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    of this nature applied to the disciples , and to Christians more generally , all difficulty ceases ; and we consider it as phraseology , familiar to the Jews , and not well to be misunderstood . Thus Christ , having referred to his works or the miracles he wrought , in proof of his assertion that he who had seen him had seen the Father ,

    immediately assures his disciples , that works of this nature , and greater than these , they should do , as speaking and acting under a divine commission . Thus , also , if of Christ it is said , that in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead

    bodily > of Christians in general it is said , that they were or might be filled with all the fulness of God , Ephes . in . 19 . Allow me to refer you to ch . xvii . 20 and three following verses of the above Evangelist—Neither pray I for these alone , &c . Also to the

    same writer in his 1 st Epistle , iv . 12 and following verses—No man hath seen God at any time , &c . But where would these declarations lead us , if we were to interpret them in a strict or literal sense , as applying to the persons of God , of Christ , and of

    believers in general ? We might then conclude that not only the Christ , but all believers in Christ are united to , so as to be of the essence of the Deity : all distinct personality would be done away ; and the minds of men assenting to it be involved in all the darkness of

    mysticism . As to the great object of prayer , the directions met with in the Old and New Testaments are clear as the noon-day light of heaven . Prayer is

    to be offered up to the Father . To the Father Jesus Christ himself prayed ; and even in his state of glory is described as praying to God , and making intercession for us . Our blessed

    Saviour ' s beautiful model of prayer must be expunged from the New Testament , before theological writers can with success maintain any other worship . L . H .

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    390 Mr . Cornish on Dissenting Ministers' Families .

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    Colt / ton , Sir , April '*] , 1821 . MY dear and lamented brother Howe ' s address ia your Repository for December last , ( XV . 722—725 , ) spoke the language of his own heart , and must have affected every attentive reader . So numerous and

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    repeated , however , are tlie calls upon the benevolent amongst their own immediate connexions , it were much to be wished that young ministers would be cautious in becoming husbands , when unable to support the honourable state of matrimony comfortably and creditably .

    Popish writers have set forth as a strong argument against allowing the clergy to marry ,, that it not only prevents their bestowing ecclesiastical incomes in the manner originally designed , but that numerous widows and children are left in such straits as to

    injure the respectability of the clerical order : those who possess the rich preferments too often expending them in luxurious , pompous living , or bequeathing great wealth to their families . Members of our national

    establishment , advocates for matrimony , have seriously complained that many Protestant bishops and dignitaries too much countenance worldly pomps and vanities , or die shamefully rich . Few , very few indeed are the Dissenting Ministers of any denomination ,

    who can make any thing more than a decent appearance on the salaries which even generous societies subscribe . Laying up , when a wife and two children only claim support , is hardly possible with the strictest economy . What then can ministers do from an

    income barely sufficient for a single man to be plainly lodged , fed and clothed , scarcely leaving a few shillings for small alms often solicited by their poorer hearers , who little consider how small the ability of their preacher may be to practise what he

    frequently recommends ? What can such do ? Should they not exercise that moral restraint which the present state of society requires , St . Paul recommends , and our blessed Saviour intimates , when done " for the kingdom : of heaven ' s sake , " ( that is , with a view to usefulness in the church , )

    to be commendable , at least excusable ? Matt . xix . 12 , 1 Cor . vii . Moral restraint and religious motives are quite necessary towards maintaining inward purity , in numberless cases , after matrimonial connexions are formed , and by habit may generally render a single state comfortable till prudence justifies a change . The excellent Dr . Priestley recom-

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1821, page 390, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2502/page/10/