an immediate interest, but supply also a sort of technical memory in their application. In addition to this, the case of another is much more easily represented to a man's understanding, and brought home to his heart than his own. Example is the school of mankiud, and they will be effectually taught in no other. This was the plan pursued by Him, who knew all the intricacies of our moral composition much better than ourselves, and was much more skilled in applying the remedies. It is for the Christian minister in this, as in every other point, to follow the steps of his Lord, to enlarge upon the parables which he de livered, and closely to adopt the method which he pursued.

Dr. Wordsworth appears eminently successful in the application of the circumstances of the history or parable to the several conditions of his hearers. Thus, for instance, after having enlarged upon the history of Naaman, he thus continues:

"What was it, I would ask, which brought about the conversion, and with that, as we trust, the everlasting salvation of Naaman? It was his leprosy. That bodily malady led to the healing of his soul.

"Is there then any amongst you who suffers under any wasting sickness, loathsome disease, or grievous distemper of body, as Naaman did-take courage. Be not utterly cast down. Do but, as, in the end, he did, and you will find all the blessings contained in his history fully accomplished in yourselves.

"There is a Prophet of the Lord of Hosts, there is an unerring Physician to whom ye may repair; and he has promised expressly to all that come unto him, and comply with his instructions, that they shall find health and everlasting salvation. Indeed, the "health of the body may not be restored to you for a time; I mean, not even during this life, as we call it; but it shall be so hereafter. Everlasting health shall be granted you, both to body and soul. Take courage then, and have hope. Bear up patiently under your burden. The time here is but as the twinkling of an eye. When that is once over, no pain, no memory, or regret on that account shall molest you, for ever. Nay, what cause shall ye not have for rejoicing, if your affliction here, which is, as it were, but for a moment, shall work out for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? What will it then signify, that ye have had on earth irksome nights and wearisome days; and that your condition has been painful to yourselves and others? Therefore, be not too much discouraged; but take in good part the chastisement of the Lord. Fix your hope in him, and ye shall never be forsaken. Let it be your main care to obey his will, whether it be in doing or suffering. So, in due time, your health, youth, and strength, shall all be renewed as the eagle's. Christ shall change your vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body: and then ye shall be beautiful as the dove, in the sight of men and

angels:

The

angels; and crowns of everlasting joy shall be set upon your heads. Then, at least, shall ye rest from all your labours. worm of pain shall gnaw you no more. There will be no more sorrow nor shame: but all will be forgotten for ever: or will be looked back upon with complacency and joy, as the means, and discipline, through which God, in his mercy and wisdom, was pleased to make trial of your fidelity, and to bring you to himself." Vol. I. P. 9.

Dr. Wordsworth enforces with great earnestness all the high and leading doctrines of the Gospel, the corruption of our nature, the justification by faith, and the sanctification by the Spirit. Upon the first of these he enlarges in his Sermon on "The Flesh and the Spirit," with much justice and animation. Were we to select a specimen of his eloquence, we should take it from the following passage.

"The body of man was made, at the first, out of the dust of the ground: and then the Almighty breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul: and when he was thus created, God blessed him, and saw that he was very good. But soon alas! he fell from that happy estate. Through the enticements of Satan, and the abuse of those powers of free-will with which he was created, he brake the commandment of God, and, incurring the punishment threatened, he became a miserable prey to sin and death. His body henceforth becomes the seat of pain and corruption: and in his soul, which had been created after the divine likeness, the image of God is sorely marred and defaced; his understanding darkened; his will corrupted; and his passions made unruly, rebellious and uncontrolable. In a word, both in body and soul, in a feeble, short-lived, afflicted body, and in a disturbed, disordered spirit, he bears about him, in his natural state, deeply impressed, the marks of the desertion, displeasure, and judgment of God. The dread sentence, Thou shalt surely die,' is written upon him in vice and misery bere, in decay while he lives, in corruption after the spirit is departed from him; and in fearful forebodings and anticipations of what of further woe and destruction may befal him, in another state, hereafter." Vol. I. P. 92,

In his answer to those suggestions which too often agitate, even to distraction, the wretched victims of religious melancholy, who are daily sacrificed before the altar of fanaticism, Dr. Wordsworth displays much ability.

"Should any man's heart, I say, suggest to him these dangerous imaginations, then let him know, that the answer here also is not far to seek, but that the words of my text do, in the second place, imply, that we shall have strength given us from above, whereby we may be enabled to persevere in the path to life

and

and glory: and that if we wander astray from it, the fault is all our own; God our Father would not have it so; and our perdition is from ourselves.

"The primary will of God is that not any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This will is every where made known to us in Scripture, and is laid down as the basis and foundation of all our religion. To this end, God points out to mankind the way to life and eternal salvation; he enables them also, as we have seen, to judge and know, each man for himself, whether he is in the road that leadeth thither; or whether his steps are tending to everlasting destruction and misery. And (which is the third remaining, and great requisite to our safety, and everlasting glory) the Spirit that giveth life and strength is always ready to help our infirmities. This is his office and undertaking. God has promised to give the Holy Ghost to them that ask him; to them who feel their necessities, who are weary and heavy laden, who desire more strength, and sigh for a closer communion with God. We Christians especially possess these spiritual promises. The dispensation under which we live is called peculiarly the administration of the Spirit; and we are unceasingly invited and exhorted to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. If therefore God calls and exhorts us to live, it is with a sincere mind and purpose, that, by his Holy Spirit, we should be enabled so to do." Vol. I. P. 102.

