T of avowed infidelity, and of principles equally hostile to happiness, to morals, and to religion. The indiscriminate perusal of works of fiction also, whether in prose or poetry, is calculated to induce consequences which a pious parent cannot contemplate without dread. It has a tendency at once to vitiate the taste; to give undue excitement to the imagination, at the expense of every other intellectual energy; to subjugate reason to the dominion of the passions; to contaminate the thoughts, by contaminating the heart; to exhibit, under false and fascinating colours, a course of amusement and dissipation, and to overspread with gloom the scenes of common life, so as to render its du ties irksome, and its lawful pleasures insipid. Judge, then, ye parents, whether indiscriminate reading can be permitted with safety; and whether a mild, and gentle, and persuasive authority ought not to be exercised, in the choice of books for your children. Extract from a Letter to one of the Editors of the Recorder and Telegraph, dated Dartmouth College, HANOVER, N. H. March 12. DEAR SIR-I hasten to inform you, and it is with unutterable emotions of joy, that there are indications that the Lord is about to visit this place in his infinite mercy, and to build up Zion here. Indeed we cannot doubt that he is in the midst of us. "The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land," Last autumn, the friends of Christ in this seminary were animated and cheered by intelligence of what God was doing in a sister institution; and there was among them an evident increase of Christian feeling, and a strong desire that He would visit them also with similar displays of his grace. These feelings continued, and with undiminished ardour, through the remainder of last term. During the vacation also, the way of the Lord seemed to be preparing. Upon re-assembling here three weeks ago, earnest desires were manifested for a revival of religion here, particularly by some who had, during the winter, witnessed exhibitions of converting grace. The flame spread from one heart to another; and it soon became the burden of the prayers of those who have an interest at the throne of grace, "O Lord revive thy work." They who hoped they had been redeemed by the precious blood of Immanuel, and professed to consecrate themselves to his service, felt condemned for their past coldness and indifference in the best of causes, for their remissness in duty, and the little which they had done to recommend the religion of the gospel to those around them. The resolution was taken to be more faithful in future. Some measures were agreed on, and pursued, for the promotion of religious feeling in their own hearts, and for the everlasting goɔd of the impenitent. These measures have evidently been blessed. A spirit of earnest prayer was manifested, and a disposition to put forth their irands to the work of the Lord. This state of things still continues; and some things occurs every day to cheer, encourage and animate us. In this early stage of the work it is deemed advisable not to enter farther into particulars. We rejoice, but it is with trembling. We fear lest something should yet be permitted to check the work, and avert the blessing from us. Still we can say, "there is a sound of abundance of rain." Religious meetings are frequent and crowded, and the truth is heard with deep and solemn in DEATH OF MR. FISK. It is our melancholy duty to announce the death of the Rev. Pliny Fisk, one of the American missionaries to Palestine, and companion of the lamented Parsons. He died at Beyroot on Sunday the 23d of October. The only particulars of this afflicting event which have yet come to our knowledge, are contained in the following extract of a letter from Mrs. Goodell to her friend in this city, dated Beyroot, November 8, 1825. "One of our number has already bid adieu to earthly scenes and entered, we believe, on an eternity of never ceasing joys. Yes, our dear brother Fisk is no longer a partaker of our joys or our sorrows. It is a reality, but I can hardly persuade myself that he is to be here no more. So healthy, so cheerful, so diligent in his work. But he is gone. We in our weakness see not as He does, who is the Disposer of all events. And it is often the case, that those who to hunan view are the most needed are earliest taken home to glory. So is it with our lamented brother Fisk. He had been in this country so long, that he was well acquainted with the manners, customs and necessities of the people; and he had acquired such a knowledge of the various languages spoken here, that he could converse readily with them upon almost any subject. The last five months of his life I am happy to say were spent in our family, during which period he had been diligent ly occupied in making an English and Arabic Dictionary for the use of our missionaries. We had regularly every sabbath a few Arabs in our house, who joined us in reading the Holy Scriptures, and before whom Mr. Fisk expounded and prayed in their own tongue. How much good he may have effected by these exercises will be known in the great day of accounts. "The sickness of Mr. Fisk, commenced the 11th and ended the 23d of October. During the whole time he suffered much pain. After the fourth day, he was occasionally deprived of his reason, though to our great comfort, he was in lucid intervals able to converse, to pray, and to advise us; also to dictate letters to his father and to his brethren, King and Temple. We often read to him the scriptures, and also at his request, portions of Mrs. Graham's "Provisions for passing over Jordan." His speech and apparently his senses left him several hours before he died. He died precisely at 3 o'clock, A. M. on sabbath morning, while his brethren were praying and commending his departing spirit to Christ. Mr. Fisk was born in Shelburne, Franklin county, Massachusetts, about the year 1791. His father, who is still living, is a respectable and pious mechanic, and a member of the Congregational Church under the pastorel care of the Rev. Dr. Packard. For some time before commencing his preparation for college, Mr. Fisk had devoted himself to the work of a missionary to the heathen, and at that early age was distinguished for ardent piety, and for that singular zeal, perseverance and self-denial, which continued to characterise him in all his subsequent life. After pursuing preparatory studies for more than a year, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Hallock, of Plainfield, he entered the