GENESEE EVANGELIST.—WhoIe No 761
ottvg.
COLERIDGE'S "RUIN BEFORE BR/GA
IN THE YALE OF OHANOUNY."
Competent critics have pronounced the Syran
bejore Sunrise in the Vale of °hammy's/ the most
sublime production in the English language. • Dr.
Cheever, in his "Wanderings of a Pilgrim," gives
some interesting foots in relation to tins celebrated
poem. He says:
"I am not aware that Coleridge himself ever
visited the Vale of Chamouny; and if dot, then
that wonderful fly= to, Mount Blanc was the
work of imagination solely, building on the basis
of the original lines in German. This was a grand
and noble foundation, it is true; but the Hymn by
Coleridge was a perfect transfiguration of the piece,
an inspiration of it With a higher soul, and on in
vestiture of it 'Stith garments that shine like the
sun. It was tike greatest work of the Poet's great
and powerful imagination, combined with the deer,
and worshipping sense of spiritual things in his
soul.
"On visiting the scene, one is apt to feel as if
be could , not have written it in,the vale itself;
the details of the picture would ave been some
what different; and, confined by the reality, one
may doubt if even Coleridge's genius could have
gained that lofty ideal point of observation and,
conception, from which he drew the vast and glo
rious imagery that rose before him. Not because
the poem is more glorious than the reality, for
that is impossible; but because in painting from.
the reality, the force and sublimity of his general
conceptions would have been weakened by the at
tempts at faithfulness in the detail, and nothing
like the impression ,of the aerial grandeur of the
scene, its despotic unity, to the imagination, not
withstanding its variety, would have been eon
veyed,to the mind.
"Yet there are parts of it which tit, sunrise or
sunset either, the Poet might have written from
the very windows of his bedroom, if he had been
there in the dawn and evenings of days of such
extraordinary brilliancy and glory as marked and
filled the atmosphere during our sojourn in that
blessed region. A. glorious region it is, much
nearer heaven than our common world s and carry
ing a sensitive, rightly oonStitetted mind far up in
spirit towards the gates of heaven, towards God,
whose glory is the light of heaven, and of whose
power and majesty the mountains; ice -fields, and
glaciers,, whether beneath the NW, moon, or stars,
are a, dim, though grand and glittering symbol.
'Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind, ful
filling His word, mountains and all lulls, fruitful
trees and all cedars praise the Lord.. He looketh
upon the earth and it trembleth; He touoheth,the
hills, and they smoke.'"
We give here the original German- Hymn,
which is entitled Chummy at Sunrise. To Slop
stock. It was translated by Coleridge% "admiring
and affectionate' relative," and put, by Dr. Choe-.
ver, into the metrical form of the original:
Ott of,the deep, shshte.of thtslightfir gtotre,
Treinbling,, I survey thee, mountain-head of eternity,
Dazzling (blinding) summit, front whose vast height
My dimly-perceiving spirit floats into the everlasting,
Who sank the pillar deep in the lap of earth
Which, forpast centuries, fast props thpniass , upt
Who uptowered, high in toe vault of ether,
Mighty aid eauntatiancist
Who poured you from on high, out of eternalMlNAS
pjegpil stream% downWeid,with.tliun4iernoiust,
And who bade aloud, witittho,Almighty.Voice,,
"Here shall, rest tha.stiffenitig , billows?" •
Who mark( out there the• path for the lifivaint•Star?;
Who wreathes with blorsome the skirt of eternal Frost!
To whom, wild: Arvelron,,in terriblerharniokies,,
Rolls up the,sound of thy' tumult.of billowst
Jehovah! Jehovah crashes in the bursting ice!
Atralanehe•thunders roll it in the cleft downward ;
Jehovah! , it rustles in the bright , tree-tops;
whispers murmuring in the purling-silver brooks.
This is, indeed, a "grand and noble foundation;"
but it is,only the foundation of Coleridges Hymn..
A perusal of the German original will prepare one
to read, " with mute thanks and secret eestacy,"
the solemn and stupendous poem which follows.
Eds. Western Episcopalian.]
East thou a charm to stay the Morning Star
In his steep course? so long he seems to pause
On thy bald, awful head, 0 Sovran Blanc?
The Arve and Arveiron at thy base
Rave ceaselessly; but thou, mostawful form!
