without an enemy, while in this vale of tears. "We should think it strange for a man to choose to live in a dissecting room, or among dead bodies; and it would appear equally strange for a good man to delight to live with those who are dead in tres "Were we to run a race, and a man were to be pulling us by the coat all the way, it would retard our progress, so it is the same by keeping company with the world; they hinder us from pressing towards the mark set before us. "As a man cannot rest quietly when he knows thieves are in his house; so a good conscience will not rest if sin is in the heart. "A good conscience is a servant that will keep (the house) the heart clean. that is necessary is, to afford them the In conclusion, we do not hesitate to say, that no person constitutionally or habitually indolent, ought to be aided with a view to the gospel ministry. Much less should those who are too proud to snbmit to such labour as would diminish the necessary demands on the Lord's treasury. MAXIMS-from the Diary of the Rev. "Lightness of spirit sometimes brings darkness of soul. "Sin is the most dreadful monster that walks the earth, but least suspected. "God sends the weight of affliction to suppress the weed of pride. "Great talkers are sometimes loose walkers. "We often meet our greatest trials from our greatest friends. "We cannot pluck a rose without a thorn, a comfort without a cross, a sweet without a bitter: we cannot have a friend "The devil will always be playing his engine of malice, &c. to put out the fire of our love, but blessed be God, it will be always in vain. "How inconsistent would it appear, if we had incurred the displeasure of his Majesty, to think of appeasing his wrath by a small gift, or worthless offering; but how much more inconsistent for us to be offering our works to God (which are called filthy rags) as the foundation of our acceptance, and to satisfy his justice. "It proves there is something wrong in our life and conversation, when it will not bear reflection. "Instead of coming more out of self, and getting into Christ, alas! we get more out of Christ, and more into self. Time is the boat that is carrying us swiftly into the ocean of eternity. "What a mercy, to have a good hope in a bad time. "A man may talk like an angel and act like a devil. "There is no glory in our hope, if Christ is not the hope of our glory. "Faith is a self applier. "The anticipation of the glories of the world above should stimulate us to duty and diligence in the world below. "As gratitude is one of the first of graces, so ingratitude is one of the worst of sins. "Christians should look back to the fall by way of humiliation, and look forwards to glory by way of consolation. "It is true Christ can do any thing without us, but we should remember we can do nothing without him. John xv. 5. "The flower of youth never appears more beatiful than when it bends towards the Sun of Righteousness. "Though God may seem to frown in his providences, yet he always smiles in his promises. "As sin is the worst of diseases, it must have the best of Physicians to cnre it. "When we give way to sin, we put a sword into the enemy's hand to fight against us. "One ungarded step of a believer perhaps may lay a foundation for his future uneasiness, even to the end of life. "Daniel thought it better to die in a den and go to heaven, than live in a palace and go to hell. Manufactured articles, of which packing boxes are thought to be the most profitable, may be easily transported to New York (the distance being only 12 miles); and it is believed, that a person by 2 or 3 hours daily labor, may realize a sum sufficient to defray a large proportion of his annual expenses. Board and washing may be had for $1 to $1,50 per week, for such students as are indigent. Ordinary price of board, including "We cannot fully comprehend the dreadful nature of sin, because we cannot comprehend the greatness of the object against whom we sin; as sin is ag-washing and mending, for other students, Tuition for gravating in proportion to the dignity of is about $1.50 per annum. the object we sin against. the Classical department, $14 per session of 23 weeks-in the English Department, from $6 to $10 per session. "O the condescension of Christ! He was born of a woman that we might be born of God. "How humiliating is the character given to man; he is dust. What is the rich man but dust exalted; what is the gay man but dust disguised; what is the worldling but dust depraved; what the beautiful but dust refined! "Christ's grace and righteousness are the only keys that can open the gate of heaven; yet how do many attempt to open that gate by the keys of their own works and resolutions. "We often pray to God that we may be humble, but we do not like the measures he takes to make us so. "The hearts of God's people are some times good books, for a minister to read; and good texts for him to preach upon. "Though there may be such a thing as knowledge without grace, yet there is no grace without knowledge. Those who pray most for their ministers, may expect to have most from their ministers. "We all ought to endeavour to be useful in our place. Those who cannot speak for God to sinners, should speak to God for sinners, "Though God's eye be upon all the world, yet his heart only is upon church. his "As unbelief is the worst of evils, so believing is the greatest of graces. "When the world solicits us to spend our time in the pursuit of their pleasures, let us tell them that we have but one life, and even that is a short one; and therefore we cannot spare time to do as they do. "When we look back upon the book of our past lives, we shall see a great many blank leaves there, and many on which the most trifling things are writ ten." UNION HALL ACADEMY. Rev. John Mulligan, Principal. THE Trustees of this Institution have recently provided a work-shop and mechanical tools, for the accommodation of such students as may choose to devote a part of their time to manual labor. JACOB SCHOONMAKER, President. Jamaica, Feb. 12, 1831. The foregoing notice is takeu from the "Union Hall Gazette," a semi-monthly paper, published at Jamaica, L. I. ; and conducted, as we are informed, by the pupils of the Academy in that place.Such a publication may be a means of improvement to the young men ; yet there is danger of its diverting their attention too much from their class studies.