THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH. observance of the forms of religion. You may affirm in truth, "I have attached myself to the Church: I have taken upon me the vows of baptism: I commemorate the death of Christ, and declare my faith by frequently communing: I statedly visit the house of God, and pass through the forms of worship: I pray, fast twice a week, and pay tithes of all I possess;" and yet know as little by experience of the purity and pleasures of the new birth, as if you had been born and reared up in regions where the light of Christendom never shone. I do not depreciate forms; but there is as marked a difference between them and the sublime realities of the new birth as there is between chaff and wheat. The new birth is a thorough change of heart-a renewal of all the component parts of our moral constitution. The doctrine of Jesus is, that the new birth is a change of heart, just as real as our transition from an embryo state to a state of conscious existence. The fountains of thought, the springs of action, the sources of the affections are purified. The natural birth is the commencement of natural life; so the spiritual birth is the commencement of spiritual life. At the instant this change takes place, we enter upon a life of hope, faith, and love. Then it is the Lord breathes upon the soul, and signs of life appear. The dead faculties revive, the heart of love pulsates, the eye of faith opens, and the life of God, like blood through our veins, runs through all our moral constitution. Then it is we sing, "I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me." The natural birth is the beginning of exercise, which strengthens and expands the powers of mind and body; so the spiritual birth is the commencement of a godly exercise, which improves and develops the moral powers. Then it is we exercise our patience, love, humility, and kindness, and being fed with the sincere milk of God's word, we grow till we attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The natural birth is the commencement of the pleasures of sense. Then we hear pleasant sounds, taste delicious food, feel delightful sensations, and look upon picturesque objects. So the new birth is the commencement of spiritual pleasures. Then we taste the delicious food of grace, and the reviving water of life. Then we hear the joyful sound of the Gospel, and the transporting minstrelsy of heav en. Then we feel the delightful sensations of God's presence, and the sweet impressions of his Spirit. Then we see far-off fields of pleasure, mansions of light, crowns of victory. The natural birth is the beginning of our association with the society of the world. The spiritual birth is the commencement of our identification with the "sacramental host of God's elect." Then we become joined by mutual affections, sympathies, and interests to the great society of saints. Then it is we become related to the general assembly, the Church of the first-born, and the spirits of just men made perfect. 79 The agency by which this great moral change is effected, is the Holy Ghost. The following texts contain some of the Scriptural proofs: "It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy, that he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost;" "But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of God;" "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire;" "So is every one that is born of the Spirit." There is nothing unphilosophical in the assumption, that our souls are reached, affected, and renewed by a spiritual agent; for there is, in all the plans of God, an adaptation of instruments to ends. If the body needs renovating, material remedies are employed. If the heart of the moral world is diseased, a moral specific, such as the Gospel, is furnished. So when the soul, a spiritual substance, is to be regenerated, the Holy Ghost, a spiritual agent, is brought into requisition. It would be absurd to suppose any material agent competent to transform and purify the spirit; because matter is confined to the empire of matter, and spirit to the empire of spirit. They can affect each other sympathetically when mysteriously united, like our souls and bodies; but to expect more than this is unreasonable. You may be washed, drenched, frozen, or burnt; but this can never take away the soul's corruptions: "Ye must be born of the Spirit." But this doctrine is mysterious. Conceded. Many grand truths are mysterious. But will you brand the doctrine with falsehood, because you cannot explain every thing connected with it? Can you tell how one soul communicates with another? Can you comprehend how my words, by the aid of your hearing, convey ideas to your mind, and produce impressions upon your heart? Yet you believe the fact. Will you then reject the doctrine of the new birth by the Holy Ghost, because it is incomprehensible? Take the Savior's illustration: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof; but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Do not its sound and effects convince you that wind exists, and fans the face of nature? Yet you cannot behold it, nor tell whence it came, or whither it goes. