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To the Editor of the Christian Baptist. SIR: When your eighth number of the Christian Baptist came to hand, upon reading your animadversions on experimental religion, I was persuaded that it would likely give offence to many of your pious readers; and that, instead of obviating the charge brought against you and your associates, of "denying experimental religion," it would rather increase it. This I have since understood to be actually the case. I, there fore, for my part, could have wished, that you had treated that very delicate, and, at the same time, very important subject, in a different manner. I am not to be understood as objecting to the detection and exposure of a false and unscriptural experience, which, from your words, appears to be the thing intended; for, in your foot note, page 141, you assert, that we are taught, that since those gifts have ceased, the Holy Spirit now operates upon the minds of men only by the word;" and at the close of said note, you further assert, that "we are positive of one point," namely, "that the scriptures teach us not the doctrine of physical operations of the Divine Spirit in order to faith." With these declarations as I understand them, I am quite satisfied; for, since the sacred canon has been completed, it seems to be the general opinion, at least of all the most eminent Protestant writers that have adverted to this subject, that we are not to look for any new revelations of the Spirit; and that, of course, his saving operations in the production of faith and repentance, and of every other gracious effect by which we are made partakers of a divine nature, (2 Peter i. 4.) is by the word of truth being put into the mind and written upon the heart, (Heb. viii. 10.) for this certainly is one of the exceeding great and precious promises above referred to, (2 Peter i. 4.) by which the Lord has graciously engaged to save his people, (Heb. viii. 10.) As to regeneration itself, or, as it is commonly termed, the new birth, we are divinely assured, that it is effected by the word of truth. (James i. 18.) Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth; and (1 Peter i. 23-25.) Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.

and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." Also, Peter in his first epistle, chap. 1, verse 22, addresses the brethren to this effect: "Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, to unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another with a pure heart fervently." Lastly, to close this chain of quotations, it is worthy of remark, that the whole body of the persecuted disciples of Jesus is represented as overcoming the grand adversary by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. Rev. xii. 11. Now "who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." I John iv. 5. Upon the whole of the evidence before us respecting the instrumentality of the word in the salvation of men, we find that it is the beginning, middle and end; that every thing is done by it, and that there is nothing done without it. That where the word of the truth of the gospel is not published, the Spirit of Christ has nothing to do, is farther evident from John xvi. 3-14, where his reproving or convincing the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, is confined to his testifying the things concerning Jesus. In short, his very character as the spirit of Christ, as the spirit of wisdom and revelation, for enlightening, convincing, comforting and establishing, in the knowledge and belief of the truth, is ascribed to him exclusively as revealing and testifying the things concerning Jesus. Compare John xiv. 26, and xvi. 14, 15, with 1 Cor. xii. 3-13, with Eph. i. 13-18, and 1 Pet. i. 10-12, and ii. 18, 19, with Jude 14, 15.

For the more full illustration of the truth and certainty of this conclusion let us again review and examine the evidence, that we may clearly perceive the connexion of the word with the kingdom of Christ in its rise, progress and consummation, or ultimate triumph and perfection in this world.

1. And first we shall find that the word of the gospel is the seed of the kingdom; that every subject of it is begotten by, and born of that seed. See John i. 13, James i. 18, 1 Peter i. 23, 25, 1 John ii. 9. Upon this point of the testimony three things are expressly evident.

First, that every subject of Messiah's kingdom is born of God.

quently, till this seed is sown and takes effect, there cannot be an existing subject of the Redeemer's kingdom upon earth.

Again-both the beginning and progress of Messiah's kingdom are ascribed to the word. .Compare Matthew xiii. with Mark iv. and Luke Second, that his birth is by the means, or viii. "Behold a sower went forth to sow," through the instrumentality, of the word of truth. namely, the word of the kingdom; for the sower Third, that this seed in each is the very and imsows the word. "And he that received seed in-perishable substance of his new being. Conseto the good ground, is he that hears the word and understands it; who, in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience." Again, (Mat. xvi. 16, 18,) Simon said to Jesus, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Accordingly John, in his first Epistle, chap. v. verse 1, asserts, that whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And Peter, in his first Epistle, chap. ii. verse 2. exhorts all such, that "as new born babes, they would desire the sincere milk of the word, that they might grow thereby." Again, Christ's farewell prayer for his disciples, is, "Holy Father, sanctify them through your truth; your word is truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in me through their word." John xvii. 17-20, and Paul to the Ephesians, v. 25, asserts that "Christ loved the church

