from the Roman Catholic the value of the Scriptures and the dross of tradition; the superiority of knowing what to believe, above believing what we know not; and the peril of trusting to the hands and knees the work of the heart. How much the very spectacle of this sad perversion of truth may have done to keep our exertions in the right path, no mortal eye can discern; but according to the ordinary rules of Divine Providence, we cannot believe it has been suffered without a good design, or that that design has not been, in its ordained degree, fulfilled. To one who runs his eye along Mosheim's chapters of "Heresies and Schisms," in his annals of the first fifteen centuries, where he begins his new division of "the general" and "the particular" history of the Church, it must seem to be a matter of surprise that the diversities of religious opinion have actually diminished, rather than increased, under the great Reformation principle of the right of private judgment in interpreting the Scriptures. For, in order to determine the question of the number of the present divisions of the Christian body, it would not be fair to enumerate the variety of names by which they are called; but the surest, the most evangelical method would be, to determine how many of these societies of believers in Jesus can pray and praise together; can rejoice in the same ground of acceptance; can weep, and be comforted, and reproved and edified, by the same pre-eminent and most precious doctrines; can admit the same preceptive and spiritual obligations, and thus prove that, despite of other differences, they feel themselves to be, in the highest sense, one in Christ. Divine Providence has permitted the nominal church of our day to exist in our country in two great divisions, the Protestant and the Protested. The former is subdivided into several distinct organizations, but, taking the country in mass, the four forms we have been naming will express its leading influences-the Methodist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, the Episcopalian. These names are sufficiently distinctive to mark the general character of the Reformed or Evangelical Church. We may, therefore, conclude that the inhabitants of the United States, so far as they arrange themselves under any religious name, come under one or another of the five divisions now stated. Out of every arrangement or permission of Providence we must believe some final good will proceed. Error is evil, and division may be evil: but even error and division may serve the purpose of counteracting greater evils, and working out a collateral or eventual good. At all events, there must be, in such a country as ours, not only an influence going out from each of these forms on their respective adherents, but a reciprocal influence on each other. Is not this tendency of the variations one of the designs, if not the chief, in the providential permission of their existence? H. A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD. MANY years ago, I visited a church in the eastern part of the State of not very far from the ocean. It is one in which the sainted Brainerd is known to have preached, on a sacramental occasion, when he was accompanied by a troop of his tawny converts. The house is very plain, after the manner of those days, and was reared by the descendants of a small Scottish emigration. But there is one object which gives venerable beauty to the edifice-it is surrounded by a spacious burying-ground, lying gracefully over the rounded crest of a hill, and shaded by clumps of ancient oaks, the survivors of a great forest. Here lie the people of several generations, with many a lettered stone, on which the children, who stray among the rank grass and spring-flowers, love to spell out the wellknown family names. Vastly more touching, in my humble judgment, is this simple cemetery, than all the landscape-gardening of Mount Auburn, Greenwood, or Pere la Chaise. Without the aid of Hervey or Young, the thoughtful mind may here read lessons that quiet, instruct and elevate. The month of May, in which I first visited this church, was genial and delightful, and many groups of worshippers were sprinkled over the field of the dead. Some walked in the green paths, some stood under the shady trees, and some, who were bowed with years, sat upon the broad tombstones; but all were serious and devout in their mien, for it was a communion season. Among all these persons, there was one who attracted instant attention, even before his character was known. He was a tall old man, of slender but erect form, with gray hairs that straggled from beneath his broad old-time hat. He scarcely leaned on the staff, which, like the clergy of all ages, he seemed to bear as a pastoral symbol. All who met him did him reverence; voices were hushed as he approached; many rose as he passed; yet the smallest children appeared happier for his greeting. For nearly forty years he had ministered to them, and had at length became the patriarch of the vicinage. I well remember the serene and gentle grace with which he would lead away some shrinking creature, all suffused with emotion, into the covert of a little grove, to administer words of cheering with regard to the approaching ordinance; and then with what grave control in his manner he would gather around him the grey-haired elders, to confer with them on cases arising out of the same solemnity. As the look and carriage of a good man spring, when he is unaffected, from inward sources of character, so they have their share in that influence which a faithful minister carries with him, more and more, upon all who come into his presence. Feelings thus produced, are made more solemn and enduring amidst the memorials of the dead. For who that walked among those hillocks could forget that this aged servant of God had preached to their forefathers, and that the congregation of the dead was far greater than that of the living? It is abusing the simplicity of the gospel, and urging it to an extreme, to prohibit all records over the graves of the departed. Epitaphs are often foolish and often false, but sometimes they are as edifying as sermons. The dead are not lost. The spot where they lie should have a record. Such a record is found in the simple monument. Let us not forget how carefully the Scriptures indicate the burial-place of many saints. The humblest grave-stone testifies concerning the resurrection, and may speak warning or consolation to the passer-by. The churchyard in a colder season presents a different scene, yet one which has suggested some fine thoughts to a great poet of our day : "Thus, when in changeful April snow hath fallen, And fields are white, if from the sullen north Your walk conduct you hither, ere the sun Hath gained his noontide height, this churchyard, filled An unillumined, blank, and dreary plain, C. Q. A WELL-ORDERED CONVERSATION. [Being part of a sermon preached in New York, 1707, by the Rev. FRANCIS MAKEMIE, the father of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.