Every thing should be done that can be done to multiply the talents, and increase the usefulness of the ministers who are already in the field. Still there would be many destitute churches. How shall they be supplied? We must pray the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers. And we must do what we can to multiply the talents and increase the usefulness of those who give evidence of its being their duty to become preachers of the gospel. Especially must we be solicitous that every minister and every candidate for the ministry be a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith. Still there would be many destitute churches; and still it might be asked, How shall they be supplied? It must be answered as before: We must, more fervently than ever, pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers; and we must act consistently with our prayers.

In the mean time, even the feeblest churches can do much, and ought to do much, though destitute of a Pastor and of a meetinghouse. They can have preaching a part of the time. They can have useful (though perhaps comparatively private) meetings for prayer, and praise, and occasional exhortation, with the reading of the Scriptures, and some interesting and edifying discourse. They can help one another to exhibit a holy and winning example. Few and feeble as they may be, let them not be discouraged. If they love the truth as it is in Jesus, and the souls of men as they ought, they will not long be destitute of preaching. They will soon find the means of erecting a meeting-house, (and of paying for it,) that shall, in neatness and comfort, bear some proportion to the neatness and comfort of their own dwellings. In doing this, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will find themselves nearer or better able than before to support a Pastor; and one perhaps of their own number will be raised up to bear to them that endearing relation; or one will be procured from abroad. Our own recollec tion supplies us with many cheering instances of this kind. Indeed, most of our churches that are now large and flourishing, have arisen thus from small beginnings, which, it is probable, "did not add to our comfort or reputation.' But our correspondent, we presume, would be as unwilling as ourselves, to despise the day of small things.

Doubtless, new churches have sometimes been constituted, when it would have been better for the members to have continued members of some church already organized, or to have been considered as a branch, rather than to have been recognized as a distinct church. But then, to have a band of devoted, consistent Christians in circumstances in which they will be likely to feel the necessity of exerting themselves to the utmost for the common cause, will, it may be hoped, in most cases, be highly beneficial. To have a church, seems to us a very natural and direct way to have a pastor and a place of worship. Besides, a church is a kind of nursery, not only for private Christians, but also for ministers. Where brethren can enjoy church privileges, as they can in most of our populous towns, with some existing church of the same faith and order, it will generally be expedient to build a house first, and then

be constituted into a distinct body. But circumstances are so various that, manifestly, no invariable rule can be given. It is certain, however, that no church which neglects its duty in regard to providing suitably for the maintenance of public worship and preaching, and other pastoral services, can expect to prosper.

Messrs. Editors,

FAMILY LIBRARY.

BEING frequently asked for advice in the purchase of religious books, I have made out the following very brief list for insertion in your Magazine. It will, I trust, prove a convenience to many young heads of families who would be glad of a little direction in so important a measure as that of providing suitable reading for their households.

I am an ardent advocate of parochial and Sabbath School Libraries, but neither can access to such do away the necessity of owning valuable books, nor the owning of a good collection by many families in a congregation, obviate the necessity of such Libraries. Many persons would do well to give their old books, of which the family are tired, to the Church or Sabbath School Library, and purchase new ones. We ought to consider every book we possess as a talent from God, and lend it whenever we can. True it will get worn out in time, but how can money be made to do more good?

Much pains has been taken to make this list short, and yet to name in it the best of the religious books, which can commonly be had in the bookstores.

Buck's Theological Dictionary.
Brown's Dictionary of the Bible.
Butterworth's Concordance.

Franck's Guide to the Study of the
Scriptures.

Hints for the Improvement of Early
Education and Nursery Discipline.
Evans' Christian Temper.
Baxter's Saints' Rest.
Doddridge's Rise and Progress.
Jay's Lectures.

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
Watts on the Improvement of the Mind.
Baldwin on Baptism.

Chapin's Letters to the Christian Pub-
lic.

Booth's Apology for the Baptists.
Fuller's Memoirs of Pearce.
Henry's Communicant's Companion.
Mason on Self Knowledge.
Mather's Essays to do Good.

Flavel on Keeping the Heart.
Flavel's Touchstone of Sincerity.
Scott's Force of Truth.
Doddridge's Life of Col. Gardiner.
Memoirs of Miss Anthony.
Hall's Help to Zion's Travellers.
Memoirs of Halyburton.

Life of Brainerd.

The Christian Father's Present to his
Children.

Life of Henry Martyn.

Cox's Female Scripture Biography.
Scougal's Life of God in the Soul.

Mede's Almost Christian.
Fuller's Backslider.
Cecil's Remains.

Buck on Religious Experience.
Benedict's History of all Religions.
Keach's Travels of True Godliness.
Memoir of Mrs. Judson.

Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ.

H.

REVIEWS.

Intellectual and Moral Culture. A Discourse, delivered at his Inauguration as President of Transylvania University, October 13, 1828. By ALVA WOODS, D. D. 8vo. pp. 20. Published at the request of the Trustees: Lexington, Ky.

