dor; against honesty, coloured under the necessity of putting men upon their guard; and, in fine, that they carry tales to shed blood,' stimulated by eupidity, whim, and vanity, and, therefore, ought to be punished as such villains deserve, by statute law, in proportion to their criminal intentions and actions. Many blind guides strain out gnats from the church and states, and swallow the camels of injustice, partiality, impatience, hearsay evidence, and slander; and with a heart double hooped with flint, a brow of adamant, a forked, barbed tongue of steel, dipped in poison, the poison of cunning, sly, private defamation, pierce and poison thousands. Yea, the camel of unmerciful judging, of talebearing, is retained, instead of the following: But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. 1 Thess. ii. 7. Not as some of our modern, raspish, cattish, lion-like roarers, who affright their children, who disinherit them by sacerdotal fretfulness in the nurse keepers, and doctors of the church, who give violent sudorifics, emetics, and drastic medicines; instead of the sincere milk of suffering long, of a 1-o-n-g, patient mind; instead of hoping the best of a brother, when faith in him fails; instead of telling a brother privately, until seventy times seven,' if he repent.Matt. xviii. 15, 22, to the end of the chap. Luke xvii. 1 to 5. Titus iii. 2. Eph. iv. 31, 32, Col. iii. 8 to 14. James iv. 11. 1 Peter ii. 1. We want patient nurses, that will not break the bones of the children by throwing them down upon the pavement, for every trifle; the church nurse may be a slanderer, and often is a receiver of stolen reputations. Psalms xv. 1. 3. The servant of the Lord must be gentle unto all men, patient, or (forbearing, margin) 2 Tim. ii. 24. Neither as being

lords (or overuling the majority) over God's heritage. Such lords, in severity, are backbiting usurpers. "When ye received the word of God,

ye

received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God." 1 Thess. ii. 13. What is this word of truth? To put him out, if you have hearsay, suspicion, and lordly power enough to carry the unjust point? No, no, but in the mouth of two or three witnesses; not one talebearing cupcackler. If they will not hear the church. Matt. xviii. Not to put her out, put him out, but restore him in the spirit of meekness. Gal. vi. 1. “It is written, that the testimony of two men is true." John viii. 17. Deut. xvii. 6. Yet we are come to this, that the whispering of one half-grown girl will do with some of your very suspicious great men. Put on bowels of mercy, saith Paul, Col. iii. 12. If any have a quarrel, (or complaint, margin) forgive. ver. 13. No, no, put him out, say your ill-bred lords. To the law and the testimony, which is the truth, and not to unmerciful tyrants over God's heritage, against mercy and truth.

Church governors ought, in all things relating to character, to approve themselves as the ministers of of God, in much (not little slandering) patience, by pureness, (not by impure hearsays) by knowledge, (not juvenile, partial ignorance) by long suffering, (not to mew, and jump, like an impatient cat) by kindness, (not haughtiness and severity) by the Holy Ghost, (not by the unholy ghost of backbiting) by love unfeigned, (not by brother and talebearing united) by the word of truth, (not by the devil's word of slanderous truth, which is a lie against God's truth. 2 Cor. 6, 4, 6, 7.) not handling the word of God deceitfully, (not whispering wherever we go,) not walking in craftiness,

(going up and down as the devil's pedlers, craftily finding out every villainy, and telling of it to our sly friends;) but have renounced the hidden (private slandering things of whispering and cunning judging) darkness, by manifestation of the truth, (not of hearsay truth and lies) commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Cor. iv. 1 to 3.

O! how little do double rectified church oppressors resemble our merciful and faithful high priest, who sent word to backsliding Peter of his triumphant resurrection, who gave that hungry sailor his dinner, and then restored him to his apostolic office. One of your keen-tongued great men, sharp nosed small men, chissel lip'd cat men, would have puffed at him like a porpoise, shut their snap turtle eyes and lips upon him, like a vice upon a broken reed. Yes, when his mouth was under, they would put down his nose also, and rejoice in the last bubble which arose upon the surface, because it fulfilled their evil thinking prophesy of the heart broken Peter. Shall mankind always submit their civil and religious liberties of justice, truth, and mercy, to such open-mouthed prowlers? No, no-To the law and the testimony, Isaiah viii. 16, 20. the testimony of Jesus, Rev. i. 2; to the law of truth, Mal. ii. 6; not whispering lies against truth; to grace and truth, John i. 17; not to graceless, snuffy, smoky, church, or state, slandering truths, lawless nods, winks, and devil's love letters: to the doers, then, of the law of love, Rom. ii. 13; of the perfect law of liberty, James i. 25; the fulfillers of the royal law, James ii. 8. These are our truths, law, and testimony: upon these principles we construct the following pages for the universal good, not for false or lawless bigotry for a party.

Suppose the justices who compose a general court, were, with jurors and witnesses, to hold an exparte council on various occasions, upon hearsay evidence, of crimes committed by certain citizens, and prejudge them; thus prejudicing their civil rights, would not the legal evidence of such injustice form a ground for their impeachment, by an action that would lie against them, and also vitiate and destroy the verdict of the jury, while it would weaken the testimony of the witnesses? And shall not we, who are called upon to judge nothing before the time, to know no man after the flesh, be upon our guard? We, who have the charge of congregations, who may, by a single step of severity, upon suspicion, hearsay, or partial testimony, envelope and destroy our brethren in time and eternity! We, whose justice is always to be tempered with meekness, patience, gentleness, and mercy. One word, upon an unhappy occasion, has often produced the most direful results, especially against the poor, the weak, the wavering, and the vexed heart of the stranger! Let us take particular care how we bark and spur upon our own ground. Why, O why, do we put on that stiff, puff ball look? Why riggle our japaned backs, sacerdotal hair, slow, selfish bow, and all important self, into superior favoritism, at the expense of humanity, good breeding, honesty, manliness, justice, the loyal law, and our brother's overthrow? Shall we go to hell for Diotrephes's monopoly? Our law judges no man before it hear him, and know what he doeth. Is whispering the hearing spoken of? Is hearing one side, by having both sides of our partial cake buttered, scriptural hearing? Is judging in the absence of the accused, without being confronted by the opposite side, by cross examina

tion, knowing what the poor, oppressed, and slandered innocent doeth? Is jumping upon the appalled brother like a cat, and worrying him as a mastiff, without giving time for repeated hearings, justice? Is being judged by a prejudiced tribunal, justice? Is it justice, where there is not always a check upon check? Is it an impartial code or administration, where, I say before the trial, that "I shall say so;" and "will you do so;" and "we shall decide so, in caucus fashion ;" and that too, when our all is at stake, and the previous question proposed and taken, instead of free inquiry; instead of mercy glorying over justice?

We have been long tossed up and down in the tempestuous ocean of political and religious ambition. Exclusive privileges have been sought for, and obtained, by the cunning, over the candid; the avaricious, over the benevolent; the pompous, over the humble. Many, having quite forsaken and lost the good old way of true, humble greatness; are climbing up to the dangerous acme of sacerdotal littleness.

The cogitations and agitations of envious souls, (as bodies surcharged with bile) are overflowing by malignant regurgitations, through the ducts of society, resulting in the black vomit of defamation ; which, poisoning the atmosphere of all companies, is inhaled into the bowels, brains, blood, and whole system of civil and religious economy. The plague having thus obtained fixedness, discolors the coral lip by the deadly, hellish tinge of pale blue envy; the vivid glow of the cheek with sallow saffron; the brow of heaven is perverted into Leviathan ferocity; that eye of sympathy, to the fiery glance of dire portentous wrath; whilst the smiling mouth gnaws the under lip, as indicative of some deadly