they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!' The Evangelical Missionary Society in Massachusetts held its semi-annual meeting in the first church in Dedham, on the fifth day of June; after transacting the usual business, at the house of the Rev. Mr. Lamson, an appropriate discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Harris, of Dorchester, from 2 Corinthians, ix. 12. For the administration of this service, not only supplieth the want of the Saints, but is abundant also, by many thanksgivings unto God. The interest of the occasion was heightened by the presence of one who has been for many years a faithful servant of God in the employment of the society, and who communicated an account of the state and prospects of the people with whom he labours. The following is a list of the donations, to the society, for the last six months. October 1821.-By Icabod Tucker, Esq. of Salem, from a friend to the Society, in the Rev. Dr. Prince's Parish, From P. O. Thacher, Esq. Collected at the annual meeting in Brattle Street, From P. O. Thacher, Esq. By the Rev. Dr. Channing from an unknown benefactor, By Rev. Dr. Ripley, from Ladies cent Society, Do. from Samuel Hoar, jr. Esq. Do. from Subscribers, By Rev. Dr. Harris, from Pupils in Mr. $50 83 72 2 50 Mandell's School Dorchester, January 1822.-By Rev. Mr. Lowell, from the Female Sewing Society, May 14.-By Hon L. Salstonstall, from the Ladies of the North Society in Salem, 28.-By Rev. Dr. Prince, from the Ladies of his Society, By Rev. Dr. Porter, from a Lady, June 5.-By Dea. Baker, collected at the semi-annual meeting, in the Rev. Mr. Lamson's Society, in Dedham, By Rev. Dr. Harris, collected in his Society, the first Parish, in Dorchester, 4 56 $399 76 We take the liberty of publishing the letter, which accompanied one of the above donations. Salem, May 25th, 1822. SIR.I have the bonor to enclose to you, as Treasurer of the Evangelical Missionary Society of Massachusetts, thirty-one dollars, in behalf of the Ladies of the Society of the first church in Salem. We hope to be able to transmit to you a like sum annually; as we have united ourselves together, under the conviction that your Society is founded on rational and just views of our religion, and of human nature, that by a more general diffusion of knowledge among the unenlightened of our own country, and by addressing them, agreeably to the spirit of our religion, in the simple forms of truth and sincerity, much good has already been done; but that much still remains to be accomplished. Wishing all success to the pious purposes of your institution. I am Sir, &c. &c. BENJAMIN GUILD, Esq. Boston. Washington, June 12. Agreeably to previous arrangements, and the public notice given of them, the First Unitarian Church of the City of Washington was opened and dedicated on Sunday last, the 9th inst. The dedication Sermon was preached in the forenoon, to a large audience, by the Rev. Robert Little, Minister of the Congregation, followed by a sermon in the afternoon, by the Rev. Mr. Eddows, of Philadelphia; both services were accompanied by the strongest and finest choir we have heard in this city. The opening of this church is interesting to our community generally, inasmuch as it adds a very handsome improvement to our city. The design of the edifice was furnished by Charles Bulfinch, Esq. Architect of the Capitol, and it is certainly highly creditable to his taste and judgment. The unfinished tower on the south end, we understand, is to be surmounted by a cupola and bell, and, when that shall be completed, we question whether there will be in the Union another building, uniting so much architectural elegance, within and without, with so little cost. The present minister of the Society, the Rev. Mr. Little, we understand, was recently Pastor of the Unitarian Church, at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. A NEW AND IMPORTANT PUBLICATION. We have this moment received a copy of the following proposals, and hasten to lay them before our readers. It is an excellent design, and we hope will not fail to receive the extensive patronage it deserves. Proposals for publishing by subscription, a collection of Essays and Disquisitions, by different Authors, on various important subjects in Theology, by JARED SPARKS. It is well known to the theological student, and it can hardly have escaped the general inquirer, that some of the most valuable articles in Theology are in a great measure excluded from public use and benefit. In this country, they are rarely or never published; and abroad, they are obtained with difficulty. Some of them are embodied in voluminous works, and not printed in a separate form; while others, however highly they are estimated for their general excellence, rational views of theology, and just criti cism, are not sufficiently adapted to prevailing sentiments of religion to induce booksellers to risk the expense of an edition. Several theologians of the greatest piety and learning have been led by their inquiries to results, which have not accorded in all respects with the opinions of the multitude; and hence they have been proscribed by the popular voice, either as