144 For the Miscellany. MAN'S SALVATION. The son of God in his blest felicity In himself, this could not make him more; Poetry. On the scale, which scarcely moves the balance. Man strove to shine like the Godhead and sinned "Against the high supremacy of heaven."t Oh! what mysterious love! The Saviour Perfect in himself, yet hear his accents: "Father, deliver from the pit, for I Have found a ransom!" A glorious ransom, As sure and permanent as heaven's throne; Tits efficacy all his saints can test. When he who is the father's Glory Sojourned below, was he accepted well? Did they who had the promise in their hand, Salute him with a welcome from the heart; Spread him soft mats to rest his heaven-born frame; And treat him as the owner of the world,-Chief heir of heaven's Throne?--Not so, alas! No salutations met his holy ear; No welcome cheered his entrance on this sphere; No downy couch offered him sweet repose;― call To cry, "Let him be crucified!" This dread determination was fulfilled; In agonies of pain the Saviour hangs High lifted on the cross; around him stands A mocking multitude, deriding him "If he's the son of God let him come from the cross;" "Make stones your bread," said satan, how alike They are! The Saviour disobey's them both! How could he leave poor man in loathsome sin To rove in darkness when so well nigh free? The last, the bitter challace being drank And all the law of God at length fulfilled,It is finished the Saviour loudy cried, And bowed his head in peace! Poor wretched ingrate man, the Saviour died That you might never die. He bore these pains That you no smart might feel. He quit the grave Triumphing o'er your foe, and on love's wings He pierced the sky, to repossess his throne. Behold him now dispensing gifts to men! F. A right view of Death.-The late Dr. Grosvenor being at the funeral of Dr. Watts, a friend said to him, "Well Dr. Grosvenor, you have seen the end of Dr. Watts, and you will soon follow; what think you of death?" "Think of it?' replied the Doctor, 'Why, when Death comes, I shall smile upon Death, if God smiles upon me.' Wisdom.-The increase of Gold lowers the value of it, but the increase of Grace advan ceth its price; how much better, therefore, is it to get Wisdom than Gold.-Matthew Henry. Death. The deaths of others are the subjects of common talk, but little the subject of serious thought.. 16. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY FLEMING AND GEDDES, Every Friday, at two dollars per annum. INDEX. Education of females in India,-Scene in Turkey, 185 A Solitary Christian,-Another solitary Christian 136 The World, 137 Correspondents,-N. S. S. Religious Miscellany. No. 10. "Say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh." THE STAGE DIALOGUE 3. Vol. III. Mort. And yet many Christians are in the habit of attending the Theatre. Clem. Christians in name only, may be the frequenters of these ayou.musements; but I should conceive a Christian indeed could not be found delighting in the Drama. Continued from p. 132. Mortimer. Good morning, Clement; I am come to take breakfast with Clement. You are heartily welcome, Mortimer; and just in time. Mort. Your table is well stored with periodical magazines and reviews; which of these has engaged your attention, this morning? Clem. I was cursorily looking over the magazine; and among the sudden deaths, which have been so frequent of late, there is one which, with your leave, I will read to you. Mort. I shall be obliged to you. Clem. "On Monday night, about ten o'clock, a melancholy circum stance occurred at Just as Mr. K Theatre. the actor, was re presenting the dying scene, in the Tragedy of Richard the III. a Mr. C an officer, fell down in a fit of apoplexy, and immediately expir ed." is "Sudden death," (the Editor remarks,) "under any circumstances, awful; but in such a place it appears to be doubly so: few, we presume, even of the lovers of the play-house, would wish, if called away suddenly, that the summons should be received at the Theatre." Mort. Death is an awful visitation in any place; but let us not presume that, because a man is overtaken with sudden death, at a place of amusement, he is not, therefore, a Christian. Mort. What do you mean by a christian indeed, as opposed to a christian in name only? Clem. I will endeavor to illustrate my meaning-the Jews were the chosen people of God; but does Mortimer, suppose that every Jew was of the Israel of God, because he was one of the children of Israel?-It is written, 'He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God; for they are not all Israel who are of Israel." who are ignorant of Christ and his Hence how many are called Christians great salvation; having a name to live and yet are dead-dead in tresspasses tion of Christendom (so called) may and sins! For, alas! how large a poryou delineate on the map, as without the knowledge of Christ Jesus and him crucified! It is very important rightly to distinguish, as to what a man really is, and what he is called. Mort. Among the various professors in the world, Clement, how is it possible to make this distinction. Clem. Nothing so easy, Mortimer. The word of God, which is the only standard, will furnish the distinction between the wheat and the chaff-the Clem. The Editor's remark is a general one; and therefore does not, as certainly he cannot, decide on the case of that individnal; but, it ap-true gold, and reprobate silver. Perpears to me, that a Play-house is rather an unfit