therefore, is essential to the character of a real christian. And our Lord absolutely denies that any one can be his disciple without supreme love to him. For he declares, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." We do not love him at all, unless we love him above all. We must sell all for him-we must suffer the loss of all things for him-and count all things but loss, that we may be found in him.

5. Immediately connected with the love of the truth, is love to the brethren, which is also essential to true christianity. Beloved," (says John,) "let us love one another, for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, is not of God: for God is love." 1 John iv. 7-8. And this is a principle perpetually inculcated upon the disciples of Christ; and is one of the most decisive evidences of true christianity. "Seeing," says Peter," ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another, with a pure heart fervently." I Pet. i. 22.

6. We remark, that agreeably to this, the true christian is possessed of the Spirit of Christ, for it is expressly said that, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. viii. 9. And consequently if he is none of his, he cannot be a Christian. For this Spirit is in every real believer as the Spirit of the Truth." John xvi. 13.

7. A real Christian is one who also obeys Christ. An earnest desire to do God's will, marks the first beginning of the new life in christians. And as they advance in it, their aim and their prayer still is, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." And there is in the heart of every true christian, a fervent regard to all the sayings and commandments of Christ. "Ye are my friends," says Christ, "if ye do whatsoever I command you." John xv. 14. "So shall ye be my disciples." v. 8. And we may truly say with the inspired apostle, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." 1 John, v. 3. He repels all pretensions to christianity, where this is wanting. He says," Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say Luke vi. 46. Not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Let us notice a few of his commandments, -1. His new and

E

distinguishing commandment, to love one another, John xiii. 34-35. 2. Not to retaliate, but forgive injuries, Matt. v. 38— 43. 3. To love our enemies. Matt. v. 43--48. 4. To do to others, whatever we would have them do to us. Matt. vii. 12. 5. Not to lay up treasures on earth. Matt. v. 19-20. 6. To lay up in heaven, by giving to the poor. Luke xii. 7. To renounce both the cares and the lusts of this world. Matt. v. 29 ―30. vi. 25—34. 8. To be habitually waiting, and in readiness for his coming. Luke xii. 35. 9. To be conformed to Christ in his sufferings. I Pet. iv. 13. But we remark further,-

8. That real christians desire God's glory on earth, and particularly that he may be glorified in them, and that both in life and in death. The desire of glorifying God, is the end and aim of all their words and actions: And all they do, has for its motive, not their own praise or honour, but to declare "the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light." His true and faithful servants take a particular interest in the prosperity and advancement of his kingdom, and are public spirited and active in promoting his cause in the world. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee."

9. Hatred of sin, and love of holiness, forms another trait in the character by which christians are peculiarly to be known. God's word is to them, the rule of sin and duty. What it condemns, they refrain from,-What it enjoins, they practice. And their true character is described by the psalmist, when he says, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments." Ps. cxix. 1—6.

10. It is essential to the character of true disciples of Christ, that they have an ear to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; and to be subject to Christ as their Teacher and King: even in things most opposite to the principles and practices of men the most highly esteemed in the world for piety and virtue. And even to their own natural sentiments, wishes, and favourite inclinations. "Behold," says Christ, "I stand at the door and knock: If any man will open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me." Rev. iii. 20.

11. There can be no true christianity without a continual intercourse with God, by prayer and supplication. Every true christian may say with the apostle, "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

We now conclude with a few observations upon the whole, and we remark,

1. That from the account which the Scriptures give us of a true christian, it is to be feared that there are fewer of them in the world, than persons in general imagine. Nor can we wonder at this when we look narrowly into the subject. In the days of our Lord and his apostles, and indeed for about two hundred years afterwards, the christian profession was not made at that very cheap and easy rate, at which it is now done. Christianity was then proscribed, and was made a capital offence, and a man risked his life by professing attachment to it; but now, under a corrupted form, it is the high road to honour. And now, even under the form of Christianity, it may justly be said, "Wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it." Matt. vii. 13, 14.

2. That this worthy name is grossly abused, when it is conferred on the great mass of mankind, who are walking after the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; seeing it belongs exclusively to those who obey the gospel of salvation.

3. No man can be a christian by country, birth, parentage, or education; but only by the word and Spirit of God, renewing the mind,-changing the heart,-and creating us anew in righteousness and in holiness of the truth. John i. 12, 13. Finally, Let each of us examine himself by the standard of the word of God. Because we may even be connected with the strictest sect, and be numbered among the followers of the Lamb in human estimation, while destitute of the Spirit and image of Christ, and at last be rejected of him.

Reviews.

The Autobiography of a Dissenting Minister. Smith, Elder and Co., Cornhill, pp. 196.

(Continued from page 31.)

