57,886, who do not publicly profess to be sincere Christians. Let us deduct 886, as the number which may be truly pious, without having come to the Lord's table; and we shall then have 57,000 fellow citizens among us who are without excuse, without hope, without God, and without Christ, in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. Should we not be importunate in prayer for their salvation ? The Christian Watchman, a Baptist magazine, published in Boston, gives the following statement of the number of religious societies in Massachusetts: Congregationalists Baptists Methodists 372 153 67 39 22 23 10 The portraiture of Socinianism drawn by Mr. White in his Bampton Lectures, is so applicable to the character of Mr. Belsham's Calm Inquiry, and so congenial with Mr. Simpson's Plea for the Deity of Christ, that it cannot fail to excite peculiar attention and interest. But the Socinian and the Mahometan object to our doctrine its inconsistency with human reason. The objection supposes that man is possessed of a larger comprehension than falls to the lot of mortality; and that what he cannot understand, cannot be true. We appeal to the scriptures. But the VOL. I. Mahometans and Socinians have both dis covered the same methods of interpretation; and either by false glosses pervert their plain and obvious meaning; or, when the testimony is so direct and explicit that no forced obstruction can evade it, they have recourse to the last artifice of abortive zeal; the cry of interpolation! If the Mahometan denies, like the Phantomist of more ancient times, the reality of the sufferings and death of Christ, as represented by the evangelists; the Socinian, by denying their efficacy, sinks them to the level of common martyrdom: and though the facts themselves be not questioned, yet their design and end is totally lost in the creed of Socinus. The Socinian hypothesis staggers all speculation. It is contrary to every maxim of historical evidence; and if pursued to its obvious consequences, includes in it the overthrow of Christianity, and renders every record of every age suspicious and uncertain. It reverses the common rules by which we judge of past events; and in the strictest sense of the expression, makes the first, last, and the last, first-makes the less superior to the greater; and what is doubtful and partial, more decisive than what is full, clear and certain. Examine Socinianism by any rule of history that has been adopted for the trial of any fact, or the determination that has been passed on any opinion, and we can scarcely avoid seeing its utter inconsistency with the universal creed of the Christian church from the earliest period of its existence to the present time. Socinianism makes every thing doubtful. And no wonder-while it makes so little of the most express declarations of scripture, we need not be surprised that it should pay so little respect to the plainest evidence of history. The gradation from Socinianism to Deism is very slight; and especially that species of Socinianism which has been patronised by a writer, who in order to support it has thought proper to abandon the inspiration of the scriptures; and has made no scruple to call the apostle St. Paul an inconclusive reasoner.* On such a footing Socinianism may possibly maintain its ground. But on such a footing Deism may maintain its ground much better: and it is rather wonderful that those who have given up so much, should retain any thing. For what is there in Christianity when all its distinguishing doctrines are taken away, that could render it a subject worthy of a particular revelation? Did the stupendous miracles that were * Corruptions of Christianity, vol. ii. p. 370. M wrought to introduce and establish it in the world, and the train of prophecies which were gradually disclosed to point out its high and illustrious origin, find an end suitable to their extraordinary nature? Morality, and a future state, include the whole of Christianity, according to the representation of a Socinian. But suppose a Deist should adopt (as many have and justly may) the same morality, and the same sanctions on the ground of natural evidence, wherein lies the essential and discriminating characteristic of Christianity? Where lies the real difference between a believer in divine revelation and a religious theist ?-Socinianism cuts to the very root of all that is distinguishing in the gospel. It destroys the necessity, and even the importance of a miraculous interposition, and gives the infidel too great reason to exclaim, that all that was extraordinary was superfluous; and that the apparatus was too expensive and too splendid for the purposes to which it was applied. This seems to be an argument a priori against that species of Christianity, which some, under the pretence of refining it from corruption, would reduce to the level of natural religion.