their obligations to the riches of Divine grace more clearly than they do now. This will be a day of great joy. The saints will see the Redeemer in their midst; they will all be like Him, and be for ever free from evil, and in the enjoyment of unutterable good. The congregation on the last day will be vast, glorious, harmonious, spotless, happy. Will you be of the number? Then you must be a saint in this world, you must praise God here, you must now sing the new song. H. H. THE LOVE OF CHRIST. FROM the moment the Saviour undertook the work of redemption, His heart was set on its accomplishment with unextinguishable ardour. For four thousand years before He appeared in our world, love to sinners burned in His bosom with a quenchless flame. This is a part of that great mystery of godliness, into which angels desire to look, and which, with all their mighty intellects, they are unable fully to comprehend. That the Saviour should love His Father is not to be wondered at; that He should love Himself is not a matter of surprise; that He should love the pure spirits around His throne is in perfect harmony with the essential features of His nature; but that He should love unto death, even the death of the cross, a world of entirely depraved sinners, who were rebels against His throne, may well excite Our admiration. It was love to sinners which constrained Jesus to fold and lay aside the vestments of His glory, to leave His crown and sceptre and regal authority at His Father's right hand, and appear in our world in the form of a servant. It was love to sinners, which shone in His features, and beat in His bosom with the first pulsations of life, as He lay a helpless infant in the manger. It was love to sinners which carried Him through the streets of Jerusalem, administering life and health and comfort to the diseased and the dying. It was love to sinners which enabled Him to bear so meekly, and without a murmur, His agony in the garden, the treachery of a disciple, the false and bitter accusations of priests and scribes, their contemptuous spitting, smiting and mockery, the derision of Herod and his men of war, the unjust condemnation and cruel scourging of Pilate, the insulting crown of thorns, and the provoking, hypocritical worship of His malignant persecutors. It was love to sinners which summoned His powers to bear His cross to the place of execution, and then consent to be nailed to it by His merciless oppressors. Oh! it was dying love to sinners, which heaven could not contain, nor earth comprehend, that enabled Him to sustain the unutterable pressure of a world's iniquities, until He bowed His head in death and gave up the ghost. This is dying love, at which the sun hid his face in midnight, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the graves were opened, and darkness covered the land at noon-day. Oh! dear reader, I am speaking to you of the dying love of Jesus, and can you not feel? It put out the sun, and can you gaze upon it without emotion? It shook the earth to its centre, and think, too, of the wonderful centre in which all the saints of God are united. They are all in union with the Saviour. His love, manifested in His death as an atonement for sin, is the moral magnet which attracts all their souls to Him. They are all one in Christ. They are branches in the same vine, stones in the same building, members in the same body. They have all experienced the new birth, received the Holy Ghost, and are going to the same glorious home. They will all meet in their Father's house, they will all be worshippers in the same temple, they will all sing the song of the Lamb. God takes pleasure in them all, and will enrich them with His blessing; hence a congregation of saints is a delightful sight. He meets with them to refresh them in their way to glory. "And His praise in the congregation of saints." Now, here observe, the delightful work in which the saints are engaged when they meet in His house. They think of the praise due to God, and render thanks to Him for His mercies. He has given them many occasions for praise. He has done great things for them. He has laid them under vast obligations, and they are sensible of His loving-kindness. They praise Him for the glorious revelation He has made of Himself in His word, for the gift of Christ, for their conversion to God, for the precious promises, for the gracious help He affords them by the way, for the success of His Gospel in the world, for the continuance of their privileges, and the glory of their pros pects. When they meet for Divine worship, they must not only pray, but also praise. The apostle says, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The saints must think of their mercies, their magnitude, number, and continuance. They must praise God in concert. This glorifies God, and promotes their piety. Redemption is a sweet song for redeemed sinners. The redemption in Christ is a great, glorious, and eternal redemption. The saints know its worth by happy experience, for it has saved them from immense evils, and secured to them immens blessings. The Gospel publishes it glories. The