loss; thereupon beware of the first breach made upon your peace. What you doubt, do not. What your mind upon proposal of it to you tells you is evil, don't hesitate about, but reject it at once; and let no entreaties prevail with you to a compliance. Always look upon those who would tempt you to sin as your worst enemies, as they are therein tempting you to sorrow and misery. 5. Carefully observe stated times for religious exercises, so as not to admit any thing, if possible, to break in upon them. Engage not in any worldly affairs till you have seriously prayed and recommended yourself to God, in whose hands your times are, and upon whose care of you your happiness depends, and from whose blessings your successes flow. Conscientiously observe that day in the week which God hath reserved for himself, by spending it in the improvement of your mind, in the knowledge of religion, and in the fixing a sense of the reasonable. ness, necessity and advantages of it; thinking over what you read or hear. If you don't keep a fixed time for your daily devotions, and before you engage in worldly affairs, you will find so many interruptions that, in all probability, you will neglect it; and by neglecting it once you will be in danger of throwing it off, and if once you level that day, which God in kindness to you hath set apart for his own service, by spending it in the trifles and pleasures that are more excusable on the others, you will find it introduce a disregard of what is serious and sacred. 6. Whilst it is your duty to be diligent in your worldly business at proper times, yet remember you have a concern before you of much greater importance than getting wealth or providing for your own subsistence here, and that is, the saving your soul and preparing that for an eternal existence hereafter, which must be done here or be for ever undone. Write it, as it were, upon your own mind, so as to have it often occurring to your thoughts, what will it profit me to gain the whole world and to lose my own soul, or to be happy now and miserable for ever? 7. Remember the vanity and uncertainty of every thing in this life, so that you may not love any thing un reasonably in this world, nor expect much from it, nor be thrown out of the possession of yourself if you meet with disappointments. Nay, expect disappointments, for you will surely find them; but you will find the fewer, the lower your expectations are, and the more you proportion your affection to the nature of things. 8. Don't trust to your own understanding even in things which you think yourself master of, but consult a wiser and faithful friend, as you can have the benefit of it. Humility or 2 low opinion of yourself is beautiful and safe for you, whilst pride and conceit will render you odious to the wise, and the prey of the wicked. If any thing of entertainment be proposed to you, don't comply till you have consulted those that are wiser than yourself, and always prefer the counsel of those whom you know to wish you well, before all the representations or assurances of others. 9. Since you will necessarily, if you live, be obliged to converse with all sorts of persons, it is requisite that you be able to form some judgment of them for your own safety. Remember, therefore, there are few that are sober and good. Where business leads you to speak to the very worst, or to transact business with them, do it, but have no more to do with them than just to dispatch your business with them. Contract no freedoms with any you don't know, till you have inquired their character; and make your wise and tender Parent your constant adviser in that as well as every other respect. Consider not only what is proposed to you, but who proposes it, and if the person that proposes doth not behave well, suspect his proposal if it be for pleasure and recreation. Always look upon that person as your enemy, and as having a design to corrupt and make you unhappy, who shall endeavour to lessen your esteem of your parent and friends, or to make you regardless of what they say. 10. Be ready to serve all about you according to your ability; be kind to as many as your circumstances will admit, preferring the worthy to the unworthy. Be courteous and obliging to all; but remember it is not cour tesy but weakness to comply with any request that you think evil or that you think may lead you into it. SEND for insertion in the Monthly the late Robert Robinson, which was put into my hands some time ago by a respectable clergyman of this city, to whom it was addressed, in answer to a request of his, (communicated anonymously,) that the Author of the Village Sermons would give a more accurate and detailed account of his notions on the subject of spiritual influence. The letter, it will be seen from its date, was written not more than a twelvemonth before the writer's death. Of its genuineness there can be no doubt, the original being at this time in my own possession. Besides, its style is so pointedly and characteristically expressive of the Author, that every one acquainted with his writings will immediately recognize it to be his. SIR, T. MADGE. Chesterton, Cambridge, July 1, 1789. I have not accustomed myself, I own, to answer anonymous correspondents, but the style and spirit of your favour seem to demand a different treatment. My apology for not writing immediately I hope you will readily admit. I was just gone from home when your letter came to hand, and have only just now returned. The letter was indeed sent to town, but in the perpetual circle of company, visiting, preaching and business, of that mart of all wares, except retirement, I could not attend to my letters from home, excepting only the very important. Accept my thanks, Sir, for the transcript from Dr. Priestley and for your just remarks. Certain it is, (at least so it appears to me,) the popular notion of the immediate influence of the Deity on the mind is a source of innumerable errors, and, among Protestants, is utterly indefensible, because it contradicts the grand principle of Protestantism, the sufficiency and perfection of the Holy Scriptures. Revelation in this view is unrevealed, and the necessity of an infallible living Judge is taken for granted. What follows may be easily seen. Sir, I am flattered by your approbation of the Village Discourses to the poor. Assuredly they were never intended for such readers as yourself'; belt, will descend to recollect the if you, such readers as extreme ignorance of the lower classes of mankind, the intolerable vices which their ignorance generates, the benefits