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so well of himself as to expect that God should bestow upon him a place in heaven as the just reward of his virtues.

To conclude: let me seriously Brge the consideration of this subject, as the means of rendering us humble. Every man's ways are right in his own eyes, but God pondereth the heart. Let us not say, that "though I have been guilty of some venial sins, yet I have not much to answer for. On the whole, my conduct is unexceptionable; at least there is no reason to be much dissatisfied with it." Do we not perceive that all men are ready to speak favourably of themselves, those who have been guilty of the most flagitious crimes, as well as the more decent. Nay, it often happens, that the most flagitious are the most confident, while the upright are remarkable for confessing their unworthiness. Let us, then, be persuaded to suspect ourselves; to believe that our hearts may not be so pure as we think them, and that we may have many secret faults to answer for, of which we are not aware. The Church of Laodicea was satisfied with the goodness of her state; but He that searches the heart, and tries the reins, formed a very different opinion. The truth is, that every man, if he closely examines his heart and life, trying it by the standard of the pure word of God; if he watches his thoughts, and in earbest labours to bring them into obedience to the Divine law; will find himself to be a miserable sinner. I Press this point the more, because the want of a proper knowledge of our sinfulness, makes us ignorant gof our need of a Saviour, as well as content with a partial and defective righteousness.

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Let us pray, therefore, and labour to be deeply convinced, of our sinfulness, and let us dread flattery and

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self-love as poison.

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Job let us not shrink from avowing, “Behold, I am vile;" with Isaiah, "I am a man of unclean lips;" with the Psalmist, “Mine iniquities are a sore burden for me, too beavy to bear ;" and with St. Paul, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin!"- Following this course, we shall be led to pray earnestly for deliverance, and shall obtain salvation through Jesus Christ.

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Let, then, this view of the subject shew us all the magnitude of a Saviour's mercy. As our sins are infinitely more than we conceived, so also is our obligation to Him who cancels so much guilt. We ought to feel as debtors for ten thousand talents; for he will love most who has the deepest sense of the guilt that has been forgiven. How thankful should we be, that we may venture to look upon so much guilt without absolute despair! If we truly believe in Jesus, instead of being overwhelmed with terror, we shall only prize more and more highly that blood which we every day perceive to be more and more necessary to us. Let, then, that salvation be endeared to us, which is by grace and not by works.

Let the consideration of this subject, also, make us watchful. This is a great part of Christian wisdom. A man who knows not himself approaches the brink of sin, and triffes with temptation. Though he should admit that he has fallen into some transgressions, he will assume that. he is in no danger of others. Hence he is negligent in his daily con duct, negligent in self-examination, negligent in prayer.

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And finally, let us not forget that inference from the subject which was made by the Psalmist: Who can understand his errors? Lord, cleanse thou me from my secret faults.

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Confidence of Children.

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To the Editor of the Christian Observér. AFTER the admirable treatise on Christian Education which has lately issued from the press, and which had previously adorned your pages, it seems unnecessary, if not presumptuous, to offer any remarks on the subject. The following observations are made, in the hope of drawing the attention of your able correspondent to a point to which, though frequent allusions are made to it in the course of his work, he has not, perhaps, given sufficient attention; probably, because his instructions are only intended for the earlier stages of life. I allude, sir, to that want of confidence, I may say friendship, which we too often witness between young people and their parents, even where their mutual duties are discharged not only with cheerfulness, but affection, and where we might have formed very different expectations from our knowledge of their respective religious principles.

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young people. A few examples, which have come under my own observation, may serve to illustrate the subject.

A. is a man of correct habits and strict piety: strongly attached to his family, his grand object through life has been to train up his chil dren for a happier world. As the leading feature of his religious character is a deep conviction of the heinousness of sin and our native depravity, he naturally endeavours to instil into their minds the same sentiments. All this is perfectly right: his plan is good, but he is deficient in his mode of carrying it into execution. His admonition are all reproofs: his children regard him rather as a censor, than as a friend. They have been accustomed to hear from his mouth repeated instances of God's wrath, but few of his love; and to hear them mentioned with such warmth of feeling, that their young minds have mistaken parental anxiety for anger, and their fear of their Creator is exceeded by that of their father. It is needless to add, that A. complains of the hypocrisy of his children, and finds them as well versed in dissimulation as Mazarine.

