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    Art ~ II . —A Sermon , preached at the Dedication of the Second Congregational Church , in Northampton ^ United States of North America ,

    7 th Dec . 1825 . By Henry Ware , Jan ., of Boston . Liverpool , reprinted from the American Edition . Teulori and Fox , 67 , Whitechapel ; and R . Hunter , St . Paulas Churchyard .

    fTHHIS Is a sensible , well-written JL discourse , from Ezra v , 3 : "Who hath commanded you to build this house ? ' * The preacher begins by a statement of the reasons which led to the erection of the building now about to be set apart for divine worship :

    u cause of pure Christianity and liberal principles required it of you ; for these—* every where spoken against , ' though believed by yon to be * the wisdom of God , and the power of God 'demand the countenance and favour of their friends , and are to spread through their labours and sacrifices . The cause

    of consistent Protestantism , and the great principles of the Reformation , required it ; for they demand tne multiplication of institutions which shall maintain the equal rights of disciples , and frown upon all assumption of spiritual dominion , and reject all interposition of human creeds and forms between the word of God and the consciences of men . **

    The writer proceeds to give the " purposes of the house of God ;" and , in particular , insists " that the Object of Christian worship is but one ; and this , not in any modified sense , but strictly and absolutely , without reserve , equivocation or mystery . "

    After an exhortation to worship this undivided Being with " all the heart and soul and mind and strength , ' * a . picture is presented of the temple of God , * as designed for the instruction of many We may here be excused if we make a longer extract , as an address to those who lay but secondary stress , at least , on the stated aW

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    tendance of th € hi ^ iW 6 f } # && ; ^ place set apart fortb'&irw&fo ffttd tfie public wo rship of the Creator ; " Under the Chiistfen d& pfcnsation the house of God is , in tlie strictest sefl $ 6 , a place of moral lristnicttah , a school of religious knowledge . There while the mind is affected with & sense of the Divine presence , &od th ^ lieartwarm .

    ed and softened by deWtkm , thfc sefcda of instruction find ready admission and tttie easy root . The most favdhrablcf opportunity exists of imparting high doctrine , of inculcating correct principles , of fixing the love , admiration , and desire of excellence , and of enforcing the most commanding motives . The influence which the house of God may thus exert—established as it is in all the little ;

    communities throughout a Christian land—is immense . And there is something worthy of the Divinity in the simplicity with which this mighty engine operates . This provision of houses for the worship and instruction of all the people , is peculiar to Christianity . The most efficacious

    mean of moral improvement , order and happiness £ ver devised , which gives a power and security independent of human law , teaching every man to be a law to himself—has yet been unknown except to the Christian Church . It has caused a connexion between the services

    of religion and the duties of life which never elsewhere existed , not even in the ancient dispensation , to an extent by any means equal , and among the other nations of the world not in any degree . For , with them , religion was little better than a substitute and excuse for morals ;

    while their moral teachers dealt out formal wisdom and maxims of philosophy , independent of the sanctions of religious truth . The Christian Church unites them all , and thus erects a combination in

    favour of religion and morality , strengthening the influence of each by the authority of the other , before which the errors and superstitions , the sins and the wretchedness of each , must finally be overthrown .

    * ' Observe this a little more minute ])' , and trace its operation . In the house of God , on every seventh day , those who associate in the ordinary walks of lifefamilies , friends and neighbours—are

    assembled together to unite in religions offerings , to hear the reading of the records of Revelation , to listen to the discussion of the most interesting and important topics , and to receive serious and friendly exhortations concerning principle and duty . Can- the influence of this be otherwise than immense ? How much is

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    < f $ 4 Review . S *** -Warf * ermon .

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    an important and valuable publication . The sense of sofne places is obscured by the punctuation , ( see pp . 64 , 76 , 111 ,, &c , ) and there is an evident misprint , p . 62 ' L

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1826, page 424, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2550/page/44/