the sabbath: the whole day here being considered as sequestered by God to himself, and consecrated to the duties of religion. Some of your countrymen, and not a small number of ours, regard this prohibition as an unwarrantable encroachment on personal rights, and complain of the laws with not a little bitterness. We without hesitation pronounce them to be right; founded on the law of God; and necessary to the preservation, as well as to the peaceful enjoyment of that allimportant institution. Some of your divines teach us, that the New Testament has relaxed the severity of the law which prescribed the manner of observing the sabbath to the Jewish nation. That the municipal law, which punished a Jewish sabbath-breaker, is not obligatory upon the Gentiles, any more than the rest of that code in which it is found, is without a question sufficiently taught in the New Testament; but in what place, in this volume, the fourth command is at all relaxed, or the prescription which discloses the duties of the sabbath in the 58th chapter of Isaiah, I am yet to learn. If these gentlemen would distinctly point us to the passages of the New Testament, in which we are released from the duty "of turning away our foot from doing our own pleasure on this holy day;" and are permitted to "do our own ways, to find our own pleasure, and to speak our own words," instead of "esteeming the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord honourable;" they certainly would throw new light on the subject, and rescue many individuals from the reproaches of a wounded conscience. By the Christians of this country the strict observation of the sabbath is esteemed a privilege, and not a burthen; and to be released from it a diminution, not an increase of the blessings given to the Jewish church. Until this is done, we shall continue to believe, that the sabbath is to be kept holy unto the end.

You will not question, that every government is bound to secure the religious privileges of its subjects; and that every Christian government is, of course, under obligations to secure to its subjects the undisturbed enjoyment of the sabbath. Wherever travelling is permitted, this becomes impossible. Our churches stand almost universally, as do most of our private dwellings, upon the public roads. Every traveller, there fore, disturbs both the public and private duties of the sabbath.

As to the plea, that the prohibition of travelling or amusements is an intrusion upon the rights of strangers, I regard it as contemptible. All strangers of common sense, and common decency, feel themselves bound quietly to submit to the laws of any country in which they are, so long as it gives them protection: and shall it be said, that a traveller is under obligations to obey the laws of Turkey, Arabia, Cochin-China, and even of Caffraria, while he resides in those countries, and not be under the same obligation quietly to submit to those of Massachusetts, or Connecticut? Strangers have no right to prescribe; it is their business quietly to obey.

Marriages were formerly festivals of considerable significance in this country. It was customary to invite even the remote relations of the parties, all their particular friends, and a great number of their neighbours. A dinner was made, in form, by the parents of the bride for the bridegroom and a numerous suite. The marriage was celebrated in the evening. Cake and wine were plentifully distributed among the guests; and the festivity was concluded with dancing. At the present time the guests are usually very few.

Justices of the peace are throughout New-England authorized to marry, but are rarely if ever employed to perform this service when a clergyman can be obtained. As it is everywhere believed to be a divine institution, it is considered as involved, of course, within the duties of the sacred office. An absolute decency is observed during the celebration.

At the funerals in New-England, the friends and neighbours attend of course. When the assembly is gathered by the ringing of the parish bell, a prayer is made at the house in which the deceased lived, by the clergyman, and is always adapted to the occasion. The corpse is then conveyed to the grave, either upon a hearse or upon men's shoulders. In the latter case, the young men of the town always voluntarily offer their services in sufficient numbers. A solemn procession accompanies it, and to a great extent it is attended by pall-bearers. After the corpse is committed to the grave, in many places a solemn address is made by the clergyman to the assembly, and the thanks of the surviving family are re

turned to those who are present for their attendance; and, in cases where the disease has been of long continuance, to such as have exhibited kindnesses to the sick and mourning family. Sometimes the procession is formed anew, and accompanies the mourners to their habitation; but more frequently the company disperses. In either case an entire decorum is preserved.

I am, Sir, &c.

RELIGION OF NEW-ENGLAND.

LETTER I.

History of Religion in New-England from the year 1755. Effects of the French and Revolutionary Wars. Evils arising from the Introduction of Foreigners into the Country.

DEAR SIR;

THE actual state of religion in any country must, of course, be an interesting object of investigation to every sober and intelligent man. To give you a correct view of this subject, so far as New-England is concerned, it will be necessary for me to go back to the war, which commenced in 1755, and terminated in 1763. Antecedently to the first of these periods, all the changes in the religious state of this country were such as left the principles of its inhabitants essentially the same. They were not changes of the commanding character, but shades of that character; through which it varied towards greater or less degrees of purity. From the first settlement of the country to the commencement of that war, the same reverence for God, the same justice, truth, and benevolence, the same opposition to inordinate indulgences of passion and appetite, prevailed without any material exceptions. An universal veneration for the sabbath, a sacred respect for government, an undoubting belief in Divine revelation, and an unconditional acknowledgment and performance of the common social duties, constituted everywhere a prominent character. I have said that the exceptions were not material. It is not intended that the whole number was inconsiderable; nor that vice was not found in various, and sometimes very painful degrees. Still, vicious men constituted a very small part of the society; were insignificant in their character; and, independently of the power

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2 A

of example, had little or no influence on the community at large. They were objects of odium and contempt, of censure and punishment; not the elements of a party, nor the fire-brands of turmoil and confusion.

During this war, foreigners, for the first time, mingled extensively with the inhabitants of New-England. The colonial officers and soldiers, whose principles had in many instances been imperfectly formed, and whose ardent dispositions qualified them to decide rather than to reason, to act rather than to think, easily imbibed, in an army composed of those whom they were taught to regard as their superiors, loose doctrines and licentious practices. In that army there were many infidels. In spite of their professions to the contrary, all infidels earnestly wish to make proselytes. To these men a fair field was now opened for the accomplishment of this purpose. Most of their American companions had never heard the Divine origin of the Scriptures questioned, and their minds were, of course, unprovided with answers even to the most common objections. To such objections, as were actually made, was added the force of authority. The British officers came from the mother country; a phrase of high import, until after the commencement of the revolution. They came, also, from a country renowned for arts and arms, and regarded by the people of New-England as the birth-place of science and wisdom. These gentlemen were at the same time possessed of engaging manners; and practised all those genteel vices, which, when recommended by such manners, generally fascinate young men of gay, ambitious minds; and are naturally considered as conferring an enviable distinction on those, who adopt them. Many of the Americans were far from being dull proficients in this school. The vices they loved; and soon found the principles necessary to quiet their consciences.

When they returned home, they had drunk too deeply of the cup, to exchange their new principles and practices for the sober doctrines and lives of their countrymen. The means, which had been pursued to corrupt them, they now employed to corrupt others. From this prima mali labes, the contagion spread, not indeed through very great multitudes, but in little circles, surrounding the individuals originally