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. The fact is indisputable the manner is beyond our comprehension. The necessity of a regeneration so thorough that it is likened unto a new birth, is created by the entire and deep depravity of our nature. The hideous forms of vice that everywhere appear, and the deeds of darkness that crowd the records of every day, are strong presumptive proofs of this. And the following awful portrait of man in an unregenerate state, shows what the testimony of Scripture is on this point: There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth: there is none that seeketh after God. These are all gone out of the way: they are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Obviously there is no congeniality between such characters and the society of heaven; and so long as corruption and purity do not coalesce, there can be no affinity between such spirits and the high and lofty one who is glorious in holiness. If such souls could be transmitted to heaven, the elements of that world would only augment their miseries, because they would have no adaptation or capacity to enjoy them. How can beings whose element is cursing and bitterness enjoy purity and praises? How can beings whose feet are swift to shed blood, enjoy the songs of angels and the glory of God? Can a man anointed of the devil to do mischief, delight in the homage and adoring exercises of the skies? Can lips dedicated to blasphemy, powers addicted to profaneness, and dispositions steeped in sensuality, find pleasure in the holy duties of heaven? Again: the necessity of the new birth arises from the fact, that to dwell in heaven is to dwell in God. The mysterious union that commences at conversion is consummated in heaven. The high destination of sanctified souls is the bosom of God. When dust returns to dust, the spirit returns to God, who gave it. The Savior, in his last prayer, uttered these words: "The glory which Thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one: I in them and thou in me." Heaven is a mystic angels, who expected to see the kingdom of God. I saw a man who blessed himself because he had the visible things of religion. He wore the cloak of godliness-he prophesied in God's name. He died, but died to learn he was a whited sepulchre―he died to learn there was no oil in his vessel. I saw him stand motionless, shocked with disappointment, and gazing upon scenes of terrific astonishment. His face was pale, his lips quivered, his body trembled. I heard Jesus say, "Depart." He shrieked, and I saw him no more. Deplorable height of folly! he built his house upon the sand. The rains descended, the winds blew, the floods came, it fell, and great was the fall of it. THE TONGUE. BY BISHOP MORRIS. -- THIS term, tongue, is used not only to signify the organ of speech, but likewise good or evil conversation. The tongue is designed to render social intercourse convenient and agreeable, to communicate intelligence from man to man, and to celebrate the praise of God; but is too frequently employed for evil purposes. It is a good or evil member, according to the use or abuse made of it. Who has not been entertained with the soft, broken accents of the babe, in his first efforts to imitate language, or profited by the conversation of an intelligent friend, or moved to pity by the plaintive cries of distress, or fired by the tongue of the orator, or charmed by the rich melody of song! And who has not been pained by the tongue of slander, shocked with the demoralizing tones of blasphemy, or disgusted with the insolence of self-conceited ignorance? Each individual is responsible for the use he makes of his own tongue, and should, therefore, learn to speak discreetly. Every word spoken contributes to the weal or woe of its author, if not to that of others. How solemn are the words of Christ, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned!" This awful truth needs no comment. Conscience union with the Godhead. But can such a putrid mass of moral matter as unconverted men are dwell in God? Can heaven's holiness embosom a race of corrupt beings? Will God mold into his own image the defiled elements of man's earthly, sensual, and devilish nature? O, marvel not! you must be born again. The laws of moral natures must be changed, the order of God must be reversed, his decree must be revoked, and his word must fail, if you ever get to heaven without being born of the Spirit. If the moral constitution of things is changeless, the pol-approves, and warns us to prepare for its fulfillment. lution of your soul will thrust you as far from heaven as thought can reach. It will dig an impassa-millions, who deal only in "the filthy conversation ble gulf between you and Abraham's bosom. It will thrust you far off into the shades of infernal darkness, where you shall not even see the kingdom of God. My spirit stirs within me. I am alarmed to see the willful delusions of mankind, and the proneness of the Church to substitute forms and external duties for regeneration. The result is extremely terrible. Whole groups are dying daily, and opening their eyes upon the place prepared for the devil and his What, then, will be the final doom of thoughtless of the wicked!" Nay, what will become of thousands of the professed followers of the lowly Savior! Many who, in other respects, appear to be pious, are given to "evil speaking;" that is, relating the faults of absent persons, which is as plainly forbidden as any other sin. While James says, "Speak not evil of one another, brethren," Paul requires Titus to "put them in mind" of what he had previously taught the brethren, namely, "To speak evil of no HON. JOHN COTTON SMITH. HON. JOHN COTTON SMITH. BY G. P. DISOSWAY. 