ample and precept, to forget the chief end of their being, and who is now leading his grand-children into the same course of wicked life. One who has, in his own person, and in his family, for 40 or 60 or 70 years, trodden under foot the son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and who, every day of his life," hath done despite unto the spirit of grace,"-still dreaming that he is safe, that all is well, that death is at a distance. "Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." When will such men repent? When will they break off their sins? In respect of a purpose of any good, even to-morrow is distant; but tomorrow, for sin, casts the purpose of good out of the heart altogether. Such infatuation indicates, very strongly, that God may have said of such," he is joined to his idols, let him alone." And yet this is no uncommon case. Alas! alas! how frequent! One, through the flush of prosperity; another, by the load of accumulating riches; a third, in the play of intellect; a fourth, by the shades of beauty; a fifth, through the rapid fluctuations and perplexities of life; and a sixth, from the grinding power of sheer poverty;-whatever may have been the mode, all alike have forgotten to live, till life is done. Christ despised, the world not gained, God frowning, death nigh, conscience upbraiding, Satan accusing, and the fearful sound of that declaration of Holy Writ ringing in their ears, "There is, therefore, no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary." What shall we do with such men? Who shall awake them from this sleep of death? Shall we draw their attention to hell or to heaven; to death, or to judgment; to the spirit that deceives them, or to the Savi our, who is waiting to be gracious, and is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him? To the Lamb of God we point even these, at the last hour; and we assure them, that his blood cleanseth from all sin. No sin so deep, no poison so virulent, no power of the fiery serpent so potent, and no soul so diseased, but one look of this Great One on the cross will remedy all, will overcome all, will heal all, will cleanse all. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This is the true, the only preparation for looking calmly and frequently at death. Indeed, none are able or willing to entertain the subject as it ought to be entertained, but those who have fled to Christ,who have taken

refuge in the all-perfect work, and in the all-efficacious blood of Jesus: and even they do not all do it; and some who do it, do it in such a way, that, through fear of death, they are all their lifetime subject to bondage. What an evil is this?→ What a bondage do they suffer? What a good do they lose? What a dishonour done to Christ, who took part of flesh and blood, that he might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Why not learn to look on death as a conquered enemy? Its sting and its poison were both left in the sacred body of Jesus, when it hung on the tree. Robbed of all power, denuded of every evil character, death is made over to believers in Christ, in that remarkable text, "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." Look at Paul how he regards death, how he hastens forward to meet it, as if it were the unfolded arms of his divine Saviour spread out to receive him into glory: "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus." This was no flourish of rhetoric. "The Holy Ghost witnessed, in every city, that bonds and afflictions awaited him ;" and this spirit and temper of him, as a Christian man, is set forth by the inspiration of the same Spirit, for the instruction of the godly, in all ages. Hear him again, at the close of life, when waiting for the martyr's crown," The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them, also, that love his appearing." Again, look at Stephen, in the act of receiving the martyr's crown: They stoned Stephen, calling on Jesus, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. and he kneeled, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." How nicely is the member changed into the same image of the great Head, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord?

very

for

Holy musings, not feverish excitements, are necessary this solemn subject. The cold, quiet grave, the house appointed for all the living; the holy, vigilant, cheerful, submissive, obedient life, must be kept in the mind's eye, and gather

ed into the warmest affections of the heart. No scheming, no jutting aside from Christ's appointments. A Christian may

be in a strait between two, but it must not be the wish to live in sin, and die in peace: it must not even be the wish to live holy and upright, and not to die at all. If any man would be a Christian, on this point, and live up to his Christian privilege, he must have an abiding desire to "depart, and be with Christ, which is far better. He must have a deep, well formed conviction, that it is far better to be absent from the body, than to be present in the body; far better to be serving in the sanctuary above, than to be suffering the weight of this body of sin and death, on the footstool below. Such a man cannot be robbed, cannot be made ashamed. He can comply with the rule of Christ,-Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Obey God rather than man, and with all holy boldness: his desire is to say, as always, "so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death; for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Thus, what Christ said of Peter, is said of each of his real followers," This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God." Christ waits to be glorified in your life and in your death. He is pledged that God the Father shall be glorified in your life and in your death; and the Holy Ghost shall be glorified in your life and your death. Learn, then; yea, take pains to learn to say with David, "This God is our God, for ever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death." "Yea, though I walk through the valley and shadow of death, I will fear none ill, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

C.

THE ULSTER INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB AND THE BLIND. We insert, on the cover, the Rules of this Institution, and are happy to announce, that the building lately erected in College-street, will be opened, for the reception of pupils, on the 8th of August next, under the superintendance of the Rev. Mr. Martin, a gentleman eminently qualified for the situation. Although the Committee have already expended nearly £700 on the building, upwards of £250 will yet be required to complete the necessary arrangements. We sincerely hope that the charitable and humane will come speedily forward and assist the Committee in carrying their benevolent design into active operation. It is gratifying to learn, that Mr. Gall has, at present, in the press, the Epistle to the Ephesians, in raised characters, for the blind. This will be an additional fund of knowledge to those pupils who have made such astonishing progress, in the above Institution, in reading the Gospel of John.

