of the subject, when he informs us, that "the grace of God" teacheth us, that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." Such are the works which Christ requires, such is the fruit which we must bear, if we would be his disciples-if we would glorify God. But we must not only bear fruit of this kind, we must bear much of it; we must "abound in the work of the Lord." These things must not only be in us, but they must abound, if we would be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord. We must abound not in some Christian graces, but in all. If we would "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," we must be" fruitful in every good work." For there is that close connection between all the Christian graces, that they cannot be separated; all must go together: and he who does not assiduously cultivate all, cannot be said as yet to have entered aright on the great work of his Christian profession. Do we not promise, on entering into the ark of Christ's church, that we shall keep all his commandments? Naming the name of Christ, are we not bound to depart from all iniquity? Are we not called, as Christians, to be "holy in all manner of conversation, as he who hath called us is holy;" to be "perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect." Are not we who have given up our names to Christ, taught of him to "love the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and our neighbour as ourselves?" Is not our duty then plain? It is to glorify God by bearing much fruit, by doing much good and no evil in the world, by being good and doing good in the highest manner that we possibly can.

To this course of well-doing Christians are especially bound by another consideration, that if much is required of them, it is because much has been given. Of themselves, in deed, they have neither inclination nor strength for any good work.

ye

"Without me," says Christ, " can do nothing.' Without him, we may talk of good works and may seem to do them, but we really do none, and indeed can do none. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in me." But then he adds, "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; assuring us, that all who by faith are united to Christ, receive such supplies of grace from him as enable them to bring forth much fruit. St. Paul experienced this when he said, "I can do all things through Christ,which strengtheneth me;" and all Christ's true disciples may use a similar language; for "his grace is always sufficient for them: his strength is made perfect in their weakness." And what may not those do who have such power and grace conferred upon them? Surely they are, in an especial manner, bound to "let their light so shine before men, that they may see their good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven."

When it is said that God is glorified by our bearing much fruit, it is not meant that any thing can be added to his essential glory; or that he is more or less glorious in consequence of any thing we either do or leave undone. But he is then said to be glorified, when his creatures see and acknowledge his glory. He made all things for the purpose of shewing forth his glorious perfections to such of his creatures as are capable of thinking upon them. And when they so think upon them as to own and admire their glory, then are they said to glorify him, or to give him glory. And as the glory of his wisdom, power, and goodness, shines forth in his works of creation and providence, so the glory of his mercy and truth shines forth in the redemption of man, and in all the good works they are thereby enabled to do; for as they do them all only by his assistance, the glory of them redounds to him. When we

behold his mercy promising such assistance, and his faithfulness fulfilling the promise; when we see his wisdom in the wonderful method he has adopted of restoring lost man to his first estate, purifying his corrupt nature, so that he may not only do good, but be good; when we mark the greatness of his power in the fruit produced by trees that were withered and dead, in holy actions performed by those who had neither power nor will to perform them; when we see his goodness approving and accepting of works imperfectly done, as if they had been done perfectly, forgiving the sins of his people and the infirmities of their best performances, we then behold the glory of the Lord shining most gloriously, and we praise God and glorify his holy name who hath thus wrought in his sinful creatures "to will and to do of his good pleasure," and filled them with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God."

But what motives, what encouragement have we thus to seek the glory of God by bearing much fruit? We have the strongest motives: we have the highest encouragement. That God may be glorified is the best end at which we can aim. It was that we might pursue this end that he, at first made us, that he still upholds us, that he bestows on us so many blessings, that he redeemed us by the blood of his only begotten Son. By glorifying God, there fore, we attain the end which God had in view in our creation, preservation, and redemption, and then reach the proper satisfaction and rest of the soul. We cannot look farther or aim higher than at the supreme end of all things: yet this end do those reach who glorify God. Other people live to no purpose. They live to the best of purposes; that for which they came into the world. They do His business, and they are under His care and protec tion, who sent them hither. Glorifying him, they enjoy his love and

favour, and he is graciously pleased to glorify them. Them that họ nour me," saith God, "I will honour." And how happy must they be whom God is pleased to honour. Such honour have all they wo glorify God, not only in this world, but in the next, where they will glorify him, and be glorified by him for ever.

