No. 9. BETHANY, VIRGINIA: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER, 6, 1830. Vol. 1.

I saw another messenger flying through the midst of heaven, having everlasting good news to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth, even to every nation and tribe, and tongue, and people--saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgments is come: and worship him who made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of water.--JOHN.       Great is the truth and mighty above things, and will prevail.

      IN attempting an historical view of what is commonly called the Medo-Persian Empire, I shall proceed according to the following arrangement:--

      I. Give some account of the origin and fortunes of Media and Persia, previous to the birth of Cyrus.

      II. The history of Cyrus to the death of Cyaxares, or when Cyrus became sole master of the empire.

      III. A view of the great events, or epochas, from the death of Cyaxares to the conquest of Babylon, by Alexander the Great.

      IV. The government, arts, sciences, manners, customs, and antiquities of the Persians.

      V. Their religion, together with some account of Zoroaster, their prophet.

      I. Media is not found on the map of modern Asia. Anciently it was an extensive empire, stretching round the southern and western shores of the Caspian Sea. Eastward lay what is called Tartary, or Central Asia. Persia bounded it South, and Assyria West. Lying between distant parallels of latitude, it was subject to the extremes of heat and cold. The northern provinces, for the most part, buried in snow, and generally barren; but the southern, enjoying a delightful temperature, an almost spontaneously productive soil, insomuch that it may now be considered as the Eden of Persia.

      From the best light that can be thrown upon the subject, it appears that Media was peopled by Madai, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, soon after the dispersion. It gradually grew into a considerable empire, and was finally subjugated by its more powerful neighbor, Assyria, and remained a territorial government for a long time. When the Assyrian Empire was dismembered under Sardanapalus, (B. C. 710). Media became again independent. From this time to the commencement of the reign of Cyrus, elapsed a period of 176 years, including a succession of five monarchs. Dijoces was the first king. He was succeeded by Phraortes, who reigned 22 years, and fell before Nineveh, in attempting to revenge his father's death.

      His son, Cyaxares, an ambitious, wise, and politic prince, resumed the hereditary contest, and after a series of various fortune, in concert with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Nineveh, took it, and levelled with the earth that towering monument of human perseverance and glory. Afterwards he carried his victorious arms South as far as Egypt, conquered Persia, and returned to Ecbactania laden with immense spoils, and attended by captive monarchs.

      Under this monarch Media became settled into a permanent and powerful empire. Cyaxares, after a reign of 40 years, left his throne to his son Astyages, who is called in scripture Ahasuerus. Astyages gave his daughter Mandane in marriage to Cambyses, a king, or, as he is sometimes called, a nobleman of [385] Persia. The fruit of this marriage was the illustrious Cyrus, the most faultless prince that ancient history can boast.

      Directly South of Media lay an extensive range of territory known in ancient and modern geographies by the name of Persia. It was bounded East by India, South by the Assyrian empires, extending upwards of 1,800 miles in length, and 1,000 in breadth.

      The climate of this country varies according to its latitude. In the northern and mountainous regions, especially in the neighborhood of the immense chain of Taurus or Ararat, which traverses Asia from the Black Sea to the bay of Bengal, and which crosses Persia, the air is severely cold; in the central part it is temperate, clear, and very delightful. But the southern provinces lie beneath a constantly burning Sun, and their extended plains are subject to be swept by pestilential winds. Travellers, in all ages, have represented Persia as very populous, and the present estimate is between 30 and 40 millions of people. It is said to embrace upwards of 500 cities and towns, several of which contain from one to three and four hundred thousand inhabitants. Ispahan, or, as it is now called, Spahaun, contains 650,000 inhabitants. Persia its watered by fewer rivers than any other known country of equal extent. This defect, in connexion with corrupt vapors and excessive heats, renders this country generally unwholesome, and gives the Persians a pale and sallow complexion.

      We are told in scripture that Persia, or Paras, as it is called by Daniel, was anciently called Elam; and that it was peopled by Elam, the son of Shem, about the time that Media was settled by Madai, at the dispersion.

      At the time of Abraham, we find Chedorlaomar, king of Elam, or Persia, a considerable monarch in his day, having conquered several kingdoms of Asia. From this period their authentic history is lost. 'They were probably early subjugated by the Assyrians, who carried all before them, and remained a long time subject. They afterwards recovered their freedom; but were soon obliged to resign it again to the Medes, as I have already noticed, and remained tributary to them, through their native monarchs, to the time of Cyrus. Cambyses, of the royal family, of Achamenaus, married Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, King of Media, and became the father of Cyrus, who was born to free his native country from slavery, to restore the captivity of Jerusalem, and to establish one of the most powerful empires that ever existed in Asia.

      II. Cyrus was born in the year before Christ 599. At 12 years of age he accompanied his mother Mandane in a visit to the court of Media. Astyages was soon charmed with the promising appearance of his grandson, insomuch that he retained him in Media, where he remained four or five years. The young plant began already to extend its branches, and promised to become a mighty cedar. The affability of his temper, the simplicity of his deportment, the serenity of his countenance, the sincerity of his heart, and above all, the prowess of his arm, excited the admiration of the court, the camp and the hall. The Medes, both noble and ignoble, proved by their attachment that Cyrus was fully deserving, if not destined, to wear the crown.

      At 17 years old he returned to his father's court, followed by the affectionate blessing of the Medes, and welcomed with enthusiasm by his, native Persians. In the inconsiderable wars which were at times waged with neighboring nations, Cyrus was always victorious, always generously rewarded the brave, always mercifully spared the conquered. As his father Cambyses advanced in age, he gradually associated Cyrus with him in the government, the burden of which he was obliged to bear. Thus he lived till he was 40 years old. But the prime of his life was not uselessly wasted; a new era in the military tactics of Persia began with him. A course of discipline was established which, in a short time, rendered the Persians the best soldiers in Asia. The arts of peace were cultivated, civilization rapidly advanced, and this barbarous, enslaved, and unimportant people, under the transforming genius of Cyrus, suddenly became so formidable that they were accused by their neighbors of already aspiring to the dominion of Asia. [386]

      Astyages, the king of Media, died, and left his dominions to his son Cyaxares, who was but one year older than Cyrus. Nereglissar, the king of Babylon, pursuing the council of his predecessors, thought the death of Astyages a favorable crisis to aim an exterminating stroke at the growing power of Media, levied an immense army of 250,000 men from the populous regions West of the Euphrates, and placed himself at their head. Cyaxares having lately assumed the reigns of government, was justly alarmed at their extensive preparations, which threatened not only to rob him of crown and empire, but suddenly to extinguish his flattering expectations that Media would rise to the empire of Asia. Unterrified, however, by the awful crisis, he rapidly concentrated his forces, with the resolution of extreme resistance, and sent for aid into Persia, with an express demand that Cyrus should be invested with the command of the auxiliaries.

      The demand met with a prompt compliance. From the peculiar manner in which Cyrus levied his army, we may suppose his comprehensive genius already embraced, in a measure, that vast scheme of conquest which he afterwards executed. He first chose 200 of those who, from childhood, had been his companions in toil and ease, to be the commanders of his army. He then commanded each of the 200 to choose four men for subordinate officers, which amounted to 1,000. Finally, each of the four chose 30 of the best soldiers he could find. When all were marshalled, they amounted to 31,000. An army thus appointed, might well be capable of great achievements.

      At the head of this body Cyrus joined his uncle Cyaxares, already preparing to march. In joint command they moved towards the borders of Assyria, after Cyrus had reduced the king of Arminia, from a revolt, obtained in the father an immoveable ally, and in the son, the interesting Tigranes, a bosom friend.

      Nereglissar, the king of Babylon, having concentrated an immense force of 200,000 foot and 60,000 horse, advanced towards Media and met the Medes and Persians, of not half their number, not far from the boundaries of the two empires. A general battle was fought, and Cyrus was completely victorious. For although Cyaxares had an equal command, yet the masterly genius of Cyrus demanded and obtained the undivided honor of the laurel.

      The unfortunate king of Babylon was slain, and Crœsus, king of Lydia, who succeeded to the command, was driven in confusion from the field, his army dispersed, and his camp abandoned to the Medes and Persians. Such was the fortune of the first campaign, which gave a strong complexion to the succeeding contest. The throne of Babylon was immediately filled by Laborosoarchod, whose cruelties, in a few months, urged his subjects to seek a last redress, by sacrificing him to their vengeance. Labynit, or, as he is called in Scripture, Belshazzar, was crowned in his stead. Belshazzar appears to have been a voluptuous and wicked prince, careless of the great duties of a monarch, and intent only upon the pleasures of sense: but he had a partner equal to the grand employment. Nitocles, his mother, inherited the great talents of her father, Nebuchadnezzar, and, by a vigorous administration, protracted for some time the fate of her abandoned son. Her name stands upon the records of time, in the list of women who have been able, by a supremacy of genius, to preserve the honor of the throne--to give momentum to the concerns of an extensive empire, and beautifully to blend the delicacy of a female with the majesty of a crown.

      In the mean time a vigorous plan of operations was pursued by Cyrus in reducing the strong holds of the Assyrians, and gradually preparing an unobstructed march to Babylon. The remonstrances of Nitocles, seconded by the near approach of the Persians, roused the Assyrian king to prevent, if possible, the fall of his empire. Aided by immense treasures and extensive alliances, he formed a combination of powers to overwhelm the Persians at once, and levied an army of 420,000 men from Egypt to the shores of the Euxine. Croesus, king of Lydia, was appointed to the supreme command. Lydia was a small kingdom on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea, northwest from Babylon. [387] Croesus, its king, was one of the ablest generals of his time, and was also the greatest patron of science, being the intimate friend of almost all the philosophers of the age, and so rich that his name, even among us, is a common proverb. The place of general rendezvous was Thymbra, a small town not far from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, on the river Pactolus.

      No sooner did Cyrus hear of the vast force that was concentrating against him, than he determined upon one of those plans, the success of which depends not upon physical strength, but celerity of execution. With about 30,000 men, he immediately marched across the broad territories of the Assyrians, 1200 miles, in quest of 400,000. He found them at Thymbra, and without hesitation offered them battle. When the line of battle was formed, Croesus perceived that he might easily surround the Persians, and made an effort accordingly. The wings were commanded to wheel and attack the Persians in flank and rear. But the penetrating eye of Cyrus quickly saw and defeated the plan. He disposed his columns, so that they fought without disorder, and presented a formidable front in every direction. After a short and close conflict, the wings of the Assyrian army gave way, and were pursued with great slaughter. But 100,000 Egyptians, forming the centre of the army, in close order, sheltered by a bridge if shields, firmly resisted, and threatened fatally to shake the Persian columns. The Persian army was already fringed with the slain, and the hardy Egyptians were upon the point of breaking their central front, when Cyrus returned from the fierce pursuit, animated with the certainty of victory. Perceiving that this was the eventful moment, he fell with the force of a mountain torrent upon the flank of the Egyptians, who fought with unabated fury. Thousands after thousands fell, and would have continued to fall had not Cyrus, who well knew the passive bravery of the Egyptians, and regretting that such excellent soldiers should thus perish, without benefit to themselves or their cause, offered them terms which they could not with honor decline. They not only submitted to the victor, but immediately volunteered in his service, and from that time became a distinguished section of his army.

      Thus closed the famous battle of Thymbra: another bloody wreath to bind the brow of Cyrus, and established his fame as the first warrior upon the theatre of the world. This battle decided the fate of Lesser Asia. Cyrus pursued his fortune: Arabia and Syria successfully fell before him, till at length, the great Babylon stood alone upon the banks of the Euphrates, and frowned upon the conqueror, angry at his past success, and defying his future attempts.

      The same Providence which had before made known, by the mouths of Isaiah and Daniel, that Babylon should fall, had endued Cyrus with a mind not to he diverted by apparent difficulties; not to be frustrated by real impediments. He encamped before the city, and commenced a regular siege. Here we must again admire that activity and expansion of mind which suggested the adoption of a stratagem completely successful. Among the many monuments of the power and wisdom of Nebuchadnezzar, there was one which now became the means of the fall of Babylon. At some distance from the city, there were immense reservoirs, dug for the purpose of receiving the redundant water of the Euphrates, and of preventing the fatal effects of occasional inundations. Several canals formed a communication between these reservoirs and the river. By opening these canals, the water might easily be turned from its natural course, the bed of the river be left dry, and a free passage into the heart of the city laid open.

      The public festivals of the Babylonians were generally celebrated with the most extravagant riot, drunkenness, and debauchery, and frequently continued several days without intermission. Cyrus chose the night preceding one of these festivals for the execution of his plan. The course of the river was suddenly stopped, the army, in two divisions, in silence marched under the wall upon the North and South sides of the city, defeated the feeble resistance of a few drunken guards, and, without loss of blood, introduced themselves into the midst of that proud capital. [388]

      While Cyrus was taking undisputed possession of the city, a scene of a different character was passing in the palace of Belshazzar, This devoted monarch had, as usual, invited the nobles of his court, and the princes of the Empire to a splendid entertainment. Nothing was wanting to increase the pleasure of the eye, of the ear, of the palate. They exhausted the golden goblets, which were sacrilegiously plundered from the temple of Jerusalem--they appeased their appetites with the most luscious viands--they listened to strains of lascivious music. When, suddenly, an awful vision struck them into a death-like silence--A hand, the finger of God, appeared writing upon the wall, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." The astrologers, the interpreters, the Magi, who used to fill the ear of Belshazzar with dreams and predictions of his future glory, were astonished and dumb at the sight. Till, at length, Daniel, the prophet of Jehovah, who had long and faithfully served the king, in the quality of prime minister, addressed the terrified monarch. He firmly reproved him for his idolatrous, wicked, and abandoned life--he appealed to the enormous crimes he had been guilty of against his miserable subjects, and against God;--then, pointing to the inscription on the wall, he thus spoke: "This is the interpretation of the thing. God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

      Cyrus was already at the gates of the palace. The alarm was sounded, and the impious Belshazzar, rushing from the hall, sword in hand, was met by the Persians, and instantly cut to pieces, with all his attendants. When the last Sun descended, this proud monarch looked from his lofty battlements, and knew not, or thought not, of an arm that was able to humble. At midnight, from the midst of revelry, he is called to answer the demands of retributive justice.

      The death of Belshazzar, as you have already heard, put a period to the second Assyrian Empire, B. C. 536. The reduction of Babylon was followed by the submission of all the Assyrian territories, and the Empire of Cyrus was bounded North by the Caspian and Black seas, East by India, South by the Arabian Sea and Ethiopia, and West by Lybia, the Mediterranean, and Archipelago; comprehending Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Persia; embracing, as Gibbons says of the Roman Empire, in after ages, "the fairest parts of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind." Cyrus and Cyaxares, or, as he is called in Scripture, Darius the Mede, in a short time established the government upon an immoveable basis. They divided the empire into 120 provinces, according to the prophet, and appointed satrapae, or governors over them. Three persons were also, from among the wisest men in the kingdom, selected to inspect the conduct of the satraps, and render an account to the king. The first of these was Daniel, the prophet, universally acknowledged as the wisest man in the East. He was exalted to the high station of prime minister by Nebuchadnezzar, and had served in that capacity 65 years. How different an aspect would the world now wear, could such men be chosen to direct the affairs of nations!

