know very well; it is called the Ebenezer."-" Ah !" I said; "he is not a churchman, then, and there is no knowing what his religious principles may be; but this does not alter the fitness of my advice to fetch him without delay. A reconciliation should be brought about, if possible, between the two brothers; that will be so far good, and it may lead to something still better."

I was now about to go, but recollecting that I had seen nothing by the bed-side proper for the sick man in his present wretched state, I mentioned it to Mrs. Marsden, and offered her various things which I thought might be comfortable to him, and at the same time soothing to his stomach. "Ah, Sir," she said, "he will take nothing but spirits; he has lost all relish for anything else; he is always crying out for spirits, and if we refuse them, we dare not go near him."- "Well," I said, "I will send you some Tentwine, such as we use in the Sacrament; it will act as a cordial to him, and be nourishing, without being destructive. Tell him it comes from me, but do not mention a word about the Sacrament." She thanked me heartily, and I was considering whether there was anything more that I could do under the present circumstances; and indeed two or three things besides came into my head; but I heard a noise in the shop, which led me to suppose that there was an accumulation of customers, and nobody to serve them; Mrs. Marsden herself being engaged with me, and the daughter being upstairs with her father; so I hurried away without further conversation.

$ 2.-The Same.

ABOUT the middle of the following day I went again to Mr. Marsden's house; and, as soon as the shop was cleared of customers, Mrs. Marsden came to me in the parlour, where she had desired me, as before, to be so good as to wait for her. Upon entering, before I could ask any question, she cried out, "All is well, Sir; his brother has been here early in the morning, and they have made up their differences." -"Can you tell me the particulars?" I enquired. "No, Sir, I cannot," she answered; "I was not by, nor my daughter; but his brother brought a minister with him; the minister, I believe, of Ebenezer Chapel; and they stayed a long time, Sir, and at last they prayed together; so, as I told you at the first, Sir, all is now well."- What, you suppose then now, do you," I said, "that your poor husband will be saved, and go to heaven ?"—"Yes, Sir," she replied; "now that he has prayed with the minister."

66

"To pray to God," I said, "whether with or without the minister, if it be done in sincerity, is a very good step; but it is only one step, and many more must be taken, before such a thing as heaven can be obtained. Do you know whether he prayed with sincerity, or only with his lips ?"-"No, indeed," she answered; 66 since you ask me so particularly, I cannot say that I do."-" Do you know," I asked, "what the prayer was about?"- "I am quite ignorant of it," she replied; only they told me, when they came down stairs, that I might make myself quite easy; for that all was right."-" Well," I said, "that was a very strong assurance certainly; but I

66

66

should hardly venture to bid you depend upon it, unless I knew precisely the characters and qualifications of these two persons, and found them to be good and sufficient in every way."-" Oh! Sir," she exclaimed, my brother-in-law preaches sometimes himself.” "That may be," I said; "but I fear we cannot reckon upon it safely. Do you not remember, two or three years ago, a man preaching several times almost opposite to your own door?" She assented. "And did any follow him," I enquired again, "but the very lowest of the rabble?"-"None others," she answered. “And what did all persons of plain common sense say of him?" I asked. "Why, Sir," she replied, "they said that he was very ignorant, and that it was shameful for him to go about in that manner, deceiving the poor people, and perhaps to their ruin."—"Yes, indeed," I said, "so it is; but did you know who he was?"-" Oh! yes, Sir," she answered; "he was very well known; he was a journeyman carpenter, and he had never had any education at all; and so it was no wonder that he talked so much nonsense."- "You heard him, did you not, from your own door?" I enquired. "Yes, Sir, every word," she replied. "And did he not tell you all," I enquired again, " that he wanted no education; for that God had called him to preach, and always put into his head what he was to say; which is what is meant by being inspired?"-" Yes, that he did," she answered with quickness; "but if that had been the case, I should have thought he would have spoken very differently.' "You see then, my good Mrs. Marsden," I said, "by these questions which I have asked you, and by your own answers, that no dependence can be placed upon anybody, who minis

ters in religious matters, unless he has been properly educated for the purpose; and that it is sometimes a false pretence, and always a great presumption, in uneducated men to say, that God inspires them, and makes education useless. You must excuse me, therefore, if I cannot altogether trust your brother-inlaw upon such an awful subject, unless you can assure me that he has been educated as clergymen of the Church usually are."-" No, Sir, that he has not, to be sure," she replied; "but I suppose the minister of Ebenezer Chapel has."-"Very likely not," I said; "and it is a serious and a painful thing to reflect upon, that so many men should start up nowadays, and pretend that God has called them, and should write their names, the Reverend Mr. such or such a one, without any examination into their fitness for the office, and without any appointment from the Bishops of the Church; and next, that so many people should pin their faith upon the sleeves of such self-appointed ministers. If the blind lead the blind, Mrs. Marsden, it is too probable that they will both of them fall into the ditch. But if they saw ever so well, and understood the business of a minister perfectly, yet it is not certain that God will bless their ministrations; because he promises to bless those only who do things lawfully; which these men do not, having never been prepared and ordained as Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and they who came after them, appointed in the first ages of the Gospel. Do you understand this matter now, Mrs. Marsden? If you do, you will see clearly, that you can only depend rationally upon the Church Ministers."

"I never knew a single word of all this before," said Mrs. Marsden; "but I am sure that what you

66

"Then we

say seems very true and reasonable; and what to think now about my poor husband I cannot tell." "Do you perceive any change in him for the better?" I enquired. "If you do, that would be the surest ground of reliance. Have you heard him say, that he was sorry for his sins; either before or since these gentlemen left him?" She confessed that she had not. "Have you heard him," I enquired again, expressing any faith in Christ Jesus?" Her answer was the same. "I am sorry for it," I said; "but perhaps he does so in his heart, although you have not heard him do it with his lips. Have you any reason to think this?" "None whatever," she replied; "I know nothing about it." know nothing about his salvation yet," I said. "Of this we are quite sure, that no man can be saved without repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the terms of the Gospel, and they are unalterable; so that if your husband has not these qualities, he is (I tremble to think it) not in a state of salvation, whatever assurances your brother-in-law and the minister of Ebenezer Chapel may have incautiously given you. But I will tell you for your comfort, that, whenever these qualities are obtained, be it ever so late, we have reason to believe that God will graciously accept them, and forgive all the past, and receive the sinner into mercy. But then the repentance must be real, and deep, and in the very heart; and the faith must be equally so. It will not be enough for a man to say that he repents and believes; by saying so he may deceive his friends and himself too; but God cannot be deceived, and therefore nothing will do with God, except such a repentance and faith as I have described; and in