WE have heard from the Revs. H. Hollis, B. S. Hollis, Short, Griffith, Bridgman, Dodd, Thoresby, Fowler, and Wright; from Messrs. Willcocks, Ricardo, J. F. Pinniger, Miss Thompson and Miss Dent.

The Hymn Book advances.

We lament with thousands the retirement of our honoured and beloved brother, Rev. J. Sherman, from Surrey Chapel : the more so as we fear the union between that useful place of worship and our Connexion, so natural and so in harmony with the late venerable R. Hill's desires expressed in our last number, page 35, will now be less probable than ever. May the spirit of Calvinistic Methodism never forsake that hallowed pulpit; and may the future labours of our brother in a less exhausting sphere, be followed with that unction by which they have so long been distinguished.

The difficulty experienced in providing

for Malvern and other places which require ministers, convinces us most painfully of the importance of our College being more connexional: while all which takes place in the Established Church shews how desirable it is that our circle of action should offer a suitable retreat for devoted clergymen, who wish to separate from Tractarian Popery without erecting a hostile "banner" against discretional conformity.

We have heard nothing further about the appointment of a ministerial Trustee.

A. Z. is referred to one of our old friends at Bristol, to know what has become of "the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel "in that city-so conspicuous in the former history of our community.

WE who have had kind Teachers giv'n
To tell of Christ the way to heav'n,-
Been taught to read His Word, and pray,
And holy keep the Sabbath-day,
How should we pity those who live
In foreign lands-and freely give
Our weekly pence-that they may share,
With us such tender loving care?
Towards the Boat we send our mite,
That faithful Messengers of light,
May traverse o'er the ocean wide,
Proclaiming Christ to Afric's tribe.

Oh may her sable children know,
The Gospel, which has blessed us so,
And all around Sierra Leone,
May Christ be worshipp'd, Christ alone.
Then she who first this Mission sent,
With those who on the Mission went,
Will see a num'rous band arise,
To swell the anthems of the skies.

Go, faithful heralds, and proclaim,
Salvation in a Saviour's name,
And may each idol temple fall,
And Jesus Christ be all in all.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”—Mark xiii. 31.

In our world's history what unlikely events have transpired! Figuratively understood, heaven and earth have passed away. Power, sacred and secular, the priesthoods of Rome and Jerusalem, empires world-wide, temples and thrones, which seemed built on everlasting mountains, have been demolished and dispersed. Where now is that stately edifice, the goodly stones of which excited the admiration and awe of our Lord's first followers? And where the iron sceptre that once shook Rome's seven hills? Since then, many stars have sparkled and disappeared; many suns risen and set; many kingdoms been moved: but Christianity survives. Survives every storm, every conflagration; unscathed by the lightning, unsinged by the flame. Christ's words have not passed away. The preservation of the words themselves is a standing miracle. Of the many books in the world but few are old, such a shipwreck of literature has there been. Every day some last leaf crumbles in decay. And of the few old books that survive how few exert any influence on mankind! So are luminaries eclipsed, and so retreating comets, twinkle with waning lustre and disappear. But Christ's words are like the sun in the firmament, whose glory knows no decline. They are not only

"with us"-as the bones of our great ancestors entombed, they are alive encased in the warm affections of growing multitudes, to be scattered by no sceptre, to be superseded by no philosophy: conquests affect not their empire; they overleap boundaries of race and clime; like the tree of life that thrives in every zone, and bears fruit every month, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

The performance of the words is yet more marvellous. The site of the temple has been upturned by the ploughshare of the uncircumcised; not one stone has been left upon another. The Romans, those iron handed spoilers, unlike themselves, respected not the public monuments. And these days of vengeance befell the very generation to whom the words of warning were addressed. They only escaped who, as Christ premonished them, fled to the mountains. So shall it be in that more terrible judgment of which Jerusalem's fall was but a dim shadow. "The world and all that is therein shall be

shall perish who have made his grace their hiding-place; who have kept his word.

us.

Finally, there is permanence in the promised reward. Mortality depresses One generation passeth away and another generation cometh. Seasons alternate: the fig-tree putting forth leaves, proclaims that summer is nigh; but summer declines; we all do fade as a leaf. How soon is this fig-tree withered away! The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal. "He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." Is heaven a kingdom? It is an everlasting kingdom. Is it an inheritance? It is "incorruptible." Is it a crown? It "fadeth not away." Is it life?. It is "eternal life." Here, everything is evanescent. Friends, property, health, life, all are passing away. Tossed on tempestuous ocean, do not we wish a haven of rest? Sun-smitten and faint in our desert wanderings, do not we seek the shadow of a great rock? Reader! Christ and glory are substantial and enduring things. "I will cause them that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures."

