Part 1 (1/2)

Advice to a Young Man upon First Going to Oxford

by Edward Berens

LETTER I

SENSE OF RELIGION

MY DEAR NEPHEW,

It gives me sincere pleasure to hear that you have actually become a member of the University of Oxford This satisfaction, perhaps,recollection of my own Oxford life, but certainly it arises principally from anticipation of the substantial benefits which you, I trust, will derive fro At the same time, I will own thatlike apprehension

An University education has es, but it also is attended withreat injury of their character, and the utter ruin of all their future prospects

In fact, you are now entering upon thepoint_--of your whole life You have becoh you will be under a certain degree of discipline and _surveillance_, yet in a multiplicity of cases you will have to act for yourself--to take your own line You will have to contend against the allurements of pleasure and dissipation, and you have just reached the age when the natural passions and appetites become most impatient of restraint At the same time, you will be exposed to the influence both of the exawith thehtlessness and folly, and ill think it strange, and _show_ you that they think it strange, if you run not with theainst all these uard will be found in a strong sense of religion, kept habitually present to your e of Scripture--(and in writing to you I shall always gladly make use of the very words of Scripture, when they suita force and an authority which no other words can possess)--you must endeavour to _set the Lord always before you_ Never for a et that you are continually in the presence of that awful Being, who can, and ill, call you to a strict account for all that you do a Hi, the Creator and Governor of the world; if you believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of theer to execute wrath upon every soul that doeth evil, the least particle of co should be put in competition with his will When his will is clear, it _must_ be obeyed without hesitation I aion is any thing, it is _every thing_ It is, indeed, the one thing needful, in conificance, into nothingness

Endeavour, then, to keep up in your ion by every means in your power It will require from you considerable care and attention The lively spirits natural to your ti men into whose society you will be throill have a tendency to ion, if not to induce you entirely to forget it Be ever on your guard against thus swerving fro will contribute ularity and earnestness in your private devotions When you rise in the th to enable you to resist and overco the day

Every night iressions, and his protection against the dangers which surround you Suffer nothing to induce you to neglect private prayer

You will of course be required every day to attend chapel Consider such attendance not as an irksoe discipline, but try to regard it as a privilege, and to take a real interest and pleasure in it Acquire the habit of joining fervently in the prayers, and of constantly deriving from the lessons and other portions of Scripture, the doctrinal and practical instruction which they were intended to convey Many college chapels are furnished with Greek Testae fro the lessons in the Greek assists in fixing your attention, or whether it diverts it froe My own opinion is in favour of the practice

Make a point of giving to Sunday as ious character as you can I a a Jewish strictness Let Sunday be a day of cheerfulness; but let your reading and your thoughts, as far as may be, partake of the sacred character of the day

The study of the Scriptures constitutes an iree This study will furnish an appropriate employment for a considerable portion of the Sunday Always attend the University Sermons I recommend this not merely as a branch of acadeious and intellectual ienerally, I believe, be worth attending to The select preachers are chosen, for the most part, from the ablest men in the University; hest stations in the Church You will seldom be driven to have recourse to the advice of the pious Nicole in his Essay, ”_des moyens de profiter de mauvais sermons_” The various modes in which different preachers enforce or illustrate the sareat truths, and the diversities of their style and manner, may afford you matter--not of ill-natured criticises require their under-graduates to give every week in writing a summary of the sermon which they have heard at St Mary's If you adopt this practice, you will find it contribute greatly to fix your attention, and to give you a habit of arranging and expressing your ideas with facility and readiness Of course, some preachers deserve this steadiness of attention much more than others

It is, I trust, unnecessary to re the Lord's Supper, whenever it is ades, nearly all the under-graduates partake of this ordinance; in others, I believe, allect it: at least this was the case foruided, not by common practice, not by the example of numbers, but by what you know to be your duty If you feel any doubt or difficulty, frankly mention it to your tutor There are, I am persuaded, few tutors now in Oxford, ould not be able and willing to assist you with their advice

This attention to your religious duties need not be attended by any preciseness or austerity of manner On the contrary, I should wish you to be at all tiood huaiety My object is to iion in the _first place_ If you really believe what you profess to believe, do not hesitate as to shewing it in your conduct Never be so weak as to be ashauilty of such uniance to your Creator and your Redeemer

I remain, My dear Nephew, Your affectionate Uncle

LETTER II

CHOICE OF FRIENDS, AND BEHAVIOUR IN SOCIETY

MY DEAR NEPHEW,

Aher, both in general estimation and in reality, than the opportunity which it affords of for friendshi+ps Indeed this advantage can hardly be rated too highly I look back to the intireatest blessings of a life, which has been eminently blessed in various ways I still hold intercourse with many of my Oxford friends, whose characters and attainments do honour to the place where their education and their minds were matured

And even the recollection of most of those, who have been re melancholy, which partakesenjoyed their society, than of pain _The memory of the just is blessed[14:1]_