Excerpt from Sermons on Those Doctrines of the Gospel, and on Those Constituent Principles of the Church, Which Christian Professors Have Made the Subject of Controversy The discourses Contained in this volume are present ed to the 'publick by an association of gentlemen, belonging to the Second Congregational Society in Worcester, of which their Reverend] Author is Pastor. Having solicited and obtained the manuscripts, to be disposed of at their discretion, some explanation of their views of the import ance of the publication seems to be demanded by the cc casion. At no period in the history of N ew-england, has there existed so active a spirit of inquiry on subjects of religion, as at the present time; a spirit, not confined, as formerly, to men of science and leisure, but pervading al mosttevery grade and condition in society. The advan tages of education, which have been so long enjoyed, in common, at our publick schools, by all classes of citizens; the increasing facilities'for obtaining literary distinction in our Academies and our Colleges, and the perfect security guarantied by our laws, to the right of pri te judgment and of publick discussion, have produced an obvious change in. The intellectual as well as the physical state of our coun try. There are now comparatively few individuals, capa ble of moral distinctions, who do not esteem it their duty as well as their privilege to examine the doctrines propos ed for their belief, and to form Opinions for themselves, in the all-important concerns of a future life. Doctrinal dis courses from the pulpit are now seldom heard with satis faction, or even with patience, if the preacher proposes to do more than to aid the inquiries of his hearers. They will hardly sufi'er him to prescribe a creed for their adop-g tion, or to'denounce them for the independent exercise of. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.