one of the Moravian brethren, who declared to him the simple gospel, "that Christ is made of God unto us wisdom, and justification, and sanctification, and redemption," that the only atonement that ever could be made for sin, was already made and accepted, that we neither could take away our guilt by any scheme of our own, nor was it necessary, for Christ's blood had done it, and that now we are called on and invited, as blood-bought and well-beloved children, to follow him who had so loved us, to keep near to him as the fountain of our life and happiness, and to testify our gratitude to him by obeying his commandments. Pardon is pro

This

claimed through the blood of Christ, and sanctification is the fruit of faith in that pardon. Mr. Gambold gave up his laborious and unsuccessful efforts, and he walked by faith, in humble and peaceful holiness, rejoicing in him who is the strength of his people. The simple, child-like joy for sin blotted out, did for his soul what all his efforts, and sincere efforts they were, could never accomplish. joy is his great theme. But we cannot rejoice by endeavouring to rejoice, any more than we can love by endeavouring to love. It is by keeping the glorious and blessed circumstances of our relation to God before our mind, that we shall feel, and continue to feel, a natural and unforced joy, which will produce a natural and unforced walk in the way of God's commandments.

But what is the guard against the abuse of this doctrine? Let us look for it in the nature of Christian joy and in its object. Christian joy is

not a mere joy for deliverance from misery; it is joy for a deliverance effected by the atonement of Jesus Christ. This joy, therefore, has respect to the procuring cause of the deliverance, as well as to the deliverance itself. In the work of redemption are embodied all the divine attributes in perfect harmony. Joy becomes thus associated in the mind of the believer with each of these attributes, and it is this same joy which transcribes them on his heart. The object of the gospel, and of the joy arising from a faith in the gospel, is to conform us to the will and likeness of God. The law is thus the guard against the abuse or misinterpretation of the gospel. The law represents the character of God and of perfect happiness; and the gospel was given to associate that character with joy, and thus to write the law upon our hearts. If, then, we believe and rejoice, and yet do not grow in obedience to the law of God, we may be assured that it is not the true gospel, which we are believing, nor true Christian joy which we are feeling. We must turn to the cross, and to the word which reveals the cross, and to the Spirit who alone can shine upon the word. Let us not be jealous of joy, but only let us be careful that it is "joy in the Lord." Joy is the first fruit of the gospel of Christ-and if we believe and yet do not rejoice, we may be assured that we have either added to the gospel or taken something from it-it is not the very gospel of Christ that we believe. This joy may consist with much sorrow, as it did in the case of those first teachers, who were sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

It takes away the poison from sorrow, and leaves only its tenderness. The exhortation to rejoice in the Lord was not so often repeated without good cause. If this glorious joy once filled our hearts, it would leave no room for sorrow, or for those poor joys which, in their fading, produce sorrow, or for the base, and turbulent, and perplexing anxieties, passions, and appetites, which for the most part fill up the life of man. If the soul saw itself ever surrounded by the light of that love which shone so bright on Calvary,—if it saw every event and duty in life illuminated by that love-if the eternal world were ever present to it as its own home, and as the place where redeeming love is the very element of life, where unmixed blessedness reigns, where the tie which unites the Father of spirits to his children is felt in all its ecstatic endearment, and where the whole happy family are continually advancing in their Father's likewise, without fear of change and without the possibility of falling-O how buoyant would its spirits be! How freely, how boldly, how nobly, and yet how humbly and tenderly, would it pass along the course of its existence! In every action it would feel itself a commissioned agent of heaven; it would know that it is called to fulfil purposes, which it will require an eternity to unfold; it would have no will of its own, but would act or suffer according to the will of God, looking up to his Fatherly face, and rejoicing in his benignant smile.

The mind of Mr. Gambold was evidently deeply affected with these views. The first of the two

Sermons which are contained in this volume was preached at a time when the free grace of the gospel was not much known in England; and never did any uninspired Sermon give a plainer or a sweeter exhibition of it. The Drama describes Christianity during the first ages. The Author's familiar acquaintance with the fathers enabled him to put much life and truth into the picture. Did we consider it our business to speak of the merits of this Drama as a poetical work, we could praise it highly. The reader of taste and discernment will discover much in it, which proves the very uncommon powers of the Author, and which would not have disgraced the first writers in our language. I may instance the last speeches in the dialogue between the two Deacons in the opening scene,the exhortations of Ignatius before leaving Antioch,

and the whole concluding scene of the Drama. There are, perhaps, other parts which may strike Christians more; as, for example, the scene in which the conversion of the Soldier is described, and beautiful most assuredly it is. We remember at present only one passage in Shakespeare which is directly and unequivocally Christian, and that occurs in Measure for Measure, in the scene between Isabella and Angelo. She is persuading him to pardon er brother, and she says,

All the souls that were, were forfeit once;
And He that might the vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy: How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgment, should
But judge you as you are? O think on that;
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
Like man new made.

This is certainly in the good, though not in the highest style of the first genius that probably the world has ever seen, and yet there are many passages in Ignatius not inferior to it. There is to

be sure a degree of stiffness and formality about the piece, but all of that which is disagreeable wears off upon acquaintance, and what remains rather accords with the unworldly character of the persons represented, and so adds to the general truth and interest. His second Sermon, on "Religious Reverence," though not equal throughout, contains some striking thoughts, couched in most powerful phraseology. There is a remarkable expression of devotedness in his first Hymn, and a most sweet and refined loveliness in the poem entitled "The Mystery of

Life."

It is impossible to read his works without being convinced that he enjoyed much communion with God, and was much conversant with heavenly things, and that hence he had imbibed much of the spirit, and caught much of the tone, of the glorified church above. There is a strong reality in his writings; and, oh, it is the great matter after all to have the things of eternity brought into sensible contact with our minds, as present substantial circumstances, producing immediate feeling and action, and not allowed most fatally and foolishly to be mere subjects for conversation, or texts for speculative discussion. If these things be present with us as real circumstances, they will be the sources of real joy, of real confidence for eternity, and of real consistency of conduct whilst we are in this world. Plain unso