due observance of the Lord's day, when the lawgivers themselves have thus taught the people to regard these laws as obsolete, and to hold in contempt as weak and superstitious, the principles on which they were framed? But an evil remains to be noticed, which appears to me of still greater magnitude, and pregnant with still more disastrous consequences. Has not the measure which I am now deploring a direct, and unavoidable tendency to cherish that licentious spirit which the infidelity of the age has generated, which scoffs at all tenderness of conscience as superstitious scrupulosity, and confounds the most solid and scriptural piety ;-a piety which rests on no other principles than these, that God is to be obeyed rather than men, that his favour is better than life, that no earthly advantage can compensate his displeasure, with the vain imaginations, the baseless dogmas of fanaticism. In saying this, Sir, I speak the language not of anticipation but of fact. What was to be foreseen has happened. Every man who has dared, for fear of offending his God, to avail himself of the privilege which the law allows of declining to exercise on the Sunday, has found himself exposed to the sneer and ridicule of his companions; and is liable to be treated either as a weak enthusiast, or a designing hypocrite; and perhaps, (with equal injury and injustice,) to be even suspected of disaffection to the cause of his king and country. Many more, however, it is to be feared, dreading that contempt which they have not had the virtue to encounter, have violated their consciences by compliance, and thereby lamentably impaired the dominion over their minds of those principles of piety, integrity, and truth, which are the best safeguards of social order and public virtue; and which, therefore, every wise legislator will studiously endeavour to strengthen, and dread to diminish.

What advantage, Sir, can the makers of this law propose, that will balance these evils? What advantage, alas! can balance the weakening of religious principle throughout a nation, the encouraging of the profane in their contempt of things sacred, the discountenancing of the pious in a firm adherence to the dictates of their consciences, the aiding and abetting

of the cause of infidelity by teaching men to disobey the scriptures, (which is as bad at least as disbelieving them,) and the provoking against us, by all these means, of the God of armies and the giver of victory. But to hazard the displeasure of the Almighty at such a crisis, at the very instant when we most want his succour, when our lives, our fortunes, our liberties, our all is at stake, is, surely, of all the political errors which a statesman can commit, the most egregious and infatuated. I tremble, Sir, in common with many more who have the cause of religion and their country at heart, at the unhappy omen. May God avert it! May he put it into the hearts, at least, of our bishops (the appointed guardians of our religion and morals) to oppose the continuance of the prac tice of Sunday-drilling! May he incline the majority of the legislature in both houses to listen to their remonstrances, and by repealing in the present session this part of the general array bill, to "confess their sin*, and give glory to God!" To this prayer, Sir, I am sure, that you, that every true Christian, that every real patriot, will heartily say, amen!

N. G.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.ONE of your correspondents, in an early number of the Christian Observer, described a sect of which, as he observed, ecclesiastical history had given no account to the public; name ly, the Antisectarian Sect.

I beg leave, through the medium of your useful miscellany, to bring to light another sect which, as it appears to me, has been too much overlook, ed; and which, I fear, may be now extending its baneful influence in this country.

*This term may seem severe, but I fear it is just. If the measure here censured originated in religious indifference; (the very spirit of infidelity, and which diffuses itself far more widely than the theory,) then the propriety with which the word is used will not be questioned. And inadvertence, or to a mistake of judgmeut even should we suppose it attributable to in the first instance, yet its continuance, after the experiment of its consequences has been fully made, and much time has been allowed for reflection, will ua. doubtedly be sinful.

The sect of which I am going to speak is of great antiquity, as I mean to prove from the most authentic records. It has, indeed, subsisted in all ages, though it has flourished more particularly at certain periods. It prevailed before the deluge; it throve during many periods of the Jewish history; it was in great vigour at the time of our Saviour's appearance; and it also prospered for some time before the reformation. It remarkably declined after each of the two last mentioned æras, but it is now again a large and comprehensive body; and I doubt whether it may not boast a superiority in point of numbers over every other religious party within this kingdom.

