presents Christ as a creature, and sets aside the necessity of his atonement, I have often had the occasion of observing, when introduced amongst a people, who have before been favoured with what I deem, and assuredly know, to be the true Gospel. In proportion as it has been received, a regular attendance upon public ordinances, a care to maintain family worship, a spiritual frame of conversation and conduct, have gradually declined. Where moral essays are substituted for the truth as it is in Jesus, where men are taught to seek their resources in their own powers, and to consider themselves as already wise and good, the preacher may, perhaps, please the ear, but he will seldom affect or mend the heart. In our days it may be truly said, "Virtus laudatur et alget." Fine encomiums upon the beauty of virtue abound; but Christian virtue, the love of God, and of man for his sake, is only to be attained by faith in the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his testimony.

Since, therefore, the principles you once embraced, are best suited to comfort you under affliction, to give you a solid ground of hope in life and in death, and evidently found, to be the most efficacious to promote the fear of God, and the good of society; I hope you will in future beware of the sophistry of those teachers who would deprive you of your gold, and can only give you counters in exchange. I commend you to that good Shepherd, who can pity and restore his wandering sheep;

And remain affectionately yours,

OMICRON.

145

1

TO MISS **** **** ON HER BIRTHDAY.

I.

WITH sweet song the lark and thrush,
On the day when you were born,

From the dew-bespangled bush,
Welcom'd in the happy morn.
Still with each returning Spring,
As the day returns they sing.

Spring an emblem is of youth,

Hasting on to with'ring age;

Oh that this important truth A
Might each youthful heart engage!

Ev'ry pulse, and ev'ry breath,

Nearer brings our winter, Death.

H V.

You, I trust, delight to think

On the change which many dread;

Here you taste, but there shall drink
Pleasures at the fountain head.

Has not Jesus, by his love,
Taught your heart to soar above!

VI.

Endless spring will there prevail,

There, the flow'rs unfading grow;

Solid joys that never fail,

How unlike to all below!

Grief and sin will then be o'er,
And our sun go down no more.

VII.

You may well record your birth,
Born to such a glorious bliss;
All the kingdoms of the earth
Are but toys compar'd with this.

'Tis not worth the while to live
For such joys as earth can give.

VIII.

SAVIOUR! till her life shall end

Guide her steps, and cheer her heart!

Be her shepherd, husband, friend,
Daily grace and peace impart:
May her bright example show
What A SAVIOUR'S LOVE CAN DO

OMICRON.

EXTRACTED FROM THE

EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE.

THOUGHTS

ON THE

DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

I BELIEVE that there are beings superior to us, at least in our present state, whom we call Angels. But what I can collect from the Scriptures concerning their nature and powers is very indistinct. I never saw an angel, and therefore am at a loss how to conceive of him. How poor, then, must be my conceptions of the great God! The revelation he has given of himself in his Word, is undoubtedly fully adequate to the state and wants of mankind; but it can be rightly understood, so far only as it is accompanied by the farther revelation of his Holy Spirit. And as the knowledge of believers is progressive like the light, which advances from dawn to day, I hardly expect that any human form of words can equally and exactly express the appre. hensions, even of all who are truly taught of God. A child may repeat such a form no less accurately than a man, but he will seldom annex the same ideas to what he says. There are likewise children, yea, babes in grace. All may be equally orthodox, but I think they cannot all be equally enlightened.

For myself, though I trust the views I have received exempt me from the charge of worshipping I know not what; I am sensible I have not "already "attained." My conceptions are weak and faint; and such as they are, I know not how to express them to others to my own satisfaction. I dare not indulge speculations upon this high subject; and when I speak of it, I wish to speak with reverence and caution, lest I should darken counsel by words without knowledge.

The principal effects attributed to faith are, that it purifies the heart, works by love, and overcomes the world. I think that no other cause can produce these effects. Therefore, when I perceive these signs of faith, I am ready to take it for granted, that the principles of the persons who exhibit them are right; though they may, and I suppose they do per. ceive them more or less explicitly, according to the will of Him who worketh all in all, or to the different stages of their standing or experience in the divine life. To judge otherwise, appears to me as unreasonable, as to expect that several persons viewing the same tower from different distances, should all perceive it precisely under the same angle.

I believe there is a God. That God is one, I am assured not only by Scripture, but even by reason. I see enough around me, to be convinced that he is the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things. I see the traces and impressions of his wisdom, power, and goodness, wherever I turn my eyes. But the solitary idea of God, absolutely considered, would bring no comfort to my heart. Too long, while I said there was a God, I lived without him in the world; and I should have always lived so, had not my eyes been in some degree opened, to see him by the light of his Scripture. There, besides strong