alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven chutches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write. These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who waiketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." The plain design of this vision was, to give the apostle a lively and affecting view of the presence of Christ with the ministers and seven churches of Asia; and of consequence, the same view of his presence with all the ministers and churches in the world. For there is no reason to think, that Christ is present with some, and not with all bis ministers and churches. He stands in the same relation to all, and feels equally interested in all. He continued his presence to the seven churches of Asia as long as they existed. And he still walks in the midst of all his churches, wherever they are scattered over the face of the earth. He is in the same sense present with every individual now, that he was with the seven churches of Asia. This I propose to illustrate, in the present essay, by showing,

1. That Christ is present with his Churches. And, II. For what purpose He is present.

I am to show,

I. That Christ is present with his Churches.

Here I would observe,

1. That Christ is able to be present with all his churches. Though his bodily presence is now confined to heaven, his divine presence is necessarily extended through all the earth, and even through the whole universe. As a divine Person he possesses all divine perfections, and not only exists of necessity, but of necessity fills immensity with his presence. He cannot, to speak with reverence, withdraw his presence from any of his intelligent creatures, whom he has created, and whom he upholds every moment in existence. The union of the human with the divine nature, has not destroyed, nor weakened, nor even restrained any of his divine attributes. He is the same self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Person that he ever was. And as such a glorious Person he fills heaven and earth, and all places with his presence. He is as present with one Church as another. Whilst he was bodily present on earth he said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven." If he could be in heaven, while his body was upon earth; then he can be on earth, while his body is in heaven. While his disciples were at a certain time travelling together, and absent from him, he was not absent from them, but knew, and let them know that he knew, what they had been disputing about by the way. His universal presence with all his disci

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ples, enables him to know whatever passes among them; accordingly he says to the church of Ephesus, "I know thy works;" and to the church of Smyrna, "I know thy works;" and to the church of Pergamos, "I know thy works;" and to the church Thyatira, "I know thy works;" and to the church of Sardis, and to the church of Philadelphia, and to the church of Laodicea, "I know thy works." And he can now say the same of all the churches on earth, for the same reason, because he continually walks in the midst of all his golden candlesticks. The divinity of his person demonstrates the universality of his presence with all churches through the world.

2. Christ bas promised to be with his churches, before he left the earth. He made this public declaration to his followers:— "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." After Chist was risen from the dead, and about to ascend bodily into heaven, he directed his diciples to meet him in a certain mountain of Galilee. And then he came to them and said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." The Evangelist Mark tells us, that Christ in his parting speech to his disciples, extended his promise of being with the apostles, to believers in general. He says he addressed them in this form: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of God, And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following Christ fulfilled his promise to the apostles and primitive christians, by affording them his presence and assistance in preaching the gospel, and working miracles. And when they were questioned by what power and authority, they wrought signs and wonders, in healing the sick, curing the lame, and in other miraculous operations, they always ascribed their power and authority to the name of Jesus. Christ was with Paul in going to Damascus, and when he was exposed to perish by a dreadful storm at sea. Christ's presence with his

ministers and churches will continue as long as he has promised, and that is, to the end of the world. There is no more ground to doubt of the constant and universal presence of Christ with his churches, than to doubt of the fulfilment of any other promise of his. He is the faithful and true witness, and his promises can "

He

er fail. He will always be present with each and all his friends. 3. We may be assured, that Christ is always with his churches, because he loves to be with them. He loved them before the foundation of the world; they were the joy set before him, which moved him to come into the world, and take upon him human nature, and to suffer the shame and the pains of the cross. In them he sees the travail of his soul, and is satisfied. He loves them with a sincere, ardent, constant, and unabating affection. While he tabernacled in the flesh, be loved to be with his disciples. said, he would not call them servants, but friends. And when he was just going to withdraw his bodily presence from them, it is said, that having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. He is now as intimately connected with his sincere followers as the vine is connected with its branches, or the head with its members. Of all created objects, real saints lie the near st to his heart, and have the largest share of his affections. He told his primitive ministers, that he should consider every injury done to them as done to himself. "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me." And he considered Saul's persecuting his disciples and followers, as the same as persecuting himself. Accordingly, when he met him going to Damascus, he complained of a personal injury, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" He is as heartily attached to the sincere members of his church now, as he was then. And he is as heartily attached to one true church, as to another. Hence he delights to walk in the macst of all his churches, in every part of the world. He never leaves nor forsakes a single friend of his on the face of the earth. And since he is able to be present with all, has promised to be present with all, and delights to be present with all; we may be sure he is always present with all. The church have sometimes been ready to complain of the Redeemer for forgetting and forsaking them, though without any just cause. "But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." The Redeemer replies by his evangelical prophet, Can a woman forget her suck

ing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. The love of Christ to his universal church constrains him to be perpetually in the midst of it. It is his garden, in which he delights to walk, the place where his dearest friends are; and he would sooner withdraw his special presence from any quarter of the universe, than to withdraw it from his church militant, where he sees his redeemed ones surrounded by ten thousand enemies, who lie in wait to deceive and to destroy. He will never withdraw his presence from those, whom he can never cease to love.