81 OUR great and noble institution, the American Bible Society, has lost its late venerable President, Hon. JOHN COTTON SMITH. He died at his residence, in Sharon, Conn., on the 7th of December, 1845, the friend of God, the friend of the Bible, and the friend of man. Truly a wise and good man has been taken away, and the friends of the Bible cause throughout the country have sustained a great loss by this afflictive dispensation of divine Providence. The memory of John Cotton Smith will ever be respected and precious. At the commencement of the American Bible Society, he was appointed one of its vice-presidents, and in 1831 chosen the presiding officer. From that period, with only two exceptions, he attended the man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men," whether friends or foes. To expose the faults of one who is not present to answer for himself, betrays a want of moral courage, and is called, by the inspired writers, "backbiting;" and he who perpetrates it, is designated a "backbiter," because he acts like a dog that creeps after and seizes you unawares. When evil speaking is carried on confidentially, in a low, soft tone, it is called "whispering;" and when the evil report is received and carried on to another, it is called "talebearing." But whatever form it assumes, it is condemned as sinful. Evil speaking is productive of discord and strife. It hardens the heart of the speaker, prejudices the mind of the hearer, and injures the victim of it, with all concerned. It alienates friends, and frequently ends in Church trials, lawsuits, or acts of violence. Well might an inspired apostle say, "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniqui-anniversary meetings, and with his own voice dety; and setteth on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire of hell." The same apostle testifies, "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." Yes, such a man's religion is worthless, however long his face, or loud his profession. The only hope for him, and all other evil speakers, is in sincere repentance for the past, and full confidence in the blood of Christ, which alone can wash out the deep stains of their guilt. Also, they would do well, for the future, to adopt the resolution of David: "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." Most people are pleased with the idea of a long and prosperous life. The means of securing it is clearly pointed out in the following beautiful words of the Psalmist: "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." JERUSALEM. CITY of God! deserted now, Hath left in gloom thy glorious brow. Now sitt'st a captive queen in chains. Shrouded in sorrow's darkest night; clared his high and sacred regard of the BIBLE, with an earnest desire for the universal diffusion of the blessed volume. He thus addressed the lamented Milnor, when informed of his election; and the letter is characteristic of the man: "Sharon, Conn., Dec. 10, 1831. "Rev. and Dear Sir,-Your kind letter, informing me of my election as President of the American Bible Society, is received, and I desire to assure the Board of Managers that I am deeply affected by this expression of their respect and confidence. Various considerations might have rendered a different selection desirable; but, in my view, no one is at liberty to withhold his aid, however feeble, in advancing the great system of benevolent operations, for which the present age is so eminently distinguished. It is under this impression, my dear sir, that I yield myself to the wishes of the Board, and, as God shall give me health and strength, will cheerfully co-operate with them in promoting the sacred objects of that most benign institution. "With very great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, Rev. and dear sir, your friend and obedient servant, JOHN COTTON SMITH. "REV. J. MILNOR, Sec. for Foreign Cor." In his last interview with one of the vice-presidents of the society, he remarked, "I find my chief pleasure to consist in reading the sacred Scriptures." He also added, that when a youth, he used to visit the study of his father, who was pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Sharon for nearly half a century, and upon one occasion found him reading the Bible. Expressing his astonishment that his reading should be so exclusively confined to that volume, his father replied, "My son, I trust that you have the grace of God in your heart. If you live to reach my advanced period of life, you will not wonder why the word of God should be my exclusive delight." 