acquired to society by their reformation, and the absolute necessity of vulgarizing one's-self to obtain the rating them, you will, I humbly hope, purpose of enlightening and melioset goodness of design against grossness of style, and consider their sermons as you do their labour and their diet as proper for them, though not for yourself. It is easy, Sir, to christen their children, to church their wives, and to give the sacrament to themselves in their last sickness, but to rouse their sleeping reason into reflection, to compel their passions to do homage to virtue, to inspire them with manly hopes and fears is not so easy; and the weakest efforts, even such as scent of rude, illiterate and unpolished manners, if they succeed, ought in justice to pass uncensured by their superiors. No, Sir, far from being offended at what you say, I consider it as a proof of the greatness of your understanding and the goodness of your heart. Every thing in that book was intended for the dregs of the people, whom, however, we are all bound to pity and relieve. I accept also, Sir, as a mark of your esteem, your friendly advice concerning a treatise on the subject mentioned above, addressed to the literati. To say nothing of my own incapacity, I beg leave to observe, that not enthusiasm, but Deism seems to be the favourite of the great; that they who move heaven and earth to perpetuate established errors are not accessible to the unpensioned voice of the cool, deliberate nature and fitness of things; that men of the finest talents and of unquestionable learning and virtue, have often endeavoured, and some are now endeavouring, to rescue the religion of Jesus from the barbarisms of dark ages, and to restore it to its original simplicity, with what success let a Price or a Priestley say. What * good can inferior men, admitted indeed to their company, but not worthy to loose the latchet of their shoes, what good can such men hope to do? Take away from a credulous enthusiast all but the rational, and you deprive him of all the little religion which he professes to have, and you reduce him to despair, in fact for being freed from fraud, in appearance for depriving him of what all the world applaud, and of that for which only he is applauded. Rational religion, Sir, ever was and ever will be the dread of those who raise for themselves riches and reputation out of the doctrine of mystery, and of course insurmountable obstacles will be raised against it. Such reflections discourage many men, and must dismay all dependent men, otherwise men who fear God and love mankind, and objects more of pity than of blame. No, I do not think, in general, that the literati want conviction, but they want power to carry their convictions into actions. They have been educated in luxury, they cannot consent to be frugal and poor, they have been ranked with the wise and the wealthy, they cannot brook neglect and contempt. Great was the wisdom of him who said, If any man will be my disciple, &c. Luke xiv. 25-33. In brief, Sir, I am now engaged in a work soon to be published, entitled, "A History of Baptism," which takes up all my time; and of the immediate agency of the Deity, in my small circle, I have said so much and so often what I think, that I do not feel any inclination to say more. Such a plan as you are pleased to sketch, would undoubtedly be a most useful work to serious men, but it would be a work of labour, for it would go to cut up by the roots that most fatal of all mistakes, the forming of systems by detached passages, which is the fort of the popular doctrine of divine agency. Sir, I have written till I feel the inconvenience of writing in the dark, for I have not the most distant guess of the person to whom I write; but a fellow-christian, as he is pleased to style himself, will readily pass by all improprieties, and believe this scrap not to offend, but to assure him that I am his most obedient, humble servant, ROBERT ROBINSON. III. From the late Francis Webb, Esq. * on the Improved Version; communicated by Mr. Seaward. SIR, THE Litton, Oct. 1817. HE following letter from the late Francis Webb, Esq., was occasioned by some interesting conversation which took place at his residence, at Lytchet Cottage, near Poole. The subject was the Improved Version of the New Testament, which was generally and highly approved of by him, yet he was of opinion, the passage more particularly in question, Colos sians, i. 19, was by no means improved by the present translation. The re marks, at any rate, serve to shew what precision, pathos and energy of mind this venerable and learned author possessed, even to the age of nearly eighty years. By giving them a place in your valuable Repository, you will, perhaps, gratify many other friends and admirers of that great and eminent character, besides DEAR SIR, R. SEAWARD. Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I have turned to Mr. Peice's Paraphrase, and find that the authors of the New Version have adopted his translation of the verse in question, in which the learned Castellio is fol lowed; who thus renders it: "Quoniam per eum visum est Patri omnem universitatem inhabitare." In support of this translation, he remarks, “that whenever an infinitive verb is, in the New Testament, joined with evo255, it always denotes the action of him who is spoken of as pleased." Mr. P. vindicates and illustrates this transla tion by several other parallel and apto be the true rendering and meaning propriate texts. But allowing this of the place; yet these words of the learned commentator, adopted in the New Version, appear to me objec tionable; since, without his explana tion, common and unlearned readers, I am persuaded, would be apt to be confounded or misled. But with all imaginable deference and respect to such learned authorities, I am inclined to acquiesce in our common version: and for the following reasons. For an account of this gentleman, sẽe Mon. Repos. X. 526 XI. 71, 189–192, 280, 281, 331. 1. The whole of the apostle's address, especially from the 18th verse, is an enumeration and description of those spiritual blessings and privileges derived to Colossian converts by or through Christ. Indeed, this is the main design of the whole Epistle, with suitable exhortations to duty. 2. The apostle writes these things to the Colossians, as he says, "lest any man should beguile them with enticing words, and spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the shadows of the world, and not after Christ." By which, and the worshiping of angels, &c., the apostle seems to allude to the doctrines of the Gnostics; on which Mr. Scott has judiciously remarked in a note in his excellent Discourse.