From time immemorial it has been the practice of the Congregational Ministers of this commonwealth, at their yearly meeting, to remember their deceased brethren by making a contribution for their destitute families. In a work of benevolence, which they are able so incompletely to discharge, they are assisted by the citizens of this place, some of the most opulent of whom regularly attend the religious service. But it is obvious how very partial must still be the aid afforded from this source to families, who having lived in the midst of every frugal comfort, have experienced, in the death of their head, at once the affliction of bereavement, and the loss of their means of support. Friday, May 28, at 3 P. M. the Society for the Suppression of Intemperance meets in the vestry of the First Church. At 4 P. M. an address is to be delivered in that church, and a collection taken in aid of the Society's funds. 'The object of this Society,' is stated in the constitution to 'be to discountenance and suppress the too free use of ardent spirits and its kindred vices, and to encourage and promote temperance and general morality.' Its funds are chiefly appropriated to the circulation of tracts designed to show the folly and guilt of intemperance. It is justly remarked in the eloquent address delivered at the Society's last meeting, that the subject ought thus to 'be presented to the publick mind, and kept before it, till its importance is seen and felt by every member of the community. This has been and continues to be the main design of our Society. In this it asks and has a right to demand the countenance and cooperation of patriots, philanthropists, Christians.' Thursday, June 3, at 11 A. M. the Anniversary Sermon before the Massachusetts Bible Society is to be preached in the First Church by Rev. Mr. Gray, of Roxbury. The plan of Bible Societies is too well understood by all Christians in our country to require that any account should be given of them. The Massachusetts Society has never languished, but its resources have been chiefly furnished by donations and subscriptions of the richer part of the community, without proportionate assistance from the collection at the Anniversary services. It is certainly impossible for those, who have but little to give in charity, to feel more sure that they are devoting it to a good use, than when they trust it to a society for distributing the Scriptures with out note or comment. The Annual Election Sermon before the Legislature of the Commonwealth is to be delivered by Rev. Mr. Sharp, of Boston. The Anniversary Discourse before the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company is to be preached by Rev. Mr. Walker, of Charlestown. LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Plea for Christianity against Theological Seminaries. By a South Carolinian. An Inquiry into the Scriptural Import of the Words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and Gehenna, all translated Hell, in the common English Version. By Walter Balfour. An Address delivered before the New York Auxiliary Bible Society and Common Prayer Book Society, in Grace Church, New York, Feb. 1, 1824. By Cornelius R. Duffie, A. M. late First Vice President of the Society. 8vo. The Oracles of God. A Sermon delivered at Boston, Jan. 21, 1824, before the Marine Bible Society of that City and Vicinity, By Edward Payson, Pastor of the Second Church in Portland. Unitarian Miscellany, Nos. 39 and 40. The Christian Repository, devoted principally to Doctrine, Morality, and Religious Intelligence. February. Vol. IV. No. 5. A Review of Dr. Beecher's Ordination Sermon, at Worcester. First published in the Christian Examiner. An Essay on the Doctrine of Two Natures in Jesus Christ. 12mo. Baltimore. The Christian Spectator. Vol. VI. Nos. 3 and 4. A Discourse, in which the Doctrine of the Trinity is examined, and some Remarks made on Calvinism; delivered at Cohasset, in two Parts, on Lord's Day, Dec. 7, 1823. By Jacob Flint, Minister of that town. The Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen; a Sermon delivered at the Old South Church in Boston, before the Foreign Mission Society of Boston and the Vicinity, at their Annual Meeting, Jan. 1, 1824. By Benjamin B. Wisner, Pastor of the Old South Church. The Recollections of Jotham Anderson, Minister of the Gospel. 12mo. Boston. Walking in God's Name. A Sermon preached before the Educa tion Society of the Young Men of Boston, on their Fifth Anniversary, Jan. 25, 1824. By Samuel Porter Williams, V. D. M. The Cause of the Greeks, a Sermon preached in St. Andrew's Church, on Sunday, Jan. 18th. By the Rev. G. T. Bedell, Philadelphia. A Survey of the Protestant Missionary Stations throughout the World; carefully prepared on a new Plan, from authentick Documents. By the Editor of the Christian Herald. New York, 1824. The New Jerusalem Church Defended, being a Reply to an Attack made upon her Doctrines and Principles, in the Christian Spec tator, of New Haven. By M. B. Roche. pp. 20. 8vo. Philadelphia. A Sermon preached at Newark, Oct. 22, 1823, before the Synod A Communication from the Brookfield Association to the Eccle- Isaiah's Message to the American Nation; a new Translation of Isaiah, Chapter 18th, with Notes, critical and explanatory; a remarkable Prophecy respecting the Restoration of the Jews, aided by the American Nation. By the Rev. J. M'Donald, A. M. Philadelphia. Village Hymns for Social Worship, selected and original; designed as a Supplement to Dr. Watts' Psalms and Hymns. By Rev. Asahel Nettleton. Goodwin & Co. Hartford. The Character and Use of the Scriptures. Bangor. James Burton, jr. pp. 19. Appeal to the Citizens of New York in behalf of the Christian Sabbath, by Gardiner Spring, D. D. Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York. A Sermon by Rev. Dr Griffin, in Answer to the Question, ' What wilt thou have me to do.' A Treatise on Self Knowledge; showing the Nature and Benefit of that important Science, and the way to attain it; intermixed with various Reflections and Observations on human Nature. By John Mason, A. M., Third Edition, to which are now added Questions, adapted to the Use of Schools and Academies. Boston. James Loring. Superiour Glory of Gospel Worship; a Sermon preached at the Dedication of the Baptist Meeting House in Winthrop, Maine. By Rev. Stephen Chapin, D. D. Professor of Theology in Waterville College. True Messiah Exalted. Third Edition. Keene. John Prentiss. A Sermon preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Thomas Tracy, in Biddeford. By Rev. I. Nichols, Pastor of the First Church in Portland. A Discourse on the proper Test of the Christian Character, delivered at the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, on Lord's Day, March 21, 1824. By Henry Colman. Boston. T. H. Carter. Questions to Trinitarians. First American, from the third London Edition. Boston. David Reed. Gospel Advocate for March and April. A Sermon, delivered at the North Church in Newburyport, on the Occasion of the Public Fast, April 1, 1824. By Luther H. Dimmick. Boston. Bannister & Marvin. A Discourse delivered in the Second Baptist Meeting House in Boston, on the First Lord's Day in January, 1824. By Thomas Baldwin, D. D. With an Appendix, containing Historical Sketches of the Church and Society, from their Commencement to the present Time. Boston. Lincoln & Edmands. Proofs that the Common Theories and Modes of Reasoning respecting the Depravity of Mankind exhibit it as a physical Attribute, with a View of the Scriptural Doctrine relative to the Nature and Character of Man, as a moral Agent. New York. T. & R. Lockwood. The Treatise on Religious Affections, by the late Rev. Jonathan Edwards, somewhat abridged by the removal of the principal Tautologies of the Original; and by an attempt to render the Language throughout more perspicuous and energetick. To which is now added, a copious Index of Subjects. Second Edition. Boston. James Loring. Profession is not Principle; or the name of Christian is not Christianity. By the author of The Decision. Boston. Samuel T. Armstrong. Missionary Herald. Vol. XX. Nos. 3 and 4. Baptist Magazine for March. Letters to a Friend on Ecclesiastical Councils, Discipline and Fellowship, comprising a History of the late Dissensions in North Yarmouth, Maine. The Christian Minister's Affectionate Advice to a New Married An Exhibition of Unitarianism, with Scriptural Extracts. INSTALLED. Feb. 3, Rev. Artemas Boyes, associate pastor of the church in South Hadley-March 10, Rev. William Eaton over the first church in Middleborough. March 11, Rev. Mark Tucker, colleague pastor of the church in Northamp ton. ORDAINED. Jan. 21, Rev. Jonas Colburn over the church in Leverett.-Feb. 4, Rev. Rufus A. Putnam over a church in Fitchburg.-Feb. 25, Rev. George Perkins over the church in Ashburnham. DIED. In Brownfield, Rev. Jacob Rice, pastor of the church in that place, aged 84. In Duxbury, March 8, Mr. John Allyn, Jr. aged 30, son of Rev. Dr. Allyn; 'An enlightened and humble Christian; liberal in the best sense of the term; not bigoted, nor sectarian, nor superstitious, nor fanatical. The great reservedness of his character, and his dislike of all ostentation in religion, carried even to an extreme, prevented every thing like an exposure in publick of that strong interest in the subject, which his intimate friends knew that he felt. But all who understood his character, saw that he was always governed by the strictest principles of religious duty; and his perseverance in his useful labours, even to the last, and the fortitude and serenity with which he suffered and died, evinced a deep sense of his moral responsibleness and an entire resignation to the will of God. His friends dwell on his character with soothing and delightful complacency; and his humble, useful, and blameless life, his fraternal kindness, his filial affection and duty, and his unaffected piety, encircle his cherished memory with the unextinguishable splendours of Christian hope.'-Christian Register. At Biddeford, Maine, April 6th, Hon. George Thacher, late one of the assoeiate justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; Æt. 70. 'He was a sincere believer in the great doctrines of Christianity, in immortality brought to light by Jesus Christ, in a future state of retribution. He laughed at the disputes which prevail in the Christian church, and perhaps had some peculiar notions, but he was a Christian. It is enough to say that he was a member of a Christian church, for no particle of hypocrisy entered into his composition. He was a practical Christian, and his whole life would bear to be tested by the Gospel, as much as the life of any who may have doubted his faith. His life has been a happy one. He wanted nothing but comfort, friends, and family love, and he was rich in all these. He never aimed at accumulating property. He has lived for others more than for himself. He has left life just when it was beginning to be worthless. He died in the humble cottage endeared to him by forty years' familiarity, where every thing was the work of his own hands, with the wife of his youth to soothe his last moments, and his numerous children to receive his parting blessing. He has departed in peace with the world, leaving no enemy behind him, but many friends, who dwell upon his memory with affection and delight.'—D. Adv. |