same purport. We content ourselves with one which describes in figurative but expressive language, both the constancy of that supply which God is willing to afford his church, and the true revival consequences which flow from its reception. "I will be as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth its roots as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."

If we turn to the New Testament we find these promises reiterated in more concise and specific terms. What assurance need we more, respecting the will of God to bestow those spiritual influences which constitute and preserve the revival state, than that which the Saviour has given us in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of John? Or what can be more explicit than the following statement in the language of our Lord himself? "If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more will not your heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit unto them that ask it ?"

Now, we ask, what is the deduction from such promises as these? Is it not—that as God is ever waiting to be gracious—as the source of divine influence is ever open and available—as it is his will that we should draw largely upon him for constant supplies of spiritual mercies-so it is our duty to avail ourselves of his grace, and aim at the preservation of the revival state?

And the same may be said of the various scriptural precepts in which both individuals and communities are enjoined to persevere in the way of godliness. Both in the gospel and in the apostolic writings we have innumerable exhortations addressed to individuals and to the christian church to this effect. In none of them do we find any countenance-even by way of implication to the notion that the divine will has designed either his children or his churches to pass through alternate fits of activity and torpor; but on the contrary we find the whole force of precept and exhortation bearing in one line-namely in the path of increased purity, zeal, and holiness. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." salvation with fear and trembling," &c.

"Work out your own

"Hold fast the begin

ning of your confidence, stedfast even unto the end."

"Grow

in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." "One thing I do," &c.

And if these are not specific enough we have the exhortation addressed to the Ephesian church, in Rev. ii. 1-5. Here we find no apology on the part of the Redeemer for their declining love and zeal. He does not tell them that it is according to his plan of mercy to visit the churches for a season with his grace, and then leave them to decline, that in due time he may revive them again. If this were the case there would be no sin in declension it would be in accordance with the order of grace. But, on the contrary, he becomes their accuser, reproves them for their conduct, rebukes them, threatens them with sore judgment, even the removal of the candlestick from out of its place, and thereby inculcates as forcibly as can be the duty of every church to cherish and cultivate the revival state when once it has been attained, and to "do the first works."

F.

TEMPTERS OF THE YOUNG.

The wisest of men has written a precept, which it becomes every young person to treasure up in his memory and inscribe upon his heart: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." Will our youthful readers permit us to engage their attention for a short space, while we point out some of the sources of temptation to which they are exposed?

Such is the nature of your constitution that you may yield to temptation; and it is well for you to be constantly mindful of this. You have the power of choosing between good and evilof submitting to, or resisting the enticer. Your bodily appetites and passions, and even your nobler faculties, the various powers of your willing, remembering, reasoning souls, all fit you to become the subjects of temptation. You may yield to the solicitations of sense, the inordinate cupidity of the heart, the cravings of a foolish vanity, or the proud aspirings of your own intellect. You may be a votary of Belial, the god of lust: you may be an imitator of Lucifer, the great exemplar of human pride and ambition. On all sides you are exposed to the enemy, and may fall. And do not murmur at this. Life is probationary. While on the one hand you may fall—fall to a depth of perdition not yet to be fathomed; on the other hand you may rise-such is God's mercy to actually fallen beings-to

a height of glory not at present to be measured. The pure ore, the precious metal will shine all the brighter after passing through the flames; and you have it in your power, through divine grace assisting you, so to pass through the fires of temptation as to shine at last like the "stars in the firmament of heaven," for ever and ever.

Remember that your fellow-men, your companions, your daily associates, will be the principal source of temptation. Hence the wisdom of the precept quoted at the commencement of this paper: "if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." You are on earth, not in heaven. Men, not holy angels, are your companions. You live in a fallen world, and so are exposed to the enticement of sinners. Every man is, more or less, a source of temptation to his fellows. While the wicked tempt by their vices, the good tempt by their imperfections. A desire for sympathy is natural to us. We wish others to feel with us, and be what we are. The evil wish others to be evil :

the good wish others to be good.

When Eve was overcome by

She wished a partner

the tempter, she turned tempter herself. in her fall; and perilled the peace, the life, the very soul of Adam in order to obtain her desire. In her we see a type of human nature at large. Wherever there are sinners, there are tempters: therefore beware!

There are some characters in particular, against whom we would especially and affectionately warn you.

