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is never acted on. The nature of our government precludes the possibility of it. Accordingly we have seen every successive administration that chose to go to war,

by means of its journalists and agents, appealing to the people on the justice and necessity of the war, and using arguments to

convince them of both.

STATE OF RELIGION

IN ICELAND, 1814.

IN regard to sentiment and style of preaching, the Icelandic classes; those of the old, and clergy may be divided into two

such as are of the new school.

The former professes to receive

the Bible as an authoritative and I fear X. Y. Z. has been in the school of a late prelate, more dis-of God, and bow with reverence obligatory revelation of the will tinguished by his theological acu- to its decisions. They do not men than by his constitutional exalt human reason to be the politics; for this seems to be, in arbiter of what ought, and what another form, the maxim, that ought not, to be embraced as the people have nothing to do dogmas of faith; but, conscious with the laws, but to obey them:" of their ignorance and proneness a maxim rejected with abhorrence to error, they consider it at once by all who maintain those principles which seated the reigning family on the throne.

their duty and their privilege, to believe whatever God has been X. Y. Z. remarks, "this pro-word. pleased to communicate in his Accordingly, in their ject, it would appear, was origin- sermons, they insist on the grand ally of American growth; it may distinguishing doctrines of Chrishave been administered with a tianity: the total depravity and view of weakening the popular helplessness of man; the eternal delusion, or war fever, which at that time prevailed." Did this of the Son of God; the persondivinity, and vicarious atonement disease never prevail any where ality and saving operations of the else? Is the case so rare, that Holy Spirit; the necessity of rethe remedy can never be needed generation, and holiness of life; in any other country? To its and the eternity of future punishbeing applied to America, in ment. I had an opportunity of whatever risks it may, according meeting with many of these men to the theory of X. Y. Z. involve in the course of my travels; and, the government, he does not ap- some of them, whom I heard pear to object. But it seems we from the pulpit, convinced me, do not need such advice; let us that they were themselves deeply pause and ask ourselves, whether penetrated with a sense of the the inhabitants of any country importance of those truths which can lay their hands on their they were engaged in preaching hearts, and deliberately and soto others; that they had entered lemnly declare, that on this sub- the ministry from no worldly moject they have uniformly acted on tive, but were actuated by a sin Christian principles. and with cere desire to advance the spiChristian spirit? The answer ritual reign of their divine Master, which conscience must suggest, and promote the best interests of will shew the propriety of making their fellow-men; and that they this topic the subject of calm en were living under a habitual imquiry, and dispassionate examina-pression of that solemn account PACIFICUS. which all, who have taken

tion.

upon

them the charge of souls, will have to give to the chief Shepherd at the day of final decision. They are men who are dead to the world, and devoted in heart and life to the service of their Redeemer. Their private walk exhibits the genuine tendency of the holy doctrines they teach; and their public discourses are earnest, energetic, animated, pointed, and faithful.

Such of the clergy as are of the new school, the number of whom is happily not very great, treat divine things in quite a different manner. Instead of drawing the matter of their sermons from the scriptures, they gather it from the writings of heathen philosophers; and the morality found in these authors, which, at the best, is but dry and insipid, absolutely freezes when transplanted into Iceland. The divine inspiration of the Bible is discarded, and all the cardinal and fundamental points of the Christian faith are either entirely omitted, or, when they are brought forward, it is only with a view to turn them into ridicule. The influence of such Socinian and semi-deistical principles on the individuals who propagate them, is abundantly manifest. They are entirely men of the world. The awful realities of an approaching eternity have made no suitable impression on their minds; and levity, callousness, and indifference, mark the whole of their conduct. Nor are the effects resulting from the dissemination of their tenets, on such as imbibe them, less visible and injurious. Their minds become imbued with scepticism and infidelity; every vestige of religion disappears, and immorality of one description or another generally occupies its place.

