gument you would hold out to a penitent believer to induce him to be immersed? For what purpose would you immerse him? "To put on Christ." Be it so. But for what interest? Not for the sake of blessings which he could as well enjoy out of him, or without constitutionally putting him on. Are not all the blessings of Christ's kingdom constitutional blessings? and if constitutional, must not a person be a citizen in order to enjoy them? Is a person a citizen of Christ's kingdom who has never been naturalized? If so, why should any one be born of water? Is there not one law for all the subjects of King Jesus!

You and I agree so fully on ten thousand matters of opinion, as well as on all matters of faith, why then should you differ from us on a subject which compels you to seek aid from a foreign land! You cannot get along with Dr. Erskine's theory that all men were pardone ed when Christ died, and that pardons are filed for all who will call for them! You cannot trust in Dr. Stuart as a commentator. Why, then, go the ends of the earth for assistance to help you out of the meshes of into and for. What uncharitable doctrine is it to teach that no man can have a rational or scriptural assurance of his personal remission until he does what Peter bid the believing penitents to do. What can be done in the case absolute in granting forgiveness, is not the principle to test the meaning of the positive commandments of the Holy Apostles.

I would, my dear sir, rejoice to see you follow up and practise to the end of the chapter your own decisions. The reasons which compelled brother Stone to divide your first letter, have also, though with reluctance, compelled me. In the mean time be assured of my continued affection and esteem. EDITOR.

THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER--No. IV.

AFTER what model does the christian preacher fashion his discourse? Does he seek the model of his addresses in the schools of Grecian and Roman rhetoric? Tell it not in Gath! What! shall a christian preacher place before him the masters of the schools of Pagan eloquence, polluted with all the idolatries and immoralities of two thousand years! To the priests of Pagan temples, or to the political demagogues of the "fierce democracy" of ancient Greece, shall the preacher of righteousness turn his eyes for the mould of an address to bring sinners back to God? It cannot be! Every sentiment which christianity inspires revolts at such a thought.

Must he, then, look to the Alexandrian school, enriched with Egyptian speculations and the oriental philosophy, consecrated by the genius of an Ammonius or an Origen, to that salle mysticism which overshadowed East and West, and spread darkness over the world again? Can he find in any of the schools which reared and nurtured the fathers of the great apostacy, a guide to his efforts, a lamp to his feet, in presenting the light of life to a bewildered world? It is worse than absurd, if Experience that ablest teacher is to be heard at all.

Will the textuaries of the reformation, the sermons and homilies of those who have sucked the paps of the meretricious mother of that brood of abominations doomed to the vials of almighty wrath, become the masters in the christian school, and direct the energies of those who would be the imitators of the promulgers of the ancient faith? Or must the christian preacher be the copyist of those who, lured by some ecstasy, or smitten with some frenzy, imagine themselves uttering the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, when, with all the vehemence of fanaticism, and incoherence of lunacy, they are only vociferating the hallucinations of a frantic imagination? Reason and Revelation alike forbid it.

Whither, then, shall he devoted to the work of the Lord turn his eyes? Not to the schools filled with the formal, and cold, and speculative reasoners, who sit in the chair of Seneca and the frigid moralists. In a word, not to any other school than that founded and educated by him that taught as mortal never did. He that is consecrated to the Lord will spend his days and nights in musings upon the specimens of those great masters; he will learn every speech and catch the spirit of those whose artless heaven-directed eloquence broke down the obduracy and unbelief of Jew and Gentile, and leveled to the ground the ramparts in which a vain and deceitful philoso phy had entrenched itself.

To aid such as are resolved to be the imitators of those first and best and most successful of christian preachers, we shall present an analysis of the few samples of their speeches recorded by Luke, and attempt to show that they are worthy of universal imitation. That they are alone sufficient for every purpose in addressing sinners, we will attempt to demonstrate from an examination of as many of them as will complete a model for every christian preacher, whether Gentile or Jew. To do this most effectually, we shall lay before the student in one unbroken series the whole of each discourse. And with whose discourses ought we first to begin, rather than with his whom Jesus honored first to announce the gospel to Jew and Greek :

MODEL I.

Peter's Pentecostian Speech.

"Men of Judea, and all you that inhabit Jerusalem! let this be known to you, and listen to my words; for these men are not drunk, as you suppose; since it is but the third hour of the day but this is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, in those days I will pour out of my Spirit upon my servants, and upon my handmaids; and they shall prophesy and I will give prodigies in heaven above, and signs upon the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and a cloud of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and illustrious day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall invoke the

name of the Lord shall be saved." Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man recommended to you by God by powerful operations, and wonders, and signs, which God wrought by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know; him have you seized, being given up by the declared counsel and predetermination of God, and by the hands of sinners have fastened to the cross and slain: whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, as it was impossible that he should be held under it. For David says concerning him, "I have regarded the Lord as always before me; because he is at my right hand, that I might not be moved: for this reason my heart is glad, and my tongue exults; moreover too my flesh shall rest in hope that thou wilt not leave my soul in the unseen world, neither wilt thou permit thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made me to know the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance." Brethren, permit me to speak freely to you concerning the patriarch David; that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is among us to this day: therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath, that of the fruit of his loins he would, according to the flesh, raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne; he foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of Messiah, that his soul should not be left in the unseen world, nor his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which all we are witnesses: being exaited therefore to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has shed forth this, which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into heaven, but he says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool." Let, therefore, all the house of Israel assuredly know that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Messiah."

