tions, why then we must consent to be neglected. Yet we cannot but hope, notwithstanding the dust of oblivion has begun to gather upon us, that we shall outlive the present race of fashionables, who strut in blue, and the smaller fry also, who have come up upon the face of the land. We rejoice to see them going out as pioneers; but we dislike to see them put on the airs of as much importance as if they were the main body. We do not like to see the musket aping the gait and the thunder of the cannon, nor do we like, (to follow up the figure,) to see the boy who has only witnessed the dis charge of a platoon, put on the airs of a veteran who has faced the cannon's mouth and heard the roar of artillery.

Mr. Editor, we think we have reason to complain of the treatment which we receive from the would-be-wise ones of the present day. They have become so infatuated with their own wisdom and the boasted march of mind, that we are not consulted at all, or if ever consulted, it is only from a curiosity to know into what strange absurdities the fathers had fallen. We are looked upon very much in the light of an old fashioned country gentleman who bolts sans ceremonie, into their front parlours, with heels well nailed and visage smeared with dust. They are strangely disconcerted at the sight of us, and were it not that they have learned from tradition that they ought to venerate their fathers, we should soon be ordered into the kitchen or into the street. This is the way that the world is going. We have opened our mouth to forewarn this generation of their danger, and these are, our last words-Let the hearts of the children be turned to their fathers. OCTAVO.

ORDINATIONS AND INSTALLATIONS. 1829, April 16, Ordained at South Boston, Mass. as a Baptist Evangelist, Rev. THOMAS DRIVER Sermon by Rev. C. P. Grosvenor, from Isai. xiv. 15. 1829, April 22, Installed, Rev. DAVID PERRY, as Pastor of the Evan. Cong. Church in Cambridgeport, Mass. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Beccher, from 1 Cor.

iii. 7.

1829, April 23, Installed, Rev. JAMES GILPATRICK, as Pastor of the 1st Baptist Church in Bluehill, Me. Sermon by Rev. Daniel Merrill.

1829, April 23, Ordained, Rev. ANSON ROOT, as Pastor of the Cong. Church in Danbury, Conn. Sermon by Rev. Hiram Rood, of Gilmantown, N. H.

from 2d Tim. ii. 2.

1829, April 29, Ordained, Rev. JOHN W. SALTER, as Pastor of the 24 Cong. Church in Kingston, Mass. Sermon by Rev. John A. Albro. 1823, April 29, Installed, Rev. JONATHAN Cogswell, Cong. Church in New-Britain, Conn. Sermon by Rev. C. J. Tenney, of

Weathersfield, from Acts xiv. 1.

as Pastor of the

1829, April 29, Installed, Rev. SYLVESTER G. PIERCE, as Pastor of the Presb. Church in Dracutt, Mass. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Woods, of Andover. 1829, May 6, Ordained, at Keene, N. H. as an Evangelist, Rev. EDWARD HALE. Sermon by Rev. Mr. Merriam, of Royalston, Mass.

1829, May 8, Installed, Rev. ELISHA BACON, as Pastor of the Cong. Church in Sanford, Me. Sermon by Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, of Gorham. 1829, May 13, Ordained, Rev. ABEL G. DUNCAN, as Pastor of the Cong Church in Brooks and Damon, Me. Sermon by Rev John Smith, D. D

Prof. in Th. Sem. Bangor.

1829, May 13, Ordained, Rev. BEZALEEL SMITH, as Pastor of the Cong. Church in Rye, N. H. Sermon by Rev. Di Dana, from Rom 1. 16. 1829, May 14, Ordained, Rev. JOHN L, SIBLEY, as Pastor of the Cong. Church in Stow, Mass. Seimon by Rev. Dr. Lowell, of Boston.

1829, May 21, Ordained, Rev. FRANCIS WHITEFIELD EMMONS, at Providence, to take the Pastoral care of the Baptist Church in Eastport, Me.

Sermon by Rev. Mr. Seaman.

Nathanael Emmons, D. D. of the Cong. Church in Franklin, Mass. Sermon 1829, June 17, Ordained, Rev. ELAM SMALLEY, as co-pastor with Rev.

by Rev. Otis Thompson, from John xvi. 12.

ACTS xxviii. 23.......... Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

THOUGH the Jews killed the prophets, and crucified the Lord of glory; yet God did not treat them according to their deserts, but waited to be gracious, and continued to call upon them to accept of salvation. Our Saviour, who knew the will of his Father, directed his Apostles to make the first offers of his mercy to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the Jews in general. Just as he was ascending up into heaven, he said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the proph ets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, Thus it, is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." The Apostles religiously observed this admonition of Christ, and wherever they went, and found any of the Jews, they made the first offer of mercy to them; though they generally rejected it. We find several striking instances of this kind recorded for the instruction of future ages.When Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch in Pisidia, the Jews were the first to hear the gospel, and the first to reject it. "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Paul treated the Jews, and the Jews treated the gospel, in the same manner, at Corinth. The sacred historian says, "Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." Notwithstanding Paul met with such violent and repeated opposition

from the Jews; he still persisted in making them the first of fer of mercy, wherever he preached the gospel. Having appealed to Cæsar, and arrived at Rome, though he was confined, as a prisoner, he sent for the Jews to come and see him, and proposed to preach to them. They came to his lodging at the time appointed. "He expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning to evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." But before the unbelievers departed, Paul addressed them in this plain and pointed manner: "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet, unte our fathers, saying, Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known, therefore, unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." This was an awful threatening to the Jews, and a gracious promise to the Gentiles, and calculated to make the deepest impression upon those who had rejected the gospel. And we are told it did cut the impenitent and unbelieving to the heart: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.” They could not bear the thought, that God should not only take the gospel from them, but send it to the Gentiles, and make them hear it, This text, in its connection, suggests this serious truth to our consideration:

That God can make whom he pleases, hear the gospel.