      Two years after the fall of Babylon, Cyaxares, the uncle, and Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, died, and he was left sole master of the new Empire, B. C. 534.

[Whelpley's Lectures.]

      June 23d. A LITTLE past 12 o'clock A. M. arrived at F------, where, being informed that it was only eight miles to Judge C. to whom I had a letter of introduction, concluded to stop here--got to Judge C's about dark--was welcomed with mach christian kindness. Judge C. and wife had been Baptist professors for many years: but [389] now, with seven children, they are members of the new church, set in order in that place by Bishop S. R. They tell me much of the reformation effected in these parts by the proclamation of the gospel--of a happy three days' meeting of disciples, which dissolved on Monday last, K. Present many who had been converted from different sects--several teachers--among whom were Brother Williams, formerly a Universalist, Brothers Allton and Church, christians; Brother Curtis, a Methodist; Brothers Bentley, Collins, Porter, Rigdon, and Barr, Regular Baptists; but now, all united on the one foundation, having been all immersed by one immersion into the one faith of the gospel. Including these I am informed, that no less than TWENTY PUBLIC TEACHERS, of different denominations, on the Reserve, have, within three years, renounced their respective isms, and become one in Christ Jesus. At this meeting, nine new disciples were added, and one old one made over from the Baptists; some of whom were immersed after 11 o'clock at night. Sister C. gave me a very interesting account of Brother Vaughn, a young Methodist preacher, who had been discipled by Bishop A. C. His subsequent proclamation of the gospel, persecution, trial and expulsion, by his quondam brethren.

      June 24th. Was introduced by Brother C. to Bishop R. with whom I had a very agreeable visit. He tells me, that within two years past, he has immersed about 1000 persons, constituted 15 or 20 churches, and rebaptized some, to answer a good conscience, who had been previously immersed; but of these a few. Sister C. says, she thinks that the disciples have an advantage over the sectarians, in being free to examine the scriptures for themselves--that they do not consider themselves perfect; and, therefore, are continually seeking for more light. P. M. visited Brother Collins--Had a long and interesting interview with him.

      June 26th. Read a part of No. 11. vol. 1. "Christian Evidences, by AYLETT RAINS." From which the following are extracts:--

      "At the Mahoning Association, about five months after my immersion, I was publicly questioned relative to my sentiments; and from a bench on which I stood, I did not hesitate to declare to the whole congregation, that it was still my opinion that all men would finally become holy and happy. This fact can be proved by scores of witnesses.

      "I shall never, as long as I retain my memory, forget the magnanimity of Messrs. Campbells and Scott, and several others, exhibited on this occasion. They acted as men of noble minds, highly elevated above the paltry bickerings of speculative partizans; for though they considered my Restorationist sentiments as a vagary of my brain, they did not treat me with contempt, as bigots would have done; but with meekness and kindness encouraged me to persevere in the christian race. And Alexander Campbell, also, invited me to pay him a visit at his own house, in order that he might have opportunity to convince me that the doctrine of Universal Restoration was not taught in the scriptures. [390]

      "The fact is, that from the period of my embracing the primitive "form of sound words," I was resolved to take no position on any doctrinal point, far removed from that centre which is the grand attractive of christianity. I stood therefore on gospel facts, and taught the unequivocal testimonies of Christ and his Apostles concerning those facts, requiring all who had ears to hear to submit unreservedly to the commands of Jesus, and thereby obtain all the rewards which are promised to the obedient, and shun those evils, whatever they might be, which are consequent on disobedience.

      "Thus did I reason; and thus have I labored for the welfare of mankind; and I thank God, that my labor has not been in vain. I have seen men, who were philosophically Calvinists, and Arminians, and Restorationists, members of the same congregation, and sitting around the same table of the Lord; and in the joyful fervors of the same christian love, attracted by the one cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, praising God in concert, and there were no divisions among them! O, what a sight was this! How noble an object to be sought! My soul takes fire while I write, and as the flame increases, resolution on resolution arises, that while life shall last, I will never let go my hold of this gospel, which so happily terminates in such exquisite peace and good will to men!

      "I have long enough been tossed about on the billows of the ocean of error! I have found a foundation of facts;--facts more permanent than the foundations of the Andes or the Alleghany. I am resolved here to abide. Here I have terminated my zigzag journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. Here, at the foot of the cross, I have laid my burden: and here until mortal life shall cease, I will stand, and contemplate the wonders of redeeming love. Gospel facts are immutable things; like the rock of ages, they never move! Human opinions and imaginations may undergo their daily mutations--may sink into oblivion, and be known no more at all; but these facts can never change."

      Between 2 and 3 o'clock P, M. bade brother Collins good bye, and returned to M. Spent the evening till 10 o'clock at Bishop R's. He now began and gave me a history of the reformation, and of the actors in it from the commencement.

      Lord's day June 27th. Was introduced to Father J. B. who, for many years, had been a Methodist preacher, and who, about a year since, obeyed the gospel. Attended worship with the disciples in M. Their meeting-house is a plain, one story, brick building, 52 by 42 feet, furnished with seats. The males on one side, and the females on the other. While the assembly were coming in, several hymns were sung. At length Bishop R. arose--read John xv. ch. and prayed. Another hymn was sung--Bishop R. then, after making some introductory remarks, named for his subject, obedience. He exhibited Jesus as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings--considered the gospel as addressed to all without exception, who hear it; and enforced its exhortations with the promise of life and salvation. His [391] discourse was one hour and three quarters in length; at the close of which, he said: "If there he any here present, who wish to obey the gospel, they will come forward while we are singing a hymn." Two sisters came forward--one a married lady, the other about 14 years of age. After a short prayer, Bishop R. said; "We will now repair immediately to the water." At the water, on the candidates presenting themselves, he addressed them thus: "Do you believe with all your heart, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?" They answered, "I do." Then taking each by the hand, they went down both into the water, when, saying--"By the authority of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, I immerse you into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"--he immersed them. On returning to the meeting-house, about one hundred disciples sat down to the table of the Lord, (which is their weekly practice) and commemorated his dying love. Traveller joined with them. During this exercise, they sung several hymns and spiritual songs. None seemed sad--none wore other than a cheerful countenance--never before, as now, was the exhortation of the Apostle so much impressed upon my mind:--"Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice."

      But, here, in copying, I break short off, to address my Baptist brethren from another place.

My Dear Friends,

      I am a Baptist, the son of a Baptist. For more than fourteen years, I have been numbered with you; and now, I am as truly one of you, as was Paul a Pharisee, when he stood before the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, subsequent to his conversion to christianity, and declared himself a Pharisee. He then believed in the resurrection of the dead, the great doctrine which divided the Jews into Pharisees and Sadducees. So do I believe in the immersion only of believers upon a profession of faith, the great doctrine which now divides christendom into Baptists and Paidobaptists. But, as Paul was at that time something more than a Pharisee--a Christian; so do I hope, now am I. I believe not only in immersion, as an act of obedience to Christ; but in immersion into the name of the Holies, for the remission of sins, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I now see, or think I see, more in this sacred institution than I at first saw. I see in it a gracious pledge of pardon to the obedient. Yes, I now believe in immersion for the remission of sins. This is one of the "points," on which, seventeen months ago, I was unsettled--which I wished "to investigate impartially and thoroughly; that I might ascertain, and embrace, and practise, and inculcate, the whole truth upon it." And, believe me, brethren, my present views are the result of such an investigation. My first, and last, and great work of appeal, in this matter, has been the New Testament Scriptures. I have sat down to them, and made them my study from morning till night. I have sought for the truth as for hid treasure, prized it [392] more than silver and gold; and I feel assured, that I have found it--at least, on one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ--on baptism. Seeing now, in a believing immersion the oath and promise of Him who cannot lie, of pardon and the Holy Spirit; all my former darkness, doubts, and despondency, have vanished away; and I rejoice in God my Saviour with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. And will you not rejoice with me? Will you not also yourselves believe, and enjoy this blessedness? I must here give another extract from my Journal.

      June 30th. "Disciples," yes; this is the name by which they call one another. "The congregation of disciples in M. in W. in N. L." &c. They speak of obeying the gospel--of obeying it, by being immersed for the remission of their sins. Yes; and they are, indeed, disciples--disciples of Christ. They have learned of Him to love one another. For one week that I have been among them, I have sung more, and heard more singing, than in a month before. Yes; disciples of Christ! They own no other master, and to call them by the name of any man is to calumniate them. In no one family did I find a complete set of the works of A. C. and in most of those I visited, not a single volume of his, beside his hymn-book. Brother Collins, "the Campbellite," owned only this; and yet, I observed in his library a complete set of the works of Andrew Fuller!! These, sister C. informed me, he had read a great deal more than the works of A. C. Query--Why not rather call him a Fullerite? But, no;--the NEW TESTAMENT is now his Confession of Faith. Show me your faith, by your Philadelphia Confession, by your contentions for orthodoxy, by your Papal anathemas against you know not what; and I will show you their faith, by their works.

      "On carrying some corn and other provisions to a poor woman in our neighborhood, who was very much prejudiced against us," said Brother M. "she wondered what it meant." "We are taught to do thus by our religion," he replied. Brother M. was the first who obeyed the gospel in K. in the month of September, 1827.

      In the month of March last, Brother T. C. addressing the congregation at E. on loving, not only in word and in tongue; but in deed, and in truth--observed, "We should not say to our brothers, Be ye warmed, and be ye fed, without giving them those things which are necessary for them." Another Brother M. arose and said, "the doctrine is good;" and inquired, whether the disciples knew of any one among them, to whose necessities they might administer. A sister D. was named, of the Methodist church. The very next day Brother M. for his part, sent the flour of a bushel of wheat, some dried peaches, &c. This Brother M. was the first, who arose to obey the gospel in E. after it had been faithfully proclaimed there by Bishop R. The same evening several others arose; among whom were the wife of Brother M. then a Presbyterian, and two of the children of Dr. D. Brother M. previous to this, was a frequent reviler of the Bible, and of those who believed in it.

      The next morning after these eight were discipled, just before [393] Bishop R. left the place, he turned to Dr. D. (then in connexion with the Regular Baptists) and said; "Will you not go with them; or will you abandon them to go alone?"--"I will go with them," said he: and from that time, he has been numbered with the disciples. This Dr. D. was so much exercised when his sectarian shackles began to break, when introduced into the liberty of the gospel, that he could not sleep--after retiring to bed, he got up and read his Bible, and sung, and prayed one whole night. This Dr. D. the last year subscribed $20 towards the support of the Baptist minister in E. which, he says, (though he has but a few times heard him, and the minister has not since visited his house;) he means to pay. He thinks of visiting the minister, and of carrying the pay to him.

      Soon after the last of Judge C's children obeyed the gospel, Bishop R, being apprized that he had indulged many fears of this way; turned to him and asked: "What he thought of it." He burst into tears and replied, "Who am I that I should withstand God?" Judge C. also, is now numbered with the disciples.

      There is, indeed, a charm and a power in the ancient gospel, which they (who oppose it) know not of. It is producing wonders. Churches are springing up like corn all over the country by its influences. Since writing the above, I have myself seen a Methodist minister submit to the yoke of Jesus who went home in his wet clothes, not having calculated to be immersed when he came to the place of hearing. On the same day, an elder, also, of high standing in the Presbyterian church; and subsequently, several others, both male and female. But believe not merely on human testimony; call no man master; take nothing upon trust; believe Christ, believe Peter, believe Paul.

      At some future day I may give further extracts from my Journal; in the mean while, hear a Doctor: "Take heed to yourselves what you are about to do. With regard to the present affairs, I say unto you refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will moulder away; but if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it.

FRANCIS.

Bethany, July 24th, 1830.

      THOMAS PAINE was born at Thetford, England on the 29th day of January, 1737, and died at New York, on the 8th of June, 1809, aged a little over 72 years and 4 months. In his last will and testament, dated January 18th, 1809, he says: "I have lived an honest and useful life to mankind; my time has been spent in doing good, and I die in perfect composure and resignation to the will of my Creator God.

      William Cobbet says of the Tract on the wretched end of Thomas Paine: "The whole as far as relates to recantation, and to the unhappy French female, is a lie from the beginning to the end." [394]

      DR. FRANKLIN, in a letter addressed to Mrs. Mecom his sister, (1748) says: "'Tis pity that good works, among some sorts of people, are so little valued, and good words admired in their stead. I mean seemingly pious discourses, instead of benevolent actions. Those they most put out of countenance, by calling morality rotten morality--righteousness, ragged righteousness, and even filthy rags--and when you mention virtue, pucker up their noses; at the same time that they eagerly snuff up an empty canting harangue, as if it was a poesy of the choicest flowers."

      THOMAS JEFFERSON, in a letter to Dr. Priestly, (dated Washington, April 9th, 1803) says of Christ:--"His character and doctrines have received still greater injury from those who pretend to be his spiritual disciples, and who have disfigured and sophisticated his actions and precepts from views of personal interest, so as to induce the unthinking part of mankind to throw off the whole system in disgust, and pass sentence as an impostor on the most innocent, the most benevolent, the most eloquent and sublime character that has ever been exhibited to man."

      CARLILE remarks: "Hired priests, no doubt, consider themselves in a measure bound to deal out to their hearers a great deal of school divinity, consisting of perplexing metaphysics, in order to convince them that they get the worth of their money. Plain morality would not command a high price among those who are in search of mysteries, miracles, and spiritual nonentities.

Ibid.

For the Millennial Harbinger.

      IN Eden's bright and unsullied mirror we have contemplated the original state and character of man. Glory, honor, and beauty rested upon the image presented to us; for white-robed Innocence had clothed our first parents with all her charms, and the whole creation contributed to their enjoyment.

      We are now presented with a different picture. No sooner had the Tempter introduced those evil principles which prompted to disobedience, than the earth is commanded to reveal man's altered condition. For his sake God cursed the ground; and the soil which, once pure, afforded nothing but what could increase his joys, now watered with his tears and with his blood, brings forth to him thorns and thistles. Spontaneously it once produced for him every thing necessary to perpetuate existence; now he is informed that in the sweat of his face he shall eat bread. The sparkling drops of dew with which the early mist watered the face of the smiling garden, shone like tears of joy upon the cheek of Beauty; but now the hoarse tempest utters its fearful voice, and the fierce winds and streaming torrents spread terror and devastation over the trembling land.

      The analogy between the present condition of man and that of the place of his abode, is so evident that it is unnecessary to pursue it, and although there may be some, who, because they cannot [395] understand how evil first originated, profess to doubt its existence, and neglect the means by which it is to be removed; yet the very soil they tread on--the whole of nature travailing in pain, reveals their character, and they themselves are the living refutation of their doctrine. We know as little of the origin of good as of the origin of evil. But our want of information upon this subject cannot be an argument against either the fact of their former origin or the truth of their present existence; for ignorance is not a foundation for either faith, or incredulity. Nor can it be made a spring of action, since that person would act irrationally, who, because he could not discover the ultimate cause of hunger, would doubt its existence, and refuse to receive that food which was intended to remove it. The terms are entirely relative. Evil is used in opposition to good; good, with respect to evil. Adam knew neither before eating the forbidden fruit. The existence of the Arch Apostate had already made angels acquainted with the effects of these principles. "Behold," says God after the fall, "the man has become like one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken." We do know good and evil: our senses continually apprize us of their existence; and all men are laboring, as it were by necessity, to enjoy pleasure and to avoid pain.

