It is obvious that conversion, to be such a lasting, rather such an endless process, must be founded upon the most solid and durable principles of our nature. And here I come to the point on which the greatest difference of opinion, yet remaining on the subject of conversion, between unitarian and orthodox christians, is to be found.

We disapprove of all attempts to work upon the passions when in a roused or tumultuous state, to create a merely nervous excitement of the feelings and of the imagination, or to operate by an artificial system which from its very nature cannot be permanent. We think that, in inducing a man to become religious, to take an interest in the gospel, and to devote himself to its cause, none but his most sober and deliberate faculties should be addressthat conviction and conversion should be the result of the clearest exercises of the understanding and judgment, as well as of the deepest movements of the affections, that religion ought to have its basis laid in the solid foundation of the intellect, the reason, the judgment, and the moral sense, as well as in the fears, fancies, sensibilities, or passions.

ed,

In looking at the human constitution, we learn that the feelings are in their nature fluctuating and insecure, - that they cannot endure a strong excitement for a long period, that they consume themselves,· and that their action is necessarily an intermittent state of our being. We learn, too, that they exist in greater vivacity in one sex than in the other, in one individual of the same sex than in another, and therefore we cannot believe that the impartial and righteous Father, who has no respect for persons or classes, would have made them the appropriate channels through which to approach him and obtain his VOL. XIV.No. 158. 3*

of the purest affections towards all who dwell with us beneath the same roof. Let the parent apply himself to instruct the conscience, to lead out the thoughts, and to improve the affections of his child. Let the objects presented to the mind and heart be such as are appropriate to the day. Let the altar of prayer and the seat of instruction be found side by side in every dwelling. Let a devout silence and tranquillity rest upon the whole family. Let love to God and love to man beam from every countenance. At the appointed hours let the united family move together in stillness and reverence to the house of God, and there let them, in company with their friends and neighbors, seek his face and favor, listen to his word, meditate upon his truth, and deepen their own impressions of religious duty. At the close of the public services of the day let them ponder upon what they have heard, and compare it with the word God, and with that reason which he has given to enlighten every man that cometh into the world. Let them make it their own by meditating upon it and by impressing it durably upon their minds, so that it will manifest itself ever after in their lives and conversation. Let the last hours of the day be consecrated to the virtuous and happy exercise of social and benevolent affection. Let the cords of love, the ties of home, of family, of consanguinity, of good neighborhood, be drawn closer round the heart; an when the head is laid to rest upon the pillow, let grateful, devout and holy sentiments and supplications press the seal of God's approbation upon a day well spent.

If we thus improve our Sabbaths, we may be that our Father will delight to shed down upon our souls

his richest blessings. We may confidently indulge the hope that our hearts will experience the influence of his Holy Spirit, and that we shall be truly and effectually converted to him. Whatever contrivances men may invent, whatever arrangements they may make, however great an excitement they may succeed in creating, by setting apart other days than that appointed by God, we may be sure that the Sabbath properly spent, will be at least as effectual as any of them to arrest us in the ways of sin, to turn our thoughts and affections from the follies of the world to the solemn interests of the soul, and to convert us to a life of virtue and religion. Whatever assistance of the divine spirit may be needed in the conversion of souls, we may be sure it will be as freely vouchsafed on the Sabbath, hallowed by the appointment of him from whom all good influences descend, as during any meeting arranged and conducted by the contrivance of man. God has blessed, and will ever continue to bless his own holy day.

The reader will perceive that I do not recommend the multiplication of public meetings on the Lord's day. If we continue to observe, as our fathers did, the usual services of the sanctuary, perhaps the remaining hours of the Sabbath may be better spent in some such manner as I have described than by assembling the congregation for the third time in the same day. I am much disposed to think that two discourses, together with the topics of reflection suggested by the other exercises, are as much as a common memory will bear away with distinctness, or the understanding fully digest, or the heart effectually apply in one day.

It is a great mistake to suppose that all religion con

sists in frequenting churches, or in hearing preaching. If what is heard in public is not meditated upon in private, compared with scripture and reason by the individual listener, and laid up carefully in the memory in order to be practiced in the life, it becomes perfectly worthless. It is literally and solely the "hearing of the ear," an empty sound, a concussion of the air, an impulse upon the auditory nerve; this is all — and this is nothing. The passions perhaps will be awakened, the nerves agitated, the sensibilities aroused, but the soul will not be moved from its depths, the mind will not be instructed, no solid principle of our nature will be affected; and when the fervors of the occasion shall have subsided, there will be great reason to apprehend, that the religious character founded upon them will have passed away also.

It was the principle of the catholic church that the only way in which the people could acquire the christian character, and receive religious impressions, was by frequenting the cathedrals and confessionals, and submitting themselves to the direction and dominion of the priests. It is the principle of protestants that every individual is to acquire his religious character for himself and by his own efforts, and to interpret the scriptures by the exercise of his own judgment. The consistent protestant, the only one who deserves the name, regards his minister as one appointed to counsel and assist rather than to judge and control, and weighs and compares what he may utter with reference to his own reason, enlightened and guided by scripture, and accepts or rejects it according to the decision of his own judgment.

The next means provided for the regeneration of man is the word of God. To every person, who is able to

read, and who is worthy of being considered a protestant christian, this should be the fountain and source of religious knowledge, impression and conviction. The Bible ought to be the great instrument of conversion. There is reason to fear that it is not so at the present day. The word of God speaks to him who applies his heart to its pages in a still, small voice. How seldom do its gentle but heavenly tones reach and convert the soul! It is in the crowded and agitated assembly, by the influence of a nervous and morbid excitement of the system produced by long continued meetings, where every thing contributes to affect the imagination and the passions, rather than in the closet, leaning in silence over the word of God, all the powers intent upon its meaning, and the whole soul thirsting for its spirit, that conversions are wont at present to take place. Instead of searching for light, and peace, and truth, where God has recorded his word, we see whole communities, abandoning their necessary occupations, relinquishing their habits of industry and economy, flocking round, hanging upon the lips and subjecting their minds and hearts unresistingly to the sway, of a few fallible and frail fellow mortals, who are strangers to them and to the wants of their souls, and who drive them by exciting denunciations and threatenings, and by reckless and violent assaults upon their fears and feelings, to sudden conclusions and convictions, which ought to have been the result of their most sober, calm, and deliberate meditations. The institutions of the gospel ministry, and of public worship, are of inestimable value, but it is a truly lamentable state of things when ministers and meetings are the only instruments of conversion. There must be a sad perversion of taste and VOL. XIV. NO. 158. 3