In their general habits and dispositions, the Icelanders are a very moral and religious people. They are carefully instructed in the principles of Christianity, at · an early period of life, and regularly attend to the public and private exercises of devotion. Instances of immorality are in a great measure confined to such as frequent the fishing places, where they are often idle for days together; and where such as have made proficiency in wickedness, use every effort to ensnare and corrupt their young and inexperienced companions. In passsing through the island, my stay at any particular place was too short to admit of my ascertaining the true state of vital and practical religion among its inhabitants; yet making every allowance for the proneness of men to content themselves with a mere external form of godliness, and granting that there is often a correct moral deportment, without a single particle of love to God in the heart, I cannot but indulge the conviction, that in a country where the principles of revealed truth are so clearly and so generally known, and where the tone of morals is so high, there must be many whose minds have been savingly impressed with divine things, and who have experienced the gospel to be the " power of God unto salvation." The greatest number of these individuals are, in all probability, known only to God, having little or no intercourse with each other; and their situation may not unfitly be compared to that of the generality of real Christians in Scotland, about 30 or 40 years ago, where none of those institutions existed which now. draw them together, make them acquainted with each other,

and stimulate them to greater zeal and diligence in the service of their blessed Redeemer.

THE PESTILENCE

THAT WALKETH IN DARKNESS.

An Address to the Youthful Readers of the Baptist Magazine,

My dear young friends,

IF you were passing through some foreign land, and were on your route to meet with a travel

It may appear strange, that such a degree of religious knowledge should exist in a country where, of late years, few have had immediate access to the Holy Seriptures; but it is accounted for, by the circumstance, that almost every family is in possession of a volume of excellent sermons, written by Bishop Vi-ler, who was to inform you of dalin, of Skalholt, about the be- many dangers you never anticiginning of last century, which pated when you commenced your contains a great deal of scripture journey; if you believed that inillustration, and that numerous dividual to be a person of verapassages from the sacred writings city, you would listen to his.comare produced in proof of the doc- munications with attention. And trines taught in the Icelandic perhaps your attention would be. catechism. The scarcity of Bi- the more powerfully arrested, bles was severely felt. Numbers were he to assure you, that some had been using every possible of these dangers were so hidden exertion, for a long series of and concealed, that, had he not years, to procure a copy of the suffered from them himself, he sacred volume, but without ef- could not have pointed them out fect. The poverty of the inha- to you. Not doubting but that bitants was such, that they could your own good sense will apply not print a new edition them- these introductory remarks to the selves; they did not know to following thoughts, I respectfully, what quarter to apply for aid; beg you to consider, that life is a and many began to apprehend journey; that by reading this that the word of the Lord would paper, you have met with a trabecome extinct among them; and,veller desirous of warning you of especially, that their posterity would be left destitute of this inestimable boon. But here foreign benevolence came most opportunely to their aid. The plentiful supply of the scriptures sent them by the British and Fo-and there was light;" and in rereign Bible Society, and other lation to the moral world, he said, friends to the best interests of Let there be light: and there was humanity, was most joyfully and the light of divine revelation. gratefully received; and while This is the true light, and the the Icelanders are now diligently true light now shineth. But employed in perusing the records this light shineth in darkness, of eternal life, their ardent pray- and the darkness comprehendeth ers are ascending to heaven, for it not.-Gross darkness has cothe present and eternal happiness vered the people, and in this of their spiritual benefactors. darkness walks the deadly, wide wasting pestilence of immorality;

Henderson's Journal in Iceland.

danger; and who hopes you will be sufficiently ingenuous to listen to his observations.

God is light, in him is no darkness at all. He said, in the beginning, "Let there be light:

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and in the thickest shades of this fed with considerable human darkness Jurks the snake of pesti-learning, it becomes ten thoulential error, waiting for opportu- sand times more alluring, and nities to spit its dreadful venom consequently more dangerous. on the unwary traveller. Attend, And I venture to assert, that to therefore, my dear young friends, no scheme will these remarks apto the voice which now says to ply with more force, than to the you, Beware of the pestilence Socinian heresy; or, as in this which walketh in darkness. enlightened age it is called, the If your attention is at all awak-Unitarian system of the present ened to the subject, consider, I day. A system which pre-emientreat you, the danger to which nently walks in darkness, for its you are exposed, by immorality machinations are the offspring of on the one hand, and error on darkness; it brings darkness and the other; and especially remem- uncertainty on the mind; it leads ber, that it is no security to you, to darkness on the bed of death; that these evils court the darkness and its awful tendencies are toof secrecy but that the darkness wards the blackness of darkness and the light are both alike to for ever. God; that all things are fast tending towards a day which will burn as an oven; and when we shall all appear in our true cha-junction, "judge not ;" say not, racters, before the eyes of him who died, the just for the unjust, to bring sinners to God.

