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virtue in the abstract, than real, existing human beings; while Addison presents you with actual men and women; real, life figures, compounded of the faults and the excellencies, the wisdom and the weaknesses, the follies and the virtues of humanty. By the Avarus, the Eubulus, the Misellus, the Sophron, the Zosima, and the Viator of Johnson, we are instructed in the soundest truths, but we are not struck with any vivid exemplification. We merely hear them, and we hear them with profit, but we do not know them. Whereas, with the members of the Spectator's club we are acquainted. Johnson's personages are elaborately carved figures, that fill the niches of the saloon; Addison's are the living company which animate it. Johnson's have more drapery; Addison's more countenance. Johnson's gentlemen and ladies, scholars and chambermaids, philosophers and coquettes, all argue syllogistically, all converse in the same academic language; divide all their sentences into the same triple members, túrn every phrase with the same measured solemnity, and round every period with the same polished smoothness. Addison's talk learnedly or lightly, think deeply, or prate flippantly, in exact concordance with their character, station, and habits of life."

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representation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, as it lies in the Bible, and the great and necessary use that is to be made of it in our religion. It is a doctrine that runs through the whole of our serious transactions with God, and therefore it is necessary to be known by men. Without the mediation of the Son and the influences of the Spirit, we can find no way of access to the Father, nor is there any other hope of his favour proposed in the gospel.

I thought it proper also, to publish it at this season to let the world know, that though 1 have entered into some farther inquiries on this divine subject, and made humble attempts to gain clearer ideas of it in order to vindicate the truth and glory of this sacred article, yet I have never changed my belief and profession of any necessary and important part of it, as will here appear with abundant evidence.

In this sermon I have followed the track of no particular scheme whatsoever; but have represented the sacred three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in that light, in which they seem to lie most open to the common view of mankind in the word of God: and I am glad to find what I have drawn out in this manner into seventeen propositions appears so agreeable to the general sense of our fathers in this article, that I don't think any one of these propositions would be denied or disputed by our divines of the last or present age, who have had the greatest name and reputation of strict orthodoxy.

If I may express the substance of it in a few words, 'tis

this: It seems to me to be plainly and evidently revealed in scripture, That both the Son and the Holy Ghost have such a communion in true and eternal Godhead, as to have the same names, titles, attributes and operations ascribed to them, which are elsewhere ascribed to the Father, and which belong only to the true God; and yet there is such a plain distinction between them, as is sufficient to support their distinct personal characters and offices in the great work of our salvation: and this is what has generally been called the Trinitarian Doctrine, or the Doctrine of the Three Persons and One God.

REMARKABLE CONVERSION OF A

DEIST.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.

The energy of this eternal truth was most forcibly applied to the heart of the late Rev. W. Tennant, of America, on the fol lowing remarkable occasion:In his neighbourhood resided a professed Deist, a man of considerable attainments as to worldly wisdom. He often, from what ever motive, attended the ministry of Mr. Tennant, whose powers as a preacher were of a superior kind: his skill in the scriptures being deep, and his style rich, argumentative, and impressive. Learning once the intention of the Deist to attend divine service on the following Sabbath, Mr. Tennant most diligently prepared for the occasion, by meditating upon, and fixing in his mind every argument which might work a conviction. Thus

prepared, he ascended the pul pit. "But who is Paul, or who is Apollos? Paul may plant, and Apollos may water; but it is God that giveth the increase.", Praise and prayer being concluded, the discourse began; but soon the preacher's memory was plunged into perfect oblivion; and not being in the custom of using notes, he in vain endeavoured to proceed his mind was sealed up as to the subject of discourse; and he was under the painful necessity of confessing his inability, and concluded with prayer. The Spirit of God was now at work. The Deist was led to reflect upon the extraordinary case: he had, on former occasions, experienced and admired Mr. Tenaant's powers of oratory. From his concluding prayer on this occasion he found him in vigour of mind. To what could he trace the sudden dereliction of his powers, when entering upon such a dis course? Happy man! he was led to discover in it the finger of God! The joyful change soon reached Mr. Tennant, who, doubtless, was deeply humbled and grateful; for he ever afterwards spoke of his dumb sermon as the best he ever preached.

[Evan. Mag,

FRAGMENTS.

CHRISTIANITY.

CHRISTIANITY peculiarly consists in the mystery of a Redeemer, who by uniting in himself the divine and human natures, has delivered men from the corruption of sin, to reconcile them to God in his divine person. It therefore instructs

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men in these two important such suitable remedies against truths, that there is a God, whom them? they are capable of knowing and enjoying; and that there is that corruption in their nature, which renders them unworthy of this

CAIN AND ABEL.

blessing. It is of equal impor- [From Bishop Hall's Contemplations.]

fance to know both the one and the other of these points. It is equally dangerous for man to know God without the knowl edge of his own misery, and to know his own misery without the knowledge of a Redeemer, who can deliver him from it. For one without the other, be gets either the pride of philosophers, who know God, but not their own misery; or the de spair of Atheists, who know their own misery, but know nothing of a Redeemer.

And thus, as it is equally necessary to man to possess a knowledge of each of these principles, so is it to be ascribed alone to the mercy of God, that he has been pleased to teach them to us. And this is the office of Christianity, and that in which its peculiar essence consists.

Let men' examine the economy of the world on this princi ple, and they will see, whether all things do not tend to establish these two fundamental truths of our religion.

