Thou wicked hypocrite! first cast away
The beam that from thine eye dispels the day;
And thou, when out is that pernicious beam,
Shalt better of thy brother's mote esteem.
"Give not to dogs what's holy and divine,
Nor cast your jewels to intemp❜rate swine;
Lest with their feet the precious gifts they spurn,
And then indignant on the giver turn:

Nor be to sons of Belial, when inflam'd
With wine and insolence, my laws proclaim'd.
"Ask, and receive the wishes of your mind;
Seek, and ye then shall your requirings find;
And knock of life at the eternal door,
And ye a ready entrance shall procure.
For he who asks, receives his wish of mind;
And he who seeks, shall his requirings find;
And he who knocks at life's eternal door,
An undelay'd admission shall procure.
For who of you, to his son asking bread,
Will he perverse present a stone instead?
Or if a fish should be his proffer'd wish,
Will he a serpent give him for the fish?
If ye imperfect, and inclin'd to ill,
Can proper gifts unto your sons fulfil,
Shall they who ask, destructive gifts or vain
Of your all-perfect heav'nly Sire obtain?
Shall he not freely of that Spirit give,
Which blesses those for ever who receive;
The Comforter, that both directs and cheers,
And my great Father to his sons endears?
Therefore whate'er from men ye would receive,
To them with wise and gen'rous kindness give.
For to this comprehensive point we draw
The essence of the prophets and the law.

"Take heed to enter at the door that's strait: For wide and lofty is the fatal gate;

And broad and easy is the treach'rous road,

And oft with flow'rs, or seeming flow'rs, 'tis strow'd,
That leads, with fascination smooth but fell,
To dire destruction, and to gloomy hell;

And many, thinking from the crowd 'tis just,
Ensnared there, their eager footsteps thrust.
But strait the door, and narrow is the way,
Which leads to regions of eternal day;
And few there are, so many sin makes blind,
The door that's strait, the narrow way who find *.
"Of lying prophets cautiously beware,
Who like unguileful harmless sheep appear;
And yet they bear the wolf's rapacious paw,
His fangs tremendous, and devouring maw.
But by their deeds alone ye these shall know,
Which are the fruits the character that show.
Is the rich fig, or juicy grape, e'er borne
On the rough thistle, or the prickly thorn?
So each good tree produces fruit that's good,
But a bad tree with evil is endu'd.

All such are hewn with indignation down,
And to the fierce devouring flames are thrown.
"Not ev'ry one who calls me Lord, and Lord,
In my blest kingdom will I place afford.
But unto him alone it shall be giv'n,
That doth my Father's will, who is in heav'n..
And many, Lord, and Lord, will flatt'ring say,
In awful retribution's future day,

Did we not prophecies through thee proclaim,
And cast out devils in thy potent name?
And in thy name, which we have dar'd to own,
Through all the world illustrious deeds have done?
And then in just resentment I'll avow,

I ne'er yourselves nor vaunted works did know;
And all eternally from hence depart,

Who lent to me the tongue, to vice the heart f.

These words of our Saviour should make us careful, but not to despair, of our salvation. For St. John says, "There was a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kin dreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hauds." Revelations, vii. 9.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have

"Who gives these sayings then attention due,
And dares with steady diligence pursue,
Unto the prudent man I will compare,
Who chose upon a rock his house to rear:
The rain then fell in torrents from the sky,
And the swell'd floods impetuous thunder'd by,
With which intemp'rate bowl'd the rising blast,
And on that house its active fury cast;
Still it could all this idle uproar mock,
For it was founded on a solid rock.
But him who only these instructions hears,
And not to follow regularly dares,

Unto the foolish man I will compare,

Who chose upon the sand his house to rear:

cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew, vii. 21, 22, 23.

