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subserviency to duties and to religious improvement,-since the doctrines are for man, and not man for the doctrines. They must glow with a warm, moral vitality; without this, the most correct faith will be like a statue with all the elegance of symmetry, but motionless and dead. I know, it is very fashionable to decry moral preaching, as tame and unfaithful preaching. Many have been taught to believe, that it means something very bad, very different from Gospel preaching. But if to inculcate Christian duties, on Christian principles, and from Christian motives, be stigmatized as straying from the evangelical path, I would, as in the presence and fear of God, most willingly submit to the reproach. What is the end of Christianity, and of all its provisions? Is it not, more or less directly, to promote pure and elevated morality? Most surely it is. Moral goodness is the essence and soul of all the true religion, that has ever existed in the world. To this all things else tend, as to a centre; to this they all relate as means to an end. Let the minister of the Gospel look to the instructions of Jesus for his model. Will he not find the Sermon on the Mount throughout and entirely a moral sermon? Will he seek, or shall we demand of him, any other kind of spirituality and grace, than such as appear in the teaching of Him, who spake as never man spake? Is it evangelical preaching to ring the changes incessantly upon a certain circle of doctrines from Sabbath to Sabbath, and to travel continually round the dimensions of our system? Nothing is easier, nothing requires less preparation or effort than such preaching. But he, who desires to be useful, will rather make it his main business to urge upon men the great practical duties and relations of the Christian life, and enforce them with the sanctions of the Gospel; and this he will do with earnestness, with his whole soul. We must, says old Herbert," dip and season all our words and sentences in our hearts, before they come into our mouths; truly affecting and cordially expressing all that we say, so that the auditors may plainly perceive that every word is heartdeep. By such preaching the Christian minister may "help the joy" of his people; and under such, he may hope, they will become his "joy, and crown of rejoicing, in the day of the Lord." 20-22.

The sermon concludes with the usual addresses, which are simple and impressive. Appended to it is the Charge given by Dr Allyn, and the Address to the People by Rev. Mr Loring, of Andover. Both are admirable in their kinds. The charge especially, bears distinct marks of its author's originality and independence of thought, as well as deep interest in the occasion, and to us is one of the most impressive we recollect to have

seen.

20. A Course of Lectures for Sunday Evenings; containing Religious Advice to Young Persons. 18mo. pp. 96. Boston, Cummings, Hilliard & Co. 1826.

This little volume is a very valuable addition to the number of books of the kind, and the public, we conceive, is under great obligations to the accomplished lady, at whose suggestion it has been republished in this country. The course consists of thir

teen lectures. 1. On a Habit of attention. 2. On Truth. 3. On Reading the Scriptures. 4. On Social Duty. 5. On Brotherly Love. 6. On Envy. 7. On Pride. 8. On Deceit. 9, 10. On Prayer. 11. On Charity. 12. On Candor. 13. On Death. Each of these subjects is treated in a clear and impressive manner, in language for the most part sufficiently simple for young persons, though occasionally, we think, somewhat above their capacities. The topics are frequently and beautifully illustrated by scripture narratives or allusions, to scripture stories, which are always interesting to youthful minds, and which more than any thing else give the Bible a hold upon their attention. We cordially recommend the volume to every parent, as on the whole as good a book for its purposes, as any with which we are acquainted. As Unitarians, we object to two passages in which the doctrines of the deity of Christ, and of reliance on his merits for salvation, are acknowledged; but with these exceptions, there is not a line in the book we should wish to erase. On the contrary, the impression of the whole is precisely that which we should wish deepest and strongest in the minds of our children.

Entelligence.

Unitarianism in India. [The following letter from the Secretary of the Calcutta Unitarian Committee, contains a mass of information with respect to the state of Unitarian Christianity in India, which, in connexion with what we published in our number for March and April, is of the deepest interest. As its address indicates, it is intended also to be published in England.]

To the Rev. W. I. Fox, Foreign Secretary to the British and Foreign Unitarian Association; and the Rev. J. TUCKERMAN, D. D Secretary to the Boston India Association.

DEAR SIRS, My former letters will have put you in possession of the principal facts and circumstances connected with the present state and prospects of Unitarian Christianity in British India. In this, and in some subsequent communications, it is my intention to collect those scattered notices, and to add whatever details may be wanting, in order to furnish you with a full and connected view of the proceedings and plans of the Calcutta Unitarians. Such a view, while it will necessarily include a reply to most of your recent inquiries, is also needed, in the opinion of our Committee, for the further information of the

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christian public in this country, and this series of my letters will therefore probably be published here at their expense, as soon as it is completed. The necessity I am under for the present of employing the chief part of my time in very different and less congenial pursuits, will account for the delay, which, I fear, will occur between the successive communications which I shall address to you on this subject.