unsound in faith, or erroneous in their principles, because their faith and principles have not squared with the standard, which the majority have agreed to set up. It has been thought, that a greater favour could not be conferred on the inquiring part of the community, nor a more essential service rendered to the cause of truth and rational piety, than to publish in numbers a series of selected articles in such a form that they may be conveniently circulated, and obtained at a moderate expense. Of this description is intended to be the work now proposed to the public. It will be the particular object of the Editor to select such articles, as have intrinsic merit, and are calculated to strengthen the faith of Christians in the divine origin and authority of their religion—to diffuse a critical knowledge of the Scriptures—to exhibit rational and consistent views of the Christian scheme-to inculcate principles of religious liberty and toleration-to encourage the exercise of piety and charity-and to secure obedience to the laws of Christ. And it will not be doubted, that writings of this character and tendency may be found in the works of such men as Sir Isaac Newton. Whitby, Emlyn, Clarke, Lardner, Chillingworth, Jeremy Taylor, Penn, Locke, Hoadly, Sykes, Price, Paley, Bishop Law, Blackburne, Priestley, Le Clerc, Farmer, Wakefield, Barbauld, Chandler, James Foster, Benson, Cogan, Watson, and many others eminent for their talents, learning, and virtues. The character, which the work is expected to bear, may be understood from the following articles proposed among others to be published. Whitby's Last Thoughts. Sir Isaac Newton's Historical Account of two Corruptions of Scripture. Emlyn's Humble Inquiry. Jeremy Taylor's Liberty of Prophesying. Le Clerc on Inspiration. Farmer on the Demoniacs of the New Testament. Cogan's Letter to Wilberforce, on Hereditary Depravity. Tracts and essays of much less dimensions, than the treatises here specified, may also be taken from larger works. It is not intended to preserve any particular arrangement in regard to the subjects of the articles. Each volume will contain an index, and such directions as will be necessary. A short biographical and explanatory notice will be prefixed to each piece, which seems to require any such aid to render it better understood; and a note may occasionally be added, where it is wanted for illustration. Nor in selecting will the peculiar theological sentiments of the writer be taken into consideration. It will be enough, that the article chosen has something to recommend it, either in the learning and ability with which it is written, the truths it contains, or the principles it inculcates. Such are the outlines of the plan proposed, and it must be obvious to the friends of liberal inquiry, that a few volumes, containing articles of the above description judiciously collected, will be a most valuable acquisition to the library of every reader of theology. CONDITIONS. The work will be printed in a duodecimo form, on a new type and fine paper. Each volume will contain about 350 pages, and the price to subscribers will be one dollar and twenty five cents. A volume will consist of three or four numbers, each of which, as far as practicable, will be a single article. A number will be published once in two or three months, according to its size, so as to make a volume in six or eight months. Each number will be handsomely and strongly stitched in covers, and forwarded by mail, or otherwise, as may be directed. Any subscriber can close his subscription at the end of a volume, by giving timely notice. Any person becoming responsible for more than six copies shall receive them for one dollar a volume. The work will be commenced as soon as a sufficient patronage is afforded to defray the expense. Communications may be addressed, post paid, to the Editor in Baltimore. OBITUARY. Died in this City, Mrs. SARAH LEE, wife of John Lee, Esq. Mrs. Lee was born and educated in England; but came to this country with her hus band, in the year 1800, and had resided here almost twenty two years. Strong, therefore, as was her attachment to the land of her nativity, and to the relatives and friends whom she had left there, and time did not impair its strength, she felt that here was her home; and by few, if by any, even of those born among us, were the most generous sympathies of home more widely exercised. Here she gave free indulgence to those strong affections, which are the life spring of friendship, and of the happiest intercourse; and here she gathered round her a circle of friends, by whom her name and her virtues will be fondly cherished, as long as virtue shall be an object of their love, and friendship shall continue to be a source of their happiness. But we do not bring this lady to the notice of our readers, with a view of obtruding upon them the sorrows of those who best knew her, and who are most deeply affected by her loss. Our object is rather, if indeed we may, to provoke to emulation of her simple, and unaffected piety; and of her enlarged, ever active, and unwearied benevolence. Her benevolence was not merely a sentiment, it was strictly speaking, a