GENESEE ETAMELIST.—WhoIe N0.' 728.
, Bor the American Presbyterian.
'thb vernal snow. a sonnet.
BY JAMES W3TIHE,
. All through the day, from lightly-clouded i4
Has fallen on the fields the feathery enow,
But now not long upon the ground it lies,
Melting and ndurishihg the germs below.
Or slowly ebbing dowii the sloping mead,
Where flows the rivulet, or latheßhade*
• The glswfy waters of the lakelet spread,. ;
Jjlke a mirror o’er the solitary glade.
So joys are born, ®b though in sacred halls,
Toeheer the soul that languishes on earth,
YeUUde ilka the flake that .from the oloudletffalls,
And prove but beings of ephemeral birtb-
Why found thy hope upon the bubble toy!
Look heaVenward for everlasting-joy !
Philadelphia, Aptil Bth,lBflO. : , ’ ; >
THE CEUCfFmON. -
BY JOBS O, WHUTIEB.
Sunlight Upon: Judea’s hills,
And.on‘the waves of Galilee-
On Jordan's stream, and on the rills
That feed the dead and sleeping seal
Most freshly from the greenwood springs,
The light breeae on Its scented wings;
And dally quiver In the sun
The cedar tops of Lebanon!
A few more hours—a change Sath cdmef
The skyisdark without acloUcll ’
The shouts 1 of Wrath and joy are dumb, ‘
Ami proud bnees unto earth are bowed;
A change is on the hill of death,
The helmed watchers pant for.breath, r
And turn with wild and maniac eyes,
From the dark Scenes of'sacrlfice 1
That saerUlceMtbe death of Him—
The'High and ever Holy One!
Well may the eonseioot heaven grow : dim.
And blacken.the beholding,sun!
The wonted light hath fled away,
Night settled On the middle day,
And Earthquake from' his ca vermeil bed *
la waking wltba thrill of dread 1
>- The dead are waking underneath!
. Their prison door is rent away!
-And ghastly ,with the seal of death,
They wander In the eve of day ! •
The temple of the : dheruhim,
The House of GOd is cbld ahd dltoj
, A curse i&on-its' trembling, wall*,
Its mighty veil asunder falls. -
- Well may the cavern depths of.earth. -
Be shaken, and her mountains nod ;
- Will may the sheeted dead come forth,
• To gaxe upon' a sufßrrlng God f' '
. Well may the templo shrihergrow dim,.
And shadows veil the Cberuhim,
When He, the-Chosen One-of Heaven,
A* sacrifice for guilt is given 1
And shall the sinful heart alone .
Behold, unmoved, the atoning hour,
When Nature'treflibWs oh‘her throne,
And death resigns his.ironpower T 1
Oh,.shaU tbe heart—whose sinfulness ?
Gave keenness to his.sore,distress,
And added to his tears of blood—
Befuse in trembling gratitude?
For the American Presbyterian.
KATI AECHAS.-
The above words are Greek. They are used
by the apostle Pan! in Heb. i. 10. They
mean in beginnings. Bat oar translators have
rendered them*'in tberbegifming. They have
addedthe word , the,'which is not in the .original,
and'they have transiated the'other by the singu
lar, when the aset* the plural, aliberty
which man has no right to use* with God’s words;
A liberty whioh l wonld fear to take, Rev. xxit:
18. A liberty which iS'calcnlatedito completely
deceive theunlotteredreader.
That verse in our! translation' reads ; “ Arid,"
thon, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foun
dation of the earth.” The plain import of our
translation, is, that the foundation-of the earth
was laid at one beginning. • And that one sup
posed to be the one referred to in Gen. i.l;
Bat the plain import of ! the original is : “ And,
thoa, Lord, in beginnings foundedst the earth.”
That is, in the founding of the earth, therewas
more than' one beginning; and therefore 11 the
beginning in Gen. i. lj is only one of ! 'tfie d>e
giunings. And even in r Gen. i, 1, where our
translators have rendered it; "In the beginning'
God created the heaven and the earth,” in the
Hebrew it is: “In- abeginningGod created the
heavens and the earth. “ The- Septhagint also,
renders it: Inabeginning,” &c; The trathis,
the original of'God’s word in various -places
plainly implies,'that in the great work of crea
tion there were various beginnings.
God has made another great revelation-be
sides his word. - His works, are as really—-not
as dearly, bat as really a revelation of-himself
as his word, Rom. L '20.: “For the invisible'
things of him from a [not theQ creation of a
[not the, there were more worlds than one'
created; jost as there werpunore than, one be
ginning] world are .clearly-seen, being . under
stood by the things that ,are made.even.his
eternal [unseen] power and Godhead.” His
works are therefore a revelation of himself. His
word and his works are therefore the two great
revelations of himself; They have the same
author. Both are alike divine. Bothare- alike
infallibly true. They always agree, God in
his word*hever contradicts hiihsdf in bift works
and vice versa. Therefore that translation
or exposition of either, which would set them
at variance, Or would make the one contra
dict the other, is false: They are God’s-two
great witnesses; and the one never faUifiesthb
testimony of the .other,,. They both speak for.
God. The testimony-of both is unimpeachable:
Therefore, wherever and- Whenever we cannot
form an opinion, givb an exposition, or make a
translation, , which, makes tbenr harmonize, we
had vastly brittfirhave onr • opinion l informed,
our exposition ucgiven, or our translation un
made. ■ ■
But the unwrifteii volume ? ;■ What
is the testimony of the rocks? Do they tell of
hut one, or of more than one beginning in the
formation of the earth? This question scarce
needs an answer. Perhaps, the most, of yonr
readers are aware, that ever since man began
to interpret the rocks, he has-been puzzled by
the umgist&kable evidences of there having been
varions beginnings in the creation of the earth;
Geologists have been, forced to this conciusion
against their will, so positive and unmistakable
was the testimony of the rocks. AsHhe^thdob
logiaa did hot rightly translate the inspired
Toinme, and yet spoke with confidence of the
correctness of the translation, some meh of
science have been disposed to. doubt whether
therefore both could be from the hand of God.
