And first, upon the whole, we greatly rejoice, that this all-important subject of Christian union is beginning to awake the public attention, not only in the State of New York; but, in some measure, throughout Protestant Christendom.

Some thirty years ago, when we addressed a portion of our fellow-Christians, in Western Pennsylvania, upon this all-important subject, we met with universal opposition from the leaders of the people, and were considered as the disturbers of religious society: but now, blessed be God, it is not only our privilege to hear of some hundreds of thousands in the United States and elsewhere, that have been awakened, by means of our humble commencement, to advocate this blessed cause, upon the pure scriptural principles of primitive apostolic Christianity; but that also now, at length, there is a voluntary movement in different parts of the camp, beyond the bounds of our co-operative agency, in favor of this blessed cause-the cause of "UNION IN TRUTH AMONGST THE FRIENDS OF TRUTH AND PEACE THROUGHOUT ALL THE CHURCHES;" for this was the sacred design and motto of our commencement,

The mode of procedure, which we proposed and adopted for this desirable purpose, was "to inculcate nothing as matter of Christian faith or duty, for which we could not produce a thus saith the Lord, either in express terms, or by a divinely approved precedent.→→ That thus returning te, and holding fast by, the original standard,-taking the divine word alone for our rule;-the Holy Spirit for our teacher and guide, to lead us into all the truth; and Christ alone, as exhibited in the word, for our salvation; we might, by so doing, be at peace among ourselves, follow peace with all, and holiness, without which none shall see the Lord." For this and the following quotations we refer to our Declaration and Address, published in Washington, Pennsylvania, A. D. 1809. And, offcourse, our proposed terms of Christian communion, or church fellowship, were as follows: see pages 16 and 17, Propositions 1, 8, and 9:

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"1. That the church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else, as none else can be truly and properly called Christians.

"8. That whereas the Christian church, from the beginning, did, and ever will consist of little children and young men, as well as fahters; it is not, therefore, necessary that persons should have a particular knowledge or distinct apprehension of all divinely revealed truths, in order to entitle them to a place in the church; much less should they, for this purpose, be required to make a profession more extensive than their knowledge; but that, on the contrary, their having a due measure of scriptural self-knowledge, respecting their lost and perishing condition by nature and practice; and of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a profession of their faith in, and obedience to him, in all things according to his word, is all that is absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into his church.

"9. That all that are enabled, through grace, to make such a profession, and to manifest the reality of it in their tempers and conduct, should consider each other as the precious saints of God-should love each other as brethren, children of the same family and father, temples of the same spirit, members of the same body, subjects of the same grace, objects of the same divine love, bought with the same price, and joint heirs of the same inheritance. Whom God hath thus joined together, no man should dare to put asunder."

Our views of the heinous nature, ruinous effects, and fatal consequences of divisions. and of the evil causes that have produced and continued them, are thus expressed, pages 17 and 18, Props. 10 and 11:

"10. That division among Christians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. It is anti-Christian, as it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ; as if he were divided against himself, excluding and excommunicajing a part of himself. It is anti-scriptural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority-a direct violation of his express command It is anti natural, as it excites Christians to couten, to liate, and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them. In a word, it is productive of confusion, and of every evil work.

11. That, (in some instances,) a partial neglect of the expressly revealed will of God; and, (in others,) an assumed authority for making the approbation of human opinions, and human inventiona, a term of communion, by introducing them into the constitution, faith or worship of the church; are, and have been, the immediate, obvious, and univer sally acknowledged causes, of all the corruptions and divisions that ever have taken place in the church of God."

Also our views of the constitutional perfection of the Christian church are expressed as follows, page 18, Prop. 12:—

"12. That all that is necessary to the highest state of perfection and purity of the church upon earth is, first, that none be received as members, but such as, having that due measure of scriptural self knowledge described above, do profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the scriptures; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her communion longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their profession by their tempers and conduct. Thirdly, that her ministers, duly and scripturally qualified, incul. cate none other things than those very articles of faith and holiness expressly revealed and enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their administrations they keep close by the observance of all divine ordinances, after the example of the primitive church, exhibited in the New Testament; without any additions whatsoever of human opinions or inventions of men."

