had calculated upon, to remove old prejudices. Of my friends who first set out with me, all, excepting one, in course of time left us, and returned to the Methodists. This, though trying, was doubtless for the best, as I believe it excited a spirit of inquiry among my people, and caused those that stood, to stand the faster. We have been gaining and losing as we have proceeded; but, upon the whole, I trust we have been gradually increasing. Some of our earlier converts remain with us to this day, and we have still kept adding one and another: we have lost one, and only one, by death. I was favoured with the acquaintance of the late Rev. H. Turner, whose condescending kindness will ever, I trust, be gratefully remembered by me, and whose memory is exceedingly dear to me. But, though the humble, pious spirit which he manifested, did much towards removing my prejudices, yet, on various accounts, I was prevented from cultivating an intimate acquaintance with Unitarian friends. In 1823, I found, through a variety of circumstances, my spirits sink, and my health decline; so that I perceived I could not long continue my usual labour, and that I must either obtain some assistance, or the cause must decline. I knew not where to look but to Unitarian friends; and, after consulting my people, (without whom I have never done any thing of moment,) I made my situation known, and found the greatest spirit of willingness to assist me was manifested. I would make grateful mention of that truly Christian benevolence displayed in the conduct of the Rev. Mr. Tayler and yourself, and likewise of some of the members of your congregation, from whom we have received assistance to the present time; moreover, pecuniary aid, unasked, but timely afforded, both for the use of the school and society.-Permit me here to say, that we have for a long time laboured under great inconvenience, on account of the smallness and uncomforta bleness of the room which we occupy, as our school has increased to the number of a hundred scholars. Though our congregation is not large, (I suppose not averaging more than forty persons,) yet, upon the whole, we have long been uncomfortable for want of more room, and are convinced that if we had a larger and more convenient place, the number both of scholars and of the congregation would be much increased. As we cannot be accommodated with a larger room, otherwise than by building_one, we turned our attention to that important object. Neverthe

less, from the smallness of our numbers and our very limited circumstances, we saw but little prospect of realizing our wishes. From this consideration we should indeed have set down in despair, had we not remembered that we had friends in Nottingham; to them, therefore, having humbly but confidently looked up, we have received all the encouragement our sanguine hopes had anticipated, as the most willing disposition has been manifested by many kind friends to assist us, not only with money, but in any other possible way. Though this might have made us greatly dependent, yet have you left us perfectly free and independent. I trust, Sir, I shall never forget the truly liberal spirit manifested in this respect in a vestry meeting held at the High-Pavement Chapel. Being thus warmly supported by our kind friends at home, and being encouraged to hope we shall meet with friendly assistance from those at a distance, we are about to commence building. Soon may the Chapel be reared, and long may it stand sacred to the worship of the One living and true God!

I remain, Rev. Sir, yours very respectfully, Radford, July 4, 1825.

On Self-examination.

J. HOLMES.

"It is remarkable that no persecutors ever expressed any commiseration for the sufferings of those whom they persecuted. Our Saviour apprized his disciples that they who killed them would think they did God service. Paul thought the same; and the bigoted Jews in general persecuted through ignorance. But were they therefore innocent? There is a kind of ignorance that is highly criminal, arising not only from neglect of making inquiry, which itself arises from criminal prejudice, but from a secret malignity of temper, which conceals itself under the notion of zeal for religion.

"That persons frequently mistake the real motives of their own conduct, and thereby form a wrong judgment of their own characters, is notorious. What man ever thought himself to be covetous, though all the world saw him to be so in the extreine? Or what man ever thought himself proud? And yet pride is certainly not banished from the world. Nay, did ever any man, except in reflecting on his conduct afterwards, think himself a bad husband, a bad father, or a bad master ?"

THESE are sentiments worthy the pen of him who wrote them, though he was one of the first literary characters in the world. They struck my mind very forcibly, as shewing" the importance of continual self-examination, and, with the hope that they might prove of use to some of your readers, I send them, with a few remarks subjoined, for insertion, if you think proper, in your little work.

It is said that Philip of Macedon employed a monitor to follow him every day, repeating in his ear, Remember thou art but a man ;" so ought every man's monitor, Conscience, to repeat, "Remember that thou canst see other people's sins and imperfections better than thy own.' But this monitor frequently wants admonishing itself, and, like that of Philip of Macedon, is not always awake: so the zealous stickler for a particular tenet, for the belief of which he perhaps has no better foundation than that his parents believed the same before him, and theirs before them, should check himself in the heat of the debate and ask himself if he is not arguing more for victory than for conviction and a desire to come at truth, even if it should sap the foundation of his early prejudices. Yes, victory over an opponent, which is so pleasing even in opinions which are comparatively of little importance, may so blind the mind as to bear the semblance of zeal for religion, and thus lead us to impute our conduct to a good motive rather than to a mean and selfish one.