And as the rocky volume must be from God,
they have suspected the Holy,One. This was
especially true of men .of science some years ago.
On the other hand, some theologians have ap
peared to be afraid to look at the rocks. They
were .fearful of some secret mischief lurking
there. They seemed to fear lest the . stony
science might, sweep away the foundations of
their hopes. Hence they sagely . sought, to
escape that danger by closing their eyes. Even
yet,, we have some theologians, who seem to,
fear the study of the volume of nature; and
seem to suppose that at least in this point,
“i@norance.is the mother of deyotion.” .
Owing to the mistranslationftaf the word,
men or science not haying"fiaS'.heait ,, TX^X , gsce’
of its truth, and knowing that the rocks were
formed by an Almighty Hand, and that they,
cannot and will not lie, have doubted the inspi-.
ration of the Book, which seemed to contradict
the. natural volume. Also men of theology,
having , had the internal, the unmistakable, evi
dence of the truth of inspiration, have been
afraid of that science, which seemed to under
mine religion. But all these doubts and fears
on either hand have been utterly groundless;
for all true science only undermines false- the
ories and mistranslations of the, Holy Volume,
The rocks, bear unmistakable, evidence of
creation, having been carried forward to a cer
tain point, and then, a great, change having
come over the face of the .earth. As certain
points,, creation seems to have been brought to
a stand still—its onward progress was arrested
for, a time, and changes came, over the earth,
which, in the later periods# resulted in the en
tire .change of. the form of the earth—changes#
which may have been, slightly analogous to that
which shall come oyer the earth, just before the
time when the Holy One will-say ; : “Behold I
create all things new.”
If there were various beginnings in the crea
tion of. the earth, then creation could, not have,
been the, work of six literal days of twenty,-four,
hpurs. each. But they, must haver been of the
days of .eternity—such days as the eternal fu
ture is divided into,, which are termed the ages
of the ages.
,If there were various beginnings, then the
first, chapter of Genesis must , point them out.
The commencement of each day, marks a be
ginning of creation. , Therefore, those days,
like the.days of eternity in the future, must
have.,been long definite periods. As is the
length of the.seventh day,, so have been the
lengths of the six preceding, days, so will
be .the days to come. The seventh day is at
least six- or seven thousand years, tbereforepo
other.of thoaefdayscanbeless.whether'therbe
past or to. come. They are moniaii days.
That, those days are long, definite'periods is,-
to my mind, evident. The seventh day is not
yet past, for there is no mention made of God’s
resting, any, longer than the seventh day;: and
from, other portions of Scripture; we learn that
when the,eighth day shall nave arrived, God will
re-oommence his work of creation—he will make
another, beginning,!’ Therefore the demiurgic
Mosaic or creative days must have been at least
six thousand years in duration, and-probably
seven. - , . ■ • •
Again the oft-repeated word&aionand'aiones,
always refer to time; and never to orbs. They
are of' frequent occurrence in the Hew Testa-;
ment, and frequentlycannoti be explained, un
less they refer to the demiurgic days; But'
time forbids that 1. should do more than make
a . simple reference to this > point. In some
places, they are undoubtedly synonymous with
the word day in the first chapter of Genesis;
I da love to see the word' of God literally
translated, and as far as possible literally Under
•stood. The. ignorance of God’s works, which
prevailed, over two centuries ago, forms a slight
excuse for onr translators departing from the
strict rendering of the original; But they'had
better have given a plain literal translation,
even if it was contrary to their own, and all
current theories; Ak science advanced; she
would have shed light on those dark passages
of the book of God, and it would have prevented
men of science -running into Skepticism. - Bat
what excase. have we now for nursing- their
errors; and what excuse- have recent trans
lators, for departing from the plain original ?
None. J. Boggs.
PBAYEtt FOB SABBAtN SCHOOLS.
Messrs. Editors :
In looking, over your paper of. the -sth; my
attention was called to an article headed “Pray
for as,” in which are some remarks in relation
toprayer for editors. Ido not wonder that
ydu feel thus grateful on account of this corre
spondence, for -I feel l persuaded' that* you 'know
something of-thepower and efficacy of the-prayer
of faith, and it is of great importance that those
who are daily or weekly issuing from the press
such an amount qf matter, that is read by so
rnttny upon whom it is likely to make an impres
sion for good-wr evil, should be remembered at
a throne of grime, that-they may be enablcd faith
fully and fearlessly to bring, before the minds of
the* public, such matters as will be best calcu
lated to promote the glory of God, and the'best
interests of rnankihd generally.
There is another class of persons for whom
I would solicit the earnest prayers of thecUnrch
at large, and.of individuals in their families and
closets. I refer to Sabbath School teachers.
These, as a class, have important work to do,
second only,-1 believe; to tiid ministry; a work
which, in its effects; reaches to eternity. Prayer
for ,these laborers in : the vineyard of Christ, will
’surely, appear necessary, if we take into account
the many difficulties they labor under. The
great body of Sabbath School teachers are per
sons who have to earn their bread by the s#eat
of their brow, many of; them-' having to pursue
their work to nine and ten o'clock on Saturday
evenings, thus depriving them of time to study
the subject which they intend to bring before
their classes as-much as they should do, or as
many of them would be desirous of doing.;' How
when ’wei consider that they are dealing-with
immortal souls,- and are training tender plants
who will appear with them before the judgment
seat of Christ, and at the same time laboring
under such difficulties, is it not most important
that they should have the prayers of the church
'and of-individuals,-in their families andclosets?
I believe it is.
- Wishing you abundant success in your efforts
New York, 1 April 16, 1860.
IffiLADELMII,
to do good, both spiritually and temporally, I
am, with much respect, your humble servant,
A Fkie&b to Sabbath Schools.
