and intelligent men in all countries, whether by observations made on their own soil and climate, aided by what are called "bills of mortality," or a more general investigation of longevity in other climes, have made various statements upon this interesting subject. On an estimate of ONE THOUSAND human beings, perhaps the following statement may be deemed correct. 1,000 350 die in their first year, 500 before their 16th year, 750 before they reach their 50th year, 30 So that thirty out of a thousand, or three out of one hundred, live to 70 years, which is the Scripture age of man. Psalm 90. Should the reader have attained this full age of seventy, the above statement will excite your humility and gratitude, that out of so many born at your own date, and gone down to their graves, you are permitted still to live. If the Lord has enriched you with his grace, and you claim the humble, yet honourable character of an old disciple, the description of the decay of the human body, which you have now read, will create no unnecessary alarm in your breast; it will rather promote your devout meditations on the gradual decay of your own frail body, which must soon drop in dust, as the just consequence of sin, and then permit your spirit to pass away to the regions of immortality. At your advanced age, the indulgence of a few occasional thoughts on the gradual advance and the decay of human life, must afford you grateful feelings towards your Divine Preserver. You gradually ascended from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood, till you reached the summit of fifty. Now you equally mark the steps of descent to old age, and cannot fail to recollect the charming pleasure of the one contrasted with the feebleness of the other. O! what an interesting subject is man to himself, and what obligations would it lay him under to his God and Saviour, did he indulge the necessary reflections. I cannot conclude without referring you to a very just observation of the apostle, which perfectly corresponds with the subject of this paper. He says, Death worketh in us. 2 Corinthians iv. 12. It is true, for no sooner than man lives, but death begins his operation, however insensible we may be of it, for we have the materials in our sinful nature. We feel something of it when cast upon a sick bed, but much more so in the progressive stages of old age. Well, let death work, and when that work is finished, your work of pain and suffering will also be ended, and exchanged for the glorious work of adoration and praise, in the climes of bliss for evermore. THE AGED CHRISTIAN. What is a Christian? Draw the curtain back; Swain. THE human family present an abundant variety of characters, both good and evil, and these are to be found in every department of private and public life. The Christian character, however, combining with it the honour of God, the glory of Christ, and the highest interest of those that possess it, is alike rare and invaluable. For these reasons, an investigation of the Christian character, as exhibited in old age, cannot but be worthy of serious consideration. The copy, however, must not be selected from the circles of the rich, nor from the humble residence of the poor, much less from any particular religious denomination of Christians. On the contrary, as Paul said, Be ye followers of me, even also as 1 am of Christ Jesus; and Christ having left us an example, that we should follow his steps; both these oblige us to draw every sketch of religious character from the Gospel, without the colouring of party opinions. And certainly every good man ought to be piously disposed to examine the features of this important character from an authentic likeness, that thereby he may examine and correct his own, and as near as possible, resemble the original. We all know that the natural and the moral life of man are equally presented to us in the Scriptures, by their several stages of infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. And these are also happily illucidated by the successive seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and if it be delightful to contemplate the young Christian as in the bloom and vivacity of spring, it can be no less instructive to visit the good old man in his last days, and observe his temper and conduct while enduring the cold stormy winter of his old age. I. Let us examine the formation of the Christian character, for it is well known that every human character is produced according to the quality of the mind, and the principles they possess. No man, therefore, would hesitate to pronounce the real Christian to be a living spiritual character, worthy of the blessed Christ, whose name he bears; for without spiritual life there can be no holy action. It must, therefore, be the extreme of presumption for any man to lay claim to this sacred character, while his principles, temper, and conduct, give testimony that he is dead in trespasses and sins. No truth is more apparent in the Scriptures, and more consonant with universal fact than this, that, as our fallen nature is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, so we are alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness of our hearts; and this shows the necessity of a new life from above, that we may be capable of spiritual action, and walk humbly with God. It is by his Gospel alone that we are instructed how a holy and just God can raise a sinner to newness of life. Christ, the Lord from heaven, having by his obedience to the death of the cross, made his soul an offering for sin, ascended up on high, and sat down upon his throne; he thereby possesses a legal right to communicate the spirit of life to the souls of his redeemed, and by which they are born again, and commence that new course of life which faileth not to issue in life everlasting. Now it is the reception of this spiritual life from the Spirit of Christ that forms the Christian; and all such persons, find them where you may, will gratefully acknowledge, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. The possession of this life forms the new man, the hidden man of the heart, with all the parts, passions, and powers of the soul, which are now most solemnly consecrated to the service of God. The UNDERSTANDING is enlightened by the truth as it is in Christ Jesus; the WILL is brought into subjection, and moulded into the will of God; and the AFFECTIONS are so far sanctified, as to flow in the holy channel of love to the Lord, with all the mind, heart, strength, and soul, from the considera |