A Letter from a Blacksmith to the Ministers and Elders of the Church of Scotland: In which the Manner of Public Worship in that Church is Considered : Its Inconveniences and Defects Pointed Out, and Methods for Removing Them Humbly Proposed

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R.P. & C. Williams. Cornhill Square, no. 79. Washington Street. For sale by T. & J. Swords, & Samuel Whiting, New York; S. Potter & Company Philadelphia; J. Babcock & Son, New Haven; Henry Huntington, Hartford; Samuel Johnson, agent, Portland; C. Whipple, Newburyport; Wm. Muenscher, Bristol, R.I.; S. Ide, Windsor, Vt.; E.J. Coale, Baltimore; S. Babcock & Company & E. Gibbs, Charleston, S.C. Davis & Force, Washington City., 1824 - 80 pages
 

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Page 1 - Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth : therefore let thy words be few.
Page 8 - For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Page 19 - But the art of managing mankind is only to make them stare a little, to keep up their astonishment, to let nothing be familiar to them, but ever to have something in their sleeve, in which they must think you are deeper than they are.
Page 13 - ... meet in some ale-house ; in another place you see a pious circle sitting round an ale-barrel, many of which stand ready upon carts for the refreshment of the saints. The heat of the summer season, the fatigue of travelling, and the greatness of the crowd, naturally dispose them to drink, which inclines some of them to sleep, works up the enthusiasm of others, and contributes not a little to produce those miraculous conversions that sometimes happen at these occasions. In a word, in this sacred...
Page 13 - ... circle, you will find some weeping and others laughing, some pressing to get nearer the tent or tub in which the parson is sweating, bawling, jumping, and beating the desk; others fainting with the...
Page 6 - Christians, whether in town or country, assemble in the same place, wherein the commentaries of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read as long as the time will permit. Then the reader sitting down, the president of the assembly stands up and delivers a sermon, instructing and exhorting to the imitation of that which is comely.
Page 9 - But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned...
Page 12 - Supper) in a neighbouring parish in the same light in which they do a fair, so they behave at it much in the same manner. I defy Italy, in spite of all its superstition, to produce a scene better fitted to raise pity and regret in a religious, humane, and understanding heart, or to afford an ampler field for ridicule to the careless and profane, than what they call a field-preaching, upon one of those occasions. At the time of the administration of the Lord's Supper upon the Thursday, Saturday, and...
Page 1 - A LETTER FROM A BLACKSMITH, TO THE MINISTERS AND ELDERS OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND IN WHICH THE MANNER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THAT CHURCH is CONSIDERED, ITS INCONVENIENCES AND DEFECTS POINTED OUT, AND METHODS FOR THE REMOVING OF THEM HUMBLY PROPOSED.
Page 12 - At first, you find a great number of men and women lying together upon the grass ; here they arc sleeping and snoring, some with their faces towards heaven, others with their faces turned downwards, or covered with their bonnets ; there you find a knot of young fellows and girls making assignations to go home together in the evening, or to meet in some ale-house; in another place you...

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