MESM'EBISM AND SPIEIT-BAPPIEG.
The- author of “The Stars and' Angels,” on
this subject appears as one gropinghis way in the
uncertain 1 regions of: conjecture and speculation,
and lays aside that spirit of boldheSs with which
he discusses the real discoveries of science within
the domain of reason and conscience. We copy
this which’Will Be remarkable only for
the little information which it contains :
It is well 1 known—and physicians acknowledge
the fact—that all cures must be effected by the
operations of nature itself. It is true that in
some cases, jsuoh as the swallowing 6f poison, and
accidents or diseases in which surgical. operations;
are necessary,—nature^-if left to.-itee]f,-w<w4£-nofc'
.a cure; b.ut, in i general,;the.'o^ ,
-phSgiciaffis to remove
prevent the-healthy action of the powers of Ma
ture, bebfiuse-it is upon these powers that all Bis
hopes , depend. And what are these healing
powers of nature, but the natural action of the
psyche in renovating the materials of the body,
and supplying vital energy for the performance of
its varied functions? When the body is in a state
of health, the work of the psyche goes on, and
the materials.-of the body are renovated without
observation; so much so is this the case, that a
consciousness of the psyche’s- action is almost a
sure sign- of disease; but when disease invades
the system, or when* a wound -or a bruise disinte-'
grates the tissues, the process of renewal is nei
ther so easy nor so imperceptible as when all is
well. For this reason, in old age the vital power
may he sufficient to carry on the process of renewal
In ar sfate of health, but a broken limb or a severe
contusion may prove 1 too much, and 1 nature, un
aided, may sink under it,, The reason is, that
the vital powers of. the psyche are too feeble to
accomplish the task of renovation. It becomes,
therefore, an interesting question, whether the
physician may 1 not 11 only remove- obstacles tb the
right-action of the psyche, but directly add to its
power. This; is a question which ought to .be
answered, not by reasoning, biit by observation
and experiment; and, to some extent, it has
already been answered in the affirmative. The
author does hot pretend to atiy extenslve acquaint
anee’with what is- called curative'mesmerism ;• but
thereis one kind of mesmeric; treatment (although
it is not called by that name) which is more- ex
tensively practised than any other kind of cure;
and that is, the relief afforadti to pain by the ap
plication of the hand'; It is ; an instinctive act,
there can be no doubt that it is, to - l a’-certain
extent, efficacious. The efficacy of the applica
tion is • evidently caused by the psychical power
of the hand being added, to the psychical power
of the part that is injured. Should' any of our
readers happen to receive a blow or a bruise which
causes ; him 1 pain, let - him try the 'experiment 1 of
applying, both his hands, the one on the top of
the other j and letting them remain, not only until
the pain is somewhat abated, (as is usually done)
but for a quarter or %klf an hour, according to the
severity of the accident. By so doing (and' the
experiment is a very safe and simple one,) he'
will greatly;hasten the cure, and the pain, which
otherwise would probably have continued much
longer, .will have altogether, ceased before the ex-
Ii; hks often been' remarked; also, that' children;
when-they sleep with aged or infirm 1 nurses, gene
rally lose their health, and pine away without any
visible disease, while the nurse with whom they
sleep thrives and grows strong at their expense. It
seems't6 ! bea : general principle that the vital powers
of- different psyches, when brought together, tend
to'equilibrium; -it-happens, therefore,- that-where
the vital energy,of one psyche is deficient or over;
tasked in producing a cure, the vital power of
another psyche may be made available in order
to make up the deficiency. In a recent case,
wMeh came under the author’s notice; a patient
who'had been bed-ridden for-three years, and was
unable to put her feet to the ground, was cured
in a fortnight by simple contact with a person
who was in health. There were no passes made;
all that was done"was ;I siihply producing contact
for about two hours each day. In two weeks the
patient was able to walk without assistance, and
has continued well ever since. This mode of
cure should be cklled~psycbpitiijr;’ fot' although it
ter the -class 'of pbenotn'en a railed ’ mesmer
ism,- it is scarcely identical with <its characteristic
forms. ■
In regard to whaf are called mesmeric pheno
mena, the author does not wish to offer any
opinion ;’ there may'be,‘ahd have been,'many im:
positions;'arid a still greater number of fallacies
and unintentional exaggerations perpetrated under'
the name, and yet there still remains a sufficient
number .of remarkable phenomena which cannot
he explained by any’otlier science. It therefore
becomes'the trub philosopher to treat its preten
sions with at least respect, until he has been' able
to draw n line between ' thaf whieh may, be, arid
that which' cari'nrit be—a feat which the most ex
perienced philosopher is always the least inclined
to attempt. When a phenomenon presents itself,
haying the appearance of being opposed to what
we have been accustomed to consider h well-esta
blished law, there’ is a disposition on the part of
many to deny its existence, not because it wants
authentication,' i but on the ground of its apparent
inconsistency with law; This is a violation of
the inductive system of philosophy, because the
existence of the phenomenon must be judged of,
not by its probability, but By the evidence which
we obtain regarding it. If that evidence besatis
factory, arid no 'counter-evidence presents itself to
throw suspicion upon it, we must give it that
measure of belief to which the evidence, entitles
it, and carefully inquire after more phenomena of
a similar 'description; The unexpected phenol
menon does not ' destroy our- former opinions; it
only ladds to them, and every additional phenome
non, in the same direction; increases our know
ledge, as well as defines the position and the cha
racter of the new fa<st.
