By and by, perfect bliss will forbid a tear, because in heaven there will be no sin; but as long as we are in the body, it is most desirable to be a weeper in this respect, and we shall oft weep and wonder when favoured to spend some sweet moments at his dear feet. How sweet, too, are the doctrines of Divine grace when opened up to the understanding by Christ himself, he has the key of every doctrine and promise, and is himself the substance of them all, and he does by his blessed Spirit open the precious doctrines of his grace, and grace distils like the dew and drops as the rain. Everlasting, electing love; oh how sweet a doctrine is this when applied to the heart. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee." Here is eternal love, and love fixed eternally on the person before the foundation of the world; and to be helped to believe, or even to hope, in those most precious words of our adorable Lord, “Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me,"-oh this is drink, indeed, out of the great depths,wine that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that were asleep to speak. If we have ever drawn water from this well, and drank a draught of this most pure and living water, we shall never never quarrel with God's solemn sovereignty, but in adoring gratitude exclaim, "Why me? O Lord, why me?"

And so we may say of all the other doctrines of Divine grace; they are not dry breasts as they proceed from the sweet mouth of Christ, but fall like showers of heavenly rain, sovereignly, silently, penetratingly, and most effectually working sure and blessed effects and results in the hearts of all that believe. The promises of eternal grace, how great, how comprehensive, and how sweet! Where can a saint be found that there is not a promise to meet him; "none of these shall want their mate." They all imply certain conditions and circumstances. How sweet to realize their fulfilment in the fire and in the flood. To the burdened pilgrim how sweet that word, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee!" To the benighted traveller how sweet that word, "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God." To the fainting one how sweet that word, "He giveth power to the faint!" To the tempted one how sweet that word, "God is faithful; who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with every temptation make a way for your escape, that ye may be able to bear it." To the oppressed and almost crushed spirit how sweet that word, "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." To the misrepresented and slandered one, oh how sweet that word, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise up in judgment against thee thou shalt condemn !" To the feeble and falling child of God how sweet that promise, "I will hold thee by thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not!" To the poor child of God tried in circumstances, who is walking in poverty's chilly vale, how sweet that word, "Your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him,"-" My God shall supply all your need," &c. To the comfortless and solitary one, how sweet that word," I, even I, am he that comforteth you;"-" As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem;"-"I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." I will never leave-I will never forsake thee. And to the aged one, groaning beneath accumulated infirmities, how sweet that word, "Even to hoary hairs will I carry you." And to the departing, oh how sweet that word, "Well done!" and then-what then? an everlasting ocean of sweetness to bathe in and swim in for ever, the full fruition of all our hopes and expectations, the entire possession of that glorious inheritance of which here, we had received the earnest, the entrance triumphantly by eternal grace into those gates,—those glorious

gates which at once and for ever bar and shut out all sin and sorrow, and introduce us into the heavenly feast, where our Beloved lives and shines, and where he has laid up all manner of pleasant fruits.

THE wanderings of the wanderer have been so many of late, that he has had no time to record the events of by-gone years; but having now obtained a little leisure, he gladly resumes his narrative.

