passing through those other states which the Divine
laws, both of nature and of grace, have made the
stepping-stones thereto. Even in natural things,
we cannot believe a thing simply because we are
persuaded to do so ; we require evidence ; we ask,
" What are we to believe ?" we need instruction
on the matter before we can lay hold upon it. In
spiritual things especially we need to know what



JESUS DESIRED. 149

we are to believe, and why. We cannot by one
stride mount to faith, and it is at least useless, not
to say cruel, to urge us to do so, unless we are told
the grounds on which our faith must rest. Some
men endeavour to preach sinners to Christ / we
prefer to preach Cfirist to sinners. We believe
that a faithful exhibition of Jesus crucified will,
under the Divine blessing, beget faith in hearts
where fiery oratory and vehement declamation
have failed. Let this be borne in mind by those
who are bewailing themselves, in the words of
John Newton :

" Oh, could but I believe,
Then all would easy be ;
I would, but cannot Lord, relieve I
My help must come from thee."

Thou wilt not long have need to pray in this fash
ion if thou canst obey the rule we would put before
thee, which is, meditate on Jesus ; reflect upon the
mystery of his incarnation and redemption ; and
frequently picture the agonies of Gethsemane and
Calvary. The cross not only demands faith, but
causes it. The same Christ who requires faith for
salvation doth infuse faith into all those who do
meekly and reverently meditate upon his sacrifice
and mediation. We learn to believe in an honest
man by an acquaintance with him, even so (although
faith be the gift of God, yet he giveth it in the use



150 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUK.

of the means) it cometli to pass that by frequent
consideration of Jesus, we know him, and therefore
trust in him. Go thou to the gloomy brook of Ke-
dron, make Gethsemane thy garden of retirement,
tread the blood-stained Gabbatha, climb the hill
of Calvary, sit at the foot of the accursed tree,
watch the victim in his agonies, listen to his groans,
mark his flowing blood, see his head bowed on his
breast in death, look into his open side ; then walk
to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, behold him
rise, witness his ascension, and view him exalted
far above principalities and powers, as the mediator
for sinful men : thus shalt thou see and believe, for
verily hard is that unbelief which can endure such
sights ; and if the Holy Spirit lead thee to a true
vision of them, thou shalt believe inevitably, find
ing it impossible longer to be incredulous. A true
view of Calvary will smite unbelief with death, and
put faith into its place. Spend hours in holy re
tirement, tracing his pilgrimage of woe, and thou
shalt soon sing,

"Oh how sweet to view the flowing
Of his soul-redeeming blood ;
With Divine assurance knowing
That he made my peace with God !"

5. Venture on Him. This is the last but best
advice we give thee, and if thou hast attended to
that which precedes it, thou wilt be enabled to fol-



JESUS DESIRED. 151

low it. We have said " venture," but we imply
no venture of risk, but one of courage. To be
saved it is required of thee to renounce all hope of
salvation by any save Jesus that thou hast sub
mitted to. Next thou art called upon to cast thy
self entirely on him, prostrating thyself before his
cross, content to rely wholly on Sim. Do this, and
thou art saved, refuse and thou art damned. Sub
scribe thy name to this simple rhyme

" I m a poor sinner, and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my all in all ;"

and, doing this, thou art secure of heaven.

Dost thou delay because of unworthiness ? Oh do
not so, for he invites thee just as thou art. Thou
art not too sinful, for he is " able to save unto the
uttermost." Think not little of his power or his
grace, for he is infinite in each ; only fall flat upon
his gracious declaration, and thou shalt be em
braced by his mercy. To believe is to take Jesus
at his word, and when all things dery thee the
hope of salvation, still to call Him yours. Now
we beseech thee launch into the deep, now cut thy
moorings and give up thyself to the gale, now leave
the rudder in his hands, and surrender thy keeping
to his guardianship. In this way alone shalt thou
obtain peace and ete nal life.

May the Directing Spirit lead us each to Him in
whom there is light, and whose light is the life of
men.



TO THE UNCONVEKTED KEADEB.



FRIEND Love to thy soul constrains us to set
apart this small enclosure for thine especial benefit.
Oh that thou hadst as much love for thine own soul
as the writer has ! Though he may have never seen
thee, yet remember when he wrote these lines he
put up an especial prayer for thee, and he had thee
on his heart while he penned these few but earnest
words.

