Infant Piety; a Hymn. By cool Siloam's shady fountain, How sweet the breath on yonder mountain, Lo! such the child whose young devotion, By cool Siloam's shady fountain, The rose that blooms on yonder mountain A little while, the bitter morrow Of man's maturer age Will shake the soul with cank'ring sorrow, Oh Thou! whose every year, untainted Richard Brothers, the False Prophet. OUR readers recollect, no doubt, this political prophet, who made such a noise in the beginning of the French Revolutionary War, and whose cause was maintained by Mr. Halhed, the Oriental Scholar, in the House of Commons. An inquiry was two or three weeks ago made concerning him by a writer in the Times newspaper, to which a correspondent, subscribing himself "Truth," has made the following reply: "Mr. Richard Brothers was confined in a private madhouse at Islington about 11 years; was released by the Lord Chancellor Erskine; lived some time in the neighbourhood of the Edgeware Road, afterwards in Baker Street North, where he died; saw him a few days before; was respectably dressed, very pale, very thin, a mere skeleton,~ very weak, could hardly walk, and died of a consumption. It was singular that the minister died of a broken heart, and that the doctor under whose care he was confined laid violent hands on himself. In the burying-ground of St. John's-wood chapel, near the Regent's Park, on the north side, or right hand, behind the chapel, and opposite to No. 6, on the wall, you will find a large plain stone with the following engraving on: THIS GROUND was bought by Mr. John Finlayson, to deposit under this stone the mortal remains of Mr. RICHARD BROTHERS, And about 150 yards further on, on the left hand, and about opposite to No. 44, on the wall, is the tomb-stone of Joanna Southcote.”. Letters from the Rev. R. Wright, to the Unitarians in the North-east District. LETTER VII. Trowbridge, October 4, 1826. MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN, THE prosperity of your churches, and the success and progress of the cause among you, as well as your comfort and improvement as individuals, will much depend on your union and co-operation. Union is strength, and united efforts will effect what without co-operation would be impracticable. Whatever would produce disunion should be carefully guarded against and avoided, and all possible means used to strengthen the bonds of mutual affection, and excite to united exertions in the holy cause in which you are engaged. A complete uniformity of opinion is not to be expected, and can hardly be thought practicable, in the present imperfect state; nor is uniformity of opinion to be made the ground of your union. You are to unite as Christians on the ground of your common faith in Christ, or the general belief of the gospel on this ground you are to act together, whatever dissonance of opinion may exist among you. Though each should aim at the highest attainable perfec * From this remark it would appear that the writer entertains some superstitious remembrance of " the mad prophet." ED. tion, yet, conscious of much imperfection and many defects in yourselves, you should not look for perfection in each other; but mutually exercise forbearance and long-suffering, and by bearing one another's burthens fulfil the law of Christ. If misunderstandings take place, and offences come, you should shew a readiness to give or receive ex-, planation, to pass by offences, and study to prevent any breach of union and mutual affection, and if breaches do take place, endeavour, as soon as possible to heal them. These things are of great importance; for disunion and disaffection will diminish your strength, cripple your exertions, and frequently render the best-laid plans inefficient and abortive: and animosities and divisions, if not speedily healed, may prove destructive-not to say that such things scandalize and greatly injure the best of causes. I beseech you, therefore, my beloved brethren, that you watch over yourselves, and over one another in love; carefully guarding against every thing in your spirit and conduct that might give offence; using all possible means to prevent whatever would interrupt good understanding, mutual affection, and united exertions in the cause of truth and righteousness; and, that you do all you can to promote love and peace, to excite one another to every good work. and If, unhappily, any divisions exist in any of your churches, or disaffection among any of the members of your churches, or misunderstandings and coolness between one church and another, I entreat you not to delay using all possible means to remove these evils. Study to shew a conciliating spirit, a readiness to pass by matters of difference, a desire to renew mutual love, and to forgive one another as God in Christ hath forgiven you. Let no one stand upon his own consequence, nor seek to please himself at the expense of edification and the general good. If you wish to see the work revived among you, and the good cause rendered suc-cessful, you must begin with regulating all such matters as the above among yourselves; you must renew mutual affection, be cordially united, and act together with one heart and one mind. Remember the bond of union among you is not opinion, nor