* Such are the characteristics of that system, the advocates of which pretend "to detect the corruptions of the Christian doctrine, and to represent Christianity in its true light," (Calm Inquiry, p. 520.) and who, in the highest tones of self gratulation and triumph, anticipate the day when its doctrines shall obtain universal credence, and forever supersede the ,"IDOLATROUS WORSHIP of Jesus Christ;" together with that delusive confidence in his atonement, and all those other " gross *errors and abominations which, Mr. BelIsham says, have, for so many centuries, been the disgrace of reason, and the bane of Christianity," p. 421. But the spirit of Socinianism, as exhibited by professor White, or rather it might be said, as exhibited in the writings, discourses and deportment of its friends and advocates in general, determines its ultimate fate, in direct reverse of all these predictions. The cause of rational Christianity, as it is arrogantly termed, is a dying cause; and whatever learning, or talents, or zeal may be employed in its support, whatever confidence may be professed as to its prevalence in the world, it must fall, because it is not the Christianity of the New Testament. And the promulgators of its degrading tenets must witness its daily declension, with feelings of vexation which are not to be concealed by all their parade of "liberal criticism," by * White's Sermons, p. 53, 57, notes. the gasconade of exclusive rationality, or the hackneyed calls of defiance, to prove the truth of doctrines already established by evidence and reasoning they have never refuted. Let any man possessing the spirit of inquiry, and with a mind open to conviction, read Mr. Belsham's Defence of Socinianism, with Mr. Simpson's Plea for the Deity of Christ, and the Doctrine of the Trinity; let him compare the statements, the proofs, the arguments, and the pervading spirit of each, and there can be no doubt, that the result will be, his full reception of the exploded doctrine of the cross, and his holy abhorrence of the insidious arts that would rob that cross of all its essential glory. Then it will be seen which of the two systems deserves to be characterized, and exploded as gloomy, and as full of horrors. and the extravagance of error. Is it that system, which involves us in perpetual doubt and uncertainty, by pouring contempt upon the generally acknowledged authority of the inspired writings, or that which looks with adoring, and implicit confidence to those writings, as "able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus?"-Is that system gloomy and full of horrors, which directs the guilty and burdened mind to a Saviour, who is described by the inspiration of God, as ABLE TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST, or that which must consign us to all the miseries of despondency and despair, by representing this Saviour as a mere man,-a fallible, peccable man,—a man liable to ignorance, prejudice and sin? (Calm Inquiry, p. 447.) Is that system to be held in abhorrence as gloomy and full of horrors-is that system to be exhibited and execrated as the extravagance of error, which inculcates love to Christ our Redeemer, as the essential principle of all religious duties, and as the soul of all spiritual enjoyment; or that which annihilates every principle connected with affection to him, by ridiculing such affection as a mere Phantom of the Imagination, and by representing the object of it as an Ideal Benefactor, from whom we have received no personal benefits? Pages 355, 356. Which of these two systems is justly stigmatized and discarded as GLOOMY,—— as full of HORRORS,-as the EXTRAVAGANCE OF ERROR, no man, with the New Testament in his hand, and with a disposition to be governed in his opinions by the plain and obvious meaning of its language, can for a moment hesitate to determine. The great question will be for ever decided, and the believer will become so determined in avowing and maintaining his attachment to the doctine of "GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH" for the salvation of the world, that "If any one come to him under the character of a religious teacher, and bring not this doctrine, he will give him no countenance, as a minister of Christianity, but avoid him as one of the worst enemies of the church." (2 John 10, 11.) The advocates and the adversaries of the doctrines of the cross, are removed to such an immense distance from each other, and there are so many insuperable obstacles between them, that as honest men they can never think of meeting in Christian fellowship. Then let us, on both sides, cease to compliment each other with a religious character, the claims of which must be exclusive on one side or the other, and let us look to our sentiments in the solemn expectation of that day which shall finally determine,-Whether it is blasphemy to treat God as a CREATURE liable to infirmity, ignorance, prejudice and sin,-or the grossest idolatry to worship him, as possessing the perfections, prerogatives, and honours of deity.-[Simpson's Plea for the Deity of Jesus and the Doctrine of the Trinity.-Editor's Preface, pp. 50-55.] The retired village of Swanage, in Dorsetshire, was the birthplace of this eminent servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. There in February, 1717, he entered the wilderness of this world; and there in the same month his amiable mother departed to rest with her Lord. Some of her ancestors had counted all things loss for the sake of Christ; and had been voluntary exiles to the woods of America, but now they and she and the son, soon after whose birth she expired, form part of the blissful family in that land "Where pilgrims never roam, and soldiers war no more." The precise period of the conversion of young Darracott is unknown. The seeds of after piety were probably sown betimes in his heart, by his affectionate father, who was himself a minister of the everlasting gospel. Leaving the paternal roof he became a pupil, and a favourite pupil of the pious Doddridge, in the academy at Northampton; and there his regard for religion began to be peculiarly displayed. After leaving the academy, and passing through a variety of chang ing and even afflictive scenes, the chief shepherd of the heaven-bound flock appointed Wellington, in Somersetshire, as the field for his future labours. Here he laboured with such zeal and was crowned with such success, that Mr. Whitfield observed he might "justly be styled the Star in the West;" and a profane gentleman once said of him, "There goes a man who serves God as if the