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of dishonesty, of beggary, of fraud, of apostacy, and self murder, to which it gives birth; of the endless mischiefs it entails on families, on churches, and on nations; of the time it devours, of the property it wastes, of the guilty horrors, and frightful disasters, and eternal sorrows it occasions, when we have been speaking of these sad and woeful things, the objection is raised: But what have all those horrors and miseries to do with the moderate drinking? We answer a great deal, every way. The moderate use of intoxicating drink is the seed of drunkenness, and they who encourage the moderate use are sowing the seed of this frightful harvest of evil. They are not aware that the seed they are sowing is of such an evil quality; yet so it is. Look round the world, and you cannot find a drunkard but where the moderate use of intoxicating drink has been sown; nor can you find a field, where the moderate use has been sown, where drunkards have not sprung up. Soon after we came to our present house, we found some seeds in a back kitchen. We knew nothing what they were, but we thought they might be seeds of something very beautiful and good; and to be certain, we would sow them in the garden. We scratched a circle in the ground, and there deposited the unknown seeds. The weather was dry a long time after, and when I looked week after week for the plants to come forth, no plants appeared. I had almost forgotten the seeds at length, when one day, after the weather had been moist for awhile, what should I see but a beautiful green circle, formed of a host of little plants, as fresh and thriving as the richest spot in the garden. But what do you think the plants were? All thistles, nothing but thistles. Just so it is with those who encourage moderate drinking. They know not what they are sowing. The thought of doing mischief never enters their minds. Yet all this while they are scattering the seeds of the worst plagues and disasters that can afflict mankind. And if they would mark what springs up where the seed is sown, they might see proofs of it, every day. I know that every one who uses those drinks does not become a drunkard; and I know too that nothing is more common than for seeds to prove unfruitful. There never was a field perhaps where every seed sprang forth, nor where all that sprang forth came to perfection. Neither the seeds of righteousness, nor the seeds of sin, take root in every instance; but never were any seeds more regular in producing a crop of their own nature, than the seeds of moderate drinking have been, in producing a harvest of drunkenness.

TO THOSE WHO ARE GOING TO BE MARRIED. It ought to be known that persons living in one parish, cannot get married in another, without telling a lie. The

person that goes to Ashton or Manchester to get the banns published, is obliged to say that one of the parties lives in Ashton or Manchester parish; and it is an awful thing to be guilty of the sin of lying, or to cause any one else to be guilty of it, for the sake of being married secretly. I hope my young readers will take care in entering so solemn an engagement as that of marriage, not to pollute their consciences with such a grievous crime.

WHEN A REVIVAL IS WANTED.

When there are dissensions and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, it is a sign that the church is in a back-slidden state, and that there is great need of a revival.

When there is a worldly spirit in the church; when you see christians conform to the world in dress, in equipage, in parties, in seeking worldly amusements, and reading novels.-FINNEY ON REVIVALS.

WORLDLY EXPEDIENTS IN RELIGION.

You may go and build a splendid new house of worship, and line your seats with damask, and put up a costly organ, and in that way you may secure a sort of respect for religion among the wicked, but it does no good in reality. It rather does hurt. It misleads them as to the real nature of religion; and so far from converting them, it carries them farther away from religion. There must be a waking up of energy on the part of christians, and an out-pouring of God's Spirit, or the world will laugh at the church.-FINNEY ON REVIVALS.

Published by I. Davis, 22, Grosvenor-street, Stalybridge; Banks and Co., Exchange-street; Heywood, Oldham-street, Manchester; R. Groombridge, 6, Panyer Alley, PaternosterRow, London; and may be had of all Booksellers.

I. DAVIS, PRINTER, STALYBRIDGE.

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CANDOUR AND COURAGE.

I will not artfully conceal my ignorance, on subjects that I do not fully understand; nor will I labour to conceal my scruples, on doctrines which I do not fully believe. By seeming to know more than I do, I may prevent my friends from giving me information; and by appearing to believe what I hold in doubt, I may give my influence to the side of error. If I know little, it is sinful to wish for the credit of knowing much; if I know much, as much as my age and circumstances would lead men to expect, my ignorance on one point will not cause me to be despised. Besides it is not so much the quantity of things which a mau knows that gains him respect, as the quality of his knowledge, and the temper and disposition of mind with which his knowledge is combined. You may be ignorant of a thousand things mentioned in company, and yet by your words and behaviour in your ignorance, obtain from all the company the reputation of a wise and knowing man. Whereas by showing over-much anxiety to appear acquainted with every thing, you may cause yourself to be suspected both of ignorance and wickedness. A man

that is anxious for the reputation of knowledge, will often lose both the substance and the shadow; while a man who cares for nothing but his duty, and fears nothing but sin, will both secure wisdom and the fame of wisdom.

And why we should be ashamed of our doubts, except when they originate in some evil passion or criminal interest, I cannot understand. It may not be prudent to declare one's doubts on all occasions, and if we have reason to believe that some around us may not be prepared to hear them without injury, charity will seal our lips. But generally speaking, doubts are no more disgraceful than ignorance, and it is no more a sin to declare the one than to confess the other. Doubts are no more, in well-disposed minds, than ignorance of the grounds on which a doctrine or a story rests. When any doctrine is generally believed and has been believed long, the man who expresses doubts of its truth, or a belief that it is an error, is in great danger of being looked at unkindly, and treated disrespectfully; but I know not why it should be so. Nor do I see why a man should be ashamed or afraid of speaking freely, so long as he speaks not uncharitably, notwithstanding the oppo,sition which it may awaken. If a man believe as far as his understanding and evidence go, he believes as much as God requires. A man cannot believe what he does not understand, and he ought not to believe without good grounds; and if a man profess to believe he knows not what, or he knows not why, it is because he is either ignorant or insincere. If a man's doubts are sincere, he is wishful to be satisfied; and what more rational and seemly than to seek for satisfaction, in friendly intercourse with his brethren ? If he has found reason to change his mind on some point, it is both natural and a duty to communicate his discovery. And it is the duty of others to weigh what he communicates in even balances, and to be guided in their conclusions by truth. Concealment in him who discovers truth, except in special cases,

and persecution in those to whom the discovery is imparted are both wrong. To conceal it is not kind, to persecute is cruel. And if the doctrine called in question be one that has been long and almost universally believed, what then? It is with the human race as it is with single persons, their oldest notions are often the farthest from truth. We learned our oldest notions when we were little able to judge, and took in every thing on credit; and as it was with our infancy and youth, so was it with the infancy and youth of the human race. We have already discarded in a hundred instances, doctrines that were as old almost as the world, and we are all the better for it. And why should we suppose that no other general error remains to be detected? or why should we refuse to tolerate the man, who believes that he has found out another of our weaknesses? If Luther and his predecessors had concealed their doubts and discoveries, where would have been the reformation? If Wesley and Kilham had shrunk from avowing their sentiments, where would have been the second reformation? Which of my readers believes in fate and witchcraft, astrology and fortune-telling, in goblins and fairies? and yet these were part of the orthodox faith of our forefathers, and had been the general belief of mankind from the earlier ages of the world. Yet who is not thankful that those tormenting errors have been exploded, and who does not respect and honour the men who first doubted and then disbelieved those superstitions, and then de. stroyed their credit? But why should we persecute in those who live in our own times, that very sort of conduct which we honour in those who lived before us? Shall we blame the men that persecuted Christ, and the Apostles, and Luther, and Wesley and Kilham; and yet persecute those who tread in their steps? So the Jews did; they built up the tombs of their ancient prophets, and said, "If we had lived in their days, we would have obeyed and honoured them, instead of putting them to death;" and at

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