Risest from forth thy silentsea es pines,
How silently I Around thee and above,
Deep is the air, and dark, substantial black;
An ebon mass; methinks thou pierced it
As with a wedge I But whelLl look again,
It is thine own calm home and crystal shrine,
Thy habitation from Eternity!
O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense,
Didst vanish from my thought; entranced in prayer
I worshipped the Invisible alone.
Yet, like some sweet, beguiling melody,
So sweet, we know not we are listening to it,
Thou, the-meanwhile, west blending with my thought,
Yea, with my Life, and Life's own secret joy,
Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused,
Into the mighty vision passing,—there,
As in her natural form, swelled vast to heaven!
Awake, my Soul! not only paSsive praise
Thou °westi not alone these swelling tears,
Mute thanks and. Secret eestacyf Awake,,
Voice of sweet song Awake, my heart, awake!
Green vales and ley cliffs, adjoin my hymn.
Thou first and chief, Mite Sovereign of the Vale !
0, struggliftg idtir•the darkness all night long,
And all night visited pey troops of stars,
Or when they climb the sky or when they sink;
Companion of the Morning Star at dawny
Thyself earth's rosy star, aad of-the dawn
Cohertdd ; wake, 0 wake, and-utter praise!
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in earth?
Who tilled thy Countenance with rosy light?
Who made thee Parent of perpetual streams?
And rler), five-wild torrents,* fiercely glad,'
Who called you forth from night and utter death,:
From dark soul icy caverns called you forth,
Dow n these precipitous, black, jagged rocks,
Forever shattered, and the same forever?
Who gave you your Invulnerable life,
Your strength, your speed, your fury and your joy,
Unceasing thunder and eternal foam?
And who commanded (azid the silence came)
Here let the billows stiffen and have rest?
Ye ice-falls !ye that from-the mountain's brow
Adown enormous ravines slope amain—
Torrents, methinks that heard a mighty Voice,
And stopped at once, amidst their maddest plunge!
Motionless torrents! silent cataracts
Who made you glorious as•the gates of heaven
Beneath the keen full moon' Who bade the Sun
Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers
Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet?
Goa I let the torrents, like a shout of nations,
Answer 1 and let thr ice-plties echo, Goo
Gen l sing, ye meadow-streams, with gladsome voice I
Ye pine -groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!
And they, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow,
And In their perilous fall shall thunder Gon
Ye living flowers• that skirt the eternal frost!
Yo wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest!
Besides the rivers Arve and Arveiron, which have
their source In the foot of Mount Blanc, five consuice
ona torrents rush down its sides t and, within a few paces
of the glaciers, the Gentian% Major grows in immense
numbers, with Its flowers of loveliest blue."
Ye eagles, playmatee of the mountain-etorm I
Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!
Ye signs and wonders of the elements!
Utter forth Goo ! and fill the hills with praise!
Thou, too, hoar Mount, with thy sky-pointing peaks
Oft from whose feet the Avalanche. unheard,
Shoots downward glittering through the pure serene
Into the depths •of clouds that Vail thy bread,
Thou, too, again stupendous mountain I thou,
That as 1 raise my head, awhile bowed low
In adoration, upward from thy base a
Slow travelling with dim eyes suffused with tears,
Solemnly seemed, like a vapory cloud,
To rise before me.—Rise, 0, ever riser.
Rise, like a cloud of incense from the earth
Thou kingly spirit throned among the hills,
Thou dread Ambassador from earth to heaven,
Great Hierarch! tell thou the Silent sky-
And teßthe stars, and tell yon rising Stin, " •
Earth, with. her= video, praises Goo!
Por the American Presbyterian.
LiTTER 111011 DR. doX.
