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THE 
 
 Closet 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE BEAUTY OF FEMALE HOLINESS. 
 
 BY ROBERT PHILIP, 
 
 OP MABERLY CHAPEL. 
 
 jYF THE ~* \i 
 
 *ftoly women of old."*. ?&*** TT U 
 'There stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and Mary the wife of (Jieopha*, 
 and Mary of Magdala." .%. John. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 200 BROADWAY. 
 
 1836. 
 
WM. VAN NORDEN, 
 
 PRINTER, 
 111 NASSAU STREET. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY REDFIELD * LIWDSAY. 
 
TO 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE PRINCESS VICTORIA, 
 
 ON FEMALE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE, 
 
 ARE, 
 
 BY HER GRACIOUS PERMISSION, 
 DEDICATE D, 
 
 WITH 
 
 * * A 
 
 FERVENT PRAYER 'THAT HfiR^OYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 MAY EXEMPLIFY 
 
 ALL 
 "THE BEAUTIES OF HOLINESS," 
 
 IN THE COURT AND TO HER COUNTRY, 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 3 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 THIS " CLOSET MANUAL" has a twofold 
 peculiarity. It is addressed exclusively to Fe- 
 males ; because the author believes that general 
 appeals on the subject of Sin and Holiness are 
 not well adapted to the conscience of the sex, 
 nor so faithful as they seem. Its style, too, is 
 occasionally peculiar ; because he thinks that 
 FARABLE and ALLEGORY are legitimate weapons 
 in ' k the defence of the Gospel." He has, 
 therefore, attempted to give Oriental forms to 
 old truths, whenever he found it difficult to say, 
 in ordinary language, all that he wished to 
 suggest to the female mind. He has also given 
 that prominence to "the beauty of holiness," 
 which it has in Scripture, in common with trie 
 nature and necessity of holiness. This plan 
 and purpose will be adhered to in the succeed- 
 ing volumes of THE LADY'S CLOSET LIBRARY. 
 
 The Author's appeal is to the Mothers and 
 Daughters in British " Israel :" they must be 
 both his patrons and judges, if this well-meant 
 experiment succeed. 
 
 NEWINOTON GREEN, May 24, 1835. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 No. Page. 
 
 I. A Mother's Hinderances Duly Weighed . . 9 
 
 II. A Daughter's Principles Analyzed .... 51 
 
 III Emblems of Holiness 102 
 
 IV. A Matron's Timidity Explained 134 
 
 V. The Marys at the Cross 170 
 
 VI. The Marys at the Sepulchre 196 
 
 VII. Partialities in Holiness 213 
 
 VIII. Christians Holy Temples 234 
 
THUVERSITY 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE BEAUTY OF FEMALE HOLINESS. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 A MOTHER'S HINDBRANCES DULY WEIGHED. 
 
 IT is worthy of special observation, that, whilst 
 the earliest prophecies concerning the Church 
 of Christ on earth foretell, chiefly, the numbers 
 of his disciples, the later prophecies abound in 
 descriptions of their spiritual and moral cha- 
 racter. Thus, when God pointed Abraham to 
 the stars of heaven and the sands on the sea 
 shore, as emblems of the Saviour's offspring, 
 it was only their innumerable " multitude" and 
 not their beauty or purity, that was appealed 
 to : but when God pointed David to the " dew- 
 drops of the morning," as an emblem of the 
 offspring of Christ, he left their numbers to be 
 inferred, and confined the attention of David to 
 
10 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 " the beauty" of their " holiness." Psalm ex. 
 The reason for this difference in the revelation 
 of the same fact is obvious ; the day of Christ 
 had just been shown to David as a " day of 
 power," which should make people " willing" 
 to follow Christ, and as a period of gracious 
 and unchangeable priesthood, which should 
 encourage them to follow holiness ; whereas 
 neither of these facts was fully disclosed to 
 Abraham, when he saw the day of Christ afar 
 off. What was shown to him was, chiefly, the 
 certainty of that day, and not the glory of it : 
 and therefore its results were given in num- 
 bers, not in characteristics. 
 
 This illustration will apply to the prophecies 
 at large. Just in proportion as they unveil the 
 glory and grace of the Saviour to the Church, 
 they exhibit or enforce the necessity and beauty 
 of holiness. The clearer lights they shed upon 
 the mediatorial way of acceptance with God, 
 the stronger lights they pour upon the " narrow 
 way which leadeth to everlasting life." 
 
 This is an interesting fact. It leads us to 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 11 
 
 look back among the first disciples of Christ, 
 who followed him in this " regeneration of 
 life," to notice how far they justified the pro- 
 phecies, which thus " went before," concerning 
 the beauty of their holiness. Did his first 
 offspring, " the dew of his youth," resemble the 
 dew of the morning in character and spirit? 
 Was he at all glorified in his saints then, as 
 well as " admired by them ?" Now, so far as 
 moral character is one of the essential beauties 
 of holiness, his first disciples were, in general, 
 eminently holy. Whatever they may have 
 been before they left all and followed Christ, 
 afterwards they were emphatically virtuous and 
 upright. For a long time, indeed, their views 
 of the person, work, and kingdom of Christ 
 were very worldly, and even their spirit was 
 ambitious as well as rash ; but their general 
 habits were both circumspect and devotional : 
 even their enemies " took knowledge of them 
 that they had been with Jesus" to some good 
 purpose, so far as exemplary conduct was the 
 effect of their intercourse with him. 
 
12 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 Did you ever observe, whilst reviewing the 
 character of the Saviour's early friends, that 
 his female followers soon acquired great beauty 
 of holiness under the influence of his word and 
 example ? There is, indeed, a complete halo 
 of loveliness around the character and spirit of 
 John, " the disciple whom Jesus loved ;" and 
 there is much sublimity about Peter, notwith- 
 standing all his faults ; and the whole eleven, 
 compared with even the best of the Jews of 
 that time, were emphatically " holy men :" but 
 still, " whatsoever things are pure, and what- 
 soever things are lovely," abound most among 
 the women of Judea and Galilee, who followed 
 him. There is an exquisite and touching 
 beauty about the holiness of the Marys of Beth- 
 lehem and Bethany especially, which eclipses 
 even the excellence of the " holy women of 
 old." We almost forget Abraham's Sarah in 
 the presence of Joseph's Mary, and lose sight 
 of Jacob's Rachel whilst Mary of Bethany is 
 before us. Of them we must say, and even the 
 world will respond the exclamation, "Many 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 13 
 
 daughters have done virtuously , n but ye have 
 " excelled them all."" Give them of "the fruit" 
 of their own hands, and their " works will 
 praise them in the gates. n 
 
 It was. not without special design, that the 
 Holy Spirit transmitted to posterity so much 
 of the history and character of these distin- 
 guished women: he evidently intended them 
 to be models of female holiness to their sex. 
 Hence he inspired both Elizabeth and the an- 
 gel Gabriel to " HAIL" Mary of Bethlehem as 
 " highly favoured and blessed among women," 
 and taught the evangelists to depict her pecu- 
 liar excellences : and not less care did he take 
 to embody the character and embalm the me- 
 mory of Mary of Bethany. No angel, indeed, 
 pronounced her eulogy, but, what was far bet- 
 ter, " Jesus loved Mary," and predicted that 
 her love to him should be " told as a memorial 
 of her" wheresoever the " Gospel should be 
 preached throughout the whole world." 
 
 These are not accidents, nor mere incidents 
 in the sacred history : Mary of Bethlehem, like 
 2 
 
14 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 the star of Bethlehem, is evidently placed in 
 the firmament of the Church, as a leading star, 
 to guide wise women, as well as wise men, to 
 Christ, and to teach both how to ponder his 
 sayings, and revere his authority, and cleave 
 to his cross. In like manner, Mary of Bethany, 
 like her own " alabaster box of precious oint- 
 ment," is so fully disclosed in all her principles, 
 and so fully poured out in all her spirit before 
 us by the sacred writers, that there can be no 
 doubt but her lovely character was intended to 
 be " as ointment poured forth," inspiring, as 
 well as pleasing. Like the " good part, whicb 
 shall never be taken from her," the beauty of 
 her holiness can never be uninfluential on 
 either sex, whilst it is the duty of both " to sit 
 at the feet of Jesus," hearing his word ; and 
 that will be equally duty and delight in heaven, 
 as well as on earth, 
 
 " While breath or being last, 
 Or immortality endures." 
 
 For who, tnat knows any thing of vital and ex- 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 15 
 
 perimental religion, has not said, in effect, both 
 when remembering past attainments, and when 
 anticipating future progress and enjoyment, 
 " O that I might for ever sit, 
 
 Like Mary, at the Master's feet ?" 
 
 Thus the eye of a Christian, of either sex, 
 and of whatever sphere in life or godliness, re- 
 poses upon Mary of Bethany, whenever it 
 searches for an example of child-like docility, 
 or of angel-like meekness, in learning of Christ. 
 The spirit of a Christian takes her position at 
 the feet of Christ, and tries to hang upon his 
 lips with her zeal and zest, whenever it is hun- 
 gering and thirsting after righteousness. The 
 soul feels instinctively that this is the only way 
 to " be filled" or refreshed by his presence. 
 Accordingly, we have never found much en- 
 joyment or profit, except when we have really 
 sat at " the feet" of Christ, hearing his word 
 for ourselves. Neither in the sanctuary, nor 
 in the closet, have we become holier or happier, 
 when he did not try to place ourselves in the 
 position and spirit of Mary. 
 
16 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 It will be seen at once, from this application 
 of the example of Mary, that I regard both 
 her place at the feet of Jesus, and her conduct 
 in anointing his feet with " spikenard," as only 
 illustrations of her habitual spirit and general 
 character. Nothing is farther from my inten- 
 tion, because nothing could be more foreign to 
 her real character, than to represent her as 
 merely a meek, contemplative, and retiring 
 Christian. She was, indeed, all this, but she 
 was much more : she was as prompt as Martha 
 in going out of the house to meet Jesus when 
 he sent for her, and in serving him in the house 
 when service was really wanted. It was not 
 wanted when Martha said so. If she had stood 
 in real need of assistance from Mary, the Sa- 
 viour would not have continued, nor even be- 
 gun to preach, in the house of Lazarus then : 
 much less would he have commended Mary 
 for sitting still, if she had been neglecting do- 
 mestic duties. The character of Mary should, 
 therefore, be judged, not by this instance of 
 contrast with Martha's, but by the conduct 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 17 
 
 of Jesus. Now, HE certainly would not have 
 thrown his immortal shield so promptly and 
 fully over it, if sloth or selfishness, the love 
 of ease, or the dislike of household duties, 
 had been part of her character. From all we 
 know of the Saviour, we may be quite sure 
 that he would have reproved her himself, had 
 she been either idle or negligent. 
 
 They are but very superficial observers, who 
 seize upon the contrast of the moment between 
 these sisters, to make out, that Mary was 
 chiefly an amiable Nun-like being, who was 
 fonder of contemplative piety than of practical 
 duty. This is a very common opinion ; but 
 it is utterly at variance with fact, however ap- 
 pearances may seem to justify it. Even ap- 
 pearances are against it ; for nothing is so pro- 
 minent upon the surface of the case, as the 
 Saviour's approbation of Mary's character. 
 They are, therefore, at issue with both His 
 judgment and testimony, who insinuate the 
 charge or suspicion of undomestic habits against 
 this holy woman. There is nothing to warrant 
 2* 
 
18 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 such an imputation. She sat at the feet of 
 Jesus upon this occasion, because Jesus thought 
 proper to open his lips as a minister, when he 
 visited her house as a guest. Besides, His 
 visits to Bethany were the real sabbaths of the 
 family. Only then, had they the opportunity 
 of hearing the glorious Gospel in all the fulness 
 y of its blessing : and as the opportunity did not 
 occur often, it could not be too fully improved 
 whilst it lasted. Thus, there is no more rea- 
 son to think Mary inactive or undomestic, be- 
 cause she sat whilst Martha served with un- 
 necessary bustle, than to suspect that those 
 women, who sanctify the Sabbath most in the 
 house of God, are least attentive to the affairs 
 of their own houses. There is, perhaps, no 
 better test of good domestic management all 
 the week at home, than regularity and punctu- 
 ality of attendance on public worship on the 
 Sabbath. Those who are soonest and oftenest 
 at the feet of Jesus on his own day, are cer- 
 tainly not idle or irregular on other days. It 
 is because they are active, and act on system 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 19 
 
 through the week, that they can make so much 
 of their Sabbaths. 
 
 I thus bring out the real character of Mary, 
 that the beauty of holiness may not be sup- 
 posed to consist in either mere morals or musing. 
 There may be much morality, where there is 
 no holiness ; and there may be much holiness, 
 where there are no literary tastes or habits. 
 Neither fondness for public hearing, nor the 
 
 " Love of lonely musing," 
 
 is any real proof, by itself, of a new heart, or 
 of a right spirit, before God. Great readers 
 (as they are called) are not often the deepest 
 nor the most serious thinkers, even when 
 their reading is of the best kind ; and the con- 
 templative recluse, who lives only to think, or 
 who reckons every thing but mental pleasure 
 insipid, is actually indulging " the lusts of the 
 mind," instead of growing in grace or holiness. 
 It may sound well, to say of a sweet enthu- 
 siast, whose element is solitude, and whose 
 luxury is emotion, " that she is a being who 
 
20 AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 
 
 belongs to another world ; her tastes are all so 
 unearthly, and her sympathies so exalted :" 
 but this is no compliment! Indeed, it is a 
 heavy reflection upon both her heart and con- 
 science. A heart that felt aright, or a conscience 
 purified by the blood of atonement, would try 
 to do good by action, as well as to get good by 
 contemplation. No one belongs less to ano- 
 ther world (if, by that, heaven is meant) than 
 the being who has neither heart nor hand to 
 be a blessing in this world. Her tastes may 
 be unearthly ; but heavenly, they certainly 
 are not. They are not angel-like : for, are not 
 all the angels " ministering spirits, sent forth 
 to minister to the heirs of salvation ?" They 
 are not saint-like : for all the spirits of the 
 just in heaven take a lively interest in the 
 progress of the kingdom of Christ on earth. 
 And they are any thing but god-like : for Fa- 
 ther, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and move, as 
 if they had both their bliss and being in the 
 welfare of this world. 
 
 How ever did it come to be supposed, in 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 21 
 
 the land of BIBLES, that there was either intel- 
 lectual greatness, or moral loveliness, around 
 any pensive or sweet recluse, who lives only in 
 and for the ideal world of her own thoughts ; 
 whilst the Heathen and Mohammedan world is 
 perishing for lack of knowledge, and the actual 
 world at her door, sinning and suffering un- 
 pitied by her ? 
 
 Those who have no taste for retirement or 
 reading will, but too readily, join in this pro- 
 test against sentimental seclusion. Those only 
 who have but little time for direct mental im- 
 provement, will make a right use of the protest, 
 or even repeat it in a good spirit. They will 
 be glad to hear it. Not, however, because it 
 condemns others, but because it relieves them- 
 selves from self-condemnation, by proving to 
 them, from both the letter and spirit of Scrip- 
 ture, that musing piety is not the only nor the 
 best piety. Many who have no inclination 
 to cumber themselves needlessly with many 
 things, like Martha, are yet encumbered with 
 so many things which distract their attention, 
 
22 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 and absorb their time, that they hastily con- 
 clude, or strongly suspect, that they have no 
 real piety, because they are so unlike the 
 Mary of their own imagination, and of popular 
 opinion. They thus set themselves down as 
 Marthas, (her real character, too, is equally mis- 
 taken,) who have not " chosen the good part," 
 nor acquired the "one thing needful." But this 
 is as unnecessary as it is unwise. Wherever real 
 duty fills the hands, or inevitable care the heart, 
 then there is as much holiness, and as much of 
 the real beauty of it too, in doing or suffering 
 the will of God well, as in acts of prolonged de- 
 votion, or in efforts of heavenly-mindedness. 
 
 This subject is much misunderstood. In- 
 deed, many are afraid to speak out, or even to 
 think freely, on the subject. They are quite 
 dissatisfied with themselves, because they can 
 command so little time for devotional reading 
 and meditation ; and yet they do not see how 
 they can command more at present. They 
 see clearly, and feel deeply, that their minds 
 want improvement; that the great salvation 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 23 
 
 deserves more thought than they give to it ; 
 that they have not that communion with God 
 which is so desirable, nor that witness of the 
 Spirit which they deem so important; and 
 hence they stand in doubt whether they have 
 any real piety at all. 
 
 Now there is some danger, as well as diffi- 
 culty, in meeting this case ; because more want 
 to get rid of such doubts, than those who are 
 so placed and pledged in life, that they have 
 but little spare time. The slothful and the 
 worldly-minded are upon the watch, to lay 
 hold of any thing that would lessen their self- 
 condemnation, or tend to reconcile their habits 
 with their hopes. The allowances to be made 
 for the real want of time, they stand ready to 
 snatch at, as excuses for not redeeming time, 
 or for not improving it. The forbearance, and 
 leniency, and sympathy of God towards his 
 poor and afflicted children, are greedily seized 
 and appropriated by slothful servants, and by 
 heedless and heartless professors. For they, 
 too, want to be happy in their own mind, how- 
 
24 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCEST 
 
 ever little they care about holiness. They go 
 to the sanctuary to be comforted, as well as the 
 tried and harassed Christian. 
 
 Hence arises danger, as well as difficulty, in 
 meeting, publicly and fully, the case of those 
 who cannot redeem much time, nor always do 
 the good they really wish : the concessions 
 made on their behalf, may be perverted by 
 those who dislike devotional retirement, into 
 an excuse for so multiplying their worldly en- 
 gagements, as to leave no time for reading or 
 meditation, and but little for prayer itself. 
 Still, neither the sheep nor the lambs of the 
 Good Shepherd's flock, (who love and long for 
 those green pastures and still waters, without 
 being able to visit them often or continue at 
 them )ong y ) should be left to put the worst in- 
 terpretation upon their own weakness, however 
 wandering sheep may abuse the Shepherd's 
 condescension. He will count as his sheep, 
 and even carry in his bosom, those, who, al- 
 though they cannot be so often at his feet as 
 they wish, do not try to keep away, nor to get 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 25 
 
 away, from his feet. He will distinguish be- 
 tween those who cannot sit down to hear his 
 voice frequently, because of pressing domestic 
 duties, and those who seldom do so, because 
 they prefer to " hear the voice of strangers." 
 John x. 5. 
 
 The real question, therefore, in the case of 
 those who have but little leisure, is, What 
 engrosses your time ? Now, if duties which it 
 would be sinful to omit, fill your hands and 
 your heart all the day long, and even leave 
 you fatigued at night, it will not be laid to 
 your charge, as sin, that you were not much 
 alone with God. You ought not to be much 
 alone, when either a sick-bed or the care of 
 the family requires your presence. Then, " the 
 beauty of holiness" lies in watching and work- 
 ing in a devotional spirit, and not in frequent 
 nor in prolonged visits to the closet. That 
 mother is not unholy, nor inconsistent, who 
 has hardly a moment to herself, from morning 
 till night, owing to the number of her children, 
 or the sickness of her babe. That daughter is 
 3 
 
26 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 not unholy, nor unlike Mary of Bethany, who 
 shares her mother's toils and trials, or soothes 
 the loneliness of an aged and infirm father. 
 That wife is not unholy, nor unlike Mary, who, 
 in order to make her husband's slender income 
 sweeten his home and sustain his credit, works 
 hard all the day. All these things are, indeed, 
 done by many who care nothing about holiness, 
 and who would not retire to meditate or pray, 
 even if their time were not thus absorbed ; and, 
 therefore, the mere doing of these things, apart 
 from its spirit and motives, proves nothing de- 
 cisive as to the state of the heart before God. 
 Still, it is equally true, on the other hand, that 
 neither the time nor the care expended on 
 these duties disproves the existence of holiness. 
 There is, indeed, no true holiness, where there 
 is no secret devotion ; but there may be much 
 of the former, when there is but little time for 
 the latter : yea, the highest beauty of holiness 
 often invests and enshrines the character, whilst 
 the heart of a Christian must depend more upon 
 frequent glances 3t the throno of grnre. than 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 27 
 
 upon formal approaches to it. Then, to go 
 through arduous domestic duty, in a meek and 
 quiet spirit, which breathes prayer, even when 
 busiest ; or to watch and minister in the sick 
 chamber, mingling prayer with tenderness and 
 patience, and thus " doing service as unto the 
 Lord," or for his sake, is as decisive of piety, 
 and even " adorns the doctrines" of Christ as 
 much, as any act of devotion, however spiritual, 
 or any enterprise of zeal, however splendid. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no practical lesson of 
 godliness so ill understood, as this one. The 
 general sentiment of it is, of course, obvious to 
 any Christian, and the theory of it quite fami- 
 liar; but, how few enter so fully into the 
 spirit of the maxim, as to keep their piety from 
 declining, or their peace of mind from evapo- 
 rating, when they have much to do or to en- 
 dure in their family ! Then, it is no uncom- 
 mon thing for a pious wife, or a widowed mo- 
 ther, to complain that domestic cares have 
 brought a cloud upon all her hopes and evi- 
 dences of grace, and such deadness and dark- 
 
2S AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 
 
 ness upon her soul, that she seems to herself no 
 longer the same being she was, but like an 
 apostate from faith and godliness. Thus, she 
 thinks, that she has lost her piety, whilst doing 
 her duty to her family ! 
 
 And she certainly has lost some of her piety, 
 although not in the sense she means, nor yet 
 to the degree she suspects. She has lost that 
 holy freedom at the throne of grace, which 
 once made her closet the house of God and the 
 gate of heaven ; she has lost that power of ap- 
 propriating the great and precious promises, 
 which once made her Bible so dear ; she has 
 lost that control over her own thoughts and 
 feelings, by which she could once concentrate 
 them upon the things which are unseen and 
 eternal, whenever she really tried to pass within 
 the veil of the invisible world ; and, above all, 
 she has 1 st sight of her own warrant and wel- 
 come to trust in Christ, which once set and 
 kept every thing right. Now, these are serious 
 losses, and may well be sadly bewailed, 
 and even somewhat feared as to their conse- 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 29 
 
 quences ; for it is not so easy to repair these 
 spiritual injuries, as it is to bring them on. 
 They might all have been kept off, however, 
 if she had studied beforehand the secret of 
 blending the spirit of prayer with the efforts 
 of maternal devotedness, and the art of turn- 
 ing the duties of life into acts of godliness ; 
 but, having, like many, grown up under the 
 idea, that nothing was really a part of her piety 
 but what was a positive act of religion, and 
 thus being in the habit of estimating her piety 
 more by her delight in divine things, than by 
 her conscientious discharge of ordinary duties, 
 she is, of course, sadly thrown out and discon- 
 certed, whenever the pressure of ordinary du- 
 ties lessens the sense or lowers the spirit of her 
 religious observances : whereas, had she fully 
 gone into the question of personal holiness 
 at her outset in the divine life, she would have 
 soon discovered that it is the very leauty of ho- 
 liness to do that best which is most wanted at 
 the moment ; for even the cradle may be made 
 an altar, and the nursery a little sanctuary, and 
 3* 
 
30 A MOTHERS HINDERANCE3 
 
 household duties almost sacramental engage- 
 ments ! But if these things are looked upon 
 as the mere routine of life, or as unfavourable 
 to godliness ; and if only the time which can be 
 spared from them is considered improved time 
 for eternity, then, of course, there must be a 
 sad sense of declension in piety whenever more 
 time than usual is demanded by them. But 
 why not consider that unusual portion of time 
 which is required in seasons of domestic care, 
 MS improved for eternity, as well as the time 
 spent in devotion ? Why not do every thing 
 as service unto God, as well as the things you 
 call service done to him 1 Surely, if all Chris- 
 tians may eat and drink so as to glorify God, Chris- 
 tian mothers may watch and work for their 
 family to the praise of the glory of his grace 
 I am not inclined to resolve so many things 
 into satanic influence as some are : there are 
 many of our faults and failings but too easily 
 accounted for by the treachery of our own 
 hearts and the want of consideration : still, I 
 cannot help suspecting that Satan has not a 
 
DULY WEIGF 
 
 little, yea, much, to do with creating and keep- 
 ing up the popular notion, that nothing is spi- 
 ritual religion but spiritual exercises and emo- 
 tions. Not, indeed, that he is any friend to 
 spirituality of heart or habit : there is nothing 
 he hates so much, or tries more to hinder. He 
 can, however, transform himself into an angel 
 of light, and thus seem to plead for highly spi- 
 ritual religion, and for extraordinary devotion, 
 whilst, in fact, he is endeavouring to prevent all 
 religion and devotion too. 
 
 It is not sin alone, nor worldly pleasures 
 only, that Satan throws false colours over : he 
 can exaggerate the claims of holiness, as well 
 as soften the aspect of sin and folly. He often 
 labours to make out the necessity of too much 
 religion, as well as to prove the sufficiency of 
 too little : I mean, that just as he tries to 
 persuade some that the ceremonial forms of 
 religion are quite enough, or as much as can 
 be expected in our busy world and imperfect 
 state, so he labours to persuade others that 
 nothing amounts 10 saving piety but a heart 
 
32 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 all love, a spirit all heavenly, and a character 
 perfectly holy. In like manner, he adapts his 
 wiles to those who see through the fallacy of 
 such extremes ; putting it to themselves to say, 
 whether they might not as well do nothing at 
 all in religion, as do so little ; whether it would 
 not be less dangerous to make no profession of 
 godliness, than to have only a spark of its pow- 
 er ; or, at least, whether it would not be better 
 to give up prayer entirely, until they can secure 
 more time and composure, than to continue it 
 in the very imperfect way they are now com- 
 pelled to do ? 
 
 This is an appeal to the conscience of a ha- 
 rassed mother, which she little suspects to come 
 from the lips of Satan ; and yet he is as busy 
 in " taking advantage over" her, whilst thus 
 trying to make her give up what she attempts 
 in religion, as when he beguiled Eve to aim at 
 being god-like in another sense than she was 
 so. At this point, therefore, it is peculiarly 
 necessary to act on the injunction, " Resist the 
 Devil." That cannot be done effectually, how- 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 33 
 
 ever, by any process which does not turn the 
 duties of life into acts of godliness. He will 
 not "flee from you," whilst you merely analyze 
 and scrutinize his wiles and devices ; he will 
 try new fiery darts as fast as you defeat the old, 
 by mere arguments ; he will stand at your right 
 hand, resisting you, whilst you only resist him 
 by detecting him. When did he leave the 
 Saviour ? Not until he saw that nothing could 
 divert him from the " work the Father gave him 
 to do." Satan tried first to set him against 
 that work, by the poverty it involved ; then to 
 set him upon a new process of doing it ; and 
 then, to engage him in other work, altogether 
 different ; but all in vain. Satan found nothing 
 in the Saviour averse to the will of God, not- 
 withstanding all the labour, privation, and suffer- 
 ing which the great work of redemption in- 
 volved. " Then the devil left him, and angels 
 ministered unto him." And by no other pro- 
 cess than that of adhering to the work God has 
 given us to do, can we resist the devil so as to 
 make him flee from us. 
 
34 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 I do not forget (I never more remembered 
 or admired than at this moment) that Christ 
 resisted temptation by opposing to it the ex- 
 press word of God. It was, however, not the 
 quotations of Scripture, but the practical pur- 
 pose for which they were quoted, that discom- 
 fited the tempter. The Saviour drew upon the 
 word of God, that he might not draw back 
 from the word of God ; he wielded weapons 
 from the armory of heaven, that he might go 
 steadfastly through whatever the Father had 
 given him to do or endure on earth. 
 
 1 know well that there is no parallel be- 
 tween our work and the work of Christ ; but 
 still, our sphere, and its duties and hardships, 
 are the appointment of God, as well as Christ's 
 were so. It is not by accident that one mother 
 has much to do, and another much to suffer, 
 and a third much both to do and endure : 
 these heavy crosses are as really heavenly 
 appointments as the cross of Christ was, 
 although not for the same purpose. Accord- 
 ingly, in some things we recognise, and even 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 35 
 
 act on this principle, in express imitation of 
 the Saviour's example. When the cup of be- 
 reavement or affliction is put into our hands, 
 we try to say, like him, " The cup which my 
 Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? 
 Not my will, but thine be done." Thus we 
 really attempt to turn what we suffer much 
 from, into an occasion of serving God well, and 
 for submitting to him meekly. We regard this 
 as true godliness, and try to make it holy 
 submission. 
 
 Now, why not view every duty of life in the 
 same light, and both go to it, and through it, as 
 service required by God, and acceptable to God? 
 Perhaps you find it difficult to conceive how 
 some of your domestic duties could be in- 
 vested with any thing like a spiritual or holy 
 character : you may almost be inclined to 
 smile at first, at the idea of giving them a reli- 
 gious aspect ; and as to throwing the beauty of 
 holiness around all the details of life, it may 
 seem to you a profanation of divine things even 
 to think of such a mixture. Be not frightened 
 
36 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 or prejudiced, however, by words or fancies. 
 God himself does many things similar to those 
 you have to do : if you clothe your children, 
 He clothes the earth with grass and flowers : 
 if you feed your children, He feeds the young 
 ravens when they cry : if you watch night and 
 day, occasionally, over the couch of a sick 
 child, afraid to stir from its side, or take your 
 eye off it for a moment, He never slumbers nor 
 sleeps in watching over his suffering children : 
 God even " sits, as a refiner," by the furnace 
 of his backsliding children. If you try to 
 manage well, and to make the best of whatever 
 happens, for the sake of those who love you 
 and look up to you, He also makes " all things 
 work together for good to them that love him." 
 Thus God counts nothing beneath him, nor de- 
 rogatory to his character, which is really re- 
 quired by any of his creatures, or needful in 
 any part of his creation. He doeth all things, 
 little and great, ordinary and extraordinary, in 
 the same god-like manner ; acting always in 
 character, whether he sustain a sparrow or 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 37 
 
 create a world. He doeth all things in heaven 
 and earth, indeed, without quitting his throne, 
 or being disquieted by the multiplicity and 
 weight of his engagements ; but still, God oc- 
 cupies himself with our mean affairs, as wil- 
 lingly and fully as with the affairs of angels or 
 the interests of the universe. Nothing in his 
 glorious holiness holds him back from doing 
 ordinary things well, because they are but or- 
 dinary things : he acts like himself, whether 
 displaying the tenderness of a Parent or the 
 majesty of a Judge, and carries out his great 
 principles into all his operations. 
 