      Indeed, we appear to have been so constituted as to learn by contrast and estimate every thing by comparison. The gloom of midnight prepares us to appreciate the radiance of noon day. The piercing cold of stormy Winter enables us to enjoy the grateful warmth of Summer's glowing ray. We measure beauty by deformity; and, as the skillful painter, by a judicious application of dark shades, causes every feature of his original to rise from the smooth canvass and stand forth in bold and beautiful relief; so are we able to display the true character and merit of an object when we are in possession of that with which we can contrast it.

      It is thus that we become acquainted with the glorious Creator of the Universe. Acquainted with evil, we know that he is good. Experiencing hatred, we are fitted to discover that God is love: and beholding the effects of cruelty, we are enabled in some degree to estimate the mercy of our Divine Father. The existence of imbecility and folly; injustice and avarice; pride and vanity, only serve to exhibit more conspicuously to us the superlative excellence of the character of God: his power and wisdom--his justice and liberality--his humility and condescension: and when he is revealed to us as far as our present nature enables us to comprehend him; when by opposing power to power, wisdom to wisdom, perseverance to perseverance in counteracting the designs of that rebellious angel who dared to claim equality, he has sufficiently made known, or given to us data by means of which we can forever contemplate with delight the glory, honor, and majesty that surround his throne--when he seed of the woman, the Prophet, Priest, and King, whom God [396] hath set up to teach, to mediate, and to reign, clothed with the same human nature over which Satan originally seemed to triumph, and combatting that enemy with the same means (his word) which he had successfully used against our first mother, shall have put all power, authority, and dominion under his feet, and reign as King upon his holy hill of Zion; then shall evil be destroyed; death and hell shall he cast into the lake of fire, and a voice shall be heard, saving, "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men! and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall he with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." And he that sat upon the throne said, "Behold I make all things new."

      Seeing, then, that our first parents were already acquainted with the character of God as far as their circumstances enabled them to discover it, a being was introduced to them, the exhibition of whose vile, debasing, and pernicious powers, has tended to show forth to us in a more striking manner, the pure, glorious, and exalted attributes of the Most High.

      Having had no experience of falsehood, they were ignorant of truth; and, like children who had never been deceived, they required no testimony. With unhesitating confidence they therefore received the declarations of God, and with the same unsuspecting simplicity they yielded credence to the assertions of the Tempter. "The serpent said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof; then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods knowing good and evil."

      If we examine the manner in which man's fall was occasioned, we will perceive that it was by perverting the powers with which he was gifted. The principles of his mind and the passions of his soul are, unless viewed in connexion with their objects, neither good nor evil. Thus love is in itself neither meritorious nor disgraceful, and becomes so only as it is extended to an object more or less deserving of our affection. And it is a law of our nature, both moral and corporeal, that the lawful exercise of desire should be productive of harmony and joy, while its direction to an interdicted or improper object inevitably occasions misery and confusion.

      Perceiving, then, that the minds and affections of our first parents were entirely engrossed with the idea of God and the blessings which he had bestowed upon them, the Tempter, while on the one hand he strove to weaken their confidence in God by contradicting his declaration; on the other endeavored to withdraw their love from God by fixing it upon themselves. No sooner were his words believed, than [397] the desire of self-aggrandizement diffused its poisonous influence through their souls, while that by which the passion was to be gratified presented itself in all the charms which variety and glowing anticipation could bestow: "And when she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat."

      Thus was the revolution effected in the condition of man. His state was changed. It was once that of innocence--it now is that of guilt. It is said, therefore, that he "died," or "fell," terms expressive of a complete change of condition. His change of state produced a change of character, and no longer rejoicing to stand before his Maker, he feared when he heard the voice of the Lord God, and sought to avoid his presence. Guilt prompts the offender to flee as far as possible from the person against whom the offence is committed; the farther he retires from his presence the more ignorant he becomes of his character, and the more he fears and the more ignorant he becomes, the more he hates the object of his alarm.

      To the history of the world we may refer for the perfect exhibition of the present character of man. Under the influence of evil principles, of stormy passions, and wicked propensities, his life presents us with nothing but misery, crime, and sorrow. Self is now his idol, purity his sacrifice, and flattery his incense. Intended for love, he was denied arms; but he hath forged them for himself to combat his fellow. Despising the hand that feeds and clothes him, he esteems his deceiver and reveres his oppressor. Dissatisfied with the present, he regrets the past, and trembles at the thought of futurity. He alone, of the animal creation, possesses the idea of the existence of God, and self-interest and wickedness from a thought so simple and so consoling, have overspread the world with swarms of inhuman religions and idle superstitions. More cruel than the tempest that howls along the sky, he ravages with fire and sword the fairest portions of the globe, and delights in the torture, the wheel, and the faggot. The Prince of Darkness rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience; the simplicity of nature is perverted; the natural relations of things are entirely changed; and every principle and passion is presented with some unlawful object, difficult of acquisition and injurious in enjoyment.

DISCIPULUS.

      9. IT¹ engenders, on the one hand, vanity and self-conceit, and often pride and haughtiness, in preachers; and on the other, adulation, servility; and worshipping of men in the people. Nothing can be more contemptible and disgusting than the unmanly, fulsome flattery, coaxing, cringing, and canting, which constitute generally the intercourse between pastors and people, when the pastors are dependent [398] on the flock for a support; nothing more offensive than the indifference, pride, and superciliousness of the priesthood, when they are independent.

      10. It diverts attention from God's word, So long, so loudly, and so artfully have the different elements of this clerical contrivance been extolled by its deeply interested inventors and patrons, that it is now generally considered to be more necessary and useful than even the Bible itself; and, of course, much greater attention, and incomparably more time are devoted to it than to sacred writ. Where is the christian that does not spend vastly more time in reading and hearing one or other of these human divines, than he spends in reading and hearing God's unadulterated message?

      11. It fetters scriptural inquiry. The people, artfully seduced to believe that they cannot understand God's message without the explanatory labors of the clergy, are naturally deterred from inquiring what it means or declares to them, (than which a more pernicious falsehood was never propagated on earth.) But beside suppressing individual and private inquiry, and tempting unthinking creatures to despise Christ's express command to read, search, and meditate the Scriptures in order to procure religious information, it makes them depend on the notions, opinions, and tales of the Clergy, instead of God's immediate and explicit declarations, for their faith and practice, and, of course, for the salvation of their souls. Yes, multitudes--millions are prevented by this cruel deception from reading and consulting daily, as their best interest, not less than their bounden duty requires, God's inspired instrument of instruction, and are betrayed to depend for their religious information on the stated, uninspired harangues of fallible men. To this fatal delusion, to this gross falsehood, that the Bible, in order to be understood by the illiterate, needs the explanatory labors of the clergy, or of any human being, more than to any other cause, are the most astonishing and most lamentable ignorance and inefficacy of that book to be ascribed. Were the Bible, instead of being undervalued, neglected, and almost contemned, esteemed, praised, recommended, and exclusively sought and trusted to, how different would its effects on the human race become.

      12. It generates among the professed followers of Christ an impure or mixed faith--a faith built partly on divine and certain information, and partly on human notions, opinions, conjectures, inferences, &c. in the truth of which no confidence can or ought to be reposed. How small is the number of christians whose faith rests solely on divine declaration, and yet divine declaration alone can form a proper and sure foundation for faith to rest upon. Were all the spurious faith, that is, all the faith which has no better foundation than human say so, to be cast out of the christian community, what a small morsel would be left! The christian who derives all his religious information directly from the word of God, has the consolation to know that his faith rests on the unerring knowledge and infallible veracity of his Maker; but he who derives his information from the harangues or writings of his clerical instructers, ought to remember that their sagacity, however little it may be, is all he has to depend upon, [399]

      13. It robs the saints of their noblest privilege and their highest honor. To them, without discrimination, has Christ entrusted his work on earth, and allowed them to perform every act of which it consists; for to them, without distinction, has he committed the work called "the service," and "the building up of the body of Christ:" Dan. vii. 18, 22. Ephes. iv. 12. 2 Tim. ii. 2. But the clerical system subverts this fair, equitable institution of the Redeemer, and teaches that not the saints, but a few favorites, selected, prepared, appointed, and commissioned by their fellow-men, are exclusively entrusted and honored with Christ's work. True it is, these favored few pretend to defend the high distinction which they claim under another peculiar favor--a divine call. But what does this pretended call, when examined, turn out to be? To be neither more nor less than that which belongs to every saint--to every believer on earth. For in the breast and character of every lover of the Lord Jesus is every ingredient of their call to be found in an equal, if not in a higher degree. Well, then, if the elements which constitute their call belong to every believer, is not every believer called to do his Master's work as well as they?

      14. By the clerical system the saints are driven from their Master's work. The saints have long been tempted to believe that only a mere fragment of their Sovereign's work, and that of the lowest quality, has been entrusted to them; that all the important, dignified, and profitable part, has been reserved for the honor and emolument of a few favorites. They (I mean saints) may lawfully grieve in secret, lament, weep, and mourn over the unprosperous condition of their Lord's affairs, but durst not attempt to exert one of their fingers to bring them into a better state. That labor the clergy have seized on as their peculiar inheritance, and suspended a curse over the head of the impious saint who should dare to invade their right. To us, say they, are committed exclusively, by the most unaccountable system of partiality and favoritism heaven ever beheld, the admission of members into Christ's visible kingdom, sexual alliance, the time, place, and manner of the commemorative supper, the celebration of the Lord's day, the time, place, duration, and acts of social worship, the terms of communion, the means or acts of religious instruction, the trial, punishment, and restoration of offenders; in short, the entire direction and government of the Redeemer's visible kingdom. How this clerical oligarchy comports with the declarations of the Holy Spirit in Dan. vii, 18, 22. Ephes. iv. 12. 2 Tim. ii. 2, I have not sagacity enough to discover; but, perhaps, some clergyman who has long been in the practice of solving enigmas and riddles, and splitting metaphysical hairs, may remove the difficulty. In Daniel the saints, not the clergy, are promised the kingdom: In Ephesians iv. 12. the work called "the service," and "the building up of the body of Christ," are expressly committed to them; and in 2 Tim. ii. 2. the work is committed to the faithful men; but "faithful" is an epithet which belongs to every saint. As things, however, have long been, and still are, both the kingdom and the service have been entirely engrossed by [400] the clergy; and the saints, instead of enjoying the kingdom as promised them, have long been, and still are, only slaves, vassals and subjects of their more highly favored superiors.

      15. By this unjust and oppressive contrivance, the zeal of Christ's warmest friends has been rendered abortive in every age. Induced to believe that his Master has assigned him nothing of any moment to do--nothing that can directly and effectually promote his Master's interest--the slighted and discouraged believer devotes to idleness or worldly pursuits that time and those powers, which, had a just share of his Master's service been in his apprehension entrusted to him, he would gladly and sedulously have spent in its performance. Thus in spiritual, as well as in worldly matters, favoritism produces the worst of consequences. While it disgusts, alienates, and disheartens one servant, it puffs up another with pride and arrogance, with vanity and self-conceit. Yes, according to the high pretensions set up, and the superiority arrogated by the clergy, the unclerical believer, be he ever so pious and friendly, ever so desirous to see the cause of his Redeemer triumphant, ever so capable to promote it, or ever so willing to spend and be spent in its promotion, has truly but little encouragement held out to him, either in this world or the next, in comparison of that set before his more highly favored superiors, the clergy. Believe them, and they are now, and for ever will be, exalted to seats much nearer God's right hand, and enjoy the divine favor in a much higher degree than their unclerical vassals, and merely because they are unclerical slaves.

      16. It lengthens immensely the weary traveller's journey. The way prescribed by God to heaven and happiness is both short and easy. The Bible is but a small and plain book. But the way prescribed by the clergy is of enormous length and rugged passage, enough to deter a Sir William Jones, not to say a poor, feeble, distracted believer, to travel over all the creeds, confessions, catechisms, tracts, sermons, lectures, discourses, orations, arguments, expositions, paraphrases, commentaries, annotations, bodies of human divinity of terrific size, and other countless productions, all of which it seems the clergy deem it necessary for the man who sets his face heavenward to peruse, or why be at the labor of composing, publishing, enjoining and urging the use of them. Surely if all these be not necessary to give the religious inquirer that knowledge of God and divine things which his eternal happiness requires, nothing can be more cruel, nothing more absurd than their prescription; and if all these be necessary, and certainly if any one of them be necessary, all must be; for should the religious inquirer intentionally or unintentionally omit any one of them, how can he be sure that he did not omit consulting the very one which contained the information on which the salvation of his soul depended: I say, if the consultation of all these be necessary; truly Wisdom's ways cannot be ways of pleasantness, nor her paths be the paths of peace.

      17. This human contrivance has filled the christian world on the one hand with a pompous, florid, swollen diction, consisting principally of [401] words derived from foreign languages, and altogether unintelligible; to the illiterate; and with metaphysical discussions equally above the comprehension of the unlearned christian; and on the other, with an ungrammatical, vulgar jargon, which can neither be understood nor endured, and which at the same time is crammed with absurdity and falsehood. Indeed, to this wretched invention we owe exclusively all the false and absurd doctrines, and all the unauthorized, unprofitable, and degrading institutions, and practices, which now disgrace and torment, and have, during many past generations, disgraced and tormented the professed followers of Jesus Christ, for in their production and dissemination the word of God has had no concern.

      18. The use of this human device necessarily deprives the religious inquirer of all the inferior helps, such as context, connected phraseology, related passages, scope, &c. which the Holy Spirit has provided and exhibited to the attention of the reader of his message, to enable him to understand it with the greater certainty; and constantly exposes him to the danger of affixing that meaning to God's word, which fallible, erring, prejudiced men have given to it. Hence most readers of the Bible aim not at ascertaining what God's Spirit says to them, but what their expounders and teachers tell them, delighting not in the unerring declarations of the God of truth, but in the doubtful notions of uninspired, and, of course, unsafe men, about it.

      19. A person who resorts to any of these human means of instruction for religious information, is in imminent--shall I say, in inevitable danger of having that unbiassed state, or, if I may so speak, that felt state of ignorance, completely destroyed, which is indispensably necessary to fit and dispose the reader's mind to receive the thoughts proposed by the Holy Spirit to his understanding, just as the Spirit has proposed them. Instead of coming to the Spirit's information, deeply sensible of, and deeply affected by, his ignorance; and, of course, eager to receive the Spirit's information, he comes under the persuasion that he already knows all that the Spirit has to communicate, and of course prepared to receive the Spirit's message as perfectly accordant with his previous conceptions of it, however much at variance with him it may be.

PHILALETHES.