B. S. H.

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS ON JUSTIFICATION & SANCTIFICATION.

THE following very important thoughts on these subjects, we beg to commend to our readers in general; but especially to our local preachers and Sabbath school teachers; by which they will see wherein these two essential blessings agree, and wherein they differ; extracted from O'Neill's Bblical Gleanings, page 1037.

It may serve to extricate some minds from confusion, if we give an axiomatic statement of the nature and relation of the two blessings in question. Justification and sanctification agree in the following points:—

They are both essential to our salvation from the state into which we are

fallen, and from the dangers to which we are exposed.

Both are sovereign favours, bestowed on us by the God of salvation.

Both come to us through the redemption that is in Christ.

In both, the operation of the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ.

Both are designed to honour the law and government and grace of God.

Both are, therefore, enjoyed by all believers, and by believers only.

But the two blessings differ in various

ways.

Justification is especially related to the rectitude of God's government; sanctification relates to the holiness of God's nature.

Justification is an act; sanctification is a process.

Justification is the sentence of the Father as moral governor on the throne of grace; sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in the temple of the heart.

Justification changes our state; sanctification is a change of our nature.

In justification we are pronounced righteous; by sanctification we are made holy.

Justification is the acceptance of our persons into God's favour; sanctification is the renewal of our hearts into God's image.

Justification, therefore, is a forensic term, expressive of God's jurisdiction over us; sanctification is catharistic, expressing God's moral influence over

us.

In justification the guilt of sin is remitted; in sanctification its defilement is cleansed.

Justification gives a title to heaven; sanctification a fitness for it.

Justification is by union to Christ as the law fulfiller; sanctification is by uniting us to Him as our vital head.

Justification is by faith only on our part; sanctification is by many means, chiefly by the Word and prayer, but also by ordinances and afflictions, under the influence of the Spirit.

Justification is complete as soon as we believe; sanctification then commences

amid great imperfections; but the completeness of our justification becomes more and more manifest as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ.

Justification may be referred to a known, definite time; sanctification is spread over the whole of life.

In justification there is no difference among believers, excepting that some have a clearer view of it than others; in sanctification the difference is great, inasmuch, that some have greater degrees of faith, love, purity, and zeal than others.

Justification comes first, as the root; sanctification follows as the fruit. Justification, therefore, may be known by sanctification, as a "tree is known by its fruits."

"Justification is our title to heaven; sanctification our qualification.” Dr. Bennett.

"Justification is our title to the tree

of life; sanctification our right.

lessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right ta the tree of life.' Rev. xxii. 14. And wherefore? Because the 'obedience of faith is attended with a real blessedness on earth, and demonstrates our title, through the merits of Christ, to eternal blessedness in heaven.' James Hervey.

To

THE public journals reported that during the late severe weather, several persons actually died from destitution. Such announcements cannot be read, but with a melancholy interest. allow a fellow-creature to die, when it could possibly be prevented, incurs a fearful amount of guilt; but to allow it when prevention was so easy, is an aggravation of the crime beyond the power of language to express; and, although no court of earthly judicature proceeded against them for their cruel neglect, the court of heaven has pronounced its verdict of manslaughter for withholding from the indigent that

alimentary food which would have preserved their lives. They may have pitied them, but pity apart from charity is worthless. "If a brother or a sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?"

Yes, starvation in the midst of plenty, through the hard heartedness of the wealthy, or such as were capable of affording relief, is an event very painful to contemplate; yet painful as it is, there is another circumstance that more frequently occurs, and that is of a far more disastrous nature. We refer to the solemn fact, that multitudes around us daily perish from want of the bread of life. This is truly heart-rending. If to see the body decline for want of proper nutriment-if to behold the sunken eye, the famished countenance, and the shrivelled frame-so deeply affects us, how much more appalling is it to know that souls, immortal and undying, continually leave this world without any preparation for the next? Such, however, is the case. Ere the funeral knell has announced the separation of soul and body the departed spirit has entered the world of woe, and begun to agonize in everlasting

torments.

He

This awful and undeniable truth cannot be a matter of indifference to any follower of Jesus. He wept over perishing sinners. He expressed a deep concern for their pending doom. faithfully declared that unless they repented they would perish, and exhorted them to come to Him as their only Saviour. Let this mind be also in you, my fellow christians, which was in Christ Jesus. Open your eyes to the real condition of those around you. Think of the everlasting miseries into which they will be launched should they live and die in that state. Think

of the scorching flames, the undying worm, the everlasting chains, and let them not say, "No man cared for our souls."