ineffectual efforts prepared me to receive the revelation of God respecting the manner in which sanctification was bestowed, and was to be enjoyed. I now began to discover that deliverance from sin, and the possession of holiness, were essential parts of the salvation of Christ, and as much of grace, as was the justification of life. This was no less glad tidings to me, than was the knowledge of pardon and acceptance from the same source. Hence I eagerly embraced it, and thankfully enjoyed it. The springs whence this information and comfort flowed to me at that period were the death of Christ, and the promises of purity in the New Covenant, of which he is the Mediator. Heaven was to me a place to be desired especially on account of the perfect purity there to be enjoyed. As formerly, when I discerned the death and dignity of Jesus, I committed myself to him for eternal salvation; so now, with similar confidence in his sanctifying grace, I willingly consecrated myself as a living sacrifice to his service, and regarded it as equally my duty and interest, my highest honour, and chief happiness, to be for the Lord, and not for another.' Thus were the unsearchable riches of Christ unfolded to my understanding, and communicated to my heart. I was thus prepared to put a real value on every property of the pearl of great price, and with joy I parted with all I had to obtain it. I bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel, otherwise I had certainly trampled it under my feet, and treated it as a common thing. Verily I am a debtor, an eternal debtor, to sovereign, infinite mercy-to the operation of the Holy Spirit and to the mediation of Emmanuel, the King of glory. As such I desire to live; as such I wish to die; as such I hope to be known in the eternal world."

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Thus was Mr. Barclay brought by divine grace "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." He parted from his companions in sin and folly. He spent much of his leisure time alone, in reading, meditation, and prayer. He associated with those who were reputed pious. His companions, however, were few; and among them he seldom found experience similar to his own. A degree of gloom and despondency, for the most part, hung over the religion of his associates, which cast a shade of uncertainty over their

experiences to which he was a stranger. He had been led in so plain a path, that his convictions, and confidence, and comfort, were all deeply imbued with the spirit of assurance. The exercises through which he passed, while being brought to God, were certainly, in some respects, peculiar. They were, however, no doubt, necessary for himself, and they were also eminently fitted to prepare him for his future lot and labours in the vineyard of God. Few could make the terrors of the law thunder around the careless sinner with greater feeling and effect than he. Few were more able to unravel the mazes of selfrighteousness, or drive the awakened sinner from those refuges of lies to which the unhumbled heart of man is so prone to repair. Few could with greater clearness and ability unfold the rich redeeming remedy of the gospel, in its fulness, and freeness, and suitableness, and glory; or enforce with greater earnestness the claims which the Redeemer has on the redeemed to the highest affections of their hearts, and the constant devotedness of their lives. That which he had tasted and handled of the word of God, he declared unto the people. By the grace of God he was what he was; and the grace bestowed upon him was not in vain. God counted him faithful, and put him into the ministry; we must therefore return to this subject, and glance at those providences by which he was prepared for, and ushered into the vineyard of the Lord.

Mr. Barclay had not long believed the truth before he felt a desire to make it known to others. When he was about twenty years of age, and had just finished his apprenticeship, these desires became exceedingly strong. At that time he would not have reckoned any thing too valuable to part with for the attainment of such a privilege. Yet he never mentioned his desire to any one, nor did he at that time scarcely presume to make it matter of prayer, it seemed so far removed beyond the reach of his attainment. His cousin, formerly mentioned, who had been training for the ministry from a child, and who was now about to enter it, was the first who proposed to Mr. Barclay that he should turn his attention to this important subject, and kindly promised to render him all the assistance in his power. Thus his former desires to serve God in the gospel of his Son were kindled afresh. He now began

to pray about it in good earnest. Both, his conscience and his affections became engaged in the matter. He obtained the advice of ministers and other friends. He made it a matter of fasting, and prayer, and serious self-examination; and at length he came to the conclusion that it was his duty to proceed, and endeavour, if possible, to qualify himself for this most solemn and responsible service.