The following observations upon the education of daughters appear applicable to every condition of life. We earnestly wish that some such monitor could be heard amidst the extending circles of fashionable life, where too often the hand that administers the poisoned cup of dissipation and profligacy to the youth and innocence of a daughter, is that of the mother, The cant of puritanism but confirms the infatuation; the words of sobriety and truth can alone dissolve the fatal charm, by placing both characters and things in that just and reasonable point of view, which disarms sophistry of its delusion and contradiction of its power. The passage to which we allude, occurs in the sermon upon Herod, Herodias, and her daughter.

"Here you have an example of the nature of the influence of ungodly parents over their children; of the education, I may say, which a sinful mother gives to her daughters. I do not affirm that I am one of those who think, that in all classes of life indiseriminately, the acquisition of pleasurable and elegant accomplishments, is to be condemned. When duly directed and regulated, in use and degree, I believe these attainments to be so far from being in contradiction to the will of heaven, that to me they seem in entire conformity with his Providence, who clothes the lilies of the field, endues the birds of the air with plumage and

song

song, and deigns to speak to us of the beauties, the movements, and the hymns of angels, and the joys of heaven, in terrestrial images. The faculties and endowments to which I refer, were designed to be gracious hand-maids to virtue: and, when united with purity and innocence, are still stray flowers of Paradise, that may teach our imaginations what man once was, before his fall, and what once again, the Christian man, in the New Jerusalem, is destined to become.

"But, if these are suffered to engage the mind to the neglect of more substantial endowments, and before a solid foundation has been well laid in religious principles and impressions: if these be made the edifice instead of the ornament of instruction; if they be the business, and not merely the recreation of life: and still further, if they be accompanied by frivolous pursuits, worldly counsels, unchristian desires, and ungodly examples and habits in the parents-then do they become dangerous gifts indeed; day by day they minister provocations to mere vanity and folly, and waste of life, and temptation, and sin. The song leads to revelry, and riot; and the dance to wantonness. Then, too often has the daughter cause to bewail her beauty, her grace, and external acquirements. They have alas! but too fatally tended to make her the murderer of her own soul, and that of others.

"Be careful then, I beseech you, parents, to lay the foundation of your children's education, in giving them religious principles and impressions. Let them be inured to sober, serious, and good examples at home. For their sakes also, as well as for your own, endeavour that no foolish, no idle, or sinful word, thought, or action, may escape from you: but let your demeanour be that of persons who are in earnest intent on doing their duty in the sight of God here, and who bear in mind, all the while, as they journey along, that they are strangers and pilgrims, seeking a better country; and having therefore something higher in pursuit; having indeed a hope full of immortality. The influence which your age and relation, which God and nature give you over your offspring, let it, I entreat you, be exerted for good, and not for evil. Let them feel your guiding hand, and hear your directing voice behind them, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it,' when they turn to the right hand, and when they turn to_the_left*. So the son shall be an ornament and defence unto his father; and the daughter a grace and delight to her that bare her. So God will bless your fidelity and care. So at least, no prayer, no wise counsel, no holy example shall fall to the ground. All will be registered in heaven; and thou hast delivered thine own soul". Vol. I. P. 366.

The second volume contains fourteen Sermons. I. Christians must be Doers of the Word, not Hearers only. II. St. Peter's

Isaiah xxx, 21.

Discourse

Discourse upon the Day of Pentecost. III. The Mote and the Beam. Luke vi. 41, 42. IV. The Christian Law of Retaliation. V. The Case of the Father of the Dumb Demoniac. VI. St Paul before Felix. VII. The Rich Man and Lazarus. VIII. The Widow of Zarephath. IX. The Ascension. X. Religious Education historically considered. XI. Before a Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. XII. A Holy Family. XIII. For a Parochial Collection. XIV. The Death of Stephen; a Funeral Sermon.

The Sermon upon Religious Education presents not only an instructive, but a very interesting history of religious education in this kingdom. Even in the time of Alfred, schools were erected in different parts of his dominions; the intentions of that ancient and illustrious monarch coinciding with the wishes of our own venerable and beloved monarch. The time is fast approaching when they shall be fulfilled; and when by the exertions of that mighty engine of good, the National Society, every child shall be instructed in the principles of our pure and primitive Church, and in that book, on which alone they are founded.

:

Dr. Wordsworth is a zealous advocate of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge its claims indeed cannot be stated in a more powerful manner than in his Sermon upon that subject. No other societies are mentioned by name: to which of them therefore the following observations will best apply, we leave to the discernment of our readers to discover.

"And truly, if the times in which we live, be distinguished by those extraordinary effusions of the divine grace, and more than common gifts of the divine Providence, which some believe, O that there were not still more, the most afflicting reasons to fear, that in too many respects, the celestial bounty is marred amongst us, on all hands, by earthly intermixtures of zeal not according to knowledge, of ostentation, and vain-glory, of faction, and insubordination, of a pragmatical self-importance, and a craving after human praise; insomuch that, upon the whole, the religious principle, so far from being purified, elevated, and confirmed, is, it is to be greatly feared, in a rapid course of becoming lamentably debased, and deteriorated, by continual large accessions, from the most carnal and secular sources. Vol. II. P. 257.

We shall conclude our extracts with a description of a Christian family, which cannot fail of attracting the interest and the admiration of the reader.

Thus have we considered separately the constituent parts of a holy Christian family: the aged, those in the middle stage of life, and those of tender years. And if they be lovely when thus

divided,