      DEAR SIR,

      UPON looking into your November number of the Christian Baptist, for 1829, my attention was arrested by a letter addressed to you from King and Queen county, in this state. The letter, it seems, was occasioned by your explanation of Matthew xiii. 11, 13; Mark iv. 11, 12; Luke viii. 10: passages which present to my mind very different information from that usually ascribed to them.

      1. What Christ says, he revealed to his pious and deeply interested [402] friends, and concealed from an irreligious and unconcerned multitude, by means of the parables contained in these chapters and others of a similar kind, is manifestly no part of the information which constitutes the gospel, and on the knowledge of which the salvation of sinners depends; but the fate or reception with which the information, called "the gospel," was destined to meet in the world; for to this reception alone the parables are confined.

      2. The reasons which induced the Saviour to employ such a vehicle, as was calculated to give information concerning the fate of his new institution to his anxious friends, and not to his contemptuous enemies, are both obvious and satisfactory. In the fate of his new religious institution his friends alone were or could be interested. To them alone could the foreknowledge of its fate be either necessary or useful, and to them the foreknowledge of its fate was of the utmost importance. Enabling them to form accurate conceptions of its reception, it enabled them to correct any mistaken notions which they might have formed concerning the success of their Redeemer's new religion; and thus fortified them against the despondency, to which disappointment of the high expectations, which they, in common with the whole Jewish nation, entertained respecting the unparalleled prosperity of the Messiah's reign, would expose them; and at the same time give them such assurance of his ultimate triumph as would induce them to persevere in their efforts to promote it, even amidst the greatest discouragements. With the greatest propriety and wisdom, then, did Christ give to his friends information so necessary to their welfare, while he withheld it from an irreligious multitude, who could feel no interest in it, and to whom, if communicated, it could afford neither pleasure nor profit.

      3. There was nothing peculiar in Christ's conduct on this occasion. It was his usual way to impart information to those who were interested in its reception, and withhold it from those who could derive no benefit from it, or might be disposed to make a bad use of it.

      4. There exists not, I presume on the annals of divine revelation, a single instance of God's withholding one particle of that information which is necessary to the salvation of souls, from any member of the human family, which he gave to the rest. No, the benefit of that information, on which the salvation of souls depends, has ever been, like the benefit of solar light, offered and free to all. Even during the Mosaic institution, the heathen might, if so disposed, enjoy the fullest advantage of every divine communication. At all times whoever would, might come and take the water of life freely. And at this moment is not every particle of information that is offered in sacred writ to the warmest friend, to the most devoted disciple, offered to the bitterest enemy, to the most stubborn rebel, to the most impious and immoral of Adam's degenerate race? Where, then, is the alleged concealment, or veiling, to be found? In the human imagination alone. Indeed, so far is the gospel from being a secret, or containing secrets, that it glories in being expressly styled a revelation, a divine revelation, But how can that which is a revelation be secret, or [403] unrevealed? The thing is impossible. It is a contradiction in term as well as in fact. Nay, Christ styles himself the Light of the World. But falsely is this title assumed, if he withheld from any individual of that perishing world any information necessary or conducive to his eternal happiness.

      5. It is evident that the deplorable state of mind described in verse. 12th of Mark and verse 13th of Matthew, neither did nor could arise from Christ's unexplained parables. It existed before they were uttered, and continued unaltered after their meaning was publicly announced. We must, therefore, look for its cause somewhere else, and we may readily trace it, in part, to that want of religious information which all human beings bring into the world with them; but principally to the misinformation (concerning the Messiah's person, office, character, and reign, and the means of salvation) by which the Jewish clergy had for many generations instilled their errors, prejudices, and bigotry, into the minds of an illiterate multitude, and misled them.

      6. As the lamentable state of mind just mentioned could not be the result of Christ's parables, it is certain he could not have uttered them for the purpose of producing it. The use of the conjunction ina, therefore, in this place, must be, not to express Christ's intention to produce this state of mind, for he never conceived such a malevolent design, but to notify the completion of an ancient prediction, which seems to be introduced here to account for the unfavorable reception with which his new institution was about to meet from mankind, and for this unfavorable reception it does not account very clearly; for from the perverted state of the popular mind at this time did the unworthy treatment of his gospel entirely proceed.

      7. Both Dr. Campbell and King James' Translators seem to have mistaken the relation which subsists between the ta mysteria of Matthew and Luke, and the to mysterion of Mark, and the genitive basileeas which follows and limits them. It is evident the secrets denoted here, do not constitute a part of the new institution or gospel, as their translations import, but relate wholly to its fate or reception in the world, and the passage ought to have been translated, not secrets of the reign, but concerning the reign of God.

      8. As to the question whether there be a moral boundary, or rather, grade of depravity, at which, when a sinner arrives, he becomes irreclaimable by any of the means which God has provided for the liberation of mankind from their present state of guilt and depravity; I think the information contained in sacred writ is not sufficiently explicit to warrant a decision. True it is, that general declarations may be found that seem to indicate the existence of such a state; but they are so indefinite, that it is impossible, when we attempt to ascertain the boundary, to assure ourselves that we have found it. It is, moreover, true that the information offered in sacred writ is sufficient to enlighten the darkest mind, and the motives, which it presents, to affect and reform the most degenerate heart. But still it may be that error and prejudice may have, taken such fast hold of the [404] understanding as to render it impenetrable by divine truth, and vicious propensities and habits, such inveterate possession of the heart, as to render it insensible to the most impressive, and dead to the most impulsive considerations contained in the book of God. At any rate, these general and alarming declarations answer a most important purpose. They warn sinners of their danger, and tend to arrest their progress in guilt and depravity, and deter them from continuing in a state of impenitency.

PHILALETHES.

From the Philadelphia Recorder.

      IN the preceding essay we made some observations upon the fact that professing christians generally, are not sufficiently interested in the subject of an approaching Millennium. The other class to whom we referred are the enemies of Christ, or impenitent sinners generally. At present this class embraces almost the whole family of man. Those who always prefer the popular side of a question feel no hesitation in remaining with the vast majority who oppose the reign of Christ. But they are to recollect that the state of parties will entirely change at a period no more distant than the commencement of the Millennium--that all who now compose their countless legions, must either quietly surrender and join the ranks of the Saviour's triumphing followers, or perish in vainly opposing an Almighty Conqueror. For of the increase of his (Christ's) government and peace there shall be no end. The very principles and worship which multitudes now oppose, or slight, will cover the whole earth. Every impenitent man belongs to a party that must desert from their present leader or be inevitably crushed. Their whole cause is the most utterly hopeless, that we can imagine. Nor is it the less so because they disbelieve such an assertion.

      On this subject, however, there is one very great and very common mistake. Many persons admitting the existence of the two parties, and that they themselves now belong to the one which must be subdued, still seem to expect a translation in their own case, to the conquering ranks before the hour of trial, though utterly uncertain as to the means of its accomplishment. They are, perhaps, so utterly deceived as to imagine themselves waiting with christian resignation for a time when God will convert them, though in the mean time they constantly reject all the offers of mercy, and virtually set at nought all the threatenings of the Most High. Such persons ought to consider that it is in their own option whether they will enter the service of Christ or remain in their present allegiance. Soldiers are not drafted against their own consent in this warfare, nor are they ever forced out of service on either side. It is equally true that our Saviour refuses none who offer to enlist under his banners; and to those who do not thus offer, he says, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." It is a case, then, where each person [405] voluntarily decides for himself, and can blame none but himself for an eternally wrong choice. God now sits upon a throne of mercy. The court is open for all who have business to transact previous to their final arraignment at the bar of justice. A Mediator is waiting to prefer all petitions and manage all causes for sinners, in this court of mercy. Pardons may be procured with the sign manual of the Judge--pardons that may be plead at the judgment bar with perfect safety. All, therefore, who expect to plead guilty at this last and final trial, are invited to procure the pardon as the only possible means of escaping the sentence to the second and endless death.

      In reference to the progress of Christ's kingdom as a subject in which impenitent sinners are deeply concerned, the concluding paragraph of "the Natural History of Enthusiasm" seems very appropriate. The author, referring to the argument drawn from prophecy, for the final triumphs of the gospel, remarks thus:--"Yet in passing this subject, it may be suggested to those who, notwithstanding that they admit the truth of christianity, instantly deride genuine piety whenever it comes in their way, that though the apparent course of events seems to indicate a general improvement, such as would give time to oppugners to choose the wiser part, and to range themselves quietly in the train of the conquering religion, the terror of scriptural predictions holds out a different prospect, and gives great reason to suppose that the final triumph of the gospel is to be ushered in by some sudden and vindictive visitation, which shall arrest impiety in its full career, and deny forever to the then impenitent the option of making a better choice."

C. S. A.

From the National [Philadelphia] Gazette.

      IT is, we fear, an unquestionable fact, that religion, considered as an intellectual subject, is, in a great measure, left to a particular body of men, as a professional concern; and the fact is as much to be wondered at as deplored. It is wonderful that any mind, and especially a superior one, should not see in religion the highest object of thought. It is wonderful that the infinite God, the noblest theme of the universe, should be considered as a monopoly of professed theologians; that a subject so vast, awful, and exalting, as our relation to the Divinity, should be left to technical men, to be handled so much for sectarian purposes. Religion is the property and dearest interest of the human race. Every man has an equal concern in it. It should be rescued from all the factions which have seized upon it as their particular possession. Men of the highest intellect should feel, that, if there be a God, then his character and our relation to him throw all other subjects into obscurity, and that the intellect, if not consecrated to him, can never attain its true use, its full dimensions, and its proper happiness. Religion, if it be true, is central truth, and all knowledge, which is not gathered round it, and quickened and illuminated by it, is hardly worthy the name. To this great theme we would summon all orders of mind--the scholar, the statesman, the student of nature, and the observer of life. It is a subject to which every faculty and every acquisition may pay tribute, which may receive aids and lights from the accuracy of the logician, from the penetrating spirit of philosophy, from the intuitions of genius, from the researches of history, from the science of the mind, from physical sciences, [406] from every branch of criticism, and though last not least, from the spontaneous suggestions and the moral aspirations of pure but unlettered men.

      It is a fact which shocks us, and which shows the degraded state of religion, that not a few superior minds look down upon it as a subject beneath their investigation. Though allied with all knowledge, and especially with that of human nature and human duty, it is regarded as a separate and an inferior study, particularly fitted to the gloom of a convent, and the seclusion of a minister. Religion is still confounded, in many gifted minds, with the jargon of monks and the subtleties and strifes of theologians. It is thought a mystery, which, far from coalescing, wars with our other knowledge. It is never ranked with the sciences which expand and adorn the mind. It is regarded as a method of escaping future ruin, not as a vivifying truth through which the intellect and heart are alike to be enlarged. Its bearing on the great objects of thought and the great interests of life is hardly suspected. "This degradation of religion into a technical study, this disjunction of it from morals, from philosophy, from the various objects of liberal research, has done it infinite injury, has checked its progress, has perpetuated errors which gathered round it in times of barbarism and ignorance; has made it a mark for the sophistry and ridicule of the licentious, and has infused a lurking scepticism into many powerful understandings Nor has religion suffered alone. The whole mind is darkened by the obscuration of the central light. Its reasonings and judgments become unstable through want of this foundation to rest upon. Religion is to the whole sphere of truth, what God is to the universe; and in dethroning it, or confining it to a narrow range, we commit very much such an injury on the soul, as the universe would suffer, were the Infinite Being to abandon it, or to contract his energy to a small province of his creation.

      The injury done to literature by divorcing it from religion, is a topic worthy of separate discussion. Literature has thus lost power and permanent interest. It has become, in a great measure, superficial--an image of transient modes of thought and of arbitrary forms of life--not the organ and expression of immutable truth, and of deep workings of the soul. We beg not to be misunderstood. We have no desire that literature should confine itself wholly or chiefly to religious topics, and we hardly know a greater calamity which it could incur, than by degenerating into religious cant. Next to profaneness, we dread the affectation of piety and the mechanical repetition of sacred phraseology. We only lament that literature has been so generally an utterance of minds which have not lived, thought, and written under the light of a rational and sublime faith. Severed from this, it wants the principle of immortality. We do not speak lightly when we say, that all works of the intellect, which have not in some measure been quickened by the spirit of religion, are doomed to perish or to lose their power; and that genius is preparing for itself a sepulchre, when it disjoins itself from the Universal Mind. Religion is not always to remain in its present dark, depressed condition. Already there are signs of a brighter day. It begins to be viewed more generously. It is gradually attracting to itself superior understandings. It is rising from the low rank of a professional, technical study, and asserting its supremacy among the objects of the mind. A new era, we trust, is opening upon the world, and all literature will feel its power. In proportion as the true and sublime conception of God shall unfold itself in the soul, and shall become there a central sun, shedding its beams on all objects of thought, there will be a want of sympathy with all works which have not been quickened by this heavenly influence. It will be felt that the poet has known little of nature; that he has seen it only under clouds, if he has not seen it under this celestial light. It will be felt that man, the great subject of literature, when viewed in separation from his Maker and his end, can be as little understood and portrayed, as a plant torn from the soil in which it grew, and cut off from communication with the cloud, and sun.

      We are aware that objections will spring up to the doctrine, that all literature should be produced under the influence of religion. We shall be told, that in this way literature will lose all variety and spirit; that a monotonous and solemn [407] hue will spread itself over writing, and that a library will have the air of a tomb, We do not wonder at this fear. Religion has certainly been accustomed to speak in sepulchral tones, and to wear any aspect but a bright and glowing one. It has lost its free and various movement. But let us not ascribe to its nature what has befallen it from adverse circumstances. The truth is, that religion, justly viewed, surpasses all other principles in giving a free and manifold action to the mind. It recognizes in every faculty and sentiment the workmanship of God, and assigns a sphere of agency to each. It takes our whole nature under its guardianship, and with a parental love ministers to its inferior as well as higher gratifications. False religion mutilates the soul, sees evil in our innocent sensibilities, and rules with a tyrant's frown and rod. True religion is a mild and lawful sovereign, governing to protect, to give strength, to unfold all our inward resources. We believe, that under its influence, literature is to pass its present limits, and to put itself forth in original forms of composition. Religion is of all principles most fruitful, multiform, and unconfined. It is sympathy with that Being who seems to delight in diversifying the modes of his agency, and the products of his wisdom and power. It does not chain us to a few essential ditties, or express itself in a few unchanging modes of writing. It has the liberality and munificence of nature, which not only produces the necessary root and grain, but pours forth fruits and flowers. It has the variety and bold contrasts of nature, which, at the foot of the awful mountain, scoops out the freshest, sweetest valleys, and embosoms in the wild, troubled ocean, islands, whose. vernal airs, and loveliness, and teeming fruitfulness, almost breathes the joys of Paradise. Religion will accomplish for literature what it most needs, that is, will give it depth, at the same time that it heightens its grace and beauty. The union of these attributes is most to be desired. Our literature is lamentably superficial, and to some the beautiful and the superficial even seem to be naturally conjoined. Let not beauty be so wronged. It resides chiefly in profound thoughts and feelings. It overflows chiefly in the writings of poets, gifted with a sublime and piercing vision. A beautiful literature springs from the depth and fulness of intellectual and moral life, from an energy of thought and feeling, to which nothing, as we believe, ministers so largely as enlightened religion.