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All the necessary arrangements having been made for the ceremony of passing through the watery gate into the inner court of the King's palace, good Mr. Freeman came forth to introduce each of the waiting party, who, he said, were about to have their names enrolled in the loyal army, and be clothed in the royal livery (Gal. iii. 27). He said, not only from a feeling of pleasure and sense of duty, but for the sake of all present, he would make a few remarks upon the proceedings. These remarks he founded upon a question found in a very old and valuable book, the words were these, What mean ye by this service?" (Exo. xii. 26). He observed that the service we were about to perform was of royal appointment, and, therefore, peculiarly significant, and it was needful for those who attended to it, to know what they were doing, that they might be able to answer the question, “What mean ye" by it. He would, however, just name a few things, we did not mean, especially as some, nay, many people, and people who ought to know better, had accused us of attaching a meaning to the act, which we totally repudiated. As for instance, some people say we do it to obtain the King's favour, and that we believed it fits us in some way for his presence and service. Now we mean no such thing, because we hope we have obtained his favour; we have been in his presence, and are engaged in his service already, and have been accepted of him. And we say more even this-No person has any right to pass through this watery way, who has not obtained favour beforehand. We therefore do not mean that this service makes any change in our nature or state, or that it will recommend us to His Majesty. Again, others accuse us of having invented this very thing ourselves, and that we set ourselves up against lawful authority, and mean to disturb and divide the King's loyal subjects. We mean no such thing. We know of no lawful authority on the matter, but the King's own word, recorded in the Statute Book, and given to us for our direction; therefore if our conduct create division, it is entirely through the disobedience of others, not through our obedience. We are as much pained as they are by the division, and we sometimes keenly feel the frown and disfavour of our brethren; but then we dare not do violence to our convictions to please man, for that would bring guilt upon our own consciences.

"But," said our friend, "I must tell you what we do mean. You know that our glorious Master is a wonderful' person (Isa. ix. 6), there is no other being or thing like him in heaven or earth. 'He was rich, and for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich' (2 Cor. viii. 9); just think of that! 'He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant' (Phil. ii. 7). I beseech you think of that! Our Lord and King serving

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for us who were his bitter foes! But that is not all; you know that, although he now lives a glorious and gracious Monarch, he once died, and died for us! Think of that I intreat you, and then say if we do not owe Him all possible obedience and reverence. By this act, then, we mean to show our obedience to the command of our great King and 'Law-giver,' and that we are no longer amongst his enemies, but have been called out by him and pardoned and accepted of him. But we mean more. This is a sign of his sufferings, death, and resurrection; and of our union to him, and interest in all he did." As Mr. Freeman spoke these words, many hearts were moved, and many eyes filled with tears. I cannot forget the scene if I were to try; I felt that I could not only go through water, but even fire, if it would in any way honour such a King; for I remembered how he came to me, and how kindly he spoke to me, and how tenderly he dressed my wounds, after I had been cut down by the man Moses. (See page 4.) After the above address, or rather, that of which the above is an outline, we joined in singing a loyal song, and then, in the name of our great King, Mr. Freeman led us one by one through the flood.

The ceremony over, and the King's livery on, and a place amongst those who had entered before assigned me, my foolish heart thought that wanderings and conflicts were all over too, and that uninterrupted rest awaited me. On expressing this to Mr. Freeman, he asked me what I meant by rest; as there was a peculiar significance in his look and tone, I looked at him, and made no reply. He sighed, looked sad and thoughtful, and said, "I hope by rest, you do not mean idleness." And then he gave a doleful account of many whom he knew, or had known, who seemed to think there was an end of all obligation to His Majesty, after this act of obedience to his will. He said they would not work in his vineyard, nor fight for him in the battle-field, under the plea that they could not, and in one sense, that was true; for they ate so little bread, and drink so little wine, no wonder if they could do no work: seldom at home at meal-times, and often when there, they did not relish the food ;-strange if they did, without exercise, and regular habits in eating. Such seem never to get above childhood, crying for milk and sweets, whereas they ought to be able to digest strong meat. "I hope," said Mr. Freeman, you will not be one of that sort." I hoped so too, at the same time, was a good deal disappointed in my feelings, and inwardly said to myself, If you had told me all this before, I would not have come in at all.” That thought, of course, was very wrong; but from what I have seen, and heard, and felt since, I am not surprised that some do stay outside through such things as these.