II. Again, it appears from the evidence before us, that the radical formative truth, the inwrought perception, and real persuasion of which gives birth and being to the new creature, is that expressed by our Lord in his declaration to Peter, Matt. xvi. 16-18, with 1 John v. 1. It farther appears, that it was for the demonstration of this truth, that both the predictions, types and promises of the Old Testament were exhibited and recorded, and also the things that are written concerning Jesus by the four Evangelists. See Luke xxiv. 25, 27, 44, 45.: John xxiii. 30, 31. Consequently there cannot be one born of God, but by means of the scriptural persuasion and hearty reception of this truth, in the light of its proper evidence, and true scriptural import; for if Jesus be truly received as the Messiah, the Christ, he must be received in character; that is,

in the true scriptural import of his personal, | to the understanding and heart of the creature. relative and official appellations. But who sees It supposes faith without the exhibition of a tesnot that all this is virtually and truly implied in timony to be believed, a thing absolutely imthe belief of the great fundamental truth under possible. It also supposes love to God in his consideration, viz. "That Jesus is the Christ, the true and lovely character, of just and holy, Son of the living God." For whosoever is per- merciful and gracious, which the gospel alone suaded of the truth of this grand fundamental manifests, which, without the knowledge and article, upon the evidence which God has afford- belief of that gospel, is a thing equally impossied, the same is heartily disposed to receive ble with the former. Love and devotion to an whatever this glorious personage has affirmed, or unknown God!! Again, to speak of experimencaused to be taught concerning himself, and his tal religion by way of contradistinction to a Father, and the salvation, which he has ac- false religion, appears equally absurd. complished. ever heard of a religion, Jewish or Christian, III. Hence, thirdly, according to the evidence Pagan or Mahomedan, Popish or Protestant, before us, we are justified, sanctified, nourish- that is not productive of some kind of experience ed, and obtain a final victory and triumph-that produces no sensible effect upon the over all the power of the enemy, by the belief of the truth; that is, by the word of the truth of the gospel, believed and acted upon.

First. We are actually justified in believing the apostles' testimony concerning Jesus, that is, the gospel. Compare Mark xvi. 15. 16, Rom. v. 1, with Acts xiii. 38, 39, and 1 Cor. ii. 1, 2, and xv. 1-6.

Second. We are also sanctified by the same word believed. See as above. John xvii. 17, Eph. v. 26, 1 Peter i. 22.

Third. By the same word the believer is nourished, comforted, and made to grow in grace. 1 Peter ii. 2, Jer. xv. 16, 1 Thess. iv. 18, 1 Tim. iii. 6.

Who

mind of the sincere professor of it? Can such a religion be found upon earth? Let us have done, then, with this unscriptural, indefinite, unmeaning phrase, which, at best, is only calculated to perplex, mislead, and deceive. When we speak of our holy religion, let us speak of it, and distinguish it by proper epithets, such as the scriptures afford, instead of those vain delusive epithets, which the wisdom, or rather the folly, of men has invented.

Yours respectfully,

T. W.

Extracts from my Sentimental Journal.
No. II.
Social Prayers.