      So far from monotonous solemnity overspreading literature in consequence of the all-pervading influence of religion, we believe that the sportive and comic forms of composition, instead of being abandoned, will only be refined and improved. We know that these are supposed to he frowned upon by piety; but they have their root in the constitution which God has given us, and ought not therefore to be indiscriminately condemned. The propensity to wit and laughter does, indeed, through excessive indulgence, often issue in a character of heartless levity, low mimicry, or unfeeling ridicule. It often seeks gratification in regions of impurity, throws a gaiety round vice, and sometimes even pours contempt on virtue. But though often and mournfully perverted, it is still a gift of God, and may and ought to minister, not only to innocent pleasure, but to the intellect and the heart. Man was made for relaxation as truly as for labor; and by a law of his nature, which has not received the attention it deserves, he finds, perhaps, no relaxation so restorative as that in which he reverts to his childhood, seems to forget his wisdom, leaves the imagination to exhilarate itself by sportive inventions, talks of amusing incongruities in conduct and events, smiles at the innocent eccentricities and odd mistakes of those whom he most esteems, indulges himself in arch allusions and kind-hearted satire, and transports himself into a world of ludicrous combinations. We have said that on these occasions the mind seems to put off its wisdom: but the truth is, that in a pure mind, wisdom retreats, if we may say so, to its centre, and there unseen, keep, guard over this transient folly, draws delicate lines which are never to be passed in the freest moments, and, like a judicious parent watching the sports of childhood, preserves a stainless innocence of soul in the very exuberance of gaiety. This combination of moral power with wit and humor, with comic conceptions and irrepressible laughter, this union of mirth [408] and virtue, belongs to an advanced stage of the character; and we believe, that in proportion to the diffusion of an enlightened religion, this action of the mind will increase, and will overflow in composition, which, joining innocence to sportiveness, will communicate unmixed delight. Religion is not at variance with occasional mirth. In the same character, the solemn thought and the sublime emotions of the improved christian, may be joined with the unanxious freedom, buoyancy, and gaiety of early years.

      We will add but one more illustration of our views. We believe that the union of religion with genius will favor that species of composition to which it may seem at first to be least propitious. We refer to that department of literature which has for its object the delineation of the stronger and more terrible and guilty passions. Strange as it may appear, these gloomy and appalling features of our nature may be best comprehended and portrayed by the purest and noblest minds. The common idea is that overwhelming emotions, the more they are experienced, can the more effectually be described. We have one strong presumption against this doctrine. Tradition leads us to believe that Shakspeare, though he painted so faithfully and fearfully the storms of passion, was a calm and cheerful man. The passions are too engrossed by their objects to meditate on themselves; and none are more ignorant of their growth and subtle workings than their own victims. Nothing reveals to us the secrets of our own souls like religion; and in disclosing to us, in ourselves, the tendency of passion to absorb every energy, and to spread its hues over every thought, it gives us a key to all souls; for in all, human nature is essentially one, having the same spiritual elements, and the same grand features. No man, it is believed, understands the wild and irregular motions of the mind, like him in whom a principle of divine order has begun to establish peace. No man knows the horror of thick darkness which gathers over the slave's vehement passion, like him who is rising into the light and liberty of virtue. There is, indeed, a selfish shrewdness, which is thought to give a peculiar and deep insight into human nature. But the knowledge, of which it boasts, is partial, distorted, and vulgar, and wholly unfit for the purposes of literature. We value it little. We believe that no qualification avails so much to a knowledge of human nature in all its forms, in its good and evil manifestations, as that enlightened, celestial charity, which religion alone inspires; for this establishes sympathies between us and all men, and thus makes them intelligible to us. A man, imbued with this spirit, alone contemplates vice as it really exists, and as it ought always to be described. In the most depraved fellow-beings he sees partakers of his own nature. Amidst the terrible ravages of the passions, he sees conscience, though prostrate, not destroyed nor wholly powerless. He sees the proofs of an unextinguished moral life, in inward struggles, in occasional relentings, in sighings for lost innocence, in reviving throbs of early affections, in the sophistry by which the guilty mind would become reconciled to itself, in remorse, in anxious forebodings, in despair, perhaps in studied recklessness and cherished self-forgetfulness. These conflicts between the passions and the moral nature, are the most interesting subjects in the branch of literature to which we refer, and we believe that to portray them with truth and power, the man of genius can find in nothing such effectual aid, as in the developement of the moral and religious principles in his own breast.

      We have given but a superficial view of a great subject. The connexion of religion with intellect and literature is yet to be pointed out. We conclude by expressing our conviction that the human mind will become more various, piercing, and all comprehending, more capable of understanding and expressing the solemn and the sportive, the terrible and the beautiful, the profound and the tender, in proportion as it is illuminated and penetrated by the true knowledge of God. Genius, intellect, imagination, taste, and sensibility, must all be baptized into religion, or they will never know, and can never make known their real glory and important power. [409]

      THE Jews will, in their unconverted state, actually and literally return to their own land before Jesus Christ appears to destroy the Man of Sin by the glory or power of his coming. So reads the first of the four propositions submitted in our last; to the proof of which we now advance, with this single preliminary, that we shall, in due order, show, 1st. That the Jews will return. 2d. That they will return in an unconverted state.

      1st. The Jews will actually and literally return to their own land. To feel the full force of the many things which we have got to say in support of this part of our proposition, the reader must indulge us with a hearing, while we state to him, from Scripture, the dismemberment of the Jewish nation at the accession of Rehoboam to the throne of his father Solomon, about the year of the world 3000. On this subject we are informed (1 Kings, xi. 29.) that Jeroboam, a servant to Solomon and a man of valor, rebelled against the King: "And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the Prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment: and they two were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces; and he said to Jeroboam take thee ten pieces, for thus saith The Lord God of Israel, Behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes; but he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel." All this came to pass in the days of Rehoboam; for Jeroboam having returned from Egypt, whither he had been driven by Solomon, "it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him King over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah." 1 Kings, xii. 20. So Jeroboam reigned at Shechem, in Mount Ephraim, over the ten tribes, and Rehoboam at Jerusalem over Judah and Benjamin. "And there was war between Jeroboam and Rehoboam all the days of his life." xv. 6.

      Jeroboam, however, proved himself wholly unworthy of the rank to which the Most High exalted him; and his reign, with all that followed, was distinguished for the most unheard-of profligacy and idolatry, until the elevation of Hoshea, son of Elab, when God sent against the ten tribes Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who took their capital, Samaria, "and earned away to Assyria all Israel, and placed them in (the towns of) Halah and Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;" from whence, as is allowed on all hands, they never returned into their own land. But that they will yet return we shall now show by many distinct prophecies; and first we shall begin with Hoshea, who predicted the captivity of the ten tribes long before it occurred, as he has also foretold their restoration to the land of their fathers in the latter days. iii. 4. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, [410] and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

      Jeremiah who lived after the dispersion of the ten tribes, which were usually styled "Israel," predicts their return thus: (ch. iii. 12.) "Go and proclaim these words towards the North, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and will not keep anger for ever; only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree; and you have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers." Chap. xvi. 14. "Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of the north, and from all lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land which I gave unto their fathers!" [See also 23d, 30th, 31st, 32d, and 33d chapters of the same prophecies.]

      The manner of their return is made known to us by Hoshea: "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel" [See also chapters 2d, 3d, and 13th of this Prophet.] The Lord says by Ezekiel, "Behold I, even I will both search my sheep and seek them out."' ch. xxxiv. 11. [See also chapters 11, 16, 20, 29, 36, and 37, where the unity of the two houses of Judah and Israel is predicted as follows:] "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." But it may be asked, Where are they to be found, for men have searched the most remarkable portions of the earth for them in vain? Jeremiah relieves us from all difficulty here; for although hid from human sight, they are not beyond the reach of [411] God's eye. "For," says he, "mine eyes are upon all their ways, they are not hid from my sight, neither is their iniquities hid from mine eyes." Chap. xvi. verse 16. "Behold I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." From this last expression it is possible the ten tribes are now in some of the high and yet unexplored table lands of central and northern Asia, or they may be the American Indians; at all events, there are many portions of this globe the geography of which is but inadequately understood. Let Infidelity look to this, and be afraid; let Scepticism and Atheism hide their diminished heads when the Lord does this great miracle before men. Who but God could have kept a nation from coming to an end after such a prostration of every thing national? But it is written by the Eternal, "Fear not, O my servant Jacob! saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel! for, lo! I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." Where are the Assyrians, the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Carthagenians, the Sidonians? They perished with the loss of their nationality; but of the Jews it is said, and it has been verified, "Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee." Talk not about their long protracted dispersion. With the Eternal one day is as a thousand, and a thousand years as one day. For "thus saith the Lord who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night, who divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of Hosts is his name: If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." ch. xxxi. 35. The Most High will yet terribly convulse the unbelieving world, and those who presumptuously in christendom have cast off the yoke of Messiah, and have denied God; yea, and "all the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me; therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hands of their enemies." Ezek. xxxix. 23. Many grand things shall occur when God shall have done this, as will be shown in due time; but we must not anticipate. However, take this single bunch of grapes, O reader! as an antepast of the feast of fat things to come--of wines on the lees--of wines on the lees well refined. "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, "Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord [412] of Hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." Zech. viii. 20. [See also chapters 1st, 2d, 4th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th, and 14th of the same prophecy.] Malachi, Zechariah, and Haggai prophesied after the two tribes had returned from Babylon, and the Apostle Paul quotes the last to prove that one, and only one more great revolution shall take place in favor of the true religion: "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." So much for the first part of our proposition, viz. that the Jews will actually and literally return to their own land; the proof of which we close by a single quotation from Amos, who, it is supposed, was contemporary with Hoshea, and who, after predicting their dispersion and their preservation in that state, ends his prophecy with these words, "I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit thereof; and I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of the land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."

      The second part of our proposition is, that they shall return to their own land in an unconverted state. It was noticed in the public journals some time ago that the celebrated Irving and sundry others of the London preachers had come out on this side, and that the public declaration of their sentiments had taken very sensible effect on the friends of the London Missionary Society for converting the Jews; many, if not all of the Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Lords, Viscounts, Esquires, and Gentlemen of the Realm, having withdrawn their subscriptions. Of the Prophets who have spoken of the restoration of the Temple service, Ezekiel is the one who has been most minute; for he describes particularly the form and size of the Temple, the duties of the Priesthood; the daily, weekly, and annual services; the Prince's offering, with the feasts, fasts, tithing, &c. &c. and terminates his prophecy by a detailed account of the new and beautiful manner in which the land of Canaan is to be laid out in parallel strips, running from the Mediterranean sea back to the river Jordan. The Jews never have been located in their land in the manner described by this Prophet. (See chapters 45th, 47th, and 48th.) Ezekiel says that the name of their city from that day shall be "the Lord is there;" but how, indeed, should any one hope to see the Jews converted before their return to Judea, when even now we know not where the mass of them exists; the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are, indeed, found in all the trading ports of Europe, Asia, and America; but instead of looking towards the christian religion with any favor, they abhor it and all its professors, and are even now many of them setting their faces towards Jerusalem and the land of their fathers. The following notice of this has run the rounds of the English and American journals.

      "A letter from Mr. Wolff, the celebrated missionary to the Jews, dated Cyprus, July 15, states that when he was at Jaffa last summer, [413] about one hundred Jews, chiefly old men and women, arrived at that place, from Constantinople, on their way to Jerusalem, where they were going to remain until death." A gentleman of equal respectability, writing from Constantinople more recently, says, that he "heard of a great number of ships being hired by the Jews to convey them to Jerusalem. He found they were going in expectation of the near coming of their Messiah. He adds that thousands of families were preparing to embark from all quarters." Another letter from the south of Europe, dated last November, confirms these statements, and adds that "their expectations of the Messiah is the reason openly given;" at all events, it is certain that great numbers have actually embarked, whatever may be the motive that has influenced them.

      That they will remain unconverted until the Saviour comes to open their eyes, is noticed by the Apostle, Rom. xi. 25. "For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." It would appear from this that Jesus personally is to turn away ungodliness from the Jewish nation. "This is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins."

      These are a few of the proofs which go to sustain our first proposition. When the second comes upon the carpet, they will be more felt and better understood by the reader, to whom this developement may be altogether new.

DANIEL.

      THIS Association held its last meeting in Austintown, Trumbull County, Ohio. Such has been the efficiency of the gospel in the district of country over which the churches of this Association are spread, that it has caused to wither almost every sectarianism within and without the congregation composing it. The sects cannot stand before the ancient gospel where fully preached and practised. Those preachers who oppose the ancient gospel in the vicinities, do not only lose their adherents, but they lose the power of converting men to their system. Hence, a visible decline in the power, as well as in the admirers of sectarianism, every where appears in the district of country where the reformation and forgiveness of sins are proclaimed. To convert men to God, the sectaries have no power when this gospel is proclaimed. In a war between sects, that sect which happens to take with the people, will be most successful. But when the sects array themselves against "the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins," they are found like Dagon with broken arms and limbs lying before the covenant of the Lord.

      Such a meeting was not witnessed in the memory of any present, as was the late meeting of churches in Austintown. The first day, Friday, was spent in declaring the wonders which God had wrought [414] in various portions of the Western Reserve by the restoration of the ancient gospel. Songs of praise and tears of joy mingled with these reports, translated us nigher the regions of bliss than we had ever before approached. The next day, finding no business to transact, no queries to answer, nothing to do but "to love, and wonder, and adore," it was unanimously agreed that the Mahoning Association as "an advisory council," as "an ecclesiastical tribunal," exercising any supervision or jurisdiction over particular congregations, should never meet again. This Association came to its end as tranquilly as ever did a good old man whose attenuated thread of life, worn to a hair's breadth, dropped asunder by its own imbecility

than did this Association give up the ghost.

      The whole meeting was engaged for the most part in addresses from the holy scriptures, in exhortations, prayers, praises, and conversions. More than thirty persons were immersed for the remission of sins upon the ground, and after the meeting several more; making, l think, in all forty-three.

      From the intelligence received from all parts of the Association, it appeared that within its bounds, and by the laborers acting under its auspices, during the last year about one thousand persons have been immersed for the remission of sins. This has been about the annual average of conversions for the last three years.

      After the death and burial of "the Association," it was agreed that all the churches should meet on the Friday preceding the last Lord's day in August next in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, for worship, and to report the progress of the gospel in their respective vicinities. This meeting is not made a stated meeting, but it will be optional with the brethren then and there assembled, whether, when, and where, to have another general meeting of the congregations in that district of country.

      About ten public speakers have been partially employed in the conversions of the last year. But of these not one has been constantly in the field. More than half the numbers are farmers I myself labor occasionally in the Word, and most, if not all, the brethren engaged in this work, either in whole or in part, labor with their own hands for their own support. Besides the assistance rendered by some congregations to their own overseers, the actual amount of contributions to those who rode through the Association, did not much exceed five hundred dollars.

