and solemn conviction that the church is the house of God-the temple of the Holy Spirit-and that we are, especially and emphatically, the presence of the Lord while we are engaged in his worship.Were an angel to appear in our assemblies, could we act thus? All eyes, all ears, all hearts would be fixed upon him. Did we therefore realize the Divine presence, it would be impossible that we could act thoughtlessly, irreverently, or lightly on such occasions. Let every one imagine how he would dress himself-how he would demean himself how he would prepare himself in expectation of meeting with the Lord and his brethren at any given time and place; and so let him act in the assemblies of the saints on all occasions.

But I am asked, What shall we do? Shall we assume a more solemn, reverential, and devotional appearance? Shall we present ourselves before the Lord in a more orderly and worshipful costume and attitude of body? Not, indeed, hypocritically; but sincerely and unfeignedly; not with the outward man only, but certainly with the outward as well as with the inward man, we should glorify God.Both our bodies and our spirits are his. He has redeemed our spirits from sin and our bodies from the grave, and both should be dedicated to him. We do not ask the one without the other. We plead for the garb, the attitude, the demeanor-as well as the faith, the hope, the love, the actual piety, and the morality of the Christian. We demand all. We plead for complete sanctification-for a perfect consecration of our persons and powers to the Lord. We should evince in every practicable way, not only the Christian graces, but all the lesser orna. ments of a good behaviour, in every action and in every display of mind and body.

But here, as in all things pertaining to God, to heaven, and eternal life, we must begin with the heart. "The heart must be kept with all diligence: for out of it are all the issues of life." But how shall we keep the heart right? Aye, that is the question! The answer is ready: The heart is to be kept right by keeping it much in company with God-by prayer and a constant meditation upon the word. These are sovereign remedies for all cardiac derangements. The heart is, indeed, made better, as wisdom saith, by the devotion of the countenance; but it is kept right only by prayer and meditation.

Christians of the present day have not time to prepare for heaven. They have yet to learn that the earth was made for the human body; the body for the soul; and the soul for God. But as it is now carnalized and under the dominion of the flesh, it needs much purificationit needs the blood of sprinkling, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, all the ordinances of the church-to which must be added the spirit

of grace and supplication, private meditation and prayer. Then, indeed, under these influences the Christians, the Nazarites of heaven, as Jeremiah says, will be what God's people once were "purer than the snow, whiter than the milk, more ruddy in body than rubies-their polishing of sapphires." A public assembly of these will be like a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariot, like polished pillars in an ivory palace, perfumed with frankincense, myrrh, and cassia "looking forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." A. C.

SIN-A DIALOGUE.

[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 409.]

Eugenio. THE opposition of Satan has not only thus elicited, as you observe, a direct display of the Divine attributes; but it has also developed the nature of angels, and their astonishing gifts of wisdom and power; and has thus again indirectly tended still further to exhibit the transcendant character of these attributes in the Creator who bestowed them.

Philander. True. In dwelling upon what is revealed to us concerning the deep wisdom and knowledge, the stupendous power and might of Satan, and of those who in common with him partake of the angelic nature, we form lofty conceptions of creative power. And, to come nearer home, the same may be said of that development of human nature to which sin has given rise.

I have heard the wish expressed that man had remained in Eden in primeval innocency: but I confess that when I consider the astonishing exhibitions not only of the divine and angelic, but of the human nature which have been occasioned by the fall-the deep counsels of infinite wisdom counteracting the cunning of the Tempter; power surpassing power; love overcoming hatred; truth defeating falsehood; mercy and justice uniting to redeem a ruined world and elevate man to more than his original glory; and think of the wonderful scenes which it has already brought to view, and the awfully sublime events yet future, it seems to me that for man to have remained as he was in Eden, would have been in the comparison, a consummation imperfect, and inglorious. Fancy, indeed, loves to depict the beauties of the garden of delights, the heritage of uncorrupted purity and untried fidelity. But it is because sad Experience has furnished the dark ground of the picture, that its brighter hues appear so brilliant and so charming. Often,

however, forgetful of the cause to which it owes its power to please, we contemplate it with the same feeling of joy commingled with regret, with which we recall to mind in maturity the halcyon days of childhood and of youth; in noontide heat, the dewy morn; or, in the midst of summer, the balmy gales and fragrant flowers of spring. Yet childhood were vain and futile, regarded as an end—as the highest destiny of a being susceptible of such elevation and perfection as man; and, although when spring has decked the trees of the orchard with flowers and perfumed them with odors, it seems a sad and unfortunate reverse when the stormy wind has scattered these beautiful blossoms upon the ground, and the trees are presented to us in dishabille, yet is the change approved by Reason, and noted with joy by Hope as the precursor of a fruitage still more delightful. Imperfect, then, as child hood without maturity; the dawn without the day; flowers without fruit, or spring without autumn, would man in Eden, the keeper of a garden, have appeared, if such had been his perpetual destiny-the first and last object of his creation.

