THIS advice of the author of this epistle is not less seasonable at the present day than when it was given. It is even more deserving of attention now than it was then. At that time the Christian church was in a state of persecution. At least the open profession of christianity was attended with more danger than it is at present. It was not then patronized by the great, the learned, or the fashionable; but was a sect every where spoken against, and the teachers of it were generally considered as men who turned the world upside down, the enemies of peace, and the authors of innovation and revolution.

Such, indeed, will ever be the character of reformers. It was so in every period of the reformation from popery. In this light were Wickliffe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, and Socinus considered in their day; and such is the light in which every person who in the present times, having by any means acquired more light than others, is desirous of communicating it, and to improve upon any established system, must expect to stand. The bulk of mankind wish to be at their ease, and not to have their opinions, any more than their property, of their government, disturbed.

THERE is nothing in all history, and certainly nothing within the compass of our own observation and experience, that shows so great a change in the views and characters of men, as we find to have taken place in the apostles after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, or rather after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They appear to have always been honest, virtuous and pious men; but having imbibed the prejudices of their nation, they expected a temporal prince in their Messiah; and supposing their master to be that Messiah, and being in favour with him, they, with the ambition that seems to be natural to all men, hoped to be advanced to the first places in his kingdom, and, seemingly, without considering whether they were qualified to fill them or not.

With these views, and no higher, they attached themselves to Jesus, after being convinced by his miracles that he was a true prophet; and conceived the idea, though without its having being suggested by himself, that he was the Messiah they were looking for.

THE great use of religion is to enlarge the minds of men; leading them to look beyond themselves, and beyond the present moment; to take an interest in the concerns of others, and to look forward to the most distant times. By this means men become less selfish, and at the same time more intellectual; being less governed by the impulses of mere sensual appetite, which is the characteristic of brutal nature, and also of a state of childhood.

This habit of mind cannot be imparted by instruction. It must necessarily be the fruit of experience. And since this advance in intellectual improvement implies the forbearance of immediate gratification, which is always painful, a state of suffering is an essential ingredient in this important discipline of the mind, and therefore ought not by any means to be complained of, by those who wish not to retard their progress towards perfection.

We see in the affections and conduct of children how injurious constant indulgence is to them, and how necessary to their own future happiness, as well as to the comfort of those who are about them, are frequent checks and restraints.

IN the preceding discourse we considered the very remarkable change in the views and character of the twelve original apostles in general, and especially of those whose epistles furnish the proper evidence of it, viz. those of Peter, James, John, and Jude. We have seen that from being men of worldly ambition, expecting honours and rewards under the Messiah in this world, they suddenly abandoned every prospect of the kind, looking to nothing but a reward in heaven; and that in the firm belief and expectation of this, they bore themselves, and exhorted others to bear, all the sufferings to which for the profession of christianity they could be exposed.

The clearness and energy with which they express themselves on this subject is most interesting and animating, and deserves as much attention in our days of peace as theirs of persecution. For if their situation required motives to patience and fortitude, ours requires constant admonition, lest the cares of this world should wholly exclude, as they naturally tend to do, all consideration of another. I shall, therefore, proceed to give as particular an account of the sentiments and exhortations of the apostle Paul on this subject as I did of those of the other apostles.

My father, Dr. Priestley, having taken the trouble of writing down the principal occurrences of his life, to the period of his arrival in this country, that account is now presented to the public in the state in which he left it, one or two trifling alterations excepted. The simple unaffected manner, in which it is written, will be deemed, I have no doubt, far more interesting, than if the narrative itself had been made the text of a more laboured composition.

Independent of the desire, so universal among mankind, to know somewhat of the private as well as the public history of those who have made themselves eminent among their fellow citizens, the life of my father is likely to be more useful as well as more interesting than those of the generality of literary men; not only as it is an account of great industry combined with great abilities, successfully exerted for the extension of human improvement, but because it affords a striking proof of the value of of rational Christianity, adopted upon mature reffection and practiced with habitual perseverance.