      These facts, a part of the statistics of only one district where the ancient gospel is proclaimed, will more fully corroborate the remarks in page 349 on the inefficiency of Presbyterianism. It will appear that the conversion of one soul to Presbyterianism, costs two hundred times as much as the conversion of one soul to the ancient faith and religion. The world must decide the genuineness of the conversion in favor of one or the other of the converts. This their lives must [415] prove. But by looking back into the statistics of the Presbyterian Church, it will appear that the annual expense of that institution, besides the foundation of its schools and colleges, and averaging the annuity of its ministers at 500 dollars each, amounts to more than 1,200,000 per annum, which makes each convert cost that population more than one hundred dollars. In arguing thus, we argue with them on their own principles. We reason with their own logic. Can that institution be of God?

      The efficiency is in the sword of the Spirit. When used according to the tactics of the Captain of Salvation, it is mighty to subdue the King's enemies. This, and not philosophy and humanisms, is what converts the soul. The people are astonished at its efficiency. It not only converts enemies into friends, but teaches them to live holily and unblameably as sons of God. It proves itself to be God's instrument, not merely by its converting power, but by its power to form the life anew. Philosophy, whether Calvinian or Arminian, is as feeble in its sanctifying, as in its converting power. The impetus which it brings is too weak to drive a man from the dominion of the flesh. But the argument of remission, immediate, full, and free, through faith in Jesus' blood, and immersion into his name; the love of God thus made sensible, tangible, and accessible to the penitent, purifies and elevates the affections of men above the allurements of time and sense. Hence, it is that the weapons which God puts into our hands, if rightly used, cannot fail of converting men to God, and of reforming their lives.

      TO inscribe upon these pages the reports, recently received from the most respectable sources, concerning the sayings and doings of those opposed to a restoration of the ancient gospel and order of society, would he to fill up two or three numbers with details the most dishonorable to religion, morals, and even political courtesy, which this century has produced. Materials for a dozen of essays are now on hand, the most appropriate head to which would be, The History of Sin in the 19th Century. Men, in whose profession of christianity we once had confidence, have proved to every spectator that either they never knew the gospel of peace, or, having known it, have apostatized from its dominions. They have formally sacrificed all christian [416] purity and virtue on the altar of their own sectarian ambition; and, as if this were not enough, have let loose their worst passions, like furies, upon those who have proclaimed reformation, and called upon the professed disciples of Christ to practise the things commanded by the Royal Chief of the Christian Army.

      Those who have visited some of the Regular Baptist Associations in the South and West, have taken up their parable and said, with Solomon the King, "I saw the place of judgment, but wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, but iniquity was there." Our opponents, as if they feared we had not arguments enough to plead for reform, to show to the most astute minds that there was need for it, determined to fill our mouths with arguments which cannot fail to carry conviction to every one susceptible of feeling the force of an argument. We have only now to say, Look at the master spirits of Franklin, Elkhorn, Beaver, and Grand River. Those of the two latter, at least some of the most noisy against reform, are published to the world not only as opposers of reform in others, but as grossly immoral men. Some of them, after the most violent efforts against reform; became too rankly immoral for even the churches which sustained them in crying out heresy against us. A gentleman (as courtesy says we ought to call him) who said that if he thought a Christian Baptist (alluding to a number of that periodical) was in the bounds of his churches, he would ride all night to destroy it, figured two or three years ago on the stage of the Grand River Association in denouncing reform, is now, I am told, published in a New York religious paper as excommunicated because of immorality! Think how glaring must be the proofs which excluded a man who is said to have been at the head, or among the heads, of the Baptist denomination in New York! Others who were field marshals under him on that day in the war for orthodoxy, have fallen into similar fates.

      Kentucky has never seen such a spectacle as this year has presented to her. All law, religious, political, and ecclesiastical, has been declared void. In what jeopardy are all rights and immunities, religious and political, in any community which accounts all restraints constitutional, or subordinate, to be dispensed with when one part of the community, whether a majority or a minority, pleases to say, Avaunt, all restraints!

      A certain Doctor opened the campaign. He and his man Dillard have performed the grand visitation, tour, or tournament, as the reader may please to call it. Finding no precedent for the course he supposed "the church in danger" called for, he determined to make a precedent for the benefit of all the Associations. This did the pro re nata meeting and the 39 Articles of Franklin furnish. But fearing the example would not be sufficient, the Doctor and his minister rode the circuit, and told the Associations to look at Franklin. He found a few kindred spirits, and they acted their part in the great drama as good performers.

      I will not now go into details. Kentucky has seen of what manner of spirit the advocates for the present order of things, and "sound [417] doctrine," are. May she profit from the example! And if any will not hearken to our arguments for reform, I hope they will listen to the voice of the sayings and doings of the leaders of the opposition. Let them look to Elkhorn, to South District, and to Franklin, for the spirit and the manners, the religion and morals, of the enemies of the ancient gospel. If what has been said and done by the enemies of reform, will not open the eyes of all impartial spectators, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

      The advocates of reform will do great injustice to the cause which they plead, if they should blush at--nay, if they should not rejoice in reproaches and persecutions from such men. I trust they will do in Kentucky what they have done in other parts--proclaim the gospel, and pray for the conversion of their enemies. In this way all reproaches and persecutions have turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. The heavenly logic and rhetoric is this: "When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear; when defamed, we beseech."

      The friends of the gospel, and of seeing it restored in its ancient simplicity, have nothing to fear from the number or power of its enemies. If they were as cunning, as malicious, and as puissant as Satan, what are they when allied against the Lord of hosts and the panoply of a christian army? The Lord of Sabaoth will be on the side of his own gospel, and they who are with him "are called, and chosen, and faithful."

      The cause we plead is as sure of victory as God reigns. Of this we are as confident as of the mission of the Messiah. No matter who lives or dies, who recants, apostatizes, or falls away, the cause of the ancient gospel is invincible. God has said, "Jesus shall reign until all things are subdued under him;" and the Saviour says, "Upon this rock my family shall stand, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it."

      The victories gained in Franklin, Elkhorn, Grand River, and elsewhere, are most decisive in its favor. Not a single opponent dared to defend his system by argument, nor meet an advocate of restoration, upon the Bible. Their only allies are church councils, creeds, and majorities. Their only arguments are, 'Thus saith the tradition of the elders;' 'thus say our old Preachers;' 'and surely they cannot be mistaken.' And the all-conclusive and irrefragable appeal is, 'This corresponds with our experience.' There is not a writer nor a speaker on the continent, in favor of the present traditions, who can make a better defence than the Elkhorn, Franklin, and Grand River Associations. Like a good lady who proved her conversion and her views by alleging that Jeremiah Vardeman was her spiritual father, that so he taught and so she believed; while brother Vardeman proved his doctrine to be true by an appeal to the experience of the lady: so the people prove their doctrine to be true by appealing to the teachers, and the teachers prove their doctrine to be true by appealing to the people!

EDITOR. [418]

      WHEN one reads the Holy Scriptures with reference to the lives of the original witnesses of christianity, he is confounded with the full measure of their endurance; and is ready to ask what mighty influence sustained them in the midst of such unheard of afflictions, necessities, distresses, stripes, imprisonments, labors, watchings, fastings. Stephen was stoned to death--James was slain with the sword. They were imprisoned, maltreated, banished, while the Captain of the army of the faith was slain and hanged upon a tree. The fact is that the twelve Apostles felt--nay, believed--nay, knew that they were God's children, and their lives the media through which was to be discovered the nature and character of that pure and noble spirit of which they were made partakers when they were adopted into the Eternal's family.

      The Apostles seem greatly to have delighted in this adoption, "Behold," says John, "what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should he called sons of God." The consequences, says he, of such a favor, are to us incomprehensible. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." I have frequently thought that the grand reason why the Apostles arose up, and did, and suffered so much, was, that they lived in the full conviction of this adoption; enjoying the liberties, immunities, privileges, and honors of it withal. We know that we are of God, says John, because he has given to us of his Spirit. They felt they were pardoned, justified, sanctified, redeemed, reconciled, bought, saved, ennobled, made children of a Great King, princes of the family royal of heaven, and inmates of the palace of God. Their faith, therefore, overcome the world; but the world has overcome the faith of our instructers. They have neither the Spirit, nor the renown of the ancients; but, like the dubious prisoner waiting for a reprieve, are divided between hope and fear, incapable of all noble resolve, Awake, ye sons of God! ye princes of the Most High, awake! Your Royal Lord has been betrayed--his cause has been trampled under foot--his witnesses have been cast out as dirt upon the streets--their blood has fattened every soil--all the shades of all the fathers bid you arise! Shall they pass in review before us--shall they beckon us from our earthy attachments, and we refuse to follow them! Let us go forth brethren with our life in one hand, and our Bible in the other, resolved through Christ to redeem his cause, or die! Let us go forth to him who suffered without the camp, bearing our cross.

      A is certainly eloquent, but his style is too humanized to win the approbation of those who, careless of the "words of men's wisdom,"' prefer having the things of the Spirit spoken in words dictated by the Spirit. There is this error, also, in the addresses of A:--He begins a scripture, and too frequently ends with the fathers and philosophy. [419] How A should know that the picture will always be in good keeping so long as the child sports himself with his marbles; but should he affect the same thing with the planets, or even with pieces of rock larger than his own head, he would not fail to become ridiculous, if not dangerous, both to himself and others.

      B is not aware what nature has done to impede his popularity as a public speaker. He has never inquired whether she have given him the power of attaching an audience; and although the public have repeatedly determined this for him in the negative, still he is convinced and willing to hope the best.

      C is somewhat of an orator; but tedious and monotonous. He possesses none of that creative faculty which is necessary to astonish; and none of those turns for imagery and illustration, which are all-powerful to delight and instruct. Upon the whole, C's addresses will be interesting, if they are brief. Happy is that man who ceases to speak when he has nothing to say. A young Greek being asked why he did not reply, answered, What was to the point I could not say; and what was not to the point I would not say.

      D. Nature has done a very great deal for D, and yet his oratory is that of the head rather than the heart. If his speeches are not powerful, they are at least pointed, and sometimes various and impressive--garnished all over with festoons of scripture, culled with discretion from Genesis to Revelation. He does not attach so soon as some speakers; but when he ceases to reason, and begins to feel, all the brethren rejoice. His person is diminutive, and his manners piquant; but he wraps himself up in the bosom of his brethren, and on the wings of love and music, soars aloft to heaven and his Saviour, leaving all the world behind. A bundle of divinity and talent. When he has finished, we think of the little man by whom God broke down the religion of Greece and Rome, hurling the idols from the glory they had usurped, and laying their temples in ruins along the ground. If however, D imagine that nature has made him the wonder and delight of the age, rather than an intelligent and zealous brother in the christian church, he is mistaken. His circumscribed experience, his limited education, the sphere in which he has hitherto moved, with other circumstances, conspire alike to forbid him a higher rank. This, indeed, is enough. "High is the rank we now possess."

      E. The wheels of E's carriage move slow at first, not because they need grease, but because the grease needs to be warmed; as E advances, however, he raises himself on high, bearing along, with him, at a gentle rate, all his audience, until he brings them to the place where he wants to alight, when all confess that if the road has been long, it has also been level and free from stones. The recovery of the ancient gospel has made both a new and a good preacher out of E; and no body is more successful, nor more esteemed for christian virtues than he. With both genteel manners, and a gentlemanly exterior in his favor, what may not E effect, when, with a gospel in his hand, which he loves, and admires, and feels, he goes forth to the conversion of the nations. If brother E's propositions were [420] fewer, his proofs more pointed, his illustrations more showy, and his confutations direct; his speeches would, if not faultless, at least be mostly pleasing, and always profitable.

      F. The head is the ornament and oracle of man. F's head is round, and, compared with his person, small; his eyes full, orbicular, and lively; his forehead receding, round, and mantled by scanty tuft of raven black hair, rushing into petit ringlets; his face round, full, and tinted with a blush of red--nose rather short, and chin small and dimpled; his neck short, and his whole superior conformation apoplectic. F's person is of the middle size, and corpulent. F, whose tout ensemble, is wise and humorous--is naturally an orator, and a man of feeling, and if his education had been as liberal as his mind is piercing and expansive, he must have stood in the first rank of public speakers. When he stammers upon a subject with which he is acquainted, (for like most men of talent he has rather too much indolence, or too much confidence in himself to study) he never fails to interest and instruct. It is then he feels, and it is, too, then his audience feel, and are carried at his will through all the variety of emotion--from the solemn to the sympathetic, and, thence, again, to absolute joy--joy unspeakable and full of glory. F's oratory is naturally that of the head and heart, and nothing is necessary to perfect it but more learning, order, care, and application to study. F has a fine musical voice, and good action; but in some of his speeches, there is more sound than sense; this is his own fault. But F loves his blessed Redeemer, which is better than all; and if they persevere, thousands will love to bless God in Christ Jesus for his labors in preaching and teaching the ancient gospel.

      G. When G moves the harp of Israel, it is to the high songs of creation, redemption, and glory! When his full spirit mingles itself with the theme of nature, we think of the angels who saw the world awake, and "shouted o'er the rising ball." If temporal and spiritual deliverances inform his lyre, we hear the song of Moses and the Lamb. G is a holy man, and feels the deepest interest in the salvation of the human soul; he attaches in a moment, and, in the midst of the great congregation, goeth forth like a lamp that burneth. When he casteth abroad the terrors of the Lord, the tallest trees of wickedness are scathed. When he beateth up the thickets of sin, sinners flee away or die; and, in his prayers, he maketh heaven and earth to mingle into one. Inclining to the fleshy, with a deep and sonorous voice, his person tall, and his countenance impressive, he taketh his stand upon Mount Calvary, and there he reasoneth not; (and it is not necessary) but there his own soul, yea, and all souls, in groans that cannot he uttered, are poured forth, sanctified by all tears and contrition. Now it is that sinners come forth from their hiding places, and cry to be saved, G cannot reason, but his thoughts, which always look as if they were instinctive, are, at once, glooming and profound. He is rather a moral than an intellectual being, and fills the heart rather than enlightens the head.

PHILIP. [421]

      SIMILAR causes produce similar effects. The gospel preached by the Apostles, and believed by their hearers, produced fruits in the hearts, and fruits in the lives of men, differing far from the fruits of any system, religious or moral, ever promulged among men. The same gospel, believed, will produce the same fruits, as certainly as any system now on earth, taught or believed, produces its own effects. The system and the fruits are as inseparable as life and motion. Methodism, Quakerism, and Presbyterianism, produce as different fruits, in those who cordially embrace these systems, and fire imbued with them, as chestnut, hickory, and oak, The disciples of each system are as like one another as the acorns which grow on one tree; or as the coins which are issued from the same mint. This is said with respect to the genuine and unfeigned creatures of these systems. They are not all Israel who are of Israel, neither are they all Methodists who are of Methodism.