 If, then, He be not less holy, nor less beau- 
 tiful in holiness, whilst attending to the mi- 
 nutest claims of his universal family, why may 
 not " holiness unto the Lord be written" upon 
 all the details of your family duty ? 
 
 I am not pleading for what is called " mix- 
 ing up religion with every thing," if by that is 
 meant talking about religion whilst transacting 
 the business of life, or giving a religious turn 
 to every conversation. This is neither neces 
 4 
 
<&8 A MOTHER'** 
 
 sary nor wise, as it is usually conducted by 
 those who try it most : indeed, they are thus 
 often guilty of " casting pearls before swine," 
 and more likely to create prejudices against 
 religion than to commend it. Even their own 
 piety is in danger of being suspected of sinister 
 design or of sanctimonious pretence y by this 
 forced intermixture of sacred and common 
 things. So far, therefore, as speaking perpe- 
 tually about religion, or about every thing in 
 religious phrases, is concerned, I have no sym- 
 pathy with the habit, and see none of the 
 beauty of holiness in it. I have, however, quite 
 as little respect for both the vulgar and the 
 sentimental proverb " Business in its place, 
 and religion in its own place/' That really 
 means, in the lips of those who use it most, 
 " they are distinct things, therefore keep them 
 separate ;" a maxim equally treasonable and un- 
 true ! They are, indeed, made distinct things ; 
 but who made them so ? Not God : he joins 
 with the injunction, " not slothful in business," 
 the commandment "Be fervent in spirit, serv- 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 33 
 
 ing the Lord." He says, " Whatsoever ye do, 
 do all to the glory of God." It sounds ill, and 
 looks ill, therefore, when men, professing to be 
 Christians, say that they give themselves to 
 business and religion in turn, and never try 
 both at once. Such men do not understand 
 the spirit of true religion, whatever adepts they 
 may be in business, 
 
 I say this, however, far more in pity than in 
 blame ; for, as many godly women have grown 
 up in the habit of going through their domestic 
 duties, without ever imagining that there is 
 any godliness in performing them well, so, 
 many men, who have the root of the matter in 
 them, have grown up in the habit of regarding 
 their public duties in trade as no part of their 
 religion. They, too, count nothing piety but 
 what is done in the closet of devotion, and in 
 the house of God, except what they may occa- 
 sionally do in visiting the afflicted, or in re- 
 lieving the poor ; and thus both sexes confirm 
 each other in the pernicious opinion, that ordi- 
 nary duty is no proof of vital godliness. 
 
40 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 This is a pernicious opinion, however well 
 meant by some who hold it. Wherever, in- 
 deed, there is no devotion, nor any relish for 
 divine things, or, when the soul and salvation 
 are neglected through the attention given to 
 worldly things, no diligence nor honour in 
 business is religion in any sense. The in- 
 dustry of the bee, or the economy of the ant, 
 might as well be called piety. It is, however, 
 equally true, on the other hand, that idleness 
 and dishonesty disprove all pretensions to god- 
 liness : there must, therefore, be something in 
 the very nature of the ordinary duties of life 
 not unfavourable to vital godliness, seeing the 
 conscientious discharge of them is thus essen- 
 tial to the proof of its sincerity. Why, then, 
 should a pious man allow himself to think 
 that he is only serving the world during the 
 hours and bustle of business ? Why should he 
 ever speak or dream of leaving his religion at 
 home when he goes out into the world ? He 
 does not leave behind him his conscience, nor 
 his sense of accountability, nor his regard to 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 41 
 
 truth, nor his respect for his good name, nor 
 his holy fear of disgracing his profession: 
 these follow him, like his shadow, into all the 
 walks of public life. Not all the anxieties nor 
 distractions of his business can make him lose 
 sight of his great moral principles ; and yet 
 he says that he " left his religion at home." 
 He means, of course, his penitence, his spi- 
 rituality of mind, and his devotion ; these are 
 what he drops when he quits his closet and the 
 family altar; and certainly these are things 
 which cannot be much combined with worldly 
 affairs. I will even readily grant that it would 
 not argue much good sense, to attach much im- 
 portance to the hasty glances or the passing 
 thoughts of divine things, which may take place 
 in the course of the day ; these should not rank 
 very high in the scale of evidences by which a 
 Christian tests the reality of his conversion,, or 
 the safety of his state for eternity. Yea, I will 
 go farther, and allow that if he cannot prove 
 his faith without the scanty items of such evi- 
 dence, he cannot prove it with them : they are 
 4* 
 
42 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 too few and feeble to lay much stress upon 
 them. 
 
 These concessions do not, however, militate 
 against my argument : it is just because they 
 prove so little, that I advocate the necessity 
 and propriety of going to business, day after 
 day, in a spirit which shall make it all one em- 
 bodied proof of true holiness. Now, it would 
 be so, by going to it and through it, as a peni- 
 tent before God, as a debtor before Christ, as 
 a dependant before the Holy Spirit. A Chris- 
 tian man is all this ; and by a little pains he 
 might carry the consciousness of all this as re- 
 gularly into the world as he carries his honesty 
 or his integrity. He need no more lose sight 
 of what the hope of eternal life leads him to be 
 and do, than of what his credit and subsist- 
 ence require of him. It is just as possible to 
 act as a redeemed man, as to act as an honest 
 man. And here would be the advantage of 
 acting in this spirit instead of coming home 
 from business with all its deadening and dis- 
 tracting influence aggravated by the suspicion 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 43 
 
 of having been serving the world only, he 
 would have the consciousness that he had been 
 " doing service as unto God, and not as unto 
 man ;" and thus the conviction that neither 
 the time nor the thought he had given to his 
 public duties, had lessened his hold upon the 
 divine favour, or drawn any judicial veil be- 
 tween him and the divine presence. Whereas 
 the Christian who really leaves the spirit of 
 religion at home, because he deems it useless 
 or impossible to mind any thing but business 
 during the hours of business, cannot so easily 
 resume that spirit after the tear and wear of 
 the day. He feels as if all he had been doing 
 was somewhat sinful in itself, because it is 
 so deadening and carnalizing in its influence. 
 The consequence is, he is often afraid to go 
 alone with God, after having been long and 
 much absorbed in the world. 
 
 These remarks, although a digression in one 
 sense, are not at all so in another. They will 
 account in some measure for the false view 
 you have taken of domestic duties. You have 
 
44 AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 
 
 so often heard a pious father, husband, or bro- 
 ther, complain of the unhinging and deadening 
 effect of the cares of business on their minds, 
 and have so often felt that family duties and 
 cares had precisely the same effect on your 
 own mind, that you, like them, are too much 
 in the habit of considering the duties of life as 
 drawbacks or hinde ranees to godliness. I am, 
 therefore, very anxious to lead you into the 
 scriptural views of this subject, not only on 
 your own account, but for the sake of those 
 whose spiritual welfare is dear to you ; for, 
 without saying a word in the way of counsel, 
 or even of explanation, you may so illustrate 
 the great truth that " all things may be done 
 to the glory of God," as to convince your fa- 
 ther, your husband, or your brother, that bu- 
 siness may be made the handmaid of religion 
 in the world, as well as at home. 
 
 Are you a mother? How holiness might 
 beam and breathe in all your maternal duties 
 and cares ! Nay, do not smile in scorn nor in 
 pity at this fond wish ! I no more forget than 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 45 
 
 you do, that there is noise, nonsense, vexation, 
 almost drudgery at times, in the nursery ; your 
 patience, as well as your strength, is often 
 tried by your children ; you occasionally find 
 it no easy matter to keep your temper, or even 
 to keep up your spirits, amongst them. Were 
 they not your own children, you feel as if you 
 never could go through what you have to do 
 and endure. Now, I do not wonder at this ; 
 my only wonder is, how mothers can work 
 and watch, nourish and cherish, as they do f 
 There must be a magnetic charm, which fa- 
 thers do not feel, in the sweet thought " They 
 are my own children." We, too, love them, 
 sincerely and strongly, as you well know ; but, 
 somehow, we could neither do for them nor 
 bear with them, in your spirit, nor with your 
 perseverance. A sleepless night or two quite 
 exhausts our patience : the reflection, " They 
 are my own children," does not electrify us as 
 it does you, except when their life is in immi- 
 nent danger. Well, just carry out this electric 
 thought in your own maternal spirit, and ob- 
 
46 A MOTHER'S HINBERANCES 
 
 serve how you feel whilst you say, in reference 
 to their souls, " My own children ! They will 
 be mine for ever, both here and hereafter. 
 Nothing can dissolve all my connexion with 
 them. We may be widely separated on earth ; 
 we shall be divided by death, and it is not yet 
 certain that we shall be all reunited in heaven : 
 but wherever they are, in time or eternity, they 
 will be my family. I can never forget them 
 Until death, I shall instinctively look after 
 them, wherever their lot may be cast : at the 
 judgment-seat I shall look for them, whether 
 they stand on the right hand or on the left : 
 through eternity I shall remember them, 
 wherever I myself am, or whatever I may be." 
 Neither heaven nor hell can obliterate parental 
 recollections ; fathers and mothers will feel 
 themselves to be fathers and mothers 
 
 " Whilst immortality endures." 
 
 These are solemn considerations. Do not, 
 however, shrink from them ; they may become 
 equally sweet and sublime. Even already, 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 4? 
 
 they have thrown your spirit in upon your ma- 
 ternal responsibilities, and far out amongst 
 your parental prospects in both worlds. That 
 glance of solicitude you darted through the 
 assembled universe, in search of your children,, 
 when you realized the judgment-seat, proves 
 that you are not " without natural affection," 
 nor destitute of spiritual sympathy. And that 
 breathless pause you made, whilst supposing 
 yourself looking all around heaven for them, 
 reveals to you how dear their eternal safety is 
 to your heart, and how much their presence 
 would heighten your happiness, even in the 
 presence of God and the Lamb. What fine 
 preparation these glimpses of the great white 
 throne of judgment, and of the glorious high 
 throne of heaven, are for maternal prayer at 
 " the throne of grace !" Whilst the former 
 thrones are looked at, the latter cannot be 
 overlooked. You feel through all your soul,, 
 that any mother,, if allowed, would pray for 
 her children at the former thrones, if prayer 
 could avail there : and will you neglect to 
 
48 A MOTHER'S HINDERANCES 
 
 pray for your children at that throne, where 
 alone it is allowed or useful ? If you do neg- 
 lect this duty, it is not likely that God would 
 gratify you with either the company, or a 
 sight, of your children in heaven, even if both 
 they and you should be in heaven. But a 
 prayerless mother in heaven is an anomaly. 
 Her children are more likely to miss her there, 
 than she is to miss them ; or ? both to meet in 
 hell' 
 
 Neither, however, need miss the other in 
 Ikeaveu. Both may meet in one mansion of 
 glory, if both mingle their prayers at the throne 
 of grace. Heaven is not so inaccessible or 
 uncertain to families, as families, as some seem 
 to fear. We must not judge from appearances 
 in this matter. Heaven, as it is revealed in 
 the Bible, is a family-house, where " it may be 
 well with us and our children for ever." God 
 has said so. We must not, therefore, regulate 
 our opinion of His good will towards the fami- 
 lies of those that fear him, by the way in 
 which some of their children turn out. The 
 
DULY WEIGHED. 49 
 
 real question is, Did those parents take 
 God's plan, in both its letter arid spirit, for 
 training up their children ? That all godly 
 parents have done something, yea much, for 
 their families, compared with what the un- 
 godly do, there can be no doubt. But how 
 few even believe that there is a positive cer- 
 tainty of success, pledged by God, to all who 
 bring up their children in " the nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord !" The generality treat 
 this promise as a lottery, in which there are 
 more blanks than prizes. Thus both the faith- 
 fulness and the sincerity of God are disho- 
 noured. But, Mothers ! it is as true now, as 
 when Paul said to the jailor at Philippi, "Be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
 be saved, and thy HOUSE." The jailor had 
 asked only, " What shall I do to be saved ?" 
 Paul, however, would not allow him to confine 
 the question to himself. The promise is to 
 children as well as to parents ; and therefore 
 the Apostle answered the question so as to in- 
 clude both. 
 
 5 
 
50 A MOTHERS HINDERANCES, &C. 
 
 If these preliminary hints awaken any curio- 
 sity, or win any confidence, towards the de- 
 signs of this little book, you will not throw it 
 aside just yet ; nor wonder if, before resuming 
 this part of the subject. I take great pains to 
 secure the attention and- confidence of daugh- 
 ters, as well as of mothers. Read the next 
 chapter, therefore, on their account, or to your 
 daughters ; and do give weight to whatever is 
 experimentally true in it, by setting your " seal" 
 to its truth. 
 
No. II. 
 
 A DAUGHTER'S PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 
 
 IN addressing you, " I will (first) incline 
 my ear unto a Parable ; I will open my dark 
 saying upon the harp" of ALLEGORY. And, 
 should I close my appeal in the same way, you 
 will forgive me. Both Rachel and Miriam are 
 real characters, and will, I fear, recognise 
 themselves : but you, I hope, will try in vain 
 to identify either. 
 
 Both young men and maidens venerated 
 the aged SHESHBAZZAR, and vied with each 
 other in honouring his grey hairs as " a crown 
 of glory." He was a second conscience to all 
 the youth of Beersheba, who studied to main- 
 tain a good conscience towards God or man. 
 When the young men looked upon the daugh- 
 ters of the Canaanites, and thought of allying 
 themselves with " aliens from the common- 
 
52 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 wealth of Israel," they remembered that Shesh- 
 bazzar would not bless the forbidden union ; 
 and turned their attention to the daughters of 
 the Covenant. When the maidens of Beer- 
 sheba were fascinated by the garb and bearing 
 of the sons of Belial, they felt that they could 
 not meet the eye of the holy Patriarch, and 
 drew their veils closer around them in the 
 streets. Thus all the plans of the young had 
 a tacit reference to his opinion, and the hope 
 of his approbation and benediction mingled 
 with their brightest prospects. " What will 
 Sheshbazzar think of me 1" was a question, 
 which, however simple in itself, disentangled 
 whole webs of sophistry, and unmasked the 
 most plausihle appearances. It revealed the 
 secrets of the heart to the conscience, and the 
 frauds of the conscience to the judgment. It 
 was, indeed, a simple question ; but it searched 
 the reins like <" the candle of the Lord," be- 
 cause all who reflected, felt that the good old 
 man could have no object but their good ; and 
 that whatever influence he had acquired over 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 53 
 
 them, was won> not by stratagem, but by 
 weight and worth of character. It was the 
 spell of his fine spirit, which, like the mantle 
 of Elijah, cast upon the ploughman of Abel- 
 meholah, drew them after him as with " cords 
 of love." Amongst the daughters of the Co- 
 venant, who listened to his wisdom, and loved 
 his approbation, Rachel was the most enthusi- 
 astic. She was modest as the lily of the valley, 
 but sensitive as the tremulous dewdrops which 
 gemmed it. Like the clouds of the spring 
 upon Carmel or Hermon, she wept and smiled 
 in the same hour. Her spirit soared at times 
 like the eagle of Engedi, until lost in the light 
 which is full of glory ; and, anon, it drooped 
 like the widowed dove in the gloomy avenues 
 of Heshbon and Kedron. She was alternately 
 glowing and freezing ; too high or too low. 
 In all things, but in her modest gentleness, 
 she was the creature of circumstances. Even 
 in Religion, she had no fixed principles. She 
 was feelingly alive to its beauties, but dead to 
 its real spirit. Whilst it inspired thoughts 
 6* 
 
54 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 which breathed, and words which burned, with 
 immortality, she was enraptured with it: but 
 when its oracles or ordinances led to thoughts 
 of penitence, or words of humiliation, she had 
 no sympathy of spirit with them. She wept, 
 indeed, over her fallen nature ; but not because 
 it was fallen from the moral image of Jehovah. 
 The loss of intellectual power, not the loss of 
 holy feeling, grieved her. She felt deeply 
 mortified, because she could not maintain all 
 the mental elevation of a rational being ; and 
 she thought her mortification, humility ! She 
 deplored the weakness and waywardness of 
 her mind, in the strongest terms of self-abase- 
 ment ; but not because her mind disliked secret 
 prayer and self-examination. She lamented 
 that she had so little communion with God ; 
 but it was not the communion of a child with 
 a Father, nor of a penitent with a Saviour, but 
 the communion of a poet with the God of na- 
 ture of a finite Spirit with the Infinite Spirit 
 that had charms for her. She admired the 
 prophets ; but not for the holiness which ren- 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED, 55 
 
 dered them temples meet for the Holy Spirit 
 to dwell in, and speak from ; but because of 
 their mysterious dignity, as the ambassadors 
 of Heaven. She gloried in the altars and 
 mercy-seat of the temple ; not as they were 
 types of salvation by the atonement of the pro- 
 mised Messiah, but as they were the seat and 
 shrine of the cloud of glory and the sacred fire. 
 All this Sheshbazzar saw and lamented. But 
 Rachel was gentle, and he loved her ; she had 
 genius, and he admired her. Men of one idea 
 thought her mad ; and men with half a heart 
 deemed her a mere visionary. Sheshbazzar 
 regarded her as a young vine among the 
 rocks of the Dead Sea, whose grapes are em- 
 bittered by the bitumen of the soil ; and he 
 hoped, by transplanting and pruning, to dis- 
 place its poisonous juices. But the difficulty 
 was, to convince her, that even her virtues 
 were like the grapes of Gomorrah, unfit to be 
 presented " before the Lord, in the waive- 
 ofFering of the first fruits," or to be mingled in 
 " the drink-offering." They were, indeed. 
 
56 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 so ; for, like the vines of Gomorrah, she bore 
 fruit to herself, not to the glory of God. Her 
 morality was high-toned ; but only because 
 she reckoned immorality beneath the dignity 
 of female character. Her taste was simple ; 
 but only because she deemed follies unworthy 
 of her talents. Her sympathies were prompt 
 and tender ; but they were indulged more for 
 the luxury of deep emotion, than for the sake 
 of doing good. What became her as a wo- 
 man, and a woman whom Sheshbazzar reck- 
 oned "one of a thousand," was both the 
 reason and the rule of her excellencies. She 
 never prayed for grace to sanctify or sustain 
 her character : and as her tastes and pursuits 
 were far above even the comprehension, as 
 well as the level, of ordinary minds, Rachel 
 never suspected that her " heart was not 
 right with God/' The Elders of the city had, 
 indeed, often told her so in plain terms, made 
 plainer by the shaking of their hoary heads : 
 but, although she was too gentle to repel 
 the charge, she only pitied their prejudices. 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 57 
 
 Sheshbazzar, as she imagined, thought very 
 differently of her ; and his smile was set 
 against their insinuations. He perceived 
 this mistake, and proceeded to correct it. 
 He had borne with it long, in hope that 
 it would gradually correct itself. He had 
 made allowances, and exercised patience, and 
 kept silence on the subject, until his treatment 
 of Rachel began to be reckoned weakness, and 
 not wisdom, by his best friends. His plan 
 had been to bear aloft his young eaglet upon 
 his own mighty wings, until she breathed the 
 air of spirits, and bathed in the light of eter- 
 nity : and then to throw her off upon the 
 strength of her own pinions, that she might, 
 whilst he hovered near to intercept a sudden 
 fall, soar higher in the empyrean of glory, and 
 come down " changed in the same image," 
 and humbled by the " exceeding weight" of 
 that glory. But the experiment failed : she 
 descended mortified because of her weakness, 
 not humbled because of her un worthiness. He 
 resolved, therefore 
 
SU A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 " To change his hand, and check her pride." 
 " Rachel," said Sheshbazzar, " the first day 
 of vintage is near at hand, and there is but 
 little fruit on my vines : could we not send to 
 the Dead Sea for grapes of Gomorrah, and pre- 
 sent them before the Lord, ' as a waive-offer- 
 ing, and pour them out as a drink-offering r" 
 
 Rachel was surprised at the question ; for 
 it was put solemnly, and betrayed no symptom 
 of irony. 
 
 " Grapes of Gomorrah !" Rachel exclaimed ; 
 " ask rather, if strange fire, or a torn lamb, 
 may be safely presented at the altar of Jeho- 
 vah ? But Sheshbazzar mocketh his hand- 
 maid. The curse is upon all the ground of the 
 cities of the plain ; and moreover, the grapes 
 of Gomorrah are as bitter as they are beauti- 
 ful. Even the wild goats turn away from the 
 vines of Sodom. What does my father mean ? 
 The form of thy countenance is changed ! Like 
 the spies, I will go to Eshcol or Engedi for 
 clusters to present before the Lord-, for the 
 Lord our God is a jealous God/' 
 
PRINCIPLE SANALYZ ED. 5 
 
 " True, my daughter," said Sheshbazzar ; 
 " and if it would be sacrilege to present the 
 grapes of Gomorrah in the waive-offering, be- 
 cause they grow on the land of the curse, and 
 have imbibed its bitterness- ; how must a jea- 
 lous and holy God reject the homage of a 
 proud spirit ? The fruits of that spirit draw 
 their juices from a soil more deeply cursed 
 than the Asphaltic, and of which Gomor- 
 rah, when in flames, was but a feeble em- 
 blem." 
 
 " But, Sheshbazzar," said Rachel, " to 
 whom does this apply ? IN ot to your spirit ; 
 for it is a veiled seraph, lowliest in itself when 
 loftiest in its adorning contemplations. And 
 my spirU is too weak to be proud. I feel 
 myself a mere atom amidst infinity. I feel less 
 than nothing, when I realize the Infinite Spirit 
 of the universe." 
 
 " It is well, my daughter ; but what do you 
 feel when you realize Him as the HOLY ONE 
 who inhabiteth eternity ? Rachel ! I never 
 heard you exclaim, God be merciful to me a 
 
60 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 sinner ! You have called yourself an atom in 
 the universe an insect in the solar blaze an 
 imperfect grape on the vine of being : any 
 thing, but a sinner. It was not thus that 
 Abraham, and Job, and Isaiah, felt before 
 the Lord. It is not thus that I feel. You 
 think me like the grapes of Sibmah and En- 
 gedi, ripe for the service of the heavenly 
 temple. Ah, my daughter ! nothing but ' the 
 blood of the everlasting covenant' keeps me 
 from despair ; and there is nothing else be- 
 tween you and Tophet." 
 
 Rachel trembled. She had never marked 
 the humility of the Patriarchs, nor paused to 
 consider what the soul and sin must be see- 
 ing they required such an atonement. She 
 retired weeping ; and, for the first time, re- 
 treated into her closet to pray for MERCY. 
 
 However the first discoveries of the beauty 
 of holiness may be made, and whatever may be 
 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 61 
 
 the first motives which induce any one to de- 
 sire to follow holiness, neither its nature nor 
 its necessity are rightly understood, until both 
 the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the sancti- 
 fying grace of the Holy Spirit are duly con- 
 sidered. Until we look to the blood of the 
 Lamb and the sanctification of the Spirit, as 
 the only way of acquiring that holiness which 
 constitutes meetness for heaven, no moral sen- 
 timents, however pure, and no sense of the 
 beauty of virtue, however delicate, amount to 
 " a clean heart" or " a right spirit" towards 
 God. She who carries her inquiries after the 
 principles of true holiness no farther than just 
 around the circle of its duties, and over the 
 surface of its proprieties, ill deserves the high 
 privilege of possessing a Bible, and has no 
 right to call herself a Christian. 
 
 It is, indeed, both proper and necessary to 
 sit at the feet of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, 
 learning morality from his precepts : but it is 
 equally essential to sit at his feet in Gethse- 
 mane, where he trod the wine-press of the 
 6 
 
62 A. DAUGHTER'S 
 
 wrath of God ; and on Mount Calvary, where 
 he made his soul an offering for sin ; learning 
 there, also, the real evil of sin, and the infinite 
 expense at which it is pardoned and taken away. 
 In saying this, I ^do not forget nor under- 
 value the sweet influence which holy example 
 exerts over some gentle and ingenuous spirits. 
 The Shunamite is not the only woman whose 
 attention and good will to piety have been con- 
 ciliated, in the first instance, by the weight 
 and worth of a ministerial character like Eli- 
 sha's. Day after day, she saw the prophet 
 moving about in his sphere of public duty, like 
 a commissioned angel, with equal meekness 
 and patience ; happy in his work, and transpa- 
 rent in all his character : and this contrast be- 
 tween Elisha and hirelings, led her to cultivate 
 flis friendship. " She said unto her husband, 
 Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy 
 man of God, which passes by us continually : 
 let us make a little chamber on the wall, I pray 
 thee ; and set there for him a bed, and a table, 
 and a stool, and a candlestick." 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 63 
 
 In like manner, the lovely character of ex- 
 emplary parents and friends, has often sug- 
 gested the first idea of the beauty of holiness, 
 and excited the first desire to be holy. The 
 simple reflection, " I should so like to resem- 
 ble them," has not unfrequently led to imitation. 
 But imitation, whenever it has been attempted 
 on a large scale, has soon compelled to an ex- 
 amination of the secret springs of eminent holi- 
 ness. The want of success, or the wayward- 
 ness of some temper, makes the young candi- 
 date pause and ask, why she could not equal 
 her models, nor realize her own wishes. She 
 expected to be as much a heroine in practice 
 and perseverance, as she felt herself to be in 
 theory. She took for granted, that she had 
 only to resolve and try, in order to be as good, 
 as amiable, as holy, and happy in religion, as 
 the friends she admired most ; but the fond as- 
 pirant after high moral excellence, soon found 
 out that it was not so easily attained as she 
 imagined, and that she herself was not so 
 strong in principle as she supposed. 
 
64 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 This discovery is always the result of honest 
 endeavours to be very like very lovely Chris- 
 tians. It is, however, a most important dis- 
 covery. It may stop effort for a time, and even 
 discourage hope not a little ; but it leads to 
 such an observation of the principles and mo- 
 tives of those we have failed to copy, as soon 
 explains our failure. The discovery of our own 
 weakness is followed by a discovery of the 
 secret of their strength and success. We cease 
 to wonder, (however we may continue to weep,) 
 that we made so little progress, when we re- 
 solved to be as good as the best ; for we both 
 resolved and tried in our own strength ; or 
 with such a vague reference to the grace of 
 God for help, that success was impossible. It 
 could not be otherwise, whilst the cross of 
 Christ was to us only a solemn fact in sacred 
 history, and the work of the Holy Spirit merely 
 a cardinal article of the creed. Not in this 
 tame form did these great truths stand (we 
 saw !) before the minds of those we admired 
 and wished to resemble. We discovered that 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 65 
 
 the Cross and Grace were the only pillars on 
 which their hopes rested ; the very poles upon 
 which their habits and spirits turned ; the very 
 source and centre of all their religion and mo- 
 rality. This, we saw, made the difference be- 
 tween them and us. 
 
 These are invaluable lessons in experience, 
 whether acquired in this way, or by some 
 other process. They are, however, incom- 
 plete lessons, whilst they only lead us to per- 
 fect our theology, by bringing it up to the 
 standard of eminent Christians. It is, indeed, 
 well to take care that both the Cross and 
 Grace have all that prominence in our creed 
 which they hold in their creed. It is wise to 
 mark minutely how they glory in the Cross, 
 and depend on the Spirit, at every step and 
 stage of their piety. It is, however, quite pos* 
 sible to embrace the faith of the saints, because 
 it is their faith, without embracing it for their 
 chief reasons. They glory only in the cross of 
 Christ because they are sinners. This is their 
 first and chief reason for believing as they do. 
 6* 
 
66 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 I pray your attention to this fact. Your 
 pious friends are not, indeed, uninfluenced by 
 other considerations than their own sinfulness, 
 in thus making the Atonement " all and all," 
 as the ground of their hope. They are much 
 influenced by the example of the great cloud 
 of witnesses around the throne ; all of whom 
 washed their robes and made them white in 
 the blood of the Lamb : by the example of the 
 innumerable company of angels ; all of whom 
 also look into the sufferings of Christ with un- 
 tiring wonder and intense admiration : and 
 especially by the example of the Father, who 
 counts the Cross the glory of his moral go- 
 vernment ; and of the Holy Ghost, who con- 
 fines his agency to the exhibition and applica- 
 tion of the things of Christ, for the glory of 
 Christ. All these considerations are both 
 load-stars and leading-stars, to bring and bind 
 the confidence of your friends to the Lamb of 
 God. They often help their faith, by remem- 
 bering how the noble army of martyrs shook 
 the flames and the scaffold with the shout, 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 67 
 
 "None but Christ!" and by listening to the 
 New Song, as it swells for ever louder from all 
 the harps of heaven. Even the historic truth 
 and the moral triumphs of the doctrine of the 
 Cross, have no small influence in confirming 
 the faith of the saints in the sacrifice of Christ. 
 They are glad, too, that the wisdom of philo- 
 sophy is foolishness, and the inspiration of 
 poetry tameness, compared with the sublimity 
 and glory of the Cross. 
 
 Still, whilst all these considerations have 
 much weight with intelligent and devoted 
 Christians, they are most influenced by a deep 
 sense of their own personal guilt and danger. 
 They feel their need of such a Saviour as the 
 Lamb of God. They not only see that there 
 is nothing but the blood of Christ to cleanse 
 from sin : they see also that nothing else could 
 cleanse them from their sins. 
 