The sect to which I allude is at present without a name, but I will give to it a title as descriptive as any which I can devise: I will term it "the Sect of the NON-DOERS." By this appellation I would denote all that class of persons who maintain the profession of christianity without the practice, including some who are observant merely of its forms, and others who attend also to its doctrines; in short, all those who say and do not.

I suspect, Mr. Editor, that both the prophets in the Old Testament, and the apostles in the New, allude to this sect more frequently, and also oppose it more earnestly, than some of our moderns seem to apprehend; and I shall therefore, in the first place, call the attention of your readers to a few scriptural authorities on the subject.

The first of the Non-doers recorded in holy writ, whom I shall mention, is Cain, a man remarkably condemned in the sacred pages. That he was a professor of religion appears from his offering up sacrifice at the same time with his brother Abel. That he was a Non-doer is plain, both from his killing Abel, and also from that passage in the New Testament which says, "And wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." It will, perhaps, be objected, that the scriptures, in one part of them, describe the error of Cain as consisting in the want of faith. "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, and became heir of the righteousness of faith." I answer that Cain

undoubtedly wanted both faith and works, for the one, if it be genuine (as I am glad to have here the opportunity of observing,) is ever produc tive of the other; but I likewise reply, that he seems not to have neglected to make a certain profession of faith, and that he therefore most clearly is to be ranked among the class of persons of whom I am treating.

My second example of a Non-doer shall be Balaam. With what excellency did he speak upon religion:"How goodly are thy tents,O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.""Let me die," said he, "the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" And again, “If Balaak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandinent of the Lord to do either good or bad of my own mind." Nevertheless, we are guarded in scripture against the religion of Balaam, since we are there told that he had a heart exercised with covetous practices, "and loved the wages of unrighte ousness." He admired the death, but he lived not the life of the righteous, His religion consisted in words rather than in works.

Saul, on whom the divine displeasure fell in so striking a manner, was of the same sect of Non-doers. He offered some sacrifices to the Lord, but refused to execute the command which the Lord gave to him; for he spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen which he was required to slay, and therefore it was said to him by the prophet-"Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.'

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But not to dwell on the case of individuals, I mean to shew that the Jews in general were of the same profess ing and non-doing sect. So strong were their occasional professions, that we sometimes are in danger of mistaking the Jews for a pious and obedient people. How lively, for example, did their religious joy and gratitude appear to be when they sung their song of triumph at the Red

man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law, dishonourest thou God?" and he had before said, "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."

Is it not therefore clear, that however justly we may charge the general body of the Jews with great doctrinal error, and particularly with the grand error of self-righteousness, one chief point of view in which they ought to be contemplated is that of being sayers and not doers-professors of religion without the practice of it?

But let it not be supposed that the Jews have been the only body of Non-doers, and that the sect expired when the Christian dispensation was established. Some even of the hearers of Christ must have inclined to the same error; for how are we otherwise to account for his so strongly guarding them against it. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.""Whosoever heareth these savings of mine and doeth them, shall be likened unto a man that built his house upon a rock. But whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not (here the Doers and the Non-doers constitute his great distinction) shall be likened unto a man that built his house upon the sand, and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall thereof."

That St. Paul perceived this sect to have gained a footing in the Christian Church is plain from his using such expressions as these "There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers; they profess that they know God, but in works they deny him." And that he foresaw the growth of it may be inferred from the following prophetic declaration:"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

That St. Peter was afraid of this non-doing sect is sufficiently clear from his exhorting Christians to add to their faith virtue, and to virtue many other

graces, that so they might not be barren, nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; "for he that lacketh these things," said he, "is blind and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he is purged from his old sins."

That St. Jude was well aware of the existence of the same sect is implied in his remark, that "certain men had crept in unawares-ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. They are clouds," says he, "without water, trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead.”

That St. John wished to guard his followers against it, appears from his observing to them, Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous."