Of those who thus glorify God our Saviour says, "Ye shall be my disciples." Other persons may be. called the disciples of Christ. Those only are so in reality who bear. much fruit. This is the only infalli ble sign of their abiding in him. "If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples indeed;" not his disciples in name, profession, and outward appearance only, as is unhappily the case with too many; but his disciples in truth and reality. Others may reckon themselves to be his disciples; but he will not reckon them to be so, nor own them as such in the last day. Many shall say. to him in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works;" to whom he will reply, "I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." How confident are these men, that they were the disciples of Christ! Yet after all. Christ will not own them as such, because they wrought iniquity: they did not live as became his disciples. In every period of the church there have been too many such "enemies to the cross of Christ" among his professed followers, "whose end is destruction," because they "thind earthly things;" and it is to be feared that they abound not less in the present than in the preceding ages. Professing to know God, yet denying him by their works; nouring the Saviour with their lips, yet crucifying him afresh by their conduct, and putting him to open shame; what can be expected but woe to such Christians? Well would it have been for them, never to have heard the name of Christ,

never to have been baptized into the fellowship of his religion, yea if they had never been born! For what will Christ say to them at the last day; not "come, ye blessed;" but depart, ye cursed, into everlast ing fire."

But how happy, on the other hand, are they who bear much fruit, and thus shew themselves the true disciples of Christ! He regards and loves them as his own. He takes a special care of them and their concerns. He is their Advocate with the Father, continually making intercession for them, washing them from their sins in his own blood, and presenting them holy and spotless before God. He gives them his Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth, to direct them in all their ways, and to support and comfort them in all the changing circumstances of life. He makes all things to work together for their good. He communicates to them his own most blessed body and blood, to preserve both their souls and bodies unto eternal life. He is always with them while they live; and when they die he receives their souls to himself. And at the last day he will set them at his own right hand, and say unto them, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," where they shall live with him in glory, and "shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father," for ever.

What strong encouragement is

thus given us to bear much fruit! We are all baptized in the name of Christ: we profess ourselves to be his disciples: we call on his name: we hear his word: we own him for our Lord and Saviour; and we hope to be saved by him. But let us take heed that after all we be not deceived, as we certainly shall be if we bear not the fruit which he expects from us. "For now is the ax laid to the root of the tree: therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire." If we bring not forth fruit, and much fruit too, we shall be regarded as only cumbering the ground, as fit only to be cut down and cast into the fire. Let us no longer be careless and indifferent in this great concern. Let us attend in earnest to the things belonging to our peace, and follow them with all our might. Let us tread in our Master's steps, making it our meat and drink to do the will of our heavenly Father, and to finish the work which he has given us to do. Thus shall we glorify God, and shew ourselves to be Christ's disciples indeed. We shal then be as trees bearing much fruit, and shall be counted worthy to be transplanted ere long into the paradise of God, where we shall flourish and enjoy the fruits of our labours for ever, through him who is gone before to prepare a place for us, even Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honour both now and Amen.

ever.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. As you have so ably taken up the cause of the British and Foreign Bible Society, permit me to send you the copy of a letter which I took the liberty of addressing to one of its excellent vice-presidents, the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart, and to request you may have the

goodness to insert it in your valuable work. I am, &c.

CH. FR. A. STEINKOPFF.

Savoy, April 18, 1812.

SIR,
Savoy, Feb. 5, 1812.
Permit me, in compliance with
your desire, expressed with all that

kindness and condescension which adorn your character, to make a few remarks on what the Rev. Dr. Marsh observed in his Inquiry respecting the want of Bibles in Germany, the Canstein Institution, and the difference between my speech, as first published in the Cambridge Chronicle, and afterwards republished by Professor Farish.

If I ever had made any unqualified statements respecting the want of the holy Scriptures in Germany; if I had used such expressions like these, "that there was a total, or even general, want of the same in my native country, that the people could not procure them at all, or only at an exorbitant rate;" then I should have acted, indeed, with a zeal without knowledge; I should have violated truth, degraded the character of my nation, and must certainly have been detected by the respectable German clergymen and gentlemen who reside in England, and are as well, or better acquainted with the state of their native country than myself. But I may appeal to all those who have observed my conduct, either in the private or public transactions of the Society, that I never used such vague and random assertions. No-I stated facts, which either came under my personal observation, or were communicated to me by respectable societies and individuals in different parts of the Continent. About nine years ago, the state of my health obliged me to leave my congregation for a season. At that time I travelled through part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark, making it a particular point to inquire into the state of the holy Scriptures in these countries. The result of all my inquiries, more particularly with regard to my native country, was, that though some of the Protestant parts of Germany were, generally speaking, well supplied with Bibles and Testaments, yet there were others, in which a considerable want of the holy Scriptures prevailed, more especially

