extraordinary prayer and fasting, with a view to obtain divine direction, this zealous and amiable youth was satisfied that God did not, immediately at least, call him to missionary labours. It may be proper to add, that the books which seemed to have the greatest share in exercising those earnest desires, were the Rev. Melville Horne's Letters on Missions, and the Periodical Accounts of the Baptist Mission in India. [To be concluded in our next.]

MR. MASON'S FAREWELL.

To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

SIR,

The Visit of the Rev. Mr. Mason, of New York, to this Country, having interested many, by his nervous and animated style of preaching, the following Extract from the Conclusion of his Farewell-Discourse, at White-row Meeting, may be acceptable to many of his Friends; and the Insertion will oblige your constant Reader, N. N.

N. B. The Discourse was founded on 2 Pet. i. 11. After considering the Happiness of the Future State, under the Image of a Kingdom, the Preacher remarked,

E

VERY believer in Jesus shall be in his kingdom; but there is a great difference in their manner of entrance. In attending to the injunctions of inspiration, we find the Apostle saying so; an entrance shall be administered abundantly; by which he manifestly insinuates, that some Christians pass into the kingdom of their Lord and Saviour under circumstances of greater triumph and glory than other Christians do; and O! how often has this been exemplified in the experience of believers.

Ône looses his anchor from this earth, and goes into eternity a gallant vessel, with every sail set to the favouring breeze, and rushes into the harbour of eternal peace, amidst the plaudits of redeemed men and of waiting angels..

Another, the frail bark is tossed by the billows, almost wrecked, so weak, it is scarcely able to reach the port; but, blessed be God, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, it reaches it safe at last. The latter has an entrance, but the former an abundant entrance, and if there is aught, my brethren, which can be interesting to us in SF 2 this

-

this world, respecting the moment of our departure from it, it is that we may leave it under that full sail of bliss which will bring Heaven into our hearts before we get into Heaven; and enable us to leave behind us our Ebenezer, our stone of help, and inscribe it with our hand, while Death chills our vigour,- "Hitherto hath the Lord helped me." You have heard of the death of statesmen and of warriors; you have heard of generals perishing at the head of armies; while boldly approaching the cannon's mouth, they have received the deathful ball: the historian's page has celebrated their praise, poets have sung their valour, monuments have perpetuated their names; but take me to the side of the bed of a Christian, departing under the assured hope of everlasting life in the Lord Jesus. You have heard of men dying in seeming perfect composure, while enemies to the gospel: "Died Abner as a fool dieth?" They die stupidly, insensibly, because they know not what is before them; but did you ever hear of an infidel triumphing in death? Did you ever hear of a man rejecting the gospel, who, when laid upon the bed of a lingering death, with all complacency of heart, welcomed the summons to an eternal world, and that with a soul full of hope, full of immortality? The case is not to be found, my brethren; nor are we the least in danger of having the challenge accepted to our shame, when we throw the gauntlet to all the tribes of infidelity, and ask them to produce the instance. But, from the bed of sorrow, from the abode of wretchedness, has the spirit of a believer in Jesus sprung into life everlasting, and had an entrance ministered unto it abundantly, into its Lord and Saviour's everlasting kingdom; that spirit was in his presence and bosom before the breath which testified his love was well gone, or the lips were cold through which it issued.

But what is the connexion under which such an entrance into their Master's kingdom may be expected by believers? -The Apostle states it: "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge. temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity;" it is in the cultivation of every precious grace that we must be exercised: believers who neglect this, rob themselves: though real believers in Jesus, they lose much happiness, they lose their light; and it is unpleasant going even into Heaven in the dark. Glory will be the surprisal of the soul of the careless tottering Christian,

Christian, though doubtless he shall behold the Lord in peace. But terrible indeed is the ordeal of plunging into eternity, knowing what eternity is, and not knowing where we shall land! If we would be established Christians, we should be heart Christians; if we would have great glory, we should aim at greatly glorifying Christ here; we should be imitators of his character, be followers of him, showing forth the virtue of him who hath called us; for, if these things be in us, we shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

My brethren, how little do these prospects render earthly things! what is it to have a few acres of land here? thou hast a palace yonder. What is it, if thou farest sumptuously every day, and art gorgeously clothed, in comparison with such prospects? We shall replace the acres of land, and that with a boundless possession; we shall replace its palaces with a heavenly temple, its sumptuous entertainments with rivers of joy, and its gorgeous apparel with robes of righteousness! Who can compare prospects with the be liever? I know that the hearts of worldlings often tremble when they hear of a believer's prospects: they may smile; but it is the smile which puts a mock upon an agonizing heart. What hast thou better? Have we such prospects through the Lord Jesus Christ? how safely may we give the challenge then to all the tribes of unbelief! Let them call us fools and fanatics, these names do not fix the thing; I am not a fool because my neighbour calls me so, nor shall I lose my Heaven because he mocks me: names are but wind.

