Franklin's Works have noticed none of these facts; and would place the matter, as he states, "on its proper foundation," by assuring us that Franklin "never published any edition of his own productions,"-derived "no emolument whatever from them," &c. No: but the gentleman's own work records the willingness of Dr. Franklin to supply authentic copies of his various Works, to his friends for publication, (and this among them,) as well as of his earnest, and very natural anxiety, that they should come correctly before the public. Lord Kaimes does not "simply state," as our Editor reports, "The following_parable against persecution was communicated to me by Dr. Franklin." He first requests of Franklin all his publications, and then, as I submit, receives this as one of them. Nineteen years after, another friend is editing Dr. Franklin's Works with great care and zeal; transmitting proof-sheets to him, and communicating very fully with the Author about them; and to that friend he sends a corrected copy of this Parable as his own, and for insertion in this very edition of HIS WORKS. The division into verses, the addition of a new incident, and any alleged improvements of the language, do not, together or separately, I further submit, amend, or really alter the case. They were means, at the time, of refreshing Dr. Franklin's memory, as to the source from whence he borrowed every thing characteristic of the piece; and may be held to entitle him to the merit of improving the original production of another Author. But it will not avail for us to be told, in the face of such evidence," that Dr. Franklin" did not " premeditatedly publish this Parable as an original composition of his own;" that the allegation is "a mere assumption," &c. If really cognizant, at that time, of the fact, (I allude particularly to the last transmitting of it, in 1779, to Mr. Vaughan,*) it was Dr. Frank 12. And Abraham said, Let not the anger of the Lord wax hot against his servant. Lo! I have sinned: forgive me, I pray thee. 13. And Abraham arose, and went forth into the wilderness, and sought diligently for the man, and found him, and returned with him to the tent; and when he had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on the morrow with gifts. 14. And God spake unto Abraham, saying, For this thy sin shall thy seed be afflicted four hundred years in a strange land, 15. But for thy repentance will I deliver them; and they shall come forth with power and gladness of heart, and with much substance. The new editor does not at all notice this the stronger proof of Franklin's claiming the Parable. I write only from memory of my own little "Epitome," but I am pretty confident it is there alluded to: in which case the reply is not candid. lin's duty to have stated that it was another's original production. At any rate here is proof abundant that it was not his, and yet was claimed as his; and that all the "obliging" things said of it, were regularly, if not duly, received by Dr. Franklin as if it were his. This Philadelphia editor of his Life makes high pretensions, on the Doctor's behalf, to "a morality incident to human nature," and "independent of all that is held to be supernatural and miraculous." I will, therefore, repeat, that unless an infirmity, incident to the nature of man, be pleadedan absolute, and somewhat extraordinary lapse of memoryit may appear, perhaps, on a review of the whole matter, that some descent from this assumed independence, on what is held to be supernatural, some little assistance from these neglected sources of sound morality, might have been of advantage to Dr. Franklin in this case. I am, Dear Sir, Your's faithfully, THE EDITOR OF A RECENT EPITOME OF FRANKLIN'S MEMOIRS. P. S. Permit me to add, that I have never seen the "criminating" publication against Dr. Franklin, in which this editor states the matter to have been brought forward soon after the Revolution. My whole acquaintance with it arose as I have stated. ART. IV. ON RELIGIOUS ULTRAISM. By D. R. GOODWIN, Prof. of Modern Languages, Bowdoin College, Me. Religious Ultraism. A Sermon, by Wm. B. Sprague, D. D. Albany, 1835. DR. SPRAGUE deserves the thanks of all the lovers of truth and human happiness, for the discourse whose title we have set at the head of this article. He has made an able and convincing exposition of the sources, elements, manifestations, tendencies, and remedy of one of the most alarming evils which now threatens the prosperity of the church and the prevalence of the Gospel-religious Ultraism. The spirit of kindness and candour with which he has managed so ex citing a subject, retaining what is good and rejecting what is evil, avoiding irritating personalities, but condemning with plainness what is worthy of condemnation, is deserving of unqualified praise. Nor should it be forgotten, that it required no ordinary share of Christian boldness and self-sacrifice, to declare his opinions on this subject so distinctly, at a time when such a declaration would expose him to the rebukes, the obloquy, the distrustful surmises and insinuations, not of the enemies of religion, but of many among its professed, and, doubtless, its sincere and ardent, but mistaken friends. We know of no subject connected with the pious character and religious efforts of the present day, which calls for more anxious and prayerful attention, from every enlightened Christian, than this subject of Ultraism. For it cannot be concealed or denied, that among those most actively and zealously engaged in the cause of Christian benevolence and moral reformation, there has been, for many years, an increasing and a fearful disposition to push general rules and abstract principles beyond their legitimate application, regardless of circumstances, and reckless of consequences. We say, a fearful disposition, for its results are indeed to be dreaded; and every Christian, who sees the truth on this subject, ought courageously to lift up his voice against so prevalent