To apply this blindness of the mind to our conduct in relation to sins which may be called premeditated, "what inan ever thought himself to be covetous, a bad master, a bad father?" &c. How easy is it to be led to call that prudence which ought rather to be called niggardly parsimony; that necessary restraint and correction which ought to be called oppression and selfish tyranny; that becoming dignity which ought to be called pride! And how easy is it for us who are young, and who seem particularly privileged to bask in the sunshine of pleasure, to pursue the pleasing phantom till we ruin that health and pervert that time which are the most valuable blessings we shall ever enjoy! Thus, in the various seasons of life, we ought to be doubtful of our motives, to see that we are not guilty of "criminal ignorance."

"To know thyself, O man!
All wisdom centres there,"

says the moralist: "Watch and pray," says the Scripture, because "the heart is deceitful above all things and desAperately wicked."

In regard to unpremeditated sins, into which we rashly run, reason has not time to exert her influence; here we are seduced by the prospect of present pleasure-the gratification of the moment, when perhaps the consequences

attendant on yielding to the temptation are very bitter and very protracted. Here, perhaps, nothing is so efficacious as some short ejaculation, some sentiment which has been stamped upon the memory ever since the days of childhood, something that may check us as we rush on, and lead us to reflect that there is an Eye which seeth through thick darkness, that pervades every spot in the universe, that penetrates the heart; that there is a God, under whose canopy of sparkling stars we are always placed, go where we will. Then let us endeavour to have our minds so fortified, that in the hour of temptation we may look upwards and say, "Thou, God, seest me!" or, like Joseph under temptation, may we exclaim, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God!"

IGNOTUS.

Mr. Moore on the Divine Origin and Authority of the

SIR,

Sabbath.
(LETTER IV.)

WE have seen that our Lord himself, so far from abolishing the Sabbath, gave sufficient sanction to the obser vance of it by his example, as well as by his observations on the subject on several occasions, and that he not only contemplated, but approved of the continuance of this observance among his followers at a time when what was peculiar in the Mosaic dispensation would be no longer binding upon them, as appears from the remarkable passage in Matt. xxiv. 20. Have his apostles, then, abolished the Sabbath; and, as they received no commission from him for this purpose, in so doing have they acted in opposition to his manifest design in a case of so much importance? This is not probable, certainly; and that they have not done so will appear, I have no doubt, from what occurs in reference to the subject in the Acts and Epistles. From these writings it is manifest, that notwithstanding the unsettled and harassing situation of the Christian churches of the first ages, at least one day in seven was devoted to religious purposes by the apostles and their converts in general.

Several passages in the Acts are sufficient to shew that it was the custom of St. Paul, after his conversion, and of the other apostles, to attend the worship of the synagogues

on the Sabbath-day, wherever they might be; * nor in this practice was there any thing inconsistent with the liberty which Christianity had conferred upon them, for in these places neither the Levitical rites, nor any thing that was peculiar to the Mosaic law, was observed. Had the apostles received any private injunction from our Lord, in their interviews with him after his resurrection, not to observe the Sabbath, they certainly would not have recommended this practice by their example, instead of enjoining the prohibition of it upon others. No such prohibition occurs in the account of their proceedings, though several very suitable opportunities for that purpose took place, particularly when they met in council at Jerusalem to determine the question whether the law of Moses was binding upon the Gentile converts or not. Other things are forbidden, but not the observance of the Sabbath.

It is to be observed, moreover, that the circumstances and customs of Christians in general, at that time, rendered the observance of a fixed day for their public religious services indispensable. We learn from the Acts and the Epistles, that, as soon as their situation would allow, the converts to Christianity were every where united into churches, or societies, for religious purposes; and that they met frequently in order to celebrate the Lord's-supper, and also to join in prayers and singing, on which occasions were added prophesying or teaching, as well as reading the Scriptures, all of which were required to be done decently and in order. In addition to this, elders were selected by the apostles themselves in all the different churches, who were to be entirely devoted to the ministry, and whose business it was to teach and, probably, to conduct the devotions of the people. But how were these things at all practicable, if stated times were not set apart for such purposes? Whether the religious services of the synagogue furnished the model of those that were practised in Christian churches or not, it is certain there was great resemblance between the one and the other, and to both a Sabbath, or a day freed from worldly occupation, was essential.

As it was in itself matter of no importance whatever, which of the days of the week was selected for this purpose, the first seems to have been substituted gradually, at

* See Acts xiii. 14, xvi. 13, xvii. 2, xviii. 4, xix. 8.