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ans have availed themselves to the utmost in every project for extending their empire or commerce, and have brought a great part of the globe into dependence upon either their arts or their arms. Now the same attainments in science or policy might be employed to good purpose on the side of religion: and though hitherto subservient to the designs of interest or ambition, may we not flatter ourselves, that at last, they shall become noble instruments in the hand of God, for preparing the world to receive the gospel?"

"The Situation of the World at the time of Christ's appearance." ASermon preached Jan. 6, 1750, by William Robertson, D.D.

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UNDOUBTEDLY we give of fence....if we exercise the prerogative of Christ as sole lawgiver of the church, by making the terms of Christian communion either wider or narrower than he has made them.

At the same time we give of. fence if we claim a right to judge them that are without. It is an offence against common sense to expel men from a society to which they never seemed to belong, and to debar them from privileges to which they never had, or pretended to have any title."

"Ministers cautioned against giving offence," by John Ers. kine, D. D.

"IN him [Christ] every other quality ministered to goodness: he made all the pomp of power a servant to mercy, and seldom or never exerted any showy endowment, but in order to gratify the impulses of love."

VOL. II. New Series.

"Men should not suffer luxu ry to prey on the vitals of chari. ty, or to waste the funds which enable them to do charitable things.

"The Character of Christ." Rev. Thomas Mutter.

"WHEN God, of his bounty, has bestowed on us an abundance of the good things of life, it is but a small testimony of our grat itude to him to bestow some inconsiderable portion of these in obedience to him to supply the wants of our indigent brethren. But the man of a selfish and cold heart goes away sorrowful when this is required of him; if he part with any share of his wealth on such an occasion, it is like tearing away the better part of himself."

"The man of vanity and os. tentation is, in all his actions governed only by worldly censure and applause: he is at the utmost pains to make his virtues known, to have his good proclaimed, and to have his reward from men."

"On kind affection."-John M Farlan, D.D.

"HOWEVER humbling the reflection, it is a fact, that, generally speaking, those who have power, and those who have none are actuated by the same princi. ples; and the difference between the two classes appears, from mul tiplied experiments, to be a mere difference of situation."

"The Peace of the Grave," John M'Kenzie.

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for the moment in which the arm of the Lord should be revealed. Twice had the sun gone down upon the earth, and all, as yet, was quiet at the sepulchre. Death held his sceptre over the Son of God; still and silent, the hours passed on; the guards stood by their post, the rays of the midnight moon gleamed on their helmets, and on their spears: the enemies of Christ exulted in their success; the hearts of his friends were sunk in despondency and sorrow; the spirits of glory waited in anxious suspense to behold the event, and wondered at the depths of the ways of God. At length the morning star arising in the east, announc. ed the approach of light: the third day began to dawn upon the world, when, on a sudden, the earth trembled to its centre and the powers of heaven were shaken; an angel of God descended, the guards shrunk back from the terror of his presence, and fell prostrate on the ground: "his countenance was like light ning, and his raiment was white as snow." He rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre and sat upon it. But who is this that cometh forth from the tomb, with died garments from the bed of death?

He that is glorious in his appear ance, walking in the greatness of his strength? It is thy Prince, O Zion; Christian, it is your Lord He hath trodden the wine-press alone, he hath stained his raiment with blood; but now, as the first born from the

womb of nature, he meets the morning of his resurrection. He arises a conqueror from the grave; he returns with blessings from the world of spirits; he brings salvation to the sons of men. Never did the returning sun usher in a day so glorious; it was the jubilee of the universe. The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted aloud for joy; the Father of mercies looked down from his throne in the heavens; with complacency he beheld his world restored; he saw his work that it was good. Then did the desert rejoice; the face of nature was gladdened before him, when the blessings of the Eternal descended as the dew of heaven for the refreshing of the nations.

"Now we know that our souls are independent of death; and in the same scene we may discover the pledge of God, that they shall be again embodied. The desolation which sin introduced into the kingdom of God is destined to meet entire redress from him who finished transgression. The revocation of the doom of death, the reunion of the spiritual substance with its material organ in the glories of perfection and immortality, is that final restitution of all things which the majesty of God seems to require, and of which he hath given assurance to men, in that he hath raised Jesus from the dead."

"The Resurrection of Jesus," Thomas Hardy, D.D.

REVIEW.

REVIEW OF DR. REES' CYCLOPÆDIA, VOL. X. P. 1.
(Continued from page 85.)

THE original article CONNECTicur is more correct than articles of American geography usually are in this work. Additions containing useful information are made; and the statements are generally accurate. In the account of the courts of law, we are informed that the supreme court of errors has "two stated sessions annually, viz. on the Tuesdays of the weeks preceding the stated sessions of the General Assembly." This is incorrect. The supreme court of errors sits but once a year, viz. on the first Tuesday of June, after the spring session of the Assembly. It would have been desirable that more knowledge should have been obtained, and inserted, in this article; but if we compare it with what has been inserted on similar subjects, there is more occasion for praise than censure. Under the word CONTAGION, the American editors have insert. ed a considerable addition, in which they attempt to shew that the yellow fever and the plague are not contagious diseases. They seem to take it to be established beyond all question, that their theory is correct. We only say, that it would quiet the fears of many of our countrymen could they be made to believe in this doctrine.