devil were in him." At Wellington crowded audiences, an enlarged chapel, and numerous conversions, testified the success of his exertions. In most of the adjacent villages he opened houses for worship, where he preached weekly. He was diligent in distributing cheap books on the most important subjects, and used a variety of other means for advancing the immortal interests of those who were within the sphere of his influence. At one period his whole congregation were under serious impressions at the same time. At length the time drew near when this laborious and active servant should return to give up his account to him that sent him. The first confident expectation of death which Mr. Darracott expressed, was when a month elapsed without any addition to his church. "Now," said he, "I believe I am near my end: my work is done, and I am going home to my rest." With this impression (to him no gloomy one) he administered the Lord's supper for the last time, December 3, 1758. On the evening of that day he composed a meditation, which he enclosed in a letter to a friend in London. The meditation breathes the language of an exalted Christian on the borders of paradise. "Is this the voice of my dear Lord? 'Surely I come quickly.' Amen, says my willing, joyful soul, even so, come Lord Jesus! Come, for I long to have done with this poor low life; to have done with its burdens, its sorrows, and its snares. Come, for I grow weary of this painful distance, and long to be at home; long to be with thee, where thou art, that I may behold thy glory. "Come then, blessed Jesus, as soon as thou pleasest, and burst asunder these bonds of clay, which hold me from thee; break down these separating walls, which hinder me from thine embrace. Death is no more my dread, but rather the object of my desire. I welcome the stroke, which will prove so friendly to me; which will knock off my fetters, throw open my prison doors, and set my soul at li berty; which will free me (transporting thought) from all those remainders of indwelling sin, under which I have long groaned in this tabernacle, and with which I have been maintaining a constant and painful conflict; but which all my weeping and praying, all my attending divine ordinances, could never entirely cure me of; yea, will perfectly and for ever free me from all my complaints; give me the answer of all my prayers; and put me at once in the eternal possession of my warmest wishes and hopes, even the sweet, beatifying presence of thee, O blessed Jesus! whom having not seen, I love, and in whom, though now I see thee not, yet believing, I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. This world has now no more charms to attract my heart, or make me wish a moment's longer stay. I have no engagements to delay my farewell. Nothing to detain me now. My soul is on the wing. Joyfully do I quit mortality, and here cheerfully take my leave of all I ever held dear below. "Farewell, my dear Christian friends; I have taken sweet counsel with you in the way; but I leave you for sweeter, better converse above. You will soon follow me, and then our delightful communion shall be uninterrupted, as well as perfect, and our society be broken up no more for ever. Farewell, in particular, my dearest How has our friendship ripened almost to the maturity of heaven! How tenderly and closely are our hearts knit to one another! Nor shall the sweet union be dissolved by death. Being one in Christ, we shall be one for ever. With what eternal thankfulness shall we remember that word, 'Christ is all in all?' He was so then indeed, and he will ever be so. Mourn not that I go to him first. 'Tis but a little while, and you will come after. O! with what joy, think you, shall I welcome your arrival on the heavenly shore, and conduct you to him, whom our souls so dearly love? What though we meet no more at Wellington, we shall, we assuredly shall, embrace one another in heaven, never to part more. Till then adieu! and now I leave you with the warmest wishes of all felicity to attend you, and the most grateful overflowings of heart for all the kindest tokens of the most endearing friendship I ever received from you. "Farewell! thou my dearest wife! my most affectionate delightful companion in heaven's road, whom God in the greatest mercy gave me, and has thus to the end of my race graciously continued to me! For all thy care, thy love, thy prayers, I bless my God, and thank thee in these departing moments. But dear as thou art, and dearest of all that is mortal I hold thee, I now find it easy to part from thee, to go to that Jesus thine and mine, who is infinitely more dear to me. With him I cheerfully leave thee, nor doubt his care of thee, who has loved thee, and given himself for thee. 'Tis but a short separation we shall have; our spirits will soon reunite, and then never, never know separation more. For as we have been companions in the patience and tribulation of our Lord's kingdom, we shall assuredly be so in his glory. "Farewell, my dear children! I leave you; but God has bound himself by a most inviolable promise, to take care of you. Only choose him for your own God, who has been your father's God, and then, though I leave you exposed in the waves of a dangerous and wicked world, Providence, eternal and almighty Providence, has undertaken to pilot and preserve you. With comfortable hope, therefore, I bid you my last adieu; pleading the faithful and true promise, saying as the patriarch, 'I die,' my dear children, but God will be with you;' praying in humble faith, that your souls, with those of your parents, may be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord your God. "Farewell, ye my dear people! to whom I have been preaching the