forms and ceremonies, nor frames and emotions falsely called experience; but the spirit of Christ, the mind that was in him, his temper or disposition: therefore diligently cultivate and live in the habitual exercise of this spirit. Love as brethren, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved you. Keep in view that you are all called to enjoy the same liberty, rights and privileges, as the disciples of Jesus, and that the gospel is designed to unite you toge ther as brethren in one family, of which Christ is the head, and that he is the only Master, appointed of God in matters of religion. It is not enough that you meet together in the same place of worship; you should cultivate brotherly intercourse, and have fellowship one with another. Unless this be the case, how are you to edify one another? How are you a brotherhood? It is as you have Christian intercourse and fellowship, that your hearts will be knit together in love, that your mutual affection and zeal will be excited, An Apostle hath said, "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich in that he is made low." James i. 8, 9. As if he had said, Whatever distinctions exist between them in the world, and as to worldly things, let them mutually rejoice in being brought to one common state of privilege by the gospel, in being placed on a level in the house of God, as disciples of Christ.-Not only should you keep up free and brotherly intercourse as Christians, but by mutual kindness, tender sympathy, and reciprocal proofs of affectionate regard, strengthen the bonds of Christian brotherhood, and provoke unto love and to good works. If you do these things you will be mutually edified, your churches will prosper, and the cause flourish among you. Though the subject of church discipline must be reserved for a distinct letter, I think it proper to observe here, that though your churches should ever be temples of liberty, they ought also to be habitations of righteousness and holiness. You should all pay the strictest regard to correctness of moral conduct, you cannot expect the blessing of God, or look for spiritual prosperity any further than this is the case. Nothing can supply the want of integrity and virtue. If you neglect moral purity, you can have no excuse, as you do not expect the righteousness of another to supply your want of personal righteousness. Whatever your opposers may charge you with, let them never have reason to charge you with being lax in your moral conduct, with disregarding the commandments of your God. Not only keep yourselves pure, and practise evangelical righteousness, but carefully watch over the moral conduct of the children and youth among you: impress on them as deeply as possible the value and necessity of virtuous conduct, and do all you can to fix in them the principles of right action. If a brother fall into sin, though you are not immediately to cast him off, it is your duty to do all you can to reform and restore him. It should be a leading object of the ministration of the word among you, to convert sinners from their evil ways, and to bring them to God and to righteousness. I beseech you, brethren, in all your proceedings, and in the whole of your deportment, to shew your regard to righteousness and holiness, and thus to adorn and recommend the doctrine you profess. Unitarians have been charged with the neglect of public worship and indifference to Christian institutions. I trust this charge is far from true with respect to the generality of Unitarians, many of whom are exemplary in their attendance on public worship, and their regard to the institutions of Jesus Christ: yet I fear, my brethren, that some of you have given cause for the above charge. Let me expostulate with you on this subject. Though positive institutes and instrumental duties are not of equal value and importance with what is strictly of a moral nature, with love to God and love to man, and though their value consists in their suitableness and tendency to promote piety, virtue and goodness; yet they ought not on that account to be neglected, or treated with indifference. The words of our Lord to the Jews will apply in this case, "These ye ought to have done, and the other ye ought not to have left undone." All the institutions of Jesus Christ are of divine authority, therefore it is a part of our obedience as Christians to observe them. Can you then wilfully neglect the worship of God, treat with indifference the institutions of him whom you call your Lord, and be blameless? How will you answer for such conduct when you stand before his judgment-seat? Can you expect your souls should prosper and be in health, while you neglect the means appointed for your improvement and spiritual edification? Consider the influence which your example is likely to have upon others, in particular on the rising generation, and especially on your families. Where the heads of a family are negligent in their attention on public worship, it will be generally found that the family at large become so also. Think how discouraging it must be to your ministers, when they have laboured to prepare what they hoped would prove food to your souls, and minister to you edification and comfort, to find your places |