lurking sin, or unmortified lust, is the cause of this; and in such a state, our pains and efforts must be as ineffectual, as those of a man who tries to heal a wound, while the thorn remains in the flesh; or of the mariner, who toils at the pump, without stopping the leak in his vessel. When you read, be watchful to mark what suits your own case. And for this end, your mental disorders, as indicated by their prominent symptoms, your defects, weaknesses, and wants, should be carefully noted.

3. In reading, to promote prayer, habituate yourself to seriousness.

Many there are who never glance into books, but in search of entertainment; and, as their minds are destitute of seriousness, they require an intellectual bill of fare, which contains nothing solid, judicious, or profitable. Others, imbued with the spirit of the world, are as much devoted to Mammon in the library, as in the exchange or market. The frivolous varies his modes, but continues to trifle; and the slave his employments, but still drags his chain. When a Christian sits down to read, it ought to be with nobler ends in view than to pass away time, and relieve the tedium vitæ, the weariness of life, or disperse the thought of death and eternity; or to collect the flowers of wit, and the curiosities of literature.

None but a vain and shallow pedant will deny,

that the Bible contains much to interest even the man of genius and taste. No other book contains narratives of facts so extraordinary, with incidents so touching and true, or abounds with such specimens of beauty and sublimity in description, sentiment, and character. Milton, an authority whose judgment in these matters will not be questioned, extols "those frequent songs throughout the law and the prophets, which, in the very critical art of composition, may easily be made appear to be over all other kinds of poetry incomparable.' Yet it should be to gratify a spiritual, rather than a literary taste, that the Christian goes to his Bible. "The Scripture will be read with the greatest profit," said Erasmus, “if, when a man takes it into his hand, it be with this mind, 'ut seipso reddatur melior,' &c.—that he may become a better man, and does not accommodate the word to his own affections, but correct his own life, and all his desires, by the rule of it." The doctrine of the Gospel is a doctrine according to godliness; and though the proficiency of the critic may have its value, it is of small amount, compared with the progress of the Christian in faith and love, in humility, meekness, benevolence, and devotion. "Search the Scriptures," saith our Lord; "for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." How serious

ought we to be, when, as if hearing the voice of Christ, we enter upon this work! Here is revealed, and in full view exhibited, eternal life! the ineffable glories of Immanuel; the wonders of a world which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the powers of the human mind conceived! Amidst the deep and absorbing emotions, produced by such objects and hopes, the attractions of earth lose their enchantment; we feel the poverty and emptiness of present things; and shake off the shackles which bind and encumber us, that we may draw near to God our exceeding joy, and be filled with felicity by the light of his countenance.

SECTION III.

ON MEDITATION, AS A MEANS OF PROMOTING PRAYER.

MEDITATION is the calm, regular, sober, and steady exercise of the thoughts on those sacred subjects, which interest and affect the heart. True religion, by employing the understanding, by governing the will, by softening the conscience, and sanctifying the passions, new models the inner man, and imparts a peculiar dignity and lustre to the character.

Meditation, as the term is here used, resembles not the calculations and contrivances of worldly prudence, balancing with care the probability of failure or success, and fixing with caution the proportions of loss and gain; nor the excursions of fancy, flitting from toy to toy, and roving through the flowery walks and enchanted grounds of fugitive pleasure; nor the researches of carnal reason, patiently investigating nature's works, without owning or seeking nature's God. Merchants and politicians intensely employ every thought to form their plans and mature their schemes; pleasure

hunters give imagination the reins to wander at large over the paradise of fools; and grave philosophers spend day and night in that profound and exhausting study, which is a weariness to the flesh; yet all these are absolute strangers to the divine art of meditation. Nay, it is possible for a man sometimes to think of religion itself, and yet never have that placid, unruffled, happy flow of thoughts, so much to be desired and so rarely attained. Curiosity, or the desire of a name, may prompt a man to give some portion of attention to the evidences and doctrines of Christianity, and to the rites and ceremonies of public worship; in which case a turn for speculation is discovered, but no taste for devotion. He who acts from such motives, reads the Bible, traces the records of church history, and compares different opinions and systems, to shew off the scholar, rather than to imbibe the spirit and exemplify the character of the Christian. He dips into the waters of life, if I may so speak, not to enjoy them, or experience their salutary power, but to investigate their qualities in an inquisitive spirit. The train of ideas which passes through his mind, leaves no tincture of spirituality, no savour of piety. "Meditation," says a good: writer, " is a fixed, solemn survey, or consideration of some subject of religion, in order