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COPY OF A LETTER WRITTEN TO A SICK ΜΑΝ.

" In reference to the extent to which sobriety has spread, it will be almost sufficient to state that during our recent stay in Ireland, from the 10th of June to the 6th of September, 1840, we saw but six persons intoxicated; and that for the first thirty days we had not encountered one. In the course of that month we had travelled from Cork to Killarney, round the coast, returning by the inland route; not along mail-coach roads, but on a jaunting car,' through byways as well as highways; visiting small villages and populous towns; driving through fairs; attending wakes and funerals, (returning from one of which, between Glengariff and Kenmare, at nightfall, we met at least a hundred substantial farmers, mounted,) in short, wherever crowds were assembled, and we considered it likely we might gather information as to the state of the country and the character of its people. We repeat, we did not meet a single individual who appeared to have tasted spirits; and we do not hesitate to express our conviction, that two years ago, in the same places, and during the same time, we should have encountered many thousand drunken men. From first to last, we employed, perhaps, fifty car-drivers: we never found one to accept a drink; the boatmen at Killarney, proverbial for drunkenness, insubordination, and recklessness of life, declined the whiskey we had taken with us for the bugle-player, who was not 'pledged,' and after hours of hard labour, dipped a can into the lake, and refreshed themselves from its waters."

"COFY OF A LETTER WRITTEN TO A SICK MAN. MY DEAR FRIEND, -I have been reflecting on your case since I last saw you, and I am anxious to write you a few lines, to give you all the encouragement the word of God warrants me to do. I hope you have too much good sense to be offended at anything I have said to you; I can assure you it is from my anxiety for your eternal welfare. You have a soul that must live for ever. If I have expressed any doubt or fear respecting you, it was that I might know upon what foundation you are resting your hopes for eternity. I have stated to you upon each occasion I have visited you, that we must see and feel ourselves to be sinners, and as such we must come to Jesus Christ by repentance and faith, and under such feelings our prayer will be "God be merciful to us sinners." You acknowledge you have not spent your sabbaths as you ought to have done. I would ask you, Have you not felt unholy desires within you? have you not neglected the means of grace? have you loved and served God in the days of life and health, as you ought to have done? If you admit these charges, is it not clear you have broken the holy law of God? This is not your case only, but the case of all, for all have sinned; but "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." And there is every encouragement given to poor sinners, in the word of God, to return to him; and I may say to you, as a poor sinner, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," John i. 29.

I wish you to turn your attention more to the study of the Bible, and endeavour to understand it. Remember Christ must be all or nothing, for he is the only foundation which God has laid in Zion for sinners to rest their hopes upon; for there is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus. I must candidly confess to you my suspicions were excited, when I heard you had so quickly passed from one state to another. I believe I was the first person who spoke to you about the concerns of your soul and the eternity to come; and in the following week, when calling to see you, I did but little more than say, I hoped you had not forgotten what I said to you upon my former visit, when you were to all appearance a stranger to religion; then when I was told you was confined to your bed, were perfectly happy and resigned to the will of the Lord, and prepared to die, my desire was to know how this change had been effected. That I should feel such concern for you is not surprising to those who know anything of the Bible and their own hearts, and of the dealings of God with his people; and should you be spared to know more of these things, you will acknowledge the same. Now, I wish you to understand I did not doubt your word when you spoke of the peace and happiness you enjoyed, nor was it, nor is it, my wish to disturb it; but there are so many passages of Scripture which declare the depravity and deceitfulness of the human heart, and so many cautions in the word of God which prove the possibility of our deceiving ourselves, that I think it but right to draw your attention to them. Why is it said, "Let a man examine himself, judge himself, prove himself?" If you find you are resting all your hopes for pardon and salvation and eternal life on Jesus Christ, you shall have rejoicing in yourself.

If God the Holy Spirit rit has shown you your lost state, as a sinner before God, and your need of a Saviour, he will enable you to cast yourself on him; and it is only by faith in his merits you can obtain acceptance with God, and by believing on him, even Jesus, and loving him, that you will find peace and joy; and this will be the fruit of faith brought home to the heart by the Holy Spirit. Now, what I wish for you is, that you may inquire of yourself if these things are really so. If you are the subject of this great change, then you know what it is to be "born again," to be "regenerated," to be "converted," to be passed from "death unto life," from "darkness to light," and to be renewed in the "spirit of your mind. And each day you live, you will feel that Christ is more and more precious to you, as he is to all who believe; and as you read your Bible, you will find many sweet and precious promises which will support and comfort you under all your sufferings, and brighten your prospects as you draw near eternity.

Let me pen a few words for your comfort, which our Lord Jesus Christ spake while on earth:-"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." "I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye may be also." Read attentively, as soon as you can, the third chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians and the seventh chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and ask your own heart, if you have ever known anything of that godly sorrow for sin, which worketh repentance unto life that needeth not to be repented of. Bring yourself to trial, as in the sight of that heart-searching God, at whose bar of judgment we must all of us shortly appear.