There can be no pleasure so gratifying to a man of feeling, as to see his children voluntarily step forward to make him the depositary of their secrets, the confidant of their hopes, and the comforter of their sorrows. But, delightful as this confidence is, how frequently do we find in its place efforts to conceal the real feelings of the heart, a dissembled cheerfulness perhaps assumed to hide the pains of conscious guilt from bim whose admonitions are, best calculated to prevent their recurrence. This unfortunate distrust, it is true, often, most commonly, perhaps, from bad dis- his

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B. was a character of a different stamp: he also possessed an almost morbid anxiety about the spiritual and temporal welfare of his children. Being a man of strong pas sions, he experienced in his own case the advantage of having a parent, who knew how to guide a family with a powerful hand. B. therefore determined, when he beto regulate the conduct of on with equal severity Filial obedience the strongly

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positions in the children themselves, buty upon which he most

are not these dispositions quently superinduced by an erro neous education, or by the neglect of the most judicious means of removing the reserve habitual to many

insisted. He married early in life; and conscious of his own correct views upon religious subjects, and supported by extensive experience

in the ways of the world, he imagined that as long as he lived to guidé them, his children could not commit any irremediable error ei ther in morality or business, provided they would always submit to his guidance. Though, as I have said, a man of ardent passions, B. forgot to calculate upon meeting with the same in his children. But he committed a still greater error than this, in expecting that they would be restrained by habitual deference to his will, even if not actuated by the higher motive of duty towards God. The consequence of this system was, that he became the master, and not the friend, of his family: they submitted to his will in all points that came under his knowledge, but they concealed from him all that they were able to conceal. Knowing that they should not be permitted to use their own discretion in the most trivial circum stances, they took every means in their power to keep him in ignorance of their pursuits and inten tions; and never consulted his opinion, because it left them no alter native. They loved him, because his conduct was evidently the result of an anxious regard for their hap piness; but their love never opened their hearts, nor overcame their babitual reserve. B. discovered his error when it was too late to repair it, and died lamenting, that out of six children, he never was blest with one of an ingenuous disposition.

fects, nor, were that my object, to point out many other evils arising out of those I have mentioned. I will rather describe a father of a different character, whose success may do away the impression that mistrust and dissimulation are always the fruit of bad dispositions.

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D. is a man equally formed by nature and study to become the head of a family. All his wishes, and all his business in life, have a principal reference to the happiness of his children. His whole conduct is regulated by love to them, unalloyed with any mixture of austerity, and his love is repaid with the most open and ingenuous confidence. Has a child committed a fault, he is not afraid to declare it; for he knows! his father loves the offender, though he hates the offence. Has be any grief at heart, where can he find a more soothing friend than in the author of his being? Does he labour under any difficulty, or suffer from the consequence of his youthful folly, be meets with one who will enter with ardour into his juvenile distresses; who will quit without impatience the most interesting occupations, to wipe away the tear of shame; who will share his joys and participate his sorrows, while he mingles admonition with sympathy, and softens reproof by the most condescending kindness. But though indulgent, D. is not a foolish father: his ab horrence of vice is great, and however he loves, he never spares the sinner. Still, he has had less occas sion to call in chastisement in aid of his authority than most parents: this may arise partly from the amiable tempers with which he has had to contend, but principally! from the system he has uniformly pursued. Before their infant understandings could fully comprehend e the meaning of love to an unknown ' object, he endeavoured to restrain? his children, by a sense of gratitude 21037 and affection to himself. A fear of wounding his feelings was the : first principle by which they were guided. As their faculties expanda

Though the objects of C. were not of such an elevated character, he followed a course similar in prin ciple, though less dangerous in praetice, to the first that I have menu tioned. Ridicule was the weapon he employed, and it produced simí-lar effects: he rather wished his children to rise above the follies than the sins of the world, and his children not only dreaded bat (not to use a stronger expression) never loved him. Ir mud tylus

3. It would not be difficult to enumerate many other plans of educa tion that have produced similar ef

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ed, it was not difficult to change the object of their regard, by display ing to their view the love, the holiness, and divine attributes of their Saviour. It was not difficult, because they had not to imbibe new principles, to form new habits, or to submit to unaccustomed rules. They pictured to themselves a lively image of their heavenly Father, from their keen sense of the excel lencies of their earthly parent: the love, the confidence, they had always placed in the latter prepared them for the same lively emotions towards their Maker. D. and his beloved assistant in this delightful work are now descending in the vale of years, happy in the enjoy ment of the affectionate friendship of their children, but happier still in having led them to a due sense of the value of an eternal and never failing Friend. G.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. THE following Memoir will (it is presumed) appear peculiarly interesting to most of your readers at this moment, when the present excellent Emperor of Russia has but recently left our shores.

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"Mekepher* Alphery was born in Russia, of the imperial line. When that country was torn in torn in pieces by intestine quarrels in the end of the sixteenth century, and the royal house, particularly, was severely persecuted by impostors, this gentleman and his two brothers were sent over to England, and recommended to the care of Mr. Joseph Bidell, a Russia merchant. Mr. Bidell, when they were of age fit for the university, sent them all three to Oxford, where, the small-pox unhappily prevailing, two of them died of it. We know not whether this surviving brother took any degrees or not but it is very probable that he did ; since he entered into holy orders, and, in the year * So pronounced, though properly spelt Nikephor (Nicephoras).