There is the SCEPTIC-he who cheats his understanding in order to appease his conscience; who encourages doubt in order to avoid despair; who loves sin and yet fears its consequences, and so tries to persuade himself that the Bible is untrue, the day of judgment a fable, death annihilation, and the soul mortal. This "sinner" may entice you, for he is in great need of sympathy. His faith, or rather scepticism, is confirmed not in proportion to the evidence on which it is based, but the number of the vicious whom he can bring over to his own state of mind. He may seek to add you to the number of his friends. We tell you how. Sometimes by grave declamation, as if he were sincere in his rejection of the truth-sometimes by ridicule -sometimes by a jest at scripture-sometimes by invectives against the gospel-sometimes by blaspheming the sacred and awful name of God. He will tell you that the Bible is a lie,

and sin a very natural and common thing, the observance of the sabbath folly, and religion a dream; that all christians are hypocrites, and the best of them only the most deceitful. He will encourage you to do whatever you please, so long as you do not ruin your own health, or injure him. There are such sinners, and they may entice you.

There are the LICENTIOUS-they who have dethroned both reason and conscience, and have set up in their place passion and lust; they who laugh at wisdom and sneer at virtue when opposed to the bent of their own desires; they who waste property and time and health in following the strong inclination of their own appetites; they who, devoid of shame themselves, care not how much disgrace they bring upon others if they can but make them minister to their own base pleasures; they who especially seek to lure the young within their snares-spreading before them the golden net, that they may catch them in their toils and make them as debased as themselves. What reck

they of the future? What care they if they ruin health and peace, blast a reputation, or even destroy a soul? Being past feeling, they have given themselves up to work all manner of lasciviousness with greediness. Such sinners may entice you, may seek to allure you, may insinuate themselves into your notice under a showy exterior as the serpent acted towards Eve, may flatter you, entrap you, and ruin you for ever. Be cautioned against them to be fore-warned, is to be fore-armed.

There are the wORLDLY-they who are wholly in love with the bustle, and the follies, and the fashions, and the gaieties, and the pastimes of the world; who frequent the ball-room, and the threatre, and the race-ground, and every other place where man may forget the immortality of his nature, the eternity of his destiny, and the presence of his God; they who trifle with everything that is sacred, and seem to think that they were made for nothing higher than the follies of time. These sinners may entice you. They may make much of you, if you are pretty, or witty, or move in respectable society, or carry a full purse, or are polite in your manners or deportment, or can serve their turn in any way. They may pay you court, and invite you here, and wish you to accompany them there, and act towards you in a very civil and obliging manner. But, nevertheless, beware of them. What do they on the sabbath?

How often do they read the word of God? What kind of a thing do they wish you to be? Do you think they will improve your piety? or increase your reverence for God? or in any way assist you in preparing for the duties of life, and the awful realities of another world? Take care. They are pleasantvery pleasant friends; but they are sinners, and will entice you.

We could mention other tempters beside these, but are unwilling to dwell too long on the topic. We commend what we have written to the thoughtful perusal of our readers, in the hope that it may be of some service in warning and guarding them against the enticements of sinners, and especially against tempters of the young.

CARLYLE AND PUSEYISM.

THOMAS CARLYLE is a remarkable writer, not altogether to our taste; uncertain in style as our climate is in temperature--sometimes smooth and flowing as the winding stream; at other times fitful, dashing, and muddy, like a swollen torrent-varied in matter as well as manner; now breaking down for vulgar capacities the greatest truths, and now beating out the most trite thoughts till they reach the point of evanescence—at one time fiercely grappling with most sturdy errors, and at another giving a secret stab at the surest of all truths. We do not like some of his soliloquisings, they are so redolent of self-importance; and others we do not like because they breathe a spirit of proud self-dependence. But, after all, there is much to be learnt from the man's writings. There is great nobleness of mind, and sincerity of spirit about him. Often have we said to ourselves, as we have followed him in pursuit after some giant hypocrisy, or monstrous sham, "Oh! that this man, too, was altogether a christian! How, like another Paul, would he contend earnestly for the faith,' were he but humbled at the feet of Jesus."

But we will not say more of him at present, we refer to him simply for the purpose of quoting a passage from his latest work, against one of the greatest enormities of the day. We leave it with our readers, as a sample of the feeling with which every strong-minded man must regard the errors of the system which goes by the name of Puseyism.