      I speak not of the outward man only, but of the effects of the system. 'Tis not the Methodistic habit, nor the Quaker's style, nor the Presbyterian modes and forms, but the spirit and soul of these systems in the heart, or within men. For as the kingdom of heaven, or rather the reign of heaven, is in men; so is the reign of Methodism, Quakerism, and Presbyterianism in men. The family likeness is not only in the persons, but in the dispositions of the children. Differing in what constitutes personal identity, they harmonize in the family characteristics. They argue falsely who approbate their experience; because of its resemblance to those of the same school. They must first prove the system to be divine, before the similarity of their feelings, sentiments, or experiences, can be urged as consolatory to themselves, or demonstrative to others. How absurd and deceptious, then, is the assurance which a person feels that he is a christian, because his experience accords with the experience of a hundred persons, who are, with him, the creatures of one system, the pupils of the same school, and children of the same religious family.

      If men, we have said, believed the same gospel, sincerely and cordially believed it, which the first converts believed, they would, under the same circumstances, experience and exhibit the same influences and results. This proposition, we presume, needs no proof. Many do not believe the same gospel, but another gospel; and, consequently, their experience varies from the ancient experiences, as much as the modern gospels vary from the ancient gospel. But that the true christian may be discovered from the counterfeit, and that all who wish to try their experience, and prove it by a safe standard, may be directed to safe, infallible criteria, I proceed to offer some of the items of christian experience, without which no person can have any rational pretences to he a christian.

      All true christians, as always did all true saints, tremble at the Word of God. Thus says the Lord--"To this man will I look, even to him who is of an humble and contrite spirit, and trembles at my [422] Word." No evidence of genuine conversion to God is more insisted on in all the Book of God--none more unequivocal, none more difficult to counterfeit than this. Men may he more easily deceived in their zeal, in their love, in their hopes, in their joys, or in the causes and objects of them, than in this. The object is one in which there can be no mistake. Veneration for the Word of God, and trembling regard for it, is a principle of action so discoverable in its operations, so peculiar in its developements, so distinguishable in contrast from every other principle, that the most deliberate neglect, to what passes in the mind, is necessary to make deception possible.

      Love for the Word of God, reverence for it, impelled the Apostles to exclaim, in an early part of their christian life, "Lord to whom shall we go, but to thee: for thou hast the words of eternal life?" When the Lord described the citizens of his kingdom in his good confession before Pilate, he chose to designate them by this character--"Every one who is of the truth, (my subject) hearkens to my voice." And when John wrote his 1st Epistle, full of the christian characteristics, he relates this, "We Apostles are of God; he that is of God hearkens to us." To hearken, in the Hebrew idiom, is to reverence, so as to obey.

      To the spiritual taste of all saints, the following words accord: "The Law, or Word, of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired is the Word of the Lord than gold; yea, than much fine gold; sweeter, also, than honey and the honeycomb. Happy the man who meditates thereon day and night."

      Jesus said. "He that is of God heareth God's words" They who hear not God's words, are not of God. "My sheep hear my voice." John makes this the best test of the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error. Hence, he adds. "By this we know the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error." By what? By this:--"He that is of God hears us: he that is not of God hears us not." Now, from these premises, may we not conclude, that a veneration for, a delight in, and submission to, the Word of God, is an infallible test of christian character, an essential attribute of christian experience?

      By this test, let those who tell their experience, try themselves. "O! how I love thy testimonies! they are my study all the day--As the infant longs for its mother's breast, so does my soul desire the unadulterated milk of the Word: yea, as the thirsty hart pants for the cooling streams, so longs my soul for the Word of the Lord." Is not this the language of your heart, disciple of the Lord? If so, assuredly the holy writings are your counsellors--on them you ponder with delight--to them you look for direction, and a "thus says the Lord" decides every doubt.

      The converts made by momentary excitement--made by false gospels--made by mere appeals to the passions, are remarkable for [423] nothing so much as their disregard for the sacred writings, and their frequent apostacies. While those who intelligently enlist under the banners of the great Captain of Salvation, and in the belief of the ancient gospel, submit to the righteousness of God, receive the remission of their sins, and vow allegiance to the Lord, are remarkable for their veneration for the Oracle, and love to the testimony of God. You will find them addicted to the constant reading of the sacred writing, and extremely scrupulous upon what authority they lend their ear, or their assent to any proposition, affecting their christian faith or practice.

      Never could I form a favorable opinion of any man professing christianity, whether teacher or taught, who manifested the least apathy or indifference on any question involving the authority upon which he believed, or observed any religious institution. When the question is, How will this pass with the multitude? How will the elders relish this? when these arguments avail to the support of any doctrine or practice, then I am ready to say with Abraham on another occasion, and with more certainty too--"Surely the fear of God is not in this place." Let God be true, though it should prove every man a liar. The purity and chastity of every woman, are to be suspected who appears more sedulous to please every gentleman than her husband. And he that studies to please men more than God, of all other men, gives the least evidence of a conscience pure, and of a religious veneration for the Word of Eternal Life.

      As I have never found a christian strongly marked with the attributes of christian character, careless about, or a negligent reader of, the living and efficacious oracles; so I have never found a christian like Nathaniel of unquestionable character, and guileless pretensions, who did not spend much time in reading and admiring the life-giving Word. And if every unfeigned christian under heaven were to tell his christian experience, and to give utterance full, and express to the feelings of his heart, he would say;--"O how I love thy Word! it is my study all the day. It is more precious to me than rubies--it is sweeter to my soul than honey, and the honeycomb."

EDITOR.

      MANY communications, such as the following, have been received at this office. This was received since writing the "Request," page 429; and, coming up so exactly to the information we require, I publish it. We cannot promise to publish the letters in full, but from them to extract such information as they may contain. While we have so much opposition to contend with, we are daily comforted with the many animating communications received from all parts of the country.

EDITOR. [424]

Hopkinsville, Christian County, Ky. August 27, 1830.

BROTHER CAMPBELL,

      BEING engaged in the work of disinterring primitive christianity from the heaps of antichristian rubbish, I doubt not but it will be a source of joy and rejoicing to you to hear of the rapid march and glorious triumphs of the ancient gospel. That you, as well as all who love our common Lord, may "thank God and take courage," I write you this letter.

      The church at Noah Springs, established some eighteen months or two years ago, upon the New Testament, has greatly increased her members, and is still increasing. Some are added almost every Lord's day. It commenced with twenty-eight members. They now number about ninety. They have done away their monthly Saturday meetings, and now meet every first day of the week. Their order is as follows:--After meeting early, say between 9 and 10 o'clock, they engage in singing hymns of praise to their exalted King. Next, an appropriate prayer is offered by one of the Elders or Bishops, (for they have four selected from among themselves.) An opportunity is then afforded to any who wish to make a profession of their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. If any come forward upon such profession, they are immersed into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and then they are received into the congregation as fellow-disciples. One of the Elders then instructs the congregation from some portion of the Holy Oracles. Afterwards an exhortation by one of the others is delivered. The Deacons then prepare and furnish the table. One of the Elders, after singing an appropriate hymn, prays, and then breaks the bread. In like manner the wine is poured; and all who have been legally naturalized, and deport themselves as disciples, are authorized to participate, without regard to any human theory or ism, to commemorate and show forth the Lord's, death. A hymn is then sung, and the brethren greet each other as fellow-disciples, by a shake of the hand, and then retire.

      I have witnessed the order of many churches, but never witnessed a band of christians more strongly united in christian love. Every face appears to be lighted up with heavenly joy. It looks, indeed, as though they were kindred souls, being members of one body; comforted and guided by one Spirit; called to one glorious hope; serving one Lord; having one faith; submitting to one immersion; having one God and common Father, who is over them all, with them all, and in them all. Almost all who witness their order are constrained to say, "See how these Christians love!" Crowds attend them from all quarters. Human opinions and speculations they discard. The sublime facts of the gospel are the theme of their tongues--the Joy of their hearts. Though they lay no stress upon opinions, they are, as far as I have understood, more united in opinion than any people who profess religion I have ever seen. When any of their members are afflicted, all sympathize with him; when any are happy, all rejoice. I have been made to exclaim, O! the renovating, the purifying, the ennobling powers of the "ancient gospel!" may it run and be glorified from the rivers to the ends of the whole earth; till antichrist and antichristian corruption shall be banished forever from the earth, and until every knee shall bend, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! If such results are produced by your labors, in turning men's minds to the Book of God from fables and dreams, may the great God speed you in them!

      Apropos.--There is a church in Caldwell county, I am informed, that has been racked and torn about the delectable theory, whether the devil is self-created and eternal, or whether God made him. They belong to the Little River Association, and are Particulars. Query--Would it not be a good thing to get Dr. Noel to come down and "settle the harsh" with them by a little epitome of what the Scriptures teach? They would hear him.

      I will now give you some idea of the situation of the churches composing the Bethel Association. The members of this Association are generally men of liberal minds. I do not suppose that the teachers of this Association, as a body, can be excelled by any Association in Kentucky for intelligence and [425] christian piety, and I am truly hopeful they are looking forward to a thorough reformation. It would he more than I would have time to do, to name each church and their situation; but, sir, I will give you a succinct history of the teachers who labor among them, and leave you to draw your inferences.

      We will begin with Elder Reuben Ross. He has been much blessed by his Creator in the natural endowments of his mind: a man of strong reasoning powers; of a smooth, easy address. His discourses are mostly of a practical character. Under his administrations of the word the lukewarm and mammon-loving christian feels and trembles in prospect of approaching judgment. In his addresses to sinners he is certainly great. The deep solemnity of his appearance, the sympathy and benevolence of his heart, manifested by the flowing tear, united with his plain and forcible manner in exhibiting the evidences of truth, make the rebellious sinner bow before God, and sue for mercy.--When on the subject of a lost soul, the awful consequence of neglecting the salvation of God, he reminds me of good old Jeremiah when he said, "Oh! that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night over the slain of the daughter of my people!" From the few times I have heard him, I do not hesitate to say, that he preaches the ancient gospel with but little exception. He teaches by taking a whole connexion; and you know this way will not answer to support systems. He is able and convincing.

      Elder William Tandy has not preached for some considerable time. He is a man of great piety. He is respected and beloved by all. In his manners he is kind, conciliatory, and affectionate. He is truly a beloved disciple. No real christian can avoid loving him. From information, he is in sentiment with Fuller, and much attached to creeds, I am told one or two numbers of the Chronicle were sent to him; but from its scurrility and abuse, he returned them to the Editor.

      Elder William Warder I have heard twice from the stand, upon faith, the operations of the Spirit, and the sufficiency of the word. He is clear, and I should pronounce him a proclaimer of the "ancient gospel." He is truly argumentative, and much beloved for his piety and devotion.

      Elder Robert Rutherford is a Scotchman by birth; professed religion in Scotland or England, and was there, as I have been informed, attached to a congregation that were called Sandemanians; and, until he came to America, never was a member of a church that had a creed other than the New Testament. In his address plain and affable; somewhat reserved and diffident in private intercourse. He insults no man's opinions; he blackens no man's character; he flies from discord as a deadly poison; peace and quietude appear to be his native element. He is a close student of the Scriptures. In his public exhibitions he is lucid and interesting. His Scotch brogue, and the clear manner in which he illustrates the subject before him, attract and fix the attention of his audience as by a charm. I have heard him frequently, and consider him an able advocate of the "ancient order of things." As to his deportment, I can say, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!"

      Elder John S. Wilson is much respected; not so eminent for his reasoning powers as for his happy gift of exhortation. His zeal is great. He prides himself in affecting the passions more than in enlightening the judgment. He takes great pleasure in lashing the hypercalvinist, but a little more in abusing you and your views of the gospel. From what I have heard from him in public and private, he considers the man or woman who adopts your views as lost beyond the power of redemption, and the man who inculcates the "ancient gospel" as pointing sinners to fire and pain. He appears to dwell with peculiar delight upon the strifes, discords, &c produced by your writings; represents the churches in the upper part of this state as bleeding at every pore in consequence thereof. He is Fuller "up to the hub." With him it is, No physical energy--No religion. He seems to idolize creeds and confessions of faith, though when he lets fighting alone, he has read the Christian Baptist so much he cannot help giving your views, and at those times preaches quite heterodox, [426] according to his views of heterodoxy at other times. But, upon the whole, he is a useful and much admired man.

      Elder Isaiah Boone is a close, logical reasoner; a man of fine fancy; of warm feelings; of great patience; communicative and instructive in private intercourse; fond of innocent satire. In his public exhibitions he shows himself a master workman. The cogency of his reasoning, the beauty of his imagery, his happy illustrations, added to his fine flowing language, elevate him in the estimation of all. The beauties of the gospel appear of late to have burst upon his mind like a column of light, and he seems enraptured with its glories. I have heard him upon faith, the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of man, and the all-sufficiency of the word. On these subjects, and many others, he is like Sampson among the Philistines. He has come out full in favor of Reformation He is truly an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures.

      Elder ------ Adams, I presume, you know. He is also an able reformer--a useful and an eminent man.

      William T. Major is also a useful proclaimer of the "ancient gospel." I might name others.

      And last, though not least, is Elder James A. Lindsey, (who, by the bye, belongs to no Association,) under whose care and labors the Noah Springs Church has grown up. He is clear, forcible, mild, and conciliatory, and is truly doing much good for the churches.

      There are some other churches that have commenced reformation. The truth is rapidly spreading. I could give you much interesting information in addition to the above, but my sheet is full.

      I am, my dear brother, yours in the hope of immortality.

STEPHEN.

      GREAT is the love for titles in this reformed republican country. All acknowledge that a love for epithets of honor and titular distinction betrays great weakness and folly, however this passion may be associated with intellectual endowments. The English statesman is not more perplexed to find out new subjects of taxation, than the good people of this country to find out and obtain honorable titles. This passion has, like the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, invaded what is here called "the church." Hence every thing, from a state bishop down to a class-leader, is in eager demand in this country. Our "benevolent institutions," like the different orders of monks, have created scores of titles unknown before. To find a christian professor worth three thousand dollars, without a military, civil, or a religious title, is as difficult as to find a pensioned clergymen a student of the Bible. Whenever we find a man a little elevated above providing for the wants of every day, we are prompted to inquire for his title. There never was a country blessed with so many Generals, Colonels, and Captains, and so few wars and soldiers, as these United States. Never was there a church militant so rich in honorary distinctions, with so few real christians, as the church militant of America.

      The world, too, not only bestows ecclesiastical titles, as in the case of religious doctorates, but salutes members of churches by their official name, as commonly as a private in the army addresses his commander by his official designation. At a militia muster in one place, we heard of one citizen introducing to another, Captain A, Deacon B, Major C, and the Rev. D. with as much pertinancy to [427] custom and inclination as ever did a father call his sons by the name which he had given them.