It would become every professor of Christianity, seriously, in his inmost heart, to consider these interesting words of our Saviour. It does not avail to be a nominal; to be a real Christian, is the important object. We should pray for the grace and assistance of Heaven continually to examine ourselves, to ascertain if we are the latter. We should consider, in the first instance, as our Saviour said he came to fulfil the law, if we have made any violations of the Ten Commandments, which were written by the finger of God himself, and which we shouid look upon with trembling reverence, as the Israelites looked towards Mount Sinai, when the presence of God was there. We should then consider if we have kept the precepts of Christ. We do not properly know Christ, if we do not keep his precepts, if our conduct is vicious;--that is, we have an idle head-knowledge without a saving heart knowledge of him. The apostle declares, "He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." The First Epistle of John, ii. 4.

There is one point, to which he who wishes to be a real Christian should pay particular attention, which is gaming. It is a fatal vice, which certainly militates against the Tenth Commandment. The gamester covets the goods of his neighbour. Gaming often leads to quarrels, duels, and suicide, not to speak of the waste of time which it occasions. It would be as well, if Christian parents would not suffer their children even to know the games at cards. - The keeping unnecessary dogs is a fault which the real Christian should avoid. A great deal of food is wasted upon dogs, which might be given to the poor. This opposes the precept of our Saviour, who said, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and give it unto dogs." Matthew, xv. 27. What terrors and calamities do dogs produce by their madness! what troubles and vexations' by their steuch and noise!

The rain then fell in torrents from on high,
And the swell'd floods impetuous thunder'd by,
With which intemp'rate howl'd the rising blast,
And on that house its active fury cast;
Which then, unequal to withstand them all,
Fell, and disastrous was its mighty fall."

And when his holy, grave discourse was o'er,
The people wonder'd at his potent lore,
For not like Scribe or Pharisee he taught,
But with authority his speech was fraught.

THE

PALACE OF SUPERSTITION.

A Poem.

PREFACE.

THE best method to abolish superstition is to circulate the Scriptures, wherever they can be spread, and to give learning to mankind. It is thus that the Hindoo, the Roman Catholic, the Mahometan, and every superstition, will be brought down.

The British and Foreign Bible Society, which was instituted in London in the year of our Lord 1804, has met with great success. It will not only do good by its own particular exertions in spreading the Bible, but by encouraging the institution of similar societies in other places. At the same time I must mention with approbation the steady zeal which has been manifested by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in the useful and blessed work of dispersing the Scriptures. I could wish that every Society had power to increase its exertions in this sublime and holy cause. The Bible should be put into the hands of those who can read it, throughout the

world. Something has been done, but much remains to be done. And piety should here adopt the active zeal of ambition, of which the poet says in the person of Cæsar, that nothing was thought done, if any thing remained to be done.

Nil actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum.

The Bible is wanted in Europe, in America, in Africa, in Asia, and particularly in China. Sir George Staunton says, that the population of China consists, from authentic documents, of more than three hundred millions. The learned Mr. Wrangham, of Trinity college, Cambridge, in a note to his sermon, which was preached before the university, "On the Translation of the Scriptures into the Oriental Languages," seems to think with Mr. Mosely, in his " Memoir for introducing the Scriptures in China," that if the Bible were circulated into China, from its connexion with various other countries, it might spread to nearly half the human race. It is certainly the duty of the Christian world to pay more attention to this important object.

I am glad to find, however, by the late accounts, that the Baptists at Serampore, and Mr. Morrison at Canton, have translated a considerable part of the Bible into the Chinese language, of which transla tions some specimens have been sent to England.

Let every Christian think, if he had heard there was a book written by the inspiration of the Almighty, which gave an account of God's own Son, of his sayings and actions when he appeared in the form of a man; and when he could not procure this book, how he would have blessed the hand which gave it him. Let him think of this; and surely, if his heart is right, he will be animated with the pious and benevolent wish of giving it to others.

Much good may be done in Ireland, by spreading the Bible in the English and Irish languages, and by establishing free-schools. All free-schools should be established upon the plan of Dr. Bell and Mr. Lan