Men may know God, without loving him; but unless they love him, they cannot be saved by him. They may have the knowledge that puffeth up, and not that which edifieth. Do not, my dear girl, rest your hope of salvation on a speculative knowledge of the gospel. Apply it to your heart, and never rest until God sends his grace, to change your original nature, that you may be able to imitate the blessed pattern set before you in the book of life. Deception in this case is easy, though it is fatal! People who are not experimentally acquainted with real religion, very naturally mistake the shadow for the substance. The form of godliness may be assumed with pleasure and profit. The Pharisees were distinguished for their outward sanctity, though their hearts were compared to the inside of a sepulchre; and there are many in this age, who, like them, make clean only the outside of the cup and platter. Many persons read their Bibles, and attend the ordinances of religion, who know no more of vital piety, than non-professors. Those who draw near to God with their lips, while their hearts are far from him, may be found in the same pew, or at the same communion table, with the Lord's own children. But God is not mocked, though self-deceivers abound. They are taken in their own craftiness, and their iniquity is disclosed at length. It is so common in these days, for people to treat as chimerical, those evidences of the Spirit which are essential to real conversion, that I would guard you particularly against this error. So many think themselves Christians because they have read the Bible attentively, that I must enforce the necessity of requiring some other proof of a change from death unto life. Indeed, it is possible to add to this speculative knowledge, a strong conviction of sin, without being a true convert. It is one thing to know that you are a sinner, and another to receive Christ as a Saviour. People may persist in sin, after they have discovered its vileness. Instead of hating the thing itself, they may hate the being who disclosed it to them. The terms on which salvation is offered, may be so little to their taste, as to be rejected. They will not come to Christ, that they may have life. They mistake the strivings of a corrupt heart, for inability to come, and they stay away until it is too late. Instead of bringing this corrupt heart along with them, to the only being who can subdue its corruption, they waste their time and energy in fruitless efforts to heal themselves. God has given his creatures the power to come to him, and obtain grace to be holy; though he has withheld from them the ability to make themselves holy. He tells them that his grace is sufficient for them, and his strength is made perfect in their weakness; but he does not invest them with the moral ability to do the work of sanctification for themselves. All his mercies are conditionally bestowed:-Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; come to me, and ye shall find rest; call on me in the day of trouble, and I will help you. The sinner cannot be sanctified, unless he makes use of his natural ability to ask, to seek, to come, to call; for God has expressly imposed these conditions upon him. Thus, man cannot become holy without his own co-operation, though it is also impossible for him to make himself so. His ability to come to God, does not include the moral power of working out his own salvation-that is the prerogative of Omnipotence alone, but until the heart desires to be made better, God will not exercise his power over it. Man must be willing to receive grace, or it will not be granted to him. He may mar his own happiness, by the exercise of his free will, just as the parent of mankind lost paradise. sents, God can and will save him. But if his will con- to all. Some receive it joyfully, and surrender themselves unconditionally to a wonder-working God. Others reject it spontaneously, from innate hardness of heart. Some dally with the offer, as if they were willing enough to receive the thing itself, but were averse to the terms on which it is offered. These are apt to mistake their own free will opposition, for a moral incapacity to surrender themselves. Free will is to them a tyrant, who forces them to act against the conviction of their better judgment. But let them not mistake this conquest of self-will, for natural incapacity. All may come to Christ for eternal life, if they will. He will not give it unless they come for it; therefore, many who do not choose to comply with the required condition, go through this life without hope of a better. I remember hearing when I was a child a little tale, which may be here useful as an exemplification. An old man had two sons, who were one day surprised by the sight of a lion coming towards them, in a field near their father's house. They saw their danger, and looked around for help. On one side, there was a high wall, which surrounded their father's dwelling, on the other side of which, they heard the old man's voice affectionately exhorting them to come to him, and find safety. One of the youths determined to obey this injunction, but his brother opposed him vehemently"Do you not see," said he, "that the wall is insurmountable?-its height is immense. The lion will pursue us until we reach it, and then find us an easy prey. I will trust to my speed, and attempt to escape in the opposite direction." "But," said the other in reply, "do you not hear our father urging us to climb the wall? -surely he would not do this if the thing was impracticable." "I don't care," said the other, "go your way, and I will go mine." There was no time for farther parley. The dutiful son followed his father's advice, and fled towards the wall. As he approached, he discerned a ladder of ropes suspended from the summit, on which he rapidly ascended. He did not fail to call aloud, announcing this intelligence to his brother, but his eyes turned towards him only to behold his destruction. I will leave you, dear Mary, to reflect on this little tale. LETTER VII. MY DEAR MARY, There is no Christian grace of more value, both as an ornament and a sterling virtue, than a gentle temper. It is most peculiarly important to female excellence; and yet the world is of opinion, that it is little sought after or appreciated by your sex. Why this should be, I know not, unless it proceeds from a blameable carelessness in parents, who neglect to cultivate this quality in childhood. It must be confessed, that both skill and pains are requisite in exterminating the germ of an evil, which exists in the earliest period of infancy, and is too often unwittingly fostered, rather than eradicated, by injudicious management. The infant is indulged in its first ebullitions of self-will, by the nurse, whose first object is to keep it quiet. This object is more easily attained by gratifying, than by resisting its wishes. The mother little dreams, when her babe is screaming with passion because its favourite plaything is withheld, that her ill-judged indulgence is laying the foundation of future misery to her offspring. More mischief is done to the human character, than people are generally aware of, by that weakness of the female sex, which is considered as a feminine attribute -a characteristic grace. I mean that ill-placed tenderness for their children, which prompts a fatal, not to say a criminal, latitude of indulgence. I do not hesitate to say, that mothers can form the tempers of their children, by judicious superintendence during the years. of infancy and childhood. By watching for the development of the first germ of inherent evil, and skilfully applying a suitable remedy, the temper may be so disciplined in childhood, as to remain under subjection during life. A bad temper is such a fruitful source of misery to oneself and others, that I consider it among the greatest of human misfortunes. Some persons are happily exempted by nature from this dreaded evil. They are so constituted, as to be able spontaneously to avoid all irritation or excitement. This is a signal, but a rare blessing. But it is certain, that the worst natural temper may be brought under the rigid and constant control of reason and grace. Of all strange anomalies, a passionate, ill-tempered Christian is to me the strangest. I look for gentleness in the professing Christian, as the first, because the most necessary, result of grace upon the heart. Alas! how awful is the spectacle of a professor under the influence of passion! It is enough to fix indelible reproach upon the cause; and many infidels have turned, with added scepticism, from the view of Christians giving way to ebullitions of anger, or suspicion, or pride, in the same manner and degree with the unregenerate. A passionate woman is a disgrace to her sex, even when she has not undergone the change from death unto |