On the 16th of December, 1796, Mr. Barclay married Miss Janet Spiers, the youngest daughter of Mr. Robert Spiers, a respectable farmer in the neighbourhood of Kilwinning; and immediately after he removed to Paisley, to commence and prosecute his studies for the ministry. He obtained the concurrence and assistance of his pastor, the Antiburgher minister of that town; and for a short period he persevered in his laudable endeavours. But, having at the same time to provide for his family by his own labours, and having seven years' study before him ere he could be permitted to enter the ministry, in the connexion to which he then belonged, he was again, most reluctantly, obliged to abandon all hopes of obtaining that which he valued above every thing on earth. He comforted himself, however, with the thought that the Lord saw it was in his heart to serve him, and that he would approve of the desire, though it might not seem best to his infinite wisdom that he should be privileged thus to be employed. But, He who leads the blind in a way that they know not, was about to grant him the desire of his heart in a way and manner most unexpected.

About this time, when he seemed to himself and others to have given up all thoughts of the ministry, he was unexpectedly invited by the Sabbath School Society, which was then just commencing its labours in Paisley, to assist the managers in their benevolent exertions; and after a few weeks he became a teacher in one of their schools. He taught a large class of boys for eighteen months with much pleasure and profit both to himself and others; and this sphere of usefulness, into which Providence had introduced him, proved a much more effectual preparation for his favourite object than that which he had been obliged to abandon, although he, at that time, neither regarded it, nor followed it, as such. Before leaving Kil

He

winning he had also obtained some information respecting Missionary exertions, both at home and abroad. read the reports with great interest; his heart was towards those who willingly offered themselves to this service of the Prince of Peace; and from that time to the close of his life, the Missionary cause became one of his most favourite objects. By these means his heart became enlarged. He began to get disentangled from those narrow principles which then prevailed among the sect to which he at that time belonged. The proofs of godliness which he saw in persons of other denominations, and the accounts he read of their faith, and fruitfulness, and united exertions for the good of men, and the glory of God, freed his heart from a party spirit, and determined him to "walk at liberty, and keep God's precepts." At this period, too, his mind began gradually to recede from Presbyterian principles, and to embrace those denominated Independent or Congregational. All these things paved his way, and prepared his mind, for entering on the service of the gospel, while an unseen hand was conducting him towards it.

It was at this time that Robert Haldane, Esq., was collecting a class of students in Scotland to be placed under the tuition of the late excellent Mr. Bogue, of Gosport. It was proposed to Mr. Barclay by a friend, that he should join this class. His mind, however, was not then sufficiently confirmed in the principles of Congregational churches to permit him to do so. He, however, relinquished his business, and engaged himself as a clerk; and then an event occurred, which, though at one time it seemed likely to put a period to his existence below, was, in the issue, the means of thrusting him into the gospel harvest.

In September, 1799, he was seized with an attack of liver complaint, which confined him nearly three months, and brought him to the very brink of the grave. His medical attendants considered him in imminent danger, and both his friends and himself thought that the time of his departure was at hand. He had no fear of death. He spake with pleasure of his relation to Christ, and his interest in the blessings of salvation, and his spirit rejoiced in God his Saviour. With all the freedom of a dying person he recommended the Redeemer to those who visited him; for his blood, and

effecting his removal. At length they decided in favour of a general battle, The opposing armies met, and all Israel knew that the life of David was the prize for which the combatants fought. "If we flee away," said his troops, "they will not care for us; neither if half of us die will they care for us; but now thou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore, now it is better that thou succour us out of the city."

The young man Absalom, was not only the prince of the rebels, he was the exciting cause of the rebellion. Four years had he been covertly preparing for the execution of that scheme which was now ripened. He travelled about with a royal equipage, in order to excite attention and respect. He lamented, hypocritically, the sad state of the nation, in which, he said, there was no adequate provision made for the administration of justice. He inquired of every suitor what his cause was, told him that he was certainly in the right, but alas! there was no one appointed by the king to hear him. He only wished for the good of the neglected people, that he was constituted judge; he would not shrink from the labour, but every one should receive justice at his hand. And when any one bowed to him as the son of the king, he stopped him hastily; he would allow no such homage, every Israelite was his equal; he took the stranger by the hand, and kissed him. Thus, by good words and fair speeches he deceived the hearts of the simple. One might have been heard saying to another, "What an excellent sovereign Absalom would make! how attentive he is to us all! how condescending! how acute in discovering the merits of a cause! how particularly obliging to me!" Thus he stole away the hearts of the men of Israel. At length the time came to effect his purposes. Pretending to David, that he had a vow to fulfil at Hebron, he obtained leave of absence from Jerusalem, and caused himself to be forced to assume the crown.

