of gladness! Both root and branch would be as full of mirth and gladness as they are of life and sap. How much more graciously doth God deal with those that hearken to His Word, and obey the motions of His Spirit! We being by nature more dead unto the fruit of holiness, and more destitute of spiritual life than the vine or fig tree is of the life sensitive, He infuseth a new sense or taste into our souls, and makes them more fruitful than the fig-tree, which is never without fruit either ripe or green; and makes us withal sensible partakers of the sweetness of all the fruits which His Spirit bringeth forth in us and from the taste of this fruit of holiness ariseth that joy and gladness of spirit which is the pledge and earnest of eternal life."-Dr. T. Jackson.

"Joy in a changeable subject must necessarily change as the subject changeth. That is the true and chief joy which is not conceived from the creature, but received from the Creator, which (being once possessed thereof) none can take from thee whereto all pleasure, being compared, is torment -all joy is grief, sweet things are bitter, all glory is baseness, and all delectable things are despicable."-Bernard.

397

PEACE.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee:" ISAIAH Xxvi, 3.

"When he giveth quietness who then can make trouble:" JOB XXXIV, 29.

"PEACE is a fair virgin, every one's love, the praise of all tongues, the object of all eyes, the wish of all hearts. She hath a smiling look, which never frowneth with the least scowl of anger; snowy arms, soft as down, and whiter than the swan's feathers, always open to pious embracements. Her milken hand carries an olive branch, the symbol and emblem of quietness. She hath the face of a glorious angel, always looking towards righteousness, as the two cherubim looked one upon the other, and both unto the mercy-seat. Her court is the invincible fort of integrity; so guarded by the Divine providence, that drums, trumpets, and thundering cannons, those loud instruments of war, (I mean blasphemy, contention, violence,) may affront her, but never affright her. She hath a bounteous hand, virtual like the garment of Christ; if a faithful soul can come to touch it, to kiss it, all her vexations are fled, her conscience is at rest. Her bowels are full of pity; she is always composing salves for all wounds of a broken heart. Sedition and tumult her very soul hates; she tramples injuries and discords under her triumphant feet; she sits in a throne of joy, and wears a crown of eternity; and

to all those that open the door of their heart to bid her welcome, she will open the door of heaven to bid them welcome, and repose their souls in everlasting peace."—Thomas Adams.

"Doubtless, we love peace. We seek we preach-we fain would live it. But the grace, thus prized and sought, is peace with God, through a Redeemer's blood;-peace in the conscience, through atonement found, and duty's path maintained;-peace with Christ's family, through one indwelling Spirit ;-peace with men's souls, because of faithful effort for their eternal good. It gives no right hand to the world-its fashions-maxims, and deceits. League with such Canaan is enmity with God. It holds no falsehood in its close embrace. Such fellowship is, as a viper, draining the heart's blood. It looks not tenderly on Antichrist,—his creeds-his wiles-his poison baits. Such fondling is an Achan in the camp-a Jael in the tent-a Judas by our side. It draws not a slight and shifting line between the antipodes of principle, hoping that every noxious cup may hold some wholesome drop. Such dream is imbecility of mind, or absence of enlightened zeal, or treachery to heaven's cause. The Christian's peace can only thrive beside the wells of truth. There watered, it springs up a beauteous plant; tender, yet firm; yielding and yet unbending. We may not sheathe the Spirit's sword, then, when truth requires defence because if it falls, peace has no soil-no atmosphere--no root. Unless we guard truth's gates, all strifes go in and out at will.

"But though the foe, who restlessly forbids our peace, has many arts and mighty skill-yet his design is ever one. His life is to hide Christ,-the Truth of truths. He gains a triumph, when a soul is lost. And souls are lost, which clasp a counterfeit instead of Christ, and follow misguiding tapers to the pit. He little cares what preachers preach, or hearers

hear, so long as Christ be never truly known, and never loved in pure and godly faith. Hence his subtle energies are wholly strained to show some falsehood in the garb of Christ." -Charge by Archdeacon Law, April, 1856.

"There is a calmness and composure of spirit arising from reverence towards God, by which a holy creature is as it were rendered capable of hearing the solemnly awful and majestic voice of God in His commandments, and of doing His will. Something of this solemnity of spirit, which ought always to be sweetly present in the soul, Samuel may be supposed to have felt, when 'the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.' Also Moses—' when God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I.' Elijah too,-when after the fire, he heard the still small voice, and wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?' And the apostles, -when the bright cloud overshadowed them and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' This stillness of spirit is like the to draw his various graces upon. soul for the illapses of Divine grace. This seems to be that sobriety which is commanded in Titus ii, 12. And it seems to be so called, because all intemperance, by which the soul is as it were inebriated, and put into a tumult utterly inconsistent with fitness for serving God, is most contrary to it. As to the inward frame and state of the soul towards God, it is required that all the faculties of the soul be consecrated to the glorifying of God, according to their 1. The understanding, in its vast capacity, is required to be filled and replenished with the knowledge of

nature.

.

canvas for the Holy Spirit It eminently prepares the

God. 2. The will in all its powers of free motion, and determination, is required freely to choose God, and to move towards him, with its whole energy and strength. 3. All the affections of the soul are required to rest upon him in their utmost strength, each of them occupied in that exercise which is suitable to it; love, fear, trust, joy, delight, &c. And this inward frame is required to continue inviolate, and is never to be broken for a moment."-Dr. Love.

"True religion is the source of the sweetest serenity, the most refined delight, the most exquisite enjoyment. From conscious integrity, peace with God, submission to his will, and reliance on providential and gracious care, spring calm content with the present, and serene expectation of the future; and these form a 'peace of God, which passeth all understanding.' Victory over the fear of death, and a wellgrounded and lively hope of eternal happiness, support the soul in adversity, and increase the enjoyment of prosperity. Contemplation on the glories of the Divine character, and the wonders God hath wrought, issuing in admiring love, adoring gratitude, and fervent praises, inspires the soul, at some seasons, with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' A life of communion with God, a uniform walk in his pleasant ways, an increasing assurance and experience of his love, fill the Christian's peaceful soul with an abiding satisfaction, which nothing greatly interrupts but the stirrings of corruption, the force of temptation, and the imperfection of his obedience. By these, at times, guilt burdens his mind, and sorrow oppresses his heart; yet, even godly sorrow itself rather increases than lessens his enjoyment; and, if he for a season be unhappy, it is not because he is religious, but because he is not more so. Nor is there any rational satisfaction which he doth not enjoy with more real relish, because with more moderation, than others do; for real religion abridges us of no enjoyment but that which is irrational,