 Now, I need hardly say to you, that the 
 Christians you admire most, were not greater 
 sinners, before their conversion, than others. 
 In general, they had quite as fair a character 
 
68 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 as their neighbours, so far as morals were con- 
 cerned. They were not, therefore, driven into 
 their deep self-condemnation, nor into their 
 fear of perishing, by having been worse than 
 others. How, then, came they to think, and 
 feel, and act towards the Saviour, just as if 
 they had been the very chief of sinners ? You 
 know that they are not pretending, when they 
 adopt humiliating confessions, nor when they 
 look with streaming eyes and bleeding hearts 
 to the Cross. The real secret is this : they 
 know their own hearts ; watch their own con- 
 sciences ; test their own spirits ; and thus see 
 and feel their natural alienation from God. 
 What pains, humbles, and alarms them chiefly 
 is, the awful want of love to God, which 
 marked their early history ; and the sad weak- 
 ness of their love to Him, since they believed 
 that " God is Love." Hence, they can hardly 
 conceive how their ingratitude and insensibi- 
 lity can either be forgiven or removed. Even 
 with all the glories and grace of the Cross be- 
 fore them, they find no small difficulty in try- 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 69 
 
 ing to hope for their own salvation : because 
 neither that salvation itself, nor the amazing 
 sacrifice at which it was provided, has such an 
 influence over them, as they know it ought to 
 have. Thus they find causes of fear or sus- 
 picion, even in the very grounds of hope ; be- 
 cause those grounds do not affect and interest 
 them more fully. It is, therefore, their sins 
 against the Cross, quite as much as the sins 
 which made the sacrifice of the Cross neces- 
 sary, that makes them feel so self-condemned. 
 They see enough, and more than enough, to 
 condemn them, in the way they have treated 
 the Atonement made to save them. Thus, 
 there is neither pretence nor parade in their 
 humility. They do cling to the Cross, not 
 only because they wish to be holy, but al- 
 so because they are conscious that they de- 
 serve the wrath to come. They glory in 
 it, not merely that they may be sanctified, 
 soul, body, and spirit ; but also that they 
 may be plucked as brands from the burning. 
 The peril of perishing, as well as the love 
 
70 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 of holiness, influences both their conduct and 
 spirit. 
 
 Now, unless these be your reasons for giv- 
 ing the Cross a higher place in your esteem 
 than it had at first, you cannot have " like 
 precious faith" in it with your pious friends ; 
 nor can it have all that holy influence upon 
 you which it has upon them. You must trust 
 it as a sinner, if you would have it transform 
 you into a saint. You must flee to it as the 
 only refuge of the Lost, as well as the only 
 remedy of the unholy. 
 
 You see this, I hope. I am quite sure you 
 will consider it. It may not be altogether 
 pleasant or plain to you at the first ; but you 
 have already thought so much about Christ, and 
 that too for a holy purpose, that you cannot 
 stop now. Your sense of duty, and your desire 
 to be truly pious, are too strong, to allow you 
 to halt half-way between Sinai and Calvary. 
 I will, therefore, suppose at once, that even 
 this night you will retire to your closet, and 
 bow down before God, as a penitent, and not 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. il 
 
 merely as a candidate for immortality, as a sin- 
 ner, needing deliverance from the wrath to 
 come ; and not merely as an imperfect being, 
 needing only improvement. Remember ! there 
 are none in heaven, but those who came to the 
 Mercy-seat, in this spirit, and for this purpose. 
 This is, also, the very spirit of all those on earth, 
 whose piety you must admire. 
 
 Now, I should not at all wonder (however 
 much you may) if, on taking this view of your 
 own case, you find yourself led into self-ab- 
 horrence and self-abasement, as well as into 
 self-condemnation. It would not surprise me 
 in the least, to hear you cry, " Behold, I am 
 vile : unclean, unclean ; God be merciful to 
 me a sinner!" Nay; I should not be much 
 startled, even if you were so alarmed, at first, 
 by the discovery of your own alienation from 
 God, as to be unable for a time, to hope or 
 pray for mercy. Your guilt and vileness, in 
 caring so little about the God of salvation, may 
 open upon you in lights, which shall only re- 
 veal " clouds and darkness" around the Mercy- 
 
72 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 seat at first : or, some one sin, which has only 
 made you ashamed hitherto, may so shock 
 your conscience, that you may feel as if you 
 never could get over it, nor be able to look up 
 to God again with complacency or composure 
 This is not an uncommon case. Your pious 
 friends have felt in this way at times. Many 
 feel so, without knowing how to obtain relief, 
 or how the blood cf Atonement meets such a 
 case. Now, do you know ? Do you see how 
 the blood of Christ can so "purge your con- 
 science from dead works," that you can hence- 
 forth " serve the living God," without slavish or 
 tormenting fear ? Do you see enough in the 
 grace and glory of the Atonement, to lift your 
 spirit over that sense of sinfulness and unwor- 
 thiness, which creates only a dread of God, or 
 doubts of his willingness to save ? If not, you 
 have yet much to learn on this subject. In- 
 deed, you have not yet got hold of that " horn" 
 of the golden altar of the Atonement, which 
 enables a self-condemned penitent to lift her- 
 self above slavish fear, when she draws nigh to 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 73 
 
 God in prayer, in sacraments, and in practical 
 duty. Thus, you are not prepared to serve 
 the Living God " without fear, in holiness and 
 righteousness, all the days of your life." 
 
 And yet, you desire to do so. You not only 
 feel it to be your duty to serve " the Lord in 
 the beauty of holiness," but you are trying to 
 serve Him better than formerly, and willing to 
 increase and improve your present scale of 
 service. Like the Israelites at Shechem, in 
 the days of Joshua, you are not only ready to 
 say, " The Lord our God will we serve," but 
 ready also to enter into an everlasting cove- 
 nant of obedience. They, you recollect, in- 
 sisted upon ratifying their promise and inten- 
 tion by a covenant, and even engaged to be- 
 come witnesses against themselves if they drew 
 back. So far, this was a fine spirit. Joshua 
 must have been highly gratified to hear his 
 dying appeal, " Choose ye this day whom ye 
 will serve," thus warmly and honestly re- 
 sponded to. I say, honestly ; for there is no 
 reason whatever to doubt the sincerity of the 
 7 
 
74 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 people, when they thus pledged themselves* 
 Nor do I at all doubt your sincerity. You 
 may, however, doubt my kindness or candour, 
 when I venture to say to you, what Joshua 
 said to them, " Ye cannot serve the Lord ; for 
 he is a Holy God." I mean, you cannot serve 
 him "acceptably," until you are influenced by 
 other and higher motives than either the love 
 of virtue or the fear of punishment. Even 
 some distinct and deliberate reference to the 
 merits of Christ, and to the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit, as necessary to help or perfect your 
 well-doing, will not mend the matter. Even a 
 determination to say, after having done your 
 best, " We are but unprofitable servants," will 
 not forward your success much. Ye cannot 
 serve the Lord acceptably, but as an entire 
 debtor to the blood of Christ for mercy and 
 grace ; " for He is a Holy God a Jealous 
 God the Living God!" 
 
 These distinctions are not too nice, nor these 
 cautions unnecessary, nor these solemn views- 
 of God uncalled for, in your case. You need 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 75 
 
 them all, and will never do so well as you 
 wish, until you apply them all to yourself. 
 You doubt this, perhaps? It may seem to 
 you, that you could not serve God at all, if you 
 were to take such awful views of his character. 
 You may be ready to say, " Who can stand 
 before this Holy Lord God ?" Accordingly, 
 you deem it better, as you really wish to serve 
 him, to take sweet and soothing views of his 
 character ; to dwell chiefly upon His love and 
 mercy ; to realize God as a Father, and to rely 
 upon Him as a Friend. And, in one sense, 
 you are right in judging thus. Indeed, it is to 
 this lovely view of the Divine character I want 
 to bring and bind all your thoughts and affec- 
 tions. Nothing is further from my intention, 
 than terrifying you at the God with whom you 
 have to do. I would teach you to lay your 
 head upon his knee yea, to lean it upon his 
 bosom as calmly, and as confidingly, and as 
 cheerfully, as ever you hung upon a father's 
 neck, or reclined upon a mother's bosom. It 
 is not your pleasing ideas of God I want to in- 
 
76 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 terfere with. I am not leading you to question 
 the truth of them ; but to question your own 
 right or warrant to take such views of God, 
 whilst your views of the Saviour are so im- 
 perfect. Now, they are very imperfect, if you 
 see and seek in His merits nothing more than 
 weights to turn the scale of mercy in your 
 favour ; or to make up the defects of your obe- 
 dience. This is not making Christ " all and 
 all" in salvation. This is not glorying in the 
 Cross only. This is making Christ but half a 
 Saviour ! 
 
 You may not intend this ; nor yet be aware, 
 exactly, that such views of the Lamb of God 
 do not warrant confidence in the love, nor hope 
 in the mercy, of God. Such views, however, 
 do not warrant either. They are better than 
 Socinian views, which embrace nothing but the 
 example of Christ ; and better than legal prin- 
 ciples, which look for mercy as the reward of 
 good works, independently of Christ. I readily 
 allow this, and even wish you to attach very 
 great importance to the great difference which 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 77 
 
 thus exists between your creed and Socinianism. 
 You regard the Saviour as God manifest in the 
 flesh, and his death as a real sacrifice for sin. 
 You wonder how any one can pretend to be- 
 lieve the Bible, and yet deny the Divinity and 
 atonement of Christ. You feel, that were you 
 to treat Christ as merely a good man and a 
 great martyr, you would have no scriptural 
 right or warrant to regard God as a Father, or 
 even to hope in His mercy. So, then, there 
 are some views of Christ so low, and so unlike 
 the Bible, that you yourself would not venture 
 to hope, if you held them. At least, you see 
 clearly that they do not go far enough to justify 
 hope in God. 
 
 Now, we shall come to the point of my ar- 
 gument with you. I have cheerfully allowed, 
 that both your opinion of Christ, and your de- 
 pendence upon him, go much farther than So- 
 cinianism or Legalism ; but the question is, 
 Do they go far enough to warrant you to take 
 those encouraging views of God which, you 
 say, are essential if you would either love or 
 7* 
 
78 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 serve him well ? Now, you yourself will allow, 
 that if your dependence upon Christ come as 
 far short of the degree in which Paul and the 
 first Christians depended on Him, as Socini- 
 anism comes short of what you believe, then 
 you too are wrong, and reckoning without 
 your host, whilst taking for granted that you 
 are welcome to hope as much as you like in 
 God. Why are you not as much afraid to dif- 
 fer from Paul, as you would be to agree with 
 Priestley ? Weigh this question ; for there is 
 almost as great a difference between your de- 
 pendence and Paul's, as there is between your 
 opinion and Priestley's. You may not have 
 intended, nor even suspected, this ; but it is 
 true. Yes ; and the contrast is not between 
 you and Paul only : it is between you and all 
 the dead in Christ. Your song of redemption 
 is not the " New Song" of the Redeemed in 
 heaven. Your heart is not in unison with the 
 harps before^he throne, whilst you can speak 
 or think about the blood of the Lamb as a 
 balance for your defects and imperfections. 
 
PRINCIPLES ANA LYZED. 79 
 
 There is no such sentiment in the oracles of 
 God on earth, or in the lips of saints in heaven. 
 There, all the glory of salvation is ascribed to 
 the Lamb slain. 
 
 Now, it is this sense of debt to the Atone- 
 ment, and this degree of dependence upon 
 Christ, that I want you to cultivate as your 
 warrant and welcome to fill your whole soul 
 " with all the fulness" of God's paternal love 
 and tenderness. But neither this sense of 
 debt, nor this exclusive dependence, can ever 
 be felt, whilst you avoid to think of God as the 
 LIVING God : and this you do ! 
 
 Are you surprised at this charge 1 Do you 
 suspect that I attach any mystical meaning to 
 the scriptural expression , " the Living God ?" 
 I do not. I mean nothing more by it, in re- 
 gard to all the perfections of the Divine cha- 
 racter, than you mean in regard to some of 
 them. I think them all equally alive and 
 lively : but you do not. You do not, indeed, 
 think the justice of God dead ; nor the holiness 
 of God dead ; nor the jealousy of God dead. 
 
80 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 You revolt at the bare idea, and feel it to be 
 vulgar, if not profane, to use the word " dead" 
 in any connexion with God. I am glad you 
 feel thus afraid of the word : let your fear extend 
 also to the thing. 
 
 Look, then, at all that you mean by the word 
 " living," when you connect it with the Love, 
 the Mercy, or the Grace of God. There, you 
 give it a wide and warm meaning. The ever- 
 enduring life and liveliness of these lovely 
 perfections, you believe and admire. Were 
 they dead all your hopes would die too. 
 And well they might ! A God without love 
 or mercy, would be as useless to us as a dead 
 or dumb idol : for as He would do nothing for 
 us, it would be the same to us as if He could do 
 nothing for us. 
 
 I keep as fast hold, you see, as you can, 
 upon all that you admire in the Divine charac- 
 ter. I am equally afraid with yourself (indeed, 
 I can as little afford as you) to lose sight of even 
 one ray of His infinite love. Like you, I rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable, that it liveth and abideth 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 81 
 
 for ever, in all the lustre and warmth of its 
 original glory. But then so does also the ho- 
 liness, the justice, the integrity of God ! These, 
 too, are without variableness or the shadow of 
 turning. But you do not rejoice in them. You 
 are even afraid of them. You do not allow 
 yourself to exclude them from the character of 
 God, nor to treat them as if they were dead : 
 but their life is not much connected with your 
 hopes. You do not care to look often at the 
 Holiness and Justice of God, as they live and 
 move and have their being in the Gospel. 
 
 Now, this is what I meant, when I charged 
 you with avoiding to think of God as the living 
 God. You do not think him as much alive to 
 the glory of his justice and holiness, as to the 
 glory of his grace and mercy : and the conse- 
 quence is, you do not feel all a sinner's need 
 of the blood of Christ. Holiness and justice 
 had, however, quite as much to do with the 
 Atonement and it with them, as love or mercy had, 
 or they with it : and just because you have to do 
 with both, and both with you. Think of this ! 
 
82 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 And now, just suppose for a moment, that 
 you had to deal only with the strict justice and 
 the perfect holiness of Jehovah : how, in that 
 case, would you use the blood of Atonement ? 
 What stress would you lay upon it, if you 
 knew nothing about, any love or mercy but 
 just what it implied ? Would you, then, em- 
 ploy it only as a weight to turn the scale in 
 favour of your soul and your services ? Do 
 you not see, yea feel, through all your spirit, 
 that you would require to plead the merits of 
 the Atonement, even in order to be allowed 
 to serve God ? Yes, in order to be permitted to 
 serve Him at all ! 
 
 We think it a very great thing indeed when 
 we are willing to serve God at all ; and thus 
 we are ready to take for granted, that he must 
 be well pleased whenever we really try to serve 
 him. And, in one sense, all this is very true. 
 But, how came any one to be willing to serve 
 God acceptably ? How came God to be will- 
 ing to accept any service from fallen man on 
 earth ? This does not take place in hell. Fallen 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 83 
 
 angels are neither made willing, nor allowed to 
 serve God. Why ? No atonement opened a 
 new and living way to God for them. Christ 
 took not upon him their sins nor their nature ; 
 and therefore they would not be permitted to 
 try the service of God, even if they were in- 
 clined, which they are not. 
 
 Here, then, is the point at which you should 
 begin to re-study your own need of the Atone- 
 ment. You want it first to warrant you even 
 to speak unto God in prayer, about either your 
 own salvation or His service. For, what right 
 have you or any one, to pray for mercy, or to 
 offer yourself as His servant ? Not the sha- 
 dow of a right, from what you are, nor from 
 what you can do. Had not Christ taken upon 
 him your nature and your doom, as a fallen 
 creature, you durst no more have prayed, or 
 served, than fallen angels dare. You owe all 
 the opportunity you have, and all the inclina- 
 tion you feel, entirely to His sacrifice. But 
 for it, there would have been no more means 
 or aids of grace on earth, than there is in hell. 
 
84 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 You really must not allow yourself to be led 
 away from a full sight and sense of your need 
 of Christ, by the circumstances of the world. 
 You see, indeed, something as natural and re- 
 gular in the means of grace, as if Christianity 
 were the religion of nature ; for the Gos- 
 pel takes little children into the school of 
 Christ, and makes as much use of all that 
 creation or providence affords to illustrate sal- 
 vation, as of all that heaven and eternity fur- 
 nish to commend it. This is, indeed, a world 
 almost as full of the goodness and glory of 
 God, as if it were neither a rebel nor a fallen 
 world. The system of religious means and 
 motives, which is around you, is also, as much 
 adapted to the faculties and condition of men, 
 as we could well imagine a system of mental 
 discipline or moral government to be, to angels 
 or a newly made world of human beings ; for 
 it touches man at every point of his nature, 
 circumstances, and time. But all this, instead 
 of being allowed to hide from you the real or 
 the full place which Christ holds in the eco- 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 85 
 
 nomy of human affairs, should illuminate that 
 place, and make him appear " all and all" in 
 the whole array of temporal, intellectual, social, 
 moral, and providential good, which beams and 
 breathes around yon. For it is all here, just 
 because, and only because, He kept or brought 
 it here by his Mediation on our behalf. But 
 for that, all temporal blessings would have 
 been as much withdrawn from the earth, as 
 they are from hell ; and our world would have 
 been as destitute of means or motives to be 
 religious, as is the prison of fallen angels. It 
 is not, therefore, your actual sins only, nor the 
 plagues of your heart alone, that create your 
 absolute and equal need of a Saviour, in com- 
 mon with the worst. You are one of a fallen 
 and guilty race ; one of an apostate and im- 
 pure family ; and one of them by your own 
 acts and inclinations, as well as by descent and 
 inheritance. You have, therefore, no personal 
 right to cherish the shadow of a hope, nor to 
 offer a prayer or a service unto God. You 
 owe it entirely to the Atonement, that you are 
 8 
 
86 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 allowed to worship or bow down before Jeho- 
 vah, either as a suppliant or as a servant. Do 
 not lose sight, therefore, of your own condi- 
 tion, by looking round upon characters inferior 
 to yourself. Many, alas, are far inferior both 
 in their habits and spirit ; but still, you are 
 not so much above the worst of either sex, as 
 you are beneath the standard of both the 
 Divine image and law. Besides, what is it to 
 you, whatever others are ? You are guilty 
 and unholy in your own way and degree : and 
 for no guilt, defect, vanity, folly, or evil, of 
 heart or character, is there any remedy or 
 remission, but in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 The following allegory will, perhaps, illus- 
 trate this Essay. In all but her dilemma, I 
 commend Miriam to your imitation. Alas, 
 she did not convert Jared. 
 
 Jared and Miriam sat together by " the 
 waters of Shiloah that go softly." The setting 
 sun flushed the calm rivulet as it flowed on 
 towards the reservoir of the temple. 
 
 " There, Jared," said Miriam, " is an em- 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 87 
 
 blem of my church. The Jordan discharges 
 itself into the DEAD SEA ; but the waters of 
 Shiloah terminate in the Temple of God. Oh ! 
 that we, like the fountains of this sacred stream, 
 mingling their waters, could unite in senti- 
 ment, and thus flow calmly on to the heavenly 
 temple of God and the Lamb. But as I can- 
 not return to JUDAISM, and you will not quit 
 it we can never be * one spirit.' " 
 
 "Miriam, my own Miriam! you must return 
 to the God of our fathers. Know you not that 
 the ' ANATHEMA MARANATHA' of the Sanhedrim 
 will be pronounced on you, from the chair of 
 Moses, at the next new moon ? Surely you 
 will not, by obstinacy, incur the great excom- 
 munication of the sanctuary. Why should 
 you imagine yourself wiser than the ELDERS of 
 Judah ? Let me lead you back to the * horns 
 of the altar,' to ratify your vows to God and 
 to me." 
 
 " Jared !" said Miriam, solemnly and firmly, 
 " the great excommunication of the Sanhedrim 
 will sound to me as did the threatenings of 
 
88 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 Sennacherib, King of Assyria, to Hezekiah ; 
 as ' raging waves of the sea, foaming out their 
 own shame.' I shall pity the BOANERGESES, 
 and despise their thunders. And as to my 
 vows unto you, they are inviolate ; although 
 their fulfilment is delayed by circumstances, I 
 have no wish to retract my betrothment ; and 
 if I had, I know not that Christianity would 
 sanction the breach." 
 
 " The blessing of the God of Jacob be on 
 you for this assurance, Miriam ! but I cannot 
 think well of your hardihood; it is not the 
 heroism it seems to be." 
 
 " No, Jared ; nor is it the ybo/-hardiness 
 which you would insinuate ! But, forgive me ; 
 I will not take offence. You mistake my new 
 motives, and thus misunderstood my new 
 character. I, however, cling to the CROSS of 
 Christ, as if nailed to it, because I see nothing 
 else between me and hell. My guilty and un- 
 holy soul can only be pardoned or purified by 
 the blood of the Lamb of God ; and, therefore, 
 by that fountain I must I will abide, even if, 
 
fftlN<MPL-S ANALYZED. 89 
 
 like Abel^ my own blood should crimson the 
 ACELDAMA." 
 
 " Miriam ! you amaze and confound me. 
 This is absolute raving. A priestess of APOLLO 
 could not be more extravagant when rushing 
 from the Tripod. YOUR guilty and unholy soul, 
 MIRIAM ! How can you thus asperse your 
 own pure nature and character ? Your soul is 
 pure as the snow upon the loftiest summits of 
 Lebanon ; at least, its only taint is heresy ; 
 and that stain will soon be effaced by ' the 
 waters of purification,' in the temple. Only 
 quit the CHRISTIANS, and I shall soon rejoice 
 over you, as in the days of old ; singing this 
 song to the harp of Judah, ' Though ye have 
 lain among the pots, yet shall ye be as the 
 wings of a dove covered with silver, and her 
 feathers with yellow gold. SELAH !' You, 
 Miriam, unholy ! It is as if the dew of the 
 morning were to charge itself with impurity." 
 
 " Jared, and could the dew, even on Her- 
 mon, speak, it would acknowledge that it was 
 formed from earthly exhalations, and derived 
 8* 
 
90 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 its purity from the heavens. And as to your 
 song of triumph, you will never be warranted, 
 if I quit the CROSS, to sing it over me ; ' the 
 wings of a dove' are not given to the soul that 
 it may ' flee away' from CALVARY. No ; and 
 were my wings like those of the seraphim, 
 * full of eyes,' their starry radiance would soon 
 be .extinguished, like the glories of LUCIFER, 
 were I to cease from following the LAMB. 
 But, Jared, you think lightly of SIN ; you do 
 not see its evil, nor feel its malignity. You 
 regard nothing as sin, but IMMORALITY ; and 
 nothing as corruption, but VICE ; and, because 
 my character is as UNIMPEACHABLE as you 
 suppose, you suspect me of feigned humility 
 and extravagant penitence. These be far from 
 me ! I would that I were more humble and 
 contrite ; but always rationally scripturally 
 so." 
 
 " Well, Miriam, what do you mean by SIN ? 
 You surely do not imagine that your buoyant 
 spirits and natural sprightliness are criminal. 
 And as you have always honoured your pa- 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 91 
 
 rents, and kept the law from your youth up- 
 ward, what have you to repent of? Your only 
 sin has been against me ; and you persist in it 
 by delaying our marriage. I wish you would 
 repent of this sin ; and as John the Baptist said, 
 ' bring forth fruits meet for repentance.' " 
 
 ' Jared, be serious ; my repentance towards 
 God has no small or slight connexion with you. 
 Until of late, I loved YOU more than GOD. 
 This melancholy fact weighs heavily on my 
 conscience." 
 
 " Until of late ! And of late, then, Miriam, 
 you have conquered the habit of loving me. Is 
 this what I am to understand ?" 
 
 " No ! Jared ; nor have you the shadow of a 
 reason to suspect it. I, indeed, love God more 
 than formerly, but I do not love you less than 
 usual. I feel more solicitude tender, intense 
 solicitude^ in your behalf, than ever. And, 
 surely, you would not have me to love you more 
 than God !" 
 
 " Certainly not : that be far from me, Mi- 
 riam !" 
 
92 
 
 " And yet, Jared, you. alas ] love me far 
 more than you love God ; and is not that sin- 
 ful and symptomatic of an unholy heart ? You 
 could not, indeed, love God more by loving me 
 less ; but supreme love to Him would regulate 
 your love to me without at all lessening its 
 cordiality. Oh, consider how we have alien- 
 ated our hearts from God hitherto ! We lived 
 as if Jehovah had no claims upon our affec- 
 tion, or only such claims as the ceremonial law 
 could satisfy. I appeal to your own con- 
 science ! How often, even while engaged in 
 the duties of religion, * God was not in all our 
 thoughts !' We went to the Temple and the 
 Synagogue to meet each other on the SAB- 
 BATH, and while our lips joined in the songs of 
 Zion, our thoughts centred in ourselves. We 
 regularly witnessed the sacrifices on the GREAT 
 DAY OF ATONEMENT ; but our minds were 
 wholly taken up with the sublime music of 
 the silver trumpets, and the simple majesty of 
 the Levitical processions around the golden 
 altars. We partook of the PASSOVER for the 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 93 
 
 mere pleasure of eating together. Often have 
 we sat under this palm-tree while the priests 
 were drawing water from the fountains of Shi- 
 loah, and ' pouring it out before the Lord ; but 
 we marked only their picturesque beauty, and 
 felt only the transport of enjoying the scene 
 together. And at the hours of the morning and 
 evening sacrifice, while we repeated the PRAY- 
 ERS, we did not ' pray in the spirit.' JARED ! 
 we lived for each other not for the glory of 
 God. This is the guilt which lies heavily on 
 my conscience ; these are some of the melan- 
 choly facts which convince me that my soul is 
 naturally unholy ; and so is your soul" 
 
 11 Well, Miriam, suppose I grant all this : 
 see ye not what the concession involves ? No- 
 thing less than the duty of your return to 
 Judaism ; for if you are guilty by not honour- 
 ing the sacrifices sufficiently, how great must 
 your guilt become by neglecting and renounc- 
 ing them entirely ! You are caught -you are 
 completely entangled in your own net, Miriam!" 
 
 " Ah, Jared, I had hoped, from the serious- 
 
94 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 ness with which you listened to my confes- 
 sions, that you were joining in them for your- 
 self. I am disappointed ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing, 1 will answer you. I am not at all in- 
 volved in deeper guilt by neglecting the sacri- 
 fices. They never were a real, but a typical 
 atonement for sin ; and, now that the LAMB of 
 God is slain for the sin of the world, to honour 
 them would be to dishonour HIM. On my own 
 principles, therefore, a return from the glorious 
 SUBSTANCE to the shadows of it, would render 
 my guilt unpardonable. Besides, were it safe 
 to return, what a loss of enjoyment I should 
 sustain ! The transition from the CROSS to your 
 altars again, would be to me as Mount Moriah 
 would be to Abraham, now that he has spent 
 ages in Paradise ; as the cloud on Sinai would 
 be to MOSES, now that he has communed with 
 Jehovah ' in light full of glory ;' as the wilder- 
 ness to the whole church of the first-born in 
 heavea, now that they are without spot before 
 the "throne o God and of the Lamb. 1 do not 
 affect what I do not feel ; those spirits of just 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 95 
 
 men made perfect would lose only a part of 
 their bliss by exchanging worlds ; but were I 
 to exchange the CROSS for the altar, all my 
 happiness would change into ' a fearful looking 
 for of judgment and fiery indignation.' For, 
 if ' he that despised Moses' law died without 
 mercy, of how much sorer punishment, sup- 
 pose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who 
 hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and 
 counted the blood of the covenant an unholy 
 thing V " 
 
 " Your reasonings would be powerful, Miriam, 
 and your solemn conclusions just, were your 
 premises true. But a truce to this theological 
 warfare ; it would suit a Sanhedrim of RABBINS 
 better than it does a young man and a maiden 
 of Israel, under the shade of a palm-tree, on 
 the banks of Shiloah. It was not exactly thus 
 that JACOB and RACHEL reasoned amongst ' the 
 green pastures,' and by 'the still waters' of 
 Padanaram." 
 
 " But it is thus they reason now, Jared, 
 where ' the LAMB himself leads them to living 
 
96 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 fountains of water' in heaven ; and all the 
 armies of heaven unite with them in admirino- 
 
 o 
 
 and adoring the Lamb of God. Besides, RA- 
 CHEL had no occasion to reason with Jacob ; his 
 heart was right with God, and his soul safe for 
 eternity." 
 
 " Which mine are not ! you would say, 
 Miriam." 
 