It is in this way-that some of our greatest disco
veries have been made. When the perturbations
of the planet Uranus were'first' observed; they
were not denied on the pretended ground that
they were contrary to knowri laws, although they
appeared to be - so; Adams and Lcverrier knew
this; arid therefore they collected'these apparent
contradictions, in order to ascertain exactly their,
character; and by doing so, discovered that they
bad a regularity of their own, and-'were’ caused
by the gravitation of another planet, Neptune,
whose existence was previously unknown. •
The phenomena that are called mesmeric, may
at first sight appear to be contrary to law, b.ut in
reality they are not so. If it be true that the
spirit , and the brain are naturally fitted to one
another, so that they give and receive impressions
or impulses to and from one another; and if, more
over, alien spirits are capable’ of exercising their
relative functions -upon the nervous system of
men, why should wo conceive it impossible or con
trary to law that the' spirits' of living persons
should be able to influence the nervous system of
others? Iff it be true, also; that the soul is a
substantive principle of life by whose 1 agency the
healthful action of all the internal organs is main
tained, why should it be considered impossible
that the soul of one person should be able to
stimulate the sympathetic nerves of another?
These two classes of influence constitute a large
portion of the peculiarities of mesmerism,' and
may be classified in the following manner:—
1. When the spirit of one person rcceivesitai
pressions from the seiisifirid nerves of another : as
when the mesmerizer puts salt into his mouth,
THIIiSDAT APRIL 26, iB6O.
unobserved by the person • mesmerized, the latter
feels, the taste of the endeavorS to spit it
out; or when the pricks himself with
a pin, the mesmerized perfiim feels the pain, and
shrinks from the supposed ih'flidtioii.
* 2. When the spirit of one person acts upon the
motive nerves of another. This is illustrated
When the mesmerizer is alf(e, to produce involun
tary motions in the body of the person mesmerized,
either by the force of hislfhll,' or/by corresponding
movements df His own bSdy; unobserved by the
mesmerized. • C r ■ ?■■■;
3. When ;the soul of one person is made to
affect the sympathetic nerves of another. This is
exemplified by the eureifTtbat are effected by
means of passes, or contact by means of the hand.
There is : another ihieipstirig' question opened
up by the mesmerist—whether, the spirit’is capa
ble of receiving impressibgp. from, and conveying
impressions to external najtpre, .-without the inter
mediate agency of a nervous.system ? We must
confess that we cannot, assert that this
the' spirib be impressed by
the. nervous tissue, the cqtijejatio.ir. between- spirit
and, matter, is already established. It may be
that nervous tissue is.j ! than any other sub
stance, Capable of acting en, and being impressed
by spirit, in the same manner as iron is more sus
ceptible of magnetism thill any other substance:
still, the correlative, impassibility of spirit; and,
matter being ascertained J)ll questions connected
with it must be settled rap means of observation
and experiment, ahd nbt TOetfr own notions regard
ing its possibility. 'if
There is but one otherfiaturepresented by mes
merism which we must notice, as somewhat: im
portant in its moral bearitfgs; and that is the in
creased sensitiveness' to jspirit influence which
mesmerized person’s rndyf' gradually acquire: it
conducts, thereforej in a direction which may lead
to demoniacal Already have we had
indications of such a having taken
place in the persons of thfemnhappy individuals
who give themselves, out fl'mediums, in what is
called “spirit-rapping.’' Pit Seems exceedingly
probable that, bonstitutions being
more -predisposed; than otiUsrs to mesmeric sensi--
b.ility, there are. means, ascertain kinds of ,train>
ing, to which the nervo® system may be,, sub
jected, by; whichsuei.'a' , Mwef may be acquired,
and such itonnimtibns piy bw formed; but it
would certainly not be foflpeibenefit of msafend
that such m'ethods shouldSie-made public; "The
ground that o>ught,to be.&eu by the philosopher
and the Christian should M, pot a determination
to deny the facts: bufan ’|fdighaht" condemnation
of the whole system; Thly’can affSitt’to belieVe/
upou'suffieieut evidence, scything that is affirmed:
to' have- taken place. TJjosc ;persons who are;
called, mediums, through jifhose - instrumental! ty,
the familiar spirits are enabled to communicate
with their devotees, are; ilir their Wii' showing:
necromancers; sbotHSayersf Wizards, or witdhhs; as
the 'case may be; andr their, revelations■
may be opposed to Christia§ity, science, or common
sense, there is nothing wonderful or startling in
all this, Oven thoughtheyhlibuidpersonate spirits
now in’ heaven. It 'wasSmtibb niore wonderful
that-the ‘‘spirit of divination ” should’ haVe di
rected the Philippians to ||}hristianity as the true
way of salvatjon, than ibuf: the demons of the
presen t day should give mdre unequivocal evidence
of thcihaffliiity'to the father ! of lies.”
The very first lesson which you should teach your
children should be the just-value of your affections,
since it is through their medium, chiefly, that you
can hope properly to influence -th’eir-ohedience; it
is idle to expect that you can train him properly
iif his ways of life. You are to teach, him this
lesson,' by a careful discrimination between right
and wrong/ in your consideration” of ! his'* conduct!
You are to permit no miscohduct, however trifling
in itself, to pass without due notice; it l 'must be
promptly cheeked- to be effectually- conquered.
Error is like that Gepius in & /Arabian Tale,
who, thoughliis bulk/ whenf uti&nfmed, 1 reached
from earth to heaven 1 , cChld yet squeeze himself
into thenompass of a quart pot*. It is surprising
from what smalL: beginnings most monsters grow.
The first lesson-which the boy learns from this
observant discrimination is the value, you place
upon your affections.' 1 He soon sees that they are
valuable—only to be acquired 1 upon certain terms/
and for a certain consideration; ; Yhu have nothing
to do but to prescribe, the terms—to declare the
conditions. You may make your affections cheap -
or deaf, af ( your owh pleasure/ If too cheap, he
will riot 1 value them ;if ; tdS deiaf/ he will despair
of procurmgithem! The*tme"principle by>which
to determine, the,conditions for securing them, is
the;simple one of always dd|ig justice. If he de
serves praise, praise him;/if he .merits blame, do
not withhold it. In neither case be immoderate,
for a boy .seldom deserves any great degree'either
of praise or. blame;: The-terms of your favor you
are to unfold to him, not by set lessons, 'but by
habitual eonduct; and he will find it easy to com
ply with* reasonable conditions in order to secure
those affections, which,' moved as they are by in
flexible justice, he 1 Vrilt soon discern, am'beyorid
all price. This prinoiple-is one of the most’ obvi-:
ous of every-day experience. We see it in the
public thoroughfare, at all hours, at,every ,turning.