To the Editor of the American Presbyteriatt.:--
Your remarks in reference to examination of
ministem in reply to those of the "Itirtxxn," last
week, really gratified 'me; they were so cabn, so
true, and so well put. It is a fact, though strange
to myself, theta am now for years among the fa
thers; as it is just . forty-eight years, this week,
since I left the law and its pursuits, in . Newark,
N. J . ., under some strong conviction, that Ged.had
called me to the ministry of the gospel of Christ—
though at first, this was not the commanding or
recognised motive, at. all:. it way the salvation of
my soul, in his own !way, as ota poor sinner that
needed, INktreiTELT . just such a systdni of truth
endorsee and, hope, as rived to find in thegiorious
gospel of the blessed God. lam now in the: forty.
fifth year, however, of my public ministry in the ,
Presbyterian Church which r so love, prefer, ho
nor, and desire- to serve, that I may say—l know
of none other that could comparably suit me ; and I
know it, because it is. a fact, and ever' has bees
fact, tince.tjoined it; not at all regarding it ea.:1,1
piece of charity, but rather of , stupidity or intbe ,
cility; to have no preference, or, to be ashamed on
due occasion to avow it. My preference is great;
possibly conscientious, possibly enlightened, pos
sibly cornet and true forever! , PRZENEENON:'
NOT EXCLUSION.
Hence,, when cliiruption, excision, . cruel Beldam, I
wasp avalanched, upon us, for no good reason, and , '
in .a may which I never cease. to accuse , and de:,
nounce, as a very wickedness, novuns'er inauditunt
nefas ; as hugely anti-constitutional; as involving
necessarily. the sins of perjury, and most anti
christian intolerance, against four Synods ) twenty
eight Presbyteries,..and.one other "dissolved)" in
leves auras—that is, in .the abstract, since, in its
noble concrete, it stilt exists, grows, and blesses
the very city, of Philadelphia in which it, was in
fulihine annihilated by the self-ityled propagators,.
•
and expounders, and-specialasgnardians of the. con,
eultutionp when all-this occurred, I. say, - 010 how.
itrgrieltaindi aprii:za fiterftintlekriliawa?frcine
all my prospects'and hopes for the hnnor, and per
petbiti'amkthe lust "predominance of our glorious
American Presbyterian Church! Not yet;.if over;:
in this world-, can I recover !from thndamage, the
degradation; the diahoner, of ' that. unique abomi
nation in our annals; .the results of which we feel
to this 'day/
has overruled it for the furtherance
of the , gospel) and that in many ways,--- 7 so 'did: be''
with the persechtion . 0 'Paul;T . and, also with the
sin of 'Judas! No thanks to Pilate, to. the traitor;
orte the, high-priest; and. notie:at,all to ."the .ju
venile patriarchs" who diditalliwith , suelf , a-rush
of fury,-while conscience _and reflection were too
debauched, or drank ) ,or maddened, to care a straw
for their. ordination. vows; to the corkstitutiOnl
Among other things,,l leared ;then, as. feel
now, that such a schism in the , churetruf, the,na,
tion, was only the harbinger and the facilitation
too, to the dissolution•of the great 'pact -that made
our-nation one: that' made" ts existence, now so
threatened' with rash measures and' rash men, in
more 'ways. and, places, than, wiew, menacing .the
disintegration of the grand arch of our nation!
and•so.the sanguinary} ruin of our country.
,
Soon they laid a new ‘c basis"-their own word;
and, without a particle of constitutional autho
rity, or right of any kind, they just impiously'ex
winded from their church, wholesale and retail,
whoever would not , approve their reVolutionary
and schismatical acts; sanction them; make those
acts their "basis," declaring all such excluded,
ipso facto, by the rendition Of the schismastical
vote, refusing such homage to blasphemy and trea
son!, How " schismatical."' it was!
"Old School," "New School," are all-fudged as
to any•propriaty in those designations. Who made
the new basis ? Who adhered only to the old one?
Who was right, who wrong,. according to the` con
stitution 7:
We, took the constitution in: due form ; solemnly;
religiously, considerateln and•with the fall appro
heti= of Our Presbytery, es the contrietiME pay Of
the firat part; repregentative of the whole 4 t.Prea.;
byterian Church in these United States." When
woaccepted the Confession of Faith, was' it with
the qualifying'appendage—as it is understood and
expounded at Princeton by Dr. Hedge, and so
believed in Rentucky'by R: J. Breekinridge—not
then a -doctor No. such thing: I was licensed,
after an incomparably tedious and polemical exa
mination, by a unanimous vote of the Presby
tery of New York, in 1816; and soon after ordained
by the venerable and noble _Presbytery of Jersey,"
after full and proper examination, by their una
nimous vote, when such stars of God composed its
constellation, as Griffin, Richards, Fisher, Rillyer,
"M‘Dowell, Ogden, Armstrong, Ring, and others.
adhuc menzorandi, venerandi, collaudandi!