Scriptures invite us to seek an interest in it. Spirit disposes us to gracious invitation. The Holy accept the The saints abound in praise in heaven, and begin the delightful work on earth. This is good for the soul, pleasing to God, and a noble example. And it is well to begin in early life. But praise to God ought not to be confined to the sanctuary we ought also to praise God in the family, in solitude, and in every-day life. His mercies are perpetual therefore, our obligations must be perpetual. "By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit of ou lips giving thanks to His name.' His saints are a holy priesthood, se apart for the worship of the living and true God, and they will present to Him the offering of praise for ever. The last day will be a glo rious day, for then the congregation of saints will be complete. They i all be perfect, and 1 their obligations to the riches of Divine grace more clearly than they do now. This will be a day of great joy. The saints will see the Redeemer in their midst; they will all be like Him, and be for ever free from evil, and in the enjoyment of unutterable good. The congregation on the last day will be vast, glorious, harmonious, spotless, happy. Will you be of the number? Then you must be a saint in this world, you must praise God here, you must now sing the new song. H. H. THE LOVE OF CHRIST. FROM the moment the Saviour undertook the work of redemption, His heart was set on its accomplishment with unextinguishable ardour. For four thousand years before He appeared in our world, love to sinners burned in His bosom with a quenchless flame. This is a part of that great mystery of godliness, into which angels desire to look, and which, with all their mighty intellects, they are unable fully to comprehend. That the Saviour should love His Father is not to be wondered at; that He should love Himself is not a matter of surprise; that He should love the pure spirits around His throne is in perfect harmony with the essential features of His nature; but that He should love unto death, even the death of the cross, a world of entirely depraved sinners, who were rebels against His throne, may well excite our admiration. It was love to sinners which constrained Jesus to fold and lay aside the vestments of His glory, to leave His crown and regal authority at His Father's right hand, and appear in our world in the form of a servant. It was love to sinners, which shone in His features, and beat in His bosom with the first pulsations of life, as He lay a helpless infant in the manger. It was love to sinners which carried Him through the streets of Jerusalem, administering life and health and comfort to the diseased and the dying. It was love to sinners which enabled Him to bear so meekly, and without a murmur, His agony in the garden, the treachery of a disciple, the false and bitter accusations of priests and scribes, their contemptuous spitting, smiting and mockery, the derision of Herod and his men of war, the unjust condemnation and cruel scourging of Pilate, the insulting crown of thorns, and the provoking, hypocritical worship of His malignant persecutors. It was love to sinners which summoned His powers to bear His cross to the place of execution, and then consent to be nailed to it by His merciless oppressors. Oh! it was dying love to sinners, which heaven could not contain, nor earth comprehend, that enabled Him to sustain the unutterable pressure of a world's iniquities, until He bowed His head in death and gave up the ghost. This is dying love, at which the sun hid his face in midnight, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the graves were opened, and darkness covered the land at noon-day. Oh! dear reader, I am speaking to you of the dying love of Jesus, and can you not feel? It put out the sun, and can you gaze upon it without emotion? It shook the earth to its centre, and will not your spirit tremble and bow before it? It rent asunder the flinty rocks of Judea, and will not your heart yield to its mighty power? It waked the dead, and will not you receive from it the impulses of spiritual life? It covered the land with mourning, and have you no tears of contrition to shed, no heart to mourn for those sins, which crucified the Son of God? Look upon Jesus in His agony. What kindness, what sympathy, what melting tenderness are here! The Son of God in tears, in death! Here is love, that moves and melts the soul; love that wept and bled, and Here is love "Look unt Here is love died to save the lost. "Oh! for such love let rocks and hills The Convert's Corner. TAKING THE PROTESTANT England has just been disgraced by the following exhibition of folly and impiety, which is adapted to the meridian of Spain or Italy, rather than to Great Britain :— There was a very large attendance at the Catholic Chapel, Upper St. James's-street, on Monday night,and the attendance, we regret to say, included some of the first Protestant families in the town,-to witness one of the most deceptive ceremonies connected with the Roman Romish Church, the taking of the veil, or "habit of religion," as it is technically