among the numerous Protestant families in Alsace, Lothringen, Austria, Stiria, Carinthia, Bavaria, &c. It is also a pleasing fact, that in the Roman Catholic provinces of Germany (where, perhaps, not one in fifty families possesses a Bible), many Catholics have of late expressed a great desire to read the holy Scriptures, and gladly received them from the hands of Protestants. In addition to this, most pressing solicitations for a supply of German Bibles and Testaments were received from respectable clergymen officiating among the German colonies near the Wolga, in the Russian empire; from the chaplains, officers, and privates of several German regiments in the British service; from German sailors, many thousand of whom are now employed in the British navy; and even from the Corresponding Committee in Calcutta. To supply these and many similar wants, expressed from a variety of quarters, I proposed to the British and Foreign Bible Society to make use of that excellent "Canstein Institution," referred to by the learned Professor, which, instead of concealing from public view, I felt most happy to bring into that general notice which its excellence justly deserves. May I take the liberty to refer you to the second Report of our Society, pp. 163, 164, where you will find a concise, but comprehensive, account of that benevolent institution. The very next pages of the same Report contain documents, proving that this " cheap repository" of German Scriptures was employed by the British and Foreign Bible Society to send Bibles and Testaments to poor Protestants in Galicia; and since that period, up to this present time, many thousand Bibles and Testa ments have been forwarded from it, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, to the German colonies near the Wolga; to Protestant congregations in Mecklenburg, Austria, Brandenburg, Hungary, Bavaria; and also for

gratuitous distribution among Roman Catholics. Others have been ordered over to this country, where they were much wanted, and gratefully received by several congregations and schools in London, Hull, and Dublin. It was only when the present political circumstances rendered the communication with the Continent precarious and uncertain, that the British and Foreign Bible Society determined to print an edition of 5000 German Testaments, and another of 3000 German Bibles in London. The former is completed, and you, my respected Sir, can testify, from your attendance on the committee, with what anxious solicitations they have been called for, and with what emotions of gratitude received by German soldiers and sailors. Indeed, you have, in your own possession, an important letter on this subject from one of his Majesty's chaplains to the forces. But though the Canstein Institution is so well calculated to supply the spiritual wants of many of the poor in Germany, it was deeply felt by a number of respectable clergymen and gentlemen in that country, that the Hallish Bibles, if sent to a great distance, owing to the expense of carriage, would come higher than their poor could afford to pay. On this account they found it desirable to establish a Bible Society of their own, which, chiefly by the liberal donations of the British and Foreign Bible Society, has been enabled to print large editions of a German Testament and Bible in standing types. A separate fund has been established by the active exertions of that Society, for the express purpose of gratuitously distributing them to the poor, or of selling them at half cost, or at still more reduced prices. It would be uncandid in me to insinuate, that the Rev. Doctor objects to the circulation of the holy Scriptures in foreign parts: on the contrary, he most explicitly states himself to be favourable to that part of the proceedings of the British and Foreign Bible Society;

and I cannot entertain a doubt from his humanity, from the veneration he every where expresses for the sacred writings, and from the attachment which he professes for my native country, that had he been personally present when applications were made to me by old German soldiers and sailors (some of whom had lost their limbs in the British service, and are now in Chelsea or Greenwich Hospital), not for money, but for German Bibles or Testaments, he would have hastened himself to put this blessed book into their hands, and to pour the balm of heavenly consolation in their hearts, he would not have remained unaffected with their sincere expressions of joy, and the tears of gratitude they shed.

With regard to the remarks of the learned Professor, on my speech in Cambridge, I beg simply to state,' that what appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle was not my speech, but a report of it which I never sara till it was printed; that I immediately perceived and pointed out some inaccuracies, and sent down my speech soon afterwards. I do most readily allow, that I may have varied in some verbal expressions; but in point of the accuracy of all the statements which I made, I can safely appeal to the justice and candour of one of the most respectable and enlightened audiences before which I ever was privileged to appear.

To the charge of colouring, I reply: the facts related by the British and Foreign Bible Society need no colouring; they speak for themselves. It undeniably has pleased God to bless this Society, within a short period, in a most remarkable manner, and to render it a blessing to others. My constant wish and prayer is, that no human applause may lift me up, nor any human censure discourage, but that with a single eye and a steady step I may be enabled to promote the glory of God and the benefit of my fellow. creatures. I consider it one of the