About examinations and all that, I may write in
a coming paper. As wrong and right are fixed
relations, I feel it my; duty, occasionally, to call on
our new basis-layers, all of them, to repent of this
wickedness, as soon as possible. Many of them,
in spite of their evils, I sincerely revere and love.
And they know it! Why will they then not right
about, face the music of their duty, and per
form the doing of it as if they were ABLE—to be
account-ABLE; and as moral agenta,• to be ob
ligated to repent of their sins, against. their bre
thren; against our common Master; against Our
cherished and beloved church; our common Pres"-
byterian Church, in these once United States!
The Lord God of our common trust and adorn
tiou, work in. us • 011, to do his will, and serve his
own cause forever. SAMUEL' HANSON' 00X.
Leroy,- 17:- Y.,,Dec. Ist, 1800;
PiIItiAPEITM.A. I - . .. TRIJRSP-4.*::•-.'.1)..R1ji-.4':,-.11.;.:.*,:i_,,:i
For the American Presbyterian.
A PLEA 808 AN OLD FASHIONED BOOK
'.lt is a plain-spoken, unpretending book, and
yet it is full of wonders. There are many persons
who possess it, but do not know what is in it.
They offer it to A be hidden beneath MOTO showy
and fashions : W.-books. In some houses it gathers
a covering of-dust from entire neglect, even of its
outward, appearance. Indeed we :have seen cob
webs woven round it in places where wealth found
many appliances. But , we are glad to say, some
persons prize it very much, and have 'prized it in
all ages. It cheered Bunyan greatly, in. his pri
son, and was the ground-work of his wondrous
pilgrim: It comforted' good Baxter, also, when
dealt with so• hardly for his defence, of its truths.
And our, greatrhearted,Luther r how he prized this
treasure in his lonely cell, and how 'nobly he
strove to promulgatuits holy doctrines. We said ,
it was full of wonders. Its origin was wonderful:
Its • author, the Eternal God, communicated ; by
Him, through the disposition of angels to "holy men ,
of old, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." Its truths were communicated amid the
flames and thunders of Sinai's mount, in the starry
plains and cedar-crowned .mountains of Judea, in
the far off, land of Chaldea ; to the captive by the ,
river Chebar, attended by the whirlwind, the
moving creatures amid precious stones, . and the.
beauteous rainbow. , In , the isle-of Patrnos, the:
lone disciple's heart : as elevated above mum by'
glorious visions and communications from above.
But we cannot tell of all the' wondrous methods,
by whichthis old-fashioned be* was completed.
We wiskto plead, that it may be treated with
the honor it deserves in the pulpiti in the college
hall, in the public school, and. in thp Sabbath
school, in the parlor of wealth, and its the humble
cottage. We 'grieve to me it so much slighted.
In the pulpit we hear so much tore• of 'human
reason, than the infallible teaching •of God's word.
Its precious . gems,are not perniitted to sparkle as
in the pages of our good old divines. Its finely
terhpered two-edged sword, exceeding any "Da
mascus blade," so fitted to pierce the - slumbering
conscience, to wake the spirit drugged into a fa
tal sleep by earth's cares and vanities, is sheathed
in many, - pulpits;. often wrapped about with a
covering of finely-spun fancies.
This book has not its true place in Christian
households; new and popular works, periodicals
and pipers, thrust it aside. It has not its true
place in the Sabbath school. Teachers go to their
classes with little or no previous study of God's
word, and their pupils are not required to memo
rize any considerable portion of its truths. Our
public , schools-also do not give it due honor.
The minds of the pupils should be imbued with
its holy teachings, despite the opposition of Rome,
and the slurs of infidels. Now, when Popery is'
falling; and the war so long waged' 'between it and
the - truth, will probably soon be settled, is the
time 'for sowing God's word broadcast in every
department. •
Theyhad the Bible;
Bad thou ever heard of such a book f.:
The authcir, God himself; the subject, God and man.
tteittal Eternal death! dread words !
Whesd meaning hath'noend, no bounds?'
META• S.
For the American Presbyterian.
THE PUNISHMENT OP THE JEWISH
PEOPLE.
