only once in the way that is here condemned, however com mon, is exceeding finful, deferves eternal punishment, and, left we perish on this account, calls for a fpeedy repentance.

Having thus made a few remarks on the obfervance of the Sabbath, and rather too many to be comprised in one paper, I draw to a conclufion, with befeeching in the most earnest manner fuch of my readers as may find their practice pointed at in this paper, to pray earneftly to God for the grace of repentance, and to follow this prayer with a careful performance of the duties of the Sabbath on all occafions; and not to say or do any thing on that day, but fuch things as are of a religious kind.

If enabled thus to behave, though our repentance, our best fervices or moft pious exercifes cannot merit any thing from the hand of God, you fhall at last be abundantly rewarded. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable, and shalt honour them, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor fpeaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyfelf in the Lord, and I will caufe thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Amen. PRESBUTEROS.

THE NATURE, CAUSE, EFFECTS, AND CURE OF RE

SERVE.

By the late Rev. Robert Robinson, of Cambridge,

[Written at the age of 24.]

RESERVED man is of a cold, diftant, unfeeling car

A riage Not made for fociety, but for himfelf; for

whatever he knows is his own, and not communicated to others. He makes profound fecrets of the veriest trifles in the world, and if you would put a double lock on his mouth, the way to do it is to folicit him to be free. A certain air of diffatisfaction covers him in every company, and while he is not free to them, they are fufpicious of him, taking him to be an over-wife critic, who difdains them, or an egregiously ignorant perfon beneath their notice. So that while this remains, he is fure to be deftitute of one of the greatest bleffings in the world, a free and faithful friend. Such a one VOL. I.

Gg

may be a good man, but, like Ifrael in Hofea's time, is "an empty vine bringing forth fruit unto himfelf." He gathers much manna under the cloud of witneffes, but greedily devours all, not giving a morfel away. He has a gift of prayer, but forgets that gifts are for the edifying the body of Christ. He has many books, but, like a private dram-drinker, fwallows all in a corner. He vifits many focieties of Christians, but more resembles a wafp, who steals the labour of others, than the induftrious bee, who cafting his mite into the common ftock, enriches the hive. God has invested him with an excellent ornament, the gift of speech; but he, as if infenfible of the favour, feldom puts it on; acting herein, like the unthrifty fervant, who hid his lord's talent in a napkin. But he ought to remember, that a rebuke is due for his practice, for while he condemns the Popish practice of fhutting up monks in cloifters, and fo robbing the world of many useful gifts, himfelf is guilty of the fame; being at once, pope and monk himself, imprifoning and imprifoned; and this he does perpetually to his own loss, and nobody's gain.

The root of this fruitlefs referve is pride, and the botanist under whofe management the growth is, is Satan, whose employ is ever to keep the faints at a distance from each other; for hereby he difables them from bearing one another's burdens, and fo keeps them from fulfilling the law of Christ. That its root is pride is plain, for could he be affured that all the company would approve of, and admire whatever he fays, his tongue would be loofed immediately. But he fufpects that this man will pity his ignorance, and that cenfure his rafhnefs, and fo, to escape reproach, does not venture to speak at all. Or unbelief may produce it, for he may be dumb, because he believes not, as Zechariah was; and certainly, if he lived under the practical belief of that exhortation, "Let your fpeech be always with grace, seasoned with falt, that it may minifter edifying to the hearers," he would know that he was to speak always, that is, at every convenient opportunity, and to aim therein at the edification of the hearers. Or perhaps, ignorance is a caufe of reserve. For does fuch a man act, as if he knew (fuppofing he labours under a sense of his weakness), I fay, does he act, as if he knew, that God ever did, and ever will," by things that are not, bring to nought things that are," to ftain the pride of all flefh? This known, leaves us no excufe from our weaknefs. Or it may be envy. For he tells himfelf, if he had the abilities of others, he would fpeak freely, and thus tacitly charges God with being ftrait-handed to him, not having

dealt out fo liberally to him as he fhould have done. In fhort, whatever be the caufe, fure we are that it is not a

Christian grace : For grace teaches a man to refemble his heavenly Father, "who makes his fun to rife, and rain defcend, on the just and unjust, the evil and the good." He is a liberal God, and we fhould be a communicating people." The effects of this reserve are, first, barrenness in a man's

own soul.

"Teaching we learn, and giving we retain."

YOUNG.

If God has faid, "he that foweth fparingly, fhall reap fparingly," fure I am that he who fows nothing fhall starve. Though I am at a lofs to fay, whether referve is an effect of barrennefs, or barrennefs an effect of referve; yet I am not at a lofs to fee that they are conftant companions, and mostly refide in the fame perfon. If the love of God, fhed abroad in the heart, dilates and expands the foul, the want of it fhrivels and contracts. If the one opens the mouth, making the stammerer to fpeak plainly, the other will make a man filent as the grave. If the mouth fpeaketh out of the abundance of the heart, then a ftill clofe mouth argues a penurious foul-the poverty and not the abundance of the mind. He who fpeaks his experiences freely in company, puts his principal out, and as he thereby draws the experience of others out, he receives intereft an hundred fold. In the former he fowed his feed, in the latter the earth brings forth by handsful.