If any one knows not himself to be full of pride, ambition, concupiscence, weakness, misery, and unrighteousness, he is blind. And if, knowing this, he has no desire for deliverance, what can be thought of so irrational a man? How then can we do otherwise than esteem a religion, which so well understands the defects of mankind? Or do "otherwise than wish that religion may be true, which provides

It hath been an old and happy danger to be holy; indifferent actions must be careful to avoid offence; but I do not care what devil or what Cain be angry that I do good or receive good.

There was never any nature without envy; every man is born a Cain, hating that goodness in another, which he neglected in himself. There was never envy that was not bloody; for if it eat not another's heart, it will eat our own; but unless it is restrained, it will surely feed itself with the blood of others, oftimes in act, always in affection.

And that God, who (in good) accepts the will for the deed, condemns the deed in evil. If there be an evil heart, there will be an evil eye; and if both these, there will be an evil hand.

How early did martyrdom come into the world! The first man that died, died for religion; who dare measure God's love by outward events, when he sees wicked Cain standing over bleeding Abel, whose sacrifice was first accepted, and now himself is sacrificed!

Death was denounced on man as a curse; yet, behold it first lights upon a saint: how soon was it altered by the mercy of that just hand which inflicted it! If death had been evil and life good, Cain had been slain and Abel had survived. Now that it begins with him God loves, “ O death, where is thy sting!"

ANECDOTE OF JOHN KEPLER.

If any man can seriously believe that chance may have conducted things with all this regularity for so many ages, he would do well to repeat honest Kepler's experiment. John Kepler was a plain man of good natural understanding, and the best acquainted with the structure of the universe of any of his day. He was very unwilling to believe that chance had built it, though chance had then many zealous advocates, who loudly contended that the whole honour of the work belonged to that blind divinity. To give the question a fair discussion, he resolved to try whether chance could do a much

more simple thing, with the letters that compose John Kepler's name, in Greek. He wrote these ten letters upon ten slips of paper: these he rolled carefully up, hustling them in a hat, and then drew them out one by one, to see whether, in repeated trials, they would come out in the required order. He continued his experiment until he was quite tired, without success. Indeed, according to the best computations I can make, chance was not likely to do right above one time in 163,459,296,000. The fortuitous concourse of atoms has had many a more serious answer, but never had a better one.

De Stella Nov. in ped. Serp.

Miscellaneous.

We are happy to observe, in almost every part of the Christian world, an increasing attention to the interests of Zion. The General Synod of the Assotiated Reformed Church in North America have manifested their concern for the Church, and their zeal to furnish well qualified Pastors and Teachers, in the following Act for establishing a Theological Seminary, passed at Philadelphia, June 4, 1805.

"WHEREAS the ministry of reconciliation is the great means instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ for perfecting his saints, and edifying his body; and, Whereas, he has required in his word that they who are called to this excellent and important work, be furnished with gifts and graces above those of other believers; especially, that they be faithful men; apt to teach; workmen who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth; wise stewards to give the household their portion of meat in due season; able to convince gainsayers, to stop the mouths of

unruly and vain talkers; to reprove, to rebuke, to exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine and authority; and to know how they ought to behave themselves in the house of God, ruling well, and being ensamples to the flock-And, Whereas, the aforesaid qualifications, since the miraculous effusions of the divine Spirit have ceased, cannot be obtained in any other way, than by his blessing upon the cultivation of natural talent, sanctified by his grace; which cultivation consists in a good acquaintance with those various branches of literature, which are necessary

for understanding, expounding, defending, and applying all the parts of revealed truth-And, Whereas, seminaries erected for the special purpose of instructing the rising ministry in things immediately connected with their holy vocation, are the most probable means of attaining the proposed end, have been cherished by the Christian church with much affection from the earliest ages; and have been remarkably owned of God, for the preservation of her purity and glory And, Whereas, the Lord has been graciously pleased to incline the hearts of Christians, both at home and abroad, to assist the Associate Reformed Church in the design of establishing such a seminary: Therefore,

The Ministers and Elders in general Synod convened, do hereby Direct and Ordain,

That their seminary be forthwith established in the city of New-York, for the sole purpose of preparing for the work of the ministry such young men as, having passed through a previous course of liberal education, shall resolve to consecrate themselves to the service of God in the gospel of his Son.

And the Synod further direct, That the course of instruction in said seminary be conducted by a professor in theology; to be chosen by their ballot at all times hereafter, and to hold his office and emoluments until removed by a vote of two-thirds of the General Synod: which vote shall not pass till a meeting subsequent to that at which it shall have been proposed; provided, that this shall not be construed to impair the power of the Synod, on any charge of gross error or immo

rality, to suspend a professor from the exercise of his functions, till judgment be definitively given.

And the Synod further direct, That the outline of instruction in the seminary be as follows: viz.

1. The scriptures themselves shall be the great subject of study.

2. The period of study in the seminary shall be four years; and the session shall continue for seven months successively; that is to say, from the first Monday of November till the first Monday of June.

3. These four years shall be divided into two equal parts; and the course of study shall proceed as follows:

Every student shall begin and close the day with exercises of secret devotion; uniting to prayer the reading of a portion of God's word; and using as a help some book of impressive practical religion. In these exercises he is to read the scriptures, not as a critic, but as a Christian; as a saved sinner, who knows no other way of peace but that which belongs to him in common with the least of God's redeemed ; and who lives by faith, for daily counsel, and strength, and consolation, upon that Saviour, whom he is afterwards to preach to others.

Such a portion of every day, (the Lord's day excepted) shall be devoted to the study of the scriptures in the original tongues, and of that literature which facilitates this study, as by a faithful improvement of time, may enable the student, at the expiration of his course, to read the originals with tolerable ease.

The holy scriptures in our

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