O Friend, thou art no seeker of Jesus, but the
reverse ! To thine own confusion thou art going
from him instead of to him ! Oh, stay a moment
and consider thy ways thy position thine end!

As for thy ways, they are not only wrong before
God, but they are uneasy to thyself. Thy con
science, if it be not seared with a hot iron, is every
day thundering at thee on account of thy paths of
folly. Oh that thou wouldst turn from thine error,
while the promise is yet within hearing, "Let
the wicke 1 forsake his way, and the unrighteous

153



JESUS DESIRED. 153

man his thoughts; and let him return unto the
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and unto
our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Be not
betrayed into a continuance in these ways in the
vain hope that thy life will be prolonged to an in
definite period, wherein thou hopest to accomplish
repentance ; for life is as frail as the bubble on the
breaker, and as swift as the Indian arrow. To-mor
row may never come, oh use " to-day"-

Now, is the constant syllable ticking from the clock of time ;
Now, is the watchword of the wise ; Now, is on the banner of

the prudent.
Cherish thy to-day, and prize it well, or ever it be engulphed

in the past ;
Husband it, for who can promise if it shall have a to-morrow."*

" To-morrow is a fatal lie the wrecker s beacon
w.ily snare of the destroyer ;" be wise, and see to
thy ways while time waits for thee.

Consider next thy position. A condemned crim
inal waiting for execution ; a tree, at the root of
which the axe is gleaming ; a target, to which the
shaft of death is speeding ; an insect beneath the
finger of vengeance waiting to be crushed ; a wretch
hurried along by the strong torrent of time to an
inevitable precipice of doom.

Thy present position is enough to pale the cheek
of carlessness, and move the iron knees of profanity

* Tupper s Proverbial Philosophy.

7*



154: THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUK.

A man asleep in a burning house, or with his neck
upon the block of the headsman, or laying before
the mouth of a cannon, is not in a more dangerous
case than thou art. Oh bethink thee, ere desola
tion, destruction and damnation, seal up thy des
tiny, and stamp thee with despair !

Be sure, also, that thou consider thy latter end,
for it is thine whether thou consider it or no. Thou
art ripening for hell ; oh, how wilt thou endure its
torments ! Ah ! if thou wouldst afford a moment
to visit, in imagination, the cells of the condemned,
it might benefit thee for ever. "What ! fear to ex
amine the house in which thou art to dwell ?
What ! rush to a place and fear to see a picture of
it ? Oh let thy thoughts precede thee, and if they
bring back a dismal story, it may induce thee to
change thy mind, and tread another path ! Thou
wilt lose nothing by meditation, but rather gain
much thereby. Oh let the miseries of lost souls
warn thee lest thou also come into this place of
torment ! May the day soon arrive when thou
canst cry after the Lord, and then even thou shalt
be delivered !



IV.

JESUS PARDONING.



" The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
1 JOHN i. 7.



" I will praise thee every day,
Now thine anger s turn d away :
Comfortable thoughts arise
From the bleeding sacrifice.
Jesus is become at length,
My salvation and my strength ;
And his praises shall prolong,
While I live, my pleasant song."

LET our lips crowd sonnets within the compass
of a word ; let our voice distil hours of melody in
to a single syllable ; let our tongue utter in one
letter the essence of the harmony of ages : for we
write of an hour which as far excelleth all the days
of our life as gold exceedeth dross. As the night
of Israel s passover was a night to be remembered,
a theme for bards, and an incessant fountain of

156



156 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUK.

grateful song, even so is the time of which we
now speak, the never-to-be-forgotten hour of our
emancipation from guilt, and of our justification
in Jesus.

Other days have mingled with their fellows till,
like coins worn in circulation, their image and su
perscription are entirely obliterated ; but this day
rernaineth new, fresh, bright, as distinct in all its
parts as if it were but yesterday struck from the
mint of time. Memory shall drop from her palsied
hand full many a memento which now she che
rishes, but she shall never, even when she tottereth
to the grave, unbind from her heart the token of
the thrice-happy hour of the redemption of our
spirit. The emancipated galley-slave may forget
the day which heard his broken fetters rattle on
the ground ; the pardoned traitor may fail to re
member the moment when the axe of the heads
man was averted by a pardon; and the long-des
pairing mariner may not recollect the moment
when a friendly hand snatched him from the
hungry deep : but O hour of forgiven sin ! mo
ment of perfect pardon ! our soul shall never for
get thee while within her life and being find an
immortality.

