Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843,

BY SIMON CLOUGH,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

609 CLOUGH

PREFACE.

In presenting this volume to the public, the author deems it proper to remark, that the Articles which compose the first part of the book were intended for a Magazine, expected to have been published by the "General Christian Book Association," and which was to have been placed under his direction; but, in consequence of the occurrence of unexpected and unforeseen events, the executive committee of the said Association decided not to proceed in the publication of the said Magazine for the present. But, in the meantime, the author had made preparations to proceed in the publication of the said Magazine, before he was notified of the resolution of the said committee. After this notification, he decided to engage in the publication of his own select works, using the same type and paper which had been provided for the Magazine. This circumstance will be sufficient to account for the Articles being inserted in the first part of the book; and, also, for having inserted two Articles, one from the pen of Elder Hazen, and the other from the pen of Elder Shaw, which were originally intended for the Magazine, and not for the present volume.

The Discourses, which constitute the second part of the book, were written by the author at different and distant periods of time, during the course of his public ministry, and without any special reference to publication. Several of the Discourses should have been re-written, but the state of the author's health would, by no means, admit of this laborious exercise, having entirely wasted and exhausted his strength in writing the Articles; so that he was under the necessity of either presenting the Discourses in their original dress, or of withholding them entirely from the public. The plain style, however, in which these Discourses are now presented, may be as acceptable and as profitable to common readers,

as though it had been more labored, and had received a higher polish; but the author is not insensible of their defects, and is, also, aware that they would have been more acceptable to scholars, had he devoted more time in preparing them for the press. He has, however, done all he could, in the feeble state of his health, and the limited time allowed him in making them ready for publication; and he trusts that, under these circumstances, any defects which may be discovered, will be viewed with a favorable eye.

In making a selection of the Discourses, which are inserted in this volume, the author has been guided with a special reference to their utility. He was desirous of presenting his friends with a book, which, while it may enlighten the understanding, will improve the heart, and elevate the affections to things above; and be the means of preparing the soul for the enjoyment of God, both here and hereafter. There is a vein of spirituality and piety, running through these Discourses, which cannot fail of making them interesting and profitable to every pious and devoted heart; while the warm and lively exhortations to the unconverted, which are interspersed through several of them, must make them beneficial to this portion of the community. The author trusts that a portion of that fire and zeal, which animated him in the delivery of some of them, and by which they became the means of the conversion of many souls, has been infused into their composition; and will still make them efficacious in the conviction and conversion of many

more.

Although several important and interesting subjects are discussed in the Articles and Discourses, yet the work is far from being either of a doctrinal or controversial cast. It has been the object of the author to give to it an experimental and practical character. In the discussion of the great questions which have been considered, the author has endeavored to treat them, not as a polemic, but as a Christian; and to deduce from them such experimental and practical results as might be profitable and beneficial to all classes of readers. He has, however, clearly and fully stated his views on all the doctrinal questions, which have come under consideration, and which the reader will find interspersed throughout the book. But, on the 184th page, the author has given a short summary of his religious faith; and which he believes to be the faith generally entertained by the Christian Connexion, to which he has the honor of belonging. And here the author would take the liberty of correct

ing a misunderstanding. It has been stated that this summary was borrowed from an English publication; but this is a mistake. This summary was written by the author, and first published in the preface to the third volume of the Gospel Luminary, in 1830. And this is the only summary of the religious faith of the Christian Connexion which the author has seen, all the abstracts of the faith of the Connexion, which have come under his observation, having been taken from this summary; which is conclusive evidence that it meets with general approbation, among his brethren.

Sensible of the numerous defects which this work contains, it is with much diffidence that the author presents this volume to the public; but he still cherishes the hope that it will be productive of good, and that it will be read, with interest, by his friends. With his best wishes, and with his most devout aspirations for their present peace and future felicity, he now submits to their consideration these humble sheets; trusting that they will regard with a favorable eye whatever imperfections they may discover in them.

New York, May 20th, 1843.

A 2

S. C.