Whatever there is in the Bible you do not understand, ask by prayer to God to give you his Holy Spirit to teach you what you know not; for he has promised to give his Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth. Let me entreat you to try every feeling and desire by the word of God, nor rest satisfied with anything less than a scriptural assurance of interest in the Saviour.

I shall be glad to give you any explanation of anything I have said or written, if you let me know; and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Believe me

December 1, 1840.

Your friend and well-wisher,

THE UNION OF SOUL AND BODY.

ABRIDGED FROM FLAVEL.

W. C.

The breath and soul of man are two distinct things. His breath is not his soul, nor his soul his breath, but the bond that couples and unites his soul and body in a personal union. The body hath no life in itself, but its life results from its union with the soul, James ii. 26. This union is maintained by the breath of our nostrils, which, upon that account, is here called the breath of life. Breath is an act of life, proceeding from the soul's union with its body, and ending with the dissolution of it. Life is continued by its respiration, and ended by its expiration. Whilst we live, and, whilst breath is in our bodies, are terms synominous.

For the use and office of respiration, the lungs were formed and placed where they are, not without the most wise counsel and direction of God. These lungs are the most frail and tender part of the body, and kept in continual motion and agitation; yet are made serviceable for seventy or eighty years together, which is the wonder of Providence. Were a piece of brass, iron, or steel, kept in continual and incessant use, it would not endure half the time.

The nostrils are the outer door of the body, our breath is continually in our nostrils; and how soon may that depart which is day and night at the door, as if it were still taking its leave of us! Our breath is always going, and what is still going, will be gone at last. How small a difference is there betwixt respiration and expiration!-a breathing, and a breathless lump of clay! Breath cannot continue long, and life cannot stay a moment behind it. "Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust," Psa. civ. 29. Many grudge at the shortness of life; but considering the feebleness of this bond, we have more cause to wonder at the slowness of death. Many mortal diseases are incident to these frail and tender parts, and bar the passage of our breath there. Yea, an apparent trifle, a fly, a gnat, a crumb of bread, is sufficient to stop our breath, and dislodge our souls. There is not a pore in our body, but is a door large enough to let in death; nor a creature so despicably small, but is strong enough (if God commission it) to serve a writ of ejectment upon the soul. The multitude of diseases are so many lighted ted candles put to this slender thread of our breath, besides the infinite diversity of external accidents, by which multitudes daily perish. So that there are as great and astonishing wonders in our preservation, as in our creation. That our breath is yet in our nostrils is only from hence, that He who breathed into them at first is our life, and the length of our days, as it is in Deut. xxx. 20. It is because our breath is in his hand, Dan. v. 23, not in our own, or in our enemies' hand. Till He take it away, none shall be able to do it, Psa. civ. 29. It is neither food nor physic, but God in and by them that holdeth our soul in life, Psa. lxvi. 9. We hang every moment of our life over the grave, and the gulf of eternity, by this slender thread of our breath; but it cannot break, how feeble soever it be, till the time appointed be fully come. If it be not extinguished and suffocated as others daily are, it is because He puts none of those diseases upon us, as it is Exod. xv. 26; or if he do, he is the Lord that healeth us, as it follows in that text. Oh, what cause have we to employ and spend that breath in his praise, who works so many daily wonders to secure it! Is it but a puff of breath which holds our souls and bodies in union? then every man is deeply concerned to make all haste, to take all possible care and pains, to secure a better and more durable habitation for his soul in heaven, whilst yet it sojourns in this frail tabernacle of the body. The time is at hand, when all these comely and active bodies shall be so many breathless carcasses, no more capable of any use or service for our souls, than the seats you sit on, or the dead bodies that lie buried under your feet. Your breath is syet in your nostrils, and all the means and seasons of salvation will expire with it, and then it will be as impossible for the best minister in the world to help your souls, as for the ablest physician to recover your bodies. As physic comes too late for the one, so counsels and persuasions for the other. Three things are worth thinking of on this matter.

1. That you are not without the hopes and possibilities of salvation, whilst the breath of life is in your nostrils. A mercy (how lightly soever you value it) that would, were it offered, fill with joy those miserable souls that are in eternity, and turn the shrieks and groans of the damned into joyful shouts and acclamations of praise. Poor wretch, consider what thou readest; that thy soul is not yet in Christ, is thy greatest misery, but that yet it may be in Christ is an unspeakable mercy; though thy salvation be not yet secured, yet what a mercy is it that it is not desperate!

2. When this uncertain health is once expired, the last hope of every unregenerate person is gone for ever; it is as impossible to recover hope, as it is to recover your departed breath, or recal the day that is past. When the breath is gone, the composition is dissolved; we cease to be what we now are; and our life is as water spilt upon the ground, which shall not be gathered up till the resurrection. Our life is carried like a precious liquor in a brittle glass, which death breaks to pieces. The spirit is immediately presented to God, and fixed in its unalterable state, Heb. ix. 27. All means of salvation now cease for ever; no ambassadors of peace are sent to the dead; no more calls or strivings of the Spirit; no more space for repentance. Oh, what an