 " Which, MINE were not, Jared, until I was 
 reconciled to God, by the cross of Christ. 
 Until the love of Christ won my heart, I was 
 utterly unfit for heaven ; for I had hardly one 
 sentiment or feeling in harmony with the en- 
 joyments or the engagements of Paradise. As- 
 a matter of taste, I had, certainly, revelled in 
 the visions of IMMORTALITY, when it was illu- 
 minated by the Gospel, before I believed that 
 Gospel. I could not resist the poetical attrac- 
 tions of the Christian heaven. Its thrones of 
 light, crowns of glory, harps of gold, palms of 
 victory, and its many mansions of bliss, fixed 
 my imagination, and elevated my soul. I 
 wished such an inheritance of glory. I felt 
 

 PRINCIPLES ANA LYZED. 97 
 
 that a different heaven would not satisfy me. 
 I saw, too, that it was ' Abraham's bosom' 
 opened ; the heaven of the FATHERS unveiled. 
 This heightened its fascinations ; but, at that 
 moment, I discovered that I was utterly unfit 
 for it. I desired a crown of glory, but felt that 
 I could not place it at the foot of the LA.MB ; 
 a harp of gold, but not to sing the ' NEW 
 SONG ;' a palm of victory, but not to wave it 
 in the train of Christ ! My proud heart re- 
 volted at the bare idea of such subjection to 
 HIM. I said, in my haste, Were all this ho- 
 nour confined to Jehovah, the Christian heaven 
 would be my choice ; but to divide the honour, 
 by worshipping the Lamb ! I spurned the 
 thought. And yet, TARED, I did not feel at ease 
 in doing so. I had misgivings of heart, as well 
 as prejudices ; and, in order to calm my fears, 
 I was compelled to express unto Jehovah, my 
 supreme regard to his glory, and my sincere 
 veneration of his authority. These, I said, 
 were my sole reasons for rejecting the Gospel. 
 Then I began to strengthen these reasons, by 
 9 
 

 98 A DAUGHTER'S 
 
 studying the DIVINE CHARACTER ; for still the 
 Christian heaven kept its hold upon my heart. 
 I could not forget its scenes and society. I felt 
 as if I was not right. I therefore plunged, as it 
 were, into the contemplation of the Divine 
 character. THEN, I saw, I felt, that I could 
 not 'stand before God.' It flashed upon me 
 with all the keenness of sensation, that I could 
 not bear to see GOD AS HE is ! His holiness 
 and justice appeared to me like the dark side 
 of the Shechinal pillar to the Egyptians, over- 
 whelming ! And yet, it was * the beauty of his 
 holiness,' it was the glory of his justice, that 
 overwhelmed me. I saw not, I felt not, at the 
 time, their terrors. One deep, calm, solemn, 
 awful conviction penetrated and pervaded my 
 whole soul ; it was, that I could not bear an 
 ETERNITY in the presence of JEHOVAH ! I had 
 never thought of this before, but taken for 
 granted, that, if I only were admitted to hea- 
 ven, all would be right. But when I consider- 
 ed that I had no delight in the character of 
 God, and that he could not love nor approve 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 99 
 
 this state of mind, I saw, at a glance, that, while 
 my heart was thus dead to his excellence, I 
 could have no communion with Him, nor with 
 the spirits who were alive to it. THEN then, 
 Jared, came the inquiry How can I be recon- 
 ciled unto God ? How can I become such a 
 character, that He can look upon me, and I 
 upon Him, with complacency, for ever and 
 ever ?" 
 
 " Go on, Miriam, this view of the matter is 
 almost new to me." 
 
 " To me, Jared, it was altogether new. Until 
 the immortality brought to light by the Gospel, 
 drew my soul within the veil, and confronted 
 me, in thought, with Jehovah, I had no idea 
 that I was unfit for an eternity of his presence 
 in heaven ; for I had never before paused to 
 consider, that, when he shall be seen ' AS HE 
 is,' ihen the light which reveals him, will reveal 
 the evil of sin, in all its enormity and ' the 
 beautias of holiness,' in ail their glory. But, 
 to see sin thus, and feel its principles within 
 me ! to see holiness thus, and not feel all its 
 
100 A D A U G H T E R'S 
 
 principles within me ! would render the Divine 
 presence intolerable. Heaven could not make 
 me happy under such circumstances. 
 
 " Well might the Prophet exclaim, ' Who 
 can stand before this Holy Lord God !' Jared ! 
 I could not stand before you, without con- 
 fusion of face and heart tou, were 1 conscious 
 of not loving you as I ought. How over- 
 whelming then would an eternity of the Divine 
 presence be, without the consciousness of entire 
 and intense love to God ! I felt this and felt, 
 too, that I neither had, nor could produce such 
 love to him. The necessity of it was self- 
 evident, but the acquisition of it seemed impos- 
 sible. Thus my own conscience shut me out 
 of heaven. But, by this process, God was 
 * shutting me up unto the faith.' Accordingly, 
 the moment I saw that, by believing his testi- 
 mony concerning Christ, I should be justified 
 and adopted, and thus placed under the sancti- 
 fying influences of his Spirit, I found it impos- 
 sible not to love God. My way was then clear : 
 and now I see clearly how the perfection of the 
 
PRINCIPLES ANALYZED. 1Q1 
 
 atonement will give eternal peace to the con- 
 science, and secure such purity of soul, that 
 the open vision of God will neither overpower 
 nor embarrass the followers of the Lamb." 
 
 " Miriam, Paul should have made an excep- 
 tion in your favour, and suffered you to speak 
 in the Church. I will certainly suffer you to 
 speak at home, if you are always thus eloquent. 
 1 love eloquence ; and, although I dislike your 
 Gospel, as you call it, I will not contradict you. 
 You shall have your own way in religion. 
 Can you wish for more from ' a Hebrew of the 
 
 Hebrews V " Miriam wept ! 
 9* 
 
No. III. 
 
 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 IT was, indeed, a Poet who compared " the 
 beauties of Holiness," to " to the dew of the 
 morning ;" but the comparison is not a poetical 
 license. It is poetry of the highest order : but 
 it is also sober fact. The Harp of Juda breathed 
 it in music : but an inspired hand swept the 
 strings. David was a Prophet as well as a 
 
 poet ; and, therefore, we are both warranted 
 
 * . 
 and bound to say, when he predicts the number 
 
 or the beauty of the Church, under the emblem 
 of morning dew, " The prophecy came not in 
 old time by the will of man ; but holy men of 
 God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost." Thus it was the Eternal Spirit who 
 suggested and sanctioned the comparison ; and 
 as he is both the author and finisher of all true 
 
 005 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 103 
 
 Holiness, we may be quite sure that dew is 
 neither a false nor a fanciful emblem of its 
 beauty. Besides, splendid as Old Testament 
 emblems of Holiness are, they are not so 
 splendid as those which occur in the New 
 Testament. The Apostles go far beyond the 
 Prophets, in emblazoning Holiness. They as- 
 sert its sublimity, as well as its beauty. "We 
 all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
 image, from glory to glory, even as by the 
 Spirit of the Lord." Thus Paul represents 
 growth in grace as growth in glory ; or pro- 
 gressive sanctification on earth as akin to pro- 
 gressive glory in heaven. Neither the evening 
 stars of the Angelic hierarchy, pressing upon 
 the spheres of its morning stars ; nor the Ge- 
 neral Assembly of Time, rising to the stature 
 and strength of the elder spirits of Eternity ; 
 nor, indeed, any assent in the scale of heavenly 
 perfection, could so dazzle him, or so eclipse 
 the beauty of earthly holiness, as to make him 
 ashamed to call its progress, a change " from 
 
104 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 glory to glory." He goes even farther and 
 higher than this ; and declares that Believers 
 are made " partakers of a Divine nature," by 
 the influence of the great and precious promises. 
 Thus it is, as the Saviour said, " That which is 
 lorn of the Spirit is spirit." Both Prophets 
 and Apostles understood this sublime fact, and 
 therefore admired and celebrated the beauty of 
 holiness. Paul, especially saw and pointed 
 out the " loveliness" of whatsoever things are 
 pure. Pe*.er also does not hesitate to call 
 female holiness an " ornament, which is, in the 
 sight of God, of great price." 
 
 It is, therefore, neither wise nor humble to 
 overlook " the beauties of holiness." God him- 
 self admires them, and calls them " the riches 
 of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." 
 And the Saviour (who never flatters, sentimen- 
 talizes, or compliments) pronounces, not only a 
 special benediction upon "the pure in heart," 
 but says also in unqualified terms, " Herein is 
 my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." 
 Thus the fruits of the Spirit are praised for 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 105 
 
 their beauty, as well as enforced for their ne- 
 cessity. 
 
 I am fiLiy aware, however, that by bringing 
 together these Scriptural views of personal 
 holiness, I may startle, if not discourage for a 
 moment, some who sincerely desire to be holy. 
 It may seem, in this lovely and lofty form, an 
 impossible thing in our own case. We may 
 even be ready to exclaim, on casting a hurried 
 glance around the circle of our pious friends, 
 Whose holiness is thus beautiful ? Where is 
 the sanctification to be seen which resembles 
 the dew of the morning ; or the grace, that is 
 glory in the bud ? This is, however, a hasty 
 question. We have applied both these pure 
 emblems to some of our friends, who were ripe 
 for heaven, when they were removed from the 
 earth. Our memory lingers upon the beauty, 
 as well as upon the strength, of certain features 
 of their character and spirit. We said when 
 they died, and have often whispered to our- 
 selves since, O that I were as " meet for the 
 inheritance of the saints in light !" Yea, in 
 
106 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 regard to some of the living in Jerusalem, we 
 feel that their character is truly lovely. It is 
 not spotless ; but it is very transparent in in- 
 tegrity and benevolence. It is not " already 
 perfect ;" but like light, it is shining more and 
 more unto the perfect day. Some of our pious 
 friends have such worth of character, that their 
 censure or approbation weighs with us, like 
 the decisions of a second conscience, in our 
 breast : we have such entire confidence in 
 their candour and prudence ; in their discern- 
 ment and uprightness. Thus there are both 
 Fathers and Mothers in Israel, whose holiness 
 we feel to be very beautiful. Even the world 
 cannot withold homage from it ; it is so con- 
 sistent. And in the fold of the Church, there 
 are both sheep and lambs, which so hear the 
 voice and follow the steps of the Good Shep- 
 herd, that we can easily believe in their case, 
 how He who laid down his life for them, should 
 lead them gently, and even " carry them in his 
 bosom," when the way is rugged, or their 
 strength exhausted. 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 107 
 
 Thus, there is some holiness on earth worthy 
 of admiration, as well as of imitation. The 
 image of God upon the soul, although not ge- 
 neral, and never perfect in this world, is yet to 
 be seen here and there, like " a lily amongst 
 thorns," lovely in itself and illustrious by con- 
 trast. Neither the Abrahams nor the Sarahs, 
 the Zechariahs nor the Elizabeths, the Rachels 
 nor the Marys of antiquity, are without paral- 
 lels in our own times, or without successors in 
 our spheres. 
 
 " But none of them," it may be said, " ad- 
 mire their own character, or see any beauty in 
 their own holiness. We admire them: but 
 even the best of them abhor themselves, and 
 can neither bear to speak nor think of their 
 own excellence : How is this ?" It is easily 
 accounted for. Eminent holiness is always 
 accompanied with profound humility. Accor- 
 dingly, even in Heaven, the Seraphim veil 
 their faces with their wings, and the crowned 
 martyr uncrowns himself before the throne : no 
 wonder, therefore, if the saints on earth hide 
 
108 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 their faces in the dust of self-abasement, when 
 they think or speak about themselves. The 
 beauty of angelic holiness the beauty of JE- 
 , H'S glorious holiness, is before their eyes 
 vividly arid constantly; and in its pres< 
 they may well say, " Behold, I am vile, and 
 abhor myself:" for as the natural eye feels 
 nothing but its own weakness when it gazes 
 upon the meridian sun, so the eye of the mind 
 can see nothing but deformity and imperfection 
 in the heart and character, when it gazes upon 
 the infinite and immaculate purity of the God- 
 head. No saint, who compn -hf-rids at all the 
 heights or depths, the lengths or breadths, of 
 the Divine image, can ever be satisfied with 
 his own holiness, or cease to !< ;i-.lnmed of it, 
 until he awake in besrefl in all the beauty of 
 the moral image of God. " As for me," said 
 David, " I shall be satisfied when I awake in 
 thy likem---." Thus he who recognised in 
 earthly holiness the beauty of the morning dew, 
 was not satisfied with its purity or splendour. 
 He saw in it also, as in dew, an evanescence, 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 109 
 
 and a weakness, and a sediment, which filled 
 himself with shame, and kept him from compli- 
 menting others. Still, whilst this is, and ever 
 ought to be, the humbling effect of clear and 
 solemn views of Divine Holiness, it is of him- 
 self \ not of his holy principles themselves that 
 a Christian is thus ashamed. He does not 
 think lightly of the work of the Holy Spirit 
 upon his heart and conscience, because he 
 thinks meanly of himself. He does not con- 
 found the Spirit with the flesh, nor the law of 
 his mind with the law in his members, when 
 judging of his own character. He sees, in- 
 deed, far more evil than good in himself; but 
 he no more calls the good evil, than he calls 
 the evil good. He is more pained by the 
 plagues of his heart, than pleased with its best 
 feelings or principles : but still, he is very 
 thankful for whatever grace he has obtained. 
 
 In making these distinctions I do not forget, 
 
 that there are times, (and these not few nor 
 
 far between, in the case of some holy men and 
 
 women,) when a real Christian is so absorbed 
 
 10 
 
110 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 and shocked by the plagues of his heart, that 
 he is ready to unchristianize himself entirely. 
 In the hurry and agitation of these awful mo- 
 ments, he does confound the Spirit with the 
 flesh : and instead of saying like Paul, " in me 
 (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," 
 he says, " in me, soul, body, or spirit, dwelleth 
 no good thing." He forgets the law of his 
 mind, whilst the law of sin and death is thus 
 in fearful power. 
 
 These volcanic bursts of the old nature are not, 
 however, so lasting as they are overwhelming. 
 Even whilst they do last, they are so deplored, 
 and hated, and loathed by the Christian him- 
 self, that it is quite obvious to others, however 
 he may overlook the facts, that neither his will 
 nor his taste is a consenting party to the re- 
 bellion within. The horror it creates, proves 
 that he loves holiness. The old man does not 
 rebel in this way, where there is no attempt 
 nor desire to " put on the new man, which is 
 created after the image of God." Both "righte- 
 ousness and true holiness," have struck their 
 
EMBLEMS OP HOLINESS. HI 
 
 roots deep into the heart, which thus bleeds 
 and is ready to break, when nature overpowers 
 grace. Indeed, it is " the root of the mat- 
 ter," making room for striking itself deeper 
 and spreading itself wider, that causes this 
 convulsion and struggling among the roots and 
 branches of indwelling sin. Accordingly, 
 Paul said, " when I would do good, evil is pre- 
 sent with me." And again, " when the com- 
 mandment came, sin revived." Thus it is only 
 in the heart which tries to delight in the law 
 of God, that this strong rebellion is much felt 
 or noticed. There, however, it creates posi- 
 tive wretchedness whilst it lasts ; and when it 
 subsides, who can tell the joy of a Christian ? 
 It is joy unspeakable, when his gracious prin- 
 ciples begin to lift up their heads again after 
 the conflict : and it is " full of glory," when 
 he finds himself looking again with some faith 
 and hope to Christ and Holiness. Then, like 
 Paul, he adds, " Thanks be unto God who 
 giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ :" this sweet song follows the bitter 
 
112 E M B L E M 9 F H L I N E 9 S. 
 
 cry, " O wretched man that I am ! who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death ?" 
 Thus a Christian not only rallies after appa- 
 rent defeat, but also learns the worth of his 
 holy principles, which kept sin hateful when 
 it was most headstrong, and holiness beautiful 
 whilst most opposed. In ordinary circum- 
 stances, however, much caution is requisite, in 
 rightly dividing our attention between the ne- 
 cessity and the beauty of holiness. Far better 
 follow it, simply because without it no one shall 
 " see the Lord," than follow it ostentatiously, 
 to be " seen of men." The Pharisees forgot, 
 this, and became equally legal and lofty. As 
 soon as they thought themselves righteous, 
 they despised others. " Stand aside," soon 
 grew out of the boast, " I am holier than 
 
 O ' 
 
 thou." This melancholy fact should teach us 
 to be even jealous of our own hearts. They 
 are capable of being "puffed up," by moral, 
 as well as by intellectual superiority. Self- 
 complacency can plume itself upon graces, as 
 well as upon gifts. 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 113 
 
 We must not, however, learn more from the 
 warning example of the Pharisees than it was 
 intended to teach. Now, it never was held up 
 to convey or suggest the idea, that true holi- 
 ness could betray us into pride or self-righte- 
 ousness. No ; the farther we follow real holi- 
 ness, the farther we shall be from vanity and 
 legality, and the lower we shall lie at the foot 
 of the cross, and at the footstool of the mercy- 
 seat. The holiest of the holy men and women 
 of old, were always the humblest of their ge- 
 neration : and for this obvious reason ;- they 
 made the law of God the standard, and the 
 image of God the model, of their holiness : and 
 with these infinite mirrors for ever before them, 
 they could neither admire themselves, nor di- 
 vide their confidence between faith and works. 
 It was ceremonial holiness that betrayed the 
 Pharisees. They made righteousness to con- 
 sist in repeating a certain number of prayers ; 
 in paying the regular tithes, and in observing 
 the stated feasts and festivals of the temple. 
 In these things they were more precise or more 
 10* 
 
114 EMBLEMS Or HOLINL 
 
 ostentatious than others ; and thus they came 
 to despise others, and to flatter themselves. 
 Not a man of them, however, would or could 
 have done so, if he had studied holiness iu the 
 moral law, or in the revealed image of God. 
 Either of these, if honestly contemplated, 
 would have been a ' schoolmaster" to bring 
 them to Christ. For, who can look at the per- 
 fection required by the law, or at the p. 
 implied in conformity to the Divine image, and 
 not see that a justifying Saviour and a sancti- 
 fying Spirit are equally necessary in order to 
 her salvation ? The soul that is intent upon 
 true holiness, must depend on Christ and G 
 entirely, or despair entirely: for all the natural 
 reasons of duty are moral reasons for despair. 
 Mediatorial reasons only can give either heart 
 or hope to the soul, in the face of a law that 
 requires absolute perfection, and of a heaven 
 which admits nothing that defileth. 
 
 Now, we come to the point for close self- 
 examination. We have seen that there are 
 two extremes, to which we are equally prone. 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. U5 
 
 by turns ; sloth and self-complacency. By 
 which of these are we most frequently be- 
 trayed ? If by sloth we have most need to 
 study the necessity of holiness. The con- 
 viction, that without holiness we cannot see 
 the Lord, is very weak, if we can relax in duty, 
 or leave the state of our hearts to accident. 
 Whenever we reckon it a trouble to take pains 
 with our habits and spirit before God, we are 
 upon the highway to backsliding. Both the 
 heart and the conscience are perverted in 
 no small degree, when watchfulness or effort 
 ceases ; and when either ceases, under any ex- 
 cuse or pretence drawn from the grace of God, 
 it is high time to take alarm at ourselves : for 
 even our understanding is far perverted, if we 
 can pervert Grace into an apology for idleness 
 and inconsistency. O yes ; a blight has fallen 
 upon the eyes of our understanding, as well as 
 upon the tenderness of our conscience, if we 
 can tamper with express law because free Grace 
 abounds. For, what convert did not see, at 
 first, more in grace, than even in law, to bind 
 
116 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 him to circumspect holiness ? We certainly 
 saw nothing in the Cross or the Covenant, to 
 release us from high moral obligation or ha- 
 bitual watchfulness, when we first looked to 
 them for mercy to pardon and grace to help. 
 We intended and desired no compromise then, 
 .between God and the world. If, therefore, we 
 now imagine that we see in the Cross or the 
 Covenant any thing to warrant or wink at 
 what our own conscience condemns, our " eye 
 is evil :" for there is neither sanction nor shield 
 in them to protect any wrong habit or temper. 
 They reign and remain to crucify us to the 
 world, and the world to us : and therefore our 
 glorying in them is not good, so far as it ad- 
 mits a compromise between sin and duty. 
 
 But neither strong nor startling assertions, 
 however solemn and severe, will remedy this 
 evil effectually. Warnings, even declamations, 
 do not reach the root of it. Many wlio can 
 say as loudly as Paul, that his " damnation 
 is just, who sins because grace abounds," do 
 not like Paul make the abounding of grace a 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. H7 
 
 universal and daily reason for abounding" in 
 holiness. They do not venture, indeed, to sin 
 or compromise upon a large scale, because 
 grace abounds ; but they do some things, and 
 leave other things undone, which they would 
 not, and durst not, if grace did not abound. I 
 mean, that were certain habits and tempers 
 beyond the high-flood mark of the spring-tides 
 of mercy, and known to be unpardonable, there 
 would be a speedy rush of many from the dry 
 places they now occupy, to the spot washed by 
 the waves of pardon. It is, therefore, by re- 
 garding some wrong things as not unsafe nor 
 unpardonable, that many persist in them. 
 They would give them up at once and entirely, 
 if they deemed them fatal, or utterly irrecon- 
 cileable with a state of grace. Now this, 
 although not exactly sinning because grace 
 abounds, is very like it. For if a man do 
 what he would not dare, if he counted it un- 
 pardonable, it is very evident that the abound- 
 ing of grace, in some way, is his secret reason, 
 although not his assigned one. He does not, 
 
118 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 indeed, say, " Let us sin" to any extent, " be- 
 cause grace abounds ;" but he evidently thinks, 
 or tries to think, that he is not actually and 
 altogether perilling or disproving his own 
 hopes by his own indulgences. In a word, he 
 -ome way of making out to himself, that 
 his own faults are not incompatible with being 
 really in a state of grace ; and, therefore, 
 although he does not exactly justify them, he 
 does not correct them, nor is he much afraid of 
 them. " Grace," he says, " has to bear with 
 something wrong, even in the best : and as my 
 besetting sin is not of the very worst kind ; 
 and as there are some sins I would not commit, 
 and some duties I would not neglect, for 
 worlds, nor on any account whatever, I am 
 not surely presuming very much, when I 
 reckon myself in a state of grace, notwith- 
 standing all my faults." Thus, it is rather 
 some perverted notion about the securities of a 
 state of grace, than direct and determinate pre- 
 sumption upon the abounding of grace, that 
 betrays many into a lax holiness, or into al- 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 119 
 
 lowed inconsistencies of character and temper. 
 I do not, therefore, confound such persons 
 with those who " turn the grace of God into 
 licentiousness ;" but I do remind you and my- 
 self, and that with warning and weeping so- 
 lemnity, that this was the first step of the 
 antinomian process by which the primitive 
 compromisers became licentious apostates and 
 judicial reprobates. They begun their unholy 
 career by trying to bend grace into a shelter 
 for some one favourite sin ; and, having per- 
 suaded themselves that one was not fatal, 
 they went on from bad to worse, until they 
 drowned themselves in perdition. At first 
 they threw the cloak of Christian liberty over 
 a few faults ; by and by, over many ; and, 
 at last, they made it " a cloak for licentious- 
 ness" itself. 
 
 Now this, we not only do not want to do, 
 but we abhor it as much as we dread it. It 
 would be any thing but gratifying to us, if 
 grace could be thus perverted with safety 
 What we are inclined or tempted to wish for, 
 
120 EMBLEMS OF 
 
 
 is, such a forbearance or winking- at what is 
 wrong about us, as shall allow our faults to go 
 on, without exactly throwing us out of a state 
 of grace, before we find it convenient and 
 agreeable to give them up : for we intend to 
 cruc. now try 
 
 .'use. V. and 
 
 1 of 
 
 life, nor so u< larken or embitter 
 
 our death-bed. V/hat a sho vield 
 
 now to any thing we are thus pledged to con- 
 
 hereafter! \Vhv.ifo-. haracter 
 
 ould 
 
 'i for another day. any fault or 
 flaw, wh: can cure, arid prayer efface, 
 
 to remain 9 It would cost us far less trouble 
 to correct at once the worst fault we have, than 
 it costs to get over the misgivings of heart and 
 the twinges of conscience, which that fault 
 occasions in the closet and at the sacrament. 
 ;des, we have already made greater sacri- 
 fices to conscience and duty, than any we have 
 to make. All our great sins are given up for 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS!. 121 
 
 erer, and willingly too : and shall the little ones 
 hold us in bondage? 
 
 Do we feel, in the presence of these expo- 
 sures and remonstrances, any inclination to 
 say, " Why this is making grace as strict as 
 Law could be : what then is the advantage 
 of being under grace, instead of law, if so 
 much circumspection and impartiality be requi- 
 
 Here is the advantage : " sin then shall not 
 have the dominion over" us, if we be under 
 grace : and if we reckon this no advantage, we 
 do not understand the Law well, nor Grace 
 aught. 
 
 Are we half-inclined to try the prillou in 
 another form, and to ay, a Still, as something 
 wrong will remain, do whatever we may, why 
 not let that fault remain, which we find most 
 difficult to conquer? Might tbere not come a 
 worse in its place 7* 
 
 I wrQ not call das pleading /or sin. It may 
 
 U 
 
122 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 to set aside. Indeed, no Christian would dare 
 to vindicate a sin, great or small, by name. 
 He must regard even his chief fault as an in- 
 firmity, or a weakness, or an imperfection, 
 before he can plead or apologize for it. As 
 sin he has not a word to say on its behalf. 
 You at least, have not one. 
 
 Let, therefore, the emblems of holiness which 
 the Holy Ghost teaches by, suggest to you all 
 that he intends. That, of course, will seem 
 more than you can acquire ; but it will enable 
 you to do better than those do who compare 
 themselves only with others. Scriptural figures 
 are not fancies. " It seems to the honour of re- 
 ligion, that so many things can, without the 
 art of forcing resemblances, be accommodated 
 to its illustration. It is an evident and remark- 
 able fact, that there is a certain principle of 
 correspondence to religion throughout the econ- 
 omy of the world. He that made all things for 
 himself, appears to have willed that they should 
 be a great system of EMBLEMS, reflecting or 
 shadowing forth that system of principles in 
 
EMBLEMS OF t 
 
 which we are to apprehend Him and our rela- 
 tions and obligations to Him : so that religion, 
 standing up in grand parallel to an infinity of 
 things, receives their testimony and homage, 
 and speaks with a voice which is echoed by 
 creation." FOSTER. The justness of these 
 profound and splendid remarks is almost self- 
 evident in the emblem of DEW. The history 
 of dew is a figurative history of CONVERSION ; 
 and, in its leading features, so strikingly similar, 
 that if dew had been created for no other pur- 
 pose but to image forth the " new creation," it 
 could hardly be more characteristic. 
 
 The design of God in establishing and point- 
 ing out the resemblances between natural and 
 spiritual things is obvious. He thus places us 
 so, that, whether we are in the house or the 
 fields, we may have before us " lively oracles" 
 of his great salvation : at home, in the Bible ; 
 abroad, in nature. For, as prophet unto pro- 
 phet, and apostle unto apostle, so " day unto 
 day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
 teacheth knowledge," there being no voice 
 
124 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 
 
 of nature which does not echo some voice of 
 Revelation. 
 
 Thus, the ORIGIN of dew is an emblem of 
 human society in its natural state. The ori- 
 ginal elements of dew are as various in their 
 character, as the diversified states in which 
 water and moisture exist on the earth. Now 
 they exist in swamps and seas, in marshes and 
 meadows, in stagnant pools and running 
 streams, in fetid plants and fragrant flowers : 
 but wherever water lies or lurks, whether in 
 the chalice of a rose or in the recess of a tank, 
 it must undergo the same change, and pass 
 from fluid to vapour, before it becomes dew. 
 As water, it cannot, however pure or polluted, 
 ascend into the atmosphere, nor refine itself 
 into dew : it may undergo changes of taste, 
 colour, and smell, according to the channels it 
 lies in and flows on ; but into dew it will not 
 turn, until it is exhaled in vapour by the sun. 
 
 Now, the moral, like the natural world, has 
 its putrid marshes and its pure streams its 
 calm lakes and its stormy oceans ; for although 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 125 
 
 no class of mankind is naturally holy, some 
 classes are comparatively pure, and others 
 grossly vile. There are, in society, the decent 
 and the indelicate, the humane and the cruel, 
 the cool and the passionate, the upright and 
 
 the dishonest. These distinctions between 
 
 ^ 
 
 man and man are as visible as those of land 
 and water on the globe, and as real as the dif- 
 ference between spring and pit water. But no 
 natural amiableness of disposition, nor any 
 acquired refinement of character, amounts to 
 " true holiness." The best, in common with 
 the worst, " must be born again" before they 
 can enter into the kingdom of God : for, as 
 water, in its purest state, must be exhaled 
 into vapour before it can be transmuted into 
 dew, so both the moral and the immoral must 
 be regenerated before they can enter heaven. 
 Education may purify the manners, but only 
 faith can purify the heart : love of character may 
 secure external decorum, but only the love of 
 Christ can secure internal holiness. Thus fai 
 the resemblance holds good. 
 
126 EMBLEMS OP HOLINESS. 
 
 Again ; the agency by which dew is pro- 
 duced from all the varieties of water, is an em- 
 blem of that spiritual agency by which the 
 varieties of human character are transformed 
 into the Divine image. Now, the sun is the 
 grand agent in the natural world, by which 
 portions of all waters are changed into vapour. 
 His heat, operating on their surface, produces 
 exhalations wherever it touches, drawing va- 
 pour from the wide expanse of the ocean and 
 from the weedy pool ; from the brakish river 
 and from the sweet brook. And the sun is the 
 only luminary of heaven that exhales the 
 waters. The moon regulates their tides, and 
 the stars irradiate their surface ; but the united 
 rays of both are insufficient to evaporate in- 
 gredients for a single dew drop. It is the sun 
 which draws from the earth, into the atmo- 
 sphere, the elements of this beautiful fluid : in 
 like manner, it is " the Sun of Righteousness" 
 alone that draws sinners from the fearful pit of 
 the curse, and from the miry clay of corruption. 
 The attractive influence of his CROSS is to us 
 
EMBLEMS OP HOLINESS. 127 
 
 what the heat of the sun is to the moisture of 
 the earth the only drawing power. Other 
 doctrines may, like the moon, produce regulai 
 tides of formal worship, and, like the stars, 
 brighten the surface of the character ; but 
 they shine too cold to regenerate the heart or 
 purify the conscience. Thus, ARIANISM, al- 
 though it shone in the brightness of learning 
 and ethics during the last century, had no 
 spiritual attraction : it drew small numbers 
 from the Church to the Meeting ; but none 
 from the world to God as the God of salva- 
 tion. SOCINIANISM also has, of late, shone in 
 the heat of proselyting zeal ; but the only effect 
 is, that some of the young, who formerly cared 
 nothing about religion, are become flippant 
 speculators, and many of the speculators 
 masked Deists. It is notorious that the sys- 
 tem has made the young " heady and high- 
 minded," and the old callous. Many of both 
 are, indeed, intelligent and upright ; but these 
 were so before they embraced the system, and 
 would be what they are under any moral 
 
128 EMBLEMS OP HOLINESS. 
 
 system, while their local and relative circum- 
 stances continue the same. And what have 
 the classically elegant lectures on morals, 
 which sound from so many pulpits, done for 
 the young or old ? Except maintaining a 
 routine of formal worship, and raising an ig- 
 norant clamour against evangelical truth, they 
 have left parishes and districts as they found 
 them locked up in the icebergs of apathy and 
 self-delusion. And such must ever be the ef- 
 fects of legal preaching, because it is not God's 
 appointment for winning souls. He no more 
 intends to save sinners by the law, than to 
 evaporate the waters by the moon or the stars. 
 The law, like these luminaries, is a light to our 
 feet in " the new and living way ;" but only the 
 Sun of Righteousness, shining in the Gospel, 
 can draw us into that way. " The dew of his 
 youth" can only be formed by his own influ- 
 ence. Thus far, also, the parallel is just. 
 
