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them the arguments on both sides of contested questions.

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Whoever considers how numerous the protestant dissenters in this kingdom are; that they claim a liberty of choosing their own ministers, of judging for themselves of the sense of scripture, and what rites and modes of worship that enjoins; and where there is no particular rule, of determining for themselves what is most subservient to christian edification; whoever considers this, will not wonder that there have been, and are, different sentiments among them; that they are ranged under different denominations, and that there are sometimes divisions and contentions among them. These Dr. Doddridge saw and lamented; and was as careful, as he could be, consistently with keeping a good conscience, to be upon friendly terms with them all, to shew a candid temper to those of a different persuasion, and promote the like in them. He was very little inclined to contend about technical phrases of human invention, which have, with equal frailty, been idolized by some and anathematized by others. A rigid spirit, and a stiffness about indifferent things, he very much disliked, especially when attended with uncharitableness. He thought there was always reason to suspect those persons and principles, that would alienate our hearts from any of the faithful servants of Christ, because they do not agree with our sentiments about the circumstantials of religion; and that Christians had great need to be cautious, lest they abuse their

liberty to gratify those irregular passions, which, to whatever high original they may pretend, were indeed to be traced no higher than a carnal principle, and to be numbered among the works of the flesh.' It grieved him to see impositions upon conscience any where; especially among dissenters, as they were so evidently contrary to their own principles. Our interest,' saith he, hath received great damage by unscriptural impositions and uncharitable contentions with each other.' It appears from what was said above of his behaviour to his pupils, that he thought it unjust in itself, and very injurious to the interests of religion, to be rigorous with young ministers and students about their particular sentiments, and to tie them down to profess their assent to formularies, containing points of a very abstruse or a very doubtful nature: He thought it also foolish in the imposers, as being likely to prejudice them against those points, and drive them into the opposite, and per haps worse, extreme. When therefore the Author of Christianity not founded on argument had derived this practice, he left others to defend it, who were chargeable with it, or approved it.

It was an inviolable maxim with him, 'never to condemn his brethren as having forfeited all title to the name of Christians, because their creeds or confessions of faith did not come up to the standard of his own; yea, he thought that if it were a matter that seemed of so great importance, as to give some reason to suspect, that the mistake was

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fatal (which surely nothing can be, which does not greatly affect men's tempers towards God and each other), even that consideration should engage us to

GENTLEMEN,

gentleness and tenderness, rather than severity, if peradventure we may remove their prejudi

ces.

To the Editors of the Christian Disciple. not loose sight of it, I am confi dent that he will not withhold his blessing.

EVERY periodical publication, with which I have been acquainted, has been fair in promise. Yours, I hope, will be among the very few, which have not disappointed expectation.

Permit me to observe, that I am much pleased with the title which you have chosen. If I understand your object in the se lection of this name, and if this object should be accomplished, it will give a charm to your book, which, if it do not increase the number of its readers, will be most salutary upon the hearts of all who shall resort to it for instruction. I suppose the name to be designed to indicate the spirit of the book, to which it invites our notice; the intention of its editors to give to their readers a work, in reading which they will feel the same emotions, the same affections, which would be excited and exercised by familiar intercourse with a disciple, whose dispositions, affections, and objects were all modeled by the instructions and the example of our benevolent and holy Master. You intend, I hope, to shew us what a "christian disciple" should be; to exhibit and to inculcate at once the principles and the temper which was in Christ. You have my hearty prayers, that God may speed so good a purpose; and if you do

I need not suggest to you, Gentlemen, that much knowledge of the scriptures may be possessed by men, who appear to be scarcely less strangers to the spirit of our religion, than if it had not inculcated meekness, and candor, and forbearance, and love. Much, I am sorry to believe, is also possessed by some, of whom I hope that it is not uncandid to say, that their want of seriousness is not only a very great defect in their own characters, but perhaps one of the most important causes, why their endeavours to extend christian knowledge have so little influence. While therefore I look to the pages of the Christian Disciple for valuable information; while I anticipate in it a book to which I may direct those who inquire of me, where they may find, in the cheapest form and the shortest compass, the knowledge which they would obtain concerning the different books, and the doctrines of the scriptures; I am particularly desirous of seeing in it an exemplification of that seriousness, which is certainly a constituent part of a christian charaeter, and of that charity, which "vaunteth not itself, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, and thinketh no

evil." Knowledge, conveyed with this spirit, will descend from the head into the heart, where it will gradually obtain authority over the will and passions, and bring them into subjection to the principles of christian piety and virtue. It is the want of this spirit, I believe, more than any other external cause, which has made so many books, otherwise most valuable, to be of so little efficacy.

We e are accustomed to use the word seriousness, as we do many others, with a latitude of meaning, which renders its definition of some importance, when we employ it with such an emphasis, and attribute the prevention of so much good to the want of it; and some will think perhaps, that even in the service of religion, it has been so often misunderstood by some, and used only as a cloak of hypocrisy by others, that on these accounts also it is not less necessary, that its objects and operations should be clearly marked, and its limitations prescribed. Indulge me then for a moment, while I attempt to express my sentiments more fully upon the subject.