Affections are moral rewards. They are to be
given; like money,very sparingly, and iidt tillyo'u
have carefully; inquired" whether they be due or
not. They are to be given to justice, not to paf
tiality. The ill-advised andJavish,affection .of: the
parent, like indiscriminate charity in the high
ways, soon makes the receiver' wasteful of the
treasure ’he receives: ' Besides; wheiFtbe 1 qrirerit
has: been giving• becauBe;ofe,his blind ioVe,"What
has he lefjt himself to bestpw/when. thei cMldrde
serves, and,when it is the parent’s duty, to reward!
It’is fromthis profligacy of bounty, that children
become capricious l in 1 -- mora£|j udgrnen t; "pervrirsss'
andwari't6n‘in'diSposition.^^dm'rthiS w tbey grow*
up preferring wrong to right; or,'rather; practising
the wrong quite as connnoply as the right, from
an absolute incapacity to perceive the difference
between them. . ' . - !
A GREAT ACT OFiTHI SOUL;
. The celebrated poet and. philosopher, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, regarded prayer as the great
act of the soul. “I was sitting,” says a friend,
“by his bedside one afternoon, and he fell—an
unusual thing with him—into a long account of
many passages of his past life, lamenting* some
things, condemning others, but complain!ng withal,
though very gently, of the way in which many of
his most innocent acts had been cruelly misrepre
sented. ‘But I have no difficulty, 1 said he, ‘in
forgiveness; but, believe ms, to pray with all
your heart and strength, with the reason and the
will, toi believe vividly that God will listen toyour
voice through Christ, and verily do; the thin" Ho
pleaseth thereupon—this is the last great achieve
ment of the Christian warfarejjpon earth. Teach
US j° P ra l> 0 Lord. 1 ’ 1 As* he uttered these
words-he burst into a flood o| tears, and begged
his friend to pray for him; s °°
There is such a thing as becoming'mighty in
prayer. This be earnestly
sought. * . ;
Credulity and Curiosity.— ln proportion
that credulity is a more peaceful possession of the
mind than-curioaity, so far preferable is that wisdom
which converses about the surface, to that pretend
ed philosophy which enters into th&depth of,things,
and then comes hack gravely wiihrtlie- information
qnd discoveries, that in the inside they are £6o(l’
for nothing.— Swift. - * 1* -«* .;
CONFIRMATION - OF SCRIPTURE.
The following interesting article, from an ex
cbange, shows the bearing of the discoveries at
Nineveh on the teachings of the Bible:
The discoveries of Layard at Nineveh, though
curious «nd instructive in all respects, are most
important from the light they throw on Scripture.
In reading the narrative of the bold, explorer, we
seem to be, transpWted back.to the days,of the
Hebrew prophet, for substantially the same man
ners and customs prevail in Mesopotamia now as'
did three thousand years ago. There are still ,the
lodges in the cneumber gardens which Isaiah de
scribes; the' oxen still tread out the corn ; and the
wild asses of the desert, so poetically alluded to
in Job, still watch the traveller'from '.'a. distance,:
pausfe for him to draw near, aud then gallop away
to the shadowy horizon. To realize the Old Testa
ment, Layard should' be read. The ancient por
tion of the Bible ceases to be the dim, far-off rc
cor<l It has heretofore appeared;, light gleams all
along its pdges; itsrpctorS live'and move befbre ns;
we beeome purselves sharers in the story; and the
past, for tbemoment, is vivified into the present.'
The confirmation of the truth of the Scripture
derived from the sculptures of Nineveh is not loss
reiharK'abl& ! - ! Tiih Basto-eliefs on the’ walls of the
palaces/ now just restored to light, after being en
tombed for nearly two thousand: years, verify per-,
petually the, Hebrew Bible, There is still to be
seen the wild bull in the net, mentioned by Isaiah;
the Bibylddika prih'CbS in veruiilidn, with dyed'
attirhod their Heads, described by Ezekiel;' and’
warriors bringing the: heads of their enemies'in
caskets, to cast them down at the-palace-gates, as
was done with the seventy, sops of Abab. There,
too, are painted shields hung on the walls of be
siCgcd townS, as we are told by the Jewish prophet
he beheld-at Tyre. There are the forts built dvef f
against the beleagured city; the king placing his
foot, on the necks of Ige" captive princes;. and the
idols of the conquered carried away by the victors,
precisely as described by Hosea and other sacred
authors: There afe also the'Assyrian gbds, still
the sauie as when - their portraits- wSre - drawn fivO
and-twenty-centuries; ago—cut from the trees of
the forest, decked with silver and gold, fastened
with nails,, arid clothed With purple, and: blue.
The* very s’tar ‘to wbieh' Ambs' alludes, is , yet 3 on
thtiSh palace* walls/above the’ Horned’ cap’ of the'
iddl, though ‘the worshippers have been: deadx for
thousands of years, and-though; the wild beasts, as
predieted 4 Thave lp ( ng;made their lairs there. . .