The Chief Priests and Scribes, in their opposi
tion to the Gospel, were influenced by motives of
private interest and ambition, as well as by feelings
of personal munity , taour Lord. In the establish
ment
of his authority, they saw• the ruin of their
own;. and conscious that the continuance of their
temporal existence, as a nation, was suspended upon
the proof of his divine mission, they found cause
of alarm andjealousy in the miracles by which it
was attested, and .urged as arguments for his de
struction, the mighty works which they ought to
have received as - evidences of his divinity. " What
do we? for this man doeth many miracles: and if
we let him alone all men, will go after him, and
the Romans shall come, hnd shall take away both
our place and nation." Under this apprehension,
we findithem stimulating the zeal of the people
and the jealousy, of the government; and by alter
nate charges of blasphemy and treason, advanced,
in malice and supported by perjury, succeeding - at
last in their diabolical conspiracy, and triumphing
in the anticipated fall of their victim. In con
templating such a train, of iniquities, crowned and
completed with so dreadful an impreaation, ;we
behold a picture of depravity unequalled in the
history of man; and we look for the accomplish
ment of a judgment thus audaciously invoked and
impiously defied. In the conduct of the . Jewish
populace, .however, we see some circumstances of
extenuation, Led by, the influence and authority'
of their rulers,- zealous for their' law, which they
are taught_to think endangered by the :doctrines'
of this new teacher, fearful of again provoking
the severity of an arbitrarygovernment, they seem
to have-acted:umler irapression*Ll4 reDgioni how-.
ever mistaken, and of loyalty, however misap
plied. Why then do we see them involved in
one common punishment with the, leaders and in
stigators of the crime? why for a mere error in
judgment (if it be no more,) sentenced to national
reprobation, and condemned under the very sanc
tion of the law which it was the object of their blind
zeal to maintain ? Because they wilfully and
perversely rejected as revelation.•impressed, upon
their senses by repeated and miraculous evidence ;
because they listened to the suggestions of pride,
and prejudice, and interest, in opposition to the
dictates of reason, and' conscience, and truth,—
Because their wild and capricious levityled them to
desert and prosecute the Master, whose authority
they had acknowledged, and whose benefits they
bad received; and within the short space of ONE
WEEK after their acclamations had hailed his
triumphal entrance into the Holy City, as the
chosen and anointed of the Lord, to pursue him
to a cruel and ignominious death, as a traitor and
a blasphemer. Because their obstinate prejudice
resisted the testimony of innocence, which ex
torted the assent even of a foreigner and a heathen,
and clamoured for mercy to a wretch loaded with
every crime, while it unmercifully and unrelent
ingly thirsted for the blood of the Son of God 1
We would now apply the - warning which this
awful exam ple affords of the great necessity of right
ly informing the conscience, ere we venture to trust
implicitly to its directions. Here we have an in
stance of a most atrocious crime, committed, not
only without , compunction or remorse, but with all
the complacency of self-apprObatioi the passiona
,
i t
and apparent interests impressing:
... •bias upon the
judgment, which completely NV he rectitude of
its decisions, and leads to . a literal filament of the
Prophet's description, putting evil for. good, and
good for , evil. How far, this erroneous direction
of the conscience may justify an, action in the
sight of God, and ignorance be admitted as an
apology for guilt, it is important, Mid happily not
difficult to ascertain. It is evident, that sin is
not imputable where ignorance is unavoidable;
but it is not less evident, that if slier negligenee,
prejudice, or vice, prevent our acqOaition of the
knowledge within our reach, such;ignorance will
not be admitted as an excose, but will rather Ope
rate as an aggravation of our offences. • Our
Lord himself warns us of this; in predicting their
sufferings which the malice or or neeof the
Jewish or heathen persecutors ion' : 10444 upon him
and his-disciples. "All these t , :v i l they:do,
unto you for my name's sake, )0., ~ )- . they, know
not hinv.that sent me. If I.hativvier, ' dome' and
spoken unto them, they had not ha '`m bit no*"
they haVe no cloak for their siti:.f - Vl,had not
done among them the works whichnone other man
did, they hid not had sin 1: but now' ;have' they
both seen and hated both me and urs Father."
Here is an iniportant lessor/ r t.° . ehrselVos, oh the
great danger of trusting our conduptteauggestions
of conscience, if we have,not been careful to in
form that conscience aright; and k establish upon
the solid foundation of Scriptureioutrule of faith,.
and our principles of action.