Let these preliminary matters, as previous to the analysis, be first maturely considered :—

1. The audience must always be regarded in its proper character before it is addressed, and before the propriety of an address to it can be correctly appreciated.

2. The object to be gained must always guide the speaker in the selection of his theme, and to this object all his thoughts and arrangements must be turned.

3. The theme proposed may sometimes be different from, and sometimes the same as, the object to be accomplished. But this the occasion of the discourse must always decide.

These things premised, we shall first consider the character of the audience addressed. Let it then be noted, that they were all Jews and proselytes to that religion: "devout Jews from every nation under heaven." They were intelligent in the law and prophets, expected a Messiah, held the traditions of the times, and are regarded by the speaker as acquiescing in the deeds of the rulers respecting Jesus the Nazarene. They were, it is to be presumed, the most devout part of the nation assembled from all quarters to celebrate the Pentecost.

Next, the occasion of the speech. The excitement produced by the gift of tongues occasioned Peter to arise and address this immense throng. The question agitated by the audience at the time of his rising, was, "What does this mean?" To settle this question was the first object of the Apostle as preliminary to his grand design. His theme was the Holy Spirit; and his ultimate object was to prove that "God had made Jesus Lord and Christ."

ANALYSIS OF THE DISCOURSE.

1. An explanation of the miracle before them, and its meaning, In doing this, Joel's prophecy is adduced and applied to the gifts of the Spirit, visible and audible, of which the audience were witnesses.

2. A narrative of the life, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus, is next presented in order to give a proper direction to their minds as to the bearing of the miracle before them.

3. A concentration of the evidence in proof of his resurrection, from the prophecies of David and the living witnesses.

4. His exaltation to the right hand of God proved by the descent of the Spirit and other prophecies of David.

5. The miracles and the prophecies are shown to give assurance that God has constituted Jesus both Lord and Messiah. Thus his grand object is gained. Conviction is produced, and he pauses for the effects, or is interrupted by another question.

The points introduced and touched with a master's hand in this discourse are numerous. That God approved the life of Jesus, is alleged from "the wonders and signs which God did by him." That the Jews had full opportunities of testing his miraculous displays, is affirmed from their being done "in the midst of them;" and that they were not ignorant of them is boldly asserted to their face. That Jesus being delivered into their power was in accordance with the counsels of God long ago promulged; and was not as they supposed, because God cared not for him:-that his resurrection was by the power of God and in proof of his righteousness:-that he was now seated on the right hand of God, and, in consequence of a promise to that effect, he had received the Holy Spirit, which was now at his disposal:that his exaltation must terminate in the total abasement and destruction of his enemies. And, as the conclusion of the whole matter, "Let all the house of Israel know, as most certain and not to be gainsayed, that God had exalted him in heaven whom they had judged and condemned as unworthy to live on earth." These are chief matters in this discourse, and show the point to which the eye of the speaker was from the first to the last word directed.

The argument of the discourse was irresistable. It is briefly this: All the gifts, and wonders, and signs of that day are ascribed to Jesus; and as the witnesses of his resurrection were the most large and distinguished participants of them, consequently their testimony is not to be rejected; and the amount of their testimony is, that Jesus is made Lord and King. Submission, or destruction from his presence,

is the only alternative. To this point are the audience brought. Then from a thousand tongues the question resounds, "What shall we do?" It is answered, and new arguments and exhortations to obedience are presented. Remission of sin, and the enjoyment of the gift of the Spirit, as now in the hands of Jesus, are proposed to them that obey him. With many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." "Such was the discourse of the first christian preacher under the new economy.

His manner was most conciliatory. "Men and brethren;" "Men of Israel, hear;" "Let me speak freely;" all was candid and benevolent-all was in the spirit of the message which he deliverednothing wanting in gravity, dignity, firmness, uncompromising faithfulness, and the most condescending tenderness and compassion. It was all logic, reason, point, testimony, proof. There was no declamation, noise, tinselling, painting, and mincing in the set phrase of the rhetoricians of this world. No enthusiastic appeals to the passions. It was all addressed to the understanding and the heart. The preacher forgot himself wholly in his subject. His Master filled his eye, his head, and his heart. He saw, he heard, he felt nothing but the glory of the King in the salvation of his countrymen. That Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, was never more convincingly preached; and never was the truth told with more plainness, force, and persuasion.

The best commendation of the sermon, however, remains to be told. Three thousand souls gladly received the message, understood the argument, and were that same day immersed for the remission of their sins. EDITOR

THE DEIST'S CORNER.

Corruption of Religion no argument against its Divine Origin. The Deists and others assume that, independent of revelation in words, and from the works of creation alone, a natural man can know that God exists, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. This religion, in contradistinction from revealed, is called natural religion. Deists differ among themselves in the number of distinct items which may be learned from the volume of nature. There is, however, a pretty general agreement among them so far as this-that the being and some of the perfections of God can be ascertained from his works, the immortality of the human soul, a future state of existence and rewards, and the nature and extent of moral obligation.

Revealed religion is with them not only wholly unnecessary, but evidently false, because it is capable of perversion and corruption. For the sake of argument we shall concede their assumptions, and examine on their own premises this argument against revealed religion. We shall moreover admit that not only were the Jewish and Christian religions capable of corruption, but that they have actually been corpted by superstition and worldly policy. But if there be