A Goodly Heritage

We cannot be too familiar with the story of the martyrs. Thier sufferings secured our liberties. The brief reign of the wretched queen Mary was made ever glorious by the burning of some of England's noblest witnesses. Hooper ,Taylor, Saunders, Bradford, and Rogers, were among the first to suffer. Ridley and Latimer were chained to one stake at Oxford, and therefore bore testimony in one fire to the power of truth. "My breakfast may be sharp, but I am sure my supper will be most s weet " said the noble Ridley . "I shall go to bed, and God willing , shall sleep as quietly tonight as ever I did in my life." The next morning he and Latimer walked praying to the stake. Embracing Latimer , Ridley said ," Be of good heart brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flames, or else strengthen us to abide it." Then it was Latimer's turn to triumph . As the lighted torch was placed on the faggots, Latimer cried out , "Be of good comfort

The Lord of life Himself slept for a little while in the tomb, and then rose up in the morning; so He has become "the first fruits of them that slept." " I went down Death's lonely stair, Laid my garments in the tomb; Dressed again one morning fair, Hastened up and hied me home- Saith the Elder Brother. "Then I will not be afraid Any ill can come to me: When 'tis time to go to bed , I will rise and go to Thee- Saith the little brother."

Falkland , in Fifeshire , was the birthplace of Richard Cameron. The passer by may still see the house in which he was born. His father , who was a merchant in the burgh, appears to have been very eager to secure for his son the benefit of a good education. However sanguine the father's hopes may have been , he probably little dreamt of the prominent part his son was destined to take in the affairs of both the Church and nation. Neither could he have anticipated that touching scene at that prison in Edinburgh when the head and hands of his son Richard were handed to him, having been carried from Ayresmoss , where he fell:- "I know, I know them ,"said the aged father as he kissed them; "they are my son's , my own dear son's ; it is the Lord; good is the will of the Lord, who cannot wrong me or mine, but has made goodness and mercy to follow us all our days." Richard was born an Episcopalian, and for many years remained in connection with that Church .He

Doubtless the piety of the martyrs was rendered more sterling, and shone forth more brilliantly , by reason of the afflictions wherewith they were afflicted. Trees of righteousness, they were pruned that they would bring forth more fruit; jewels of gold they were put into the furnace-heated seven times- that the pearls of their graces might sparkle by the fiery trial. He who sat as the Refiner and Purifier brought out more clearly His own image on them. The piety of the martyrs was eminent, because it rested on right foundations- on the doctrines of the Book of Inspiration. It rested , not on the rubbish of self-righteousness, not on the sand of self-will, but on the everlasting rock of revealed truth. Those eminent saints believed in the great doctrines of election- sovereign, absolute; predestination; the total depravity of human nature by the fall; the substitution of Christ in the room of sinners; regeneration by the Spirit alone; justification by faith alone in the righte

,Martin Luther was in his boyhood so poor that he went about the streets of the city singing songs for a little money to buy food to keep him from starving. But he was a faithful student , and God raised up friends for him, and made him , at last , the great and useful man that he was . On a cold dark night , when the wind was blowing hard , Conrad , a worthy citizen of a little town in Germany , sat playing his flute , while Ursula , his wife , was preparing supper. They heard a voice singing outside ; "Foxes to their holes have gone , Every bird into its nest; But I wander here alone , And for me there is no rest." Tears filled the old man's eyes as he said ,"What a pity that voice should be spoiled by being tried in such weather!" I think it is the voice of a child . Let us open the door and see," said his wife , who had lost a little boy not long before , and whose heart was opened to take pity on the little wanderer. Conrad opened the door , and saw a

"The Gospel of the grace of God ," said Martin Luther, "is like a flying summer shower, it drops here and there and then passes on ." Let us beware lest these lands are receiving the latter drops of this shower of blessing, and lest already the shower is passing away. Other nations as highly evangelised and as well established as we, have gone back in the roll of the nations; ashes and dust hide their perished glories. Throughout lands once full of Bibles and privilege there now rises the minaret by the side of the mosque, from which goes forth the doleful proclamation, "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet." In this hour of our peril, our whole efforts should be directed to the restoration of the work of the Covenanted Reformation; this is the hope and safety of the nation. It was by the grand Scriptural principles in the maintenance and application on which the Covenanting struggle was waged that the foundation of our civil

It is demonstratively evident , that these isles of the sea,Britain and Ireland, once famous for reformation, have now of a long time , not only been making themselves captains to return back to their Egyptian bondage of anti-Christian delusion, but also by a rapid movement are taking a straight course with crowded sails back into the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, from both of which they were once, by the good hand of our God ,happily delivered . It might once have been said to us, as to Israel of old, "O Israel(O Britain) who is like unto thee? a people saved by the Lord." Our " Shittim was then well watered; our desert blossomed as the rose! Our beauty was like an olive tree, and our smell as Lebanon." Here was a "river that made glad the city of our God!" even the pure preached Gospel which replenished the hungry and refreshed the souls of many. Our renowned ancestors braved all hazards, in handing down a system of pure Gospel truths to us .

2.Corinthians 11v 13. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14.And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose end shall be according to their works.

With all thy heart, with all thy soul and mind, Thou must Him love, and His behests embrace; All other loves-with which the world doth blind Weak fancies, and stir up affections base- Thou must renounce, and utterly displace; And give thyself unto Him full and free, That full and freely Gave Himself to thee. Spenser

They who oppose the Sabbath are standing in the position of men who are enemies of one the brightest blessings and best birthrights that a nation can possess. They need not wonder that we should feel strongly the robbery they seek to perpetrate. They are robbing us and our children of that which is worth more than a kingdom's riches, and which we will not part with without a struggle. And they, themselves , were they men in earnest , should feel the seriousness of the position they assume . If they are in earnest, it must have cost them much pain bofore they could bring themselves to the conclusion that there is no Sabbath. In arguing with the athiest , who denies a God , we can appeal to him and say, if you are in earnest ,it must have been with the profoundest grief, that you have come to the conclusion that there is no God, no infinite good, no being of infinite love. In reasoning with the infidel, who sets aside the Scriptures, we can say, If you be in earnest, it must have co

................that Christ came to diminish our store of blessings during the present dispensation:- that He has narrowed instead of enlarging our privileges: as if He had made the announcement ,"Israel was blessed with a Sabbath, but I cancel that blessing: Israel had Sabbath privileges and Sabbath joys, I blot them out: Israel was called on to give the seventh of his time to God, but I set you free from all restraint, to do with your time just as you please ." Thus we have according to these men , fewer privileges, fewer blessings than Israel. And is this what Christ came to do.? Was it for this that the Son of God took flesh and died.? If they shrink from this , then they must maintain that the Sabbath is not a blessing:- That it is an unwholesome , unnatural, intolerable restraint;- a weariness, a bondage ,a curse. And indeed this is the basis and drift of their reasoning's , if they have any meaning at all. These men ,evidently have the secret feeling , that th

Ezekiel.13:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore , behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. 9.And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. We have been the word of God which is "holy and just and good " given by inspiration of God "and is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction ,for instruction in righteousness." and nothing can be more offensive to God than a corruption of that which is Holy and just and good coming from so-called preachers , seeking vain-glory for themselves, not for correction or instruction ,but for "seduction " and even to the ultimate destruction of hearers to whom the message is "peace";and there is n