For these they would be thankful, and enjoin it upon you never to forget such precious friends. But remember, that social confidence is a plant of slow growth; that there are few cases in which it can be safely indulged; that where it exists, great care ought to be taken not to abuse it by laying too much upon it; and that, while you ought to receive all expressions of civility and respect with a suitable acknowledgment, nothing can be more unwise and unsafe in such a world as this, than to trust indiscriminately to the professions and promises of men. If such be our deplorable circumstances, as a race, and as individuals, then we need deliverance. We need salvation. To this great subject I would next entreat your attention. LETTER III. THE WAY OF SALVATION. DEAR CHILDREN:--Salvation is a word often on your lips, and on the lips of many around you. The truly pious look forward to it with humble, joyful hope. And those who have no piety, and even the profane and profligate often speak of it as something which they desire and anticipate. But what is SALVATION? The very expression presupposes that we are all by nature in a state from which we need to be _delivered_ or _saved_. We never apply this term to any but those who are in danger of being _lost_. When a man is drowning, or in the utmost peril of death in any form, and by the interposition of some benevolent and active friend, is rescued, we say he is _saved_. Now in a similar sense is the term used in the case before us. The salvation of man implies that he is, by nature not only in _danger_, but in a _lost_ and _perishing_ condition. Accordingly I told you, my dear children, in the preceding letter, that our whole race, and you among the rest, are, by nature in a state of guilt, depravity, and misery; that we are fallen creatures; under condemnation; exposed to the wrath and curse of God; liable not only to natural death, but also exposed to all the terrors of eternal death, that is, of eternal separation from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, unless delivered, or, in other words, _saved_ by the interposition of some mighty and merciful deliverer. Such a great Deliverer has appeared to save sinners of our race;--to "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And now, the word of God assures us, that there is "no other name given under heaven among men whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ." It is my earnest desire, dear children, to open this way of salvation to your minds, and to recommend it to your serious and solemn attention. Believe me, "it is not a vain thing for you, it is even your life." Unless you are, by the grace of God made partakers of this great salvation, it "had been better for you that you had not been born."