By seriousness, I certainly do not mean either the gloom of despondence, or merely a solemnity of countenance and of manners, assumed as occasion requires, and employed only to obtain a reputation of more than ordinary piety and virtue. But I mean that feeling, or that disposition of the mind, which is produced by a deep sense of the importance and obligations of religious truth, and which is nourished and supported by a faithful

application of principles to our own practice. Equally remote from levity, which implies either thoughtlessness, or indifference; from artifice, which would be thought to be undisguised, even while it most cautiously seeks concealment; and from melancholy, which is induced by erroneous views of religion, or by dwelling with too much intense. ness on some of its subjects, to the exclusion of others; seriousness is a disposition of the mind, at once considerate, and tranquil; unostentatious, but sincere; consistent with every innocent enjoyment, but averse from every indulgence, the pleasure of which would be interrupted by a re membrance of accountability. Or it may be considered as that preparation of the mind for the contemplation, or the discussion of religious truth, and the performance of its duties, which becomes a creature, living constantly under the eye of God, accountable to him, and destined to immortality. It will indeed affect the manners of men, and their modes of conversation; but it will neither give a stiff and formal air to address, nor a dull, and cold, and repulsive charac ter to their sentiments, or their expressions. It neither partakes of depression, nor is adapted to excite it. It has none of the uncharitableness of bigotry, or of the untempered zeal of fanaticism.

Every man must and will be serious, who deliberately consid ers, that the rules of religion and virtue are the principles, by which he will be judged, and his eternal condition decided. But the momentary disposition which

most men occasionally feel, to a more than usual thoughtfulness upon religious subjects, is very far short of the seriousness which religion demands. To be worthy of a place among the qualities of a christian character, it must be a habit of the mind. This sense of the importance of religion will make us equally inquisitive to know the truth, and cautious to escape error; equally attached to sentiments obtained by gradual and progressive conviction, and candid in judging the sentiments of others. It will make us earnest in the pursuit of every object, in proportion to the relation which it bears to our own, and to the religious and moral good of others; and as it is induced by practical views of religion, so it is adapted, in turn, to secure the practical influence of every principle which it embraces. This is the disposition which I wish that you could assist me to exercise; and the excitement of which in others, I deem of far more importance, than the discussion of disputed texts, or the most ingenious defences of any contested doctrines.

So far as my own information extends, there is a great want of this seriousness in many of the professors, in every denomination of christianity; and the charge, though I think very unjustly, has been made particularly against those, who are called "liberal christians." If the want of seriousness be particularly applicable to liberal christians, the cause is to be sought elsewhere, than in a want of principles which are adapted to make men serious. The doctrines of the

moral government of God, and of human accountability, applied as rules of life, will alone produce a far deeper reverence of God, and a far more solemn consideration of our conduct, than it has been my happiness to witness, at least in many, even of those in whom no one would complain of a deficiency of faith. But I feel far less solicitude to attempt a vindication against this charge, than I have to see men affected, as they should be, by sentiments which they profess to receive, as instructions from God, and rules by which they expect to be judged. That christianity has little influence, compared with what it should have, upon the tempers and lives of men-that there is great coldness and indifference upon the greatest subjects which can engage human attention, is a truth which all who refleet will acknowledge, and all who think seriously will deplore. Most earnestly do I hope that the Christian Disciple will be a favored instrument of "rousing professors from their slumbers; of breathing into them a spirit of mild, but earnest devotion; of opening at once their understandings and their hearts to the excellence, the goodness, and the authority of God, and of the love of Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for their redemption.”

The importance of a charitable and conciliating spirit to the union, order, and happiness of our churches, and to the advancement of religion in the hearts of men, is comparatively unfelt in places like our metropolis, where every man, without inconvenience, may choose his place of

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worship, and find a large num-
ber, with whom he may associ-
ate, who think almost precisely
like himself. But in the country,
and especially in towns not large
enough for division into two or
three societies, without exposure
to all the dangers of anarchy and
contention, a bigoted and un-
charitable mind in a few individ-
uals, produces the most unhap-
py consequences. Here then is
likewise a wide sphere for your
exertions. You may not be able,
in many instances, by courses of
argument, to correct erroneous
sentiments. But will do
you
much, very
much for the cause of
the gospel, by inculcating and
exhibiting the temper, with
which christians, who differ in
opinion, should converse on the
subjects of their differences; by
marking out that common ground,
on which they may meet with the
purest love, and unite in the
worship of God. The differen-
ces of christians in common life

are much less in number, and when they can be brought to mutual and friendly explanations, of much less importance, than are those which divide men who are fond of speculation, and whose object it is to build their own, upon the destruction of the systems of others. Shew them their differences and their points of union, without exciting at the same time the party spirit which they are too much accustomed to indulge, and I am persuaded that your efforts, if they sometimes fail, will often be rewarded with success.

I shall wait, Gentlemen, with some impatience, for your work. If its spirit accord with my anticipations, and with its promises, I shall hail it as a harbinger of great good. From my heart, I wish grace, mercy, and peace to all men; and for myself, I wish nothing greater in this world, than tobe indeed and in truth a Christian Disciple.

EXTRACT FROM DR. PRICE'S DISSERTATION ON
PRAYER.

The following extract from Dr. Price's
excellent dissertation on prayer is
offered to our readers, not only on
account of its intrinsic merit, but as
it is a valuable and unsuspicious
testimony to the reality and happi-
ness of a devout character. There
are persons, who, when they hear of
the pleasure of communion with God,
pronounce it at once delusion, or
enthusiasm, or hypocrisy-But Dr.
Price is too well known to be ex-
posed to these inconsiderate re-
proaches. He was a man of a vig-
orous, cultivated, and philosophic
mind; composed, and mild, and
steady in his feelings; and singular
ly humble, unostentatious, and sin-
cere in his temper and manners—

He was one of the last men to make a show of piety, to affect a fervor which he did not feel, to boast of a happiness to which he was a stranger. Let the following extract be read, as the language of an upright and enlightened mind-and let us learn from it the elevated piety of which our nature is capable, which is the highest end of our being, and the purest felicity we can attain in this world, or in the world to come.

from the consideration of the "I WOULD recommend this duty pleasures that attend the due discharge of it. Prayer, as has been before observed, is the ex

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