-In regard to conveniences for manual labor, in Connection with classical schools, we deem them worthy of public favour;not only as affording an opportunity for healthful exercise, but because young men of small pecuniary resources, may thus do something towards their own support; while prosecuting their studies.We are fearful, however, that more is expected, in the way of pecuniary advantage, from this source, than can be realized. Three hours a day is, perhaps, as much time as a student ought to spend in manual operation; which can be of no great value, unless the individual hap.. pens to have previously acquired some knowledge of the business assigned him. If a young man carn, from 50 to 75 dollars a year, in this way, it is as much, we suppose, as can reasonably be counted upon. Yet it is said, by some, that any youth who is not too lazy to work, can support himself, while getting an education. This is a mistaken idea; and it is doing mischief to the education cause. It would take an indigent young man at least 15 years to work his way into the ministry, with the acquirements which are very properly demanded by the Presbyteries in order to his licensure to preach the Gospel. THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. APRIL, 1831. Religious Communications. LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATE- be committed; and the injury that it does to society is also of the most SEMBLY OF DIVINES-ADDRESSED flagrant and inexcusable kind. TO YOUTH. LECTURE LV. 4. Hypocrisy is forbidden by the spirit and scope of the ninth commandment. Self-deceivers in re (Continued from p. 115.) gard to their spiritual state, are 3. Forgery, or setting a false sometimes, both in scripture and name to a writing, or fabricating in common discourse, called hypothe whole of a writing, with a view crites. But of such we do not now to deceive and defraud-is one of speak-We here refer to those who, the grossest violations of truth that knowingly, make a false and deceitcan be perpetrated; and at the same ful profession and show of religion; time it is a most nefarious deed, in who assume the appearance of piety, relation to the property of another and perhaps pretend to great zeal, It breaks two commandments, the, on purpose to deceive the world, and eighth and ninth, in one act; being promote their own temporal emoluequally a theft and a deliberate lie. ment; while, in their hearts, they Its frequency is a lamentable indiare opposed to religion, perhaps discation of the prevalence of licen- believe and despise it utterly; and tious principles and practice. In it may be, indulge secretly in gross the country from which we derive vice. Of such persons it may be our origin, it was, till lately, inva- ́said with truth, that their whole life riably followed, when detected, by is one series of practical falsehood the punishment of death; because -one continued lie. Their guilt is in a commercial community, scarce- beyond description; for the sin they ly any other violation of law could commit is a direct affront to the be so injurious. Believing, as I do, heart-searching God; being a conthat no crime but murder, or that stant practical denial of his omniswhich involves it, should be punish- cience. It is as much as to say, ed with death, I have marked with that if they can deceive man, and pleasure the efforts recently made escape his censure, they are regardI am not sure that they have as yet less of the knowledge and displeabeen successful-to exempt forgery sure of the Most High. It is worfrom the list of capital offences in thy of remark, that they who are Britain. Yet I wish by no means loudest in the condemnation of hyto diminish in your minds its moral pocrisy, and are apt to charge it on turpitude. It is certainly one of the all who are strictly and eminently basest and blackest transgressions pious, are often gross hypocrites of the moral law of God, that can themselves. While they hate all VOL. IX. Ch. Adv. Y religion, and know that they hate it, they are very unwilling that this should be known; and resent as an unpardonable offence, every attempt to invest them with their true character in the view of the publick. You ought also to be apprized, my young friends, that those are not free from a species of hypocrisy, who are willing and desirous to be thought less anxious about the state of their souls, than they really are. It not unfrequently happens that persons, especially young persons, are, for a length of time, under pretty strong convictions of their guilty and dangerous state, and yet take much pains to keep this from being known, or even suspected, by others. To avoid it, practices are sometimes indulged in, which wound the conscience and occasion keen remorse. In such a course, there is both guilt and danger of a very fearful kind. I would be very far from advising you to proclaim every serious emotion that you feel; or at any time, or in any form, to be forward and ostentatious in revealing what passes in your minds in reference to your eternal interests. But on the other hand, beware of seeming to be unconcerned about your souls when you really are so; lest you be left of God to become in fact what you are desirous to be thought. Always act at least as conscientiously as you feel; and with prudence and due reserve, disclose the state of your minds to a pious and confidential friend, and especially to your pastor, whose business it is to watch for your souls, and who will rejoice to direct, and as far as he is able, assist your labouring spirits. 