 Again ; the secret process by which the ex- 
 haled vapours are turned into dew, is an 
 emblem of that Divine operation by which the 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 129 
 
 Holy Spirit makes sinners u new creatures in 
 Christ Jesus." The precise agent in nature, 
 by which vapour is condensed into dew, is not 
 known : whether it is by cold or by electricity, 
 or by both, is still as much a mystery as when 
 God asked Job from the whirlwind, " Who 
 hath begotten the drops of dew?" In like 
 manner, although we know that the Holy 
 Spirit is the agent who changes the heart, 
 by making the Gospel power unto salvation, 
 we are ignorant of the nature of his operations. 
 Whether they are partly physical, or wholly 
 moral, is unknown. " The wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound 
 thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
 or whither it goeth : so is every one that is 
 born of the Spirit." But we do know what is 
 much better that his sacred influences are in- 
 separably connected with the conscientious use 
 of the means of grace, and forthcoming in an- 
 swer to serious prayer. This we know ; that 
 as water exposed to the sun will be evaporated 
 in part, and water excluded from the sun will 
 
13t) EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS, 
 
 never become dew ; so we may expect Divine 
 influence in the use of divinely appointed 
 means, and can look for none if they are neg- 
 lected. 
 
 Again ; the similarity of dewdrops in pure- 
 ness and beauty, although formed from all the 
 varieties of vapour, is a fine emblem of that 
 uniform spirit which characterizes the diversified 
 classes of mankind, who are brought to believe 
 on Christ for salvation. There is what may 
 be called a family likeness prevailing through- 
 out the dewdrops of the morning. They dif- 
 fer in size ; but they are all transparent, ten- 
 der, and pure. This is the more remarkable, 
 seeing their original elements were so differ- 
 ent : part of the vapour was drawn from the 
 briny deep, and part from the putrid fens ; 
 portions of it from the slimy pool, and por- 
 tions from the steaming surfs. Now, that 
 the exhalations from springs and rivulets, from 
 the herbs of the field and the flowers of the 
 garden, should return to the earth in sweet 
 dews, is not surprising : but that the gross and 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 131 
 
 tainted vapours should return sweet and pure 
 is wonderful ! And yet all this is realized under 
 the gospel. The sinner drawn from the very 
 dregs of society, and the sinner drawn from a 
 respectable family the convert from sensu- 
 ality, and the convert from intellectual pride 
 the wanderer returning from vice, and the 
 wanderer renouncing vanity become alike in 
 their leading views,, principles, and feelings : 
 they build their hopes on the same foundation, 
 ascribe their escape to the same grace, and aim 
 at the same kind and degree of holiness, 
 " Whosoever" hath the hope of eternal life 
 " in Christ," " purifieth himself," even as 
 Christ is pure. Converts differ, indeed, in the 
 degree of their knowledge, gifts, and graces 
 as the dewdrops in their size ; but, like them, 
 they are all partakers of a new nature, and 
 each compared with what he was before con- 
 version, " a new creature in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Again ; the refreshing and fertilizing influ- 
 ence of the dew is a fine emblem of the salutary 
 influence of converts in their respective fami- 
 
132 EMBLEMS OF HOLINESH. 
 
 lies and spheres. The dew cools the sultry air, 
 revives the parched herbage of the earth, and 
 bathes the whole landscape in renovated 
 beauty : and, in like manner, holy families are 
 harmonious holy churches tranquil. Even 
 an individual convert is not without a portion 
 of sweet influence in his circle ; the change in 
 his character and spirit suggests to others the 
 necessity and the possibility of being changed 
 too ; and thus " they that dwell under his 
 shadow revive as the corn, and grow as the 
 vine." His example distils as dew upon the ten- 
 der herb, quickening the formal to the power of 
 godliness, and awakening the careless to con- 
 sideration. Thus the pious are the salt of the 
 earth. The absence of dew would not be more 
 fatal to the natural world, than the want of 
 converts to the moral world. Were they with- 
 drawn, or were their succession to cease, even 
 the general morality of society would wither 
 and sink far below its present standard and 
 strength. 
 
 Again ; the dew is regularly drawn up 
 
EMBLEMS OF HOLINESS. 133 
 
 again by the sun, when it has refreshed the 
 earth ; and is thus a fine emblem of the first 
 resurrection, when all the saints shall ascend 
 to meet the Sun of Righteousness in the air. 
 No scene of nature is more lovely than a sum- 
 mer landscape at sunrise, when every field, 
 grove, and hedge is spangled with morning 
 dew. The drops seem to sparkle with con- 
 scious delight at the approach of the sun 
 climbing, as he ascends, to the top of every 
 leaf, as if impatient to meet him in the air. 
 Every admirer of nature has noticed this scene, 
 and watched the dewy vapour rising like in- 
 cense from the golden censer of summer. Who 
 has not gazed with rapture on the glowing 
 myriads of dewdrops, when each of them is a 
 miniature of the sun which gilds them ? And, 
 when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise on 
 the morning of the resurrection, the heirs of 
 glory will be as numerous and beautiful as the 
 dew from the womb of the morning all in the 
 beauty of holiness ; for they " shall be like 
 Him, when they see him as he is." 
 12 
 
No. IV. 
 
 A MATRON'S TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 
 
 PERFECT conformity to the Divine image 
 exists only in the Divine presence ! Only those 
 who see God face to face, are holy as God is 
 holy. Until we see Him as He actually is, we 
 cannot be fully like him. Nothing but " open 
 vision" can produce an entire moral resemblance 
 between our spirit and the Father of spirits. 
 They little know what perfection means, who 
 imagine that they are " already perfect-" Those, 
 however, are quite as ignorant, and more cri- 
 minal, who are not trying to perfect holiness in 
 the fear of God. They are certainly very weak 
 in intellect, who reckon themselves spotless in 
 heart or character : but they are weaker in con- 
 science and in all principle, who are content to 
 be imperfect, or not much concerned to keep 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 135 
 
 themselves unspotted from the world. And, 
 alas, there are far mare of the latter class, than 
 of the former. The visionaries of Perfection 
 are but few in numbers, and small in influence : 
 whereas, the trucklers to allowed and needless 
 Imperfection, are many and mighty. The name 
 of the Inconsistent is " Legion." 
 
 How do we feel, when we say to ourselves, 
 or when it is proved to us from Scripture and 
 Experience, " that perfection is impossible out 
 of Heaven ?" Are we glad to hear this ? Is it 
 good news to us ? We make a very bad use of 
 it, if we employ the fact to excuse our besetting 
 sin, or to exempt us from the trouble of watch- 
 fulness and self-denial. It was never revealed 
 by God, nor avowed by His ministers, for this 
 unholy purpose. God declared it, and Prophets 
 and Apostles confessed it, in order that con- 
 scious Imperfection might not drive the follow- 
 ers of Holiness to despair. The talkers about 
 holiness do not need the fact, although they use 
 it. Their imperfection, as they call it, neither 
 alarms nor humbles them. They are on very 
 
136 A MATRON'S 
 
 good terms with what is bad in their habits . 
 indeed, quite in love with the sin that most 
 easily besets them. It would be no gratifica- 
 tion to them, to be redeemed from its present 
 power. They intend, of course, to give it up 
 some time, and in time enough (as they think) 
 to leave it still pardonable, or not fatal : but, like 
 Augustine, " not now." 
 
 Not thus lightly, however, do sins or short- 
 comings sit upon the conscience, or affect the 
 hopes, of godly women. They have to prove 
 their faith by their works ; to confirm their 
 hopes by their holiness ; to make their calling 
 and election sure, by a growing likeness to 
 Him, to whose image Believers are " predesti- 
 nated to be conformed." To them, therefore, 
 it is both a solemn and startling matter, to 
 miss some features of the Divine image in their 
 character ; and others in their spirit ; and to 
 find all the features of that image so indistinct 
 and unsettled ! This discovery causes in them 
 great searchings and sinkings of heart before 
 God. Indeed, something of both continues 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 137 
 
 with a Christian through life. She is never 
 fully "satisfied" with her own piety. Like 
 David, she never can be satisfied with herself, 
 until she awake in heaven in all the beauties 
 of that holiness, which is the express moral 
 image of God. 
 
 This is one great characteristic of a real 
 Christian : she never is, and never can be, 
 quite satisfied with the degree of her own piety. 
 She may, indeed, be quite satisfied that it is of 
 the right kind, both as to its principles and spirit, 
 so far as it goes : but she never thinks that it 
 has gone far enough. She may have no doubt 
 of its sincerity towards God, nor of its salutary 
 influence over herself and her family, nor of its 
 usefulness in her sphere of action : but still, it 
 comes short of her wishes, and even fills her 
 with shame and sorrow. She is not satisfied 
 with herself, whoever else may approve or ap- 
 plaud her. Indeed, nothing humbles her more 
 than compliments from others. Not that she is 
 indifferent to the good opinion of othei& : but 
 she feels that if they knew her heart as she 
 12* 
 
138 A MATRON'S 
 
 knows it, they would not think so highly of her. 
 For she is conscious of coldness, where they 
 see nothing but warmth ; of ignorance, where 
 they recognise wisdom : of earthly-mindedness, 
 where they acknowledge spirituality andheaven- 
 ly-mindedness. Like Paul, a real Christian 
 woman feels herself " less than the least of all 
 saints," even when she stands highest in public 
 estimation. 
 
 Were this fact well understood, as being 
 characteristic of true piety, it would prevent 
 many Christians from unchristianizing them- 
 selves so often as they do. They imagine, be- 
 cause they are so dissatisfied with themselves, 
 that the satisfaction which others express, is 
 more from kindness than wisdom, or rather 
 friendly than prudent. They wish to think 
 themselves as sincere, right, and safe as their 
 friends say ; but they are afraid to conclude 
 that they really are so. " Should I not have the 
 witness in myself, if I were, indeed, a child of 
 God 1" is their answer to many a prayer and 
 appeal which treats them as daughters of the 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 139 
 
 Lord God Almighty. " Your arguments may 
 be very true in your own case and in that of 
 others," they say ; " but you cannot argue me 
 out of my own feelings, nor persuade me against 
 my own consciousness. I am not satisfied 
 with either my faith or my repentance ; my 
 prayers or experience : and for this solid reason ; 
 I see so much in my heart that is bad, and 
 so little in my life that really glorifies God, 
 that I can hardly conceive how there could be 
 any grace where there is so much coldness and 
 deadness. ;< wretched that I am, who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death /" 
 
 This self-dissatisfaction is, however, a very 
 satisfactory proof of real piety, in all cases 
 where a real effort is made to be holy in heart 
 and life. There is no great effort to be so, 
 wherever there is self-satisfaction. Those who, 
 like the Laodiceans, are pleased with them- 
 selves, are, like them, an " abomination" unto 
 the Lord. They both thought and said, that 
 they had u need of nothing." They took for 
 granted, that they were enlightened enough, 
 
140 A MATRON'S 
 
 clothed enough, and enriched enough, to be 
 quite safe, or on the right side for Eternity. 
 But, what did Christ say to them ? " Thou 
 art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and 
 blind, and naked." Thus the men who imagined 
 that they had need of nothing, were found 
 wanting in every thing, when weighed in the 
 balance of the Sanctuary, by the Saviour of 
 the Church. 
 
 Here is the awful consequence of calculating 
 how little piety will just suffice for safety at 
 last. The Laodiceans seem to have reckoned 
 to a fraction, how little would do. Their 
 question had evidently been, not how much 
 God required, nor how much they could culti- 
 vate, nor what would be the advantage of emi- 
 nent piety : but just, how much is absolutely 
 needed, in order to any chance of escape at 
 last ? And whenever a woman comes to reckon 
 in this way, she is sure to let nothing into her 
 list of duties or graces, which she can keep out. 
 The moment she is so infatuated by sloth or 
 worldliness, as to drive a bargain in religion, 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 141 
 
 she will drive a hard bargain with it ; and thus 
 cheat herself to a certainty, whilst trying to 
 cheat it. This is inevitable, whenever a woman 
 tampers with the question, where can I stop 
 with safety in the path of holiness ? She is 
 sure to stop wherever she dislikes to go, and 
 to make her own convenience limit the mean- 
 ing of God's requirements. 
 
 Now although there may be both some 
 weakness and waywardness in the spirit of 
 those Christians, who give way to doubts and 
 fears, and who " write bitter things" against 
 themselves, whenever they do not feel as they 
 wish, still, their spirit is noble and wise, com- 
 pared with the spirit of the woman, who cares 
 nothing about how she feels or acts in religion, 
 if she can only keep down the fear of perishing. 
 There is no comparison : it is all contrast, be- 
 tween a doubting Christian, and a heedless or 
 heartless professor. 
 
 In saying this, however, nothing is farther 
 from my design, than vindicating or even pal- 
 liating the habit of doubting. It is a bad 
 
142 A MATRON'S 
 
 habit ; although infinitely a better one than the 
 habit of taking for granted that all is right 
 before God, when there is nothing flagrantly 
 wrong before men. Still, it is bad : and in 
 this way. It tempts some who witness it to 
 doubt the power of the Gospel ; or the truth 
 of the promises ; or the freeness of grace. 
 The doubting Christian herself, does not ques- 
 tion these things. All her misgivings of heart 
 arise from what she thinks and feels herself to 
 be : and not from any suspicion of the freeness 
 or power of the grace of God. This distinction 
 is not, however, noticed by all observers. Some 
 look only on the surface of such a case ; and, 
 when they see a serious and consistent woman, 
 without comfort, and almost without hope at 
 times, they strongly suspect, either that the Gos- 
 pel is not such good news as Ministers say, or 
 that prayer is not so surely answered as the 
 Promises seem to imply. Accordingly, when 
 recent converts see cases of this kind, they are 
 tempted to doubt whether they may not pray 
 in vain too, or strive to no purpose. Those, 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 143 
 
 again, who want an excuse for neglecting 
 prayer, or for remaining undecided, seize upon 
 such cases with avidity, and pretend to be dis- 
 couraged by them, or warranted from them to 
 doubt whether religion is enjoyment. 
 
 Now to both classes I would say, you are 
 equally wrong, in the conclusions you thus 
 draw from the sadness and suspense of weak 
 Believers, They may seem to have no enjoy- 
 ment in religion, and may even say that they 
 find no comfort : but, ask them to give up reli- 
 gion, for the pleasures of sin ; propose to them 
 a return to the world for happiness ; offer to 
 them the sweetest cup of earthly enjoyment, 
 in exchange for that cup of salvation, which 
 they hold in their hand without venturing to 
 drink freely of the living water ; will they 
 make the exchange, or even listen with pa- 
 tience to the proposal? No indeed. They 
 will tell you at once, that however unhappy 
 they may feel, they would be miserable, yea, 
 unspeakably wretched, were they to take up 
 with any earthly portion whatever. Not for 
 
144 A MATRON'S 
 
 ten thousand worlds, would they turn their 
 back upon the Saviour or Holiness. 
 
 And, is there no grace in this state of mind? 
 Has prayer been unanswered, where the heart 
 thus prefers to follow Christ even in darkness, 
 rather than forsake him for the things of time 
 or sense ? Yea, is there not enjoyment, or, at 
 . cause for comfort, in a state of mind 
 which thus prefers the Divine favour and image, 
 world calls good or great ? For, 
 what but grace, special, saving, sanctifying 
 grace, could have wrought this change in the 
 natural spirit of the mind, which is of the earth, 
 eartlr i doubting Christians reason in 
 
 this WHY on their own case, they could not 
 long doubt the reality of their conversion. 
 
 Nor is this the only thing which proves that 
 a saving work of grace has been begun in 
 them, by the Spirit of God. The sad light in 
 which they see themselves, arises from the true 
 light in which they see the character of God 
 Had they seen less of His glory, they would 
 be less ashamed of themselves. It is because 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 145 
 
 His character is much before their minds, that 
 their own character stands so low in their esti- 
 mation. Were they only comparing themselves 
 with others, or their present selves with their 
 former selves, they would be more satisfied 
 with themselves : but they are contrasting 
 themselves with infinite purity ; with perfect 
 excellence ; with unchangeable holiness : and 
 this process of judging, just produces the same 
 effect upon them, which it had upon Patriarchs, 
 Prophets, and Apostles. 
 
 Doubting Christians overlook this fact, and 
 in the hurry and flutter of the moment, forget 
 that the most eminent saints of old, had exactly 
 the same opinion of themselves, whenever 
 they had the same clear and solemn views of 
 the glorious majesty of Jehovah. Who said, 
 when his eyes saw the true character of God, 
 " / abhor myself?" It was Job. Who said, 
 when he saw the glory of God in the Temple, 
 " Wo is me, I am undone .?" It was Isaiah. 
 Who fell at the Saviour's feet as dead, when he 
 bowed the heavens over Patmos, and appeared 
 13 
 
146 A MATRON'S 
 
 in his original glory ? It was John, the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved. Who said, " So foolish 
 and ignorant was I :. I was as a beast before 
 thee ? M when he understood that the prosperity 
 of the wicked was no token of the Divine favour, 
 nor the trials of the righteous any impeachment 
 of the wisdom or the equity of Providence ? It 
 was Asaph. 
 
 And, were these men not true believers, be- 
 cause thus overwhelmed by a sense of their 
 own vileness and unworthiness ? Why ; it was 
 their high and holy views of God and the 
 Lamb, that laid them thus low in their own 
 estimation. " No strange thing," therefore, 
 has happened, when even some exemplary 
 Christians are thus troubled, when they think 
 of God. In such cases, He has manifested 
 himself unto them, not only as he does not 
 unto the world, but also differently from the 
 manifestation of his presence to other Christians. 
 I mean, that God brings that view of his own 
 character before the mind of each of his children 
 which is best suited to each of them. Some 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 147 
 
 <;ould not bear to see much of His glorious 
 majesty; and, therefore, God manifests him- 
 self to them, chiefly as a tender Father and a 
 watchful Shepherd. Others again cannot bear 
 indulgence, without presuming upon it, or 
 being betrayed by it into some wrong spirit ; 
 and He keeps them low and fearful, that they 
 may be humble and watchful. But there is 
 not less paternal love in the one case than in 
 the other. He is equally training both for 
 Heaven, although each by a different process 
 of fatherly discipline. 
 
 You, therefore, if rather cheered on in the 
 path of holiness by the soft light of God's coun- 
 tenance, than kept in check from the broad way 
 by awful views of God, have no occasion to 
 suspect your piety because your spirit is not 
 overwhelmed. And you have as little reason 
 to suspect your conversion, if, at times, almost 
 convulsed by your awful views of God, and of 
 yourself before God. The question is does 
 the light in which He chiefly manifests himself 
 to you, keep you afraid of sin, jealous of the 
 
148 A MATRON'S 
 
 world, and conscientious in the duties of life 
 and godliness ? That is the best light for you, 
 which keeps you walking most humbly and 
 circumspectly with God. And whether the 
 light be lovely or solemn, it will keep you 
 dissatisfied with yourself, until you awake in 
 the image of God. 
 
 Another cause why some Christians are so 
 low in spirits and hope, is, that their sense of 
 the greatness of the great salvation is more 
 than usually vivid. That salvation spreads 
 out before them in such vastness of grace and 
 glory, that they sink into nothing before its 
 august presence. They can hardly imagine 
 that it can be free to them. They see nothing 
 in any of their own feelings towards " so great 
 salvation," at all great enough or good enough 
 to prove that they truly value it. They find 
 it impossible to bring up their love or faith, to 
 a height worthy of its unspeakable worth. 
 Thus they lose sight of its freeness, by looking 
 so often and closely to its grandeur. 
 
 But are they unbelievers, because they are 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 149 
 
 afraid to hope for a salvation which they thus 
 admire and adore ? There is, indeed, unbelief, 
 in not venturing to hope as freely as they 
 wonder deeply : but it is not the unbelief of 
 indifference, nor of neglect, nor of formality. 
 It is not the unbelief of the natural mind, nor 
 of impenitence. It is humility sliding into 
 hesitation. It is diffidence sliding into timidity. 
 
 For, who gave the doubting Christians such 
 lofty and adoring views of the value of the 
 great salvation ? Whence came the light which 
 has so revealed and irradiated to them, the 
 heights and depths, the lengths and breadths 
 of the love of Christ, that they feel as if 
 nothing less than angelic love to Him could be 
 acceptable love ; or as if nothing short of 
 Abraham's faith could be true faith ? 
 
 I am not advocating nor excusing these 
 doubts and fears : but I am, and I avow it, 
 maintaining that their minds are not in nature's 
 darkness, who thus see the glory of salvation : 
 that their hearts are not in sin's or the world's 
 bondage, who thus revere the great salvation 
 13* 
 
150 A MATRON'S 
 
 that their spirit is not untouched by the Spirit 
 of God, who thus hesitate because they think 
 nothing good enough as a welcome to that sal- 
 vation. 
 
 I have no doubt of their piety or safety ; 
 but I do stand in doubt of the woman who is 
 satisfied with either her faith or love towards 
 so great salvation. It must seem but very little 
 to the woman who sees enough in her own 
 feelings and character to do justice to all its 
 claims. Again, therefore, I affirm, that a real 
 Christian cannot be satisfied with herself, until 
 she awake in the image of God. 
 
 Another cause of that dissatisfaction with 
 themselves, which keeps the hopes and hearts 
 of some Christians very low, is, their high and 
 holy estimate of the work and witness of the 
 Holy Spirit. His agency, or influence, means 
 so much in their judgment, that they cannot 
 think how any thing they have felt, or are 
 capable of feeling, could amount to being 
 " born again of the Spirit." Indeed, it is 
 only by ascribing and giving credit to others, 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 151 
 
 for more fruits of the Spirit than others pos- 
 sess, that such persons can admit that any 
 change is a Divine change. They believe that 
 other Christians are much holier than they 
 seem ; and thus account for their being happier 
 than themselves. 
 
 Now, although there is some mistake in all 
 this, the error is on the safe side. Better rate 
 the work of the Holy Spirit too high than too 
 low. Better hesitate to call any ordinary 
 change Divine, than call every moral improve- 
 ment regeneration, or every conviction con- 
 version. But there is no occasion for thus 
 going to either extreme. Neither the work 
 nor the witness of the Spirit is a doubtful 
 thing, wherever there is humility before God, 
 and an honest desire to be like God. These 
 are principles which can neither be taught nor 
 learned without the Holy Spirit. They are 
 not natural, and they are never acquired by 
 mere human effort. Indeed, no one tries or 
 wishes to be truly humble before God, until 
 the Spirit of God touch the heart. 
 
152 A MATRON'S 
 
 Let not, therefore, the timidity, nor even 
 the trembling, the doubts nor the fears, of 
 some " holy women," dishearten you, or draw 
 you into suspicions of the efficacy of the 
 Gospel to console as well as to sanctify. It 
 can do both equally. Its promises have only 
 to be as simply welcomed by your doubting 
 friends, as its precepts ore meekly obeyed by 
 them, in order to their being as happy as they 
 tire humble. Sheshbazzar would say to each 
 of them " Woman, why weepest thou ? Shake 
 the mulberry trees in the valley of Baca ; and 
 make it a well ; and thus go from strength to 
 strength, until you appear before God in 
 Zion." 
 
 The IOM HACCHIPURIM, the great day of 
 Atonement, was drawing nigh ; and, from 
 Dan to Beersheba, the Israelites were prepar- 
 ing to appear before God in Zion. " The 
 songs of Degrees 1 ' were reviewed in every 
 family, that they might be repeated and sung 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 153 
 
 in the wilderness ; and every man that was 
 right-hearted said, " I was glad when they said 
 unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. 
 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jeru- 
 salem !" 
 
 Amongst those who waited for the " Conso- 
 lation of Israel," none in Beersheba had ap- 
 peared in Zion so often as Sheshbazzar. From 
 year to year he had cheered the aged, and 
 charmed the young, on their pilgrimage. His 
 proverbs met all cases, and his smiles or 
 tears suited all hearts. He wept with the 
 weeping, and rejoiced with the joyful. And 
 yet, Sheshbazzar was a man that had seen 
 affliction. The Angel of Death had said twice 
 " Write that man a widower ;" and the " de- 
 sire of his eyes" was taken away at a stroke. 
 The Angel of Death stood on the tomb of his 
 grief, and said again, " Write that man child- 
 less ;" and it was done. His heart bled, but it 
 never murmured. He said that each loss had 
 become a new link between his heart and hea- 
 ven ; and that now, like the High Priesit's 
 
154 A MATRON'S 
 
 breast-plate, it was so linked, all around, that 
 it could not fall. The young wondered, and 
 the aged blessed the God of Israel, who gave 
 consolation in trouble, " and songs in the night." 
 
 His fellow-pilgrims regarded him as almost 
 a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by 
 night, whilst journeying with him in the wil- 
 derness. They resolved to ask him what was 
 the secret of his consolation under so many 
 calamities. They asked, and the old man an- 
 swered with a heavenly smile, " / shake the 
 mulberry trees" It was a dark saying, and 
 they understood him not ; but, knowing that 
 he never spake unadvisedly with his lips, they 
 pondered that saying in their hearts. 
 
 Sheshbazzar knew that their curiosity was 
 neither idle nor impertinent, and said, " When 
 we come to the valley of Baca, I will ex- 
 plain myself." They came to the valley of 
 Baca, and, behold, it was very dry! The 
 streams in the desert were passed away like 
 the summer brook, and the heavens gave no 
 sign of rain. The pilgrims were panting " as 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 155 
 
 the heart for the water-brooks," but found 
 none. All eyes were turned to Sheshbazzar. 
 " Shake the mulberry trees/' he said. They 
 shook them, and dew, pure and plenteous as 
 " the dew of Hermon," began to pour from 
 every leaf. They made wells around the mul- 
 berry trees to prevent the showers from being 
 absorbed in the sand of the desert, and then 
 shook the trees again. They drank ; but, 
 though refreshed, they were not satisfied 
 They looked to Sheshbazzar again. His eyes 
 were up unto God. He raised " the song of 
 Degrees" in that " house of their pilgrimage." 
 All joined in it, and sung, " I will lift up mine 
 eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my 
 help. My help cometh from the Lord, who 
 made heaven and earth." The pilgrims paused, 
 No cloud appeared on Carmel, and no sound 
 of rain was heard from the wings of the wind. 
 " Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious ?" 
 was a question quivering on the parched lips 
 of many. Sheshbazzar alone was utterly un- 
 moved. He raised again the song of Degrees, 
 
166 A MATRON'S 
 
 and his ricn and mellow -toned voice sounded in 
 the wilderness like the jubilee-trumpet amongst 
 the mountains of Jerusalem. The pilgrims 
 listened as if an angel had sung : " He will 
 not suffer thy foot to be moved : he that 
 keepeth thee will not slumber. The Lord is 
 thy keeper: The Lord is thy shade upon 
 the right hand. The Lord shall preserve thee 
 from all evil : he shall preserve thy soul. The 
 Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy 
 coming in, from this time forth, and for ever- 
 more." He paused, and bowed his head, and 
 worshipped. The pilgrims felt their faith in God 
 reviving, and renewed their part of the song : I 
 will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence 
 cometh my help. My help cometh from the 
 Lord, who made heaven and earth. And whilst 
 they sung, " the Lord gave a plenteous rain" 
 to refresh his weary heritage in the wilderness. 
 When they had drank, and were satisfied, 
 and had blessed the God of their fathers, 
 Sheshbazzar said, " My children ! the PRO- 
 MISES of God are the mulberry trees in this 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 157 
 
 valley of tears. The dew of heaven lies all 
 night on their branches, and some dew may 
 always be shaken from them. When I was 
 widowed, like our father Jacob, I shook that 
 unfading mulberry tree, * The LORD liveth ; 
 and blessed be the rock of my salvation? When 
 like David, our king, I was bereaved of my 
 children, I shook that broad-branching mul- 
 berry tree, 1 1 will be unto thee a better portion > 
 than sons or daughters? Accordingly, I have 
 found no trial, without finding some dew of 
 consolation upon the trees of promise, when- 
 ever I shook them. And when more was ne- 
 cessary, God has strengthened me with strength 
 in my soul." 
 
 The pilgrims looked at the mulberry trees in 
 the valley of Baca, which they had shaken, and 
 smiled complacently on the good old man. He 
 saw it, and continued his parable : 
 
 " It was not whilst Job pondered and brood- 
 ed over his calamities, that he said of God, 
 ' Though he slay me, yet will I put my trust 
 in him:' he was shaking the mulberry trees 
 14 
 
158 A MATRON'S 
 
 when he said this ; and when he said, * The 
 Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
 blessed be the name of the Lord.' Abraham 
 would never have yielded Isaac to the altar, if 
 he had not shaken that great mulberry tree 
 * In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed: " 
 
 Thus the pilgrims went on, " from strength 
 to strength," listening to the wisdom of Shesh- 
 bazzar ; and " every one of them" appeared 
 " before God in Zion." 
 
 It is, perhaps, quite as necessary to explain 
 the implicit faith of some Matrons, as the doubt- 
 ing faith of others. 
 