everlasting gospel, that gospel, which is now all my hope and all my joy. Many, very many of you, are my present rejoicing, and will be my eternal crown of glory. And now I am leaving you, I bless God for all the success he has been graciously pleased to give my poor labours among you; for all the comfortable seasons of grace I have enjoyed with you. Adieu, my dear friends! I part with you this day at the sacred table of our blessed Lord, in the confidence and hope, that though I shall drink no more with you this fruit of the vine, I shall drink it new with you in the kingdom of our heavenly Father. Only, my brethren, my dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. But for the rest of you, I mourn to think in what a miserable condition I am leaving you; and though you will no more hear my voice, and have often, alas! heard it to no purpose, this once hear and regard my dying charge-that you do not continue in a Christless and unconverted state, nor meet me in that state at the day of judgment. "And now, farewell praying and preaching! my most delightful work! Farewell, ye Sabbaths and sacraments, and all divine ordinances! I have now done with you all, and you have done all that was to be done for me. As the manna, and the rock, in the wilderness, you have supplied me with sweet refreshment by the way; and now I am leaving you, I bless my God for all the comfort and edification I have received by your means as the appointed channel of divine communications. But now I have no more need of you. I am going to the God of ordinances; to that fountain of living waters, which has filled these pools below; and instead of sipping at the streams, I shall now be for ever satisfied from the fountain head. "Farewell now, my poor body! Thou shalt be no more a clog to my active spirit, no more hinder me in the service of God, no more ensnare my soul, and pollute it with sin. And now an everlasting farewell to all sins and sorrows, all doubts and fears, conflicts and temptations! Farewell to earth and all terrestrial scenes! Ye are now no more! An infinitely brighter prospect opens to me!" "See the guardian angels nigh Doddridge's Hymns. His disorder again, for some time, was so far alleviated that he was able to write to a friend as if in expectation of returning to life and usefulness: this, which was his last letter, was dated Jan. 2, 1759. It is as follows: "My dear Friend, "Though I am hardly yet able to hold my pen, I am willing to give you this satisfaction, that I am recovering, by writing though ever so short a letter. I have been longer in pain than I remember ever to have been before, and for some part of the time it has been sharp pain indeed. But for ever blessed be the rich goodness of my God, I hope I have experienced his supporting and comforting power towards me. So that, though the flesh could not but groan, the spirit did not murmur, but sweetly bowed in submission, as believing my heavenly Father had no other than merciful designs in all, and whatever was the issue, of which I was never more indifferent, it would be all well. And now it has pleased Him, who has called home his eminent servant Hervey, to continue a little longer in the world his unworthy servant Darracott, O that it may quicken me to be found more faithful and zealous in his service: then too shall my dismission be signed, in the ap pointed time and way, and I shall follow them who have been my dear delightful companions, to live for ever with them, and with that Jesus whom we loved, and in whom we were united. I have had a solitary Sabbath, besides the loss of some other seasons, I used to enjoy in these holydays. Blessed be God I can look back upon these times with pleasure now in my confinement, and say, Lord thou knowest I have loved thy service, and the place of thy habitation has been sweet to Your letter to my Kitty this morning affects me tenderly. Be incessant in your prayers for me, and join your praises with mine. Accept our joint love, and be assured, in all the languor of nature, I still feel the flame of our religious friendship burn strong, nor shall death quench it for ever; ever shall I be yours. Pray for me, that if it be the will of God and our dear Lord Jesus, I may be strengthened to go forth next Lord's day. me. me, "RISDON DARRACOTT." He had written, the day before, to his friend Mr. Fawcett, of Kidderminster, saying, "whenever it shall please God to take me away, as I hope you will survive I shall leave an office of friendship to be performed by you, which you will not deny me, especially as you will see the glory of God and the good of souls are the great things I aim at. I find somewhat infinitely soothing and cherishing in these four lines, which our dear tutor has put into the mouth of a child:" "If to correct me be his will, "O what less than a thousand arguments in that one for the most cordial, sweet, humble submission! O my dear brother, how sweet to see our comforts and our crosses, our joyful and mournful circumstances, our life and our death, all in the hands of such a Father; all equally under his direction, and all evidently designed by him for our good; all proceeding from his everlasting love which he had for us, terminating at last in our everlasting salvation! This lays an easy foundation for that precept, which is a strange one to a carnal world-in every thing give thanks.'" His illness continued three months, with intervals of excruciating pain, arising, as was conjectured, from stones in the kidneys, producing such inflammation as extended also to many adjacent parts: yet nothing was heard from his lips but coutinual expressions of praise and thanksgiving. This led the apothecary to declare, in a letter he wrote to announce |