sis, and profound thought, which it now requires. It would have been taken for granted without reflection, and consequently with little benefit to the soul." My dear Sir, my heart does not respond with approbation to such sentiments. My thoughts and sympathies are with the multitude -with that numerous class of my fellow-beings, to whom such "investigation," "analysis" and "profound thought," must be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. Do not the ignorant, the weak-minded, the poor, the sick, the afflicted, need religion? Why then should one of its most important doctrines require such a laborious research, and such mental exertions? What you consider an excellency in your doctrine, I should rather regard as a defect. If the doctrine is important to all, it should be intelligible to all. Those of the meanest capacities and in the humbler walks of life need a mild and merciful religion as well as the favoured few. Had the doctrine of universal restoration been plainly inscribed on every leaf of the Bible, I must think, after all you say, that it would have made a deeper impression, and it would have gained a more general belief; and then, you would only have to urge your hearers to reduce their faith to practice. I have considered it one of the excellencies of the Christian religion, that its doctrines and precepts were plain and simple; so plain and simple that the common people could gain such a knowledge of them as was necessary in order to their becoming Christians. When I read the Athanasian Creed, the Assembly's Catechism, Calvin's Institutes, and Hopkins's System, I think of the thousands who must die without religion, if a firm and clear faith in all these dogmas be necessary to render one religious. We are taught to be holy, perfect, and merciful, as our Heavenly Father is, and you think we are commanded to be more merciful than he is, if he does not render all finally holy and happy; and therefore if your doctrine is not true, you cannot exhibit the Divine character as a model worthy of imitation. But admitting that God does give us an opportunity to do and be in this life all that he requires in order to our acceptance, why is his goodness questioned, because we remain sinful? He can never love sin, till he ceases to be a Holy God. Love and mercy have their bounds and conditions. We cannot esteem others except in proportion to their virtues; nor can God regard us with approbation except in proportion to our conformity to his will. The sinner must make holiness his choice. Why may he not choose to remain unholy in another world as well as in this? We are required to have the spirit and mind of Christ-to resemble him -to imitate him. And yet he tells us of some to whom he will say, "I know you not! Depart from me!" Those who have been ashamed of him and denied him, he will be ashamed of and deny. The Scriptures certainly seem to encourage the belief, that there will be a time, when the day of grace will be gone, when the gate of mercy will be shut. If it seems a dreadful thought that such a time should ever be, let it excite us to greater watchfulness, and to greater diligence and earnestness in exhorting others to prepare to meet their God-to seek him while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is near. That we may successfully strive to enter in at the strait gate, so run that we may obtain, and that we may be wise to win souls, is the prayer of your friend and brother, JONATHAN FARR. REV. ADIN BALLOU. JUST RECEIVED BY JAMES MUNROE AND CO. of Chapters and Verses being noted in the Margin, for reference, by James Nourse. 18mo. 18mo. Testament, by James Nourse. 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