Lastly. By faith, which is a belief of the divine testimony concerning Jesus, believers are made BEING shipwrecked on the island of Ila, on victorious over sin, Satan, the world and death. Friday, the 7th of October, 1808, on the first day See Rom. vi. 14, 17, 18, 1 Peter v. 3, 9, James iv. of the following week I went to the parish 7, Rev. xii. 11, 1 John v. 4, 5, Heb. ii. 15. There- church, and was entertained with a specimen of fore may all believers say, "Now thanks be to good old Scotch divinity, pronounced with all God, who gives us the victory through our Lord the gravity of aspect and solemnity of tone, for Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. xv. 57. Upon the whole, which the Scotch divines of the Presbyterian it is evident that all the salvation that is known establishment, in the pulpits purified by the fire or experienced in this world, is in consequence, of the Scottish apostle John Knox, are eminentand by virtue of, the knowledge and belief of ly distinguished. The nobleman, who was the truth, which works effectually in them that Laird of the island, a distinguished member of believe. 1 Thess. ii. 13. Neither is there any the duke of Argyle's family, was present with other means appointed or acknowledged by God, his family; and as his patronage extended over for the salvation of men, but the scripture reve- the pulpits as well as the lands of the island, lation of Jesus Christ. Compare Mark xvi. 15, they occupied a very ostensible pew in the kirk, 16, with Luke xxiv. 46, 47, and Acts iv. 12. and a very conspicuous place in the prayers of That where this scripture revelation is not heard, the good parson. His temporal and spiritual not known, there neither is, nor ever was, nor welfare, and that of every branch of his illustriindeed can be, any faith in Christ Jesus, (see ous family, next to that of King George III. and Rom. x. 9, 14,) nor of course any regenerate, all the princes and princesses of the royal blood, any purified in heart, (see Acts xv. 7, 9,) nor were the burthen of his concluding prayer. any endued with the spirit of adoption, crying Pleased with the aspect, pronunciation, and Abba, Father. Rom. viii. 14, 16, with Gal. iv. gravity of this venerable parson, I visited the 6, 8. But, instead of such characters, the debas- same kirk, the next first day, called in Scotland, ed and stupid practisers of horrid cruelties and "the Sabbath." Archibald Campbell, esq., for abominable idolatries, "do service to them who that was the name of the Laird of the island, by nature are no gods." This, all may know was absent, being about to take his seat in the to be the present as it most certainly was the British parliament. His pew being empty, the ancient state of the heathen world, in the days good old parson forgot to give him any place in of the apostles and long before. Nor can it be his prayers, and the king's place in his petitions shown, that since the gospel was first preached was considerably contracted since the preceding to the nations, from the day of Pentecost, (Acts "Sabbath." Being detained by adverse winds ii. 1,) until this day, that any portion of the hu- and the inclemencies of the season until a third man family were ever reformed from their idol- “Sabbath," I revisited the synagogue again. atries and disgraceful immoralities by any The doctrine was precisely orthodox, according supposed physical operations of the Holy Spirit to the standards of that kirk; but as the noblewithout the word. To talk, therefore, of man's pew was still empty, he had no portion christian experience by any supposed operations in the prayers of the day. I bade adieu to the of the Holy Spirit without the word, or previous island and its hospitable inhabitants, the recolto, and independent of, the knowledge and be-lection of whose kindness yet awakens many lief of the truth, is not only contrary to most ex-grateful feelings, and sincere desires for their press declarations of holy scripture and univer-happiness. ally established fact, but to reason also. It supposes a fact without a proper and adequate cause. It supposes a conversion from error and wicked

How a man so devout as the parish parson, could forget to pray for his patron when absent, and be so mindful of him in his addresses to

It is usually allowed that it is one of the greatest and best of blessings that we should be admitted to lift up our voices to the throne of the universe. But if ever there be a moment in a christian's life when humility and sincerity become him well, this is the moment, when he is speaking to that glorious and Mighty One, before whose throne seraphs veil their faces and "angels prostrate fall." Our words assuredly should be few and well ordered; no pomp of language, no vain parade of words, no compliment to men, when we claim the audience of our Almighty Maker.

impressed upon my mind, and was frequently | in prayer; he speaks in the first person plural, a subject of curious reflection. I had not, how-"we ask," "we pray," "we beseech," &c. By ever, travelled very far, nor continued many and by he begins to supplicate blessings on the weeks amongst the pious Highlanders, till I persons of B and C. He still uses the same found that it was a general practice in all parish style, "we." Now B and C either join with churches, when the patron was present, to give him or they do not. On either hypothesis the him a large portion of the evening prayer, but prayer is no longer social. It is A praying for always when absent he was forgotten. Being B and C, and B and C praying for themselves. but just arrived at the period of reflection, and A does not merely pray for them-they pray for determined to study men as well as things, themselves, and he is only included in such peI became very attentive to the prayers of not titions as are of a general nature. He acts the only the parish clergy, but of all others. I ob- part of an intercessor in one part of his petitions, served it to be a general rule, that when two or and they, in another part, pray for him equally three ministers of the same party happened to be as themselves. Custom familiarizes, recompresent in the same pulpit, which ever one pray- mends and sanctions every thing. But there is ed, he made particular supplications for his neither reason nor scripture for such a practice. ministering brethren. Thus the parson A pray- If two or three persons unite in prayer they ed very ardently for his brothers parson B and C, should have some definite object which mutually when they were present; but when B and C interests them all alike. were absent, A asked for no blessings for them. I do not recollect that I ever saw it otherwise in any sect or in any country. I noted this fact in my pocket book of memorandums, and placed it under the same head with those of the prayers of the parish ministers for their patrons. I think I headed this chapter, in my juvenile fancy, with the words, "Complimentary prayers, or prayers addressed to human beings not yet deified." In process of time, I happened to make a tour with a very devout divine; and, as he always spent the night in the house of some of his "lay brethren," in offering up his evening sacrifice, or what is more frequently called "leading in family worship," he never forgot to pray in an especial manner for his host, earnestly desiring that the family among whom he spent the night might be peculiarly blessed. During fourteen days and nights which I spent in his company, he never once forgot to pray for the proprietor of the house that gave him his supper and bed. In justice to his devotion I should remark, that one evening was spent in an inn, where he asked the liberty of attending upon family worship; and there he also prayed as fervently for his landlord and landlady as if in a private family. In justice to the landlord too, I should observe, that he remitted to him his bill in the morning, with an invitation to give him a call when convenient. Now custom had so familiarized the practice, that it was as natural for me to expect to hear the householder and his handmaid prayed for, as it was for me to kneel down when the prayer commenced. But even yet I was struck with the curious nature of that devotion which led his reverence to pray for X and his family, and for Y and his family, when he was in their house, and that although so very fervent this night in praying for X and his family, the next evening he forgot X and prayed for Y only, and so on without variation. This I also noted down under the head of "Complimentary prayers."