Lastly, as to circumstantials concerning which there is so much altercation among professors, we submit as follows, pp. 16, 18, Props. 5, 13:

"5. That with respect to the commands and ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the scriptures are silent as to the express time or inanner of performance, if any such there be; no human authority has power to interfere, in order to supply the supposed deficiency, by making laws for the church; nor can auy thing more be required of Christians in such cases, but only that they so observe these commands and ordinances, as will evidently answer the declared and obvious end of their institution. Much less has any human authority power to impose new commands or ordinances upon the church, which our Lord Jesus Christ has not enjoined. Nothing ought to be received into the faith or wor ship of the church, or he made a term of communion amongst Christians, that is not as old as the New Testament.

"13. Lastly, that if any circumstantials indispensably necessary to the observance of divine ordinances be not found upon the page of express revelation, such, and such only as are absolutely necessary for this purpose, should be adopted, under the title of human expedients, without any pretence to a more sacred origin-so that any subsequent alteration or difference in the observance of these things might produce no contention nor division in the church.".

Adopting, and acting upon, these principles, as apparently the only just and scriptural alternative for the multifarious corruptions and divisions which have desolated and ruined the Christian church, we have reason to rejoice that our humble commencement has beer crowned with a degree of success far exceeding our most sanguine expectations; and which we humbly believe, nothing but the divine approbation could have effected; for we have been most bitterly and vehemently opposed by the leaders of all the partiesAtheistic, Deistic-Catholic and Protestaut, with which we have happened to come in contact. But, blessed be God, in spite of all opposition the good cause of scriptura! reformation is happily prevailing: and no doubt will continue so to do, till all antiChristian errors and corruptions be for ever abolished.

Second, as to the propositions adopted by the Convention, they appear too indefinite; and, of course, have a tendency to produce difficulties, both to the candidates for Christian fellowship, and also to those who are to admit and receive them. We mean the 1st and 2d of the propositions that were adopted by the Convention in their former meeting at Syracuse, and the 1st of those adopted in their latter meeting at Cazenovia. For though each of those propositions may be abstractly true; and that all of them taken together might qualify the candidate for Christian fellowship, and so entitle him to admission into the church; yet a difficult point of radical importance still remains to be determinedviz Does the applicant possess these qualifications? What shall be deemed satisfactory evidence that he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ?-That he is a subject of that regeneration, or new birth, spoken of by Jesus Christ to Nicodemus? Now if the ascer tainment of these queries may be matter of very serious difficulty to the candidate himself, (as it most surely may be, if we advert to daily experience, and to the numerous efforts of preachers and writers to solve the anxious inquiries of doubting Christians, relative to these all-important matters;) how much more so must it be to those who are to be his examinators for admission. Whereas if, instead of these perplexing and almost insoluble difficulties, teachers and churches would proceed upon the divinely prescribed practice of the Apostles; namely, to preach the gospel, as heaven might grant opportunity, to every creature that had not yet professedly embraced it; and upon his being confessedly convinced and disposed to obey it, then to baptize him into the name of the Father, and

of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, for the enjoyment of the promised salvation; as Peter did upon the day of Pentecost, and afterwards carefully teach the baptized to observe all things taught by the Apostles as expressly recorded in the New Testament-they would, in so doing, do every thing, as far as teaching is concerned, that God has intended to be done for the salvation of the world. And it is only by thus assuming and acting upon original ground, as we have proposed, that ever the modern churches can be reduced to New Testament order, so as to exhibit the divine costume of the apostolic churches.