' Even the euormous/eireumfeVenee: which Jonah
gives to the walls’ of Nineveh, is fally corroborated:
The three’ days’’ journey of the prophet is still re
quired to make the. circuit: of the great’ruins on
the East bank of the, Tigris, for the people of
Mesopotamia build their cities as the Hindoos
still' construct theirs. 'First one king’ erected" a
palace, round whteh'grew up a town; then a nettr''
monarch built one, for -fresh air, on the vergC : of
the open country, whither soon followed another*
town; and this process was repeated till several
contiguous cities were decaying and being erected,,
all passing/ however/ under the general name/ and
covering'together'ahextent of gtouniTwhich would
otherwise be incredible. : The light’ thrown on
Scripture, the confirmation afforded to the Bible'
by these rec.ent discoveries at Nineveh, is so re
markable, that it almost seems as if that aucient
city, after being buried: had’ been allowed to be
disinterred'sblely-to’confound the’folly’of modern
skepticism. ■ .
-prsa hoxtet: '
Money, we see it stated upon good authority, is
now largely, employed in elections. > From ; the re
cent investigations at Washington, it seems that
the enormous sum of $7-6,000 was expended in
Pennsylvania, in the Presidential contest,of 1856,
under the order of a campaign.party ; officer. How
mueh more was spent during.that struggle, in this
State, we do not knpw; nor have we any know
ledge of the money spent by, the opposing party.
For aught we know, it may have been,as much,
or more. In the late elections in Con necticut and
Rhode Island,, vast sums, it is said, were openly
and uublushingly employed by all parties. Such
a state of things is alarming, and should arouse
every good citizen to active exertions to arrest the.
evil.
Oar laws are mostly good, wise, just. They
are a legacy of priceless value. “ What nation is
so great, that hath statutes and. judgments, so
righteous as'all this law ?” But how long will we
enjoy this great boon, if our civil government is
intrusted to! men wlio will buy and. sell votes for
gold and,silver? If such men are allowed, to con
trol our elections, our laws, no matter how wise
arid just, will soon become a dead letter. “The
wicked walk ,on every side, when the vilest men
are exalted.”
We are happj; to believe that there are honest
patriots enough in the country to preserve the pu
rity' of the ballot-box, and procure rulers that will
be a terror to evil-doers, if (key will only exert
tliemselves. But just here lies the difficulty.
Multitudes of upright men pride themselves on
having nothing to do with polities. Many do not
vote at all.' All this is wrong. We hold that
every Christian, out of love to his country, should
keep a watchful eye'on everything pertaining to
the election - of able and faithful officers. Those
men who cafe nothing about the honors of office,
and r nothing for the loaves and fishes, are the
men who should make their influence felt. The
honest ycomarirywho Surrender their interests,
arid their duties, into the hands 'of bar-room poli
ticians, are guilty of great sin, and endanger the
perpetuity of our institutions. The fearful conse
quences of employing money in elections are well
shown by the Examiner, a 1 Baptist paper. We
extract the following: ’
The tendency to venality and corruption in
elections, has long been on the increase in more
than one region of the United States. Let it but
go on a little further, and political officers may
become independent of the will of the people ;
and under the guise of republican institutions and
popular rights,' the laws may be riiade, and the
country ruled, by the hired minions of a moneyed
despotism. To this result we are rapidly hasten
ing. No intelligent man, who has taken the
slightest pains to inform himself respecting recent
events, can" for a moment question the fact. We
have among us an immense population 'without
political principles or political knowledge, arid
ready at all times to be hired to vote for any party
that will pay them. We have also selfish aspirants
for office, and unscrupulous party managers, who
are at all times willing to use money in order to
secure votes. And besides these, it cannot be
d enied that we ha ve many citizens of far higher
honor and.eharacter,, who, though they scorn bri
bery, are entirely willing that money should be
used in securing votes, if the election can be car
ried in no other way.
But the mischiefs of this practice are not con
fined to the mere defeating the-will of the people,
and the virtual annulling of the American theory of
free government. . It has other and more disas
trous results, which have to do with the very
foundations of Government, and the life-blood of
the 'State. Let the practice be once established,'
of carrying elections among the people ;by money,
arid it,will soon lead, as indeed it has already be
gun to lead, to the carrying of Legislative mea
sures by money, arid with hut a very brief delay,
to the procuring of verdictsfronr Juries, and deci
S.'S. Tines.
sions from Courts, by the same nefarious means.
The legislators and magistrates who are elected by
siich agencies, will be subjected to the same agen
cies themselves,, and will not long hesitate to
accept what will only reimburse them for the ex
penditure which th'eir office has cost them. In a
little time; not only public office and emolument,
but also law and its administration, and even pub
lic justice itself, will have become mere commodi
ties in the market, to be purchased by those who
are able and willing to pay for them. -
It should also be remembered that one of the
surest effects of such a practice will everywhere be
to blunt the moral sense of the whole community.
It is iinpossible to become familiar with .such an
evil .without being corrupted by it. Already do
we‘ begin to experience its blighting agency in the
timid expedieney which prevails in politics, and
in tKe paralyzed conscience of all who are much
enlisted in the management of public aflairs. The
voice, that, denounces the use of money in popular
elections, ,is at best but feeble, and is scarcely
heeded for a moment, for it is almost invariably
;^|t ere ff pnly bf ! 'th(|se: 'whbi have suffered defeat.
All are indignant when it is used against them
selves; but there is not a party that does4ot use
it, or a class of citizens who do not acquiesce and
connive at its being .used. What stronger proof
could be given of the demoralization of a commu
nity than this signal and obvious fact, that the
bad thus furnish the, moral standard for the good
■—the mean and the fraudulent for the honorable
and the upright, the selfish and time-serving poli
tician for the patriotic and Christian citizen.
NEW REGISTRATION LAW.
From one of the secular papers we learn that
a new registration law is to take effect oh the first
day of July next. As it is a matter-of interest
to the public generally, and to ministerial brethren
in Pennsylvania particularly, we give the follow
ing description of the law as furnished by the
Philadelphia Inquirer
It provides that all clergymen, magistrates,
Clerks of religious societies, physicians,' the coro
ner, undertakers, midwives, sextons, superinten
dents of cemeteries, 4c., who may be in attend
ance at any marriage, birth, or death, shall pre
pare schedules thereof in the form of’ certificates,
containing certain particulars, under penalties for
neglect or refusal to ,perform; there are other
duties imposed on them by’the Act, of from five
to twenty-five dollars.
