Cannot o'ercome; but still deliver us

From evil-evil thoughts and evil deeds,
From dire calamity and hopeless woe,

From want, from pain, from sickness, and from sin,
And from a fearful, unrepenting death.

Deliver us, Almighty God! for thine
The kingdom is, the glory, and the power,
As it has been through past eternity,
And shall for ever and for ever be.

Christian Philanthropist.

A PERIODICAL paper with this title has lately been commenced in New Bedford, Massachusetts. If we may judge from the few numbers already published, this paper promises to be of essential service to the christian public within the sphere of its circulation. Its frequent appearance, and the variety of its matter, will make it acceptable where larger and more laboured works will not gain admittance. We are glad to find another work enlisted in the cause of scriptural christianity, and sincerely hope the editor will meet with all the encouragement, which his well directed labours merit. It is proper to observe, that a department in this paper is devoted to literature, and a short summary of general intelligence.

Unitarian Defendant.

WE have just received the first number of a small paper from Charleston, South Carolina, called the Unitarian Defendant. This paper is intended, as the editor informs us, to be published occasionally. It has been

called forth by the unprovoked and intemperate abuse, which some of the orthodox papers at the south have thought proper, in the abundance of their charity, to pour out upon unitarians. If the number before us

is to be considered a fair specimen, the Unitarian Defendant is well calculated to meet such opponents. It breathes a spirit of christian moderation, which all must admire; and assumes a tone of conscious rectitude, independence, and firmness, which all must respect.

Dedication at Washington.

THE new Building for unitarian public worship in Washington was dedicated on the ninth of June. The dedication services were performed in the morning by the Rev. Robert Little, pastor of the Unitarian Society in that city. A discourse was preached in the afternoon by Mr. Eddowes of Philadelphia.

Ordination.

THE REV. G. G. Ingersoll, from Harvard University has been recently ordained in Burlington, Vermont. The introductory prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Ware of New York; prayer by the Rev. Mr. Ripley of Waltham; sermon by the Rev. President Kirkland of Harvard University; ordaining prayer by the Rev. Dr. Bancroft of Worcester; charge by the Rev. Dr. Thayer of Lancaster; right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Mr. Francis of Watertown; and concluding prayer by the Rev. Mr. Brooks of Hingham.

An article on the Unitarianism of William Penn will be published.

The Apostolical Benediction.

Ir was customary with the apostle Paul, in closing his Epistles, to express devout wishes for the persons to whom they were addressed, in the form of a benediction, or a pious farewell salutation. A remarkable instance of this occurs in the last verse of the thirteenth chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Here we find the apostle expressing a desire, that certain gifts and blessings might be enjoyed by the Corinthians. The nature of these blessings I now proceed to examine; and also to inquire whether this form of benediction is suitable for the practice of Christians at the present day.

1. The meaning of the first clause of the text, which speaks of the grace of Christ, is sufficiently plain without much illustration. By this grace, must obviously be understood the blessings derived through Christ, or the blessings of the Gospel. The word grace is a very general term, and hence its frequent use in the Scriptures. It means any favour, or benefit, which men enjoy,

either as coming immediately from God, or from any other source. The Gospel is the grace or favour of God, because it is a special gift of the divine mercy and love for the benefit of men. It may, also, with peculiar emphasis, be called the grace of Christ, for it was entirely through his agency, his instructions, works, sufferings, that it was published and made effectual. No sentiment, therefore, could be more natural in writing to new converts, than to desire that they might enjoy the grace, which Christ had conferred in the blessings of the Gospel.*

2. That the love of God might be experienced by the Corinthians, was the second object of the apostle's good wishes. This part of his benediction is natural, and needs no explanation. He would have them enjoy the special favour of God in the religion of Christ, and also the expressions of the divine love and mercy, manifested in the parental care and tenderness, which God ex

*The word agis, which is translated grace in the above text, literally means favour. It is used more than one hundred and seventy times in the New Testament, and in every instance it retains this general meaning. It is occasionally thus rendered; "Thou hast found favour with God.” Luke, i. 30. "Jesus increased in favour with God and man." ii. 52. In both these cases, the original word is the same as is usually translated grace. See a so Acts, ii, 47; vii. 10.

Although favour is a benefit always producing good effects, yet this benefit aud its effects may be different in kind. Hence, the word xags, favour, grace, in its particular sense, has several meanings, according to its connexion. It sometimes means a charitable gift, as in 1 Cor. xvi. 3; "Them will I send to bring your liberality (xagi, grace,) unto Jerusalem.” It occasionally denotes satisfaction, or joy, as in Philem. vii.; "We have great joy, (xaçiv) and consolation in thy love." At other times, it expresses the Christian religion. "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Rom. vi. 14; that is, you are not subject to the law of Moses, but to the religion of Christ. And in other places, as in the text under consideration, it

ercises towards all who seek to know and please him, to obey his laws, and imitate his moral perfections. The love of God is the unfailing source of joy, and peace, and happiness.

3. The Holy Spirit, as the phrase is often used in the Scriptures, means the extraordinary gifts and powers, which were communicated from heaven to the apostles and primitive christians. These gifts and powers were of various kinds, according to the purposes which they were intended to accomplish. Their ultimate object was to diffuse a knowledge of the christian religion, and impress a conviction of its divine origin and authority. Hence, it was common for the minds of the first christians to be enlightened with divine truth, by the immediate influence of the Almighty. This light from heaven is sometimes called inspiration; and by whatever name it may be called, the thing itself was, no doubt, to the first toachors of christianity, an immediate source of all essential religious truth.

To convince the world that they were inspired, and that what they taught was true, they were still further

means all the peculiar blessings of the Christian religion. The clause the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you-Schleusner renders as follows; Bona per Christum hominibus parta, vobis abunde contingant. "Let the blessings, imparted to men through Jesus Christ, abound towards you."

la John, i. 16, we have the following translation in our common version; "Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." The sense of the last clause is, favour upon favour; or, as Wakefield renders it, more abundant favour.

The word grace occurs so often in the Scriptures, that many vague, and it is feared, erroneous notions have been entertained, from not attending carefully to its meaning. It is a good rule to keep in mind, that it always means favour, and then to inquire what kind of favour it denotes in any particular passage.