place for the resort of a Christian. mit me, Mortimer, to ask you if the atmosphere of a Theatre is a fit region for a Christian to breathe in? Does it comport with the dignity of his character; and can it be congenial with the taste, and with what ought to be the temper and disposition, of him of whom it is said, 'He is not of the world, even as Jesus is not of the world?' For, if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his.' of heart which Christianity requires, as revenge is contrary to meekness, or malice to good-will. Now that which is thus contrary to the whole nature and spirit of religion, is certainly much more to be condemned than that which may only be contrary to some particular precept. An entertainment, therefore, which applies which awakens our disordered passions, and teaches us to relish impurity, immoral rant, and profaneness, is exceedingly sinful, not only as it is a breach of some particular duty, but as it contradicts the whole nature, and opposes every part of religion. Mort. Bad as are the precincts of Theatre,and its neighborhood contam-to the corruption of our own nature, inating, yet, may it not be presumed, that there are those who may be present at a play, without imbibing the evils of which Clement complains? It is not sufficient, Clement, to say, It is an unfit place of resort for a Christian; but you must endeavor to prove from Scripture, that the place is positively Mort. Sure I am, Clement, if I bad in itself and forbidden. Its fre- could view the Stage to be that Panquenters, I contend, may, notwith-dora's-box, that Augean stable, which you have so strongly pourtrayed it to be, I should never again venture within the walls of a Playhouse; but why ing all you have said, escape the surrounding atmosphere, which I think you have unfairly pressed into the argument; so that I cannot see the sin-is it that you thus entertain such an fulness of merely going to a play. antipathy to this, more than to any other diversion? Clem. You may as well There say, is no sin in swearing and lying; for the Drama is not only a sin against this or that particular text of Scripture, but it is a sin against the WHOLE NATURE and SPIRIT of Religion. It is a contradiction, Mortimer, to all Christian holiness, and to all methods of arriving at it; for can any one think that he has a true Christian spirit, that his heart is changed, that he is born again of God, whilst he is diverting himself with the levity, impudence, profaneness, and impure discourses of the Stage? Can he think that he is. endeavoring to be holy as Christ is holy, to live by his wisdom, and to be filled with the Spirit, so long as he allows himself in such an entertainment? There is nothing in the nature of Christian holiness which is not contrary to the whole spirit and temper of this entertainment. That disposition of heart which takes delight in the various representations of the Stage is as directly contrary to that disposition Clem. Because the diversion which consists of such discourses as these, injures us in a very different manner from other sins; for, as discourses are an application to the heart, it has a more fatal tendency to undo what religious instruction may have effected, than in any other sins;and,as the effect of religion consists in a right turn of mind, so whatever supports a quite contrary turn of mind, has all the contrariety to religion that it can possibly have. Mort. I wish, Clement, you would adduce some proof from Scripture, in order to shew that this strictness of mind is thereby inculcated. Clem. Most readily, Mortimer; St. John says, Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit which he hath given us. There is no sign more certain of our belonging to Christ, than that which this text presents to us; every other sign may deceive us that is, all the external parts of reli command, from Scripture, against these kind of diversions. Clem. Mark then, attentively, Mortimer, the manifest contrariety of the Stage, to this important text of Scripture:-Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for the use of edifying, that it mayminister grace tothe hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.' Hence all corrupt and unedifying communication is absolute gion may be vain and delusive: it is only the state of the mind and spirit, that is a certain proof that we are Christians in sincerity and truth; and the reason is plain, because the salvation of Christ not only effects the pardon of sin, but renews us in the spirit of our mind, and gives us new dispositions of heart, suitable to its purity and holiness; that, therefore, which supports a wrong turn of mind, and betrays the heart into impure delights is destructive of all religion; because it destroys that turn of mind, and spi-ly sinful, and forbidden in scripture; rit, which is one end and design of all our religion-Let me ask you, Clement, do you think it unlawful to swear? Mort. Surely, Clement; you cannot suppose I am so ignorant, as not to know that swearing is contrary to the third commandment. it grieves the Holy Spirit, and separates, Him from us:-but if it be thus unlawful to have any corrupt communication ourselves, or of our own providing, can we think it lawful to go to places set apart for that purpose, and to give our money and hire persons, to corrupt our hearts, and the minds of others, with ill discourses, and thus to inflame all the disorderly passions of our nature? As you have entered