earn a guinea every day; certainly he ought not to subscribe less than a guinea quarterly. The same proportion should be given as we advance in the scale of property; and let the man who gains 500, 1000, 2000, or 4000 pounds a year, consider that it is equally incumbent on him to give four days earnings to the support of the Minister of Christ, who is exerting himself every day to promote his eternal happiness, and that of his household. If it should appear that this is an equitable rule of judgment, will it not be found generally the case, that, as men advance in the magnitude of their daily earnings, they proportionably decrease in their subscriptions; and that the journeyman mechanic, the weaver, and the servant-maid, are far more just and generous than the merchant, the manufacturer, and the lady who rides in her carriage? whereas it must be obvious, that, instead of giving less in proportion, they ought to give more; because, rising above the necessities of a family, which the working man feels, they are far better able to afford it. If this rule of judging be admitted, it will be found, that, instead of a Minister's being under great obligations to his subscribers, many, especially those of the middling and higher classes of the congregation, are under great obligations to their Minister, and that they are in his debt; some one quarter, some one half, and others a sum equal to what they yearly give. Is not this the award of impartial Justice, when she stretches the balance between a Minister's labours and the people's subscriptions? Were it not drawing out the subject to too great a length, I would shew what persons pay for a seat at a theatre, at the ball-room and assembly, and at the lecture on philosophy, and then examine the Preacher's claims in comparison with theirs ;-but I desist. Some may, perhaps, reply, " Notwithstanding all you say, I will act as I please; and give what I think fit; or not give at all." But I am not certain, that is quite so safe a method of acting as such persons may imagine. A high authority has declared, "I hate robbery for burnt. offering; and the hire of the labourers, which is by you kept back by fraud, crieth; and their cries have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." When God sees inen undervaluing his Gospel, and, from a spirit of covetousness, denying the claims of Justice to the Ministers of Christ, they are not in the way to receive the blessing from on high; and the provocation given may offend God, God, and injure them in a more serious manner than they are aware. Those, especially, who do nothing towards the support of the Ministry of the Gospel, should consider that he who said, "Thou shalt not steal," is greatly displeased with them for their injustice; and there is little likelihood of their obtaining benefit from the word. Let a man of this stamp go into a baker's shop, and take bread to feed the body, without paying for it, and he will see how the act is regarded by the eye of the law. It is earnestly requested, that every one who attends on the preaching of the Gospel, would lay these things seriously to heart; and especially that stewards and deacons would treasure them up in their minds, that they may be furnished with arguments to prevail on the people to do their duty to God, and to their Minister. I have some other things to say on the subject; but shall reserve them for another opportunity, and remain, Job xii. 22. "He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death :" or "He turneth round the lowest parts (i. e. of the earth) from the darkness; and bringeth out to light the shadow of death;" as the earth turns from west to east. - Bate's Lexicon. J EHOVAH divided between the darkness of night and the light of day. The dividing partition is our globe of earth. Darkness is in the earth's shadow. That part of the earth which is turned from the sun, is the Deep, or Lower Parts; and when that part is turned to the sun, as in the morning, then is "the shadow of death brought out into light." - The natural estate and conversion of a sinner, are represented by this metaphor: Mankind, as fallen-creatures, are turned away from the Lord; and so in a state of darkness. Satan, the god of this world, hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. Their understandings are darkened through the ignorance that is in them. Hence, though the light of divine truth shines in darkness, the darkness comprehends it not. But as Jesus Christ came into this world," to give light to them that sit in darkness darkness and the shadow of death," so he orders his gospel to be preached, " to open blind eyes, and to turn men from darkness to light." When the Lord sends his word, with divine power, to a sinner's conscience, it carries light with it. As it is written, "The entrance of thy words giveth light ." As light makes manifest, when that God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines into the heart, the sinner sees his sinfulness and dangerous state; and when he is turned from the. error of his ways, and from the power of Satan unto Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness and Light of Life, then is he brought out of darkness and the shadow of death," into the Lord's marvellous light; and the man being thus made light in the Lord, he walks as a child of light in the light of the living. Following Jesus Christ, the Light of the. World, he no longer walks in darkness; but casting away the works of it, and putting on the armour of light, he shines as a light in the world, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Reader, Is thy face turned towards Jesus, or from him? THERE + Acts xxvi. 18. Psalm cxix. 130. ON THE CHRISTIAN CONFLICT.