Litchfield enquirer., 1848-04-06

pcss j. lust; bat Tor how much Of il l am
sill accountable to God, hardly dare 10
myself. i il bodily pain
How often was that brought upon me by my
own impradence OF folly? Was it passion?
Heaven has given to every human being
the power of controlling his passions, and
if he neglects or lose. it, the fault is his own
and he must be answerahle fol ii. Was it
pleasure :? This is the most inexcusable of
all: for il must have been occaSioned by |
nv own thoughtlessness or irresolution.
II is of no use TO discover our own faults
and infirmities, unless the discovery shall
prompt us 10 amendment. have though
if. in addition to the hour which daily |
give to the reading of The bible, should also
from time TO time, Especially on the sao>
bath,) apply another hour occasionally to
communicate to you the reflections tha'
rose in my mind upon lis perusal, it might
not only tend TO fix and promote my own
attention to the excellent instructions of
that holy Book, but perhaps also assist your
advancement in its knowledge and wisdom.
At your age, it is probable that you have
Still geater difficulties 10 understand all that
YOU read in the Bible than have at mine;
and if You have as much self examination
as your letters indicate, you will be
sensible of as much want Of attention, both
voluntary and involuntary, as here &C
knowledge in myself.
intend, therefore, for II pu' 'ose OF con
,rihutng to your improve! emit a my own,
10 write you several letters a. due time 10
follow this in which I shall endeavor TO
show YOU how YOU may derive the most ad>
vantage to yourself from the perusal OF the
scriptures. 1t is probable when you re-
ceive these letters you will not on first read
lug, entirely understand them; II tha'
should be the case ask your grandparents
or your uncle or aunt to explain them II
sill find them too hard, put them on file and
Law them by for two or three ye;rs afltr
which read them again, and you will IND
them easy enough l, iseSsen'ial my son in
order that you may go through life with
comfor, 10 yourself and usefulness to your
le ow creature, tina, you should form ana
adopt certain rules and principles for the
government Of your ewn conduct aud lem
ner Unless YOU have such rules and prin>
ciples there will be numberless occasions On
which YOU will have no guide for your gov
ernment but your passions
In your infancy and YOUTH you nave
been and will be for some years under inc
authority and control of your friends ana
instructors, bn, you mus, soon come 'o'he
age when you must govern yourself 10"
have aheadv come 10 that age in many re-
spects, you know the difference r'gn' anu
wrong, and you know some of your d"''eS
and the obligation you are under 10 oecoms
..o,a;n,ed with them all It's IN the ID"
BILE YOU must learn them, ana ifo" '"e III
ble how to practice them. Those duties
~ Col. 10 YOUR fellow creatures ana 10
vourse]f. Thou shalt love the Lofo WY
Cod with all thy heart and with all thy
SIN, and with all thy mind, and my he's"'
..---s .hvself.' On these two eomman'-
ments, Jesus Christ expressly saw
all the Law and The Pr~Pnets,I mat % 10
say, the whole purpose of Divine Reveals
,ion is to incuIea,c them eficaciously upon
the minds of men.
You will perceive tina, have spoken OF
duties to yourself distinct from those 10
God and to your fellow creatures, while 'e-
sus Chris, speaks only of two commands
mems. The reason is, because Christ and
the comma ndmeu,s repeated by him. con
slider self love so implanted in the heart OF
every man by the law of his nature, IN al
requires no commandment to establish It's
influence over the heart and so great do
they know its power to be that they demand
no other measure for the love OF our neigh
Dor than that which we shall nave Ior ours
selves. But from the love Of God and Inc
love of our neighbors result duties to ours
selves as to them, and they are all t" be
learned in equa! perfection by our search
ing the scriptures. Let US then search the
scriptures and in order to pursue our in
suiries with methodical order, let US con>
slider the various sources of information
tina, we may draw from in this study.
The Bible contains the Revelation of the
Will of God, it contains the history OF the
world and Of mankind; and afterwards the
history of one peculiar nation, certainly the
most extraordinary NATHAN that has ever APP
peared upon the earth. 1t contains sys>
TEN of Religion and of Morality which we
may examine upon its own merits i"of-
pendent of the sanction it receives from
being the word of God. and it contains
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