soon obtained a clear, vivid, and full perception of the infinite sufficiency of the Saviour's merits. This is "all in all," in the exercise of the first, and, indeed, every subsequent act of faith. It is impossible, in the nature of things, that one person in a state of penitence should possess a more perfect aptitude to believe and be saved than another, when all are equally and entirely fallen; and yet it happens, in fact, that some remain a much longer time in the "gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity" than others. This is to be accounted for either on the ground of a defective teaching, or the confusion of the mind in not apprehending the fulness of Christ Neither of these hinderances, it seems, existed in the case of Mr. Miller. The ministry he attended, and the people with whom he now cast in his lot, amid the excitement produced by the conversions going on, would, if possible, with more than their wonted zeal, set forth the glories of the atonement; point out the way of a sinner's approach to God; treat on the nature of justification, its evidence and fruits; insist on the duty and privilege of all to embrace a present salvation; and, with tender and pathetic persuasion, lead the " mourners in Zion" to the blood of the Lamb of God. In the darkness and affliction of his soul, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, Mr. Miller perceived clearly and fully these great truths, and "believing with the heart unto righteousness," entered into "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." Great was his joy. Indeed, his previous disappointments, his galling misery through a chafed and wounded spirit, his sickening experience of the vanities of the world, the depth of his convictions, and the agony of his mind, whilst under the terrors of the law, all united in causing him

to "taste the goodness of the Lord," in his adopting love and saving grace, with ecstatic joy.

Whilst we not only allow, but glory in the great principle, that salvation is solely of grace; that no merit but the merit of Christ, is the ground of privilege; and that it belongs exclusively to the Holy Spirit, to implant, and keep alive, all the blessed graces and virtues of true religion;-it may, notwithstanding, follow, that in some hearts the impression may be deeper, and the happiness rise to a much higher and rapturous elevation, than in others. Mr. Miller possessed one of these natures,-full of fire, feeling, emotion,-the blessings of religion were no sooner absorbed in his soul, than they were manifested in a corresponding fervour of happiness and love. From the beginning, nothing was left uncertain. As he held no parley with "sin, the flesh, and the devil," but, by one resolve, through divine grace, gave up all for Christ, so he at once sought all in Christ. When he "knew the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he had sent," he then abandoned, fully and entirely, the "lords many, and the gods many, who had had dominion over him." Truth with him was no theory-religion no dream; all was real, transcendent, divine. The new principle of divine love filled him-transformed him-touched and attuned every feeling and faculty of his soul. Under this mighty impulse he held nothing back. He acknowledged that God had a right to all, and he instantly placed every thing he possessed on the Christian altar. Reputation, the caresses of the fashionable and the great, the fascinating gaieties, of which he had been the soul, were all "thrown," like "the idols of the heathen, to the moles and to the bats." His talents, his time, his

influence, his life, became at once, one great and undivided sacrifice to God.

Nothing can be conceived more complete than the change wrought in the state and habits of Mr. Miller. This is apparent in connexion with other evidence, from the circumstance that he was never known to waver, from the period of his first union with Christ to the last moment of his life. It was well for him, that so decisive a work of grace took place in the beginning. Some natures, and some situations in life especially, admit of no half-measures in religion. To be half-hearted, to waver, to remain in an equilibrium, betwixt the claims of the Saviour, and the inclinations of nature, is to be undone. This must have been Mr. Miller's case had he not, through the gracious dealings of God, been led to "follow him fully." But this being the case, he found a rock on which to rest, from the commencement of his course. It would, indeed, be a reproach to Christianity to imagine, that it does not contain in itself, a fulness of wisdom and grace sufficient, to satisfy the soul in its largest capacities and hopes. So in fact Mr. Miller found it. His mental faculties discovered a broad, a varied, and a certain field of truth; his heart rested in the divine love, and the rights, privileges, and pleasures of the gospel-salvation; his tastes, now purified and elevated, met in the spiritual and eternal world, objects of complacency and joy; and his expansive benevolence, a sphere of usefulness and good, to occupy and fill up the whole compass of his existence. From the first moment of his enjoyment of it, religion was his one sole, and undivided good. By a power which could only be divine, his whole being was, at once, withdrawn from every other pleasure, and every other pur

suit. Like his Lord and Saviour, it was more than "his meat and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father."

As in all similar cases of conversion, Mr. Miller had every thing to learn, to acquire, and to work into the habits of a living piety, except its elementary principles. He was no dilatory, or inapt disciple. With a diligence and decision, proportioned to the importance and responsibilities of the "high and holy calling," on which he had entered, he "girded up the loins of his mind." With him, the meaning of our Lord, when he said, "One thing is needful," and " Seek first the kingdom of God," received a beautiful illustration. The work of God in his mind, was so very marked, that he had but one thing without a rival, which occupied his soul, his life, his all.

The dedication of himself to God being thus, like the change wrought, decisive, his progress was correspondently rapid. A few aged persons recollect the times and meetings referred to; his spirit and manner; the blazing fervour of his zeal; the extraordinary proficiency he made; and the gifts developed in his private and public exercises; and they speak of the events themselves as connected with circumstances of unexampled spiritual power and glory, and of Mr. Miller, as one, whose like they shall never look upon again.

The zeal he manifested was the very opposite of empty rant. It was zeal in the devoted study of the word of God; in which he "meditated day and night;" in the cultivation of the spirit and habit of prayer, in which he was 66 always" found, as directed by his Saviour; in subduing, governing, and directing to the "obedience of faith," and the "glory of God," all the

feelings, passions, and powers of his mind; and it was

zeal, to fill up usefully every moment and opportunity of life with some good work, which might be profitable to man, or advance the interests of religion. His was no evanescent burst of youthful euthusiasm, which being lit up by some temporary excitement, expires with the occasion which gives it birth.

The depth of his feeling and the fervour of his mind, in this early stage of his career, must have been true to some law of religion, for it lasted through life. Suppose a man to affect some strange, uncouth, and eccentric, mode of physical life, so as to distort his sight, his limbs, or his gait; he must either soon return to nature's old and beaten path, or otherwise become crooked and deformed. So it must be in the life of piety. A person acting a character, distorting the powers of his soul, for the sake of making an impression, and producing effect, in opposition to the freedom and ease of nature; or, if he assume a fervour, a vehemence, a pathos, and, a zeal which his religious state will not sustain, then, in either case, a distressing exhibition is made; on the one hand, of a miserable affectation, and on the other of self-deception, amounting to hypocrisy. It is impossible that either of these causes could have laid the foundation of Mr. Miller's peculiarities. He manifested the same spirit the last year of his religious course as he did the first. This could be no assumption, no cloak put on, no formal" tinkling cymbal.” When the beginning, continuance, and end of a man's life are the same, we have all the proof we can obtain of sincerity. This was the case with Mr. Miller; and it follows, that, the self-denial, abstraction, benevolence, purity, and fervent zeal of his whole life, must have