~_.
W. B EVANS.
WooddstOck, get
WHY SHOULD I PRAY.
"There seem to be. reasons why I s'hould not
pray. I am an insignificant 'object: does the
great God think of me? He has nobler beings
on whom to exercise hin-thougliteand extend his
favor. He has many Avoive a ii - overn and sus
tain. Can he Bare folvia,-4 , restore of - a daY"I
on this small planet?" , ;.
Yes :' God cares for yCiti: -Ile created you. and
he deems you worthy of his attention. His go
vernment is over this world, and therefore embra
ces you. There is as much occasion for his care
of you, as of an angel. A . father does not love
his younger and more feeble chil4ren less than he
loves the older and stronger. Often the reverse
is true. You •have.many qualities of :an angel:
you are a living, reas.onit ig, loving, immortal being,
capable of unutterable joy andof, endless pain.
You can he made holy and fit for heaven. You
are greater than the we rids. They have no mind,
no heart. You, can st udytheiOdaws, and: weigh
their solid masses;.yeti can• risg:aboVe them and
look down on their mot ions and/their fires. You
shall live when their light is quenched. If, there
fore, God regards the journeys ef planets and the
life of mere,matter, ohall he ~ not` notice your
thoughts an affections, the history of your life,
the destiny 'of Your soul? j. said to his dis
ciples, (Matt. x. 300 "The :rjr hairs,qf your
es
head are all numbered ," ari , lof the sparrows,
two of which were sold l'or a farthing, " One of
them' shall; not fall 'on the
, 44d without Yonr
ather.Z.:— ..... .., ; ---...4,
• " But if God does niallicere V
413 his creature,
dependent on him; requiiring is paternal care,
Why should I ask him'to bless me? The stars do
not ask him. The ftoWers that spring up in the
field do not seek his smite. the falling sparrow
doei not call on him for help. He gives to his
own what be knows to be their need. His love
proinPte this. WV, thelf, , since teannot inform
him, shmild I trouble - him' with my prayers?
11e gives or withholds according to liispleasure."
Were you in , ittiminent 'danger, you would not
reason thus: your cry for help would he' spoefa
aeons and irrepressible ; your heart would speak.
Were your father to b aniSh you/from your home,
the fervor of your plea would not be abated, but
enhanced, by the decision. You would cry, like
Esau, with an exceeding bitter cry, Spare me,
" Bless' me, omy father." That would be the
language onature, the
s prayer of the heart in its
agony, to cheek reasoning` and silence doubt!
Christ says, (Luke xviii. 1,) " Men ought always
to pray, and, not to fain - t." The, promise of God
to his captives was, (JE:i. xxix. 12,) " Ye shall
go and pray unto me, i ind I wilt hearken unto
you.
"All.this is plain and reasonable ;` but how
am Ito reconcile the 43 , 4 aty,444trayer•with the im
mutability of God ?
,He It of one mind : who
,
can turn hint ?' Wit:y, then ~ should E pray for
that Which he has not ggiven ? If he has resolVed
to bless, or to withholid blessing, he will do ac
cordingto his purpose.:" -
i•:,Yes ; but we do noti knolir'his purpose, neither
have we anything to do With it. , If he commands
us to pray, as we knoitv he does, we are to leave'
ourselves in his hand. Practically, indeed, his
immutability is the giound of hope in prayer..
He has promised to hear us when we'pray. He
cannot change : therefibre his promise is sure.
The Psalmist in his: sorrow prayed, (Ps. cii.
24,) " 0 my God, • tale me not ' away in the
midst of my days." Find what was the ground
of this plea ?Verse i 25th, " Thy` years are
throughout all generaitions," and verse 27th,
"Thou art the snme, and thy years shall have no
end." If God did:ohmage, we might Again from
prayer; but because ho does not changeiwe have
a strong ground of fait' la in his premise.