[To be concluded.]

From Miller's Letters.

UNITARIANISM AND INFIDELITY.

It is not an uncommon thing for Unitarians to boast, that aYowed Deists, on hearing, or reading the discourses of their distinguished preachers, have greatly admired them; and declared, that if the system exhibited in them were Christianity, they had no longer any difficulty in taking the name of Christian. I have been credibly informed of repeated instances of this kind in reference to the Rev. Mr. Channing's sermon, preached and published in Batimore. Unitarians consider this fact as a most potent arguiment in favor of their creed; as an argument that is so rational, and so strongly commends itself to common sense, that even infidels bow to its authority. But is it not a much more direct and powerful proof of something very different; viz. that Unitarianism and infidelity are so closely allied, that he who embraces the one, has really no good reason for objecting to the other? This, I have no doubt, is the real ground of the fact in question. And, indeed, how can it be otherwise? The prevalent system of Unitarianisin at the present day, not only makes Christ a mere man, and discards the whole doctrine of Redemption; but also, as you have seen, rejects the inspiration of the scriptures; and, in short presents a system reduced so nearly to a level with the Deistical scheme, and allows so much latitude for belief and feeling, with regard to what is left, that the Deist must be fastidious indeed, who would e mach repugnance to joining in communion with a Unitarian sciety. Dr. Priestly seems to have been very much of this opinion: for, in writing to a Unitarian friend, concerning a genti man who had been commonly reputed a Deist, he observes"He is generally considered as an unbeliever: IF SO, HOWEVER, HE CANNOT BE FAR FROM US; and I hope in the way to be not only almost, but altogether what we are." Mr. Belsham, according to a representation given in a former letter, explicitly acknowledges that Unitarianism does not differ, in any important point, from serious Deism; and in another place, does not hesitate to avow, that he would much rather embrace Deism than Orthodoxy.†

So Infid is the inselves view the matter. They have little objection to the prevalent forms of Unitarianism; not because they are willing to approximate to real Christianity, but because they see something, under the name of Christianity, NEARLY APPROACHING TO THEM. The Editors of the Fruch Encyclopedia, under the article, Genera, express themselves thus: Many ministers of Geneva have no other religion than complete Socinianism, rejecting all they call mystery, and supposing it to be the first principle of true religion to propose nothing for belief contrary to reason. Thus when we press them on the necessity of Revelation, a position

*See History of American Unitarianism.

Review of Wilberforce.

less complaint made than elsewhere of the progress of infidelity; which ought to excite no surprise: religion is there reduced almost entirely to the worship of one God, at least with all above the lowest ranks. Respect for Jesus Christ, and the Scriptures, is, perhaps, the only thing which distinguishes the Christianity of Genera from pre Deism"

Again, under the article Unitarians, they speak as follows: "The Unitarians have always been regarded as christian divines who had only broken and torn off a few branches of the tree, but who still held to the trunk; whereas they ought to have been considered as a sect of philosophers, who, not willing to give too violent a shock to the worship and opinions, true or false, which were then received, did not choose openly to avow pure Deism, and reject formally, and without reserve, every kind of revelation; but who were continually doing with respect to the Old and New Testament, what Epicurus did with respect to the gods; ADMITTING THEM VERBALLY, but DESTROYING THEM REALLY. In fact, the Unitarians received only those parts of scripture which they found conformable to the natural dictates of reason, and which served to support and confirm the systems which they had embrac d. A man becomes a Protestant. Soon perceiving the inconsistency of the principles which characterize Protestantism, he applies to Socinianism for a solution of his doubts and difficulties; and he becomes a Socinian. From Socinianism to Deism there is but an imperceptible shade-a single step to take-and he takes it."

la coincidence with this representation, it cannot be denied, that the transitions from Unitarianism to open infidelity; the instances in which the single, short step. just referred to, has been taken, have been numerous in Great Britain, and in the United States, as well as on the continent of Europe. Nay, instances have not been wanting of their students of theology, and even their ministers, becoming avowed Deists, and even Atheists. The history of the Academy at Hackney in England, presents a striking number of very instructive memorials on this subject. Mr. Belsham himself does not deny it. "This fact," says he, "to a certain extent cannot be denied; and most surely it excited unpleasing sensations in many, and not least in the minds of those whose endeavors to form them to usefulness in the church, were thus painfully disappointed."

Nor is a fact, the counterpart of that which I have just stated, less striking. It is the fact that Deists are peculiarly apt to unite in plans and worship with Unitarians. Accordingly, it is, I believe, notorious, that, in all those places, in our Middle and Southern States, in which Unitarian congregations have been organized, within a few years past, a number of Deists have joined them, and become attendants on their worship: and that without any so essential to christianity, many of them substitute in its place utility, which appears to them a softer term. In this, if they are not orthodox, they are at least consistent. At Geneva, there is