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THE

CHRISTIAN HERALD.

911144

From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be
great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my
name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith
the LORD of hosts. Malachi i. 11.

VOLUME V.

NEW-YORK:

PUBLISHED FOR THE EDITOR,

ON THE FIRST AND ON THE THIRD SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH,

AT THE BOOKSTORE OF

W. B. GILLEY, No. 92 BROADWAY.

1

NOTICE OF THE EDITOR.

In No. 25 of the last Volume of "The Christian Herald," the editor announced his design to make some alteration as to the mode of publishing it; an arrangement which his other avocations rendered indispensable. He also intimated his intention to increase in this Volume the quantity of serious and edifying compositions, either original or selected. On this latter point, some further explanation may be requisite.

Though the diffusion of religious intelligence has always been the main design of this publication, still it was deemed not incompatible with that object to occupy a portion of our pages with short tracts tending to illustrate or enforce important truths. These, besides imparting that additional interest which variety of matter is calculated to produce, may likewise render the work more extensively useful and more generally acceptable. In pursuing this plan it will be the study of the editor not to depart from the catholic principles of Christianity on which he has hitherto endeavoured to conduct this miscellany. He will also consider it conformable to the general character of the publication to aim at inculcating truths of a practical, in preference to those of a speculative

nature.

Communications comporting with the above views will be thankfully received and duly attended to.

Several of our readers have suggested the propriety of using a larger type than that on which the last three volumes have generally been printed. In complying with this suggestion, it has been deemed proper to increase also the size of the page, in order to insert about the same quantity of matter in one Number of the present volume as was contained in two of the preceding.

VOL. V.]

Saturday, April 4, 1818.

[No. I.

The following remarks on the twofold duty of circulating, and of studying, the Holy Scriptures, we have extracted from a late Number of a British Magazine, and hope they will prove both acceptable and edifying.

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Ir is now allowed on all hands, by the Protestant body, with scarcely a dissenting voice, that it is the duty of Christians, collectively, in their several societies, and individually, in private life, to exert their influence and ability in endeavouring to disseminate the knowledge of religion, by communicating the Bible to those who are in want of this precious treasure. This truly catholic principle of charity has taken deep root in the public mind for several years past, and has spread itself extensively among all descriptions of persons. While the eye of an intelligent and sagacious observer of the world discerns much that is of an ominous character in the signs of the times, the almost universal prevalence of so generous and philanthropic a spirit presents a subject of grateful reflection and pleasing anticipation. The word of divine truth is a sweet antidote to the evils that abound in the earth. Like the salt cast into the waters by the prophet, it becomes, by the blessing of God, of healing efficacy to the noxious fountain of human nature. The unparalleled exertions that have been made by Christians within a few years, in printing and circulating translations of the sacred books among different nations, in their own proper tongues, are beyond all praise, and may be reasonably expected to produce a rich and abundant increase of invaluable benefits to mankind. Wherever the Scriptures are received and believed, they will turn men from idols to serve the living God, who made the heavens and the earth, the seas and the fountains of water. They will introduce order, peace, and liberty, into those regions that are full of the habitations of horrid cruelty, oppression, and barbarous despotism, and will accelerate, with rapid motion, the progress of the human mind in the acquisition of all useful knowledge and convenient arts. He, therefore, who contributes to diffuse the word of life among the

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