I would not be understood as censuring the practice of one christian praying for another, when it is by request, or when from any consideration it becomes necessary; or of a whole church praying for another church, or for one member, or for those that are not members, either in their presence or absence. But this is quite a different thing from those prayers which we call complimentary, which, if not intended as a mere compliment, most certainly appear so, in the above instances at least, and in many others which might be adduced.

But there is something very incongruous in these complimentary prayers. A enters the house of B and his wife C, and joins with them

In visiting the family of an old friend ten years ago, I heard him confess the sins of his childhood, youth, and manhood, and pray for their forgiveness. I continued with him for one week. As often as he prayed in his family he made a repetition of the same confession of his and his family's sins, and a similar petition for their remission. In the course of a few years I visited him again, and heard the same confessions and petitions. Not long since I spent an evening with the same old gentleman, and heard the same without any sensible variation.

Methinks this aged professor has yet to learn the import of the "glad tidings of great joy to all people," one item of which most certainly assures the believer of the remission of all his sins committed previously to the hour he trusted in the Saviour. Hence the primitive christians never once prayed for the remission of the sins of their childhood, youth, manhood, or old age, committed previously to their reception of the good news. Not one instance can be produced of any saint, from the full revelation of the gospel of Christ on the day of Pentecost, praying for such a remission; but we find them thanking God that he had already, for Christ's sake, forgiven them all trespasses. They were commanded by the apostles to forgive one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven them.

In short, to have prayed for the remission of the sins of childhood, youth, &c. committed while they were ignorant of the salvation of the gospel, would have evinced a total want of faith; for the asking for any favor plainly implies that the person who asks is not in possession of it. Suppose, for illustration, that I should go to my creditor and say, "I confess, sir, that I owe you a thousand talents, and as Í am unable to pay you, I beseech you to forgive me." He replies, "Whatsoever you ask of me, of this nature, believe that you shall receive it, and you shall have it. Do you believe that my benevolence and ability are adequate to remit you this debt?" I answer, "Yes." Now sup

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world a descendant of that royal family that once reigned over Israel.

But we do not dwell at present on these illustrious incidents in your history, as if they were the only occurrences that gave importance and Let us just glance at a elevation to your sex. few others. The first miracle of this incomparable child, born, this only-begotten Son given, was wrought in honor of the mother that nursed him, and in honor of the first commandment with promise. His mother, at the famous marriage of Cana of Galilee, with all the deep solicitude of one concerned in every circumstance that concerned the reputation of the family with which she was in the intimacies of friendship, prompted her to appeal to her son, saying, "they have no wine." He shows it to be an occurrence which was of no concern to him, abstractly considered; but in honor of his mother, who commanded obedience to his will, the water when presented—yes,