But the young man Absalom was a veteran in crime. He had been a source of trouble to his father many years. He had murdered one of his brothers at a feast, to which he had treacherously invited him, under circumstances which showed how little he cared for Amnon's soul. It seemed a strange command that David gave to his generals on the morning of the battle, when he enjoined

them to be careful of the life of Absalom, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.", The whole army heard it with astonishment. The death of Absalom appeared to be the only thing which could restore peace. After the outrages recently perpetrated by Absalom on part of his father's family, purposely to make the breach irreconcileable, his father could not hope for any pleasure in his society. But David felt as a parent, and none but a parent knows a parent's heart. "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father," said Jesus, "will he give him a stone?" David was a father, a kind, indulgent father. Yet it was not mere parental weakness that influenced him. No; he had shown himself superior to this. After Absalom had slain his brother, he fled to Geshur. David often thought of Absalom during the three years of his residence at Geshur, but he did not send for him. At length he was induced to permit his return to Jerusalem, but he did not then receive him to his presence. Yet now, on the morning of the battle, his chief solicitude is for the life of his treacherous, unnatural son: "Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom." And when a messenger comes in breathless haste with tidings of victory, David's first question is, "Is the young man Absalom safe ?" Not, Is the victory decisive? - not, Are my generals preserved?-but "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And as the vague answer of the messenger leaves him still in doubt, on the arrival of another, the question is instantly repeated, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"

Is there any way of accounting for this, consistently with David's character as a man of piety and wisdom? There is.

David was a firm believer in a future judgment. The gospel has confirmed the fact, and revealed the person of the judge; but even Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied concerning it, and David expected to awake with the likeness of his God, and be satisfied. But he knew that God would then reprove the wicked, and set his deeds in order before his eyes.

David believed that Absalom was unprepared for judgment. He rejoiced in the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, but Absalom was impenitent. He was a rebel against him who has declared that

mies, the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses."

David knew that the death of Absalom would render his conversion impossible. If he survived, though it were in banishment, in prison, or a cripple, his repentance would be possible; but if he were cut off his doom would be sealed. How shall I endure, thought he, to see the destruction of my Absalom, the beauteous infant that sat upon my knee? the child whose opening intellect gave me so much pleasure! the son for whom I hoped and prayed even when he was at Geshur! Spare his life, my friends, for his guilt is still upon his soul! Oh I fear those arrows, flying thickly through the field, lest some one of them should casually pierce his heart! Tell me, "Is the young man Absolom safe ?"

possessed, "But godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Alas! how many parents can sympathize with David, in his solicitude for his son! Their children are perhaps not rebellious, but they are gay, they are worldly, they are destitute of piety; they are unfit for judgment, and if sudden death were to remove them, all hope concerning them would terminate. With what poignancy of feeling must the question sometimes be asked, "Is he safe?”

But some one whose eye glances over this page may be conscious that he is himself unconverted. If it be so, reader, be thankful for the patience which God has exercised towards you, but remember that you are never safe. Safe! no, you are exposed to the righteous anger of the Almighty; you have often been reproved, you have

Is there any one mourning the loss of a beloved infant? As a child, Absalom was very pleasant; as a youth, he was full of promise; who could have guessed in those days, what he would be as a man?

Is there any one who has children rising to years of reflection, whose characters are in process of formation? Let such a parent remember what is most necessary for their welfare, and for his comfort. Not beauty, not accom

pected next? Safe! no, not even the solicitude of a pious parent can secure you, though he may be accustomed to watch over you with the most intense interest, to inquire after you when you are absent with the deepest anxiety, to pray for you with the most fervent supplications. Was Absalom safe? No. He was not among the fugitives; he was not among the prisoners; he was not even hanging on the oak! They had taken him down, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him. His father retired to his chamber weeping, and as he went was overheard to say, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !" GAMMA.

Thomas De Laune, a sufferer for Nonconformity, and the author of an excellent work entitled "A Plea for the Nonconformists," was a native of Ireland, and descended from parents who belonged to the Romish church. Giving early indications of an aptitude to learn, and of intellectual distinction, the gentleman on whose property his parents

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resided became his benefactor, by defraying the expense of his education in a priory near the city of Cork. Having laid the foundation of his future eminence as a scholar, young De Laune left school at the age of sixteen, and in the capacity of a clerk entered the service of one Mr. Bamfield, who was the instrument of his conversion to God. At