In youth, however, as well as in more advanced stages of life, our propensities to evil vary; and it is possible that may be a temptation, almost irresistible to one, which to another is a thing comparatively indifferent; but surely there is no youth to be found, who does not need to be warned of immorality in some of its forms; and of the abuse of his reason, in relation to religious subjects. On the latter of these, in particular, I trust you will be disposed to attend to a few remarks.

Say not, this is the language of bigotry and party spirit; say not, it is a violation of the sacred in

this is contrary to the benevolent genius of Christianity, or a violation of Christian charity for I will undertake to shew you one feature of that system, which would fully bear me out, were I not only to condemn its tendencies, but even to predict with certainty its final overthrow, viz. That its declared object and design are in direct opposition to the declared object and design of that God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being.

I need not inform you, that the great object of the Socinian system is to DEGRADE the Lord Jesus Christ, and to rob him of Natural men call darkness the glory which is justly his due. LIGHT. This one thought, well And need I tell you, that the dedigested in your minds, may fur-sign of God is to EXALT his Son nish you with many important in the eyes of all intelligent lessons; for I am well aware, that beings. Need I remind you, that in every sense light is sweet; and God hath blessed him for ever; that if error is presented to a cul- given him a name, which is above tivated mind, graced with the every name; declared that he name of light, or rationality, or will cause his name to be rememfree enquiry; and if defended bered in all generations, and comwith superior intellect, and adorn-manded men and angels to wor

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ship him; in short, that unto the much more shall your heavenly Son he saith, "Thy throne, O Father give the Holy Spirit to God, is for ever and ever. Sure them that ask him." ly, surely, upon whomsoever this stone shall fall, it will grind them to powder."

And whence this awful system? The answer is at hand: From the

VINDICATION

OF DR. ROBERT WALKER.

To the Editors of the Baptist Magazine.

MAY I request you to insert the following observations, if not inconsistent with the plan of your

to Mr. Jones on the subject, but
have not been favoured with an
answer.
Mr. Jones will observe,

abuse of human reason. Let reason judge of the external evidencies of revelation; but, when once satisfied on these points, that moment it becomes reason-publication. I have written twice able that I should bow down to the voice of God, and take his revelation as my data; that, imbued with holy and divine truth, my reason may become right reason. Indeed it might be proved, upon the most rational principles, that the man who calls the Bible a revelation from God, and yet subjects its contents to the test of human reason, is guilty of a very high degree of absurdity,

and is far more inconsistent than he who rejects it altogether.

that I have made some alteration
on the communication sent to
him, and which I informed him
contained the remarks I meant to
beg you to print.

I am,
Your most humble servant,
WM. BROWN.
Edinburgh, 46, Hanover-street,

20th May, 1818.

Mr. William Jones, in an account of the life of Mr. Archibald M'Lean, late elder of the Bap

And now, my dear young friends, having warned you of your danger, permit me to recom-tist church at this place, prefixed mend to your notice the language of one who speaketh from heaven: "SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES." They contain the mind of him who is the author of all intellectual and moral excellence. Turn away from all the jarring systems of men, and read for yourselves; expect to meet with difficulties, the wisest and best of men have met with them before you; do not be surprised, that in GOD's law there should be wondrous things; but from this time forth, when you put your hand on the sacred volume, and are about to read its interesting contents, remember one passage, with which I now affectionately take my leave of you : "If ye who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how

to a volume of sermons, has introduced some few notices of the differences which disturbed that church in its infancy. He has particularly mentioned the dissension between the elders respecting the sonship of Christ. In the account he gives of this matter, he has, most unnecessarily in my opinion, thrown some aspersions on the late Dr. Robert Walker. His readers must be led to look on this gentleman as having been both a very weak man, and a very uncandid man. Now the truth is, that neither of these characters belonged to him. His talents were very respectable, and his literary and professional acquirements very considerable. His candour was unimpeachable, and rendered him incapable of the

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