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Mrs. G. and daughter of Berlin,

68 30

93 12

82 04

33 57

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292 29

1 001,013 se

Received by Mr. Cornelius for William Kamora, the Owlyhean youth, who
arrived latest in this country; viz. From Ladies in Providence,
From a school of females in Franklin, (Con.)

From a young man in Hartford,

5.90 3.04

3 0011 94

Add other donations,

1,165 94 826 57

REVIVAL OF RELIGION AT NEWARK, (N. J.)

$1,990 51

A LETTER to the Editor from the Rev. Dr. Richards, dated the 7th inst. contains the following intelligence, respecting the present great revival at Newark.

"The God of our salvation is working wonders in this town. A revival of religion, which commenced about the middle of December last, is going forward with great strength. Christians have been searched, humbled, and made to sing of love and mercy, as in the days of their espousals, Between three and four hundred are under impressions, and asking the way to Zion. About one hundred and twenty, among the people of my charge, have already obtained hope; and they include persons of all descriptions and ages. The work is now general through the town; and a prospect of large aveessions to the several churches animates the friends of the Redeemer."

Dr. Richards enclosed one hundred dollars for the school fand, as a donation from an individual to the cause of religion, and "as an evidence that Christ has really taken possession of the heart."

We learn from other sources, that the revival has extended to many congregations in the vicinity of Newark.

INSTALLATION.

INSTALLED, at Barrington, (R.I.) on the 29th of January last, the Rev. LUTHER WRIGHT, over the church and congregational society in that town. Introductory prayer by the Rev. Elisha Fisk, of Wrentham; sermon from Ex. xvii, 11 & 12, by the Rev. Thomas Noyes, of Needham; installing prayer by the Rev. Professor Park, of Providence; charge to the pastor by Rev. Henry Wight, of Bristol, (R. I.) charge to the church and people by the Rev. Joshua Bates, of Dedham; right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Joel Mann, of Bristol, (R. I.) and concluding prayer by the Rev. Jacob Ide, of Medway. The weather was fair and pleasant; and the exercises, performed in the presence of a crowded and attentive assembly, were peculiarly solemn, impressive, and appropriate. The preceding installation was barely mentioned in our last number. We have since been requested to publish particulars.

TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.

OBITUARY notices of ABEL BOYNTON, Esq. and Mrs. ELDREDGE have been received. The insertion of them is necessarily deferred. It will probably be judged advisable tn abridge them both, by omitting some of the less important parts.

Several other obituary notices will be attended to as early as possible.

Letters have been received from Messrs. Hall and Newell, at Bombay, dated Sept. 30. These brethren were in expectation of being joined by Mr. Bardwell from Ceylon, and were proceeding regularly in their various labors.

The friends of the missionaries in Ceylon have received letters from them, dated June 20th. Mr. Bardwell had concluded to join the mission at Bombay, and the other four brethren had obtained leave to settle in Jaffna, where they contemplated forming twe missionary stations. Extracts from these letters will appear in our next number.

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ROM. vii, 13. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

INADEQUATE Views respecting the nature of sin are both common and pernicious. To those, whose hearts have not been stung at the remembrance of sin, it appears an evil of very small magnitude. If they are not disposed wholly to excuse it, they are still willing to view it, in their own case, with great indulgence; and even when they are wholly under its influence, to adopt the language of the hardened Jews of former times, and to say to the Lord, "What have we done, or said, so much against thee?"

But although the impenitent entertain these low views of the demerit of sin, it is not so regarded by those who have been made acquainted with their own hearts; nor is this the light, in which it represented by the inspired penmen. Had Job thus regarded it, a discovery of his heart would not have led him to exclaim, "Lord, I am vile," nor would he have abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes. Such energetic language would not have escaped from the lips of an apostle, had sin been regarded by him as a trivial evil, O wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

In the text, the malignant nature of sin is represented in a manner still more striking. "But sin," says the apostle, that it might appear sin;" that is, that it might appear most base and hateful. And again, that sin, by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful; or, according to the phraseology of the original, above measure sinful. Here the apostle appears to want Words strong enough to express the malignity of sin; and, adopting an expedient in which he succeeds better than by any other form of expression, he represents it by an epithet taken from itself. To say that sin is sinful, and especially exceeding, or above measure, sinful, is saying all respecting it which can con vey, in a single phrase, an idea of its odiousness.

I pass over every consideration in the text, except that which relates to the evil of sin; and propose to inquire how it appears, that sin is thus sinful and vile.

VOL. XIII.

19

1. It is committed against the ever blessed God.

We are accustomed to speak of three objects against which sin is committed, God, our fellow creatures, and ourselves. But although this distinction may not be improper for some purposes, yet, whatever may be the direct and immediate object, all sin is committed ultimately against God. It is his authority which is contemned: his law which is violated. The supreme authority of the land is outraged, when the 'transgressor commits an act of murder, or any other offence against the life or property of his fellow creatures, as really as when he takes up arms and commences hostilities against the government itself. On the same principle, all sin is an offence against the Governor of the world. It is directed against the infinite authority and glory of God. It is a daring attempt to tarnish the honor of the Divine majesty, and even to wrest the government of the world from his hands. Whatever form it may assume, or toward whatever object it may be immediately directed, it has an ultimate tendency to alienate the affections of his subjects, and to engage the universe in rebellion against him. In what light then are we to regard sin, when we behold it arrayed in opposition to the all-wise and perfect Jehovah; when we behold its contrariety to his nature; its insensibility to his infinite beauty; its denial of his reasonable claims upon the love and service of his creatures, and the principle of enmity against him, and bis holy throne, which it implies. Surely sin, when viewed as a principle of opposition against God, must be regarded as exceeding sinful.