 Amongst many iond and fanciful names, 
 which Sheshbazzar's young friends bestowed 
 upon him, the favourite one, with them, was 
 the Beershebean Eagle. Agreeably to this 
 title, his grove, upon the hill of vineyards, was 
 called the Eagle's Nest. The emblem was 
 not misapplied ; for " as an eagle stirreth up 
 her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth 
 abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 159 
 
 on her wings," so Sheshbazzar, guarded and 
 guided his young friends. It was not often, 
 however, that the old man could climb the 
 hill of vineyards to visit the eagle's nest. His 
 favourite seat was under his fig tree. But 
 there his young friends could not be alone 
 with him. The elders of Beersheba often 
 visited him there, after the evening sacrifice ; 
 and some of them had no sympathy with the 
 vivacity of the young. Sheshbazzar's eaglets 
 seemed, to them, to require checks rather than 
 encouragements. He himself was often told, 
 that if he did not clip their wings, they would 
 soon flee off from the ark of the covenant, and, 
 like Noah's raven, never return. Sheshbazzar 
 was wont to say, in answer to this, " that 
 wings were not made to be clipped : if their 
 flight be well directed, they cannot be too wide, 
 nor too strong. Let us treat the young as 
 Noah didi the dove ; welcoming them into the 
 ark of our confidence whenever they are weary, 
 and never putting them upon the wing except 
 for sacred purposes : then, like the dove, they 
 
160 A MATRON'S 
 
 will return < bringing an olive leaf to garland 
 oiir grey hairs." 
 
 The elders of Beersheba had not been treated 
 thus in the days of their youth ; and, there- 
 fore, they did not understand the principles of 
 Sheshbazzar's conduct. " It is one of your 
 odd ways," they said, " and whoever lives to 
 see the end of it will find that the old way of 
 chocking is the best." He meekly answered, 
 * We can never check what is evil in the 
 young, unless we cherish what is good in 
 them." Agreeably to this maxim, he requested 
 his young friends to meet him in the grove 
 after the hour of the morning sacrifice. 
 
 They came to the eagle's nest, full of the 
 recollections of the former evening, and evi- 
 dently mortified by them. Sheshbazzar saw 
 this, and began, at once, to characterize his 
 aged friends ; that, in the presence of their 
 sterling worth, their slight weaknesses might 
 be forgotten. 
 
 "We can appreciate and admire," said 
 ESROM, "the meek patience of Gether, and 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED, 161 
 
 the warm zeal of Laish, and the solemn piety 
 of MaJdon, and the cedar-like integrity of 
 Jasher ; but we can learn nothing from their 
 lips. Their character is eloquent, whilst they 
 remain silent. When they speak, the charm 
 dissolves ; for they are all men of one idea, or 
 their thoughts have no connexion. How is 
 iheir character thus superior to their know- 
 ledge ? You often tell us, that we shall never 
 act better than we know. Are they not excep- 
 tions to this rule ?" 
 
 "Not in the least, Esrom," said Shesh- 
 bazzar ; " and, when you have more than one 
 idea of this subject, you will find that their 
 character is superior, not to their knowledge, 
 but to their talents and tongues. Each of 
 them knows experimentally that the God of 
 his fathers is the God of SALVATION ; and that 
 single truth, when vividly and habitually rea- 
 Hved, by minds of any order, is quite sufficient 
 to account for any degree of hope or holiness. 
 The minds of the elders are, indeed, compara- 
 tively narrow ; but they are completely full, and 
 14* 
 
162 A MATRON'S 
 
 absorbed with the TRUTH OF TRUTHS ; and a 
 SERAPH'S mind cannot be more than full! I 
 should, indeed, prefer to see their thoughts in 
 clusters like the grapes, and in ears like the 
 corn, or at least, threaded like the pearls of the 
 Queen of Sheba ; but pearls do not grow in 
 strings, and the wine is sweetest when the 
 grapes are picked off from the stalks, and the 
 ear must be broken up before the corn can be 
 made into bread." Thus Sheshbazzar played 
 with the subject, that he might divert the atten- 
 tion of his eaglets from it. But RACHEL was 
 there, and she had been wounded, as well as 
 mortified, by the cold looks and cutting sarcasms 
 of the elders ; and as she was now more ifttent 
 upon excelling in character, than on shining in 
 talent or knowledge, she repeated the question 
 How do these good men act better than they 
 understand ? 
 
 Sheshbazzar, denied again that they did. 
 " They merely act better than they explain. 
 They have reacons for their conduct and spirit, 
 although they cannot alvfays ' render a reason* 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 163 
 
 in words. Their reasons may be few, but they 
 are not weak. The form of them may not be 
 philosophical nor fascinating ; but the sub- 
 stance of them is divine. The simple consi- 
 derations 4 This is the will of God,' ' That 
 is for the glory of God,' ' Thus the Patri- 
 archs acted,' determine the character of the 
 elders, as effectually as the sublimest forms of 
 these facts could sway the master-spirits of the 
 universe, and far more effectually than your 
 poetical reasons influence your faith or prac- 
 tice." 
 
 " My children," said the old man, and he 
 became solemn as a dying man, " mistake not 
 my meaning nor motives. I look at you too 
 often not to see it, and love you too well not 
 to tell it your minds are not yet full nor 
 happy by what you know of the God of your 
 fathers, as the God of salvation. Your hearts 
 are still divided between God and the world. 
 You are afraid to forget or forsake Him, and 
 it is well ; but you do not delight to be often 
 alone with him in prayer, nor to meditate upon 
 
164 A MATRON'S 
 
 His character, except when your thoughts as- 
 sume forms of mystery or majesty. You are 
 rather fascinated by sublime ideas of Jehovah, 
 than affected by sweet or solemn ideas. His 
 character attracts you more by the boundless 
 range which it opens to your excursive ima- 
 gination, than by the solid basis it affords for 
 your eternal hopes. Accordingly, were your 
 best thoughts resolved into their simple ele- 
 ments, they would lose more than one half of 
 their hold upon you. The facts of the great 
 salvation, without its figures, would be held 
 tame by you so much are you the creatures 
 of fancy. But what are the constellated ima- 
 ges with which genius has enshrined, as with 
 another ' cloud of glory,' the ark of the cove- 
 nant ; compared with the simple fact, that our 
 God is the God of salvation ? This truth duly 
 apprehended and appreciated, would render the 
 ark of the covenant glorious in your eyes, even 
 if the shechinah were removed from it, or had 
 never rested upon it." 
 
 " True, father," said Rachel, blushing as she 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 165 
 
 spoke ; " but the God who gave the covenant 
 of promise, gave the shechinah of glory along 
 with it. He himself has invested and enshrined 
 even the truth of truths with its chief attrac- 
 tions, and thrown around it all the pomp and 
 plentitude of imagery," 
 
 "I grant it, my daughter readily grant it, 
 und cordially rejoice in the * divers manners' in 
 which God spoke unto our fathers by the pro- 
 phets. I feel that I owe much both to the 
 splendid and the mysterious forms in which 
 the great salvation has been revealed. I doubt, 
 from the character of my own mind, whether 
 the covenant if given in simpler forms, would 
 have arrested my wayward attention, so as to 
 win and fix my volatile heart. The majesty 
 of God's language is, however, a part of God's 
 infinite condescension. Nor must we forget the 
 character of our nation, when He multiplied 
 and heightened the hallowed enshrinements of 
 the covenant. Noah required no shechinah on 
 Ararat, nor Abraham on Moriah, to endear the 
 covenant to them, or to induce them to set the 
 
166 A MATRON'S 
 
 bloody seal of sacrifice to it. Both the mag- 
 nificence and the variety of Mosaic worship 
 are, therefore, the measure of our fathers' 
 minds, when they came out of Egypt and set- 
 tled in Canaan* 
 
 But 1 have no wish to evade the force of 
 Rachel's remark. God has as evidently di- 
 versified the forms of truth to please the mind, 
 as the flavour of fruits, or the colour of flowers, 
 to gratify the senses. The food of the soul is 
 obviously from the same hand as the food of 
 the body. It is not, however, the rind of the 
 pomegranate, nor the bloom of the grape, nor 
 the golden tinge of the corn, that we prize 
 most. We do prize these lovely hues as proofs 
 of ripeness, but the nourishment is in the fruit 
 which they beautify : so it is with revealed 
 truth. 
 
 " 1 have thought too, at times, that there are 
 deeper reasons for the profusion of figurative 
 language in the word of God, than some sus- 
 pect. For, by thus seizing upon all the sublime 
 and lovely objects in nature, and consecrating 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED, 167 
 
 them to the illustration of the Divine character 
 and government, so that they bum as lamps 
 around the eternal throne, God has created a 
 grand antidote against IDOLATRY. The natural 
 objects which are the gods of other nations are 
 thus made the mere servants of the true God, 
 or only the shadows of his glory : so that what 
 they worship, we employ a* helps in his wor- 
 ship. And, woo could bow to the sun shining 
 in bis strength, or kiss the hand to the moon 
 walking in her brightness, who bad once read, 
 that God is the ' Father of lights, without vari- 
 ableness or the shadow of turning V ESROM ! 
 you can follow out this hint ; it is quite in your 
 line of things. 
 
 "And, Rachel, the following hint is in your 
 line. There is a strong tendency to extremes 
 in the human mind. Some who love nature 
 with enthusiasm, loathe religion, or conceal 
 their dislike to it under the thin veil of polite 
 and vague compliments. Others love religion 
 with unquestionable cordiality ; but, from seeing 
 the votaries of nature averse to the word and 
 
168 A MATRON'S 
 
 worship of Jehovah, they are afraid of nature, 
 and inclined to frown upon every reference ta 
 its beauties or sublimities. They thus seem 
 to think that a star or a flower is as likely as 
 Baal or Ashtaroth, to estrange the human mind 
 from God and godliness. In their estimation,, 
 it is heresy to speak well of " the sweet influ- 
 ences of the Pleiades ;" and empty sentimea- 
 tality to be affected by the varied scenery of 
 the heavens or the earth. They confine them- 
 selves to scriptural language, and yet forget 
 that it is full of nature ! The word of God re- 
 gisters all the works of God, and calls them all 
 forth * in their season,' to do homage to itself 
 and its subjects ; and yet these good people 
 seem unconscious of the fact. Was it not a& 
 an antidote against this divorce of nature from 
 religion., that God incorporated with the reve- 
 lation of eternal things so many appeals to the 
 scenes and seasons of nature ? RACHEL, this 
 is in your new line of things. Whilst you 
 were prayerless, you were a mere sentiment- 
 alist ; and only too willing to find excuses for 
 
TIMIDITY EXPLAINED. 169 
 
 the neglect of the Scriptures. You preferred 
 the works of God to the word of God. This 
 proved how little you read the latter, and how 
 superficially you studied the former. Nothing 
 honours nature so highly as the Bible has done. 
 Moses and the Prophets have looked upon the 
 heavens and the earth with a more poetic eye 
 than the poets of antiquity, or the harpers of 
 our own times." 
 
 Thus the Eagle of Beersheba guarded and 
 guided his young. 
 
 15 
 
No. V. 
 
 THE MARTS AT THE GROSS. 
 
 THERE are no familiar expressions which a 
 Christian understands better, or means more 
 by, than the emphatic words," visiting Cal- 
 vary," "going to the Cross," "leaning on 
 the Cross," " kneeling at the Cross," 
 " clinging to the Cross," " looking to the 
 Cross." In one or other of these consecrated 
 forms of speech, a Christian embodies all that 
 is best in the spirit of his penitence, and of his 
 faith, and of his devotion. Indeed, when his 
 heart is not at the Cross, his penitence is 
 neither deep nor tender ; his faith neither 
 strong nor lively ; his devotion neither sweet 
 nor solemn. Whenever he ceases to glory in 
 the Cross, he sinks into coldness or formality. 
 And if he quit the Cross, or lose sight of it, 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 171 
 
 he loses both hope and heart, until he get back 
 to it again. 
 
 Nothing of this experience has, of course, 
 any connexion with the use that was once 
 made of crosses and crucifixes, in religion. 
 When they were most in use, such experience 
 was least known. More hearts, and more of 
 each heart, have been won to Christ crucified 
 by the preaching of the Cross, than by all the 
 visible exhibitions of it which painting ever 
 embodied, or sculpture emblazoned. When 
 crosses were most numerous, real Christians 
 were fewest, and the real Cross least influen- 
 tial. This is only what might be expected. 
 Emblems, by bringing home the r rucifixion to 
 the senses, kept the understanding and the 
 heart far off from its great principles, and its 
 true spirit. 
 
 But whilst Christian experience itself has 
 had nothing to do with the once popular uses 
 of a visible cross, the language in which that 
 experience speaks, is, in no small degree, both 
 derived and enriched from this old source. The 
 
172 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 familiar expressions which once described what 
 the body did at a cross, or with a crucifix, now 
 describes exactly what the soul tries to do when 
 contemplating the Lamb of God, slain for the 
 sin of the world. Not, however, that the scrip- 
 tural worship of Protestanism is thus an inten- 
 ded or conscious imitation of the bodily service 
 of Popery : no, indeed : such an idea never 
 occurs to the mind, even when it is clasping 
 and clinging to the Cross in thought, just as 
 superstition did to the symbol in action. 
 
 We are not, however, indebted to superstition 
 for all our emphatic forms of expressing the 
 exercise of faith or penitence, at the Cross. 
 Superstition itself borrowed the elements of its 
 best language, on this subject, from the word of 
 God. Both the holding up of the crucifix, by 
 the priest, and the looking at it, by the penitent, 
 are literal imitations : the one of setting forth 
 Christ " openly crucified," and the other of be- 
 lieving on Him with the heart. In like manner, 
 the postures and gestures of superstition at a 
 cross, are imitations of the real or supposed 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 173 
 
 conduct of the Marys on Calvary. Their con- 
 duct, however, deserves something better than 
 popish imitation, or even than Protestant admi- 
 ration. It is more complimented than under- 
 stood. The Marys were, indeed, " the last at 
 the Cross, and the first at the Sepulchre, of 
 Christ ;" and felt, no doubt, all that poetry or 
 piety has ascribed to them, on that solemn oc- 
 casion. They must, however, have felt far 
 more, and in another way, than is usually sup- 
 posed. For, unless the Virgin Mary be an ex- 
 ception to the others, they had not exactly our 
 views of the death of Christ, to guide their 
 feelings. What we look at as an atoning sacri- 
 fice offered to God, they saw chiefly as an 
 atrocious murder perpetrated by man. Whilst 
 we see chiefly, on Calvary, the flashing sword 
 of Divine Justice, and the bursting vials of 
 Divine Anger, they saw only the gleaming of 
 the Roman arms, and the glare of Jewish ven- 
 geance. Where we hear chiefly the thunders 
 of the Divine Law, they heard only the fero- 
 cious execrations of a frantic mob. Their feel- 
 15* .' 
 
174 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 ings, whilst witnessing the crucifixion, could 
 not therefore be akin to our feelings whilst con- 
 templating it. Their sorrow, then, deep, and 
 melting, and genuine as it was, was not peni- 
 tence, nor was their overwhelming depression 
 humility. Their love to Christ was, indeed, at 
 its height, when his own love to them and to 
 the world was highest ; but it was not as an 
 atoning Saviour they loved him then. 
 
 They did, however, love him then and before, 
 as a Saviour : yea, as the only Saviour. It is 
 as much under the sober truth to ascribe their 
 love to Christ unto sympathy, friendship, or 
 ordinary gratitude, as it is beyond the truth, to 
 ascribe it unto faith in the atoning efficacy or 
 design of his death. Two of the Marys, at 
 least, cannot be supposed to have known or be- 
 lieved more, at the time, than the Apostles did : 
 and they neither understood then what Christ 
 had foretold of his resurrection, nor approved 
 what he had foretold of his death. Accordingly, 
 the women were as hopeless as the men, on the 
 morning of the third day, until the Angels told 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 175 
 
 them of his resurrection : for it was not to wel- 
 come a living Saviour, but to complete the en- 
 tombment of the dead Saviour, that they went 
 so early and eagerly to the sepulchre. The 
 " sweet spices" they brought to " anoint Him," 
 prove that they had no hope of finding him 
 alive then. Mark xvi. 1. They were not, 
 however, without faith in Him, as the Saviour, 
 even then. Mary of Magdala continued to speak 
 of Him as her " LORD," even when she sup- 
 posed that his body had been removed from the 
 sepulchre, and laid somewhere else. John xx. 
 13. u They have taken away my Lord, and I 
 know not where they have laid him," was her 
 first answer to the Angels, when they said to 
 her, " Woman, why weepest thou ?" I would 
 not graft too much meaning upon the word 
 " Lord" itself, in this instance ; nor upon her 
 use of it at the time. I will suppose nothing 
 more, than that she used it then just in the 
 sense she had been accustomed to attach to it, 
 whilst the Saviour was alive : and there is no 
 reason whatever, to think that His death had 
 
176 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 altered her opinion of either his Messiahship 
 or his Sonship. It had, no doubt, blasted all 
 her hope of seeing Him establish that temporal 
 kingdom on earth, which all the disciples ex- 
 pected : but it withered none of the hopes of 
 pardon and eternal life, which she had formerly 
 planted upon the power and promises of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 This is the real point to be kept in view, 
 whilst judging of the motives and emotions of 
 the Marys at the Cross. They did not under- 
 stand that the Lamb of God was then taking 
 away the sin of the world, or laying down his 
 life as a ransom for them ; but they had no 
 doubt, even then, of his being the Lamb of 
 God, nor of his being their Saviour. All their 
 conduct on Calvary, and especially the honour- 
 able and costly funeral they prepared for Christ, 
 prove, to a demonstration, that their " hope in 
 Christ" had not died with him. It does not seem 
 to have dimmed at all, even when the sun be- 
 came darkness ; nor to have shaken at all, even 
 when the earth shook and trembled ; nor to have 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 177 
 
 drooped at all, even when the sepulchre was 
 sealed. Their hope of salvation was then as 
 much with him " in Paradise," as the spirit of 
 the penitent thief was there with him. 
 
 The truth of these strong assertions lies on 
 the very surface of the narrative ; and applies 
 equally to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicode- 
 mus. Indeed, there is no evidence, direct or 
 indirect, that the death of Christ overthrew 
 the spiritual hopes, or altered the spiritual 
 opinions, of any of the disciples. It upset all 
 their hope of a temporal kingdom, or of what 
 they called, " redeeming Israel ;" but it does 
 not seem to have brought the shadow of either 
 a doubt or a suspicion upon their minds, in re- 
 gard to his Divine character or mission. They 
 all forsook Him, indeed, at the crisis of his fate ; 
 but not from unbelief, but from fear and con- 
 sternation. The sheep scattered when the 
 Good Shepherd was smitten ; but they did so 
 lest they themselves should be smitten with 
 him ; and not because they had ceased to con- 
 sider him as the Shepherd and Bishop of their 
 
178 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 souls. The idea of imposture, or fraud of any 
 kind, on His part, never seems to have crossed 
 their minds, even when appearances were most 
 against his claims. John obeyed that dying 
 injunction of Christ, " Behold thy mother !" 
 as promptly and cordially as ever he obeyed 
 any command given by Christ, when in the 
 plenitude of his power and glory. " From 
 that hour that disciple took her into his own 
 house." John xix. 27. In like manner, the very 
 " sadness' 1 of the two disciples, on the way to 
 Emmaus, proves,, beyond all doubt, that their 
 opinion of their Lord's integrity had under- 
 gone no change by his death. Their spirit 
 would have been bitter or indignant, not sad 
 only, if they had thought him a deceiver. Be- 
 sides, they did not hesitate nor faulter to say 
 of Him, even then, that he was both " JESUS 
 of Nazareth," and " a Prophet mighty in deed 
 and word before God and all the people." 
 
 The conduct of the Marys is, however, still 
 more decisive. They never would have fol- 
 lowed Christ with tears to Calvary, nor stood 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 179 
 
 either nigh to or afar off from the Cross, if 
 they had changed their opinion of his truth or 
 of his grace. They did not, indeed, recognise 
 Him as then sealing the everlasting covenant 
 with his blood ; but they evidently saw Him 
 sealing the truth of both his gracious promises 
 and his high pretensions by his blood ; for it 
 was (and they knew it) because he would not 
 retract nor qualify his high claims, that he was 
 condemned and crucified. Accordingly, at his 
 burial, they acted a part, throughout, in per- 
 fect harmony with strong and unaltered faith 
 in both his truth and grace. For, who does 
 not see at a glance, that the Marys neither 
 would nor could have lavished their attentions 
 and tenderness upon His funeral, if they had 
 doubted his faithfulness or his sincerity ? Be- 
 sides, Mary of Magdala had a living proof, in 
 her own bosom, of His Divine power. He 
 had "cast out seven devils" from her spirit: 
 and, as they did not return when he was im- 
 prisoned, nor whilst he hung on the cross, nor 
 even when he died, she could not but be sure 
 
ISO THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 that his death had neither disproved his power, 
 nor discredited his character. 
 
 I bring out these facts with some care, be- 
 cause they enable us to make a right use of 
 the example of these holy women : for, they are 
 thus, perfect models of faith in the truth of the 
 Saviour's promises, and of love to the Saviour's 
 character. That faith and love they cherished, 
 avowed, and exemplified, when all the aspects 
 of the universe seemed to frown upon, and to 
 fight against, His person and mission. Neither 
 the cowardly flight of his friends, nor the reck- 
 less fury of His enemies, moved the Marys. 
 They " stood by the cross," when the cross 
 itself could hardly stand on the quaking mount. 
 They forsook him not, even when they heard 
 him declare that God had " forsaken" him ! 
 
 They did not, of course, understand, at the 
 time, the mystery of that judicial " LAMA SA- 
 BACHTHANI ;" but neither its mystery, nor its 
 terrors, alienated their affection or their confi- 
 dence from the Saviour. " None of these 
 things moved" them ! Shall, then, less things 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 1Q1 
 
 move you from the Cross of Christ ? This is 
 the point I wanted to bring you to. Now, if 
 the Marys did and endured so well, whilst the 
 death of Christ was before them only as a 
 murder and a martyrdom, what a height 
 both their faith and love would have risen to, 
 had they known, as you know, that it was an 
 atoning Sacrifice, securing " eternal inherit- 
 ance" to all in heaven, who had died in the 
 faith of Christ ; and " eternal redemption" to 
 all on earth, who should then or afterwards 
 believe on him ! Oh, had they seen then, as 
 you see now, how all the curse of the Law 
 was cancelled by His bearing its curse ; how 
 all the perfections of Jehovah were satisfied 
 and glorified in the highest, by His voluntary 
 submission to their will ; how all the balance 
 and basis of the Divine government were 
 established for ever, by His one offering of 
 himself as the votary of their holiness, and 
 as the victim of their justice ; had the 
 Marys been aware of all this, whilst they 
 stood by the Cross, their conduct and spi- 
 16 
 
182 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 rit, noble as these were, would have beeir 
 nobler still ! Surely, then, your conduct and 
 spirit should not, need not, be inferior to 
 theirs ; seeing your knowledge of the glory of 
 the Cross is so much superior to any and all 
 that they possessed, when they thus rose 
 above the fear of peril and reproach, and 
 balanced all the mysteries of the crucifixion 
 by faith in the character of the CRUCIFIED^ 
 
 There is, indeed, mystery about the Cross 
 still. And, why should there not ? I will not 
 answer this question by reminding you r that 
 there is mystery in every thing great and 
 small, mental and material, throughout the uni- 
 verse. But, whilst, this fact should teach us 
 to expect it in the Cross too, our own charac- 
 ter and spirit may well suggest to us, that our 
 " faith and patience'' require some " trial," in 
 common with others. 
 
 The Marys were not exempted : and why 
 should we be so ? They ha 1 to believe and 
 obey, when there was more inystery and less 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 183 
 
 majesty around the Cross, than now invest it : 
 for now the crown of thorns, and the mock 
 robe and reed of supremacy, are exchanged for 
 the real crown and sceptre of universal govern- 
 ment ; the scornful " Hail, King of the Jews," 
 is followed by the vying and everlasting " Hal- 
 lelujahs" of all the armies of heaven : the cen- 
 tral cross on Calvary is succeeded by the 
 " middle seat on the eternal throne :" the mo- 
 mentary frown of judicial anger, has given 
 place for ever to the endless and unalterable 
 complacency of paternal love : the keys of 
 death and the invisible world hang upon the 
 " vesture dipped in blood," and He who was 
 " numbered with transgressors," is now identi- 
 fied with Deity, in all the homage and glory 
 which saints or angels can render. If, there- 
 fore, the miracles which the Marys saw, and 
 the voices from heaven which they heard, 
 proved to them the Divinity of Christ, and 
 counterbalanced all the wants and woes of His 
 earthly lot ; surely His place on the throne 
 and in the worship of Heaven, may well over- 
 
184 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 power every difficulty which reason meets, or 
 speculation suspects, in the Divinity and glory 
 of the Saviour. 
 
 I neither profess to solve the mystery of 
 His incarnation and sacrifice, nor pretend to 
 be unaffected by it ; but I do claim the right to 
 be heard and heeded when I say to you, that 
 an atoning Saviour is the universal creed of 
 Heaven, and the only creed on earth which 
 converts sinners, or consoles saints. 
 
 Happily, only a few females, amongst the 
 increasing thousands and tens of thousands of 
 the intellectual, have had the fool-hardiness to 
 stand forward in open hostility to the Godhead 
 of the Saviour. This pitiable contrast to all 
 the pure spirits around the eternal throne 
 this monstrous singularity, in a universe which 
 adores the Lamb, is not presented by many 
 of your sex. Long may it be proverbially true 
 of the sex at large, that they are still the last 
 to quit the Cross, and the first to visit the 
 Sepulchre. 
 
 You have, perhaps, some reproach to en- 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 185 
 
 counter, in thus imitating the Marys. Well ; 
 brave and bear it as they did. Had they not 
 dared all hazards, how many souls might have 
 been lost, whom their noble example has won 
 to Christ ? Had they shrunk back from own- 
 ing Him, after having received so much grace 
 from him, how many traitors and cowards 
 might have sprung from their timidity ? And 
 should you flee or flinch from the Cross, in 
 order to escape " the reproach" of it, you will 
 peril more souls than your own. 
 
 It is, indeed, a trying dilemma when a wife 
 or a daughter cannot " confess Christ" in their 
 family, without giving offence. It is a very 
 strong temptation to be silent, or to compromise 
 evangelical truth, when the avowal of that 
 truth breaks the peace and harmony of home. 
 Firmness is, however, kindness to the oppo- 
 sers. There is no such cruelty to an unbe- 
 lieving partner, parent, or brother, as breaking 
 faith with Christ, in order to keep the peace 
 with them. For, what is this peace, whilst 
 you must carry about with you the horrible 
 16* 
 
186 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 consciousness that they must perish by their 
 unbelief, and that you are abetting that unbe- 
 lief! I invoke, adjure, you to consider this! 
 For, could you so conceal your faith from 
 them, as to satisfy them without periling your 
 own soul, you would but more effectually peril 
 their souls. 
 
 Look again at the Marys, and be firm. De- 
 pend upon it, if you have to witness for Christ 
 at home, your firmness will eventually win 
 souls at home, as well as save yourself. Let 
 " AZUR and ZALMON" suggest to you, how you 
 may join fidelity with tenderness, in dealing 
 with " the enemies of the cross of Christ." 
 
 AZUR and ZALMON were " Hebrews of the 
 Hebrews," and had been Pharisees of the 
 Pharisees ; but both had renounced Judaism 
 for Christianity, although from different prin- 
 ciples. Zalmon was won by the EXAMPLE of 
 Christ: Azur by the ATONEMENT of Christ. 
 Zalmon was fond of the Oriental and Grecian 
 philosophers who speculated on Christianity ; 
 Azur refused to associate with them, and would 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 187 
 
 not acknowledge them as believers. He loved 
 Zalmon as the friend of his youth, but treated 
 his pretensions to be a Christian as unfounded ; 
 for they had been advanced in this form and 
 spirit : 
 
 " I can no longer resist the evidences of 
 Christianity," said Zalmon : " like the autum- 
 nal floods of Jordan, they bear unto the DEAD 
 Sea every objection, as it comes within the 
 mighty sweep of their swellings. The all- 
 perfect character of Jesus demonstrates his 
 Messiahship : it was so pure, and yet so social 
 withal ; so unbending in principle, and yet so 
 bland in manners withal ; so tried by calamity, 
 and yet so patient withal. Although he was 
 dragged from the cradle to the cross, as it were, 
 on the hurdle of poverty, by the wild horses 
 of slander and persecution, neither agony nor 
 ignominy could alienate him from his mission, 
 nor alter his character. Like light, he passed 
 through every medium uncontaminated. Not 
 to be a Christian, therefore, is irrational." 
 
 " If you mean by his mission, his MEDIA- 
 
J88 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 TION," said Azur, " I congratulate you upon 
 your conversion : and,, whatever you mean, 
 Zalmon, I hail your triumph over the preju- 
 dices which blind our nation to the beauty of 
 the Saviour's holiness. But in your philo- 
 sophical circle, it is become fashionabb to 
 reduce his death to the rank of a martyrdom 
 for truth, and to exalt his example on the ruins 
 of his Cross. I may not own this as Chris- 
 tianity : I stand in doubt of you." 
 