pose I should, every evening and morning, go | to this rich and benevolent friend, and say to him, "I owe you a thousand talents-I am unable to pay you-I beseech you to forgive me that debt"-might he not, with propriety, say to me every time I went to renew my request, "Sir, you insult me. You profess to believe my word, and, in fact, you declare every day that you do not believe that I have been as good as my word. You either distrust my ability, my disposition, or my veracity. You dishonor me. Begone from my presence! but know assuredly, that whenever you trust in my ability, benevolence, and veracity, you are remitted." I must hang my head and remain speechless. Alas! the gospel of the blessed God is sadly mistaken by thousands who profess to believe it; who, not only in their ordinary deportment, but even in their religious observances, declare they believe it not. Alas! how many teachers of the gospel are in the habit of confessing and praying in the public assembly, as my old friend; and thus proving to the intelligent that, believe Under the the gospel who may, they do not. law, in their great sacrifices, there was a remembrance of sins made once a year, which the apostle adduces as an evidence of the imperfec-expression of solicitude for the temporal welfare tion of that state; but if there is to be a remem- of one of our race, which dropped from his lips brance of sins once a week or once a day by amidst the agonies of the cross, was prompted the priests and the people now, we are in worse by the keenest sensibilities of humanity, by circumstances than the Jews. It is, indeed, ev- that grateful recollection of the care of a mo ident, that few of the popular worshippers have ther, which is never to be forgotten; by that received that one purification which leaves no profound respect which every wise man exhibits consciousness of sins. to the woman that watched and wept over his childhood; yes, his last concern was for the future welfare of his mother. He says to John, his favorite disciple, casting his eye towards his mother, "Son, behold your mother;" and to his mother, "Behold your son." Thus he bequeathed his mother, as his richest legacy on earth, to that disciple whom he loved most of all.

Address to Christian Mothers.

Daughters of Zion:

EDITOR.

THE christian religion has elevated your sex to a very high degree. To it you are indebted for that amelioration of your circumstances, that mitigation of your present grievances, incurred by your having been first in the transgression, that important place you occupy in the christian affection and esteem of him to whom you were put in subjection. Although some of your sex, in the history of the Old Testament, shine with distinguished lustre; yet it is in the New Testament alone where you appear to the highest advantage. Never, we presume, was Gabriel despatched upon a more honorable or a more acceptable errand, than when he visited the cottage of her that was espoused to the son of Jacob; than when he addressed the humble and virtuous virgin in these transporting words, "Hail! favorite of Heaven! The Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women!" From that moment your sex, as the sun after a long gloom, bursts forth with more attractive splendor. All the queens of eastern palaces, in all the pomp of eastern grandeur, never tasted the sweets of such an interview as that between Elizabeth, the mother of the harbinger, and the mother of Israel's King. All the expressions of imperial courtesy, how meagre in comparison of the welcome with which Elizabeth received that visit of her cousin, the salutation with which she embraced her! "How have I this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me!" The pious and virtuous Mary, and the humble swain that was made her husband guardian, exhibit a new scene of matrimonial bliss of which mortals never before tasted. He derives all his honor and his bliss from her entrusted to his care. A woman now elevates not only her own sex by the favor of Heaven, but

"The modest water, aw'd with power divine,
Beheld its God, and reddened into wine."

This was the beginning of his fame, the first
exhibition of his glorious power.

And the last

Christian women, your praise and your fame, your zeal, your affection, and even your courage, shine with so much resplendence in the New Testament history, as to throw the most distinguished of our sex much, very much, into the shade. The fame of that Mary who sat at the feet of the Messiah, who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, transcends the fame of all the statesmen, warriors, monarchs, philosophers, and poets, that ever lived. Yes, while the fame of the statesman is bounded by our tenure of the soil on which we live; while the laurels that deck the brow of the warrior are stained with the blood he shed, and wither near the cypress that covers the tomb moistened by the tears of the widow and the orphans which he made; while the gems that sparkle in the crown of the monarch are dimmed and obscured by the cankering hand of time; while the renown of the philosopher fades in the presence of every insect, and of every plant, which says to his wisdom, "How limited you are!" and while the praises of the poet and the charms of harmony live only in the fastidious taste of men, O Mary, your memorial, the sweet perfume of your fame, extends to all generations! and that which you have done shall be told with extacy unalloyed, when time itself shall be no more!

And let the christian heroes remember, that when the highest and noblest names on their list of eighteen centuries fled like cowards from the scene of danger, and in the hour of darkness and terror deserted their suffering chief, christian women kept their place, and stood

praise of female piety, let it be published in all lands that women were the last at the cross, and the first at the tomb of their great and mighty Saviour. And as a token of his remembrance and acknowledgment of their devotion, pious courage, and unabated affection, to them he first showed himself alive after his death, and alleviated their sorrows.

But as it is not our intention to make these illustrious incidents in your history a theme form which to deduce all the reflections which they naturally suggest, we proceed to our design.

