gelical doctrine and religion, and who are divided only by localities, and rites, and forms, must yield and give place to the glorious exigencies of the present day. The amalgamation of denominations is not required. The division of labour may greatly augment its amount, and the provocation to love and good works may be real and salutary, and still be conducted without invidious collision. Like

the tribes of Israel, we may all encamp about the tabernacle of God, each under his own standard, and when the ark advances, may all move onward, terrible only to the powers of darkness. And if the enemies of righteousness are not sufficient to rebuke our selfishness, and force us into a coalition of love and good works, then, verily, it may be expected, and even hoped, that God, by the fire of persecution, will purge away our dross, and take away our tin, until we shall love him, and his cause, and one another, with a pure heart fervently.'1

Let no one denomination attempt any more to monopolize the church to themselves, saying in a spirit of exclusiveness, "the temple of the LORD are we." But let all cultivate a spirit of candour, catholicity, and enlargement. "For there is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above

1 It was the opinion of Mr. Cecil, that, as the church had endured a pagan and a papal, so there remained for her an infidel, persecution, 'general, bitter, purifying, and cementing.'-Rev. E. BICKERSTETH.

all, and through all, and in you all." To act in this spirit, and not in that of bigotry and prejudice, "hateful and hating," is the way to please Christ, and to convince the world that Christianity is divine. What was the Saviour's last intercession for his followers? us; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they all may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." How unspeakably important then, in this light, are brotherly love and unity among all the Lord's disciples! And how proportionably great is their responsibility if they do not evince these excellences! They are set for the fall or the rising again, of many. They must be to the world a savour either of life unto life, or else of death unto death. And let us be assured, that, as nothing could more delight the Saviour, whom we should pre-eminently desire to delight, than unity and concord among his people, so, nothing could be more efficacious in " turning to flight the armies of the aliens," and extending the triumphs of the truth. Were evangelical churches to unite, as the children of one family, for the defence and propagation of their common faith, then, though separately weak and powerless, they would form in the hands of JEHOVAH SO many rods, bound in one bundle of strength, wherewith he would thresh the mountains. What is his promise to Zion? "Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know

"That they all may be one in

not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel; for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thrash, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the LORD of the whole earth."1 Again, what says God in another passage? "O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him; but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the fat of the wheat, and with honey out of the stony rock should I have satisfied thee.”2

The adversary perceives all this too well therefore he aims to detach, that he may destroy us. His policy is, "Divide, and rule."3 Let us not

I Micah iv. 11-13.

2 Psalm lxxxi. 13-16.

It is related of a certain renowned naval hero, now living, that while cruizing with his little squadron, consisting of but his own and a smaller vessel, he one evening espied two large ships of the enemy, anchored parallel to each other in a bay. Not judging it prudent openly to attack them, he ordered his smaller vessel to stand out a little to sea, while he himself, under cover of the dusk, dropped down between them, poured a broadside into one, and then glided on with the tide, out of the way. The people in the ship, thus aroused, deemed that it was their neighbour-ship which had so hostilely assaulted them, and returned the fire: this provoked a retaliation from the other, and thus the two continued firing into each other, until both were entirely dismantled. Meanwhile, the British commodore was gazing quietly on, enjoying the conflict, and when he saw the

tions.

be ignorant of his devices, but reaping prudence from past experience, in future defeat his machina"The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." Every Christian, and consequently every community of Christians, has a multitude of defects, but over all these the hand of charity will reverently draw a kindly mantle. Walking together heaven-ward in this spirit, Christians will be clear as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners; and the confession shall be forced from the lips, even of our enemies-" How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river side; as the trees of lign-aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as the cedar-trees beside the waters. He shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows." A late writer, commenting on that passage in Genesis, "They journeyed, and the terror of the LORD was upon the cities round about them," observes, Never did the church of God keep steadily forward on her journey to Bethel, but she struck terror into her enemies.' 1

success of his scheme, made signals to his companion to approach; upon which he fell upon the enemy, and made them an easy prize. The application of this incident to the policy of our spiritual adversary, appears sufficiently obvious.

1 MORRISON on Genesis xxxv. 5.

But would we preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, we must beware of heresies and novelties. The present age, perilous and portentous in many respects, is so peculiarly on account of its direful errors and delusions. Numbers who did run well in the good old way in which thousands and tens of thousands have walked in holiness unto glory, have "stumbled from the ancient paths," and "separated themselves" from their fellow-pilgrims into endless knots and sections, each styling itself, the Church of Christ, whereas their very conduct clearly proves them not to be such, since Christ inculcates unity. They, in causing divisions, do, however undesignedly, the work of the devil. But once they have been smitten with the baleful hallucination, and submitted their minds to the mysterious oracular voice, no opinion is too preposterous, too contradictory to the plain word of scripture, for them to espouse. Yea, the more monstrous and extravagant the tenet is, the greater they account their faith in adopting it. They will listen to no arguments; be influenced by no remonstrances of friends or ministers: no, not by the authority of revelation itself. They are bowed down by a yoke of bondage so debasing, that popery itself is almost freedom compared with it. This is in general attended, as might have been anticipated, with a very observable degeneracy in practice; it "increases to more ungod

1 Note XVI.