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The next time we met our good friend for instruction, he read to us a portion from the text-book, given him by his Master, as follows:- "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life: that he may please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim. ii. 4). And he reminded us that the King had chosen us to be his soldiers, and asked us to remember what enemies we werehow we deserved his severest wrath, and how easily he could have punished us, instead of which how he had loved, pitied, pardoned, and called into his own service. and thereby highly honoured us. He told us not to expect but that we should be hated by those who are as we once were; they would surely hate us if we showed on whose side we were, and proved loyal to our King. He next remarked, that he who had chosen us to fight under him had provided all needful weapons (1 Cor. ix. 7); and then he took us into the armoury, were we saw thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men," besides " spears and helmets, habergeons, and bows and slings to cast stones" (Sol. Song iv. 4; 2 Chron. xxvi. 14). Our leader cried with a loud voice, "Put on the whole armour" (Eph. vi. 11), and we each took our weapons of war.

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"Now," said Mr. Freeman, "you are equipped for the field, but 'Let not him hat girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off' (1 Kings xx. 11). You will have to learn the use of these things, and endure hardness as good soldiers." He then proceeded to show that the facts of having been chosen for soldiers and provided with weapons, was proof that there were enemies. These

he said, were neither few nor feeble; and no truce must be made with them. And he drew such a frightful picture of some giants with whom he had fought, as was enough to frighten any one, even used to war, much more such as we were. He told us, moreover, that our foes were not only mighty, but cunning and crafty, and would lay many snares for our feet, therefore we would have to walk circumspectly. Perhaps he saw we were discouraged; anyhow, he proceeded to say we need not fear, for the King himself would go forth with us to the battle for he "mustereth the host " (Isa. xiii. 4). Our friend, to encourage our hearts, reminded us of some of His Majesty's exploits, and promises to his loyal followers. Among others he repeated these sayings: "Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man" (Judg. vi. 16); “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee" (Josh. i. 5); "He will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed." (Deut. xxxi. 8); "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper."

After Mr. Freeman had told us all these words, and many more of a like import, and dismissed us with his blessing, I felt as if I could run through a troop, or leap over a wall, for I felt as if my feet were like hind's feet (Psa. xviii. 29; Hab. iii. 19). Yes, I seemed wild with joy, "like a hind let loose" (Gen. lix. 21). However, my joy was short-lived, for we had no sooner left the place of instruction, than a discussion arose, which, for a time, quite took the courage out of me again. One Mr. Quibbler, who lived in Law-street, was in our company that day, and while some of us were expressing our pleasure in what we had just heard, he was appealed to for his opinion, and startled some of us very much by saying, that he did not believe all that had been said. In utter astonishment, I asked if he did not believe the words of the King. "O yes," said he, "but I do not believe the construction put upon them by Mr. Freeman; and if what he say be true, we may all fold our arms and sit quietly down, for, as he makes it out, the King will make us conquer whether we will or no. Indeed he has robbed us of our responsibility, and made us into mere tools !" One said, "I did not understand him so," and another "I did not so take it," and so on; when Mr. Quibbler replied, "I care not how you understood him, I look at what he said, and I repeat-it is most dangerous teaching, and has a tendency to do away with all care and energy; we may live as we please, and be victorious at last." A good man, named Thoughtful, formed one of the company, who had a very wonderful memory, and a very good understanding of things. He seldom said much, but when he did speak, his words generally had some weight in them; to him Mr. Quibbler appealed, for up till now, he had been silent: his reply was, "You are either very ignorant, or very wicked." With flushed cheek, and in a hasty tone, Mr. Q. demanded an explanation of what Mr. T. meant. "Well," said the latter, "If you understood Mr. Freeman as you say you do, you must be very ignorant; and if you did not so understand him, you are very wicked, in so misrepresenting what he said, and thereby discouraging these young men." Mr. Quibbler replied, "That is just like you, everybody is ignorant who does not take your view of things. I say again, if what he said be true, we may live as we please, without any offence to the King, or fear of final triumph, for he made it out, that in no sense did the victory depend upon us." Mr. Thoughtful asked leave to put a question or two, which was granted; and he proceeded thus: "Supposing a general to be mustering an army, and supposing him to say, 'Soldiers, be brave, take courage, I will go before you, fight, and you are sure to win the day.' Would that imply that they need not fight?""" Certainly not," said Quibbler. "Would it make them careless?" "No," was the reply. "That, then, is the doctrine you have heard, you contradict yourself." Here I must stop, and next month, if all go well, I will tell the reader something of the war.