Your usefulness to the church is not curtailed by the apostolic injunction which allots to you that silence and submission which comport with that modesty and diffidence which are now and ever have been the highest ornaments of female character. You are to nurse and nourish every one that comes into the world; and the God of your offspring has given to you an authority over the mind in its most pliant state, paramount to every other. The babe that smiles in your arms, and finds its support and its refuge in your bosom, receives its first impressions from you. It recognizes a relation existing between you and it before it forms an idea of a father.It views you as its best friend, and most willingly submits to your control. Your countenance is the first volume it reads; and it is a volume which conveys to its apprehension more ideas than perhaps any of us imagine. Its articulations are formed from yours, and your language is the first it can understand. You can converse with it, and communicate to its tender mind ideas which the greatest linguists and philosophers that ever lived could not. You, then, occupy a place which cannot be rivalled, and which, if discreetly managed, may, under the blessing of Heaven, be of eternal importance to it. Do not be startled when I tell you that you are, by the law of nature, which is the law of God, as well as by his written word, ordained to be the only preachers of the gospel, properly so called, to your own offspring. You can tell them in language more intelligible to their apprehension, the wonders of creation; you can, from the lively oracles, teach them the history of our race; you can preach the gospel to them better than any Doctor of Divinity that ever lived. You can narrate to them the nativity and life, the words and deeds of Messiah; you can open to their minds how he died for our sins, and how he rose for our justification. You can tell them of his ascension to the skies, of his coronation in heaven, and that he will come to judge the world. When you have done all this, in a style which you can adopt, more easy of apprehension than any other-if Paul the apostle was again to visit the world and call at your house, he could not preach to them with greater effect. Nay, you have anticipated all that he could say, and done all that he could do, to give the word effect. If he were to attempt to make known the glad tidings of great joy, to announce the good news to your children-when he had done they might say, "Kind and benevolent friend, this is no news to us; we rejoice to have heard it all from a preacher before; a preacher too, whose love and benevolence were equal to yours, and whom we understood as clearly as we understand you." If he were to ask who the preacher was, and by what authority he spoke, the children might reply, It was from a preacher which you, beloved friend, yourself licensed; it was our mother whom you commanded "to

bring us up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." O yes, replies the apostle, I did authorize an order of preachers which were to take my place after my decease, amongst whom your mother was one. My place and my office was to make known to all my contemporaries those glad tidings in the first place; for I was ordained a preacher as well as a teacher, and your parents can best occupy my place, as they can first make known to their offspring the same good news.

These hints, my dear friends, go to show you what is expected from you, and what you ought to do. And surely you will agree with me that the word of God, thus communicated by the fireside, from your own lips, under the blessing of Heaven, is just as efficacious as if pronounced from a pulpit of mahogany, covered with scarlet, and decked with tapestry, from a pontiff, or a rabbi covered with silk and a wig as white as Alpine snow. Remember Lois, Eunice, and Timothy, and Paul's commands to you. The giving of such an injunction to fathers and mothers implied that they were competent to perform them to the best advantage. The efforts of the clergy to take from you the office of preachers, under a pretence that either their authority or their ability is superior to yours, believe your friend, or rather believe the apostles, is an unjust encroachment upon your rights and privileges. Your example and your prayers, your authority, and your well proved affection and sincerity in all that you say, are worth more than all the logic, mathematics, algebra, and rhetoric, which ever were collected in all the seminaries upon earth, to give efficacy to your sermons. How blissful the privilege, and how high the honor conferred on you! Do then, christian matrons, from your love to your own offspring, and from your love to him that raised your sex to honors so illustrious, and from your hopes of immortality and eternal life in that world where they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels, being the children of God and of the resurrection, bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. EDITOR.

WE design to give our readers every opportunity of judging for themselves, suppressing nothing written by friend or foe that respects our views. We have so far given them a specimen of what our opponents have said concerning this paper. The following letter, received a few days since, is from the pen of a very intelligent writer, who is the bishop of a respectable church, and with whom we are very sorry to differ in any opinion connected with the christian religion. We have the highest opinion of the integrity, uprightness, and christian deportment of this correspondent. I trust he will have the goodness to forgive me for publishing what was merely intended for my own consideration, when I assure him that it is purely for the benefit of my readers, as I have no doubt but it will be profitable to many. EDITOR.

APRIL 22, 1824. Dear Sir-I HAVE deferred writing to you longer than I designed when you left us.

I have received regularly your numbers of the Christian Baptist, and have read them with some care that I might understand with certainty the leading opinions which you design to defend, and those which you purposely oppose. I find much to condemn, and many things to approve.

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