*. Now it is well known, that the Gnostics, by their Angua, meant the joint influences or fulness of their subordinate powers, which they held in great estimation and veneration. As the great apostle, in his masterly, eloquent, and, in some places, sublime comparison (in his Epistle to the Hebrews) between the Jewish High Priest and Christ, sets forth the pre-eminent and exalted character of the latter; saying, as it were, to the Jews, "If you value yourselves on having a High Priest appointed by God himself to this high office, with all its sacred privileges and functions, and are still partial to this and other parts of ritual law: behold, I will shew you a High Priest of divine appointment, who, in every respect, is infinitely superior to that you or your fathers could boast; who, after having performed with sinless obedi Sermon before the Southern Unitarian Society, by Rev. Russell Scott, of Portsmouth. R. S. See Mon. Repos. V. 251, 252. En. ence and exactness, all the high and Behold, in Christ alone all these divine characters and influences concentred by the appointment of God himself, who was pleased that in him this, and more than this gwμa should inhabit or dwell." Thus it appears to me, that the apostle's argument is rendered more apt and complete, and has in it a beautifu! and energetic propriety. And both these cases appear to me as admirable instances and illustrations of the argumentum ad homines. I think it right thus hastily to say L. Cottage, 24th March, 1809. EXTRACTS FROM NEW PUBLICATIONS. I. Mr. Jefferson's Plan of a College for ON the N the subject of the academy or college proposed to be established in our neighbourhood, I promised the trustees that I would prepare for them a plau, adapted, in the first instance, to our slender funds, but susceptible of being enlarged either by their own growth, or by accession from other quarters. I have long entertained the hope that this our native state would take up the subject of education, and make an establishment, either with or without incorporation into that of William and Mary, where every branch of the science deemed useful at this day, should be taught in its highest degree. With this view, I have lost no occasion of making myself acquainted with the organization of the best seminaries in other countries, and with the opinions of the most enlightened individuals ou the subject of the sciences, worthy of a place in such an institution. In order to prepare what I had promised our trustees, I have lately revised those several plans with attention, and I am struck with the diversity of arrangement observable in them, no two being alike. Yet I have no doubt that these several arrangements have been the subject of mature reflection, by wise and learned men, who, contemplating local circumstances, have adapted them to the condition of the section of the society for which they have been framed. I am strengthened in this conclusion, by an examination of each separately, and a conviction that no one of them, if adopted without change, would be suited to the circumstances and pursuits of our country. The example they have set, then, is authority for us to select from their different institutions the materials which are good for us, and with them to erect a structure, whose arrangement shall correspond with our own social condition, and shall admit of enlargement in proportion to the encouragement it may merit and receive. As I may not be able to attend the meetings of the trustees, I will make you the depositary of my ideas on the subject, which may be corrected as you proceed, by the better views of others, and adapted from time to time, to the prospects which open upon us, and which cannot now be specifically seen and provided for. In the first place we must ascertain with precision the object of our institution, by taking a survey of the general field of science, and marking out the portion we mean to occupy at first, and the ultimate extension of our views beyond that, should we be enabled to render it in the end, as comprehensive as we could wish. I. Elementary Schools. It is highly interesting to our country, and it is the duty of its functionaries, to provide that every citizen in it should receive an education proportioned to the condition and pursuits of his life. The mass of our citizens may be divided into two classes, the labouring and the learned. The labouring will need the first grade of education to qualify them for their pursuits and duties: the learned will need it as a foundation for further acquirements. A plan was formerly proposed to the legislature of this state for laying off every county into hundreds or wards of five or six miles' square, within each of which should be a school, for the education of the children of the ward, wherein they should receive three years' instruction gratis, in reading, writing and arithmetic, as far as fractions, the roots and ratios, and geography. The legislature at one time tried an ineffectual expe dient for introducing this plan, which having failed, it is hoped they will some day resume it in a more promising form. II. General Schools. At the discharge of the pupils from the elementary schools, the two classes separate; those destined for labour will engage in the business of agri culture, or enter into apprenticeships to such handicraft arts as may be their choice; their companions destined to the pursuits of science, will proceed to the college, which will consist 1st of general schools, and 2nd. of professional schools. The general schools will constitute the second grade of education. The learned class may still be subdivided into two sections: 1. those who are destined for learned profes sions as a means of livelihood: and 2. the wealthy, who, possessing independent fortunes, may aspire to share in conducting the affairs of the nation, or to live with usefulness and respect in the private ranks of life. Both of these sections will require instruction in all the higher branches of science, the wealthy to qualify them for either public or private life; the professional section will need those branches especially, which are the basis of their future profession, and a general knowledge of the others, as auxiliary to that. and necessary to their standing, and associating with the scientific class. All the branches then of useful science ought to be taught in the general schools, to a competent extent in the first instance. These sciences may be |