i
" But has not GOO Said, ' The Prayer of the
wicked is abomination;?' , 'Does- not this shut the
door 'of hope against-Oa?' • ~ -
..Nol God has never ma' that. ' Prim. xv. 8:
"Ile ' sacrifice of 1 the iwieked *on; aboinination
to the'Lordi" 'That• ill;,'tetrfMitward worship, the
offerings 'of wicked' anti wha,, practise the obser
vances of religion hypineritically,l are an abomina
tion to him: This dotes not' mean that a sinner
who feels' the need of God's favor map not seek
it. The Apostle Pester' encouraged even Simon
Magus to pray, though guilty -of the greatest sin,
(Acts viii. 22 :)—"lt!apent, therefore, of this' thy
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought
of thine heart may beOargiven thee." The dying
malefactor prayed Itt-sinner ' " Lord, remember
me when 'thou comee into thy kingdom." lie
was heard. Jesus sail& unto -him, "Verily I say
unto'thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in para
dise." (Luke xxiii.l 42, 43.) Can you ask a
more convincing proOf than this that a shiner
may pray ?
"But I dare not pkay; for my sins are greater
tban - those of other mlen:"
If you really feel thus, you - have grouad - of
hope. Luke xviii. 13 :---" The'publican; standing
afar off; would not rift up so mach as his eyes
unto heaven, but smote upon: his 'breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this
man went> down to his house justified." David
prayed the more urgently in proportion to' the
greatness of his sin. (us. xxv. 11f). He cries,
"For thy name's sake, LOrd,'pardon mineini
quity; for it is great."' Bo great that he could
not bear it, so great -that no other- being could
forgive it. Now '
if the greatness of our sin is a
reason why We-fil maid pray for pardon, it cannot
be a reason why' we shouldnot pray for it. Your
condition is just that which moves the pity of
God. Of all other beings in the world, you are
most welcome. if you go to God with sorrow, sub
mission, and faith in Jesus Christ.
44 .11 ave no time to pray," says the man of the
world. "My - business presses!
But . yon 'have time to eat and ` drink, sleep, and
read. the 'journals; talk with'your neighbors, 'at-
tend political gatherings, and visit Mends and
places of Amusement. Have you not-Len minutes
each day for God and your soul?, .Youltave fifty
two whole days in the year _given yonfOr the ex
press purpose otprayer and felloviship With Hea
ven. Can you be serious in saying that you have
no 'time to, pray? Ah, my friend, when God
shall call you to account; the time yott have
wasted in folly, the Sabbaths of your whole : life,,
rising up as witnesses of your guilt, Will be seen
to hive been 'enough i Each lost dappill becothe'
an' age of ruin. - '
"I would like to pray, but I have' no -place.
My house is small, and my family large; my com
panions are ' near; every place is filled with' the
stir of machinery'and the implements of *labor.
There is no place for me, at honie or abroad:"
But pat eau pray in your - heart: "Pray with-'
out ceasing," says the ~apostle. This implies•
that we must be in the spirit of prayer, and that
God hears :the silent aspirations of men. After
all, your difficulty is not so great as it seems.
You sometimes are' ateifo:'&4iCrhiitiforefeleoppor
Unities for 'iirayer, anti you- shallfind' others .still.
A godly sailor, who had .no place 4 on the ,deck nor
in the forecastle to pray alone, went to the, mast
headond`there, in the, hush of night, and in the
early dawn, looked' to Him who 'once Walked on
the sea. If you love God, he will give you a
place in which you 'may lift up your voice and
heart to him..
"But what if I do .not feel like praying?
Would it not be mocking God to attemptit ?"
You ought to feel like praying. If Yon'neglect
prayer, you reject the ow:emend of God, and are
therefore: guilty. If you do not love God suffi
ciently to pray, you are guilty. You ought to
pray the more, and ask for right feeling. flow
ean - you,be indifferent to the duty and the privi
lege? Think of the love of God,,the safferings
of Jeans, • the worth of •the soul, the ruins of sin,
the,gloriesi of heaven, auctthe sorrows of hell, and
be cold and dead and prayerless no longer- ,
Prayer is on act of nature.. The young bird
in its nest cries to its parent for food. The' beast
of the field moans when tortured by hunger and
threatened with danger: The babe asks, urges,
importunes, its mother for what it craves; or fan
cies. Why should you be dumb before the great
Father, "who giveth to the beast his food, and to
the young' ravens which cry?" 'You are the
work of his hand; you have sins which he.alone
can forgive, spiritual which can be supplied
only by his grace,—a soul to be saved, if at all;
by his mercy.