How wonderfully has sin, developed what man is, and what his capacities are! Even as it regards his animal nature, how ill qualified would we bc to estimate the resources and energies with which it is endowed, if these were not called into action by disease, one of the consequences of sin! How impossible it would have been for us to have conceived of the vast variety of forms into which the animal constitution has been moulded by the morbid influences to which it has been subjected! What delicacy of organization these have superinduced! And to what forms of beauty and displays of genius, talent, and varied intellectual power has this in turn given rise? The whole animal and vegetable creation, indeed, has been affected and modified, and some of the most beautiful productions of these kingdoms of nature owe to these influences their existence. Thus the precious pearls which adorn the ivory neck of the fragile beauty, and the surpassing charms to which they give lustre, are alike the product of disease.

Eugenio, It is astonishing with what consummate skill the Divine Creator circumvents the designs of Satan, so that his confusion brings forth order; and the deformity which he creates results in beauty. But if God causes the wrath even of man to praise him, how much more the enmity and opposition of that mighty adversary by whom man was instigated to rebel!

Philander. It is, however, in the relation of sin to man's moral nature, that we see his ability to bring good out of evil most conspicuously displayed. Indeed, as moral virtue, considered as the quality of

an action, consists in mediocrity; and, as the quality of a person, in the habit of this mediocrity; it seems impossible to conceive of the existence either of virtue or virtuous persons, without supposing the extremes which constitute vice, and that probation which displays the strength and beauty of habitual morality. How could we appreciate courage were it not for cowardice and audacity; or how distinguish temperance without abstinence and excess? What could we know of generosity, without avarice and profusion; of modesty, without pride and diffidence; of mildness, without irascibility and softness; of magnificence, without ostentation and parsimony; or of condescension, without forbidding disdain or officious adulation? The Divine Being has, therefore, in the first place, made sin or evil the very means of distinguishing and bringing to view the nature and excellency of moral virtue. Thus the forbidden tree became to man the tree of the knowledge not of evil merely, but of good also; and good and evil, discovered at the same moment, were to him equally strange and novel.

But if the existence of evil be thus instrumental in displaying the quality of actions, it is no less efficient in exhibiting the character of agents. It becomes, as it were, the touch-stone of purity and perfection. As Paul says of schisms, one of its effects, it makes 'the approved manifest,' and gives conspicuity, excellency, and glory to those noble and illustrious persons who have endured its trials and resisted its power. "In this," says John, "the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil." If there were no opposition, indeed, there could be no contest; if no contest, no victory; and if no victory, np crown.

It

Hence it is that sin is made to subserve this most important purpose, -to wit, that of enabling man to form for himself a CHARACTER. gives him the opportunity to show his bent; to make an election; to enter into the service of God, or enrol himself in the ranks of the Adversary; and, under the plastic power of the influences to which he thus subjects himself, to be transformed into a noble and virtuous, or a degraded and malignant being. In respect to his capacities and sus ceptibilities, man is indeed a singular being. He can ascend the highest elevations, or plunge into the greatest depths; he can rise to heaven, or descend to hell; he can become the compeer of angels or of demons, and be assimilated to the character of God, or to that of Satan It is the existence of evil which gives us to know this, by giving occa sions to these developments of human nature. Without it man could make no choice; could form no character; and his nature would have remained undisclosed, like the power of the pendulum which is not permitted to vibrate.

Eugenio. Sin, then, would seem to be like the fire which tries every thing subjected to its action. If it be wood, chaff, stubble-it becomes a part of the fire to which it yields; but if gold, silver, or the diamond, it comes forth not only uninjured, but more lustrous and brilliant than before.

Philander. Sin is the chemical test which forms the analysis of human character. Or, to illustrate my views of agency still more clearly, I would compare man, from the hand of his Creator, to a ray of pure white light which has just issued from the sun; and sin to the prism or the falling shower which breaks up this ray into all the colors of the rainbow, and exhibits to view the brighter and the darker shades. Without the prism we could never have known that white light contained such various and such beautiful tints, nor without evil could we have become acquainted with the dignity and excellency of virtue, or with those different attributes of character which belong to the human, angelic, or divine nature. Without it, if man could not deteriorate, it would have been just as impossible for him to improve. Without he would have had no joy; without fear, no hope; without poverty, no riches. Where there is no choice, there can be no liberty to choose; and if liberty of action be permitted, there can be no accountability. For if there be no possibility of demerit, there can be no merit; if no blame, no praise; if no punishment, no reward.

sorrow,

R. R.

A NEW INSTITTUION.

PLAN OF A LITERARY, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS SCHOOL; OR THE UNION OF FOUR INSTITUTIONS IN ONE THE COMBINATION OF THE FAMILY, THE PRIMARY SCHOOL, THE COLLEGE, AND THE CHURCH IN ONE GREAT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

I am now about to divulge to this community, to philanthropists, to lovers of good order, to the Disciples of Christ a favorite scheme deeply impressed upon my mind; long cherished, and in the establishment and supervision of it, it is probable, if the Lord will, I shall close all my earthly projects.

In the first place, the location must be entirely rural-in the country, detached from all external society; not convenient to any town or place of rendezvous-in the midst of forests, fields, and gardens-salubrious air, pure water-diversified scenery of hills and vallies, limpid brooks, and meandering streams of rapid flowing water. Such is the spot which I have selected.