we select three short passages, as a specimen of the style.

After describing, in Scripture language, the majesty, power, and glory of God, the preacher asks,

"And is this the Being, that is so little thought of in our world? Is this be, whose name passes for the veriest trifle? whose word can hardly keep men awake, or engage their attention? whose authority is less regarded, and whose resentment is less feared, than that of an earthly kingwhose laws are audaciously violated, and his threatenings despised? Is this he, who is complimented with empty spiritless formalities under the name of religion? Oh! is this he, whom we are met this day to wor ship? What! and shall there be no more attention and solemnity among us? Can any thing be more unnatural, more impious, or more shocking! Indeed, sirs, it strikes me with horror to think, how contemptuously this glo. rious, almighty, and terrible God is treated in our world.". pp. 83, 84.

The corruptions of the Romish church are briefly sketched, as follows.

"The greatest part of Europe is corrupted with the idolatry, super. stition, and debaucheries of the church of Rome, and groans under its tyranny. There the most foolish the atrical farces are devoutly performed under the name of religion-there the freeborn mind is englayed, and

penance of bodily austerities. And can pure and undefiled religion, can good morals grow and flourish in such a soil? No: religion must de. generate into priestcraft and a mercenary superstition, and the most enormons vices and debaucheries must abound. Such, alas! was Lisbon, by universal character." pc 86.

Nor do Protestants escape without a just reprehension of their errors and vices. A part of this we subjoin;

"If we take a survey of protestant countries, where religion is to be found, if any where at all, alas! how melancholy is the prospect! The good old doctrines of the reformation, which were adapted to advance the honors of Divine grace and mortify the pride of man, have been too gen. erally abandoned; and a more easy system, agreeable to the vanity and self-flattery of depraved hearts, has been dressed up in their stead. Nay, Christianity itself has been rejected, ridiculed, and exposed to public scorn, by the increasing club of deists: and where the Christian name and

profession are retained, the life and spirit are too generally lost; and the practice, an open opposition to their professed faith. How are the ordinances of the gospel neglected or profaned!" pp. 86, 87.

Sermon 68th, entitled, Serious Reflections on War, is well worthy to be perused by every friend to the peace and happiness of mankind.

In Sermon 72nd, entitled, Praetical Atheism in denying the Agency of Divine Providence exposed, will be found a plain and striking representation of the universality of the Divine agency, and of the folly and wickedwhich prompt a practical denial of it.

Sermon 75th, on the Evidences of the want of Love of God, is one of the most searching ap

peals to the conscience, which we remember to have read. Sermon 81st, on The Guilt and Doom of Impenitent Hearers, is of a similar character.

The last sermon is a Farewell Discourse to the author's con

gregation on accepting the of fice of President of the College in New Jersey.

It may appear surprising, that the discourses of Mr. Davies should be SO generally, and so permanently, popular, when they were written in great haste, in the course of his ordinary pastoral labors, and without the most distant thought that they would ever be published; and when they have been published just as he left them, or with less emendation than is usually applied to posthumous writings. Should it be asked, in what the excellence of these hasty compositions consists, it may be answered,

First; The preacher lays the foundation of all his reasonings and exhortations in the great doctrines of the Gospel. These doctrines are calculated, beyond any other subjects ever presented to the mind of man, to arrest the attention, and impress the conscience. It therefore often happens, that men who profess to disbelieve them, continue to frequent those places of worship where they are openly and boldly declared. But to the experienced Christian, especially, those books are most interesting, in which Divine truth, undisguised, and unmixed, is pre, sented to the reader.

Secondly; President Davies appears to be deeply affected himself with the truths which he presses upon the consideration

of others. His whole soul is engrossed with the amazing consequences, which will result to his audience, as they receive, or reject, the Gospel. In this particular, he is worthy to be regarded as a model for general imitation.

Thirdly; He possessed good natural talents, and that peculiar quickness of intellect, that aptitude to seize occasions and circumstances, which is better described, perhaps, by the word vivacity, than by any other single word.