      To lower the haughty pretensions of those who claim to themselves a politically patented episcopacy, as well as to put out of countenance the arrogant title of Reverend and to call things by their proper names, we recommended the term "bishop" as the common scriptural designation of all persons having the oversight of a Christian community. The Presbyterians and Baptists had long ago assumed in their creeds this name or title as a proper designation of the person or persons who had the oversight of a congregation; but from a peculiar fastidiousness of taste permitted the Methodists and Episcopalians to appropriate it to an officer which the Lord Jesus never instituted. In our tongue the term overseer is that corresponding to the obsolete Saxon piscop, or bishop, and the Greek episcopus. But we discover the same abuse of the term is likely to prevail among us, as that which we opposed in others, viz, the application of it in an appropriated sense to persons not sustaining the office of a christian overseer in a christian congregation. Fir this cause, and to reform from this rage for titular distinctions, we are constrained to regard the term obsolete, and to disclaim the use and acceptation of it. We can no longer in good conscience, apply it to many who are so designated, nor accept it as due to ourselves. A congregation of christians may have, and, as soon as it can, ought to have, its presidents and servants, or overseers and public servants, in the common version called bishops and deacons; but that we should call every leader, preacher, or teacher a president or overseer, is to abuse the scripture style and to flatter the vanity of those who love fine titles as young Misses love fine clothes. For my own part, not sustaining at this time the particular oversight of any one congregation, I cannot consent to the application of the term to myself: and if I did, I know of no reason which should attach to my name the term bishop or overseer always and in all places, more than the term editor or farmer. My name is Alexander Campbell, and by this alone I choose to be known among men. Neither Mr. nor Rev. nor Bishop, accord with my feelings, calling, nor the cause which I plead. I am sometimes doing the work of a farmer, of an editor, of an evangelist, of a teacher, of a mechanic, a merchant, and of a post-master. No official name better than that of a public servant, could designate my various labors, and that carries with it no distinction, and is therefore useless. It will save ink, paper, labor, and time, to designate me by the name by which I expect to be addressed by the angels and by the Saviour and Judge of men; and as there is no other person in this vicinity with whom I can he confounded, there is no necessity for a title or epithet of a any sort whatever.

      Some of our acquaintance would, methinks, look very much abashed to he saluted in the great day with the title Reverend, Elder, Bishop, or Deacon, by him who will render to every man according to his works! And how the Doctors of Divinity will hang their heads in the presence of that Paul whom they have so often misquoted, and of that Saviour, whose command, "Be not called Rabbi," they have so often contemned; imagination cannot paint, nor ink and paper describe.

EDITOR. [428]

      THE following excerpt exhibits one of the most serious objections we have felt to the proselyting schemes of an apostate church, now eulogized by the leaders of the missionary projects of the day. That the heathen can be converted to Jesus Christ by an apostate church and by the new gospels of the sects, is, to my mind, as improbable and as impossible, as that the Jews will convert the Pope, his Cardinals, and the See of Rome, to Judaism.

ED. M. H.

From the National [Philadelphia] Gazette.

      IT is in vain to delude ourselves with the belief that we are largely contributing to the civilization of the East, by assisting the Bible Society in "the conversion of the heathen." The knight errants of Christianity, indeed, pervade every corner of the kingdom. The scriptures, indeed, have been translated into a hundred mutilated tongues; and vast sacrifices of money and of truth have been made in the cause of Eastern proselytism.

      To convert, it is thought, is to civilize. In my apprehension, to civilize is the most likely method to convert. Our missionaries have been totally unsuccessful, for they commenced at the wrong end. I speak on this point from much observation and a long acquaintance with the subject. They relied on the abstruse dogmas of the church, rather than on the mild doctrines of Christianity, for persuasion. The Turk had to digest the Trinity before he was acquainted with the beautiful morality of the Gospel. The Greek had to stomach the abuse of "the holy fire," before he was made sensible of the advantages of a purer worship. The Catholic had to listen to the defamation of his creed before he was convinced of a more rational religion; and if they were so successful as to shake him in his faith, he had then to decide whether he would be a Methodist, or a Presbyterian, or a Calvinist, or an English Protestant, or a German Lutheran; for our missionaries in Egypt and Syria are of as many conflicting sects. But such is the perversity of the human heart, those wretched Arabs, morally as well as physically blind, continue to "walk in darkness and the shadow of death," obstinately refusing the light we fain would force upon them; and when they are reproved, they have the audacity to say, "We have the faith which our fathers followed, and we are satisfied with it."--Madden's Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine.

      WE solicit from all the advocates of reform, news of the following character:--1st. The number of churches and public advocates for the sufficiency of the holy Scriptures without human creeds, for the ancient gospel and order of things, in their counties and neighboring districts of country. 2d. The time when these churches declared their independence; their number and their progress. 3. The success attending the labors of the public advocates in converting men to God. We wish to be able to give correct information on the progress of the Restoration every month, that the disciples of Christ who continue steadfast in the Apostles' doctrine may know the passing events and history of the Reformation.

      As a sample of the information which we require, we publish the following list of churches in this county of Brooke, and bordering thereupon:--Wellsburg, containing about 90 members; Bethany, 80: the Cove, 35; King's Creek, 53. In the counterminous parts of Pennsylvania--Pittsburg, 90 members; Noblestown, 45; Eldersville, [429] 36; Claysville, 16. Hickory, 35. In Ohio--Steubenville, 30; Smithfield, 35; Cadiz, 29; Grave Creek, Va. 36; Wheeling, just commenced, 12. None of these are more than 38 miles from Bethany. Some of them within a few months have commenced, and all of them are without any Bishop, or public teacher, properly so called. They all meet every Lord's day to break the loaf of blessing, to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus, to unite in every part of christian worship, and to be instructed by the Apostles' teaching, watching over, and edifying one another in love. Of these fourteen congregations, containing together 621 members, about 350 were immersed during the last year, ending August last. In this district of country not more than three public advocates were employed, and these only occasionally during the year.

EDITOR.

      IT seems that the Christian preachers are accused of erecting Sanhedrims already, and of exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction a-la-mode Mystery Babylon. One proclaimer of immersion for the remission of sins, has been proscribed because he had not the mark on his forehead nor in his hand, deemed orthodox. This brother, Isaac Painter, (for I will always fraternize with those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake) was cast out of the Christian connexion by a conference which met in Franklin county, Ohio. A resolution, I am informed, was passed with but one dissenting voice, in said conference, a few weeks ago, prohibiting from the meeting-houses and pulpits, within the jurisdiction of said conference, all persons favorable to the views propagated by A. Campbell. I shall be glad to hear a refutation of said report if it can be given. It comes to me in a very credible shape. If the Christian people so soon fall into the track of their neighbors, the Regular Baptists, surely they will soon be orthodox in their eyes; and the question about the Trinity will be lost in the controversy about the Ancient Gospel. I will mention no names, and go into no details, until farther advised. If these things begin in the tender sapling, what may we look for in the full grown tree?

EDITOR.

      MR. CLOPTON has given Dr. Noel's thirty-nine Articles, with a preliminary and peroration, as constituting his No. 5 against the Christian Baptist. I hope Mr. Clopton will attend to the morality side of his course, and adjust those matters and things, concerning that lofty tone of vital religion, mentioned in his last, and in my strictures on his Nos. 3 and 4. Since that time, other documents have come to hind, strongly implicating the aforesaid tone; and corroborating the allegata of my last notices. A voice from Old Virginia testifies that Mr. Clopton has arranged names of renown as opposed to reform, as friends of creeds, who were just the reverse of what he alleges. The son of one of these ancient worthies, alleges [430] that Mr. Clopton puts Father Shelbourne on the wrong side, and gives his influence where he never placed it.

      Other facts, alleged by Mr. Clopton, concerning the Sharon Church in Prince Edward county, are contradicted. So that from all quarters, it appears that this tone, high and sonorous, for which Mr. Clopton pleads, must be lowered very much, unless Mr. Clopton reforms so much as to regard these tangible matters, called facts, and that vulgar virtue, called truth, a little more.

      The following is Mr. Brantly's notice of the Extra on Remission:

      "BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. Mr. Alexander Campbell has issued a pamphlet containing about 50 pages--to prove that immersion is the only regeneration--that the act of teaching commanded by the Saviour in the commission to his Apostles--and the act of baptizing, means one and the same thing; that the words pardon, justified, sanctified, &c. as descriptive of the happiness and privileges of christians, do not signify a "character," but a state--not a moral and inward transformation, but an outward condition--that John 3d and 5th refers to baptism, and must be understood accordingly; that the Christian writers for the four first centuries knew nothing about any remission of sins, except through the baptismal laver, and many such things."

      In the preceding notice, there are three express misstatements, besides that concerning the size of the Extra. These are the weapons, and this the mode of warfare, by which the opponents of reform resist our progress. If the Regular Baptists, and all others opposed to reform, can have no better defenders of the traditions of the sects than Messrs. Brantly and Clopton, the people who sustain them are credulous, indeed; and the whole community are more deplorably sunk in ignorance and superstition, than I was myself aware of.

      That any man of ordinary sense, to say nothing of a teacher in the Baptist Israel, should say that the terms pardoned, justified, sanctified, represent not a state, but an attribute of character, or quality of mind, is to me marvellous beyond expression. Be it known to all men, that W. T. Brantly, Editor of the Columbian Star, represents the terms "pardoned, justified, and sanctified;" as expressive of a "moral and inward transformation!" And what is not less admirable, he declares unequivocally that John, 3 and 5, does not refer to baptism!! But, mind me reader, I engage that he dares not dispute this matter in his own pages--nor attempt to sustain his assertions by reason or revelation. He is too prudent to hazard this; lest, as he insinuates, "my brass" should outshine "his gold."

EDITOR.

      Errata.--In some copies of this No. will be found the following errors:--p. 404, line 19 from bottom, for "tomsterin," read to mysterion; and in the line following, for "to mysterion," read basileeas. [431]

      E Mustin, Augusta, Ga. paid vol. 1 for himself, W C Way, C Dickinson, and J Shanon. W Bruce, Bruceville, Ia. paid vol. 1 for S D Piety and G W Lindsey. T B Coleman, Chilesburg, Ky. vol. 1 for T B Anderson, and 3 dollars for himself. J W Green, Albany, New York, paid vol. 1. J Hubbell, Newburg, Ohio, vol. 1 for himself and C Hoard. A Moore, Cynthiana, Ky. paid 6 dollars to Thomas Campbell, Sen. for vol. 1 for himself, M January, and Fanny Henderson. J Anderson, Sparta, Ten, paid vol. 1 for C Stone, and S Ray. J Hankins, Connersville, Ia. paid vol. 1 for J Smith, G Ginn, G Goodlander, J M Green, and J Shortridge. J Young, Brownsville, Ten. paid vol. 1 for J Estes, J S Abstein, E S Tappin, C Holloway, and W Isby. J G Mitchell, Malaga, Ohio, paid 1 dollar. W H Irwin, Baton Rouge, La. paid vol. 1 for J Stokes and G King. N H Turner, Jackson, Va. paid vol. 1 for himself, L Turner, C H Mallory, H Anderson, and N Diggs. C Bullen, Hanover, Ind. paid 10 dollars, for whom not stated. A Reynolds, Dripping Spring, Ky. paid vol. 1 for J Rountree and T Johnson, and 1 dollar for E H Haley. J L Davis, Brattonsville. S. C. paid vol. 1 for A Abell. W B Simms, Cuckooville, Va. paid vol. 1 for E J Baker, B S Dickinson. J Jordan, C Wood and J Dickinson. M Cole, Charleston, Ind. paid vol. 1 for J Biggs and J Holeman. T M Henley, Lloyd's, Va. vol. 1 for W Bray, W Hill, T Haynes, S Upshaw, and L Doling. Col. W Jennings, Lancaster, Ky. paid 6 dollars for B Poulson; also, vol. 1 for H Turpine, and 1 dollar for J Robinson. Elder B Allen, Brownsborough, Ky. paid vol. 1 for A H Keller, G. Jeffries, It Teaton, J B Curl, and J Harebolt. M Martin, Salem, Ind. paid vol. 1 for himself, R Denny, and S Harley. T S Alien, Bricksville, Ohio, paid vol. 1 for A Meech, A Wilcox, J Patrick, A P Turner, and S J Varney. B Hicks, Lexington, Ky. paid vol. 1 for A Chinn, and P Hearne. E Hubbard, Deerfield, Ohio, vol. 1, and D Abbott, 1 dollar and 50 cents. N H Porter, Kingsville, Ohio, paid vol. 1 for himself, and Ann M Trent, Suffield, Connecticut. L Pebles, Charleston, Ohio, paid vol. 1. D Ewall, Warren, Ohio, paid vol. 1. D Hays, Canfield, Ohio, paid vol. 1. W M'Galliard, Middlebury, Ohio, paid vol. 1 for L Allen and 1 dollar for himself. J Cahoon, Dover, Ohio, vol. 1 for L Parton and E B Hill. J Brooks, Warren, Ohio, paid 2 dollars. J B Ryal, Carthage, New York, paid vol. 1 for E Elsington, W Terry, E Chase, Mrs. Nancy Bentley, and Miss Ann Bannister. J Hawkins, Connersville, Ind. paid vol. 1 for W Thompson, A Dawpensbeck, and 1 dollar for 3 M Wilson, B S Hendrickson, New York, paid vol. 1 for himself, J Pettigrew, J Covington, Dr. L. Barker, W Powell, R Sutton, L Whitmore, F Duncan, D Monroe, and W Taylor. R Scott, Rhineback Flatts, New York, paid vol. 1 for himself and R Styles. D Kellough, Bloomington, Ind. paid vol. 1 for D Batterton. S G Shropshire, Augusta, Ky. paid for vol. 1. G B Lightfoot, Virginia, paid vol. 1 for J F Bryan, Dr. R Garrett, W Mountforth, and W Drewrey. A Sturdivant, Ravenna, Ohio, paid vol. 1 for S B Weaver, and B Doolittle, and 1 dollar for J M'Kelvey. J Randolph, Hiram, Ohio, vol. 1 for S Harman, S Sanford, and P Allen. E Allen, Auburn, New York, paid vol. 1. W Polke, Bruceville, Ind. paid vol. 1 for Bruce & Polke, and James Polke. W D Jourdan, Locust Shade, Ten. paid vol. 1 for J T Coffee and M Kelly. Washington Duval, Wellsburg, Va. paid for vol. 1. J Hubbard, Richfield, Ohio. paid for vol. 1. W Hopper, Hopper's Tan Yard, Ky. vol. 1 for P Anderson, R Starks, J Solomon, W D Cope, D H Harrison, J Holland, W Martin, B H Logan, and W Dodd. G Ambrose, Darbyville, Ohio, paid for vol. 1. J Stamp, Port Gibson, Mi. paid vol. 1 for R R Slearky, A Pate, N Burvill, L O Bridewell, H Blaylock, Mrs. MacDougall, and himself. J W Jeffreys, Jeffreys' Store, Va. paid vol. 1 for W A Stokes, Jeffreys' Store, Va. Silas Shelbourne, P Hart, and P Barnes, Pleasant Grove, Lunenburg county, Va. W Hankins, Huleysburg, Lunenburg county, Va. Dr. J Smith, W A Stone, and G W Watts. Wattsborougb. Lunenburg county, Va. Captain F Lesser, Lunenburg Court House, and A Crawford, Charlotte Court House, C Curtis, South Hill, paid for vol. 1. [432]

[The Millennial Harbinger, 1 (September, 1830): 385-432.]