Each day of our life hath had its attendant
angel ; but on this day, like Jacob at Mahanahn,
hosts of angels met us. The sun hath risen every
morning, but on that eventful morn he had the



JESUS PARDONING. 157

light of seven days. As the days of heaven upon
earth as the years of immortality as the ages of
glory as the bliss of heaven, so were the hours
of that thrice-happy day. Rapture divine, and
ecstasy inexpressible, filled our soul. Fear, dis
tress, and grief, with all their train of woes, fled
hastily away ; and in their place joys came with
out number. Like as terrors fly before the rising
sunlight, so vanished all our dark forebodings, and

" As morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime,
Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl,"

so did grace strew our heart with priceless gems
of joy. "For, lo, the winter was past; the rain
was over and gone ; the flowers appeared on the
earth ; the time of the singing of birds was come ;
and the voice of the turtle was heard in our land ;
the fig-tree put forth her green figs, and the vines
with the tender grape gave a good smell, when
our Beloved spake, and said, Arise, my love, my
fair one, and come away. : Our buried powers,
upspringing from the dark earth, where corruption
had buried them, budded, blossomed, and brought
forth clusters of fruit. Our soul was all awake to
gladness ; conscience sang approval ; judgment
joyfully attested the validity of the acquittal ;
hope painted bright visions for the future ; while
imagination knew no bounds to the eagle-flight of
her loosened wing. The city of Mansoul had a



158 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUU.

grand illumination, and even its obscurest lanes
and alleys were hung with lamps of brilliance.
The bells of our soul rang merry peals, music and
dancing filled every chamber, and every room was
perfumed with flowers. Our heart was flooded
with delight ; like a bottle full of new wine, it
needed vent. It contained as much of heaven as
the finite can hold of infinity. It was wedding-
day with our soul, and we wore robes fairer than
ever graced a bridal. By night angels sang
" Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace,
goodwill towards men; and in the morning, re
membering their midnight melodies, we sang them
o er again. We walked in Paradise ; we slept in
bowers of amaranth ; we drank draughts of nectar
from goblets of gold, and fed on luscious fruits
brought to us in baskets of silver.

" The liquid drops of tears that we once shed
Came back again, transformed to richest pearl ;"

the breath we spent in sighs returned upon us la
den with fragrance ; the past, the present, the fu
ture, like three fair sisters, danced around us, light
of foot and gladsome of heart. "We had discovered
the true alchymist s stone, which, turning all to
gold, had transmuted all within us into the purest
metal. "We were rich, immensely rich ; for Christ
was ours, and we were heirs with Him.

Our body, too, once the clog and fetter of our



JESUS PARDONING. 159

spirit, became the active partner of our bliss. Our
eyes were windows lighted up with happiness ; our
feet were young roes bounding with pleasure ; our
lips were fountains gushing with song, and our ears
were the seats of minstrels. It was hard to contain
our rapture within the narrow bounds of prudence.
Like the insects leaping in the sunshine, or the fish
sporting in the stream, we could have danced to and
fro in the convulsions of our delight. Were we
sick, our pleasure drowned our pain ; were we fee
ble, our bliss renewed our strength. Each broken
bone praised Him ; each strained sinew blessed
Him ; our whole flesh extolled Him. Every sense
was the inlet of joy, and the outlet of praise. As
the needle stayeth at the pole, so did our quivering
frame rest on Him. We knew no thought beyond,
no hope above, the perfect satisfaction of that hour ;
for Christ and his salvation had filled us to the very
brim.

All nature appeared to sympathize with us. We
went forth with joy, and were led forth with peace ;
the mountains and the hills broke forth before us into
singing, and all the trees of the field clapped their
hands. The fields, the floods, the sky, the air, the
sun, the stars, the cattle, the birds, the fish yea,
the very stones seemed sharers of our joy. They
were the choir, and we the leaders of a band, who
at the lifting of our hand poured forth whole floods
of harm )ny.



160 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUR.

Perhaps our birthday found the earth wrapped
in the robes of winter, but its snowy whiteness was
all in keeping with the holiday of our spirit. Each
snow-flake renewed the assurance of our pardon,
for * we were now washed whiter than snow. The
burial of the earth in its winding-sheet of white be
tokened to us the covering of our sins by the right
eousness of Jesus. The trees, festooned with ice-
drops, glittered in the sun as if they had coined
stars to shine upon us ; and even the chill blast, as
it whirled around us, appeared but an image of that
power which had carried our sins away, as far as
the east is from the west. Sure, never was winter
less wintery than then, for in a nobler sense than
the poet* we can affirm

" With frequent foot,

Pleas d have I, in my cheerful morn of life,
Trod the pure snows, myself as pure."