1018, had the rectory of Wooley ini Huntingdonshire, a living of no very considerable value, being rated at less than 101. in the king's books. Here he did his duty with great cheerfulness and alacrity; and, not-b withstanding he was twice invited back to his native country, by some who would have ventured their ut-? most to have set him on the throne of his ancestors, yet he chose rather to remain with his flock, and to serve God in the humble station of a parish-priest.

"In 1643, he underwent the severest trials from the rage of the fanatics; who, not satisfied with de priving him of his living, insulted him in the most barbarous manner; for, having procured a file of musqueteers to pull him out of his pulpit, as he was preaching on a Sun day, they turned his wife and small children out into the street, into which also they threw his goods. The poor man, in this distress, raised: himself a tent under some trees in

the church-yard, over against his house, where he and his family livedfor a week. One day, having procured a few eggs, he picked up some: rotten wood and dry sticks; and with these, made a fire in the churchporch, in order to boil them. · But. some of his adversaries, to show how far they could carry their rage. against the church (for this poor man was so harmless, that they could have none against him), came >> and kicked about his fire, threw down his skillet, and broke his eggs.

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"After this, having still a little. money, he made a small purchase in that neighbourhood, built a house; and lived there some years. He was encouraged to this by a Pres: byterian minister who came in bist room, who honestly paid him a fifth part of the annual income of the liv... ing, (which was the allowance made! by the Parliament to ejected mis nisters), treated him with great hu- : manity, and did him all the services › in his power. It is a great misfortune that this gentleman's name isu not preserved; his conduct in this

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respect being the vmore; Haudable, because it was not a little singular. Afterwards, probably on the death or removal of this gentleman, Mr. Alphery left Huntingdonshire, and resided at Hammersmith, till the Restoration put him again in possession of his living. He returned on this occasion to Huntingdonshire, where he did not stay long; for being upwards of eighty, and withal very infirm, be could not perform the duties of his function. Having, therefore, settled a curate, he retired to his eldest son's house at Hammersmith, where, shortly Lafter, he died, full of years and of honour.or

definition of the term, sasogiven by Johnson in his Dictionary. I have often thought, that much perplexity has been introduced into discussions on important subjects by a close adherence to an exact definition of the true and legitimate meaning of a word, while the common acceptation of it has been overlooked. That is, in fact, the proper force of every term, which expresses the idea immediately excited in the mind of those who are accustomed to bear and to use it in conversation.

"It must be owned, that this article is very imperfect: but the singularity of a Russian prince being a Country minister in England will, we hope, atone for those deficiencies which it was not in our power to avoid."

محمد

The above Memoir is extracted from a biographical dictionary, en titled," Biographica Britannica," in fifteen volumes 8vo., printed in London, in 1798. The following note is subjoined by the editors of the work,mo

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" Mrs Alphery, the last descendant of the family, married one Mr. Johnson, a cutler, at Huntingdun. She was living in 1764, and had eight children. By her, the facts con tained in this article were confirm ed to lord Sandwich, and were like wise known to be true by old people in the neighbourhood. His lordship, informed Dr. Campbell, that such was the respect paid this woman, on account of her illustrious descent, that no persons, let their stations be what it would, chose to be seated in her presences on the contrary, they rose and remained s iso, till she had taken her chair." poon ca Bhoot of vidbory979 979E. N... or alud sud

To the Editor of the Christian Observer,

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TAE writer of the papers on the principle of Emulation, who signs himself vindex, has referred to the

Quem penes arbitrium est, et jus et norma loquendi.

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Your valuable correspondent, B. T. whose essays on Education have ens riched your excellent miscellany, appears to me to have properly used the term Emulation in its popular sense, and to have as properly protested against it as a principle employed in education. I am not, however, going to enter the lists with Vindex, who has far more powerful antagonists to contend with; but I make these observations, merely to introduce a passage from Dr. Johnson himself, which will shew-in what light that great moralist looked on the prin ciple, and employed the term emulation in conversing with his friends. The extract came accidentally in my way, on an odd deaf of an old magazine, containing" anecdotes and observations of the late Dr. Johnson. The quotation is, I suppose, from the "Tour to the Hebrides" but as I have not the work at hand, and it is many years since I read it, I must rely on the fidelity of the editorial qa

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Mr. Boyd told us, that Lady Errol was one of the most pious and sensible women in the island; had a good head, and as good a heart. He said, she did not use force or fear in educating her children. Johnson: Sir, she is wrong. I would rather have the rod the general terror to all, to make them learn, thàn tell a child, if you do thus or this, you will be more esteemed thân

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