Obituary.

Died, at Ballymoney, on Wednesday, the 20th instant, Samuel Hopkin, a student of the Synod of Ulster, in the Natural Philosophy Class, Belfast Royal Institution. While attending his classes, in December last, he caught a cold, which ended in con. sumption. He bore his severe illness with patience, and died glorifying his God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The article entitled "Thoughts on Immortality and Death," which appeared in No. LXXIV. of "The Orthodox Presbyterian," and gave promise of future excellence, was written by Mr. Hopkin.

THE

ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

No. LXXXIII. AUGUST, 1836. VOL. VII.

RENEWAL OF MINISTERIAL COMMUNION BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, AND THE GENERAL SYNOD OF ULSTER.

SPEECH OF THE REV W. GIBSON,

BALLYBAY;

DELIVERED AT THE ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE SYNOD OF ULSTER, COOKSTOWN.

In rising to express my sentiments upon this question, I cannot but regret that any discussion should have arisen here, as to the desirableness of a union with the Church of Scotland. I had thought that, in the present renovated condition of this Church, it would have been hailed as one of the most pleasing evidences of renovation, and that she had, in a good measure, regained her lost position among the Churches of the Reformation, in these lands. I had believed, that having, by the good hand of God upon her, been delivered from the withering influence of error, she would be the more disposed to cultivate an alliance with the friends of truth,-(hear,)-especially had I anticipated, that she would rejoice in the appearances of a favourable recognition on the part of her distinguished parent, from whom she has been long an alien and a castaway; and that, instead of carping at,and criticising the terms of the proposal for restoring ministerial fellowship between the Churches, she should have regarded it as a special ground of thanksgiving, that such a proposition had been made, and rejoiced in it as at once a delightful earnest and indication of better times. (Hear) Inasmuch, however, as some variety of opinion seems to prevail among us on the subject, you will allow me to suggest some considerations, tending to exhibit the desirableness of such a connexion with the Church of Scotland, as is decidedly implied in the deliverance of the late General Assembly, with which we have to do. What, then, I ask you, is the Church of Scotland, from whom we have received this token of alliance and recognition? She is the mother of us all. Our fathers and our founders, in our descent from whom we have been

wont to glory, were her sons They left her in a dark and troubled day, and, landing on these shores, they brought with them the spirit and the principles of Presbyterianism, and bequeathed them, as a very precious legacy, to their children. (Hear.) The founders of the Church of Scotland were at once the patriots and martyrs of their generation. They were men of enlarged and noble minds, unusually gifted with those eminent endowments of soul, which render their possessors the benefactors of their country and the world. They were deeply read in all kinds and departments of knowledge; but the science in which they most delighted, was the science of the oracles of God. They were given to self-denial, to prayer, and to the preaching of the Word. They never feared the face of man. The frowns of offended royalty could not overcome them,-the smiles of princes and of nobles could not move them from their steadfastness. With a voice of authority, they stood up in maintenance of the prerogative of Christ, asserting his supremacy both over kingly and democratic power, and proclaiming that all should bow down before Him. They shaped their conduct and their system, not by a shifting and temporizing expediency, but by the unchanging and eternal principles of the Word of God. By this standard they modelled all their forms of polity, and every arrangement of their ecclesiastical administration was tested by "the order which God's Word craves." As were her founders, so was the constitution of the Church of our fathers. Under their auspices, it arose in unadorned simplicity, a noble and a stately structure, established on the sure foundation of truth and holiness,-(hear, bear,)-beautiful in all its parts and proportions, and from its top-stone to its base, irradiated by the glory of the Lord. It may be said, that this is too bright and vivid a delineation; that, granting to the Church of Scotland, at its formation, all that can be attributed of faithfulness and purity, she has degenerated, fallen from her high estate of independence, and forsaken the old model of truth and righteousness. What, then, let us inquire, is her condition now? In answer to this question, let it be observed generally, that, after long comparative declension, she seems to have been revisited, in our day, with the old spirit of reformation. It has pleased God to raise up many men of might within her, and to encourage and bless their labours. Time was, indeed, when she was almost forsaken, when no faithful voice was heard remonstrating against her manifold abuses and corruptions,-when patronage and power held uninterrupted sway over her councils,-when cold and barren disquisitions on morality supplied the place of the plain, pungent, and life-giving preaching of the Word,and when there was an almost universal departure from the truth and glory of former times. The chilling breath of moderation, as it was called, had blown upon the vineyard, and