In eases' of marriage, the certificate is to em
brace particulars as to date of marriage, name of
male, his residence, age, occupation, and place of
birth; the name of the female, with her residence,
birth-place, and age; also the colour of the parties,
the ceremony employed, and the name and resi
dence of the person who pronounced it. Iu eases
of-birth, the certificate is to state the date of the
birth, full name of the child, sex, colour, place,
with ward, street, and number, names of parents,
occupation of father, and name and , residence of
attending physieian or midwife. In cases of death,;
the certificate must give the date of death and cer
tificate, name, colour, sex, age, married or single,
cause of death and name of attending physician,
occupation of deceased, birth-place, names of
parents, when a minor, wai‘d, street, and number
of .residence,; date of burial, and cemetery. The
certificates thus provided for are to be returned,
to the Health Officer—-the deaths weekly, the
fifths' mtmth% and 1 the marriages' quarterly—
which officer is to register them (each class sepa
rate) in books provided arid arranged Tor the pur
pose, with indexes in separate books; and he is
to make report in the month of February every
year. A copy of the registration of any marriage,
birth, or death, ■ duly certified by the Health
Officer, is to be admitted in any court of the
State as prirria facie evidence of said-marriage,
birth,..or death. . All the clergymen, physieians,
midwives, undertakers, sextons, clerks, and keepers
of records, &c., named above, are required to re
port their names and residences, before the first
day of July next, to the Health Officer; who is to
register and index them. Removals of residence
are to be reported within thirty days after such
removal.
That such a law, well executed, would be im
portant to the interests of the State can hardly be
doubted. Such laws have been in force in Eng
land since 18S7, and are now kept up at a great
annual expense.
SUCCESS ATTRIBUTABLE TO LOVE OF
OCCUPATION.
The great difference which we perceive in the
success of people, depends almost entirely 1 upon
the earnestness with which they pursue; their in
dustrial callings. And that earnestness depends
again upon the love for and engrossment by the
pursuit in whieh they are engaged. It is a bad
sign when a 'man is forever lamenting the difficul
ties of his avocation and wishing he were in any
other business than that which, for the time being,
demands his attention.
Those who expect to find any pursuit which is
free from difficulties are grossly mistaken. Eve
ry occupation, prosecuted to success, involves the
overcoming of many obstacles, and the surmount
ing of many impediments. IVhen we fancy that
one particular business possesses all the discou
ragements, and that the avocations of others are all
pleasant and easy, we only exhibit the narrowness
of our minds aod the feebleness of our observation.
We observe a mechanic working with great ease
in his department of handicraft, and rapidly pro
ducing the most beautiful forms from the rudest
material. His work looks easy. But who does
not know that year after year of severe application
and practice were requisite to prepare for such
speedy and beautiful execution ? : The lawyer ad
dresses a jury upon a vast collection of facts, and
with surpassing eloquence strips the sophistries
away which have been artfully woven by the op
posite coumsel. Everybody admires the skill with
which this is done, and those who have not made
the attempt think it easy to imitate it. But. let
them try, and they would discover that years of
close study and .much logical culture were necessa
ry in order that the effect might be produced.
So it is in every occupation. Ease, skill, and
grace in labor come only from repeated struggles,:
and after many failures. We feel the difficulties
in our own pursuits, but in the pursuits of others
we only witness the dexterity which the operator
manifests'.
Hence we misjudge and magnify the vexations
ana difficulties of our own vocations. But when
ever we get into this state of mind, we may be
sure that we are leaving the path which leads to
the-goal of success. It shows that we do not love
our occupation; that we are not sufficiently en
grossed by it to deserve or command success.
To the young, a'love of the pursuit iu which
they are engaged is valuable. The moment they
possess this, every obstacle diminishes in magni
tude and power, until it becomes a pleasure to at
tack and overcome them. But when young inen
go through, their daily tasks simply because they
feel'they must execute them, their avocation be
comes dull and tedious, aud they do not properly
perform their tasks. , A boy in a store who does
just'as much as he is told to do, and not even that
when he can shirk part of it, will never make a
good business man. He never satisfies his em
ployers, never gets half the wages that he might,
and by his dilatory and shiftless method of doing
his work, makes his task twice as arduous as it
would otherwise be.
So it is with the inari who is prosecuting busi
ness on his own account. If he defers it to his
pleasures of recreation, bis business becomes am
noying and tiresome. He loses customers and
VOL. IV.—NO. 35.—Whole flo. 200.
grows careless. As his business decreases he be
comes more and more disaffected, and finally re
tires a bankrupt and in disgust with his vocation.
There is no remedy for this state of things but
the cultivation of a taste amounting to a passion
for the occupation which we pursue for a liveli
hood. And parents should be extremely careful,
when selecting pursuits for their sons, to see that
those pursuits are in accordance with the natural
affiihities of those sons. Otherwise they may
squander away their time through a languid mi
nority, and on attaining full age find themselves
incapable of any effective exertion.
Erasmus represents scholastic theologians as
gravely discussing the question, “ Whether Christ,
instead of taking upon Himself the form of a man,
could have taken the form of a woman, a devil, a
beast, an herb, or a stone, and how, in the last
case. Lie would have preached His gospel, or been
nailed to the cross.” The mind reeoils from such
a waste of intellect and time, while the saving
truths >of -the tgfispel slept, in grosssnfeglect. It is
prostitution ot the sacred office. It is murder of
souls. We see it in this light at a glance.