And that St. James was of the same mind with Christ, and with Paul, and with Jude, and with Peter, and with John, is evident from his saying"But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves."-"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works; can faith save him? Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone; for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

It further appears from the Book of Revelation, that towards the close of the first century, when most of the apostles had left the world, the nondoing spirit had begun considerably to prevail in some of the Christian Churches; for unto the angel of the Church at Ephesus, John is commanded to write-"I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place." And unto the Church of Sardis he is enjoined to write

"I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received, and heard, and hold fast, and repent."

I request your pardon, Mr. Editor, for being thus particular. It has been my wish in the first place to establish, by the authentic evidence of scripture, the existence of this non-doing sect in all the earlier times. I will

now speak more briefly of its prevalence in later ages of the Church.

Popery is a religion which has substituted a multitude of forms in the place of religious practice. Under the very plea of piety how much evil has been sanctioned, as well as perpetrated, by the Romish Church. How many unjust wars have been undertaken by Popish princes through a pretended zeal for God! How many corrupt treaties have been formed "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity!" How many distant territories have been violated, under the pretext of propagating the true faith! Who can doubt that many Popes and Cardinals have themselves belonged to the sect of the Nondoers; nay, that they have taken it under their special patronage, and have directed their anathemas against those who have been its oppugners? This sect has contained the great bulk of the Popish laity. It has at the same time embraced in its capacious arms each order of the clergy. It has flourished within the secret recesses of the very monasteries, and both Franciscans and Dominicans have contributed to swell its numbers.

I have already intimated that the sect of which I speak declined soon after the reformation. That great æra introduced both new doctrines and new practice. We Protestants then professed to take our leave of the Non-doers: but have none of us returned to them? A relaxation soon took place in the reformed national establishment, and, in the time of the First Charles, the degeneracy was such that the term cavalier implied at once a son of the Church, and a friend to certain liberties in practice.

But did no Non-doers appear among the Puritans? Among them also might be seen religious profession without religious practice." In the name of the Lord" Cromwell and his adherents trampled on the plainest rules of morality. Extremes often meet. He and his fanatics hated popery, and yet they proved themselves to be as true members of that most Popish sect, I mean the sect of the Non-doers, as any Cardinal or Pope.

But is the non-doing spirit, at the present time, extinguished? Far from it. The vigor to which it has again

attained is the occasion of my now addressing you upon it. This dan gerous sect abounds, as I conceive, Sir, at this hour in our cities; it infests our towns; it pervades our villages; it enters our seats of learning and religion; and our very churches and meeting-houses are not free from it.

Permit me, Mr. Editor, to express my hope that you will expend some considerable portion of your zeal in opposing its destructive progress. I am well assured that many of those enemies of our excellent establishment, who are so incessantly labouring to overthrow it, derive their chief strength from that class of sectaries, within the church, of which I have been complaining. These traitors within the citadel should be exposed, as I conceive, Sir, without reserve; for though they may give to us a shew of numbers, be assured that they constitute our chief danger. Exclude the Non-doers from among the ranks of Christians, and how invincible would then be the select band which would remain. "One of them would chase a thousand" of the infidels, "and two would put ten thousand of them to flight."

I will add one important observation. By the term Non-doer, I have intended, through the whole of this paper, to denote, not merely those who are inattentive to the plainest duties, but all who fall short of that standard of practice, and who want those peculiar dispositions of the mind which are represented in the scriptures as essential to the follower of Christ. Christianity may be considered, first, as revealing to us new facts; secondly, as founding on these facts new doctrines; and thirdly, as raising on the foundation of these facts and doctrines, the superstructure of a new practice altogether different from that of even the most moral unbelievers. If we disbelieve the historic facts of the Gospel, then we are acknowledged infidels; if we deny the doctrines involved in the facts, then undoubtedly we are heretics; if admitting both the facts and the doctrines, and even if also observing the morality of unbelievers, we attain not to the evangelical practice enjoined by our Lord and his Apostles, we are then of that sect of the Non-doers of which 1 have been speaking.