for an elaborate dissertation, and nothing like adequate justice can be done to it within the compass of a letter, written in great feebleness and amid manifold engagements. I have the honor to be, &c., THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCXLIII.-TO HIS ELDEST DAUGHTER, ON PARTAKING FOR THE FIRST TIME OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.

EARLY VALE, 23d October, 1832. MY DEAR ANNE-Though I have as yet said little to you about the sacrament, it is not that I do not feel, and feel deeply, the importance of the step which you are about to I have long and earnestly regretted that the solemn urgency of my occupations should have left me so little time and so little strength for attending to my family, and more especially to that highest interest of all, the state of their religion, impressed as I am both by the weight and importance of the obligation, and also by the solemn responsibility which the apostle lays upon ministers for the souls of their people, though surely not more solemn than the responsibility of parents for their children, who ought, therefore, to watch for their souls as they who must give account.

I hope that I may have much free conversation with you both respecting the sacrament on the fast-day preceding it on Thursday. But meanwhile I should like you to ponder the following considerations bearing upon the subject:

1. You should not look on your past sinfulness as any barrier in the way of approaching the Lord's table, and you can not too soon or too confidently overpass this barrier by believing thoughts of that blood which was shed for the sins of the world—of that propitiation to which one and all are invited to look for their acceptance with God.

2. Neither should you look on your own impotency for acceptable obedience as any barrier; and you can not too soon or too confidently overpass this barrier by believing thoughts of the all-sufficiency and strength of that Spint who is freely given to those who ask, and more especially co those who, fleeing for refuge to Jesus Christ, the Master of the great solem nity in which you are to join, lift up their supplications for aid and ability to do the will of God in His all-prevailing name.

3. If you have faith in the two great truths which I have now specified, this will encourage you to go forward to the table of the sacrament; and yet, instead of putting the question to yourself, Have I faith in these truths? I would rather that you dwelt on the contemplation of the truths themselves. It is by thinking directly of the truths, and not by thinking reflexly on what the state of your own mind is in regard to them, that you come to a right decision and establishment of purpose on this subject.

4. But there is one most important subject of self-examination on which I would make the whole question of this sacramental observance to turn. I would never stir a doubt as to the efficacy of Christ's blood, or your own welcome to the participation of its benefits, and neither would I stir a doubt as to the readiness of the Spirit to perfect strength in your weakness. But there may be a doubt, and this I would have you to clear up, on the state of your own will and your own purposes. Are you willing to be all and to do all that God would have you? Is it your purpose, in singleness of heart, to be His only and His altogether? Are you honestly desirous of making yourself over wholly unto Him, or, in other words, of submitting yourself entirely to God? These I hold to be the proper questions for putting to your conscience on the present occasion. When thus employed, you are counting the cost of the Christian profession ere you enter upon it; and great, I promise, will be your peace and joy, sure will be your progressive holiness, if in good faith and firm integrity you resolve henceforward, and with reliance on the Divine grace, to be not almost, but altogether a Christian.

I bid you both recollect not merely the momentous personal interest which each of you has in this great concern, but the immense benefit of your Christian example to the younger chil dren. May this prove, then, a decisive step in the history of your lives a sure step to that heaven for which it is our highest interest as well as highest duty to prepare. I ever am, my dear Anne, yours most truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCXLIV.-TO MASTER J. MORTON.*

EDINBURGH, 21st March, 1832.

MY DEAR JOHN-I would have given this letter partly to you and partly to your mamma, making it in that way a proper counterpart reply to the communication from Chesterhill of March 8th; but I feel that I can not do justice to your very interesting epistle without devoting the whole of this sheet to it. I allude more particularly to your desire that I should tell you something of religion—that highest and most important of all subjects.

The only advice I shall give you at present will be a general, but I have no doubt that, if followed, it will prove a very effective one. The Bible is able to make you wise unto salvation. I do not want to overtask you with the reading of it, but it is right you should read it by little and little, and that frequently. And I would, therefore, first recommend that you should peruse so much of it every day, and bring to the exercise all the attention and all the understanding you are able to do.

But, again, the Bible itself tells us that no man can understand or feel it aright by the mere natural and unassisted exercise of his own faculties, and that it is the office of the Holy Spirit to make the word of God clear to our judgments, and powerful in its effect upon our hearts and lives; and it furthermore tells us that God gives His Holy Spirit to them who ask it. My earnest recommendation therefore is, that as you read, you would also pray that God may open your understanding to understand.

My third and last recommendation is grounded on the saying, that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to God; and that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, God will not hear us. Therefore, while observing my first and second directions to read the Bible and to pray, forget not my third, to be diligent in keeping God's commandments, doing all which * Eldest son of his sister, Mrs. Morton.