college at Middlebury in the year 1810. Here he spent four years, and then, after preach 130 ing one year to great acceptance, of the glory of his Master. To these he entered the Theological Semi- qualities of the head and the heart, nary at Andover, where he remain- he united a bodily constitution ed three years. He left Andover which fitted him to endure fatigue in the fall of 1818, and was employ- and hardship without fainting. If ed as an agent for the American we had been called upon to select, Board in forming societies and col- from the whole circle of our aclecting funds, until the 3d of No- quaintance, the man best fitted to vember, 1819, when he embarked conduct to a prosperous issue alat Boston, in company with Mr. most any high and holy and diffiParsons, for the Holy Land. Since cult enterprise, we should have his arrival in Palestine our readers named Mr. Fisk. The removal of are acquainted with his history. him from the scene of his labours at the early age of 35 is a mysterious providence. But God seeth not as man seeth, and what is now dark will be revealed in that world of light, where we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known. To the character of Mr. Fisk, we do not feel ourselves competent to do justice. The prominent traits were uncommon energy, prudence and good sense, combined with an ardent love of the souls of men, and a disposition to do any thing, and to suffer every thing, for the promotion [N. Y. Observer. Summary of Religious Entelligence. Revivals of Religion.-There are said to be " very encouraging prospects" in Rev. Mr. Read's society, Reading, Mass.-The Vermont Watchman informs, that revivals have recently commenced in the towns of Waitfield, Newbury, Plainfield and Marshfield, in that State. As fruits of the recent revival in Machias, Me. 95 have been added to the Congregational Church. In the towns of Cooper and Prospect, near Machias, the converts have been numerous, compared with the number of inhabitants. American Tract Society.-The receipts into the treasury, from November 20th, 1825, to January 19th, 1826, amounted to $1971 31. American Education Society.— The receipts in February, amount ed to $280 74. From Africa.-The London Missionary Register for December last, announces that the Sherbro Bulloms, "a tribe, who inhabit the fine country lying directly southeast of Sierra Leone, and extending along the coast to the distance of 120 miles," have ceded their whole territory to the British government.― "Thus is the slave trade entirely abolished in a country, which has commonly yielded fifteen or twenty thousand victims annually." Suppression of Intemperance."The first annual meeting of the Denmark Temperate Society (NewYork) was held on the 31st of January last. The members, without any inconvenience, had persisted in the disuse of ardent spirits, and were now fully confirmed in the truth of a clause in their Constitu tion, that' ardent spirits are never useful, except in a few extreme cases; consequently, that the habitual use of even the smallest quantity, is injurious.' At a late meeting of an association for the suppression of intemperance, it was stated, on the authority of actual investigation, that more than 2,500,000 gallons of distilled spirits, are annually consumed in this Commonwealth-at an expense of about 1,229,000 dollars. It would be easy, from these facts, to calculate the number of individuals and families, whose health, reputation and property, are annually sacrificed on the altar of infa POETRY. For the Hopkinsian Magazine. THE SABBATH. Which day has God divinely bless'd, And, by his mandate, oft express'd, Has made a day of sacred rest? THE SABBATH. Which day is best of all to me; THE SABBATH. On which, do saints so love to meet, On which, does God his law proclaim, THE SABBATH. On which, does God his Spirit send, To cheer the heart of every friend; And make the will of foes to bend ? THE SABBATH. On which, does God his church increase; On which, does that eternal scheme, On which does Satan feel a wound, On which, though angry nations war, THE SABBATH. Which day of all that God has made, Which day, fast as the moment's sy, Then let my soul, with rapture, say, "Hal, holy morn, come smiling ray; "I love to keep that holy day. "THE SABBATH." D. THE HOPKINSIAN MAGAZINE. VOL. II. SERMON. APRIL, 1826. PSALM, cxli. 4.-Incline not my heart to any evil thing.— As David was a man of piety; so he was a man of prayer. There are many of his prayers recorded in the book of Psalms. The psalm, which contains our text, is in the form of a prayer; and it is called a prayer, v. 2. "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee, as incense." In this prayer of the devout Psalmist, the petition in the text is worthy of particular observation. "Incline not my heart to any evil thing." To some, this may appear a strange petition; others may question what the meaning of it is; and others still may question David's right to make such a request. It may, therefore be of use to examine this petition closely and minutely, and to endeavour to ascertain, I. The import of it. And, I. Let us endeavour to ascertain the import of the petition in our text. This cannot be a difficult task. The words are simple, intelligible and definite. It seems next to impossible to understand them in more than one sense. The word heart, when used with reference No. 4. to good and evil, invariably means the free, voluntary exercises of the man; such as choosing and We have no knowledge, either by refusing, loving and hating.experience or from scripture, of free, moral exercises and affecany heart, except what consists in tions. To incline the heart, must mean the same, as to influence, move, or turn the heart; or to voluntary exercises. To incline the cause one to put forth certain free, heart, is to cause one to choose or refuse, to love or hate, to be willing or unwilling, or to put forth some voluntary exercise, in the view of some motive. An evil thing, in a moral view, is some sinful, criminal action, such as is forbidden by the law of God, and such as is That practised by wicked men. this is the meaning of the term, in the petition before us, is evident from the words immediately following: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity.”The plain meaning of David, in this petition, seems to have been, that God would not cause him to choose to practise any kind of wickedness. And there is nothing to set aside this plain, literal import of the words. They appear, from a careful examination, |