In addition to these qualifications, he appears to have been heartily devoted to his profession, and to have rejoiced habitually in being an ambassador from God to men.

We conclude by expressing a hope, that all who have been pleased and instructed, by the preceding volumes of this eloquent and pious preacher, will procure for themselves and diligently peruse these additional

enlarged both in the text and notes. The author has introduced a new section, towards the close of the volume, entitled Vestiges of the Doctrines of Revelation. These are the same enumerated in the Star in the East, though stated at rather greater length. From the vestiges of the doctrine of the Trinity, the following description of the Elephanta will be interesting to our readers.

"And what proves distinctly that they hold this doctrine is, that their most ancient representations of the Deity are formed of one body and three faces. The most remarkable of these is, that at the caves of Elephanta, in an island near Bombay. The author visited it in the year 1808; nor has he seen any work of art in the East, which he contemplated with greater wonder; whether considered with respect to its colossal size, its great antiquity, the beauty of the sculpture, or the excellence of the preservation. From causes which cannot be known, the Hindoos have long ceased to wor. ship at this temple. Each of the faces of the Triad is about five feet in length. The whole of the statue, and the spacious Temple which contains it, is cut out of the solid rock of the mountain. The Hindoos assign to these works an immense antiquity, and attribute the workmanship to the Gods. The Temple of Elephanta is certainly one of the wonders of the world, and is, perhaps, a grander effort of the ingenuity of man, than the pyramids of Egypt." pp. 286, 287.

After stating that the much controverted verse, 1John v, 7, is not in any Syriac copy which he has seen, Dr. Buchanan observes, in a note,

"Notwithstanding this omission, the author believes the passage to be genuine. The foundation on which he builds this opinion, is the follow. ing: Considering, as he does, that

learning and argument on both sides, have been nearly equal, he would rest the genuineness of the verse on the answer to the following question: "Which is most likely to be true, that the Arians of the fourth century, in their fury against the Church should silently omit a testimony, (in transcribing their copies) which, if true, destroyed their whole system; or that the general Church should directly forge and insert it?"

"This appears to the author to be the just mode of stating the question; but he has certainly no wish to awaken the controversy concerning this

verse.

If it be genuine it is only one of the hewn-stones of the temple. If it be not genuine, it is not a corner. stone." p. 188.

In December last the eighth English edition of the Christian Researches was printing in London, in elegant quarto, with an emblematical frontispiece. Six editions have issued from American presses in seven months.

These facts shew with suffieient clearness in what estimation the work is held by the religious public.

XXXIV. The Evangelical Primer, &c. By JOSEPH EMERSON, Pastor of a church in Beverly. Fourth edition. Boston; S. T. Armstrong. 1812.

As this useful book for children has been sometime out of market, we are happy to announce a new edition. We are informed, also, that the present publisher keeps the work in standing types, so that there is little danger that it will be out of print again. There are forty-two new cuts, (seventytwo in the whole,) each representing some passage of sacred history. The cuts are also bet

ter arranged than in the second edition. There are three additional hymns. The Historical Catechism is peculiarly adapted

to the use of schools, and we cordially wish it may be in the hands of every child in the country.

Rev. Messrs.

Noah Benedict,

Amos Chase,

Azel Backus, D.D.

Maltby Gelston. Zephaniah Swift, Lyman Beecher, Samuel Whittelsey, Bennet Tyler, Reuben Taylor, Luther Hart,

The Rev. Mr. Benedict was chosen Moderator, and the Rev. Mr. Whittelsey and Deacon Morris were chosen Scribes.

The Rev. Mr. Waterman, being present, was invited to sit with the body.

After the meeting was opened with prayer by the Moderator, papers res pecting the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Porter, as Bartlet Professor of Pulpit Eloquence in the Theological Seminary at Andover, and the votes of the church and society, uniting with Mr. Porter, in calling the consociation for advice and decision in the case, were laid before the consocia. tion.