2. The malignity of sin is aggravated by its ingratitude.

Were it possible to view it as disconnected with this aggravation, it would even then be worthy of universal detestation. The disregard of man to the excellent and perfect character of God, and to his claims as Creator and Proprietor, must ever appear base, although man were under no obligation arising from the kindnesses bestowed upon himself as an individual. But how must we view sin, when we consider the ingratitude which it involves. All who have been the subjects of sin have been under infinite obligations to God. To him we are indebted, not only for our existence, but for the bestowment and continuance of those favors, without which existence would not be a blessing. From God we have received ten thousand mercies. Food and raiment, the air which we breathe, the heat of the sun by which we are warmed, and every temporal and spiritual blessing, have flowed to us from the Divine munificence. And, let it be remembered, they have not been bestowed upon us merely for a little season, but goodness and mercy have followed us all our days.

Now sin implies a disregard of all this profusion of blessings; a total insensibility to the obligations we are under to God for all that he has ever done for us. "He has nourished and brought up children; but they have rebelled against him." This is not all. The sins of men are aggravated by a greater weight of obligation

than has yet been mentioned. They have not only exercised no gratitude to their heavenly Benefactor, in view of the common favors of life; but they have been unaffected by the dying love of his Son. They have trampled under foot his precious blood, that blood which purchased salvation, and without the shedding of which there could have been no forgiveness. How great, then, is the ingratitude of sin!

S. The sinfulness of sin is most strikingly manifested by the death of Christ.

To lay a foundation for the consistent display of God's mercy, was a principal object of our Savior's mission. The Lord having laid upon him the iniquities of men, he became the propitiation for sin; he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, that the sinner might be saved. The punishment of sin had been rendered indispensable. It was inconsistent with the Divine character, with the perfect principles of God's government, to suffer his holy law to be violated with impunity. Sin was too great an evil, too contrary to the Divine nature, to be suffered to pass without an adequate testimonial of the abhorrence in which it was held. But how great an evil, let me ask, was it esteemed in the sight of the Searcher of hearts? What sacrifice must be made, rather than it should pass unatoned. This we may learn from the event. The sacrifice which he made, was no less than the Son of his love, given up to the accursed and cruel death of the cross. Nothing short of this would have afforded an adequate expression of the malignity of sin. Could its stain have been effaced, and the ruin with which it threatened the whole kingdom of God, have been prevented at any cheaper rate, surely the blood of Christ had not flowed, Here, then, the evil of sin is to be learned. Here we may see what it is to sin against God. Although an innocent victim, and the object of the Father's everlasting love, Christ must die; and die too, not an ordinary death, but wasted by the tortures of crucifixion, slandered by his enemies, and crushed by the oppressive weight of the Father's displeasure. What a proof is this of the malignity of sin! Who can doubt, in this view of it, that it is above measure sinful?

4. Its malignity may be learned from the joy of angels at the conversion of sinners.

The repentance of sinners affords unspeakable joy to the inhab itants of heaven. Christ informs us, that there is joy among the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance. But why is this joy; why do these holy beings so interest themselves in the repentance and salvation of sinners? Among other reasons, we cannot doubt that they rejoice in such an event, because they behold immortal beings delivered from the power of sin, and from the everlasting destruction to which it exposed them. If sin were not regarded by them as an evil of the greatest magnitude, we should not hear the high notes of joy which they raise when even one sinner is extricated from the snare of the devil. They had

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before regarded him as lost, but he is now found. He was dead, but he is alive again. Sin had enslaved him; but he begins to breathe the air of freedom. It had destroyed his beauty, and rendered him an object of the Divine hatred; but he is now purified from its influence and brought into favor with God. Although he is not wholly liberated, the work of deliverance is commenced; his chains are broken; he is brought into the liberty of a child. At every repetition of such a deliverance, their hearts are filled with joy. They hail the event as a partial accomplishment of those benevolent purposes, the prospect of which filled them with transport, when, at the birth of the Savior, they exclaimed, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men: Surely sin must appear to those holy beings unspeakably malig

nant.

5. The everlasting destruction of the finally impenitent evinces the evil nature of sin.

To sin we may look, indeed, as the source of every calamity, with which our apostate race has been visited. "Death and all our woes," have been introduced into the world as its proper fruits. It was this which destroyed the old world; and which visited Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain with a tempest of fire and brimstone. It is this which has depopulated kingdoms, by means of war, famine and pestilence, and filled whole nations with mourning and woe. From its first introduction, its progress has been marked with ruin. Among nations, families, and individuals, it has been attended and followed with sorrow, and wretchedness, and tears. But the evils, which have followed in the train of sin, in the present state, although it has covered so large a portion of the world with sackcloth, are insignificant compared with those which respect a future existence. Though numbers of mankind, who are by nature heirs of destruction, are defivered from it, yet all the impenitent will perish for ever. These, says the omniscient Judge of the world, shall go away into everlasting punishment. Their worm, we are assured, shall never die, and the fire, which consumes them, will never be extinguished. This will be the portion of their cup for ever and ever. The most lively images are employed to heighten the impression of their misery. No drop of water will ever be afforded to cool their parched tongue; and no voice of mercy will light upon their ears to assuage their torments. Such is the representation of the Scriptures respecting the miserable end of the finally impenitent. But what, let me ask, will bring upon them a doom so tremendous? The sure word of prophecy points to transgressions. "Because of these things cometh the wrath of God on the children of disobedience." The everlasting destruction of the body and soul in hell, is but the just expression of the feelings of God toward sin. He does not delight in the misery of his creatures. Punishment is his strange work. But such is the evil of sin, so vile is its own nature, and so at war with the happiness of the universe, that it imperiously calls for this awful expression of the Divine anger,

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