unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Harsh as these words may seem, they were written in all the plenitude of apostolical authority, and apply to every case where the essential doctrines of the Sacred Writings are concerned.-What those doctrines are, it may not be expedient to say; the Scriptures are in every one's hands, and no man need continue in ignorance of what the Lord God requires of him. And then, as to the precepts of the Redeemer's religion, they are such as have been admired in all ages, and such as no man need feel himself ashamed to own. The substance of them is: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:" A precept so held in admiration by one of the Roman emperors, that he had it inscribed in various public places to be seen and read of all men. This excellent laconic sentence is more expanded by our Lord himself in another place: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,, and with all thy mind. And thy neighbour as thyself." And still more by Paul: The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." May I not then exhort you in the words of the same apostle, "To present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service? and not to be conformed to this world; but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God:" Endeavour to be uniformly and conscientiously, inwardly and outwardly, religious. Lay aside all other thoughts and concerns, and let the pardon of your sins, the justification of your persons, the purification of your natures, and the salvation of your souls, be the grand business and aim of your life. Every thing within you, and every thing without you, will oppose this great regenerating process of religion. Remember, however, this is your main concern in the world. One thing alone is truly needful. Secure this, and every thing beside is safe. "This done, the poorest can no wants endure; Do "Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.-Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all necessary things shall be added unto you." If you are ever so rich, great, wise, learned, honourable; if you are not at the same time substantially and experimentally religious, you are a miserable man. you want proof of this? Look inward, and look forward to the close of life; or turn back, and impartially consider the experience of the several persons, whose declarations we have recorded. Compare them, weigh them, discriminate their characters; reject what is base and unworthy your attention, take alarm at the warnings of the dying penitents, and resolve, by the grace of God, to have a name and place among his people. Let others despise and neglect the Sacred Writings, as the humour shall lead, do you be much in the perusal of them. Let them dwell in you richly. They will make you happy in your own soul, and wise unto salvation. Search them, dig in them, scrutinize them, let your daily delight be in them. It is the engrafted word, and the word of God's grace alone, which is able to build us up in faith and love, and save our souls alive. Read it as the word of God. Read it with religious views. Read it with constant prayer to heaven for divine illumination; and, as often as convenient, get upon your knees in secret(2) with the Bible spread before you, and, be assured, you shall experience such sublime and ravishing delights, as the most happy and prosperous worldly men are utter strangers to, and as you yourselves can have no proper conception of, till you have made the experi.ment. Could I be the happy instrument of inducing you to make the experiment, you would bless me for ever. And if you could speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and possessed all knowledge human and divine; if you could perform wonders like Moses, celebrate the praises of God like David, prophecy like Isaiah, write like Paul, preach like Peter, thunder like James and John, and offer up your souls on racks and in flames, like the Maccabean mother and her seven noble sons; if you had power with God like Jacob, and had the valour of Joshua, the strength of Sampson, the beauty of Absalom, the wisdom of Solomon, the zeal of Phineas, with every other qualification natural and acquired, that ever centered in any of the sons of men; yet, without a close, intimate, experimental acquaintance with the sacred oracles, and the great truths therein contained, all will avail nothing; you can neither enjoy true consolation in your spirit now, nor be capable of felicity hereafter when you die. Were I, therefore, permitted to give my last dying advice, to the dearest friend(3) whom (2) Renty, a French nobleman, used to read three chapters a day, with his head uncovered, and on his bended knees: and this is the practice likewise of abundance of religious characters in the present day. (3) Sidney, taking leave of his brother Robert, when he died of the wound which he had received in the field of battle, said, "Love my memory; cherish my friends;--but above all, govern your will and affections by the will and word of your Creator; in me beholding the end of this world, with all her vanities." I have in the world, it would be the same which Johnson gave to his friend Joshua Reynolds-" Read your Bible:"(4)—I only should add as above-Read it daily upon your knees with fervent prayer for di Christopher Hatton, a little before his death, advised his relations to be serious in searching after the will of God in his holy word "for it is deservedly accounted a piece of excellent knowledge to understand the laws of the land, and the customs of a man's country; how much more to know the statutes of heaven and the laws of eternity, those immutable and eternal laws of justice and righteousness! To know the will and pleasure of the great Monarch, and universal King! I have seen an end of all perfection, but the commandments of God are exceeding broad." (4) Johnson himself read the Bible too little, and other books too much. This, and associating frequently with men of little or no religion, were the main causes of his great leanness of soul, and fear of death all through life. The more religious people read the Sacred Writings, and the less, in general, they trouble themselves with the compositions of men, the better. If, however, the reader wish to know what books are best calculated to advance the spirit of religion in the soul the following have been found singularly useful: Scougal's life of God in the Soul of Man-Baxter's Saint's everlasting Rest, Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul-Watts on the Love of God-Rowe's Devout Exercises of the HeartYoung's Night Thoughts-Milton's Paradise Lost and Regained-Law's Serious Call to a devout and holy Life-and Thomas a Kempis on the Imitation of Jesus Christ.-Kempis, in particular was a great favourite with Leighton and Burnet. Law's Serious Call has the honour of being the means of the conversion. of Johnson; which book he used therefore much to commend, saying. "It was the finest peace of hortatory theology in any language."-This book has extorted the following eulogium even from the sceptical Gibbon : Law's master-work, the Serious Call, is still read as a popular and powerful book of devotion. His precepts are rigid, but they are founded on the gospel, his satire is sharp, but it is drawn from the knowledge of human life; and many of his portraits are not unworthy of the pen of La Bruyere. If he finds a spark of piety in his reader's mind, he will soon kindle it to a flame; and a philosopher must allow, that he exposes, with equal severity and truth, the strange contradiction between the faith and practice of the Christian world. Under the names of Flavia and Miranda he has admirably described my two aunts vine illumination; and rest not, till you have imbibed the spirit of it into the very frame and constitution of your soul, and transcribed the precepts and example of Jesus into every part of your daily deportment in life. This should be the last dying advice, which I would give to the tenderest friend I have upon earth. And if I should have no other opportunity permitted me, I here leave it on record, in direct opposition to the obloquy of the irreligious, and unbelieving world, as a legacy to my friends and the people among whom I have preached the gospel, of more real and intrinsic value than thousands of gold and silver: Read your Bibles, and read till you love to read. Pray daily over them, and pray till you love to pray. When the Scriptures and prayer become delightful, and the time spent therein seem soon expired, then may you humbly suppose you have made some proficiency in the divine life. But, if you can spend whole days together, without refreshing your soul with some portion of the Holy Writings; if you feel the Heathen and the Christian sister." This is not common praise! To the above books should be added Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress; Taylor's Holy Living and Dying; Leighton's Works; and such other writings as are of a lively and evangelical nature.I remember hearing Conyers say, that if he were banished into a desert island, and permitted to take with him only four books, the Life of Halyburton should be one of the four. This useful life is also the book which Ellys valued above all the books in his learned and copious library. With respect to the leading and most important doctrines of the gospel, I do not know that they are any where more plainly and faithfully expounded than in the book of homilies. I have been of this opinion many years, making allowance for the language, and certain circumstances peculiar to the times in which they were written. In this opinion I find myself confirmed by Horsley, who says, "These discourses I would earnestly recommend to your frequent study, as an unexceptionable summary of doctrine upon these important points, and an excellent model of compdsition for popular instruction." C C |