 " I suspected, Azur, that you would," said 
 Zalmon ; you live amongst little minds ; I 
 move amongst the sages of the city. You are 
 smitten with the love of mystery ; I am, with 
 .the love of VIRTUE. It is enough for me to 
 find in Christ, the Sun of Moral Righteousness : 
 in that capacity he will hold an eternal meri- 
 dian, and shine with healing in his wings, 
 until righteousness become universal. Such an 
 example the world wanted ; and, having found 
 it in Christ, wants nothing more for salvation. 
 Here my faith begins and ends" 
 
 *' ^almon ! be serious : thus the faith of 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 189 
 
 NICODEMUS began. He acknowledged Christ 
 to be a Teacher sent from God ; and Christ 
 treated the avowal as unworthy of his notice. 
 He did not welcome the meagre compliment, 
 but proceeded to teach the ' Master in Israel,' 
 that the SON of God was sent into the world 
 to be lifted up on the Cross, as a sacrifice for 
 sin. Remember this fact ; and marvel not 
 that I say unto you, Ye must be born again.' " 
 " My early and tried friend, I will be seri- 
 ous. I have marked, AZUR, the fact you 
 mention, and feel staggered by its bearings. 
 It is to the point. And, as a Hebrew of the 
 Hebrews, I cannot forget that, under the law, 
 the pardon of sin was inseparable from sacri- 
 fice. The principle of ATONEMENT was as 
 prominent in our once holy system, as the 
 Temple in our holy city. All this I frankly 
 concede to be fact ; but pretend not to under- 
 stand it. My present opinion is, that the per- 
 fect EXAMPLE of Christ, and his illumination 
 of IMMORTALITY, by raising the standard of 
 morals, render sacrifice unnecessary." 
 
190 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 " Zalmon ! Zalmon ! sacrifices are, indeed, 
 unnecessary now ; but on your new principles, 
 they were always useless and unmeaning. 
 * The blood of bulls and of goats could never 
 take away sin, J nor open the gates of Paradise 
 to the spirits of our fathers. Think me not 
 harsh, because I am warm. You have for- 
 saken Judaism without embracing Christianity. 
 Neither Christ nor Moses would now own you 
 as his disciple. You occupy a place against 
 which Sinai and Calvary equally roll their 
 thunders. Am I therefore become your enemy 
 because I tell you the truth ? Let them flatter 
 you who love you not : I love you, and there- 
 fore warn you. And now, having done so, 
 I will reason with you. Was not the Messiah 
 promised to the Fathers ? And did not the 
 faithful of all ages ' REJOICE' to see his day, 
 even afar off? But, if he came only to teach 
 and exemplify VIRTUE, what benefit could they 
 derive from his work ? They expected benefit 
 from his mission, and died iu the faith of reap- 
 ing its blessings ; but if these consist in his 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 19'l 
 
 EXAMPLE, they rejoiced without cause ; for all 
 the influence of an example, however good, 
 extends only forward, not backward. On your 
 principles, therefore, the Fathers had neither 
 part nor lot in the mission of Christ" 
 
 "True, Azur: but if the Fathers needed 
 neither part nor lot in it, what follows ?" 
 
 " If they did not ! Zalmon, are you or they 
 the best judge of thek need? If their guilt, 
 and their sense of it, be judged from the number 
 of their sin-offerings, their need of salvation 
 was absolute. Besides, they looked beyond 
 the sacrifices to the atonement typfied by 
 them ; and thus avowed their need of a 
 Divine propitiation. In a word, they expected 
 the Lamb of God to take away their sin by 
 the sacrifice of himself." 
 
 " PROVE that, Azur, and I will vie with 
 you in glorying only in the Cross. But the 
 Fathers were in Paradise before the Lamb 
 was slain. Their spirits were carried by angels 
 into Abraham's bosom as they departed. They 
 were, therefore, saved without the atonement," 
 
192 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 " No, Zalmon ; they were saved before it, 
 but not without it. What saith the Scriptures ? 
 * God hath set forth (Christ Jesus) to be a pro- 
 pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare 
 his righteousness for the remission of sins that 
 are PAST, through the forbearance of God.' 
 Here, past sins refer not only to the former 
 sins of living believers, but also to the sins of 
 all believers under the first covenant : for the 
 death of Christ declares the righteousness of 
 God in forbearing and forgiving them. The 
 faithful of former ages were, therefore, justified 
 and glorified, in virtue of Christ's pledge to die 
 for them at the fulness of time. On that 
 ground they were admitted into heaven when 
 they died ; but their l eternal inheritance' was 
 not confirmed until his ' death for the redemp- 
 tion of the transgressions under the first testa- 
 ment.' Thus the Atonement had a retrospec- 
 tive influence of the same kind as its present 
 and prospective influence. And, that the 
 Fathers expected this, yea, calculated upon it, 
 is self-evident from all the prophets. They 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 193 
 
 taught the Church to realize the sufferings of 
 Christ at the sacrifice for her sins ; and to 
 speak as if the Lamb had been ' slain from the 
 foundation of the world.' ' He was wounded 
 for our transgressions, he was bruised for our 
 iniquities : surely he hath borne our griefs and 
 carried our sorrows.' Thus they both felt their 
 need of an atonement, and knew that it would 
 be made for them. It has been made ; and since 
 that moment, the Old Testament saints have 
 * sung a NEW Song' in heaven, saying with a 
 loud voice ' Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain for us.' " 
 
 " AZUR, if your views of the sacrifices be 
 right, your system is as harmonious as it is 
 sublime. My scheme, I must confess, does 
 not agree with the whole word of God. The 
 sacrifices, especially, are not duly explained 
 by it." 
 
 " Explained by it, Zalmon ! they are utterly 
 useless in it. And yet that they were of Divine 
 appointment, is self-evident ; for neither reason 
 nor superstition could have suggested them, 
 
194 THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 
 
 And then, no act of worship was ever so 
 signally honoured with the Divine approbation 
 as sacrifice. ' The cloud of glory* travelled 
 from altar to altar, like the sun through the signs 
 of the Zodiac, irradiating and ratifying them all, 
 But, on your principles, the high solemnities 
 of sacrificature, which thus charmed and chain- 
 ed down the Sheckinah to the earth, were 
 neither useful nor instructive ! ' To the Law 
 and the Testimony,' Zalmon ; and since your 
 philosophers ' speak not according to these/ 
 depend on it, ' there is no light in them,' Patri- 
 archism, Judaism, and Christianity, unite in 
 confirming the Divine maxim, that ' without 
 shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.' 
 There is, therefore, nothing between us and 
 hell, but the BLOOD OF THE LAMB." 
 
 " If such be the fact, Azur, God be merciful 
 to me a sinner ! And * God forbid that I 
 should glory, save in the cross of Christ ' " 
 
 " AMEN, Zalmon, and Amen ! You will 
 now visit Calvary, as the Marys did after the 
 Resurrection. They neither saw its glories, 
 
THE MARYS AT THE CROSS. 195 
 
 nor understood its solemnities, on the day of 
 the Crucifixion. I often think with what 
 different feelings they stood at the Cross, when 
 they knew it to be the ALTAR of Eternal Re- 
 demption ! Then, how all they had seen and 
 heard on the great day of atonement would 
 rise upon them in forms of supernal majesty 
 and supreme glory ! Yes ; and I find, like 
 them, that my first visit was not my best. I 
 feel ashamed of my first appreciations of the 
 Sacrifice of Christ ; they were so vague. And 
 still I have much to learn !" 
 
No. VI. 
 
 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 PAUL, when enumerating the successive 
 manifestations of Christ to the disciples, by 
 which "many infallible proofs" of the truth 
 of the Resurrection were given, adds with 
 great emphasis, " Last of all, he was seen of 
 me." If Mary of Magdala lived long enough 
 to hear or read this exclamation, how naturally 
 and emphatically she must have exclaimed, 
 " First of all, He was seen of me" It is not 
 improbable that both she and the other female 
 witnesses of the Resurrection, did live to read 
 or hear St. Paul's personal testimony to this 
 great truth. How, then, do you think, did 
 they approve of being left out of the list of 
 witnesses by Paul ; seeing they were the first 
 persons to whom the Saviour " showed himself 
 
MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 19? 
 
 alive ?" The four Evangelists had not treated 
 them thus, in their Gospels. In each of the 
 Gospels, the Marys are placed at the head of 
 the " great cloud of witnesses," which attest 
 the Resurrection. Why, then, are they not so 
 in the Epistles also ? Obviously, because it 
 would have been no kindness to the Marys, 
 whatever honour it might have been to them : 
 for, as Paul's Epistles were chiefly addressed 
 to Gentile Churches, and as persecution raged 
 in Judea at the time, any reference to the 
 Marys, or to the women of Galilee, as the first 
 witnesses, might have drawn more visiters 
 around them than they could conveniently, or 
 wisely, or safely welcome. Thus both their 
 character and their life might have been periled, 
 had their names been made as public and im- 
 perishable in the Epistles, as they were in the 
 Gospels. Paul's silence was, therefore, the 
 shield of their holy reputation, and of their pre- 
 carious life. Both these were hazarded quite 
 enough, by the publicity and popularity which 
 their names had acquired in Judea 
 
198 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 Besides, you can easily conceive, from their 
 character and spirit, how they would count it 
 honour enough, for them, to have seen the 
 Lord " first," even if there had been no notice 
 taken of the fact by the Evangelists. The 
 sweet consciousness, that His first appearance 
 was to them ; that His first " All hail" of welcome 
 was to them ; that His first smile, after the sor- 
 rows of death, beamed on them ; and that His 
 first words, after the silence of the grave, were 
 .addressed to them : this, all this, must have 
 been joy unspeakable arid inexhaustible. The 
 Marys could no more forget it, or be unsatisfied 
 with it, than the Angels who rolled away the 
 stone from the sepulchre, and wrapped up the 
 linen clothes within, can cease to remember or 
 to enjoy the high honour bestowed on them, 
 when thus permitted to minister to Christ, as 
 He rose from the dead. Such honour had not all 
 the angels of God then. They were all allowed 
 to worship the Son alike, when God brought 
 " in the First-Begotten into the world :" but 
 vhen He " brought Him again from the dead, 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 199 
 
 by the blood of the everlasting covenant," only 
 " two Angels" were admitted to witness, or 
 worship, or serve, on that august occasion. 
 
 It would be an equally useless and fruitless 
 inquiry, to ask why this honour was confined 
 to so few of the angels, or why it was conferred 
 upon these two : it is not, however, useless to 
 inquire why the Saviour shewed himself first 
 to the Marys, when he arose from the dead. 
 This was a marked preference, and, therefore, 
 it must have had practical reasons, whether we 
 can discover them all or not. 
 
 The great general reason for this preference 
 is to be found in the condition of the SEX at 
 large, at the time. They had, then, neither 
 that place in the Church, nor that rank in 
 society, which they now enjoy. Male and fe- 
 male were not "one," in Moses, as they are 
 now " all one in Christ Jesus :" for, although 
 women were not exactly without a name or a 
 place in the Jewish Church, they had not equal 
 privileges with men. They were not, indeed, 
 -"outer court" worshippers at the Temple. 
 
2t)0 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE* 
 
 Their place in the sacred area was both higher 
 and nearer to the symbols of the Divine Pre- 
 sence in the Sanctuary, than "the court of the 
 Gentiles :" still, it was fifteen steps lower than 
 the inner court," where the temple and the altar 
 stood, and where all the males appeared before 
 God in Zion. Thus, although they were not 
 kept so " far off" as the Gentiles, from the sight 
 and hearing of public worship, they were not 
 permitted literally to draw " so nigh unto God" 
 as their Fathers, Husbands, or even their bro- 
 thers did. Indeed, in the time of Christ, they 
 were treated at the Temple very much as Jew- 
 ish women are now in the Synagogue : placed 
 where they could hardly see or be seen. 
 
 This arbitrary and degrading arrangement 
 was not, however, of Divine appointment. 
 This invidious distinction did not exist in the 
 time of Solomon, nor even so early as the 
 reign of Manasseh. Then there were only two 
 courts : " the court of the priest," and " the 
 great court." The place called " the court of 
 the women," in the second Temple of Jerusa- 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 201 
 
 lem, was no more " according to the pattern 
 shown on the mount," than are the latticed 
 galleries of the great Synagogue of London, 
 Judaism, as God gave it to Moses, did not, 
 indeed, place women altogether upon an equa- 
 lity with men, even " in things appertaining to 
 God ;" but still, it did not degrade them ex- 
 actly, deeply as it subordinated them. 
 
 It was in reference, therefore, to a twofold 
 subordination of the sex, that the Saviour had 
 to take effectual measures for making male 
 and female " all one in Himself." He had 
 to do something for women, which should at 
 once emancipate them from human imposi- 
 tions, and equalize them in Divine privileges. 
 And what so effectual for this twofold purpose, 
 as showing " Himself alive after his Passion," 
 to women first ? He thus made the Marys 
 apostles, even to the Apostles themselves! 
 After this crowning distinction, what Minister 
 or Church of Christ, could doubt whether 
 " daughters of the Lord God Almighty," were 
 not joint-heirs with His sons, in all the spi- 
 
202 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 ritual heritage of Christianity ? Thus the Sa- 
 viour's treatment of the Marys had a reason 
 beyond themselves. He treated them as the 
 representatives of their sex : none of whom 
 appear to have been amongst his public enemies 
 either during his life or at his crucifixion. This 
 is a remarkable fact. Even Pilate's wife warned 
 her husband on the judgment-seat, to have 
 nothing to do against " that just person," as she 
 called Christ. In like manner, the multitude 
 of women who followed the Saviour from the 
 city to Calvary, instead of joining with the 
 men in the cry of " Crucify him," '* bewailed 
 and lamented him." Indeed, there is no in- 
 stance of any female offering any public indig- 
 nity to Christ, whilst he was upon earth. What 
 the private feelings of the Mothers and Daugh- 
 ters of Jerusalem were towards Him, I do not 
 know, of course : but, judging from the kind 
 notice He took of their kindly sympathy, when 
 he was led forth amidst the clamour and exe- 
 crations of the Jews to be crucified, I am cer- 
 tainly inclined to regard his conduct to the 
 
THE MARYS AT THE 
 
 tf %, < - K 
 
 Marys as an acknowledgment of that sym- 
 pathy, and thus as a token of special good- 
 will to their sex, as well as to themselves. 
 Luke xxiii. 27, 31. It was also emphatically 
 " good will to man !" But for this signal 
 honour, women would have been kept down 
 both in the church and society ; and that sub- 
 ordination would have weakened the Church, 
 and hindered the progress of all the best 
 charms and charities of social life. 
 
 He is but a superficial observer, who sees 
 in the superior education of females now, or in 
 the advanced civilization of men, enough to 
 account for the high and hallowed influence of 
 Christian wives, mothers, and daughters, upon 
 the morals and religion of the age. Both these 
 causes of improvement are themselves the effect 
 of Christ's bringing male and female equally 
 nigh unto God by the blood of the cross, and 
 of making them all one in himself: and the 
 proof the demonstration the seal of this, 
 was given in His appearing to ^vvomen first. 
 His " ALL HAIL," to the Marys, began and led 
 
204 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 to all the holy consideration in which the sex 
 are now held, and all the holy influence which 
 they now exercise. The impulse which ori- 
 ginated both was given in the Arimathearv 
 garden. That gaiden was the Eden in which 
 woman was made again a spiritual " help- 
 meet" for man : the Paradise in which the 
 Adams and Eves of the new creation were 
 made " heirs together" of the grace of Eternal 
 Life. Yes ; out of this fact, however much 
 overlooked or forgotten now, arose all the spi- 
 ritual fellowship, and united co-operation for 
 good, which has either blessed or beautified 
 the world and the Church since. 
 
 Men, Fathers, and Brethren ! ye would 
 not have raised " the daughters of the Lord 
 God Almighty to sit together with you in 
 heavenly places with Christ Jesus," had not 
 Christ Jesus himself handed them up, and 
 placed them at your very side in all the ordi- 
 nances and immunities of the Church. Ye are 
 not, indeed, displeased with this equality, now 
 that it is established. Ye would not alter nor 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 205 
 
 disturb it now, on any account. Ye are even 
 delighted with it. Ye would not, however, 
 have felt thus, nor would this equality have 
 taken place, had not Christ, by his first act 
 when he rose from the dead, given a deathless 
 distinction to women. The husbands and fa- 
 thers of that age had not all the honourable 
 feelings of this age. They were not without 
 " natural affection ;" but their religious pre- 
 judices checked its current. Even when con- 
 jugal and parental love was tenderest, it did 
 not admit the idea of spiritual equality in the 
 Church on earth, nor the sweet hope of perfect 
 equality in heaven. It was Christianity that 
 introduced the present habit of thinking and 
 feeling : and it was the example of Christ, ra- 
 tified by the first " All hail" of the resurrec- 
 tion, that gave effect to the claims which 
 Christianity advanced on behalf of women. 
 
 All this may seem only a curious specula- 
 tion to some men ; but to this all men owe 
 whatever was influential in the piety of their 
 mothers. Yes, young Man ! your mother could 
 13 
 
206 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 not have had all her sweet influence over you, 
 even in early life, had she not held, in public 
 opinion, as near and dear a place to the heart 
 of God and the Lamb, as your father did, if he 
 also was pious. It was her equality in the 
 Kingdom of God in both worlds, that made 
 her maternal love as powerful as paternal law. 
 Thus had she stood lower than her husband on 
 the scale of spiritual and eternal privileges, 
 you would not have risen very high on the 
 scale of moral superiority, nor sunk so seldom 
 as you have done. 
 
 O, what does not the Church of Christ owe 
 to pious Mothers ! When I consider how 
 little the generality of even godly fathers do, in 
 order to train up their children in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord, I cannot but see 
 that the breast of the Saviour was first full, 
 and first warm, after death, with the mighty 
 the gracious the wise purpose of creating 
 for mothers paramount motives, and opportu- 
 nities, and influences for making the lambs of 
 their family the sheep of His fold. He fore- 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 207 
 
 saw how much would depend on maternal in- 
 fluence, and how much fathers would both 
 leave to it, and throw upon it ; and, therefore, 
 His first act when he rose from the dead, as 
 the Shepherd and Bishop of souls, was to put 
 honour upon his female disciples. Mothers ! 
 you are sure now that it is no strain of com- 
 pliment to the sex, which has run through 
 this chapter. You see now that I have not 
 been expanding an incident into a system. I 
 have, indeed, brought forward your rights and 
 privileges from a point in the history of Christ, 
 at which they are not usually exhibited or 
 pleaded: but I have done this because it is 
 the true point, and the public act towards wo- 
 men, by which He gave triumphant effect in 
 the Church to all the claims of his female dis- 
 ciples. Whilst, therefore, I congratulate you 
 upon your equal, and equally well chartered, 
 privileges in the Christian Church on earth 
 and in heaven, I remind you that you are thus 
 blessed, that ye may be blessings ; that your 
 responsibility is equal to your high calling in 
 
208 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 Christ Jesus, and to your joint-heirship in his 
 kingdom and glory. 
 
 I have not forgotten, whilst explaining the 
 grand general reason of the honour conferred 
 on the Marys, that their own character and 
 spirit furnish explanations of the preference 
 thus shown to them. The well known fact, 
 that they were the last at the Cross, and the 
 first at the Sepulchre, ought never to be for- 
 gotten. It is not, however, the only fact 
 which seems to have influenced the Saviour's 
 conduct towards them. They had both sat at 
 his feet, and followed him in the regeneration 
 of life, long and often, before his passion be- 
 gan. From the time they were called by his 
 grace, until all his temporal wants ceased, 
 they had " ministered unto him of their sub- 
 stance," and been his prompt and willing ser- 
 vants. During his ministry, they were at 
 once his aptest scholars, and his firmest ad- 
 herents. In a word, we never hear of them 
 taking any offence at his doctrme, or giving way 
 to either the fiery or ambitious spirit which, 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 209 
 
 occasionally, betrayed the Apostles. This uni- 
 form fidelity and consistency were not likely 
 to be overlooked by the Saviour, when he rose 
 from the dead. He who accepted, and even 
 rewarded openly, the dying testimony which the 
 penitent thief bore to His innocence, was sure 
 to honour those holy women, who had so long 
 and so closely identified themselves with His 
 cause and character. And He did. Whilst 
 He only returned sympathy for sympathy to 
 the " daughters of Jerusalem," who only began 
 to weep when His woes began, he mani- 
 fested himself to the Marys in the garden, the 
 moment he parted from the angels in the Se- 
 pulchre. They were the first admitted to wor- 
 ship at His feet, and enjoy His presence, after 
 the Angels had finished their homage and 
 services. 
 
 Is there no practical lesson taught by this 
 historical fact ? Does it illustrate no experi- 
 mental fact ? ORIGIN says " God hates the 
 man who thinks, that any of his holidays lasts 
 but one day." He means, that the man who 
 18* 
 
210 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 thinks of the Crucifixion only on Good Fri- 
 day, or of the Resurrection only on Easter- 
 Sunday, can neither please God, nor profit 
 himself, by his devotions. You readily admit 
 this to be true. Well, it is equally true, that 
 they have not much of the presence of Christ 
 in public ordinances, and are never sure of 
 enjoyment even at the Sacrament, who try not 
 to walk with God during the week, as well 
 as to wait on Him upon the Sabbath. When- 
 ever there is heartless prayer in the closet 
 from day to day, there will be no heart-felt 
 praise in the sanctuary ; because no such com- 
 munications of grace, nor any such hold of the 
 Cross, as will tune the heart to the joy of peni- 
 tential grief, or to the joy of a good hope of 
 Salvation. Only Marys who follow Christ 
 through the week, are sure to meet with Christ 
 on the Sabbath. His salutation, " All Hail," 
 is now awarded most frequently to those who 
 serve him most faithfully. 
 
 It is also in fine and full harmony with all 
 just views of both Christ arid Religion, to 
 
THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 211 
 
 reckon that He was much influenced in his 
 treatment of the Marys, by their sacred regard 
 to the Sanctity of the Sabbath, and by their 
 rising so early to visit his sepulchre. During 
 His life, he had set them an example both of 
 keeping " The holy of the Lord honourable," 
 and of early rising. It was " His custom" to 
 go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and 
 to go " early in the morning" to the temple. 
 This the Marys knew, and imitated. Not all 
 their sorrow or desolation, arising from His 
 death and burial, was allowed by them to set 
 aside their Sabbatic duties. They returned 
 from His grave, " arid rested on the Sabbath 
 day, according to the commandment." That 
 commandment made no provision nor gave 
 any warrant, for finishing the funeral obse- 
 quies even of Christ, although he was " the 
 Lord of the Sabbath :" and the Marys did not 
 venture to take a liberty which the law did 
 not allow. This was not Jewish strictness. 
 They only did right. Nothing but works of 
 necessity or of mercy are lawful on the Sab- 
 
212 THE MARYS AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 bath day : arid the completion of the Saviour's 
 funeral was neither. It was no work of ne- 
 cessity : for even if His sacred body could 
 have " seen corruption," there was more than 
 enough of embalming spices around it to pre- 
 vent all danger. It was not a work of mercy : 
 for that body could no longer suffer, and was 
 exposed to no insult. 
 
 How this example should influence your 
 Sabbatic habits and spirit ! For, if the Marys 
 would not finish the rites of Sepulture on the 
 day of holy rest, even in the case of the Sav- 
 iour, what likeness to them do those women 
 bear, who can finish a dress, or pay a visit, or 
 take a jaunt of pleasure, on that sacred day ? 
 
No. VII. 
 
 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 " I HAVE heard and read a great deal (said 
 one) about the nature and necessity of evan- 
 gelical holiness, and about the only way of 
 acquiring it ; but, except in my Bible, I have 
 met with nothing expressly on 'THE BEAUTY 
 OF HOLINESS.' There, however, almost as 
 much is said about its beauty and loveliness, 
 as upon its necessity. Holiness is as much 
 commended as it is enforced, in the Word of 
 God ; and invariably represented, as being 
 equally desirable and essential. Now, although 
 I certainly do not see clearly what could be 
 said on the beauty of holiness, that would help 
 me to follow holiness more fully and willingly, 
 I do both see and feel, that something more 
 than even a deep sense of its necessity, is re- 
 
214 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 quisite in order to this. I find that it is only 
 in as far as I really love or admire true holi- 
 ness, that I follow it cheerfully. A sense of 
 duty, or an apprehension of danger, leads me, 
 certainly, farther in well-doing, than love would 
 always carry me : but still, 1 do those things 
 most and best, which I love as well as revere. 
 Alas, I do nothing as it ought to be done ! 
 There is, however, a better and a worse in my 
 obedience ; and the best parts of it are those 
 duties which commend themselves to my heart 
 by their loveliness, as well as to my conscience 
 by their authority. I want, therefore, to see 
 all duty in this light ; that I may choose it for 
 its own sake, as well as submit to it because it 
 cannot be safely neglected." 
 
 Perhaps, you have thought and felt thus, 
 when observing how much more pleasure you 
 take in some duties than in others. You must 
 have noticed, at times, the very great difference 
 there is between the spirit in which you dis- 
 charge the duties you really love, and the 
 spirit in which you yield to those you are only 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 215 
 
 afraid to neglect. In general you are " glad 1 '' 
 when it is said to you, " let us go up to the 
 house of the Lord :" but not always glad when 
 both Conscience and the Holy Spirit join in 
 saying, " enter thy closet, and shut thy door 
 and pray to the Father who seeth in secret." 
 Even the assurance, " He shall reward thee 
 openly," does not always charm you into your 
 closet, even when you cannot exactly plead 
 the want of time to go. In like manner, you 
 can in general say from the heart, " How 
 amiable, are thy Tabernacles, O Lord God of 
 hosts." The house of God presents itself often 
 to your mind, in the course of the week, as the 
 very gate of Heaven. Its oracles and ordi- 
 nances, its worship and fellowship, with their 
 sweet influences and holy associations, rise up 
 before you in the world, as they did before 
 David in the wilderness, in a vision so bright 
 and lovely, that you feel something of his holy 
 impatience to " appear before God in Zion." 
 Thus you do not say nor think of the Sabbath, 
 " What a weariness it is ! when will it be 
 
216 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 over ?" You do not, in general, feel like Doeg 
 in the temple, "detained before the Lord." 
 But not so often in this fine spirit, do you an- 
 ticipate or improve your return to the closet 
 and the family altar. And yet, you love them 
 more and better than some other duties. They 
 also present themselves frequently, as gates of 
 Heaven too. On a bright morning, when the 
 sun fills the house, as with the glory of the old 
 Sheckinah, how exhilarating it is to bow 
 around the family altar, offering " the morning 
 sacrifice ?" And on a stormy night, or when 
 wearisome nights are before us, how soothing 
 it is to join in " the evening sacrifice ;" casting 
 all our care upon Him who careth for us ? 
 And not less exhilarating to our spirit, is the 
 closet of secret prayer, when our tbirst for 
 communion with God is ardent ; nor less 
 soothing, when our cares and fears are op- 
 pressive. Thus there is attraction, as well as 
 obligation, in the duty of prayer. If the law 
 of devotion drive us occasionally to both the 
 domestic and the solitary altar, the cords of 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS, 217 
 
 love, or the magnets of conscious want and 
 weakness, draw us habitually. We need law : 
 but we see beauty, and taste happiness, and 
 sometimes lose the sense of duty in the sensa- 
 tions of delight, whilst drawing nigh unto God. 
 Nothing, perhaps, is more gratifying to us, than 
 the prevalence of a truly devotional spirit in 
 the sanctuary and the closet. We welcome it 
 as a token for good, and reckon it an unequi- 
 vocal mark of grace. Whilst we delight in 
 prayer, we cease to doubt the genuineness of 
 our faith, and are not tempted to question the 
 reality of our conversion. 
 
 Now all this is as it should be. We cannot 
 attach too much importance to a devotional 
 spirit, nor be too watchful to preserve it : for 
 when this evidence of personal piety declines, 
 every other passes under an eclipse, which so 
 darkens them all, that we are unable or afraid 
 to trace our connexion with the Sun of Right- 
 eousness. We actually lose His light, when 
 we lose our relish for prayer. That relish is, 
 however, more frequently lost or impaired by 
 19 
 
218 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 not cultivating an equal relish for some other 
 duties, than by the indulgence of sloth or for* 
 mality. We are oftener thrown out of the* 
 spirit of prayer, by giving way to wrong tem- 
 pers, than by growing weary of regular habits. 
 Fits of ill-humour, whether fiery or sulky, 
 keep us out of the closet whilst they last, and 
 make us afraid to enter it even when they are 
 over. Hence the necessity of attaching almost 
 as much importance to " a meek and quiet spi- 
 rit," as to a devotional spirit. The former, as- 
 well as the latter, is an " ornament of great 
 price in the sight of God ;" and ought, there- 
 fore, to be equally lovely in our estimation. 
 But, how few see so much moral beauty in 
 self-control, or in a meek spirit, as in a devo- 
 tional spirit ! And yet, we all know well, that 
 devotion is neither heavenly nor pleasing when 
 we are angry or peevish. Were it, therefore, 
 only for the sake of serenity and holy freedom 
 in the closet, we ought to study the beauty of 
 a holy temper so closely, that we could no more 
 leave our humours, than our habits, to accident ; 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 219 
 
 and no more risk the consequences of an unruly 
 or hasty spirit, than of a defiled conscience. 
 Indeed, for every purpose, whether practical 
 or devotional, we ought to regard good temper 
 as being as truly a mark of grace, as good ha- 
 bits, or gracious feelings. It is, in all its forms, 
 *' the fruit of the Spirit." Accordingly, " long- 
 suffering, gentleness, and meekness," are class- 
 ed with " love, joy, peace, and faith," in the 
 scriptural enumeration of the special fruits of 
 the Holy Spirit. And, what is equally to the 
 point, their opposites, " wrath, strife, and vari- 
 ance," in common with heresy, are classed with 
 the worst works of the flesh. Gal. v. 19, 23. 
 Were this duly remembered, we should feel, in 
 ruling our tongue and temper well, that we 
 were as directly proving our faith in Christ, 
 and evincing our participation of the Holy 
 Spirit, as when we mounted on eagles' wings 
 in devotion, or melted in love and penitence at 
 the Sacrament. Yes ; and we should both 
 soar and sing oftener, if we habitually tried to 
 possess our souls in patience and equanimity. 
 