habit. We do not say indeed that it was so peculiar, that as striking examples are not, and may not often be recorded. But, we think, that such an example should not be permitted to pass away unnoticed. We think, that such a benefactress of society, should receive the last tribute that can be paid-and it is the least that is due-a simple memorial of her virtues, which may possibly excite others to`go and do likewise. Before she came to this country, Mrs. Lee was a member of the church of Christ, under the care of the Rev. Dr. Priestley, in Birmingham; and through her life, true to the principle, that every one has an equal claim to the right of private judgment in religion, neither her affection, nor her kindness, was diverted from any one, by a difference of opinion. Her aim was, usefulness; and she lived almost wholly for others. Her heart, and her hand, were always open to the wants of the miserable. Nor was this all. She was their counsellor and their friend. To hear of suffering that might be relieved, was at once to feel an impulse not to be resisted, to be herself the minister of that relief. There was no effort, within her capacity, which she was not ready to make, and no service, which she was not ready to perform, for any fellow creature in distress. We are not at liberty to recount examples of personal labour and sacrifice, in behalf of the poor and distressed, which we think could scarcely be read by the most indifferent, without strong emotions. But few have been mourned by more, whose wants they have supplied, or whose sorrows they have comforted; and among the last impressions to be effaced from the memory of those who best knew ber, will be the expressions of sympathy and grief, in her last days and at her death, from the number of poor who ceased not, with the strongest anxiety, to watch the progress of her disease; and who felt, in her departure, that they had lost one of their best earthly benefactors. This ruling affection of her heart was strong, even in death. A short time only before she expired, and while her friends about her, doubted whether she was conscious of what was passing around her, one of them incidentally mentioned a poor and suffering woman. The words instantly acted upon her with so much force, as to excite an effort to inquire concerning the sufferer. She would gladly have expended her last breath, in suggesting the means of doing good, which she was herself no longer able to accomplish. Within the last thirty years, there has been an unexampled improvement of the female character. There has been too, as great improvement extended to society at large, by the just conceptions that have been obtained on the subject of benevolence; and by the means that have been devised, at once to check the progress of pauperism, to raise the character of the poor, and to make the communication of bounty, in every instance, subservient to the moral and religious improvement of those, who are the objects of it. In the plans for the accomplishment of these great ends, if females have not been the most, it is also certain that they have not been the least, important agents. Their care has indeed been given, principally, to those of their own sex. But the affluent and enlightened part of female society among us, under the influence of that divine charity, which warmed the heart of our gracious master, have extended their affections, their solicitude and exertions, to the instruction, and the temporal and eternal salvation of the children of the poor. Almost without money, the purest and most active charity has been indulged to an extent, which has relieved from an incalculable amount of distress; which has rescued many helpless children of the poor from moral ruin; which has raised many, from the most entire dependence, to a capacity of self-support; and greatly advanced the progress of mind, of virtue, and of happiness. This is a charity, in which the most important agents, because the most difficult to be obtained, are those who are willing to act; in which, not they who give from their abundant wealth are the best contributors, but they who are ready to give to the service their strength, and their time. In this comparatively small class of the benevolent, Mrs. Lee held a distinguished rank. Born of wealthy, and most respectable parents, and reared in all the ease and comfort which affluence can give, she seemed however to be as alive to the wants or sufferings of the poor, as if she had felt them all May the power of her example be as strongly felt; and the principles of the gospel of Christ, which alone can inspire it, be more assiduously cultivated!-- Reader, be admonished of thy end; and be awakened to consideration of the work, which God has given thee also to do. We can have no greater love of God, than we have of our fellow creatures; nor can our love of God, and of Christ, be otherwise so satisfactorily manifested and proved, nor so established and enlarged, as by an imitation of the benevolence of our Father, and our Saviour; by our faithful exertions for an amelioration of the sufferings, and an improvement of the condition, of all who are within the sphere of our influence. |