A fecond effect of referve is, the begetting a suspicion in the minds of the godly, that we are only profeffors, "have a name to live, but are dead." For, if they are asked about fuch a one, "he is," fay they, "a fober, moral man, but we never heard him fay any thing of the Spirit's work upon his heart, and therefore we are uncertain whether he is a regenerate man or not." So that they are forced to fufpend their judgments, and alfo their brotherly love towards fuch a man. Thus referve makes a dam to stop the current

of grace.

A third effect is stumbling the weak, for they expect "to be borne on the fides, and dandled on the knees" (as one may fay), of elder Chriftians. But when nothing is faid to them, it damps their spirits, and they are ready to write bitter things against themselves) take the fhynefs of others, whom they hope to be good men, for an evidence that you think they have no grace, and fo referve is forged into fetters for their poor fouls.

How endless are the effects! Here can be no reproof, exhortation, confolation, nor any Chriftian duty performed, while it prevails; for in all these the tongue bears a part.

To help any to a cure, to rub off this ruft, I would propose, firft, much secret prayer. He who converfes much in his clofet with God, will become expert at prayer, and need not fear, when used to the prefence-chamber, that he shall act awkwardly when amongst his equals. I fear our flowness to pray with others, is a proof that we do not too often pray by ourfelves.

Secondly, Labour to affect yourselves with the various means of emboldening a bashful Christian: Such as, the worth of men's fouls-the excellency of Jefus Chrift-the neceffity of living a holy useful life-the shortness of your stay in this world the bleffing giving to him who converts any foul from the error of his way-the obligations you are under to the Lord the reward you fhall reap in another world, Thefe, refting with weight on the mind, will force fpeech, and, like the wind pent up in the earth, will pursue the water, till it bubbles up and runs above ground.

Thirdly, Believe that the Lord has done something for your soul, and that he may use you as an instrument to other souls. Beg to be delivered from that dangerous fin, overlooking what God has wrought for you; and never think that you will either please God or profit men by questioning or deny. ing the day of fmall things. Immediately on your enjoying the divine prefence, you will begin to relate, more or lefs, to others. And the way to enjoy the prefence of God, is to acknowledge and be thankful for the work of God.

Fourthly, Be in the company of free open-hearted Christians, You'll catch their fpirit before you are aware. Try and caft off your reserve, and get fome friend to correct you. Only be fure to arm yourfelf with patience, ever neceffary, but especially fo, when you are reproved. Let your friend obferve your carriage,and when he judges it proper, fubmit to his reproof. Above all watch against the indulgence of any fin. For fin indulged in private, flies in your face in public, reproaching you with, "Thou that fayeft to another, thou fhalt not fteal, doft thou fleal?" Or it will fay, "To the wicked, faith God, what doest thou, to take my law into thy mouth?"

Perhaps, an effectual cure of referve may be found in the. practical belief of the omnipotence of God. For we fhall then burft the bands of the fear of man, and die to the luft of efteem. And having God's teftimony of our integrity in our hearts, we fhall be concerned no longer about men's opinion of us or our character, but God's command will be

our rule, and all confequences will be left to him. However, let us not, in avoiding referve, rufh into a contrary mistake, —a foolish impertinent behaviour, not obferving a due diftance towards fuperiors, but being filly-bold when, rather than be filent, we talk nonfenfe, and make ourselves the pity of the good, and ridicule of the bad. Let us study to purfue the golden mean betwixt loquacity and filence. Let us learn when to speak at all, and when we have faid enough. For he is certainly a wife man who knows how to manage his tongue.

CASUISTICAL DIVINITY,

WHEN a person is mourning and lamenting under a sense of divine withdrawings, cold, formal and remiss in all duties, walking in darkness, and having no light, what means are proper to be adopted, in order to a restoration aud repossession of communion with God?

ANSWER TO THE FOREGOING QUERY.

R. W.

THE cafe here stated, and the question annexed to it, appear to come from one who is not unacquainted with the work of God's Spirit in the heart; and are very interefting to many of the Lord's people. I fhall therefore endeavour to be as explicit in my remarks as poffible; but before I directly answer the question, I fhall attempt to state the cafe more at large, in hope that it may prove a bleffing to those whofe feelings are defcribed.

Divine withdrawings make an important part of the plan on which God acts in leading his people to glory: And they are often as thorns and briers to the Chriftian in his paffage through the wilderness. They imply that the perfon who labours under them is a real difciple of Chrift: For fpiritual bleffings can never be withdrawn from any man but him on whom they have been previously beftowed. Yes, he is a believer; and though now fmarting under his Father's rod, yet once it was well with him. He was indulged with such a fight of Calvary, and of the crimson ftreams of falvation flowing from the heart of Jefus, as he can never totally forget. The cup of his joy was then full and overflowing. He delighted in thinking and talking of God and divine things. He could get near to God in holy duties, and with humble confidence cry, Abba, Father! And he could even have cheerfully fa