5. Slandering the character of an absent individual, is a manifest violation of the ninth commandmentIt is clearly one form of bearing false witness against our neighbour. In speaking, in my last lecture, on the duties required by the precept before us, I endeavoured to enforce, with reference to this subject, the great gospel principle, of doing to others as we would wish they should do to us to treat the character of every absent individual as we should desire, and think it reasonable, that he should treat our own. The departures from this rule, which we now consider, are exceedingly numerous, and of very various degrees of criminality-from the uttering of a wilful, malicious, and unqualified falsehood against our neighbour, down to the fault already noticed, of keeping silence when we hear him misrepresented. As a fair character is of inestimable value to every man, he who blasts or blackens it by a deliberate, slanderous falsehood, is guilty of doing an injury to his neighbour, only less enormous than assassination and murder. Hence the pithy lines of the poet, known, I presume, to the most of you "Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his; and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed." In holy writ, slandering and backbiting are placed among the basest and most atrocious crimes that men can commit. "" He that slandereth his neighbour is a fool," says Solomon. "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off," says David, when professing before God the manner in which he would act, as a magistrate and a sovereign: and "backbiters" are classed by the apostle Paul, in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans, among the most abandoned and shameless sinners that have ever existed on the earth. But there is another form of slander, far more common than that of telling a deliberately fabricated and downright falsehood, to the injury of our neighbour-It consists in greatly aggravating or magnifying a real fault; or in giving a false colouring to something which, in reality, was a trifle, or perhaps no fault at all; in a word, by traducing an absent person's character by placing some action, or some part of his conduct, in a worse light by far, than that in which it would appear, if fairly and impartially represented. In this manner, the precept before us is transgressed with a frequency that is surprising and lamentable. Indeed, the ways in which this command may be violated, are more various than can be specified-Sometimes by mere hints and insinuations, that more is known than is told: sometimes by affecting to fear that there is too much truth in a flying report: sometimes by professing to hope that such a report will turn out to be false: sometimes by expressing a wish, that there were no ground for suspicion: sometimes by mentioning a rumour, with an injunction not to spread it: sometimes even by a significant sigh, or shrug, or smile. Be assured, that in the view of God, the sin of slander is committed in all such instances, and in many of a like kind, which are not, and indeed cannot be described. 6. Tale bearing and tattling are nearly allied to slander, and seldom take place without it. The Levitical law contained an express prohibition of this evil-"Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale bearer, among thy people."-[Lev. xix. 16.] In the book of Proverbs, we have it twice distinctly repeated-"The words of a tale bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." And again, "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no tale bearer, the strife ceaseth." Never was there a more exact description of an evil, and its remedy, than in these words. A very large part of all the strife and contention that takes place among neighbours and friends, is owing to tale bearing; and remove the cause, and the effect will cease. Never, my dear youth, indulge in this mischievous, but very common vice. Never repeat to a friend, or a neighbour, what you hear another say to his disadvantage; unless it is clearly neces sary to put him on his guard against an injury, to which he may otherwise be exposed. Then indeed it is a duty to warn him; but otherwise, you do evil both to him who spoke disrespectfully, and to him to whom you report it. You occasion painful feelings unnecessarily; and perhaps stir up strife, which may produce the most lasting mischief. Many harsh words are uttered hastily, or thoughtlessly, which the speaker himself may afterwards regret; and which would hurt no body but the speaker, if they were never repeated. Tale bearers seldom fail to magnify the evil speaking which they report; and therefore are plainly slanderers, as well as otherwise injurious. Tattling is often productive of the same effects as tale-bearing; although there be no such intention in the tattler. Solomon tells us, that "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that restraineth his lips is wise." Talkative people often say much, for no other reason, as it would seem, but because they are unquiet while their tongues are still-This character is always a contemptible one; and dignity, as well as duty, is concerned in avoiding it. The government of the tongue is a most important point of prudence and duty, to which youth especially should give great attention. They will assuredly find it to be intimately connected, both with their respectability and their happiness, in the whole of their future life. 7. Exaggeration in relating facts, is the last transgression of the ninth commandment, which I shall mention. One of the historians of our own country, once observed to me, that in endeavouring to obtain cor |