We promised, at the close of our first notice of this Volume, that, in resuming it, we should furnish our readers with some extracts from the work which would be both amusing and

instructive. In redeeming our pledge, we fancy that our readers will come to the same conclusion as ourselves as to the authorship. For, notwithstanding the writer's reiterated assertion that he is a Dissenting Minister; the Book furnishes abundant internal evidence to give the lie to his statement. That he may have had some intercourse with the Dissenting body is probable; that he may at some time have been a Minister amongst them is also possible; but that he was so at the time he wrote this Autobiography, no one will believe, without at the same time believing him to be one of the veriest knaves that ever disgraced any profession. That Dissenting Ministers, so called, often go into the Church establishment, we are well aware; though perhaps not in equal numbers to the Clergymen who leave the Church. When Dissenting Ministers do so, their reasons for so doing are tangible enough. Indeed, we know two Dissenting Ministers who have done so within the last six months; and one of them an L.L.D. One of them made application. through another Minister, to an Independent Congregation, for the pastorate, not more than two months before he received Episcopal ordination. Both of them in fact acknowledged, that as they could not get a livelihood amongst the Dissenters, they must try elsewhere. We do not mention this with a view to disparage these two gentlemen, but merely to exhibit the existing state of things among the Dissenters; and to point out the natural consequence of the modern plan of manufacturing Dissenting Ministers. Among the great blemishes of Dissent, which our Author lays hold of, is the system of education pursued by them. On this subject he says in the Preface to the

Third Edition,

"I am accused of under-rating and caricaturing the literature of the dissenting colleges. I have not spoken of them generally, nor as they now exist; but I beg my readers to consider the following facts. In many, if not in all dissenting colleges, admission is not unfrequently conceded to young men of three or four and twenty years of age, who after having closed a common English education at about fourteen years of age, have spent all the remaining interval in an exclusive attention to the pursuits of business. Even granting then, that these students spend four or five years at college, yet they are not unfrequently occupied during the last half of the time in preaching, and of course, in the collection and arrangement of matter for their public discourses : what time, therefore, can they possibly have for any extensive literary attainments."

The Author's utter ignorance of the true nature of the Christian Ministry, aye, and of Christianity itself, is so glaring that it needs no comment. He has no other idea of the ministry of the gospel than a mere learned profession, where "degrees,""medals,"" fellowships," and "profitable tutorships" are

conferred on the aspirant. His description of the system of education pursued in the Dissenting Academies, now dubbed Colleges, is rather amusing. Having adverted to his arrival at one of these institutions, he says,-"Each student had an appartment to himself, but the whole family dined at one common table. In fact, the whole establishment was but as one large family." We say-a very excellent arrangement too.

He adds, "I soon found, notwithstanding the high literary pretensions of this institution, that classical literature was not so much attended to as theological reading, and that the matter most especially cultivated, was the gift of extemporaneous eloquence."

The virus which runs through all this is sufficiently manifest. The writer must have known perfectly well that these institutions were never intended to be schools for classical literature, and never laid claim to pre-eminence in that department, having altogether another and more important object in view. He tells us,

"The full course of instruction extended through a period of five years, though it frequently happened that students departed before the completion of A that period, in consequence of a call to some pastoral office; for during the last two years of our residence we used to preach here and there, as occasion offered: so that if a vacant congregation happened to take a fancy to a young gentleman in statu pupillari, he was very easily persuaded to sacrifice the last year of his academic course, for the sake of an immediate introduction to the pastoral office. The routine of instruction was not laid down with any great precision, but as far as I can recollect, it was something to the following effect: -The instruction which we received from our divinity tutor was, for the first year, logic and metaphysics; for the second year, metaphysics and scripture history; for the third year, divinity in general, including controversial theology; and for the fourth and fifth years the same. Several other matters also were attended to by this tutor, such as the composition of themes and sermons, together with elocution. By the above statement, very little information is communicated to the reader; therefore it may be necessary to describe more minutely the manner in which the instruction was conveyed. The divinity tutor instructed us by lectures, and I must acknowledge that the word lecture sounded to my ears so much more manly than the word lesson, that it had an indescribable charm for me at my first entrance into the college; and when I came to ascertain what a lecture really was, it became much more charming, for it required on my part no trouble at all. I should be sorry to make myself disagreeable to my readers, by interrupting the course of my narative with remarks; but really, I cannot help pausing here for the purpose of making an observation on the subject of lectures, which of late years have been mightily prevalent and popular. It seems to me that lecturers and the lectured have a kind of impression that the mind bears some resemblance to a cup into which any thing may be poured, and so they talk of capacity, and of fulness of mind, of emptiness of mind, and so on; and they regard knowledge as a kind of liquid which may be poured into the mind, and the lectured seem to think that they may be passive recipients of knowledge from the lecturers. I do not know, and will not take upon me to say, how far this notion may be correct, as it