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WANDERER.

SALVATION. Salvation consists of four gifts, viz.:-Jesus Christ, who is God's unspeakable gift," the Holy Spirit, who is "given unto us,"-faith, which is “the gift of God,"-and heaven; which "it is our Father's good pleasure to give."

GOD'S WISDOM, versus MAN'S FREE-WILL.*

It excites the utmost astonishment, and surpasses comprehension how men with the smallest capacity could ascribe such folly to God, as this system [the system of free-will] supposes; for, as the good man says, His understanding is infinite, which enabled him to compass with ease the whole machinery of Providence,-directing, appointing, and preparing the most discordant elements to harmonize with his plan, the mineral, animal, and vegetable world, containing every variety, possessing every property, supplying every place, and answering every end, being the exact counterpart of his lofty mind. Yet, strange to say, the mysterious and momentous work of redemption and salvation, in comparison with which all created animal existences fade out of sight, like a dissolving view, and are less important than the atoms scattered by the whirlwind yet, if we are to be guided, by the fictions of fancy, or the devices of Satan, we are invited to believe that the great Architect of the universe, whose wisdom, power, and foresight, fit him to govern that, yet in the more weighty matters of his spiritual kingdom, which involve the destiny of untold millions, together with the glory of his own name,-in these things, and over these things, he is supposed to have no control; but all must be left to the choice and skill of a worm, "who is crushed before the moth," for though he has a kingdom, he dare not govern it; and though he has a sceptre, he must not wield it; and though he has servants, he cannot command them to obey; and if he does, it must be left to their discretion to do it, or leave it alone. Their will must decide it, but not his; and though he has a house, he must not enter it, but submissively wait, and humbly knock at the door for admission; lest he should infringe upon the will, or thwart the pleasure of his dignified tenant; for, be it observed, where it is said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," this has no allusion to uncalled sinners, but it is addressed to the lukewarm churches at Laodicea, to administer a suitable rebuke, and to show where errors abound, or a lukewarm worldly spirit is cherished, that he will remain outside, not consenting to communion unless they hear and heed the voice of his reproof, which, if they did, it would be like opening the door, or a renewal of freedom and fellowship. Therefore, to use that text as if it applied to unregenerate sinners, is a shocking perversion of God's truth: for when the Lord comes to a sinner in a salvation sense, he demands instant submission; he speaks as one having authority, and says, "Follow me," and they follow him; so that if he comes to rescue a sinner out of the clutches of Satan, he comes in his own eternal right, invested like a policeman with magisterial authority, when sent to capture a thief, to whom doors must be no barrier, seeing he has legal right of entrance. Just so with the Lord; his blood gives him the legal right of possession; having bought them with a price, they are no longer their own, but are the Lord's; and the Father has laid the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and as the key of his convicting power exactly fits the wards of a sinner's heart, so "he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open." And it must needs be so; after Christ has effected the purchase, and paid the price, he must possess his own; for it would be a cruel reflection upon Divine justice, to suppose that he should draw back from the stipulated agreement, prospected in Zech. ix.11: "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of pit wherein is no water." And however men can dream about a universal sacrifice, I am at a loss to understand, as it is contrary to every principle of justice, common sense, or propriety; nor can it find a parallel in the whole range of human affairs. We can understand what a purchase is; to pay for or possess, or hold adequate security; and we can understand what a covenant is, when completed by the contracting parties; being properly subscribed, and witnessed, it becomes unalterable, except by the consent of those who made it. And sure I am that these doctrines are concealed from the people by certain pretences, such as universal sympathies, and apparent concern for their welfare; for if they could

• Extracted from the "The Light of Truth," by J. BEST. (Mrs. Paul, Chapter-house-court.)