many strong passions, too many depraved propensities, to be subdued and purified by abstract reasoning or refined theories. They must be addressed in the power of that voice, which speaks from heaven; they must have truth presented with an authority that cannot be disobeyed with impunity, and with sanctions that can be resisted only to their own ruin. Now all this is precisely what the scriptures, and the scriptures alone supply."

SONNET.

[From Goodier's Memoirs.]

As tempest toss'd upon the stormy main
We view a little skiff before us ride,
And boldly wrestling with the adverse tide,
The wish'd for haven all securely gain;

How eagerly we urge our bark along,

Nor heed the swellings of the boisterous gale
That scatters in the wind our slender sail
While the black mountain-billows round us throng;
So when the virtuous yield their mortal trust,
Though youth and beauty perish in the tomb,
Yet hope shines brighter 'mid the funeral glooin

To guide us to the mansions of the just;
And we will haste to gain that land of rest
Where hope is certainty, and virtue blest.

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

Selected from Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria and the Holy Land, in 1823 and 1824, and introduced here from the Religious Magazine, published at Philadelphia.

HOUSE OF THE DEAD.

"WHILE walking out, one evening, a few fields distance from Der el Kamer, with Hanna Doomani, the son of my

host, to see a detached garden belonging to his father, he pointed out to me, near it, a small solid stone building, apparently a house; very solemnly adding, Kabbar Veity,' the sepulchre of our family. He then directed my attention to a considerable number of similar buildings, at a distance, which to the eye, are exactly like houses, but which are in fact, family mansions for the dead. This may perhaps serve to explain 1 Samuel, xxv. 1 ; 1 Kings, ii. 34 ; Job, xxx. 23 ; Proverbs, ii. 18, 19, &c."

"The practice which was most revolting to me was this: when the master of the house found in the dish any dainty morsel, he took it out with his fingers, and applied it to my mouth. This was true Syrian courtesy and hospitality; and had I been sufficiently well-bred, my mouth would have opened to receive it. This custom may illustrate Matthew xxvi, 23; and John xiii. 25-27."

vant.

"The manner in which the Samaritan priest desired me, on parting, to express our good will, was by an action than which there is not one more common in all the LeHe put the fore finger of his right hand parallel to that of his left, and then rapidly rubbed them together, while I was expected to do the same, repeating the words sui, sui, that is, right, right,' or in common acceptation, 'together, together!' It is in this manner that persons express their consent on all occasions; on concluding a bargain, or engaging to bear one another company, and on every kind of friendly agreement or good understanding. May not this serve to explain the phrase in Matthey vi. 3, let not thy left hand know,' &c. ? So much is said in the Old Testament of the speaking of the eyes, hands, and even feet, that it is scarcely understood by Englishmen. They should see the expressive and nu

merous gesticulations of foreigners when they converse Perhaps the expression of Solomon, in Proverbs vi. 13, may appear more natural when it is considered, that the mode of sitting on the ground brings the feet into view nearly in the same direct line as the hands; the whole body crouching down together, and the hands, in fact, often resting upon the feet.”

OBITUARY.

[Communicated.]

It is our painful duty to record the death of the Rev. Abiel Abbot, D. D., pastor of the first congregational church in Beverly. On account of sickness, he had passed the winter in South Carolina and Cuba. His health was materially improved. About the first of June, he arrived at Charleston, on his return to his family and friends. On the first sabbath, he preached in the Unitarian church; and on Monday embarked for New York. On Tuesday, he was troubled with a pain in his head, which was not considered dangerous, but which continued until Saturday the seventh, when he expired, as the vessel came to anchor in quarantine. His remains were interred on Staten Island.

In the death of Dr Abbot the cause of truth has sustained a severe loss. For he was promoting the spread of rational religion, in his own way, as effectually as any other individual. In his own way, we say, and this was not, by boldly attacking ancient errors; it was not, by rudely disturbing deep-rooted prejudices; it was not, by giving definite statements of liberal sentiments; it was

not by distinguishing himself as a partizan. But it was, by fearlessly advocating the principles of Protestantism and the reformation; it was, by zealously defending the rights of congregational churches; it was, by turning men from creeds and human leaders to the only infallible guide of faith and practice; it was, by constantly exhibiting the grand design of the gospel; it was, by serious, and practical, and eloquent discourses; it was, by persuasive, and earnest, and solemn appeals to the heart and conscience; it was, by inculcating the spirit of Christ as the one thing needful, the spirit of meekness, humility, benevolence, charity and devotion; it was, by habitually manifesting this spirit in his own life and character. In this way, he aided the progress of liberal christianity. For when his opposers heard from a Unitarian such interesting and evangelical discourses; when they witnessed in a Unitarian, such engagedness and fidelity; when they beheld in a Unitarian, such an exhibition of the christian character, their enmity was subdued; their opposition was disarmed; their prejudices were softened; their candor was awakened; their charity was increased; their desire for truth was encouraged; and from loving the Christian, the engaging preacher, the faithful pastor, the sympathizing friend, the judicious counsellor, the amiable and instructive companion, the accurate scholar, the affectionate husband, the tender father, they gradually acquired a love for those liberal views of the gospel which contributed so largely to the formation of such a character. Our loss is therefore great indeed. And in no way can we so effectually improve this warning of our Heavenly Father as by a close imitation of the christian virtues of the deceased.

MR EDITOR-I have lately been reading an edition of Saurin's sermons, published last year at Princeton, N. J., unquestionably under the patronage, indirect at least, of the theologians of that region. I was somewhat surprised to find Robert Robinson's preface inserted in this edition, as it might have been omitted with great plausibility, being not necessary to the illustration of the sermons, and quite at variance with certain sentiments which have received the sanction of high authority in the place of publication. With your permission, I will subjoin some extracts from this preface. Even if the excellent principles they contain be not yet authoritatively adopted in Princeton, yet they are well worthy of being reprinted, and are, I trust, particularly appropriate for a miscellany of the nature of the Advocate. A READER.

"In order to vie with the church of Rome in point of uniformity, and to excel it in point of truth, the reformers extracted what they supposed the sense of scripture; not on plain, obvious, essential truths, but on doctrines extremely perplexed and difficult; these extracts they called