CIRCUMSTANCES sometimes render it expedient, and sometimes inexpedient, that an Inaugural Discourse be delivered when a President or a Professor enters upon the duties of his office. Accordingly, the usage in this land of freedom is various; and it is generally left, in each case, to the good sense of the persons concerned to determine which may be the preferable manner. That President Woods and the friends of Transylvania University have done wisely in letting his inauguration call forth and present to the West and to the world the Discourse before us, we cannot doubt. It is a Discourse well adapted to the occasion; and, wherever it is read, it can hardly fail of having a salutary influence. It commences thus:

'My respected audience,-The subject which I have selected for the present occasion, is, Intellectual and Moral Culture.

The infant enters on life in profound ignorance of his powers and destinies, and of the whole material universe. He endeavors alike to grasp the near flame which would consume him, and the distant orb which circles its way in yonder heavens. He is not more dependant on others for the aliment which is to nourish his body, than for the instruction which is to give growth and maturity to his mind. It is an ordinance of Heaven, confirmed by every injunction to an ancient patriarch to teach his children and his children's children, and by the command of Him who said, Go, teach all nations, that man is to be the instructer of his fellow-man. Where this high ordinance is contravened, where no lights of knowledge are furnished, man can never rise above a mere animal existence. He may have the elements of mind; but they must remain without form and void, and shrouded in darkness deep and impenetrable as that which brooded over chaos before the first creation of light. In him may exist the germ of an intellect, which under genial influences would spread its opening beauties to the gaze of an admiring world. In him may sleep the strength and acumen of a Newton, or the wisdom and valor and patriotism of a Washington; but who shall wake his dormant energies, and point the way to glory and immortality?

The important bearings, on the higher destinies of man, of knowledge and of christian virtue, have been greatly overlooked. It appears not to have been well understood, that without knowledge there can be no useful exercise of virtue; and that without virtue knowledge cannot reach its highest elevations or accomplish its highest purposes. A consideration of some of the effects of knowledge and of christian virtue on our individual, social, political, and moral interests, may, at this time, well deserve attention.

'Let me put it to the sober judgment of any man, for what inducements he would consent never to have any addition made, directly or indirectly to his stock of intellectual treasures? Yea, were it possible, let him take a retrograde course; let him annihilate one by one those treasures, and extinguish all the lamps of knowledge and wisdom and experience, which have been successively lighted up in his mind, and what would he give for his existence ?'

After some illustrations of the benefits of intellectual culture, the author proceeds:

'Man's connexion with those around him lays the foundation for a large portion of his present duties.

Is he a parent? The education of his children, however young, is already commenced. Even before they acquire their vernacular tongue, they are forming the dispositions and habits, which will give complexion to their manhood and their old age. They are taking lessons of every body and of every thing around them. To their parents, especially, they look up for guidance and teaching. Can an ignorant parent open, by the wisest and gentlest means, these budding faculties, and fashion with plastic hand these forming manners? Can he whose own powers have never been developed, be qualified to develope and mature the powers of others? Can he who has never governed his own spirit, nor chastened his own fancy, nor bridled his own desires, give lessons of moderation, of prudence, and of judgment?

Is he an avowed teacher of youth? He has taken upon him duties of high and solemn import. He has undertaken to mould the character of the next generation. He aims at nothing less than to form the parents, the citizens, the teachers, the philosophers, the patriots, and the christians of the coming age. To this formation of character, every teacher, from the nursery to the hall of science, contributes a portion of influence.

'From the salutary changes introduced within a few years, in the modes of teaching, and the experiments now making with a view to other changes, it is evident the whole science of education is yet in its infancy. In literature, as in religion, veneration for the mere office of teachers is gone, and in its place is come up a demand for talents, and zeal, and usefulness. Neither youth nor men are any longer to be governed by the mere dint of authority. Public opinion is the lever which moves the world; and governments, whether of schools, or colleges, or states, must yield to its irresistible power.

'The general inquiry now is, how can education be made to subserve most effectually our great social, political, and moral interests? What are the best means for training the mind, and forming the manners? What are the best schools, not merely for acquiring knowledge, but for increasing mental power, and obtaining mental discipline? for teaching youth to think, and to reason, and to act? What, in short, is the education which ought to be given to American citizens, and American christians in the enlightened nineteenth century? On this point the sentiment is becoming general, that sound learning has not received that individual and that legislative patronage which its connexion with the vital interests of our country demands:-and, especially, that adequate means are not provided for training men to the important art of teaching. In those arts which contribute to the bodily comfort and fashionable appearance of our children, we seek to employ the skilful; and shall we give their minds in charge to ignorance and to pedantry? Shall the destinies of our posterity and of our country be confided to superficial thinkers, to half educated scholars, to unenlightened and unprincipled pretenders? Genius of Republicanism, forbid it! Spirit of Christianity, avert it!' pp. 7, 8.

