sidering the language of Jesus as addressed immediately to all Christians of all ages, and not, as it should be considered, as originally addressed to a Jew, and having reference to Jewish prejudices and feelings, and pervaded by a Jewish phraseology, the passage will be misunderstood. The source of the common mistakes in regard to it Mr Blanchard points out, and gives, as we think, a true exposition of its meaning.

The second section relates to the

essential truth inculcated in the passage explained,' and the 'causes which have tended to obscure it.' In this part of the essay the author considers the doctrine of 'regeneration as applicable at the present day.

6

The third section is designed to answer some questions concerning regeneration; such as, ' whether regeneration be universally necessary or not '-does it 'suppose and require; in all cases, a radical, entire change of heart?'-Is it instantaneous, or gradual, in its production? Is it the work of God, or of ourselves? These questions, which embrace the most important inquiries relating to the doctrine, are fully, ably, and as we think, very satisfactorily discussed. The writer concludes with a reply to one or two popular objections which may be urged against his views.

We give the following extract as a specimen of his style and mode of illustration.

In regard to the first converts of Christianity generally, it is most obvious from the Epistles that they were as far from having been the subjects of an instantaneous regeneration, as of a total change of spirit, character and life. To one who looks over the Epistles, especially those of Paul, with this object in view, decisive proofs will be continually presenting

themselves that the old leaven of Judaism and heathenism, still adhered to the converts in no small measure, and with almost unyielding pertinacity. It will be found indeed to have been one principal object of several of the Epistles of Paul, to counteract and root out this evil by all the various means of reiterated instructions, remonstrances, reproofs and exhortations. It is scarcely possible to peruse them without perceiving that the Christian converts to whom they were addressed, labored under practical defects, and errors, and vices which were too palpable evidences that the truths of Christianity were very indistinctly apprehended by them; that the fundamental principles of the Christian faith were very gradually implanted; and that the spiritual affections it inspires were, to say the least, for some time but very feebly and imperfectly generated within them; that the genuine influences of the pure religion of the Gospel were by very slow degrees diffused into their minds and characters. In proof of this, it is sufficient to refer to the contents of the Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, to the vices and practices with which they are charged, to the gross abuse of the Lord's Supper which was committed, to the extreme difficulty with which they are drawn out of the corrupting influences of their former life and conversation, and to the propensity which both Jews and Gentiles continually manifested to adulterate the purity of the Gospel with the spirit, and engraft on its simplicity the rites of their former religions. I remark not these things to cast reproach upon them, nor to furnish excuses for similar or equal defects and inconsistencies in Christians at the present day; but simply to show that the regeneration of the primitive converts to Christianity was not wrought instantaneously, as by preternatural means, but was very gradually and slowly effected. And if this was so at the first promulgation of the gospel, under the preaching of the Apostles of our Lord, there can surely be no reason for supposing that Christian regeneration is otherwise effected in these latter days, under the ministration of uninspired men, and when all miraculous exertions of divine power had ceased to be made or rationally expected in promotion of personal religion, not less than in aid of the propagation of the Gospel among heathen nations.

The views entertained by Unitarians of 'regeneration,' or the new birth,' to use the old figurative expression, has been grossly misrepresented. We believe that those who are most forward to denounce us,

are not much in the habit of reading our books. Were it otherwise, we should indulge the hope that the little treatise of Mr Blanchard, would have the effect of correcting important misapprehensions and mistakes. As it is, we do not expect that much good will result from it in this way. The publication, however, is timely and cannot fail of being useful. It furnishes abundant materials for reflection, and exhibits views. of the christian character and mode of its attainment, upon which none can meditate without benefit.

ODE.

To the Editor of the Unitarian Advocate.

Sir, The elder Mr Dexter, the founder of the Professorship of Sacred Literature, in the University at Cambridge, who lived in the town of Woodstock, in the state of Connecticut, several years, during the war of the revolution, gave particular instructions in his last will, that his remains should be interred in a grave of something more than the common depth, in the centre of a pasture of three acres, which he owned in that town, near the beautiful river Quinabaug; and that not a stone should tell where he lay. The reasons of those singular directions were never explained, but the directions were scrupulously observed by his executors. One of his descendants, the last autumn, visited the rural grave of his ancestor, gathered a few wild flowers from it, and wrote the following Ode. The versification of the Ode, I think, is easy and thẻ

sentiments and style adapted to the place and the occasion; and, if your pages cannot be better filled, you will oblige one of your subscribers, by giving it a place in the Unitarian Advocate.

Boston, December 10th, 1831.

Yours, &c.

A. W.

Where Woodstock's verdant summit swells,
And meets the morning's earliest ray,
On whose dark forest lingering dwells
The latest flush of parting day,—

Deep in his solitary grave,
Unmarked, a sage, a patriot lies:
No cypress o'er his relics wave,
No sculptured marble columns rise.

No kindred footstep lingers near,
By stranger's lips his name unblest ;
The quail's shrill whistle loud and clear
Alone disturbs his peaceful rest.

But not by Heaven hath been forgot
The turf where taste and learning sleeps:
The heath-flower blooms above the spot,
And dewy evening o'er it weeps.

The beetle hums his drowsy flights,
The cricket tunes his evening lay,
Her little lamp the fire fly lights
To gild his tenement of clay.

The Quinabaug's soft murinuring waves
Breathe forth his dirge's melody,
And echo, answering from her caves,
Joins in the general obsequy.

What tho' no consecrated ground

Enshrine the ashes of the just!

What tho' yon fane swelled forth no sound,
When they committed dust to dust!

The good man needs no passing bell
To call his spirit to the skies,

No lofty monument to tell,

In yonder grave a Christian lies.

STATE OF RELIGION IN FRANCE.

By recent intelligence from France, it appears that an unusual spirit of inquiry on religious subjects has been awakened in that country, throughout the various classes of society. The following statements are extracted from a circular letter issued by the Secretary of the Unitarian Association of France, recently formed in Paris.

WHEN the revolution of eighty-nine took place in France, the liberal and serious part of the English nation looked with an extreme anxiety to the result of it, as it would affect the religious feelings and habits of the people. That revolution was hailed as the rising of the 'Day-star of Liberty' which would enlighten, not France only, but mankind. Not only did we expect, that the abodes of man would have to rejoice in the possession of peace and plenty, freed from the oppressions of tyranny and the shackles of superstition; but also that minds, long shut up in a heathenish darkness, would become free, would open upon the rich and beautiful works of God, would appreciate their value, and would rise from the contemplation of them to that ALMIGHTY ONE, who, in the returns of gratitude, would become the only object of adoration and of praise to the intellectual works of his hands.

The shackles of tyranny did fall off: the oppressions of superstition ceased: man became frce: but the revulsion which his mind underwent threw him into a state more dreadful than even that of the debasement from which he had escaped. As, from a condition of tyrannical oppression, under a long line of licentious sovereigns, the French people rushed into the wildness of anarchy, so, from a low state of mind in which every thing is believed, or professed to be believed, they threw offultogether the profession of religion, despised its injunctions, and laughed at its rites.

Harassed, as the French nation long were, by the evils under which they groaned, it was not a matter of surprise to many, that, from a state of abject submission they had hastily run into the opposite extreme of licentiousness. The spring which is strongly bent will fly off in the contrary direction. From the profession of belief in what was absurd, contradictory, and debasing to the mind, a large portion of the people passed into a state of perfect infidelity, admitting no religious creed, and acknowledging no divine authority. The frequent recurrence of changes in the government, the perpetual interference of the governments around them, and the violent and arbitrary parties which sprang up from time to time in the capital