Grace enabled us to find a song where others did
but murmur.

It may be we were brought to love the glorious
Redeemer in the spring-time of the year ; and if so,
our quickened spirit found all around it the coun
ter part of the world within. "We, too, like the lit
tle flowers, were rising from our tombs ; like the
sweet birds, expecting brighter days, we sung the
songs of promise; like the rippling brooks, un-

* Thompson.



JESUS PARDONING. 161

bound from our captivity, we leaped in hasty joy ;
and like the woodlands, we were " prodigal of har
mony." The mountains, lifting their green heads
to the sky, we charged to tell our Maker how we
desired to approach his footstool ; and the valleys,
bleating with the flocks, were bidden to commend
us to the notice of the great Shepherd of the sheep.
The falling rains we thanked as emblems of him
who cometh down "like rain upon the mown
grass ;" and the smiling sun we owned as a type of
his great Lord, who bringeth healing beneath his
wings.

" We walk d

The sunny glade, and felt an inward bliss
Beyond the power of kings to purchase."

Aye, and beyond the power of kings to guess if
they, too, had not felt the same. As the portals of
earth were opening for the coming of the summer,
so were we preparing for glorious days of happiness
and fruitfulness. Everything in creation was in
keeping with our condition, as if nature was but a
dress made by a skilful hand, fitting our new-born
soul in every part. We were supremely blest.
Our heart was like a bell dancing at bridal joys,
and the world was full of bells chiming with it.
"We were glad, and nature cried, " Child, lend me
thine hand, and we will dance together, for I too
am at ease since my great Lord hath loosed me



162 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUR.

from my wintry fetters ; come on, favoured one,
and wander where thou wilt, for

" The soft ning air is balm ;
Echo the mountains round ; the forest smiles ;
And every sense, and every heart is joy.

Come on, then, and sport with me on this our mu
tual feast."

If in summer we brought forth fruits meet for
repentance, and were planted in the garden of the
Lord, the soil on which we trod was prolific of
emblems of our own condition, and of creatures
sympathising with our joy ; and the sky which
canopied our dwelling-place was woven like a
tapestry with praises of our Lord. "When the rain
bow bridged the sky, we hailed it as the sign of
the eternal covenant made with us by Him who
keepeth truth to all generations ; if the steaming
river sent its exhalation to the clouds, we put our
song upon its altar that it might ascend with it ; if
the dewdrops sparkled on the breast of morn, " the
dew of our youth " rejoiced at their kindred beauty ;
or if the soft winds breathed odours, we bade them
receive another burden, while we perfumed them
with the name of Jesus. Whether we walked the
sea-side, and thought the waves washed blessings
to our feet, or found beneath the high rock a grate
ful shelter from the heat, or drank the stream
whose waters were sweeter to our taste than e er



JESUS PARDONING. 163

before, we were by every object drawn upward
evermore to contemplate the Lord our Redeemer,
who in every scene of nature was set forth in
miniature. All summers had been winters com
pared with this ; for now we had flowers in our
heart, a sun in our soul, fruits in our spirit, songs
in our thoughts, and joy and heat in our affections.
Till then we never knew the glory of this mighty
world, because we did not know it to be our
Father s and our own ; but then we looked from
the hill-top on the wide-spread scene with the eyes
of a young heir just come to his estate, or a fresh-
crowned monarch whose fair dominions stretch
beneath his feet far as the eye can see. Then we
felt, in fact, what we had only heard in poetry, the
noble birthright of a regenerated man

" His are the mountains, and the valleys his ;
And the resplendent rivers. His to enjoy,
With a propriety that none can feel ;
But who, with filial confidence inspir d,
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye,
And smiling say, My Father made them all.
Are they not his by a peculiar right,
And by an emphasis of interest his,
Whose eye they fill with tears of holy joy,
Whose heart with praise, and whose exalted mind
With worthy thoughts of that unwearied love,
That plann d, and built, and still upholds, a world
So cloth d with beauty for rebellious man ?"