The following paragraphs, we are confident, will be read with deep interest by all who are, in the least, acquainted with the circumstances of the University at Lexington, and who, with christian, fraternal feeling, look towards the valley of the Mississippi, or contemplate the prospects of our common country.

6

Is he devoted to theology? The day is gone by in which the priesthood can be valued for its ignorance. I would be the last to substitute learning for piety. Educating men for the ministry, irrespective of their religious qualifications, will inevitably destroy the soul and vitality of every church which admits the practice. But it is a supposition too absurd to need refutation, that the ignorant are the best qualified to interpret the most ancient writings in existence; -writings composed by various authors during the long interval of nearly two thousand years, relating to a structure of society, to usages, and to natural scenery, unknown with us, and filled with the loftiest breathings of poetry, and with the holiest fervors of prophecy.

For the success with which learning has been employed in favor of religion, I might refer to the early apologists of christianity, who exposed the gross deformities of polytheism; to the reformation of the sixteenth century, which followed in quick succession the revival of letters; and to the impugners of modern infidelity, who have triumphantly opposed argument to argument,

and learning to learning. Had not the sacred oracles, by means of the press, been sent through the various dialects of Europe, the reformation had not been effected. Had not learned defenders of the christian faith been raised up in later times, the enemies of the cross would have succeeded in their attempt to associate, in the public mind, learning with infidelity, and weakness with piety. It may be said, that the primitive teachers of christianity were generally unlettered men. But the miraculous propagation of the gospel, at first, by means apparently inadequate, was designed for the confirmation of our faith, and not for the regulation of our practice in circumstances widely different... Still it should not be forgotten, that our Lord saw fit to employ the cultivated talents of a Paul, to prove to the Jews out of their own Scriptures, that Jesus was the Christ, to persuade the learned polytheist on Mars Hill to turn from dumb idols to the worship of the true God, and to indite epistles of instruction, admonition, and consolation to the churches. If learning was of use in the day of miracles, and in an unenlightened age, [compared with our own,] can any one deny its utility when the gift of tongues, and the gift of healing have been withdrawn, and when the great mass of society are informed and educated?' pp. 9-11.

6

Let it not be inferred from what has been said, that I would prefer talents to virtue, or greatness to goodness. Great talents are valuable, only as they are rendered subservient to purposes of benevolence. Under an obliquity of moral principles, brighter reason prompts to bolder crimes, and an increase of intellectual capability, is an increase of the power of mischief. Invest a malevolent being with infinite wisdom and unlimited power, and you make him the terror and scourge of the universe. All intellectual culture is to be regarded simply as means to an end;-as power to do good, or to do evil. It is the province of a refined moral sensibility to put an accurate value on the different kinds of knowledge, and to pursue each in proportion to its worth. It is only in a healthful state of the moral faculty that we make the distinction between justice and success, between the love of excellence and the love of excelling.

'While we are disposed to allow, to their full extent, the pleasures of literary pursuit, and the important advantages of intellectual illumination, it must be confessed that man has wants which nothing can supply, and woes which nothing can relieve, but the sanative influence of religion. What can moderate anger, resentment, malice, or revenge, like the thought that we may ask God to forgive our trespasses only as we forgive the trespasses of others? What can quiet murmurings at our lot, like that deep sense of moral demerit which the gospel presses on the conscience? What can cool the burnings of envy, or allay the passion of renown, like a remembrance of the transitory nature of human glory? What can produce resignation to the loss of friends, like a confident hope of meeting them soon in a brighter world? What can prompt to deeds of benevolence, like the example of Him, who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor? Is there any thing which can give steadiness to purpose, or stability to character, like an unwavering regard to the will of God? Considerations of mere worldly policy, or interest, furnish no steady magnetic influence to give one uniform direction to all the plans and actions of life. Patriotism may fire the spirit with valor to sustain the onset of an invading foe, and bare the breast to the rushing tide of war:-but who can meet with unruffled temper the thousand petty ills that life is heir to, like him whose aim is heaven? What sublimity like moral sublimity, whether we regard the grandeur or the permanency of its effects? What more sublime than the triumphs of a dying christian, when in the midst of its decaying and crumbling habitation the spirit plumes itself for its lofty flight, and departs in the buoyancy of hope, for the regions of eternal day? But these are not fruits of earthly growth. They are the gifts of christianity.

'But it is on man in his social capacities and political relations that moral principle is destined to exert its most important influence. It is in society that man has power. It is in society that virtue developes its benevolent tendencies, and that vice scatters fire-brands, arrows, and death. Has the example of vice wrought powerfully, so has that of virtue. Have many been beguiled to their destruction by the enticings of the sinful, multitudes have been allured by the persuasions of the good to fairer worlds on high.

'None will deny that a reputation for integrity and uprightness is of the last importance to a public man. But how can he get that reputation so surely as by being upright and honest? Politicians will sooner or later learn, that there