But there are men who set up for wise men, that have discovered the imposture; they have found out the cheat; they wish to unshackle you; they would release you from your thraldom: what! from the thraldom of a hope of the everlasting kingdom? Do you wish to be released from such thraldom? God have mercy on thee if thou dost! Have they aught to give in compromise? Can they tell us what awaits us beyond the grave? No; if they think at all, it is darkness, uncertainty, and dread conjecture! The laugh of a fool is a miserable exchange for an eternal hope. Why, cruel philosopher, would you take away the joy of my heart? Why would you remit me to the melancholy thought of no paternal providence, no redeeming love? Enjoy your guist alone, breathe out your complaints to the woods and to the rocks; curse not me with your

disco

discoveries, nor kill me with your truths. Oh comfortless Heavens! oh melancholy earth! oh gloomy world! oh wretched Nature! without the prospect of an entrance into the Master's kingdom. How loud the winds howl! how loud the waves roar! how cruel the storm! tossed hither and thither by the tempest, directed by no pilot, bound for no port, but where Lethe flows, where the black river of Oblivion rolls! Oh no, no; - not upon such terms; keep your discoveries, we will not give up our hope of an entrance into the kingdom, and we will press closer to our hearts the precious volume which reveals it to us: this is the anchor of our hearts.

And if we have such a prospect, how tender ought our union to each other to be! how dear should we be to each other! Are we fellow-heirs of the kingdom, and can we but love each other? Time, and place, and circumstance, separate our intercourse; but they break not the attachment which terminates in the kingdom. It is but a little while. that we can see each other upon this globe, but we shall meet yonder: there is no change, there is no interruption, there we shall not feel the pang of having found Christian acquaintance only, as it were, to know the bitterness of the breach of the tie which united us. Blessed be God, the kingdom is there; and there may you, and there may he who now, in all probability, for the last time in this world addresses you, meet; when the mysteries of God shall be finished, and the great Archangel shall lift up his hand, and swear by Him who liveth for ever and ever, that there shall be time no longer. Amen.

THE FRUITFUL BOUGH.

MR. EDITOR,

Wooburn, Bucks.

My brand, notwithstanding what I said on the subject of its being plucked from the fire *, is still burning, formerly with the fire of sin, now it is a subject of the fiery trials peculiar to God's people: now it is a part of the "burning bush," with Christ in it, and there. fore remains UNCONSUMED.

"JOSEPH is a fruitful bought." OSEPH is a fruitful bought."-The saved sinner is no longer lifeless, black, and wasting away in sin; he is now become " a branch in the true vine; a bough in the tree of life; a graft in the good olive." The Lord Jesus is the + Gen. xlix. 22.

* See Evan. Mag. for April, p. 138.

root

root in his Godhead, the body of the tree in his manhood, and the branches are his meinbers; they are borne by his body, and the body is sustained by his Godhead. "Ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." This divine union is explained fully by our Lord in his sermon on the vine*; and it is one great aim, yea, the principal and ultimate object he has in view in his prayer of intercession. St. Paul pursues the same beautiful idea with a varied figure, borrowed from the human body.

2. This union is the fruit of the covenant. The Holy Spirit is promised, whereby they are one with Christ, by the will and determination of the most high contracting powers and persons of the Eternal Three. Every official character and relation of the Lord Jesus exemplifies this endeared union; it is seen in his prophetic, priestly, and kingly relations; in his fraternal, pastoral, and conjugal characters.

3. This union is the consequence of his human nature; as "he is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone," he is just the character Job wished for §," in God's stead; one formed out of the clay, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (or substantially)." As God, he acts for and with God; as man, he acts for and with man; and being both God and man, he suits the relations of both, and is able to bring about the glory of the one in the happiness of the other. To know God fully, is peculiar to Deity; to sympathize with human infirmities is proper to humanity. There must be similarity and suitableness of character to know and treat with both the parties,

4. This union is spiritual. The tree is spiritual; the graft is made so by the spirit that gives life to it; and it finds its kindred life in Christ. As soon as the branch comes into contact, the union commences; like two drops of water brought near to each other, they cannot rest until they unite; their mutual influence on each other soon make them one. "Draw me, and I will run after thee," says the soul. "I, even I (saith Christ) if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Many were prepared to receive Christ in the days of his flesh, and others immediately as they heard the gospel. They knew that he was such a Saviour as they wanted; and found that the gospel just suited their condition. John was sent to prepare a people for the Lord; and his disciples followed Jesus. The

* John xv. 1-5. Col. i. 18.