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    the cultivation of religion . As the loss © f the morning : injures the day , as the l © ss of the spring injures the year , so the loss of youth injures the life of man . It has pleased God to remove me from t ^ he personal direction of your religious services ; av » d what seems good to

    Almighty God is best for us- I trust it will have this good effect upon every one of you . to urge you , each one for him or herself , to cultivate personal and Individual religion , which , can never fee taken from you by any change of teachers .

    There is a difference in conduct . It may be righteous or unrighteous . Resolve , in spite of all temptations to the contrary , to observe in every situation , righteous conduct . Righteousness consists iv exercising piety towards God , the constant government of ourselves , and in doing to others as we desire others to do unto u > .

    Remember in respect to piety , that , God is not a tyrant , pleased with , the abject terror of slaves ; nor a fond and cToating parent , sufficiently soothed with warmth of protestation 1 but what he requires is sincerity in the heart , and righteousness in the practice . The fear of God is not superstition , nor the love of him enthusiasm , but both are comprised in keeping his commandments .

    There is only one God , and one mediator between God and man , the man Christ Jesus . Not only be sincere , but serious and reverent whenever and wherever you worship God . Consider yourselves as stewards of your time and of your money , and take care that you be able to give up a good account of both .

    If you behave better in one place than in another , let it be at home . Devote your first gains to God , that is , to the relief of the distrest . Visit the honest and laborious poor in their afflictions . Temperance is friendly to health and makes chastity easy , without which none

    can arrive at , or continue in , the true dignity of their rational nature , but must dishonour and degrade themselves , and render themselves incapable of observing strict discipline upon their charg Remember that the scripture excludes all the licentious in this respect from . Jhappioess , while it pronounces marriage to be honourable in all , and assures us

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    that there is no defilement in the marriage bed . " Speak the truth as you find it i « your heart . Despise all evasions and subterfuges . Never resort to any refuges-of lies . Let no dread of poverty , let no

    desire of wealth ever make you swerve from strict justice . How many destroy themselves in the acquisition of wealthy and how many destroy their families by bequeathing to them wealth too hastiiy gotten , or too covetously preserved !

    Once in every year , owe no man any thing but good will . Never lend a sum whigh it will ruin you to lose . Keep clear and exact accounts . N ^ ver have recourse to those temporary expedients to recover desperate affairs , which instead of preventing bankruptcy only make it infamous and wicked .

    Never refuse to real distress such relief as it is in your power to give , at the moment in which it presents itself ^ but conceal your charity . 1 jz { not the mercies of God pass from your memory without thanksgiving nor your own crimes without repentance ^ Never suffer it to admit-of a question * whether you are in the road to heaven

    or not . If any man should ask me what is first in religion ? I would answer , Sincerity——what is second ? Diligence—and what is final ? Perseverance . Always reverence your parents , and have a due respect for all that are in important situations : let it be a favourite ttudy how to make the decline o £ life comfortable to parents .

    Begin and end every day religiously : when you have families let there be daily acknowledgment of God in them ; bux see to it that your religion make * you more punctual , more strictly just , mo c true to your word , more ' affectionate in your families , more considerate of the poor , ami in every reject wiser an 4 better .

    I believe that these are wholesome instructions : if so , reduce them to practice , and you will be happy and I shall be rewarded . Acknow ige God in aM your ways ; and he will direct yoiir paths . Seek first and chiefly the kingdom of God , aad the righteeu . ^ ness thereof , and all other things will be added unto you .

    All the best and most effectual means of religion are comprised in the siudy of the bible . Live according . to the bu-

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    Mcmoir of * the Rev . John Edwards . 699

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1808, page 699, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1706/page/7/