O happy spirit ! tuned aright to unison with a fair



164 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUK.

earth, man s first inheritance, lost till by grace
again we call it ours, and know it to be beautiful.
Words fail to describe the Divine rapture of the
spirit ; and however well a poet may paint nature
as he sees it, yet though he succeed to his own
satisfaction, the new-born child of God, whose
feelings are richer even than the wealth of poesy,
will feel that he hath but poorly pencilled what his
now enlightened eye beholds with raptures of
delight. This world is a great music-box, and he
who hath the key can set it playing, while others
with open mouth are wondering whence the song
proceedeth. Nature is a colossal organ, and the
frail fingers of man may move its keys to thunders
of music ; but the organist is usually unseen, and
the world knows not how such majestic sounds are
begotten. Summer is earth in court-dress ; and
if the heart be so, it will know to what court sum
mer belongeth, and will call him friend.

Need we reiterate our joys by laying autumn
also under contribution ? Truly, if then we found
our Lord, the ripened fruit did taste more lusciously
than ever. The yellow suit in which the year
was clad shone in our eyes like burnished gold.
Even as old Autumn

" Joy d in his plenteous store,
Laden with fruits that made him laugh, full glad
That he had banish d hunger,"



JESUS PARDONING. 165

so did we rejoice that our hunger aud thirst were
satisfied with ripe fruit from the tree of life. The
harvest-home echoed to our heart s glad shouts,
and the vintage songs kept tune with our loud re
joicings.

All seasons of the year are alike beautiful to
those who know how to track the Creator s foot
steps along the road of providence, or who have
found a token of his grace, and therefore bless the
hour in which it came. There is neither stick nor
stone, nor insect, nor reptile, which will not teach
us praise when the soul is in such a state as that
whereof we now are musing :

" There s music in the sighing of a reed ;
There s music in the gushing of a rill ;
There s music in all things, if men had ears ;
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres." *

The one pardoning word of the Lord of all abso
lution hath put music into all things, even as the
trump of the archangel shall breathe life into the
dead. Those drops of atoning blood have put fair
colours upon all creation, even as the sunrise paints
the earth, which else had been one huge blot of
darkness.

How doubly dear do all our mercies become at
the moment when Christ shines on us ! the bread
of our table is well nigh as holy as the bread of the

* Byron.



166 THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUK.

Eucharist ; the wine we drink tastes as sacred aft
that of His consecrated cup ; each meal is a sacra
ment, each sleep hath its Jacob s vision ; our
clothes are vestments, and our house a temple.
We may be sons of poverty, but when Jesus comes,
for that day, at least, he strews our floor with sand
of gold, and plants upon the roof hard-by the
ancient house-leek, flowers of sweet contentment,
of which heaven need not be ashamed. We are
made so happy in our low estate at that transport
ing word of grace which gives us liberty, that we
do not envy princes their crowns, nor would their
wealth tempt us from the happy spot where our
Lord deigns to give us his company.

Oh that blest day ! again our memory rushes
back to it, and rapture glows even at its mention.
Many days have passed since then ; but as the one
draught of sweet water refreshes the camel over
many a mile of desert, so doth that happy hour
still cheer us as we remember it. Beginning of
the days of heaven ! Firstborn of morning ! Pro
phet of blessings ! Funeral of fears ! Birthday of
hope ! Day of our spirit s betrothal ! Day of God
and day of mercy ! oh that we had power to sing
the joy which kindles our passions to a flame w r hile
we review thee ! or rather, oh that we had grace
to hymn His praise who made thee such a day !
Doth the stranger inquire, What hath so distin
guished that day above its fellows ? the answer is



JESUS PARDONING. 167

already knocking at the door of our lips to obtain
an egress. We were released from the thraldom
of sin, we were delivered from the scourges of con
science, we were ransomed from the bondage of
law, we were emancipated from the slavery of cor
ruption ; death vanished before the quickening of
the Holy Ghost, poverty was made rich with infinite
treasures of grace, and hunger felt itself satisfied
with good things. Naked before, we on that day
put on the robes of princes ; black, we washed our
selves clean in a bath of blood ; sick, we received
instant healing ; despairing, we rejoiced with joy
unspeakable. Ask her who has had the issue of
her blood stanched by a touch ; ask yon healed
demoniac, or his companion who throws away the
crutch of his long halting, why on that day of re
covery they were glad ; and they will exhibit their
own persons as reasons for their joy : so, O wonder
ing gazer, look on us and solve the mystery of our