termed, by two young ladies, who had already passed through a kind of novitiate as Sisters of Mercy. The ceremony was conducted after this wise. The congregation on assembling found the church lighted, -candles blazing before the images of Virgin and Child; but the altar, though richly decorated with flowers, was in solemn gloom. This was hardly relieved when, as the com WHITE VEIL. mencement, six of the loftier tapers were lit up. At the same moment the organ burst forth in a solemn voluntary by Hiles, and the curiosity of the congregation was gratified by the first appearance of the chief actors in the impressive scene. A door on the left of the altar opened, and thence issued a procession such as is familiar to the eye in pictures of religious ceremonies on the Continent. It consisted of sisters, some wearing black and others white veils -some being, in fact, nuns and others novices-and each bearing the indispensable lighted taper. First walked one bearing a gilded cross; then followed the postulants,-those about to take the veil,-who were in full bridal costume, with wreaths, lace veils, white muslin dresses, white kid gloves, and other accessories. About a dozen sisters brought up the train; first the novices, then the professed, and last the superioress. On reaching the altar, all were admitted within the rails, and knelt in one long line for about a quarter of an hour, while the hymn, "O Gloriosa Virginum," was sung by the choir,-which, we may observe, was augmented on this occasion. There was a considerable pause, after which, enter the titular Bishop of Southwark, the very Reverend Dr. Grant, wearing his mitre and richly embroidered robes, and accompanied by the Rev. Canon Reardon, and the Rev. Canon Rymer. Then the service commences with prayer: two wax candles are next blessed, and laid upon the altar, while Christ is impiously asked to "infuse into them, by virtue of thy holy cross, thy heavenly benediction." So that, "in whatsoever place they shall be lighted or placed, the princes of darkness, with all their powers, may depart, and tremble, and fly." Incense is then put into the thurible and blessed; the candles are sprinkled with holy water and incense, and are afterwards presented lighted to the postulants. Having received the candles, the postulants knelt, holding them lighted in their hands. Then the bishop, being seated with much ceremony before the altar facing the congregation, and looking down at the postulants at his feet, delivered a short and very unpretending sermon. It commenced with an allusion to the remark of Christ to His mother, who found Him after three days sitting in the Temple," Why were ye seeking me? Did ye not know that I was about my Father's business?" From this we were to understand, that dear to us as may be the ties of home and families and friends, there are often duties which call us away from them; some to undertake perilous voyages and journeys, some to engage in war, some to watch over the sick and the afflicted, some to educate the children of the poor. These latter purposes especially appertain to the Order of Mercy. "It is to exercise this kind of charity," he continued, addressing the postulants, that "you have come here to-night,-come to seek and to say that you desire to begin the work of preparation, that, in God's appointed time, you may be allowed to devote the whole of your lives to the care of the sick. And ought we not to rejoice that God has given you this desire? Ought we not to feel that God is kind and considerate towards us, since He inspires not only themselves (the postulants) to give not only their alms-which they have this day given so abundantly, but also the spirit and the ability to administer to the poor and the sick in their trouble, and to save the souls of their children? In conclusion, the bishop called upon the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Clare, and other saints, to pray for the postulants, that they may be worthy of their work, and never be found wanting in their duty of seeking the salvation of the poor and the salvation of their own souls, and for these duties they will receive the fulfilment of the promise-future happiness-life everlasting.. As the bishop concluded this address, one of the postulants was conducted to his feet, where she knelt while this dialogue took place in English Bishop. My child, what do you demand? Postulant. The mercy of God, and the holy habit of religion. Bishop. Is it of your own free will you demand the holy habit of religion? Postulant.-Yes, my lord. Bishop (turning to the superioress) -Reverend mother, have you made the necessary inquiries, and are you satisfied? Superioress.-Yes, my lord. Bishop. My child, have you a firm intention to persevere in religion to the end of your life? and do you hope to have sufficient strength to carry constantly the sweet yoke of our Lord Jesus Christ solely for the love and fear of God? Postulant.-Relying on the mercy of God, I hope to be able to do so. Bishop (rising).-Quod Deus in te incœpit, ipse perficiat. Postulant.-Amen. Bishop.-Exuat te, Dominus, veterem hominem cum actibus suis. |
