this dislike is so perfectly natural, that it would excite astonishment to find it otherwise: because firm attachment to divine truth, and ardent love of the divine character, will always produce a life eminently devout and singular. The new convert can no longer conform to the sinful customs and maxims of the world: and it is this glaring singularity, opposed to her former conduct, and to the conduct of others in a state of nature, that renders her, not simply as a woman, but as a conscientious disciple of her Master, an object of dislike. Hence the persecution of the apostles and primitive christians: hence the sufferings endured by those of whom the world was not worthy; and hence much of that hatred and opposition which attended the whole life of Him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners: and surely the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they so call them of his household?'

To the enchanting voice of applause most men listen with grateful attention: and he that shall love the praise of men more than the praise of God, will spare no expense to procure it. But let the christian remember that the friendship of the world is not to be easily purchased. Its demands are exorbitant in the extreme, and the amity to be enjoyed inadequate to the price. He must, if a candidate for unanimous esteem, cheerfully comply with every requisition: he must not even attempt to be more abstemious or religious than his neighbour: he must relinquish his present pursuits, sacrifice a good conscience, abandon the society of the faithful, and forfeit the approbation of Him that said, Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.'

It is easier to reconcile antipathies in nature than in religion. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? When, there

fore, we have combined fire and water without extinction of each other, and made an amity between the dove and the hawk, between the wasp and the bee, so that the one shall not infest the other; then may we promise ourselves success in attempting to make up the breach between the sinner and the saint.' And the reason is obvious: for, as Solomon expresses it, 'they that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.'

Your deportment, as a christian, would be considered by such a character, as a perpetual libel on the frame of his heart and the tenor of his life: especially when reflecting how opposite your views of his real state were to those of his own. Nay, prejudice might so far prevail, as to induce him to believe that his conduct was watched in order to be exposed or reproved; that his principles of action might possibly be charged with duplicity; and that where there was such dissimilarity of sentiment, there could be neither union of soul, nor cordial attachment. This supposition is far from impro

bable; and in excuse, you might in vain plead the tender solicitude you felt for the promotion of his best interests. He would perceive no occasion for alarm, no danger to escape; and must therefore view the disturber of his quiet as either daringly rude, or impertinently officious. If, says the prophet,' favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.' Nay, he might perhaps be led to consider all your zeal for his future happiness, as the effect of superstition or enthusiasm; and therefore think it his duty to prevent your attendance on the ordinances of God's house; or at least from attending where it would be your duty and your interest to worship.

No pious woman, I think, can reasonably hope to form a connexion of this kind, without sacrificing some of the privileges she has been accustomed to enjoy; and no one is perhaps more to be regretted, or if retained, no one more likely to be interrupted, than that which is en

joyed in those stated intervals when the soul retires from the cares and bustle of the world, to place itself more immediately in the presence of Him that searcheth the reins and the heart. In this asylum, sacred to contemplation and reflection, the heart can without reserve unbosom itself to him that said, 'Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.' In these moments of abstraction and devotion, the ruder passions are commanded into silence; the believer can sometimes say to them, and to every intruder, as Abraham did to his servants; Abide ye here, whilst I go and worship yonder. When this is happily the case, solemnity reigns, and peace triumphs. The devout worshipper anticipates the felicity of heaven. She feels what it is to enter into the joy of her Lord-to realize his favour to be life, and his lovingkindness to be better than life. She appropriates with grateful confidence, the blessings of grace and of glory; and longs for the period when the body of sin and of death shall be effectually destroyed; when mortality shall be swallowed

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