From the article COOPER, Lord Shaftesbury, thoughwholly original, we take the liberty of citing a few passages, which shew in a clear point of view, how those who call themselves liberal

and candid writers, endeavor to pervert the minds of their readers, in those miserable daubings of character, which they call biography. It is scarcely necessary to mention that Lord Shaftesbury was an active infidel through his whole life, that he was guilty of the vile hypocrisy of profess. ing great friendship for christianity while attempting to overthrow it, and that his principles tended to the destruction of all virtue. Notwithstanding all this, when his life comes to be written for the Biographia Britannica, by a minister of that gospel on which he had cast systematic contempt, and when it comes to be transcribed and abridged for this Cyclopædia by another minister of the same gospel, nothing is said to warn the young of the snares spread for their souls by this artful destroy. er, nothing of the flimsy sophistry and glaring contradictions which he has endeavored to conceal under splendid language and elab. orate composition, and nothing of the guilt attending the man who labors to disseminate false. hood and error among his fellow men. On the contrary he is praised as a disinterested patriot and a sincere inquirer after truth and virtue. Take as samples the following passages :

ment, lord ASHLEY" (his title at that time)"was indefatigable in the promotion and support of every measure in favor of liberty, without regard to the person by whom it was introduced, influenced unquestionably by au attention to the

"During the remainder of that Parlia

public good, without feeling the paltry motives which too frequently actuate political men."

Speaking of a private correspondence in which his lordship had been engaged, and which, 66 was on that account unfit for public view," the editor says,

"It nevertheless set his lordship's integrity in the most amiable point of light."

In the account which is given of his writings we are informed that,

"Lord Shaftesbury's Letter on Enthusiasm was written from excellent motives; that it contains many admirable remarks, delivered in a neat and lively strain, but that it wants precision, conveys but little information, and contains some exceptionable passages."

The same character is given of the Essay, in which he attempts to establish the prepos. terous doctrine that ridicule is the test of truth; and several of his other works are spoken of in still higher terms of commendation.

In summing up his character the editor says,

"Lord Shaftesbury, in all his works, shews himself a zealous advocate for liberty, the steady friend of virtue, and a true believer in natural religion. He sometimes professed himself a Christian; but his writings in many parts, render his faith in the divine mission of Christ very questionable."

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bolster up infidelity, and to give currency to the false and hollow professions of those, who despise all true virtue, deny the Lord that bought them, and cast contempt on the only system of religious truth which can make men comfortable here, or blessed hereafter. What sort of a Chris. tian is he, who holds that a declared, active champion of infi. delity, possessed of talents and learning, and enjoying all the advantages of a preached gospel, can yet be "the steady friend of virtue." Certainly he agrees not with him who said, "if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema maran atha.” That our read. ers may see how contradictory, and indefensible the doctrines of Shaftesbury are, we give a sy nopsis of them from Dr. Dwight's Sermons on Infidel Philosophy.

Lord Shaftesbury declares,

"That the belief of future rewards and punishments is noxious to virtue, and takes away all motives to it;

That the hope of rewards, and the fear of punishments, makes virtue mercenary;

That to be influenced by rewards is disingenuous and servile; and

That the hope of reward can. not consist with virtue; and yet,

That the hope of rewards is not derogatory to virtue, but a proof, that we love virtue;

That the hope of rewards, and the fear of punishments, however mercenary it may be accounted, is, in many instances, a advantage, security, and support, of virtue; and

This is just such a character as a confirmed infidel would have given, except perhaps he would have despised the affected prudery of saying, that "his author's faith in the divine mission of Christ was very questionable." We have not room to say all that might be said with propriety, on the blame attached to those who call themselves Christians, and yet lend all their influence to (i. e. the rewards) of virtue, and

great

That all obligation to be virtuous arises from the advantages

from the disadvantages (i. e. the punishments) of vice:

That those are censurable, who represent the gospel as a fraud (or imposition ;)

That he hopes the discourses of Dr. Whichcot will reconcile the enemies of christianity to it, and make Christians prize it more highly than before; and

That he hopes Christians will be secured against the temper of the irreconcileable enemies of the faith of the gospel; and yet

He represents salvation as a ridiculous thing; and insinuates, That Christ was influenced, and directed, by deep designs of ambition, and cherished a savage zeal and persecuting spirit; and

That the Scriptures were a mere artful invention to secure a profitable monopoly (i. e. of sinister advantages to the inven. tors :)

That man is born to religion, piety, and adoration, as well as to honor and friendship;

That virtue is not complete

without piety; yet

He labors to make virtue wholly independent of piety: That all the warrant for the authority of religious symbols (i. e. the institutions of christian ity) is the authority of the mag

istrate:

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ought to be received when established by the magistrate; yet

He grossly ridicules it, where it was thus established:

That religion and virtue appear to be so nearly connected, that they are presumed to be inseparable companions; and yet

That atheists often conduct so well, as to seem to force us to confess them virtuous:

That he, who denies a God, sets up an opinion against the very well being of society, and yet

That atheism has no direct natural tendency to take away a just sense of right and wrong:

That atheism is greatly deficient in promoting virtue; and That the natural tendency of it is to take away a just sense of right and wrong."

VOL. X. P. 2.

THE account given of St. Paul's two Epistles to the CORINTHIANS is selected with great propriety and judgment. The pertinency of the topics which the apostle introduces, and the evidencewhichthese epistles afford in support of the Christian religion, are very clearly exhibited Wegive this approbation with more readi. ness, as many articles relative to the Scriptures, and the truths they contain, are written in a manner which we are far from approving. The authors cited are Doddridge, Whitby, and Paley. No additions are made to the original article.

We were much surprised to find that the article COTTON has received no additions whatever

That ridicule is the test of from the American editors. On truth; and yet

That ridicule itself must be brought to the test of reason:

That the Christian religion

subjects so interesting to this country, as the cultivation of a staple commodity, it surely is not too much to expect that some

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