220 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 But even this is not the duty, which has 
 " no comeliness" that commends it to our taste. 
 The worst tempered do not admire passion 
 even in themselves, however they may justify 
 or palliate it at times. They often excuse it, 
 but they never praise it, nor pretend that it 
 makes them happy. Perhaps no Christians 
 see so clearly, in one sense, the deformity of 
 ill temper, as those who are, themselves, very 
 irritable. They smart and suffer so much from 
 giving way to it frequently, that they know 
 well all its sad effects, however they may 
 forget its sinfulness, or try to soften its guilt, in 
 their own case. Neither are they insensible 
 to the beauty of a meek and quiet spirit in 
 others They even wish they were like them ; 
 and, if wishing could make them so, they would 
 be very glad ! Of course, it never will : for in 
 speaking thus, they are wishing for what no 
 one has or can get in this world, a spirit that 
 should need neither ruling nor watching over. 
 Grace to rule and watch over their own rebel- 
 lious spirit, they might obtain by turning their 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 221 
 
 idle wishes into honest prayers : but even 
 prayer itself, however fervent, will not bring 
 down from heaven into any bosom, a spirit 
 which nothing could ruffle, or which would re- 
 quire no looking after. There is no such tem- 
 per in the universe, except in heaven. Let us 
 not, therefore, amuse ourselves by dreaming 
 about a lovely fiction, nor deceive ourselves by 
 imagining that those who have an " excellent 
 spirit," are so gifted with it, as to need no self- 
 government nor painstaking, in order to excel. 
 Those who excel us most in temper, will all 
 be found to exceed us equally in watchfulness. 
 I do not forget, whilst writing thus, that 
 many are good-humoured, and even sweet-tem- 
 pered, who yet have no grace whatever, nor any 
 concern about it. In such cases, therefore, I 
 readily allow, and solemnly affirm, that the 
 sweetness of their disposition proves nothing 
 but the healthiness of their nervous system, or 
 the harmony of their physical powers, or the 
 absence of provocation. In such females, 
 .therefore, .habitual gentleness and suavity do 
 19* 
 
22 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 not amount even to moral principle, and are in 
 no sense the fruits of the Spirit. The utmost 
 and the best which can be said of this happy 
 temperament, is, that it is an invaluable gift of 
 Providence, very favourable to all the duties of 
 life and godliness, and very useful to society. 
 It ought, therefore, to be highly prized by all 
 who possess it : for it is unquestionably given 
 by Providence, as a motive to seek grace ; and 
 thus it involves weighty responsibilities, and 
 leaves its possessors without excuse, if they 
 neglect the great salvation. 
 
 Much more responsible and inexcusable, 
 however, are we who have found some grace, 
 and hope for still more, if we neglect our tem- 
 per, or leave it to accident. For if nature, when 
 unusually gentle, bind to improvement, how 
 much grace confirms that obligation ! If they 
 sin who spoil a fine natural disposition by ex- 
 posing it unnecessarily to temptation, how 
 guilty are we when we allow grace to be de- 
 feated by nature, just because we did not try to 
 rule our spirit at the time ! 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS, 223 
 
 It will not do to set off against this neglect, 
 the attention we pay to the great salvation 
 itself, and to some of the spiritual duties which 
 love to Christ involves. Indeed, the more at- 
 tention we pay to them, the more inexcusable 
 we are when we give way to a wrong spirit. 
 Besides, we do not attend to them, whilst the 
 fit of ill humour lasts. That which clouds our 
 brow or convulses our frame, hides both Divine 
 and eternal things from our sight, for the time ; 
 and renders it difficult, even afterwards, to re- 
 new clear and calm views of them again. Thus, 
 what is really spiritual about us, is any thing 
 but a set-off against what is natural. " The 
 image of the heavenly," instead of excusing or 
 palliating " the image of the earthy," only ag- 
 gravates its inconsistency, whenever that in- 
 consistency is allowed, or not singled out for 
 crucifixion. 
 
 Nothing is farther from the real design of 
 : hese hints, than to set an amiable spirit above 
 a devotional spirit. My object is, to show 
 clearly how they help each other, and how 
 
224 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 much they depend on each other; that thus 
 we may be equally careful to cultivate both. 
 They are emphatically, the wings on which 
 the soul rises to heaven ; and if either wing is 
 allowed to drop often, the other will not bear 
 the soul far nor frequently within the veil. 
 Hence the necessity of making Christian tem- 
 per a matter of deliberate study. And I mean 
 by studying it, not merely trying to rule your 
 spirit better than you have done, nor even being 
 more upon your guard than formerly ; imt also 
 contemplating its own native loveliness, and its 
 -" great price" in the sight ef God and man, as 
 nn " ornament" of female character. It must 
 be loved, in order to be habitually attempted. 
 But loved it will not be, until its own loveliness 
 is seen and felt. We must be charmed by the 
 1>eauty of this feature of the Divine Image, as 
 well as charge ourselves by its authority or its 
 necessity, if we would really abound in it. 
 
 This is equally true in regard to a forbearing 
 and forgiving spirit. The duty of long-suffering 
 Binder injury, and the still harder duty of both 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 225 
 
 forgiving and forgetting the injury, may stand 
 very clearly before the mind, and even have 
 much weight upon the conscience. We may 
 neither despise nor dispute our obligation, to 
 bury in oblivion whatever we have suffered 
 from the hand or tongue of others : and yet, all 
 our heart may rise and writhe against the duty 
 of telling, or showing, the offenders, that we do 
 forgive and forget. Indeed, we are inclined to 
 think it quite enough, if God knows that we are 
 trying to do it in his sight. Nothing, perhaps, 
 is more mortifying than the idea of making 
 known to the offender, face to face, that we have 
 got over the offence : except, indeed, the idea 
 of confessing our own faults to those whom we 
 have offended. Both duties are sadly against 
 the grain of human nature, even where grace 
 has no small influence upon the heart. Accord- 
 ingly, neither duty is, in general, well gone 
 through, even by those who cannot be easy be- 
 fore God until their breaches with man are 
 openly healed. 
 
 Here* again, the failure in this part of holi- 
 
226 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 ness, arises from not studying the beauty of a 
 right spirit. We look at both confessing and 
 forgiving, too much in the lights of this world, 
 or through the eyes of others ; and thus come 
 to deem that mean-spirited or very weak, which 
 God reckons signally noble and peculiarly lovely. 
 Whilst, therefore, a deeper sense of positive 
 and imperative obligation to confess and forgive, 
 is of immense importance ; still, that alone, 
 will not lead to much of either until both are 
 admired for their beauty, as well as admitted 
 because of their authority. We must learn to 
 love these duties because they are lovely in the 
 sight of God ; and for the sake of the good they 
 create and the mischief they prevent, as well 
 as for the sake of the laws which enforce 
 them : for, otherwise, we shall shrink from 
 them entirely, or perform them grudgingly. 
 
 I have now said quite enough to convince 
 you, that more than regard to the law of holi- 
 ness, or than the dread of the penal sanctions 
 which enforce it, is necessary, in order to a 
 cheerful and impartial following of holiness 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 227 
 
 We must be drawn by its silken cords, as well 
 as driven by its knotted whip : for, otherwise, 
 we shall not go far enough, to make our call- 
 ing and election sure ; nor readily enough to 
 prove that "the love of Christ constraineth 
 us." 
 
 The grand question here, however, is, how 
 are such winning views of the beauty of Holi- 
 ness to be acquired, without a degree of study 
 greater than we have time for, and deeper 
 than our talents can reach? Now, happily, 
 the Ethics of Holiness are both few and sim- 
 ple. Its chief reasons are founded upon what 
 God is, upon what Christ has done for us, and 
 upon what is obviously wanted as preparation 
 for the enjoyments and engagements of Heaven. 
 
 Did you ever observe how the first of' 
 these reasons (which is the most profound) is 
 brought before us in the Scriptures ? " As He 
 who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in 
 all manner of conversation : because it is 
 written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet.il 
 15. Thus calling Grace introduces commanding 
 
228 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 Holiness. God appeals to what he has done 
 for us, before telling us all we must be. What 
 is " written to us on the subject of holiness, is 
 founded upon what is " wrought" in us by the 
 Holy Spirit. God reminds us that he has called 
 us by his grace, when he invites us to contem- 
 plate and copy his holiness. Thus He interests 
 our hearts, that he may exercise our under- 
 standing, and sway our conscience, by the 
 glories of his own character. Truly God is 
 love, in the very manner in which he gives law 
 to his children ! 
 
 Now we fondly hope that what we have 
 felt of the power and sweetness of the Gospel, 
 is, the gracious " calling" of God. We may 
 be somewhat afraid to say that it is, positively, 
 that effectual calling of God, which is, " with- 
 out repentance" on his part : but we are very 
 anxious that it may prove to be so, and quite 
 sure that it has been effectual for some good 
 purposes upon both our hearts and habits 
 already. We may not se 3 so clearly the pre- 
 cise time of our call, as to be able, like Paul, 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 229 
 
 to point to the very moment of our conversion, 
 saying, " When it pleased God to call me by 
 his grace :" but we do remember the time, 
 when we disliked godliness, and felt no need 
 of grace. We are very glad that 
 
 " These times are past P y 
 
 and would not for worlds they should re- 
 turn ! 
 
 Well ; the holiness of God did not prevent 
 Him from calling us by hie Spirit, even whilst 
 we were " dead in trespasses and sins." In 
 fact, it was because He is glorious in holiness, 
 that the love wherewith he loved us when he 
 quickened us, was so "rich in mercy:" for 
 had he not loved Holiness infinitely, he would 
 never have taken one step, nor made one 
 stoop, to make us holy. We need not be 
 afraid, therefore, to study how holy the God 
 who called us, is. Had he been less holy, he 
 would not have called us nor any one. Well, 
 therefore, may the harp of Judah be listened 
 to and obeyed, when it invites us to " give 
 20 
 
230 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 thanks at the remembrance of His holiness :" 
 for were not God infinitely and immutably holy, 
 there would be no grace to give thanks for. 
 
 I mention this particularly, because it is too 
 common to speak and think only of the love or 
 the mercy of God, when gratitude for grace is 
 claimed from us. All grace, however, is given 
 for holy purposes ; and, therefore, it ought to 
 lead out our thoughts to the Divine Holiness 
 which is the moral reason of this, as well as to 
 the Divine Love which is the original fountain 
 of grace. The character, as well as the heart, 
 of God, must be kept in view. We have no 
 more right to look at the latter, apart from the 
 former, for comfort, than the twelve tribes of 
 Israel had to look only upon the breastplate of 
 Aaron for their names, when he interceded be- 
 fore the Lord. Their names were also upon 
 the beryl-stones, on his shoulders. Thus they 
 were placed upon the seat of authority, as well 
 as upon the seat of sympathy ; and borne where 
 government rested, as well as where grace 
 reigned. It is in allusion to this, that it is said 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 231 
 
 of Christ, " The government shall be upon his 
 shoulders." 
 
 There is, therefore, something wrong in our 
 views, if we are afraid to think of the holiness 
 of God : and if we dislike to think of it, there is 
 much wrong in our hearts. Our dislike will not 
 move, however, until our dread is removed. So 
 long as the holiness of God presents any thing 
 to terrify us ; or is regarded as an attribute which 
 is against us ; or as an awful perfection which 
 would turn from us with abhorrence, were it 
 not prevented by Love and Mercy ; so long we 
 shall not love it. We cannot love the Holiness 
 of God, whilst we reckon it our enemy, or re- 
 gard it as no farther our friend, than just as far 
 as the intercession of Christ keeps it from 
 breaking out upon us in fury. 
 
 This, alas ! is, however, the ordinary view 
 of it. In this light, the generality contemplate 
 it : and therefore dislike the subject. It seems 
 to them to have no " beauty" that they should 
 desire it. Do you feel at all in this way ? Does 
 the holiness of God appear to you an attribute 
 
232 PARTIALITIES IN HOLINESS. 
 
 flashing rather with devouring fire, than with 
 soft splendour ? Do you look to it only from 
 necessity ; and never from choice, except when 
 you feel your need of a strong check upon 
 yourself T Were you never so charmed by the 
 beauty of Jehovah's holiness, as to "give 
 thanks at the remembrance" of it ? Can you 
 hardly imagine how you could ever so get over 
 your instinctive dread of it, as to delight in 
 thinking of it, or to be capable of contempla- 
 ting it with composure ? Does it seem to you 
 impossible to be as much charmed with the 
 holiness of God, as you have been with his 
 love and mercy? 
 
 I multiply these questions, and magnify their 
 importance, just to throw your thoughts fully 
 off from vulgar opinion, and fairly forth upon 
 the revealed character of God in Christ. " In 
 the face of Jesus," the brightness of the glory 
 of the Divine holiness, shines as mildly as the 
 softest radiance of any perfection you admire. 
 
 In order to be convinced of this, you have 
 only to ask yourself the single question 
 
PARTIALITIES IN HOLINES3. 233 
 
 "Were God unholy r , what security would re- 
 main for the continuance of any of his lovely 
 perfections ?" Do you not see at a glance, that 
 His holiness preserves them all ? It is the 
 vital principle of the Divine character. Be- 
 cause it lives Love, mercy, grace, truth, and 
 wisdom "live also." 
 
 But I have gone so fully into this subject, 
 in my little work on " MANLY PIETY," that I 
 must leave you to follow out the hint for your- 
 self ; for, in fact, I have exhausted all my de- 
 finite ideas already. 
 
 20* 
 
No. VIII. 
 
 CHRISTIANS 1 
 
 " REMEMBER your rank, my Lord, and 
 respect it," said a venerable friend of mine, 
 (apart) to a young nobleman, who had so far 
 forgotten all that he owed to his " order," as 
 to descend to vulgar manners and language in 
 the Mail. The deserved reproof had the de- 
 sired effect : the young man resumed all the 
 proverbial urbanity and politeness of his high 
 station. 
 
 This is one of the beneficial influences of 
 hereditary and official rank: it imposes pro- 
 priety on power. It does not always prevent 
 vice ; but it preserves decorum, and enforces 
 the semblance of virtue, in the intercourse of 
 society. When nobility, however, is enshrined 
 with noble recollections of patriotic ancestry 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 235 
 
 which hallow it more than age, or wealth, or 
 heraldry, more is expected from it than deco- 
 rum or courtesy. The descendants of the 
 champions and martyrs of both civil and reli- 
 gious Liberty, are expected to breathe the 
 spirit, as well as wear the mantle, of the patriots 
 who immortalized their name. A Russell, 
 Sidney, or Hampden, without public spirit ; 
 or a WicklifFe, Ridley, Cranmer, Baxter, or 
 Owen, without Protestant spirit, would be an 
 anomaly, equally unnatural and repulsive to 
 the public mind : for whilst " England expects 
 every man to do his duty," to her sacred 
 liberties, she calculates upon sacrifices, as well 
 as duty, from the lineal representatives of " the 
 mighty dead," who claimed with their voice, 
 or sealed with their blood, the charter of her 
 independence. Such associations are not, 
 however, the only sources of honourable and 
 inspiring feeling, which tells well upon the 
 interests of society at large. Nothing has 
 softened or purified the intercourse of social 
 life, more than the self-respect of females. By 
 
236 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 respecting themselves, for the sake of their sex, 
 they have won respect and homage. Their 
 moral influence has kept pace with their moral 
 tastes and intellectual character, and made 
 itself felt like the fragrance, in all directions ; 
 and felt most when, like fragrance-flowers, they 
 seem unconscious of their own sweetness. 
 They have thus created " a law unto them- 
 selves," which promulgates itself without a 
 trumpet, and explains itself without words, and 
 prolongs its own authority by their silence. A 
 look defines it even to the dull ; and a blush 
 defends it like lightning, from the designing. 
 A woman has only to respect herself as a 
 woman, in order to be respected. 
 
 You feel, accordingly, that you owe much 
 to your sex, on its own account. You see 
 at a glance, both what is worthy and what is 
 unworthy of it. You do not, and cannot, 
 forget what is expected from you on the single 
 ground of your sex. You are not sorry that 
 so much is expected. You are even gratified 
 and glad, that "whatsoever things are pure, 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 237 
 
 whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
 things are of good report," are calculated upon, 
 as almost matters of course in your character. 
 You can hardly regret that, when woman falls, 
 she 
 
 " Falls like Lucifer, to rise no more," 
 
 in this world. The feeling in the public mind, 
 that women, like Angels, must stand or fall for 
 ever, is, indeed, a high one ; but it is highly 
 honourable to you, and unspeakably beneficial 
 to society. It may expect and exact too much 
 from you : but it enables you to do more and 
 better, and both more easily, than if the stand- 
 ard of female excellence were lower. 
 
 Why not, then, respect your piety as much 
 as your sex ? If there be any thing inspiring 
 and responsible in the consideration, " I am 
 a woman, and one of Britain's daughters ;" how 
 much more in the consideration, " I am a 
 Christian, and one of the daughters of the 
 Lord God Almighty !" The latter relationship 
 is, I am fully aware, not so easily realized or 
 
238 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 claimed as the former ; the former is your 
 birth-right, which nothing but crime can forfeit. 
 The latter is an adoption, which no virtue can 
 merit. It is not, however, on that account less 
 obtainable, nor less free, nor less ascertainable : 
 for " to as many as receive Him even to them 
 that believe on His name," Christ gives 
 "power," (that is, warrant and welcome,) to 
 regard themselves as the children of God. 
 " As many as are led by the Spirit of God," 
 they are the children of God. 
 
 These are neither equivocal nor discouraging 
 tests of adoption. They prove your adoption 
 into the redeemed family of God, if you ho- 
 nestly welcome Christ as your only hope of 
 salvation, and honestly desire to be led by the 
 Spirit into all truth and duty. And, do you 
 not? If you really did not, why are you so 
 deeply interested in this subject ? Why, else, 
 are you so anxious to be a child of God ? How 
 came the question of your adoption to lay such 
 hold upon your mind and heart! " Who 
 opened thine eyes" to see the need and nature 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 239 
 
 of " being born again," in order to becoming 
 one of God's spiritual family ? This persua- 
 sion cometh not from instinct, age. example, 
 or education. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 
 He has " quickened," " illuminated," and " led," 
 wherever the Spirit of adoption is thus prized, 
 and prayed for, and longed after. The heart 
 is magnetized by grace, that turns to this holy 
 pole. 
 
 The question of your adoption is, however, 
 one which ought not, and never can be well 
 settled, by your own consciousness of certain 
 feelings or desires on the subject. It is a 
 practical, as much as an experimental ques- 
 tion. It turns quite as much upon what you 
 are trying to be and do, as upon what you wish 
 to feel and enjoy. If, therefore, in addition to 
 your solicitude to be a child of God, you are 
 trying to copy the likeness, and to cultivate the 
 spirit, of His regenerated family, the question 
 is settled : " ye are no more strangers or fo- 
 reigners ;" but members of the " household of 
 God :" " ye were sometimes darkness ; but ye 
 
240 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 are now light in the Lord : walk as children 
 of the light." 
 
 Amongst the many forms of Scriptural ap- 
 peal to those who are thus solicitous to ascer- 
 tain their adoption, the most frequent, if not the 
 most forcible is, " What ; know ye not that 
 your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
 who is in you ?" " What agreement hath the 
 temple of God with idols ? For ye are the 
 temple of the Living God : as God hath said, 
 I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I 
 will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
 Wherefore come out from among them," (the 
 ungodly,) " and be ye separate, and I will re- 
 ceive you, and will be a Father unto you, and 
 ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the 
 Lord Almighty ; and touch not the unclean 
 thing." 2 Cor, vi, 16. 
 
 I wish to fix your attention upon this view 
 of yourself as a Temple. It is a fascinating, 
 as well as a solemn, view of your state and 
 responsibility. It is a view more easily taken 
 and retained than some others : for, although 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 241 
 
 drawn from the ancient Temple of Jerusalem, 
 and thus associated with many sublime pecu- 
 liarities, to which parallels would be difficult 
 either to find or fancy, it is still a simple view 
 of a Christian. For, after all that can be said 
 or imagined of the Holy Temple, it was but a 
 house made with hands, and of earthly materi- 
 als ; and thus less likely to be made " a habita- 
 tion of God through the Spirit," than the human 
 frame. Solomon felt this, even when the first 
 temple was in all the fulness and freshness of 
 its architectural glory. " Will God," said he, 
 " in very deed dwell with man upon the earth ? 
 Behold, heaven, and the heaven of heavens, 
 cannot contain Thee !" How much less this 
 House which I have built!" In this excla- 
 mation of Solomon, the inferiority of the 
 temple to man, as well as to heaven, is both 
 implied and expressed. Or, if Solomon did 
 not intend to say this, " a greater than Solo- 
 mon" has said it again and again. " Thus 
 saith the high and lofty ONE that inhabiteth 
 Eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the 
 21 
 
242 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLE a. 
 
 high and holy place : with him also that is of 
 an humble and contrite spirit." Isa. Ivii. 15, 
 " Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my 
 throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where 
 is the house that ye build unto me ? And 
 where is the place of my rest ? But to this 
 man will' I look, even to him that is poor 
 and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my 
 word." Isa. Ixvi. 1,2, 
 
 This settles the inferiority of all temples to 
 both the human soul and body. They form a 
 " living temple," and may be a " holy temple" 
 in a higher sense than even the heaven of hea- 
 vens itself. 
 
 Let us not be misled by words, nor be- 
 wildered with splendid appearances. Even 
 your bodies are more " fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made," than the material heavens which 
 form the actual temple and throne of Deity : 
 and your spirits, both in their essence and im- 
 mortality, are nobler than the line ether which 
 is the firmament of glory. We think too 
 meanly of both our soul and body, when we 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 243 
 
 imagine that any thing material, in heaven or 
 on earth, is equal to them. We cannot, indeed, 
 think too meanly of their moral tastes and 
 tendencies by nature. We may well say of the 
 body, that it is vile as well as frail ; and of the 
 soul, that it is depraved as well as weak : but 
 neither is worthless. Worthless ! no, no ; 
 Emmanuel counted them more valuable than 
 fallen angels : for he took not upon him the 
 nature of angels. He made His own soul an 
 offering for our souls, and he will make our 
 bodies " like unto His own glorious body." 
 The Temple, even when filled with the glory 
 of God, was but an emblem of what every 
 man and woman should be, and of what 
 any one may be ; " an habitation of God 
 through the Spirit." It was to exemplify 
 and secure this, that Christ became at 
 once the temple, the priest, and the sacri- 
 fice of God. In our nature, He showed what 
 human nature should be, and might be. As 
 sustained by Him, Humanity was (and he 
 called it so) a Temple, in which dwelt " all 
 
244 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Such a 
 Temple was the Saviour ; and such temples, 
 in their measure, may we be ; " filled with all 
 the (communicable) fulness of God." 
 
 It is not to our credit, if we deem this a sub- 
 lime speculation, rather than a sober reality. 
 Paul did not view it in this light, either for him- 
 self or others. He bowed his knees in frequent 
 and fervent prayer for the Ephesians, that 
 they might be filled with all the fulness of 
 God, by being enabled to comprehend, with 
 all saints, the wonders of the love of Christ. 
 Eph. iii. 14, 21. What "holy temples unto 
 the Lord," the Apostle desired and expected 
 Believers to become ! " Christ," says he, 
 " may dwell in your hearts by faith." " Christ 
 is in you, the hope of glory." " Know ye not 
 yourselves, how that Christ is in you ?" 
 
 It will not do to overlook this often re- 
 peated and pressed consideration. It occurs 
 too frequently and emphatically to be trifled 
 with, or evaded. " Christ is in you," says 
 Paul, " except ye be reprobates." This gives 
 
CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 245 
 
 awful solemnity to the question, " Am I a 
 living Temple, and trying to be a holy Temple, 
 unto the Lord ?" For, although the word 
 " reprobate" has none of the meaning of the 
 word " Reprobation," as that term was used 
 in the olden times of the Calvinistic contro- 
 versy, still it means so much that is awful and 
 ominous, that we do well to lay deeply to 
 heart Paul's admonition : " Examine your- 
 selves, whether ye be in the faith : prove your 
 own selves : know ye not yourselves, how that 
 Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates," or 
 without any real marks of grace 1 
 
 Christ himself throws us as fully upon the 
 same question, by his own representations of 
 the TEMPLESHIP of his disciples. " I in them, 
 and Thou in me, that they may be one in us," 
 is the grand point in which his prayers for 
 their sanctification meet and terminate. John 
 xvii. 23. " If a man love me, he will keep 
 my words : and my Father will love him, and 
 we will come unto him, and make our abode 
 with him." John xiv. 23. The world know- 
 21* 
 
246 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES, 
 
 eth not the Spirit of Truth, because it seeth him 
 not ; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with 
 you, and shall be in you." John xiv. 17. 
 
 When such passages are thus multiplied, they 
 do not (be it recollected) mean more as a whole, 
 than is meant by any one of them. The design 
 of so many, is not to convey such an idea of 
 the work or witness of the Holy Spirit, as must 
 intimidate or perplex us. No, indeed : their 
 design is just the very opposite. We, indeed, 
 are very ready when such an array of texts is 
 before us, to take alarm ; or to conclude from 
 them, that nothing we have experienced, and 
 nothing we are ever likely to possess, can amount 
 to " the first fruits of the Spirit" even. Multi- 
 plied statements on this subject, seem to magnify 
 it beyond all ordinary piety. This is, however, 
 quite a mistake. The very fear, suspense, and 
 solicitude, which you now feel, lest this view 
 of piety should disprove your piety, prove that 
 you are not a stranger to the indwelling of the 
 Holy Ghost. Your he an would neither feel 
 the worth, nor fear the want of His gracious 
 
CHRISTIA 
 
 influences, if it had ne vei elpci luficed any of 
 them. We both have the Spirit, and are in some 
 measure "after the Spirit," if we seriously 
 " mind the things of the Spirit." We are the 
 temples of the Holy Ghost, if we honestly 
 desire and try to be holy temples unto the 
 Lord. 
 
 Is this your aim ? If so, there is nothing in 
 all the hosts of texts which you have just re- 
 viewed, to discourage you. The grand object 
 of each and all of them, is to penetrate your 
 whole spirit with the living conviction, that 
 you are one of God's consecrated temples ; and 
 thus must take care, that you neither " defile" 
 nor discredit the temple of God. Now, you do 
 take some care, that you may not disgrace the 
 profession you make ; that you may not bring 
 any reproach upon religion ; that your life may 
 not give the lie to your creed or your hopes. 
 Well ; why not connect all this holy fear, and 
 care, and watchfulness, with the consideration 
 that you are " the temple of God ?" You con- 
 nect them (and very properly) with your name, 
 
248 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 and your place in the Church of God ; with 
 your fond hope that you have found, or shall 
 find, mercy of the Lord ; with your good name 
 in your family, and among your friends. All 
 this is as it should be. I would not detach 
 your sense of responsibility, nor your regard to 
 consistency, from any one of these checks and 
 charms upon character. It would, however, 
 strengthen and prolong the influence of them 
 all, to recognise as fully, and realize as con- 
 stantly, 3'our templeship, as a Christian. That 
 means no more than is meant by your profes- 
 sion, your obligations, or your responsibility : 
 but it defines them clearly, and commends as 
 well as enforces them powerfully. You ought, 
 therefore, to be willing, yea, thankful and glad, 
 to avail yourself of any new consideration that 
 adds to the power of the old motives which re- 
 gulate your conduct ; especially, when, as in 
 this instance, the new motive is as scriptural as 
 the old ones. 
 
 But, why do I call it new? The idea of 
 Templeship, is as old, and as often repeated in 
 
CHRITIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 249 
 
 Scripture, as the idea of discipleship, sonship, 
 or citizenship. You have just seen that the 
 New Testament is full of it. It does not, how- 
 ever, occur often in religious conversation now. 
 It does not seem to have the same place or 
 power in the mind of Christians, that the other 
 ideas possess. But, why should it not be as 
 familiar and influential as any of them ? It is 
 not inferior to them in beauty or point ; and 
 not so superior to them in sublimity, as to be 
 difficult to comprehend, remember, or apply. 
 " I am a living temple of God, and ought to 
 be a holy temple," is as soon and as easily said, 
 as, " I am a professor of religion, and ought to 
 be consistent." 
 
 But I must not argue with you, as if it were 
 optional to you, to admit or decline the use of 
 this holy consideration. You are not at liberty 
 to overlook it for another day, even if you have 
 done pretty well without thinking of It hitherto. 
 It is, most likely, the very motive which you 
 now want, in order to keep up the influence of 
 your old motives, in following holiness. For, 
 
250 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 
 
 have they all their original power over you ? 
 Does your sense of responsibility as a convert, 
 as a disciple, as a possessor of grace, carry you 
 all the length it did, when you first took " the 
 vows of God" upon you ? If not you may 
 backslide until you break down altogether on 
 the narrow way, unless you get hold, at this 
 critical nick of time, upon the rallying and in- 
 spiring consideration of your templeship. 
 
 I know that the word itself is new : but you 
 know that the idea is as old as your Bible. I 
 have not coined the word for the sake of 
 novelty, or of singularity ; but in order to arrest 
 attention to " the mind of Christ," as that is 
 expressed in the "words which the Holy Ghost 
 teachetb." I tell you again, therefore, that it is 
 neither wise nor safe to exclude this scriptural 
 view of your obligation to be holy, or to try to 
 do without it any longer. If you are a real 
 Christian, Christianity considers and calls you, 
 the temple of God, of Christ, and of the Spirit ; 
 and remonstrates with you, as well as commands 
 you, to consider yourself in this light. And 
 

 CHRISTIANS HOLY TEMPLES. 251 
 
 mark ; you cannot point to, nor conceive of, any 
 appeal to your principles, or hopes, or responsi- 
 bilities, as a Christian woman, so striking in 
 its form and stirring in its spirit as this one. 
 Look at it again. " What ; know ye not that 
 your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost?" 
 " Know ye not that Christ is in you, except ye 
 be reprobates ?" 
 
 THE END, 
 

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