when deprived of the liberty of employing their tongues, they betook themselves to their pens, and they have left to the church such a body of practical and casuistical theology, as all ages before or since, cannot equal. I have no doubt, that such men as Owen, Baxter, Flavel, Bunyan, Goodwin, Manton, Howe, and Bates, have effected much more good by their practical writings, than they could possibly have done by their preaching, supposing them to have been ever so successful. But our lot is cast in a different age, and in a different state of the church. After a long slumber, the attention of Christians has been aroused to consider the perishing condition of the heathen. We live in a period when great designs are entertained, and plans formed for the conversion of the whole world,-when one benevolent enterprise or institution follows another in rapid succession, until the Christian community begins to exhibit an entirely new aspect, from what it did within our own remembrance. Christians have begun to feel, that by a combination of effort, they have power to accomplish much. The public attention is kept awake by the frequent recurrence of public meetings of an interesting kind, and by that more potent engine, the wide circulation of religious PERIODICALS, by which, interesting intelligence is conveyed to almost every corner of our extensive country. The duty of Christians to be active is now inculcated, in almost every form; tracts are multiplied; the scriptures are circulated; the young and ignorant are instructed, by new methods; and many are found running to and fro to promote the propagation of evangelical truth. Revivals of religion also are exerting a mighty influence on the church. The number of serious Christians is vastly increased; and many youth are brought forward to a course of preparation for the gospel ministry. A spirit of liberality also is witnessed, unknown to our fathers; and the duty of consecrating to the Lord, a reasonable proportion of all their increase, is beginning to be extensively felt among serious Christians. And such is the spirit of enterprise, that no undertaking appears too arduous, which has for its object the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom and such is the favour of heaven towards benevolent enterprises in our day, that scarcely one has failed of accomplishing some good; and although the schemes of benevo lence are so various and so multiplied, yet there has occurred no sensible interference of one with another. As they all aim at the same object, so they are all viewed as parts of the same great system of operations. Now, in all these favourable appearances and benevolent exertions, every pious heart must and will rejoice. But is there no danger, that many who feel interested in the operations of the day, and contribute to their advancement, should be mistaken as to their true spiritual condition? When a powerful current takes a set, many will be carried along with it, which ever way it may run. And is there no danger that Christians themselves, while they seem to flourish in external profession, zeal and activity, may be decaying at the root, for want of sufficient atten-* tion to their own hearts, and to the duties of the closet? There is indeed much reason to fear that many professors now exist, who confine their religion too much to those external acts, which may be performed from motives no higher than those which operate on unrenewed men. The danger now is, that the religion of They the heart will be neglected, and that many will feel well satisfied with themselves, on account of their activity and zeal, who are yet strangers to a work of grace. This being the point on which Christians of the present day are liable to err, it is a matter of congratulation, that some writers seem disposed to turn the attention of the Christian public, to the importance ɔf diligence and punctuality in performing the duties of the closet. The following letters are well calculated to produce this effect. were forwarded to me by an esteemed young clergyman, who is settled as a pastor in a distant and retired village. They were addressed, as the author has stated in his preface, to a young lady of highly respectable connexions, upon the occasion of her making a public profession of religion. The father of this young lady, who is distinguished for his benevolence and evangelical piety, was unwilling that the pious and judicious counsels and affectionate exhortations which they contain should be limited to an individual, since they are so well adapted to be useful to Christians generally; and especially to the young, placed in circumstances similar to those of the person to whom 28 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. they were originally addressed. A request was, therefore, made for their publication. The author through modesty has withheld his name, but has requested me to introduce them to the public with some preliminary essay of my own; with which request I have here complied, believing that the letters of my young friend are seasonable, judicious, and pious, and that as they are written in an ornate and animated style, they will be extensively perused by the young. Princeton, N. J. A. ALEXANDER. |