This may be illustrated by the following observations:

1. God can bring whom he pleases, to hear the gospel. The word of God which contains the gospel, has always been more or less confined to certain places. It was for many ages confined to Judea, which he gave to the seed of Abraham, his peculiar people. They exclusively enjoyed the distinguishing blessings of divine revelation. This the psalmist gratefully acknowledges. "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes, and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord." And Paul places the sacred scriptures among the greatest privileges of the Jewish nation. "What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them, were committed the oracles of God." But while God confined his word to the land of Israel, he was able to bring whom he pleased, to the light of divine truth. He brought many individuals out of other nations to become proselytes to the

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true religion. Some he brought by captivity; some by famine; and some by necessity. In the days of the Judges, he brought Ruth and her mother to Judea. In the days of Solomon, he brought not only the queen of Sheba, but many kings and princes, to the place where he recorded his name, and revealed his will. And he brought men out of every nation under heaven, to hear the gospel preached on the day of Pentecost. Though the gospel has since had a wider spread; yet many nations have remained totally ignorant of it. But God has been pleased to bring thousands and thousands of individuals, from their native lands of darkness, to lands of gospel * light, and given them an opportunity to hear and embrace the gospel. And though there are many, even where the gospel is enjoyed, who neglect to hear it; yet God is able to bring one and another, and as many as he pleases, within the hearing of divine truth. God leads and guides every person just where he sees fit. When he pleases, he can bring the stupid, the obstinate, and even the #1 most malignant infidels to his house and to his word; when they are constrained to hear it. Indeed, it is owing to his powerful agency upon the minds of sinners in general, in all our religious societies, that they ever come within the walls of his house, and the hearing of his word. This is evident, from the conduct of those, who constantly absent themselves from all places of public worship. The divine agency was exerted to bring hearers to Paul, while he was confined at Rome. For more than two years, God brought just whom he pleased to hear that poor prisoner, and faithful minister: and no doubt, in the course of that time, he brought a great many to hear the gospel, who had not the least intention to hear it, before they went. How often does God, in times of awakening, bring careless and stupid sinners to places, which they meant to avoid, and to that powerful and effectual preaching, which they dreaded to hear? By all such instances, he gives the clearest evidence, that he is able to bring whom he pleases to the gospel; which is one step towards making them hear it.

2. God can make whom he pleases attend to the gospel. Men may be within hearing of the gospel, and yet not attend to it. They may hear as though they heard not; and this is always the case, when they hear without attention. There is too much reason to fear, that a large proportion of those, who usually convene on the sabbath, and place themselves in a situation, in which they might attend to the gospel, only hear the sound of it, without regarding its solemn and important meaning. They suffer their eyes and attention to wander, and fix upon unseasonable, uninteresting, and even trifling objects. But when God brings men to the gospel, he can make them attend to it. This he often did while Christ was preaching. He not only drew out multitudes to hear him, but ex

cited their attention to the gracious and solemn words, which fell from his lips. He made them crowd around him, and hear him with the most profound and fixed attention. He frequently awakened the attention of multitudes to the preaching of the apostles. It seems he made all attend to Paul's preaching at Rome. They heard him from morning to evening. Their attention was undoubted ly engaged; and whether they were pleased, or displeased with the gospel, they heard it with solemnity. There are, at this day, seasons, in which God calls up the attention of whole congregations to the preaching of the gospel, and makes almost every individual, from sabbath to sabbath, hear with seriousness and awe. And in times of the greatest declension and carelessness, he makes this, or that, or the other person, hear his word, with close and eager attention. This shows, that he is always able to make whom he pleases attend to the gospel, in spite of their hearts.

3. God can make whom he pleases, understand the gospel. The gospel contains the whole counsel of God, or the great scheme, which he devised from eternity, to glorify himself in the salvation of sinners. The gospel contains a system of great and interesting truths, concerning God, and intelligent beings. It unfolds the purposes of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It lays open the hearts of men, and their perishing condition by nature. It proposes the terms upon which they may find faveur with God. And it contains the denunciations of divine wrath against all whe refuse to comply with the terms of salvation. These are truths, which men have always been extremely unwilling to understand. The Jews would not, if possible, understand their priests and prophets, but would and did in general remain extremely ignorant ol divine truth, though they had line upon line, and precept upon precept. And we find, that when Christ came, they had almost entirely lest the knowledge of the scriptures, and of the true design of the dispensation under which they lived: Nor were they willing to be instructed by Christ. Though they flocked to hear him preach, yet they would not understand his doctrines. Of this be often reminded them, and for this he often reproved them. "Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word. If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." All men are naturally unwilling to know the character, the conduct, and the designs of God, and still more unwilling to be acquainted with their own hearts. Hence they hear divine truths with reluctance, and will endeavour to misunderstand the gospel. It is really astonishing, how little those who live under and how