But let us look at the matter again. The great
error of the Schoolmen consisted in putting away
the fundamental verities of our holy religion— not
in the character of the speculations by which these
were displaced. All substitutes for the doctrines
which awaken sinners and edify saints are trivial,
only we detect this worthlessness in some more
readily than in others. Those who pass by the
truths that save and sanctify, have turned aside
“out of the way,” as really as the Schoolmen;
and there is comparatively little choice between
the poor trifles on which they may expend their
“busy idleness.” So an experience of fifty-four
years in the ministry taught John Taylor. He
felt that two-thirds of that time had been lost
through his “neglect to invite sinners, to repent
of their sins aud come to Christ, with the tender
ness of spirit that becomes, the gospel." Tree,
he had not asked how Christ would have preached
the gospel, or been nailed to the cross, if He had
taken upon Himself the form of a stone. But he
had;“labored in the fire” of vain speculation, dis
puting “whether Adam was:a natural or a spiri
tual man when he was first made; whether he
died a moral or a spiritual death when he first
sinned; whether God’s decree is so definite that
it cannot be added to or taken from; whether
regeneration and the new birth are different or
the same thing," etc. And he bemoaned this as
an “ apostacy from the gospel spirit. ” Was there
not cause for his grief? With regard to the great
work of winning the world to Christ, were not
his themes as truly (though not as palpably) bar
ren as those of the Schoolmen ? is it a matter of
moment by which of these, or of a thousand other
topics, the people are beguiled into the neglect of
a salvation at once present and everlasting? To
rescue the soul now from the grasp of Satan—
that is the principal thing. Aud he who gives
us anything else in exchange for that, gives U 3 a
‘stone for bread, or a scorpion for a fish’—nay,
gives us death for life, perdition for eternal glory.
Oh, then, let the pulpit know “only Jesus Christ
and Him crucified! ”
Was it the sound of the distant surf that was in
mine ears, or the low moan of thatibreeze, as it crept
through the neighboring wood? 0, the'lioarse
voice of ocean, never silent since time first began
—where has it not been uttered? There is still
ness amid the calm of the arid and rainless desert,
where no spring rises, and no streariilet flows; and
the long caravan plies its weary march amid the
blinding glare of the sand, and the red, unshaded
rays of the fierce sun.. But onee and again, and
yet.again, has the roar of the ocean been there.
It is liis sands that the wind heaps up; and it is the
skeleton remains of his vassals—shells and fish,
and the stony coral—that the rocks underneath en
close. There is silence on the tall mountain peak,
with its glittering mantle of snow, where the pant-,
inglungs labor to inhale the thin bleak air—where -
no insect murmurs, arid ho bird flies, arid where
the. eye wariders over multitudinous hilltops that
lie far-beneath, and vast dark forests that sweep
on to the distant horizon, and along lone hollow
valleys where the; great rivers begin. And yet
once and, again and yet again, has the roar of the
ocean been there. The effigies of his more ancient
denizens we find sculptured on the crags, where
they jut from beneath the lee -into the mists-wreath,
arid his later beaches, stage beyond stage, terrace
the descending slopes. Where has the great de- -
stroyer not been—the devourer of continents—the
blue foaming dragon, whose vocation, is to eat up
the land? His ice-floes have alike furrowed the ’
flat-steppes of Siberia, and-’ the rocky flanks' of'
Schehallian; and his nummulties and fish lie im
bedded in great, stones of. the pyramids; hewn in ,
the times of the Pharoahs, and in rocky folds of
Lebanon, still untouched by the tool. So long as
ocean exists, there must be disintegration, dilapi
dation, change; and should thetime ever arrive
when the elevatory agencies, motionless and chill,
shall sleep within their profound depths, to awaken
no more—and should the sea still continue to im
pel its currents, and to roll its waves—every con- ’
tinent and island would at length' disappear, and
again, as of old, “ when the fountains of the
great deep were broken up,”
“A shoreless ocean tumble round the globe.”
Was it with reference to this principle, so recently
recognized, that we are expressly told in the
Apocalypse respecting the renovated earth, iu
whieh the state of things shall be fixed and eternal,
that “there shall be no more sea?” or are we to
regard the revelation as the more hieroglyphic—
the pictured shape—of somp analogous moral truth?
“Reasoning from' what we know "-—and from what
else remains to us ?—an earth without a sea would
be an earth without rain, without vegetation,
without life—-a dead and doleful planet of waste
places, such as the telescope reveais to us in the
moon. And yet the*ocean does seem peculiarly a
creature of time—-of all the great agents of vicissi
tudes and change, the most influential and untiring;
and. to a state in which there shall be no vicissitude
and no change—-in which the earthquakes shall
not heave from beneath, nor the mountains wear
down, and the continents melt away—it seems in
evitably necessary that there should be “no more
sea.” ■ - .
A good brother Elder in Presbytery a short
time sihee, thought it wrong to talk about minis
ters’ salaries/ For,” said he, “ when our Sa
viour sent out his: disciples, he-told them to .take
neither gold nor silver, purse nor scrip; not even :
two coats,” And he took his seat with all - the
conclusiyehess of manner which the use of a sound
scriptural argument is calculated to beget.
‘I But why, Mr. Moderator,” said another broth
er in reply, “did our Saviour tell his disciples
not to provide these things ? . .The very passage
from jyh>ch the brother qudtesj answers the ques
tion." The Saviour himself gives, as the reason :
‘because the laborer is worthy of his meat’ It
was not the duty of the disciples to provide, these
things, but it - was made the duty of those to whom
the disciples were sent.”
The quotation of our brother elder was correct
enough, as far as it went.. Bat he stopped too
short; be should have read further. And this,
we fear, is too often the trouble: men are prone to
quote so tnueh of scripture only as will sustain a
peculiar view,., while, if they.' youid quote, .and
’properly whole/passage',’ their cherished
errors would be Siade manifest. Take heed, breth
ren. ■■■ ,
Heat’s Merchant’s Magazine.
THE PRINCIPAL THEME.
THE VOICE OF THE .OCEAN.
APT REPLY.
Religious Herald.
Hugh Miller.