*] you, what a WELL-ORDERED And this is the next head, I proceed to describe, or to show to CONVERSATION is, or wherein it consists. and so requisite to be explained, that I cannot apprehend how any can be convinced of the want thereof, or engaged to promote, We are indebted to PETER FORCE, Esq., of Washington City, for a copy of this famous sermon, preached by Francis Makemie, in New York, for which he suffered imprisonment. A brief account of the circumstances of his imprisonment is given in the first volume of the Presbyterian Magazine, pp. 30, 31. The Church is under obligations to Mr. Force for his antiquarian skill in rescuing this sermon from oblivion, and in preserving it in his valuable library. We render to him this public acknowledgment for his kindness in sending a beautiful manuscript copy for the Presbyterian Magazine. The sermon is much longer than we expected, and would take up nearly 30 pages of the Magazine. We may continue the extracts hereafter. The following is an outline or the plan of the sermon: the text being, "To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God," Ps. I. 23. After an introduction, the author, 1. Lays advance, or seek after a well-ordered conversation, without some distinct and clear notions about it; therefore it consists in these things, 1. In a life and conversation purged and purified from sin and wickedness. And this is the first step towards a well-ordered conversation; for the lives and conversations of all men by nature, and from our apostate state of rebellion, are impure, sinful, and unclean; we are a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters; our lives naturally, and without grace, and before conversion, are very irregular and disorderly; and those disorderly things must be laid aside, and the evils of our lives must be purged away. And as it is sin that disordereth the life and defileth the conversation, so it is sin, and sin only, our lives must be purged and purified from; and this is required by many precepts, multiplied threatenings, enlarged and renewed promises, and many awakening instances. And it is sometimes called a departing from iniquity, 2 Tim. ii. 19-Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. A departing from evil, Psal. xxxiv. 14. It is called a ceasing to do evil, Isa. i. 16-Cease to do evil, and learn to do well. A forsaking our ways that are not good, Isa. lv. 7-Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. A denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, Tit. ii. 12. A cleansing our hands, and purifying our hearts, Jam. iv. 8-Cleanse your hands ye sinners, and purify your hearts ye double-minded. And frequently called a turning from sin. Turn ye, turn ye; if the wicked turn from his way; turn unto me, saith the Lord of hosts. You see then, my friends, what is your first work; there must be a rooting out, and plucking up the sinful and corrupt weeds in our souls, if we would have grace planted, and virtue grow there; we must purge away the spots and stains, if we would appear beautiful in the eyes of our God; we must lay aside the disorders and irregularities of our lives, if we would have them orderly and regular. The profane curser and swearer must lay aside his horrid oaths and rash impious imprecations. The beastly and sensual drunkard must abstain from his intemperate cups and companions. The unclean person must leave his whoredoms. The backbiter must forsake his railing and defamation. The liar must learn to speak truth to his neighbour. The thief and purloiner must grow honest. The profaner of the day of the Lord must learn to spend it more religiously. And the profligate and profane scoffer at the creatures of God, the people, and followers of God, the way, worship, and religion of God, must lay aside this base abuse of their tongues. These evils, and many more, as pride, covetousness, carnality, and worldliness, must be open the promise relating to God's salvation. 2. He then shows the nature of a wellordered conversation. [This part is in the present number of the Magazine.] 3. Some reasons why a well-ordered conversation is of great concern. 4. What is necessary to promote this good conversation. 5. Obstructions which mar a godly walk and conversa6. An application. The sermon is after the old-fashioned style-well subdivided, full of Scripture, plain, and aiming at the reformation of the heart and life. For the title page and preface, see another part of this number of the Magazine. tion. purged out of our lives, and our conversations cleansed from them, if we would promote a well-ordered conversation in the world. 2. A well-ordered life and conversation consists in a conformity and agreeableness to the holy laws and sovereign commands of heaven. For God, the powerful creator of all things, is also the supreme and sovereign Law-giver, who prescribes rules to his creatures, wherein and whereby every thing is prohibited we are to forsake and abstain from; and every thing is commanded and required, we should perform and do. And the world was involved in such a labyrinth of darkness and corruption, man would not have known what was to be done, or what was to be left undone, if God from heaven had not told us by his revealed law. And such is the nature of this Divine law, and the commands of heaven, that they are most holy, just, and good, adapted by infinite wisdom to advance our happiness here and hereafter. And a conversation answerable to this Divine rule, both in negatives and positives, is the only wellordered conversation in the world; for all disorders in life are nothing else but a deviation from that rule, and a contradiction to that law. This is a further step and a higher degree of a wellordered conversation than the former; and the first step consisting only in the negative part of religion; but in this is comprehended both positives and negatives, a compliance with the laws of heaven. And this is called a keeping the commandments, John xiv. 15-If ye love me, keep my commandments. A doing the will of the Lord, Matt. vii. 21-"Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven." A conversation agreeable to first table commands, and second table commands, and to gospel precepts, is the only regular conversation. How much, therefore, is it the concern of every soul to be acquainted with this law, and to make conscience of conforming their lives thereunto. 3. A well-ordered life and conversation consists in being adorned with the shining grace and gracious fruits of the Spirit of God, wherein the gifts and graces of the renewing Spirit of God are legible and conspicuous, even in all parts of conversation. This distinguishes the life of a Christian from the conversation of the most refined and polished moralists in the world, and renders the conversation of a true, sincere Christian, to surpass, by far, the lives of pagans. The true Christian, in all states of life, whether in prosperity or adversity, in fulness or in want, in sickness or in health, in suffering or liberty, under reproaches or in good report, under enjoyment, or want of religious privileges, is furnished with graces answerable, and exercises them suitably and agreeably, so as his whole life should shine with them, as a light in a dark place. The fruits of the Spirit of God in believing souls, with which their conversation should shine, are enumerated by the apostle, Gal. v. 22, 23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" and the apostle Paul recommends them to us, Phil. iv. 8" Finally, brethren, whatsoever VOL. II.-No. 1. 2 |