it, and the unfeigned joyful submission of our hearts and wills to it. And if this is properly Gospel mercy, what God offers to man for his unspeakable benefit, what Christ came to assure and derive to us, and the Spirit enables us to receive; if it is the alone efficacious call of God to the soul in its dead state, and the beginning and power of a new life of righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost: if by it we are renewed to the divine image, and to the desire of holiness in the inner man; and can only be formalists, hypocrites, or self-deceivers, without it: if we have no ground of hope, not one glimpse of comfort, no relief from sin, supposing the guilt of it, and the truth of Scripture, but by laying hold on the promises of God: if faith saves us, in every respect, from condemnation to a lively obedience, and nothing else can; how great must be our guilt in not fully publishing and declaring that message of peace and good-will to men, which the angels came from heaven with so much joy to proclaim! How can we bear, how shall we answer the imputation of such unfaithfulness to Christ and his truth, and to the souls committed to our care? And why is not that charge continually sounding in our ears, and deeply imprinted in our hearts, "Go, and speak to the people all the words of this life?" Oh! let us try, in dependence on the all-powerful Spirit, what can be done for our sinful country, in this despised way of the new preaching; and

unite to rescue it from contempt, lest the nation perish through unbelief. We have great cause to reflect deeply on the abounding of wickedness among us under the old, and I wish we had no reason for trying some other method.

I shall be excused for stopping here, and beseech you to bear with me thus far, as I am not conscious to myself of having uttered a word in the spirit of contention; or with any other design than to recommend an attention to those articles of our church, which were once thought to be of the greatest importance. And supposing they are not intended only to be hung up as rusty armour, but of perpetual necessary use for the maintenance and establishment of Christian truth, to them I appeal against any censure which may be passed upon me.

Perhaps the sameness of thought which runs through the following discourses, and insisting on two or three points, may need some apology. If this is a real objection, I confess I know not how to answer it. They are published at the request, and in submission to the judgment of partial friends, who interest themselves in the doctrines recommended and so often repeated in them; and thought they might be of use, at least to the few already prepossessed in favour of the author. Every one has his small circle of well-wishers, who are more disposed to receive impressions from him on the score of acquaintance; and to them, with desire to serve them in their best

interest, they are addressed; though it would be a criminal insensibility in me, not to wish that others also might reap some benefit from them.

They are accompanied with my prayers for a blessing: and I shall have cause to rejoice, if they may contribute, in any measure, to the conviction of the unbelieving, the instruction of the ignorant, or the edification and support of those, who are seeking rest for their souls in Christ, and want to have their hearts purified by faith, that they may serve him in love, be partakers of his holiness, and received into his glory.

I will acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine unrighteousness have I not hid:

I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord, and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.-Psalm xxxii. 5, 6.

THE two first verses of this psalm, St. Paul alleges to prove that great point of Christian doctrine, that as all are sinners, there is no possibility of salvation for any man, but in the free grace of God in Christ. The psalmist says, "Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Which words St. Paul takes up, and argues from them in this manner; if David thought himself blessed, not by having no sin, but by confessing it, and casting himself upon the mercy of God for the pardon of it, well may others think themselves happy in the offer of that mercy, and fly to it as their hope and only refuge from condemnation. Saints or

sinners, Christ, he affirms, must be their safety, and the ground of their acceptance with God; for so Abraham, the friend of God, and David, the man after God's own heart, were justified, or accounted righteous. Whatever they were in themselves, or in comparison with other men, this was no plea for them to stand upon with God. If they would find favour at his hands, they must give up