In attending to the subject, the consociation deem it their duty to express, to this church and congrega. tion, the unfeigned pleasure they experience, in witnessing their regular and Christian attention to the important subject, which has occasioned the present meeting.

The consociation have taken the subject referred to them, into serious and prayerful consideration; and, though attended with difficulties on the right hand and on the left, they have been conducted to a united decision. And that this church and congregation may possess, as far as may be, the light which we possessed, and view the subject as it presented itself to our minds, we shall endeavor to give you a brief account of the process, by which we came to the conclusion which we have formed.

The question, referred to us for decision, is; Whether it be expedient, all things considered, that Mr. Porter be released from his present pastoral charge, with reference to the acceptance of a call to a professorship in the Theological Seminary at Andover?

In the discussion of this question, we took for granted a position in which the church and society, we doubt not, will concur, viz. That we are to be guided, ip our deliberations,

solely by a regard to the glory of God, and the general welfare of his church on earth; that ministers and churches, and people belong to God; and that self-denial, for the promotion of his cause, is as really the duty of churches and civil communities, as of individuals; that as we are not our own, so we are not to live to ourselves, but to God, and to exercise that benevolence of which our Savior set the ex. ample, when, for the glory of God and our redemption, he took upon him the form of a servant, and obeyed even unto death.

In forming our opinion on this sub. ject, we have considered, on the one hand, the importance of the connexion subsisting between you and your pastor; the endeared attachment also subsisting between you; his great usefulness here, and in this part of the vineyard; the pain which a separa. tion must occasion to him, and to this church and people; the dangers at tending a vacant state; and the difficulties of re-establishing a Gospel ministry. And we have, by no means, forgotten our own attachments to Mr. Porter, and the deep interest of all our churches in this question.

On the other hand, we were led to consider, the danger which threatens the churches from bold and impious heresies, existing in various parts of our land, and patronized by men of great learning, talents, and wealth, and eager to disseminate their corrupt opinions; heresies, as pernicious to purity of morals and the welfare of civil society, as they are disastrous to the interests of religion and the eternal welfare of the soul. We deemed it our duty to notice, also, the manifest and signal interposition of Heaven in the establishment of the Institution at Andover,-the offspring of faith, and prayer, and charity,founded for the express purpose of supplying the churches of our land, with a learned, pious, and orthodox ministry-endowed with a liberality hitherto unparalleled in this countryuniting the confidence and the prayers of all Christian ministers and people in New England, who feel the dan gers of the present day, and understand the nature and importance of the institution; a seminary, which, in

its infaney, furnishes to the churches annually from fifteen to twenty minis. ters; and is, in our estimation, of as much, if not more, consequence, than any college in our land; that such an institution must be supplied with suitable teachers; that none are qualified but ministers experimentally acquainted with parochial duties; that men without parochial charges, in all respects qualified, are not to be found; and that the interests of the seminary are of such vast importance to the church of God, as to justify the removal of a settled minister for its supply. These were points, on which the consociation were unanimous.

With respect to the question whether Mr. Porter shall be the man to supply the present vacancy at Andover, the unanimity of the two boards who elected him, our own confidence and the confidence of the Christian community in Mr. Porter, were thought de serving of particular regard. With these things in view, and reflecting that no other suitable man could be obtained, without a sacrifice, on the part of some other church and con. gregation, as great as that which this people would be called to make; and considering that God had evidently called Mr. Porter to undertake the great work of rearing ministers for the supply of our churches, and, in his holy Providence, laid upon this church and people, the duty of selfdenial-What were we, brethren, that, with these views of the subject, we should withstand God? In his most holy presence, and with a sincere regard, we trust, to his glory and the best good of his cause, our consciences have constrained us to give an affirmative answer to the following questions, and to unite in the following result:

Question 1st. Is it expedient, in any case, that the consociation dissolve the connexion between a mmister and a people, for the benefit of the Theological Seminary at Andover?

Answered unanimously in the af firmative.

Question 24. Is it expedient that

• From motives of delicac; 2. Me 12› pressions of friendship to Mr. Porter are

ere on Litted.