82 THE SHOES. "Thus," said he, "has this saying of my venerated father been most fully verified." THE SHOES. WRITTEN BY REQUEST OF A MOTHER. THERE is no other concern, rationally speaking, that should so much surprise us, as the great disregard which takes place on the subject of health in America-or say particularly within the United States-which is precisely that portion of the continent which is most variable and exposing in its cli mates. In the young-and it is to them that I now raise the warning voice-this may be partially excused on the score of thoughtlessness, and the engrossing follies of their time of life; yet, nevertheless, for this do they suffer the penalties, the aches and agues, the suffering and wasted life, and the premature death purchased by this sinful innovation upon nature. Gov. Smith was born at Sharon, Feb. 12, 1765, and graduated at Yale College in 1783. He was often called upon to fill the most important public stations in his own state and the national councils. During those debates of momentous interest which occurred while he was a member of Congress, he was uniformly called to be Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, and discharged its responsible duties with great satisfaction to the House, and the country at large. In 1809 he was appointed an associate judge of the Superior Court and the Court of Errors, and twice governor of Connecticut. For fifteen years he presided over the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and to the last exhibited fervent desires for its prosperity. In all these public stations, he was a bright example of integrity, honor, and practical Christianity, always exhibiting evidences of his exalted motives and untiring perseverance. He was a man, also, of sound and of elegant literature. To John Cotton Smith, more than to any other name, is the state of Connecticut indebted for her excellent common school system.ing, their progress and respectability, their good estiAbove all, he was the consistent, decided, and constant advocate of the doctrines of the revealed Scriptures, and their duties. He had arrived at his fourscore years; and loving his Bible the more, as he journeyed toward the end of his course, he had reached the Gospel of St. Matthew, in reading it regularly through for the ninth time during the past nine years. What an example for the imitation of the old and the young! Gov. Smith, by invitation, presided at the meeting of the Alumni of Yale College, in August last, on which occasion he pronounced a beautiful address; but the effort, it is thought, was too great for his advanced age. After this his health sensibly declined, until he was summoned to the rest and the joys of the "good and faithful servant," in heaven. "Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?" They are gone; but men are left behind them to lift up the banner of the cross in front of the Lord's army. Who shall succeed the departed John Cotton Smith in the Bible cause? Upon whom shall his mantle fall? What say you to an honored son of your own great west-JUDGE M'LEAN? The west would be happy to give a president to the Bible Society; and among the names of her favorite sons, we have Wishing to discuss this subject fully, to begin with the beginning, let us take the external view of the thing, and point out the inconsistency of this procedure with all the purposes and intentions of youththeir enjoyments, their comfort, their well-appear mation and achievement in their several relations of this life, leaving the question as yet in a great measure a selfish one. For any of the purposes of enjoyment, it requires no abstruse calculation to decide that the slightest pain, the smallest variation from health, the mere "finger-ache," puts the thing entirely out of our power, and, by incapacitating ourself, completely nullifies all the sources of delight to which we had looked, on whatever occasion, to connect our sympathies in participation. See the young lady (her school and her studies are now completed) preparing for a soiree, wherein she has anticipated the delights of social intercourse-that interchange of thought, that liberalizing conversation which, by easy evolvement, brings into play her stores of juvenile erudition, and the sportive fancy, the sparkle of wit, and, may-be, the more sentient faculties of the heart and the soul-all these. She has been indulged, too, in a new dress-all her neatly prepared arrangements are in readiness, and the hour has come; but, alas! all these she must forego; for a sudden twinge of the toothache (not to be resisted!) has seized upon her, or, may-be, it is a violent catarrh, or a spasm of the side, or any other of the ailments which "flesh is heir to," and which, under circumstances of recent exposure and carelessness, now attacks her, no objection to Judge M'Lean's being considered dignissi pronouncing an imperative veto upon the visit. The mus.