Being honest in the belief of those statements and opinions which I shall advance, it is of course my wish that they should be believed by others; but I unfortunately find by past experience, that I have to contend against strong, and, in some respects, peculiar prejudices. The missionaries of the present day have indulged in exaggerated representations of the importance and success of their labors, and the just and natural consequence of this has been, to produce a general feeling of distrust and suspicion against whatever they may publish respecting themselves, and depending only upon their own authority. This prejudice operates against me, as well as against every other missionary. But it happens that the accounts contained in my correspondence with Professor Ware respecting the state of the Protestant Missions in Bengal, differ, in some material points, from those of other missionaries, and therefore the missionaries themselves, and their numerous and active friends, endeavour to excite against me the prejudices of the religious world, and to depreciate the value of my testimony, although without venturing to call in question the general, and, except in one or two unimportant instances, even the particular accuracy of my statements. Under these circumstances, I have very strong inducements to say nothing, either respecting others or myself, which will not stand the strictest examination.

But, in order to meet the objections that lie against my testimony, in all their force, and to secure the full confidence of the christian public, it seems necessary that it should be corroborated by the testimony of persons who are not missionaries, who are not interested in the success or failure of missionary designs, except on the general principles of philanthropy, and who, by the opportunities which they have possessed, and employed, of personal observation and inquiry, have been rendered competent to deliver their evidence on the subject. I have therefore to state, that the letters which I shall prepare will be submitted to the scrutiny of the Calcutta Unitarian Committee, and that none of them will be addressed to you, or published to the world, without their previous sanction and entire approbation. In responsibility, then, for the contents of all my official letters as Secretary to the Committee, I am joined by gentlemen both European and Native, of fortune and respectability, who have not

personal interest to promote in passing a misrepresentation upon the public, and who are known to be too honorable to give countenance to such an attempt if made by another; while their intimate experience of the native character, their familiar acquaintance with the native languages, and their disinterested endeavours to promote native improvement, entitle the statements they authorize, and the opinions they sanction on these subjects, at least to respectful consideration.

The CALCUTTA UNITARIAN COMMITTEE is the only public body in this country professing Unitarian Christianity, and I propose, therefore, in the present letter, to give some account of it, as an appropriate introduction to the details which will follow.

The Committee was formed in September, 1821, and at first consisted of only two or three individuals, who, although they assumed this name, did not thereby intend to describe themselves as the representatives of a larger body. They were constituted a committee by their own voluntary act, without reference to a higher authority, and they received others into their number, according as persons were found disposed to associate with them. Of these, some have ceased to take, an active interest in the objects of the Committee; others have returned to their native country, where they continue to prosecute the same or similar objects, without being unmindful of the strong claims of British India upon their philanthropic exertions; and others have been removed by death, of whom I may particularly mention the name of Mr John Cumming, whose loss the Committee have been called to lament, but who still lives in their affectionate remembrance of his christian virtues. Notwithstanding all these untoward circumstances, yet by the continued accession of new members, their number is greater at the present time than it has ever before been; and I am happy to add, that the internal organization of the Committee is also more complete, and its proceedings are in consequence conducted with a degree of regularity, zeal, and energy, which promises the most beneficial results. While the Committee thus acquires increasing strength within the immediate sphere of its exertions, it also receives encouraging assurances of cooperation and support from the most distinguished members of the Unitarian denomination in England and America, with whom a constant correspondence is maintained, and from whom important pecuniary assistance has already been derived. It is not, however, private individuals only that have come forward to our aid. It is unnecessary for your information, although it may be necessary for the information of others, to add, that the Associations with which you are respectively connected, have, through you, pledged themselves

to be our coadjutors, and it is upon their generous and prompt assistance that we principally depend, next to our own exertions, to give permanence and efficiency to our plans. The recent formation of these Associations, and the liberal support which they receive, as far as they have hitherto made their wishes and objects known to the Unitarian public, have afforded us the most unfeigned satisfaction; and when it is considered that these are the first indications of attention in the Unitarian denomination, as a body, to the claims which heathen countries have upon them as well as upon other christian sects, we cannot but regard them as constituting a new era in its history, and as giving an earnest of the ultimate attainment of those objects, which, during the last four years, we have been almost hopelessly laboring to promote.

The primary object of the Committee may be briefly described to be the promotion in British India of the knowledge, belief, and practice of the principles of Unitarian Christianity, as that form of our religion, which is in their judgment most consistent with the will of its inspired Founder, and best adapted to secure the improvement and happiness of those by whom it is cordially embraced. The plans which they propose to follow for the attainment of this object, will hereafter more particularly appear. I only remark in this place, that they are not limited to the direct means for the propagation of Christianity. History, science, and philosophy, the Committee regard as the handmaids of true religion; and whatever, therefore, has a tendency to diffuse the benefits of education, to destroy ignorance and superstition, bigotry and fanaticism, to raise the standard of intellect, to purify the theories of morals, and to promote universal charity and practical benevolence, although not in immediate connexion with Christianity, will be considered by them as within the scope of their design. The melioration also of the physical condition of the numerous native population, the encouragement of the useful arts and of industrious habits amongst them, and the consequent increase of their social and domestic comforts, the Committee regard as legitimate objects of pursuit, as all experience shows that it is only when the first wants of nature and society are fully supplied, that the higher degrees of improvement in intellect, in morals, and in religion, can be expected to follow. And, although it is not anticipated that the Committee will be able to devote any, or, at least, any considerable part of their resources to these objects, yet it is hoped that the fact of all the native members being extensive landholders, will open the door, when the services of qualified agents can be obtained, for the gradual introduction of important improvements in the social condition of

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