much better than our clergyman, and that it is the duty of every body to leave his Church and go to a room to hear him."

MRS. WILLIAMS. "This is a serious business indeed, and upon such an important question, the opinion of man is vain. We must seek for guidance from a higher power." Mrs. Williams then took down her Bible and added, "You will find my dear Anne, we are not left without warning and instruction on this most vital subject. Hear what your Saviour says, If any man shall say unto you, Lo here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before; wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth: behold he is in the secret chamber, believe it not? This passage (continued Mrs. Williams) is to my mind a strong proof, that, except in our own private praying, we must seek for Christ by those appointed means which He has ordained, and in those appointed places where He has declared, If two or three are gathered together in his name, there he is in the midst of them. Those who separate themselves from this Church, are very fond of bringing this text forward as a proof, that in any assembly they choose to make to divide the Church, that the Lord is with them. But if they would read the whole of the 18th chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, they would perceive that this blessed promise is given to the apostolic Church, and you must always remember that the Church of England, is the Church of Christ in England, founded by him, and faithfully handed down by his Apostles from generation to generation. In that Church the holy sacraments are duly administered by those He has called to be his servants, whose office it is to obey his

1 Matt. xxiv. 23, and following.

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commands, in calling men to repent of their sins and trespasses, and to bring back those who have gone astray from the fold of the true shepherd. Thus if a person has done wrong and refuses to listen to the remonstrances of his friends and relations, our Lord says, And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church: but if he shall neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ve shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' So you see this precious promise, given by our Lord to his Church, is picked out and selected from every thing which goes before and which follows after, and is used to deceive the simple and ignorant, and brought forward to countenance dissent and separation, put on as the sheep's clothing, by those who are the enemies of the Church of Christ; who say Lord, Lord,' but do not obey his words. You will observe, my dear Anne, that the ministers of the Church do not now presume to take upon them, or on their own authority to bind or loose the souls of their people. That can only be done by sincere repentance and faith; still they must ever remain the faithful guardians of that Church, and of those pure doctrines on which eternal life and death depends. They have an awful responsibility to fulfil, to guard the Church from every innovation; for Christ says, 'In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' How fearful the reflection, that it is possible to worship Christ, and yet worship Him in vain; if that worship be not according to his doctrines and according to the unity, which it was his last prayer might distinguish those in this world who believed on Him. My good

mistress endeavoured to impress this upon my mind most deeply, and I do not know how often she made me read these verses from the 17th of St. John's Gospel, 20, 21, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in ust that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. O! Anne, does it appear a small offence to break this unity, and to separate from that Church, whose true foundation is Christ Himself. To me it seems like throwing myself out of the ark into the muddy troubled waters of discord, darkness, confusion, and death: raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame." ANNE. "What a frightful picture!"

MRS. WILLIAMS. "Yes; a very different one to the calm majesty and safety offered by Christ to all who firmly hold fast his promises, and abide in his word; If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask that ye will, and it shall be done unto you. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandinents, and abide in his love '.' And again,' If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, "that he may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you?" Such are the gifts and promises vouchsafed by our Lord to his Church and people. St. Paul declares the same to the Corinthians, in his 2nd Epistle (i. 21, 22,) Now he which stablishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' And to the Colossians he says, "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is

1 John xv. 6, 7-10.

2 Ibid. xiv. 15, and following.

the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it 'pleaseth the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the Church? And again, St. Paul says, Christ is the head of the Church, and he is the Saviour of the body: and Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of regeneration by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." In the 7th of St. Matthew's Gospel and the 15th verse, our blessed Saviour says to his disciples, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.' How worthy of observation are these few words; for you will notice our Lord distinctly marks such persons as coming, that is, they are not sent by Him, but they come of their own accord, and set themselves up as preachers and teachers on their own authority, and their business is to separate, and scatter, and divide the flock of Christ. This is exactly what is done by

1 Coloss. i. 17, 18.

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all such persons; for no sooner do they enter into a parish, than their first work is to speak against the minister of the Church and his doctrines, and by bringing forth many texts of Scripture (the sheep's clothing, as I before observed, by which they deceive the simple and ignorant), they speedily cause endless disunion and unhappiness, and many a peaceful contented village has become, by their ungodly influence, a scene of disorder, confusion, and endless contention. But Christ's sheep hear the voice of their own shepherd and follow him, and a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers'? How melancholy it is to behold the fearful excesses to which pride, novelty, and a love of change, carry and delude many who were before quiet, sober-minded, well-meaning Christians; but dissent changes the whole character, and the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance,' are changed for fierce and angry disputing, hatred, ill will, wrath, and strife, joined to a woful disobedience to all rightful authority human or divine, and a total disregard and forgetfulness of that beautiful promise, which Christ has given to the ministers sent by Him, 'Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen?? I have several more marked passages on this vital subject, as it was one on which my good mistress often dwelt with peculiar energy, as she wished me to be always on my guard against being carried away by my own feelings, or being excited by the wild enthusiasm of others, instead of being firmly grounded and settled in the true religion of Christ. Look at those green silk ribbons, they all refer to the same subject, and I

1 1 John x. 5.

2 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.