· HERE are some things in religion of which a man has no conception, till he is brought under the teachings of the Holy Spirit. The conflict of the Christian with the power of sin, is eminently of this nature. To be known, it must be felt. The opposition of conscience, or of reason, is perfectly different; and can lead to no correct and sufficient ideas. It is a secret hidden warfare; a contest of two opposite and powerful principles, between which there can be no agreement, no suspension of hostilities, no mitigation of enmity. "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other *." In its natural state, the heart of man is totally corrupt, blind, insensible, and dead. When God, by his Spirit, introduces life, a new principle is implanted light is opposed to darkness, holiness to sin, life to death. A leaven is communicated; which, by a gradual but sure operation, is to leaven the whole lump. The patient is convalescent, and his recovery will infallibly advance. Satan, however, though condemned, does not immediately relinquish his prey. A body of sin remains to be destroyed. The world, with its allurements, must be resolutely and continually opposed: and, from the united force of those enemies, proceed all the misery, and all the miscarriages of the Christian warrior.. In the earlier stages of experience, the warfare is not usually very ardent. Lively affections bear down, for a time, every resistance. The enemy hides his head. If his connections were prophane, the young convert is employed in escaping their society;-if his habits of sin were gross and inveterate, in resisting their influence; if enmity is excited, in meeting and allaying its rage. The burden is, therefore, suited to his strength; and God is pleased to lighten the inward conflict amidst the first violence and distraction of outward opposition. But when a few years have passed by; when affections, however ardent, are no longer new; when external circunstances are become smooth, or, if turbulent, produce little uneasiness, then the power of sin exerts its force; the inbred and incorrigible evils of the heart then appear. Corruptions, which were fondly overlooked or forgotten, return with accumulated and lamentable vigour. The warfare is now become serious; and though the Christian is still making his way, yet his progress is slow, and not without many tears, many delays, and many falls. His days are embittered with the recollection of past ingratitude and defection, or the pressure of violent and insidious foes; and unless his Lord were infinite, both in power and in grace, his case would be without remedy. He fights every inch of ground. One day of conflict may be past; but he has still to expect fresh enemies, fresh snares, fresh difficulties. Sometimes he knows not where he is, nor what he is doing. One temptation follows another, in irresistible succession. He opens the Bible; it is a sealed book. He attempts to pray, but he knows not what he says. He goes to the house of God; and returns cold, unaffected. The enemy seems to carry all before him. Vows are forgotten, professions belied, obligations trampled upon; all light is fled, and the benighted traveller is overwhelmed with distress: and if the Lord were not to appear for his help, no doubt his soul would be put to şilence. Only a Christian can conceive what is the power, the subtilty, the baneful and infectious influence of the sin that dwelleth in him. Other men may talk of battles; but the Christian soldier is the real warrior! Amidst every discouragement, however, there is something which supports him. It may not amount to lively joy; but it is hope it clings to the soul, it springs up in the heart, and animates and revives the drooping traveller! The recollection that the contest, though arduous, cannot be long; and that an infinite concern is dependent, form a counterpart to every difficulty and although a large part of his journey has been occupied with woe, and resistance, and opposition, yet a Christian can look back on some bright spots on his road; he can remember the years of the right hand of the Most High; he has some events still present to his mind, when the Lord lifted up the light of his countenance upon him; when his enemies were discomfitted; and " by his light he walked through darkness." Nor can he forget that his conflict has driven him more frequently to his Redeemer, endeared his free and complete salvation, and prepared him to sing with unspeakable rapture," Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever! Amen.” CLERUS. S THOUGHTS ON EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION. [Concluded from our Magazine for September, p. 356.] UCH happy seasons as we have described, have a wonderful effect on the mind of the Christian, to wean him from transitory things. While the soul is sweetly feeding on the substantial bread of life, filled with the visions of the mighty, and from the mount of transfiguration is, by faith, looking across the Jordan of death, embracing the promises of the good country, and viewing the glories of the heavenly Canaan,-in case the mind catches a glance at this world, and the surrounding objects of time, they dwindle, comparatively, into nothing; and it is rather with reluctance that the Christian finds it necessary to take a part in the busy scenes of life. Nothing but a sense of duty, and resignation to the Divine Will, could reconcile him to absence from his Father's house. Those sweet and precious moments, when the soul is carried on the wings of faith into the invisible world, and led |