your protest against swearing, Mortimer, would you think it right to hire other people to swear? Mort. Certainly not, Clement; that would be, if possible, more criminal than committing the sin myself. Clem. But, if I should ask you, Mortimer, why it is unlawful to use the entertainment of the Stage; you can carry your answer further; because it is an entertainment that is contrary to all the parts, the whole nature of religion, and contradicts every holy temper which the spirit of Christianity requires; so that I do not hesitate to say, that if you live in the Clem. After admitting all this, supuse of this diversion, you have no pose you were to go to a house and grounds to hope that you have the spi- give your money to persons who were rit and heart of a Christian; and, allow there met to curse and swear in fine me to add, Mortimer, that this argu-language, and invent musical oaths ment against the Stage has all the and imprecations, would it not be weight in it, that the whole weight of deemed madness in the highest degree? religion can give to any argument. The form of religion will allow you to take the diversion of the Stage, along with it; but, if you possess the spirit of religion, and are truly religious in heart and mind, it will be as much your desire to renounce and abhor the Stage, as to seek God and pray for the guidance of his Holy Spirit. Mort. It would be the grossest inconsistency; and, as you say, madness itself. Clem. Now consider whether there be a less degree of madness in going to a Playhouse: you must own, as a Christian, that you are called to great purity of conversation: that you are forbidden all foolish talking, and filthy Mort. But is not the text you have jesting, as expressly as you are foradvanced, and on which you have an-bidden swearing; and you are told to imadverted, an argument rather of in- let no corrupt communication proceed ference? I want to hear some positive out of your mouth, but such as is good or the use of edifying; and yet you go to a house set apart for corrupt communications; you hire persons to entertain you with all manner of ribaldry, profaneness, rant, and impurity of discourse, who are to present you with vile thoughts, wanton imaginations, in fine language; and to make wicked, vain, and impure discourse more lively and affecting than you could possibly have it in any ill company: now is not this sinning with as high a hand, and as grossly offending against the plain doctrines of scripture, Mortimer, as if you were to give your money to be entertained with musical oaths and curses? Mort. Why, I must own, Clement, you have most dexterously endeavored to draw your net round me; you think you have left me no way for escape; there is, though, I candidly own, strong reasoning in your last argument. Clem. Look at it in another view, Mortimer; you would reasonably think that woman very ridiculous in her piety, who would not dare to swear herself, but should, nevertheless, frequent places to hear oaths. much abhor the thought of being at a Play, as of being a Player yourself; for to think that you must abhor the || one, and not the other, is as absurd as to suppose that you must be temperate yourself, but that you may assist, encourage and reward, other people, for their intemperance. Mort. I should belie my own feelings, Clement, were I not to admit the justice of these remarks, and their force on my own mind; but do you think them applicable to one, like myself, whose visit at the Theatre does not exceed more than once or twice, in the season, at most? Clem. All people, Mortimer, who enter a Playhouse, or contribute the smallest mite towards it, must look upon themselves as having been so far friends to the most powerful instruments of levity; and to be guilty of contributing to a bold, open, and public exercise of impudence, impurity, and profaneness. Mort. Are you not too severe Are you not, now, carrying the matter too far? Clem. Not an iota, Mortimer, beyond the fair line of sound argument. Let me entreat your attention further: When we encourage any good design, either with our money or our influ Mort. Doubtless I should. Clem. But you must as justly think her very ridiculous in her modesty, who, though she dares not say, or look or do an immodest thing herself,ence, we are, perhaps, apt to take should yet give her money to see women forget the modesty of their sex, and talk impudently in a public play house. Mort. Every one must think so, that thinks at all. Clem. Would you like to be a performer yourself, Mortimer? Mort. I certainly should not. some share of merit to ourselves; we presently conclude we are partakers of all that is good and praise-worthy in it, because we are contributors to it, especially if it be a religious object which the charity has in view. Now, we must not consider how much less we contribute than several thousands of other people, but we must look at the whole thing in itself,and whatever there is of evil in it, or arises from it, we must charge ourselves with a share of the whole guilt of so great an evil. Clem. And yet you are as really acting those indecencies and impieties, as if you were the player himself; for a person may very justly be said to do that himself, which he pays another for doing, and which is done for his pleasure; you must, therefore, if you her deep or shallow, according as the banks would be consistent with yourself, as To be concluded in our next. f the Sabbath are kept up or neglected. |