their means, gave as much for benevolent objects; and no where, certainly, was there a more cheerful giver. Upon the church, likewise, he looked with the Bible in his hand; and seeing by its light many things that appeared wrong, he was anxious to see them brought back to where the apostles had left them. Particularly did he long to see that brotherly love, and that union of feeling and effort in the great work of the world's salvation, for which Christians were once so remarkable. What Mr. Grimke called "the genius of the existing order of things," he regarded as an incubus upon the church, which stifled her life an energy.

"From what has now been said, it might be inferred, that he must have neglected the common duties of life, and those of his profession. This, however, was far from being the case. By diligence, and a proper division of time, he was able to attend to these, as well as to his religious duties. His brethren of the bar will testify, that as a lawyer, he did a great deal, and did it well. Yet religion was his delight. A few years before his death, he entertained serious thoughts of relinquishing the practice of law, for the purpose of being more directly and extensively engaged in doing good. On reflection, however, he became convinced that it was not his duty.

"These must be regarded as merely a few, brief, and very imperfect hints, of what he was. A full portrait would require a volume. None, who have enjoyed opportunities of knowing him, will hesitate to place him in the same rank with such men as Evarts, Grimke and Wirt."

CHRISTIAN UNION;

OR,

AN ARGUMENT FOR THE ABOLITION OF SECTS.

SHOULD Our Saviour this day come down from heaven, take up his abode on earth, and in his human nature assume the immediate government of the church, would he look with complacency on its divisions into sects and denominations? Would his scattered followers appear in his eye as different streams, all beautifully flowing into one mighty river, or as one great army, composed of many legions, all having the same views, and harmoniously co-operating under the same counsels? Would he not rather express his sorrow and indignation that the demon of discord had been permitted to sow dissention among his disciples, and that thereby the world, instead of having been subdued into faithful subjection to his kingdom, by the united power of his forces, is yet as to nine-tenths of it, under the dominion of Heathenism, delusion, and error.

The personal advent of Christ is expected by only a small number of his professed disciples; and for all the purposes of our present subject, we may take it for granted, that he will continue on his throne in heaven, until his mediatorial work shall be completed; and that to the end of the world he will govern the church by his ministers, his word, and his spirit, and upon the principles declared in the Scriptures of everlasting truth; so that we must needs be content to answer the above inquiries from what is taught in the Bible, instead of waiting for a new revelation from the great head of the church, whose word, already written, endureth for ever.

Among Protestant Christians there are some who maintain that the division of the church into sects and denominations, instead of being detrimental, is rather advantageous to her best interests. A second class apprehend it to be injurious, but entertain so little hope of healing the division, that they give a ready ear to any flatterer that may undertake to show its advantages, and are thus kept in a state of doubt, and consequent inaction. There is another class, who seem to be convinced that the schisms in the church are a great evil, but do not put forth a wish to have a remedy applied in any other way than by the universal prevalence of the sect to which they belong. And we are happy in the belief that there are also many among the people of God, who are perfectly convinced that the rending asunder of the church of Christ is the source of many and great evils, and that it is a flagrant breach of the unity of the church, as constituted by its head; and who are desiring and praying that the omniscient God may lead his children to discern and carry into effect the proper remedy. There are probably but few intelligent Christians, whose minds are not,

in some measure, exercised upon this important subject. A spirit of solicitude and inquiry is abroad, and the interest of the attentive disciple is increased by what he sees to be transpiring in the providence of God. The finger of the Almighty is pointing to a re-union of the church, according to its original constitution, as the only hope of saving her from being torn into such fragments as to render it impossible to sustain her institutions.

We believe that God has graciously provided a remedy for all the evils that afflict his church, and that the time and measure of redress depend upon the discernment and faithful exertions of his children, in an humble reliance upon his assistance. We are confident that the evil of division is palpable and intolerable, and that the remedy is obviously indicated in the word of God itself. But as the first step towards relief is to convince the serious and watchful Christian of the existence of the evil, and the next step is to point out the remedy, and show the practicability of its successful application, we make our earnest appeal to Christians of every denomination, entreating their candid and patient attention to the discussion of these momentous topics.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

1. Proof that the Church is one. Unity essential to accomplish God's design in establishing the Church. Its unity indicated in the Old Testament. Taught in the New Testament by Christ and his Apostles.—2. Division into Sects is a breach of its unity. So believed the Apostles, the primitive Christians of the three first centuries, and the Reformers, and so teaches Christ in his intercessory prayer, and in his figure of the vine and its branches. So teaches Paul in his figure of the human body and its members, of a family, of a sheep-fold. The bond of union is love, and that is preserved by forbearance in matters of opinion and practice.

THE church of God was set up prior to the manifestation of Jesus Christ in the flesh; whether in Abraham, as the father of the faithful, or in the descendants of Jacob, or at what period of the Old Testament history, it is not material to our present purpose to determine. The design of God in the erection of the church, was, in the first stage of its existence, to preserve a holy seed for his worship and service in the midst of an idolatrous and wicked world; to receive and transmit to future generaions the revelation of God's will to man in his fallen