Now if this cannot be done, Christendom must remain in its apostacy; the deleterious causes and ruinous effects of which are well and truly described in the Minutes of the Convention. But we can see no reason why this cannot and should not be done, if only the proper plan be adopted. And this we presume can only be done by a direct appeal to the divine pattern itself; not, indeed, under the influence of a controversial spirit, or for controversial purposes; but rather under the influence of a penitential and heart-humbling spirit, suitably affected with a just sense of our present anti-Christian, apostatized, ruinous condition. Fo rhas not our Lord declared that "every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand"? These things being so, let our humble and earnest appeal be for direct information, how the Apostles proceeded in the execution of their commission for the conversion and salvation of the nations, that so we may perceive, receive, and inculcate their preaching and teaching. And supposing the result of such an humble, earnest, and faithful inquiry should be as follows:-That they preached Christ, the only begotten of the Father, as sent by him into the world to seek and to save that which was lost-that whoever believed in him might not perish, but have an eternal life; and so on to the whole amount of the Apostle's testimony concerning him till 'his ascent into heaven, and afterwards from the day of Pentecost to the end of the book; immersing only such as professedly believed in his name, for the enjoyment of the promised salvation.-Then associating them into churches, with duly qualified bishops and deacons, ordained by the imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer-meeting the first day of every week to commemorate the death and resurrection of the Saviour-for public teaching by the proper officers, and contributions for religious purposes; then habitually continuing in the Apostles' doctrine; living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world: under the vigilaat exercise of a holy discipline-warning the unruly, comforting the feeble-minded, support ing the weak, purging out the old leaven, rejecting the irreclaimable: thus living and walking under the moral and religious influence of the Apostles' doctrine. Now surely we have sufficient documents in the New Testament, without just ground of controversy, for the purpose of forming such societies as this, if we admit the Book to be at all intelligible-a thing which all Christians must do. And would not a Christendom of such societies be infinitely preferable to what it is at present? Indeed, is not this the very thing that is wanting in order to restore the churches to the enjoyment of the Apostles' doctrine, and fellowship; in holy unity, unanimity, and co operation? which never can be till they all speak the same thing, and so be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. And this never can be, till they all speak the dictations of the Holy Spirit, as delivered by the holy Apostles and Prophets. And, upon the whole, would not such an exhibition of Christianity answer all the purposes for which it was divinely intended; namely, the holiness and happiness of the believing and obedient subjects; and through them, the conversion of the world? See John xvii. 20, 93.

PERSONS accustomed from infancy to hear doctrines invented by men, denominated "the gospel," are naturally led to charge gospel with whatever mixture of human imperfection these doctrines may contain.

E. HAMILTON.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GoSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. IV. 1-4

In order to render the search for truth successful, it is requisite that we not only be guided by just principles, as we have briefly attempted to show, but that we observe a proper METHOD..

In former ages a method called the synthetic was in vogue, in every department of science. This consisted in propounding a certain theory or hypothesis, artfully framed, and then supportng it with all the facts and evidences which ingenuity could supply. Each ambitious leader of the various parties in PhiJosophy or Government, Medicine or Religion, advanced his favorite dogmas, which continued to be the creed of his followers, until they happened to be seduced by the more plausible doctrines of a new and popular Master. The consequence of this method was, that little or no improvement was made in any branch of learning. The mists of conjecture and uncertainty rested upon the boundless ocean of human inquiry; and the frail barks of theory and speculation, without a compass or a polar star, became the sport of every tide."

By this system the minds of men were placed in the most unfavorable position for the attainment of true knowledge. A finely spua and decorated system calculated to please the fancy,

and gratify the pride of reason, being once adopted, its advocates were naturally led to imagine that every thing was or ought to be in perfect harmony with it, and were readily disposed to wrest and pervert, though often unconsciously, both evidence and reason. Unenlightened by the clear radiance of the true method, a recklessness, or a no less fatal obstinacy on the part of the leaders; and a superstitious ignorance or submissive timidity on the part of the led, supplied the place of calm, just, and patient investigation. Nevertheless, the adventurous rashness, and restless activity which prevailed at this period were not altogether without useful results. Chance sometimes favor ed the bold experimenter with an important discovery, and this frothy fermentation of the human mind was the prelude to a purer and better product. Men were then just awaked from the sleep of the dark ages. It was the twilight which succeeded a long night of ignorance-the joyful harbinger of returning day. F

It was a glorious era when the genius of the illustrious Bacon ascertained the proper method of scientific investigation, and presented to mankind the Inductive system. This method is first to ascertain particular facts by observation and experience, and then to infer from these certain general truths.

It will be perceived that this is just the reverse of the former method, which boldly devised a theory first, and then brought facts to sustain it. The inductive system, on the contrary, by a slow and careful examination of many facts, leads the mind to infallible conclusions. The former is Hypothesis against Fact the latter, Fact against Hypothesis. The one is Reason and Fancy against Knowledge; and the other Knowledge and Rea son against Fancy. The first was a struggle for victory, and the last a combat for truth. The issue of such a contest could not be doubtful. The inductive method has triumphantly established its authority over the investigations of science, and is universally admitted to be, in the language of its author, "The first and most important instrument of reason in its search after truth."

The consequence has been, that men have been emancipated from the shackles of error, and have pursued without restraint, and with the most unfailing success, their search for truth in the