-ED. time when the evil was contracted is not distinctly known, (and no odds if it were, to the present event;) but none the less for that is it consequent upon the infringed law of bodily health. The young sufferer does not even now view the subject in its proper bearings she does not deprecate her own imprudence-she is absorbed in the THE SHOES. present discomfiture-in deploring the disappointment of the evening-the loss of her social sympathies, of confabulation, gayety, and all the convivialities of time and place-without once thinking (though suffering the smart) of her lost health. This is the order of youth; but it creates a "most admired disorder "-it is taking a very short view of a very long subject-of a thing which, in its process, and progress, and catastrophe, may draw upon much deeper sensibilities than any that are now concerned; and whose event, after a long series of conflicts and sufferings, may be-death. But I had promised yet awhile to keep on the surface of things. Suppose, in other case, our young lady were just well enough, with constrained precaution, to dress and attend the party, what is her enjoyment there? Is she indeed there, or is it a mere bodily presence, of which all the free, buoyant spirits are wanting and lost-pent up in the dire storehouse of sickness and disease-with no capacity of participation left, but only the mortifying con viction of her own disability-the full sense that she feels ill, that she looks ill, and is thought to look illthat she excites compassion, instead of any other sentiment, and that her evening is worse than wasted; for, although she is amiable, she finds it impossible to be agreeable; and her perceptions are only of lassitude, mortification, and despondency. And all these sufferings she is fain to hide under an assumed cheerfulness, and an effort of magnanimity worthy of a better cause. How much does she suffer on this memorable evening-the last one, perhaps, of her public appearance! How much does she wish she had not overruled her mother's tender persuasions to remain at home! But the poor girl is now getting into a better train of compliance. Her walk henceforth is amidst deeper sensibilities and profounder interests-tending to the grave! "But," says my young reader, "why is so much imputed to the young lady? Should she not be pitied, being sick? What was her fault? what her omission?" Certainly, we should pity all who suffer. But her fault was self-will-want of biddableness and obedience to her mother, her guardian: her omission was, that she would not wear suitable clothing, particularly shoes of a consistency to defend her feet from the cold and damps of the season; and thus did she sacrifice, not one evening only, of which I have drawn you an introductory picture, but long, doleful, sad months in deprivation, and suffering, and sickness, resulting in death. "But," says the excuser, "I would think it a small matter, after she is a young lady grown, that she should wish to choose her own shoes; and I would think her mother would be reasonable enough to allow her that liberty." Her mother doubtless would so, if she could see sure. 83 any reason in it!—any reason why a shoe, with a sole about the consistency of wrapping paper, should be deemed a suitable defense against a degree of cold that is every moment uncomfortably felt, or of dampness, by which they become totally saturated in a two minutes' walk; and this applied to a part of the system which is peculiarly liable to disorder from the expoThe mother has a right, apart from her guardianship, to dictate in this matter; for if illness ensue, she is the one on whom naturally devolves the office and onerous duty of watching by the sick bed. Besides this, if it is a small thing for the young lady to choose her own shoes, it is a small thing to give them up in compliance to her mother. Yet I do not affect to say there is any equality of motive; for the one party is contending for vanity and the other for health-the one sentiment is of wanton selfishness, the other of the most disinterested affectionateness. There is no comparison to be instituted. And were it not for the thoughtlessness in which the daughter has been generally indulged, and which affords some extenuation of her fault, an impartial judgment would denounce the act in full, as the very antithesis of goodness. We are now talking about motives, not particularly about a thick or a thin pair of shoes! And here it may be observed at large, how beautiful and how becoming is obedience! how respectable is its observance upon both parties, implying not only dignity but duty in the parent to exact it—not affection and amiability alone, but obligation in the child to observe it! It is now a sort of custom for the daughter, at her returns or departures for the day, to kiss her mother; but let me see the daughter who obeys her mother, and, whether she kiss her, or does not, it is all the same-she loves her, and is worthy of her love-it is but a sign omitted. The other instance may be but a "false signal." "But," urges the excuser, "the young lady, maybe, would have now died, whether she wore thin shoes or thick ones; for does not the Bible say that we are born into this world with the seeds of death within us!" Now the young sophist shall have an answer, although she is wresting the gist of the argument away from its moral responsibilities of obedience to God and to parents, back to its physical issues, which we had done with. Yet it may be observed that the germs of life, in the beginning of existence, are much stronger than the seeds of death-a self-evident proposition, of which life itself is the authority. And these latter are held in abeyance until the mission of life is performed, unless their development be precipitated by casualties or carelessnesses, which might, in manifold instances, be evaded by proper and reasonable precautions. And we may go on to say, that these precautions it is the duty, as it is the law of nature, for every created being to regard and observe. And we may believe it is more than a |