and dangerous a propensity. Each one should speak for himself. There is no danger from repetition. Here, as much as any where, there is need of " line upon line, line upon line; precept upon precept, precept upon precept." We trust we are as far as any from being hostile to the holy causes of revivals, missions, and temperance: but even these causes, good and holy as they are, may be maintained, and they are maintained by some, on principles, and endeavours are made to support them, by means, which make us tremble for their success. If ever men are to be converted, the world evangelized, and intemperance and other moral evils eradicated, (and dark as the prospect seems, we believe these objects will be ultimately accomplished,) it must be by efforts partaking much more of a spirit of prudence, and discretion, and humble dependence on the grace and power of God, than is consistent with the spirit of Ul traism. When we see extraordinary efforts to get up revivals, made in such a way, and carried to such an extent, that men, under pain of being adjudged destitute of all claim and all desire to be Christians, are required, at first, for days, then for weeks, then for months in succession, to attend on protracted meetings, to the neglect of their private duties and worldly concerns, of provision for their households, and the education of their children—we tremble for the cause of revivals. For, though too much, or too immediate attention cannot, in the proper way, be given to our spiritual concerns; though we are to "seek first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof," yet we believe that God has so ordered things, in the economy of his providence and grace, that the right sort of attention to our spiritual concerns interferes not at all with due attention to the common, secular affairs of life; on the contrary, it is inconsistent with neglect of those affairs. We hold no requirement to be a religious duty, which demands the omission of any other duty, however unimportant or insignificant the latter may appear in itself, when compared with the former. The beautiful perfection of true religion is, that it sanctifies all our duties, little as well as great; and teaches us to do all things, even the most common and trivial, to the glory of God. How unutterably gracious and condescending is this, that, even in our eating and drinking, God consents to be glorified! But some will say, "this doctrine leaves people too much to themselves. If you do not make people pray in public, and attend frequent prayer-meetings, they will not, in many cases, as a matter of fact, pray at all. If you do not make them abandon their worldly concerns, and attend protracted meetings, they will not attend to religion at all, or glorify God in any of their occupations ;" and the questions are triumphantly asked, "Do those pray more who stay at home from prayer-meetings, than those who attend them? Are those, as a general thing, more truly pious, more attentive to the concerns of religion, who refrain from protracted meetings, than those who go to them? Are there more revivals, more instances of true conversion, where such meetings are not held, than where they are?" Suppose all these questions to be answered in the negative, (though, we think, they could not with truth be so answered,) still the danger from Ultraism in these things would remain. Those engaged in making these extraordinary efforts might be all pious men, and yet they might be indiscreetly and unwisely employed. More men may actually be converted, in connexion with these efforts, than at other times, or by other means; but it might be, because the energies of Christians are all, or nearly all, expended in this way; and because, while an undue dependence is placed on these efforts, other and more quiet means, which, if duly and constantly employed, would, on the whole, be much more successful, are neglected; and thus the cause of religion, in the end, suffers detriment. Besides, it may be feared, that, as the final result, all the religion that will be left in the world will be a mere outside excitement and action. A part will have no religion at all, and will profess to have none; while those who profess to have it, will have it only to show, if not as a matter of ostentation, yet as a necessary proof of their piety. Too much stress will be laid upon bustle and activity. The supposed evidences of piety will be mistaken for its essence. And as to leaving men too much to themselves, we ask, in return, if they must be forced to be religious? if the best way to make a man pray in private, is to compel him, under penalty of the loss of his Christian character, to utter a prayer in public? Men must be left to themselves. Their hearts cannot be forced. They are moral agents. They cannot be driven about by mechanical means. We may instruct them, by precept and example; we may preach to them the Gospel; we may explain to them their obligations, the claims of religion upon their hearts; its secret, constant duties; we may press these upon them; we may pray with them and for them; but, after all, we cannot bind them to the performance of their duty; we cannot contrive any mode of immediate persuasion, any engine of present excitement, or continued action, that will compel them to love God, or insure their real piety. They must be left to their reason and conscience, and the influences and aids of God's Holy Spirit. There is a possibility that men should become self-interested, have too much of the pride of success in their efforts to do good. Christians should be constantly and quietly endeavouring to benefit the souls of men, by those means which the wisdom of God has appointed, and in humble reliance on His indispensable agency. We do not condemn prayer-meetings, ordinary or extraordinary, when prudently and discreetly managed. We should weep at being deprived of these precious seasons of social and Christian communion; and we hope never to lose a grate |