The Confession of Mrs. H

"A short time after Mrs. H

she said to me:

6

: a caution.

united with the church,

"I have something that weighs upon my mind and troubles me exceedingly. I have long been desirous of conver sing with you on the subject. Mr. C, I have injured both you and the church, and I wish to ask your forgive

ness.

"Surprised at this declaration, and at the evident confusion with which it was made, I knew not what to expect. Mrs. H explained:

"Previous to the commencement of the services of the church at L I had never attended an Episcopal Church, nor did I attend the church here until some time during the last spring. The services were then entirely new to me. I was displeased with every thing I saw and heard. When I returned home I spoke my thoughts freely-said I never would again attend an Episcopal Church-that there was no religion in the church'-(Here she became evidently confused)—and even reported that I did not believe you to be a converted man. I did not again attend the church for a long time. When I did, I became somewhat interested. This interest continued to increase until I attended the meeting which was so much blessed to me. You know the result-now can you forgive me?'

"It is needless to add, that it was not difficult to forgive a fault so ingenuously confessed, and for which such ample reparation had been made. The case of Mrs. H―, however, is not a singular one; and it is by no means impossible that this account may fall into the hands of some, who are now thinking and acting just as Mrs. H- once did. If so, we would kindly say to them, examine before you judge and be not over hasty in your judgment. We also express the hope, that they may yet learn to appreciate a church, which in the land of our forefathers was the very first to take her stand against the errors of popery-which has sealed her testimony to the truth with the blood of her martyrs-which has sent forth from her ranks some of the most devoted missionaries of the cross, and whose learning, wisdom, and piety, have done more to fill the religious libraries of all evangelical denom nations, than any other church upon earth. In saying this, we do not express a mere opinion, we state simple facts,

The folly of dissensions among christians.

facts which may be found upon historical record, and which will be readily recognized by the intelligent of all denominations.

"If there have been found in the church, unfaithful minis ters and ungodly men, the church is no more to be condemn. ed for their delinquencies, than is the religion of the gospel for the misconduct of some of its nominal professors. If men would know what the church really is, let them go to her standards—her liturgy, her articles, her homilies. Examine them, search them, prove them. See if they do not breathe the very spirit of the gospel, and set forth in all their purity the simple doctrines of the cross.

"Let not the church be condemned for what some have represented her to be, but let her be judged and appreciated for what she really is. Alas! why should there be so much discord among brethren? Why so much of angry contentions, and striving about words to no profit, but the subversion of the hearers? One of the most effective pleas which the world offers for the rejection of the gospel, is the 'dissensions among christians.' Let him, therefore, who wantonly assails the character of a christian brother, and still more, he who wantonly assails the character of a christian church, remember that if he succeeds in his object, he lends a most welcome aid to the powers of darkness. If those who name the name of Christ are reproached, the cause of Christ itself is injured. If one of the members suffer, all the members suffer with it. And why should the members of the body of Christ array themselves against each other? Has not each work enough for all its strength Is there not room enough for all? Äre not the fields white for the harvest and loudly calling for the reapers? Are there not souls enough in all the darkness of sin, for whose salvation we may put forth our strongest energies? Are we not engaged in a common cause? Have we not a common enemy? Have we not all one master, even Christ, and one hope of our calling? Nay-are we not all one in Christ, and do we not hope to be one in his kingdom of glory? Away, then, with sectarian prejudices and party feeling! Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind; and while he is consci entiously attached to the church of his choice, and obeys the injunction of the Apostle, 'be ready always to give an answer

Conclusion.

to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,' let him do it with 'meekness and love,' 'not returning evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing. And may the God of peace, which brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us all perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,' to whom be glory forever and ever.

Yours in the best of bonds

C."

Enquiries addressed to Episcopalians.

CHAPTER XI.

MINOR OBJECTIONS.

"How hard it is upon our church, that we, her professing members, will not do her the common justice of acting out her holy injunctions! Of what use are works of controversy in her defence, compared with the silent argument of a life built up under the holy influence of her spiritual discipline, and her sound and simple ordinances."

Records of a good man's life.

THESE pages will probably meet the eye of many who love the church, and duly appreciate her admirable institutions. Of them I would inquire-have we not, by our deadness and worldly conformity, been guilty of the suicidal act of doing more to retard the progress of our church, than all the opposition of her enemies?-Has not the spouse of Christ been wounded in the house of her friends. Did the light of holiness beam forth in one broad stream of lustre from the conduct and character of all who professed to love her, would not the clouds that now gather around her, and obscure her form and beauty in the eyes of many, melt away and dis appear, like the mists of morning before the bright, glowing rays of the summer's sun! Oh! that Episcopalians would pray more, and live nearer to God, and seek to mount up on the wings of holiness to a closer communion with Him, and with the saints in light! Had they done this, their peace long since would have been "as a river, and their righteousness as the waves of the sea." Had they done this, there would be now far less need of works like the present to disabuse the public mind of erroneous impressions in relation to he Church. But until we can be brought as a body to take a high stand, and become pre-eminent for holiness, we shall be obliged to send forth works of this sort, to entreat those who are ignorant of our doctrines, discipline and worship, to

The Missionary's manuscript.

form their estimate of the Church from looking at her standards, rather than the lives of her unworthy members.

As this volume is designed more especially for those who have little or no knowledge of the church, I have thought it might be well to devote a chapter or two to the consideration of some minor objections, which not unfrequently are raised against the Episcopal Church.

To invest this subject with the more interest, I purpose to avail myself of a manuscript in my hands containing "The reminiscences of a Missionary, while laboring to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Who in surveying the edifices and public buildings of a town, or the various towers of some magnificent fortification, has not found some portion of the architectural group involved in partial obscurity by the position in which he happened to be placed? To see those particular parts to the best advantage to understand their design, and see the relation. they have to the whole, it is necessary to change one's position, and view them from another point. It is precisely so in one's walk about Zion. Some, who have walked partially around this city of the Great King, and who have considerable knowledge of several of its parts, have beheld other parts from points where they could not form any just idea of their beauty, design and propriety. We think that this manuscript will enable the reader to take a view of our Zion from a number of new points, where various colonades, arches, turrets and pinnacles, that may hitherto have been thought an incumbrance, will be seen to add greatly to the beauty, and glory, and safety of this blessed place, whose " gates the Lord loveth more than all the dwellings of Jacob."

Without any farther preliminary remarks, therefore, I shall introduce the reader at once to this Manuscript.

"Some of the happiest hours I have ever known on earth, have been passed amid the toils and privations of a missionary life. It is true that the missionary who goes out to labor amid the moral wastes of our land, encounters comparatively few of those hardships and dangers, which beset the daily path of him who goes to labor among the benighted heathen. Still the home missionary has his trials