inwardly refreshed and revived, that their "profiting may appear to all;" in behalf of those who are tossed and troubled, that they may be brought to know the true rest; and in behalf of those who rest and rejoice, that they may be prepared for new struggles and more diligent efforts. Surely there is much need that those Churches which have already been "awakened out of sleep" should "watch and pray lest they enter into temptation" and be seduced again into slumber for though "the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak." Surely there is much need that those Churches which are yet but half awake-if at all aroused-should bestir themselves, and sound abroad among the nations the loud and earnest call, "Awake! Awake!"

And, seeing that, "when the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory,"-if we believe that "He shall arise and have mercy on Zion,"-if we have any reason to hope that "the time to favour her, even the set time, is come,”—it is surely our interest, as well as our duty, to watch and wait as those who love His appearing, to cease from all confidence in the flesh and to look only to the Lord. For, while "he who trusteth in man, and whose heart departeth from the Lord, shall be like the heath in desert, and shall not see when good cometh," it shall be with the people of God now as it was with the disciples of old, at the mount where Christ 66 was transfigured before them, and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light,”"when they are awake, they shall see His glory."

M

"AWAKE! awake from slumber!

It is the Lord that calls:

Cast off thy care and cumber,

Thou whom the world enthralls.

Pursue no more the pleasures
That dazzle and delude;
But grasp the proffered treasures
Of true, substantial good.

Cast off the chains that bind thee-
The chains of sense and sin;
And, leaving all behind thee,
The Christian race begin.
The prize is set before thee;
Press onward to the goal,
Where everlasting glory

Shall crown the faithful soul.

Awake! O thou that sleepest
While life is in its prime !
If e'er in bliss thou reapest,
It must be sown in time.
Then rise to morning duties;
And, walking in the truth,
Be decked with holy beauties
Amidst the dew of youth.

Awake! O thou who claimest
The children's bread to share,
While, sunk in sloth, thou shamest
The holy name they bear!
A light is round thee beaming

That calls thee to arise:

A wake from idle dreaming,

Be watchful and be wise!

Awake from dull depression,

Thou trembling, anxious saint!
Hold fast thy high profession :
Hope on, and never faint.
Come forth from gloom and sadness,

To liberty and light.

Put on the robes of gladness,

And gird thyself with might.

In thoughtful hours our spirit hears
The voices of departed years:

They're gone, with all their grief and gloom,
But yet they speak, as from the tomb.

O Sin of every woe the source !

While these sad years have held their course,
How dread the shape, how dark the hue,
In which thou oft hast burst to view!

O Death! in what appalling guise
Hast thou, beneath yon eastern skies,
Thy ruthless work of terror done
On many a young and tender one!

O false and flattering world! how vain
Have been the hopes of earthly gain
Held out to mock and to beguile
The dupes that trusted to thy smile!

From sin that thus so darkly works,
From sin that in our bosom lurks,
O blessed Lord! we pray,

Cleanse us,
And wean us from each earthly stay.

PART III.

THE CHURCH'S STRENGTH.

"Put on thy strength, O Zion."-Isaiah lii. 1. "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."-2 Tim. ii. 1.

SECTION FIRST.

"The grace of God in truth."-Col. i. 6.

"Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."-John i. 17.

WE have attempted to shew how needful and how loud is the awakening call addressed to us by God in His Word and in His Providence. We have dwelt upon the necessity of those influences from on high, by which alone that call can be rendered effectual. And, while confessing the wide prevalence of slumber and apathy, we have gratefully acknowledged the extent to which an awakening has already appeared among us and around us.

But it is not enough that the Church be roused and stirred up; she must also be reinvigorated and strengthened. It is not enough that she should listen to the call, "Awake, awake!" she must also comply with the exhortation, "Put on thy strength." It were wretched to awake to a sense of utter helplessness, and, looking around, to find no stay or support-no source of envigorating and sustaining influence. But it is blessed to

awake to a consciousness of want for which abundant supply is provided; and to find succour appropriate to our need, and which we only need to appropriate. "Awake, awake!" it is here said to the Church, “put on thy strength;”-invest thyself in that strength which is vested in thee by the gift and grant of thy Lord. What, then, is the essence, and what are the elements of the Church's strength? Wherein does her great strength lie?

Not in the favour of princes and po-
This is not that strength

What it is not.

tentates.

which she is called to put on, and in which she is encouraged to place her trust. True it is that kings are called to be "nursing fathers" to the Church,—to cherish, to guard, to honour her, and to co-operate with her for the promotion of that "righteousness which exalteth a nation ;" and, if they know their duty and their true interest, and give to the Church their aid in that way which is competent to them, without encroaching on the Church's independence, or usurping, in any degree, the place of the Church's Head, their support and protection may be gratefully accepted as that which is given to her, through their instrumentality, by the King of kings. That all power is of God, and ought to be consecrated to God, and used in accordance with His revealed will;—that Christ is not only the Head of the Church, but "Head over all things to the Church," and "Prince of the kings of the earth;"-these are principles which the Church is called upon to maintain, irrespectively of any bearing which they may have upon her own temporal interests: and to these principles tes