Creature of God, child of eternity, already
guilty, lost in sin,poon to die and to be judged,
why should you alone.of all God's creatures re
strain prayer •before him? If sinking into the
sea you would cry for help, how can you cease to
lift up your prayer to God while you are, sinking
into' hell?
Sinner, go and pray. It will bring you nearer
to God.' It will call Christ to your heart and win
peace tOyour conicienee. It will secure the love
and light of the Holy Spirit. Pray humbly, pe
nitently, and with faith. Pray in, the , name of
Christ; .trust in the grace of Christ; devote,your
self to the service of Christ; and you shall have a
place in the kingdom of Christ, and be an lieir to
the iztheritance of Christ, and. go home, 'at last to
dwell with Christ, and sing and praise and reign
among the glorified, whose robes are , washed and
made white in the blood of the Lamb.',?.
SOMETHING FOB TITE &Riffs.
A correspondent of the Episcopal Recorder,
communicates, to that paper an account of a most
remarkable discovery recently made in the vicini
ty of Newark, Ohio. From his statements, it
appears that, about the Ist inst., Mr. Urfrieh, a
surveyor and archologist, opened a mound, in
the vicinity of the Stone , Mdund, described by
Squier and Davis, 'and found a stone chest en
closing a tablet covered with' inscriptions, which
is thus described and deciphered by Mr. MTarty
of Newark •-
It is oval in form-well smoothed, itovaculite
in kind—and; when shaken, sounded like a child's
rattle-box. A small aperture was found in one
end. One of the men applied his mouth to this,
and blew into it. The force of the air acting upon
the cement caused, it to open, and disclosed the
content& This stone was really a box—well'cut,
and regularly shaied—in which, fitting neatly
all a.round, lay an interior stone. The rattling
sound proved .to-have been occasioned by a small
pieceof the enclosed stone, which was broken off
from the a base—very probably when the case was,
struck by'the sOade of the' digger.
Taking out the enclosed stone it measures, by
joining on its'broken base, about seven inches, and
three-quarters.. in length, three in breadth, and
two in depth. To give a very popular illustra
tion of its shape, ,I can only say it, is like a plain,
round-topped church window. To describe ma
thematically, I would say; draw a rectangle three
inches broad and six inches.long. Bisect one of
the ends,, and .with .a radius of one and a half in
ches, describe a semi-circle on this smaller side of
the rectangle. The other elements of its shape I
will not, attempt describing at present.
This stone is completely covered with charac
ters. The upper surface presents, inside the rim
of `half an inch, a. hollowed aspect. On this hol-,
loWed sUrface stands out in bas relief, the figure
of a man in profile. it is well executed. The
dress is exceedingly like a Jewish priest, as seen
in old Jewish cuts. Horne's Introduction has a
few such inserted. There is the breast,plate, un
usually large and the, long flowing, robe of the
sacrificer.
The - atone is completely eovere,ii on all sides with
a ltind of square charaetera, some of:Which bore'
a resettiblance to the Chaldaic, formlisedin writing
Hebrew. Some looked like the Hebrew coin cha
racter, soma looked like the Phenician alphabet;
a few bore some reSernblanceto those of the Grave
Creek Tablet, and .some I could notidentify,with
any known alphabet. My first object was, then to
find the clue by making out, if possible,, the pre
cise language, and identifying the characters.
Only five showed the true . Hebrew form; three
would resemble the coin character: - The rest were
very irregular. Being a little familiar with almost
all the alphabets, of 'the Aranman tongues, I de
termined to attempt the solution of the engravings.
It astonished me. Hebrew in that form I never
before saw. It is more like that found in the I3i
bles of the modern German Jews, than any other
—but not exactly the same by any means. As I
proceeded to interpret the inscriptions, I found
more to astonish me.
Now, there• is no division between the words On
this stone., Indeed, they sometimes run most
perplexingly into each other. They .are not writ
on,with the usual regularity of Hebrew inscrip
tions—which never separate Words at the end of
a line--for these - separate' and' divide in all direc
tions. Nor have they anything like points. All
these items would mark a great, antiquity. , The
words are in lines and curves- T —sometimes doublina
in a very unusual way. It would be impossible
for me to give, any dermito idea Of thi,s circuM
stance.
'The whole constitutesan abridged form of the
Ten Commandments.' I put the Hebrew into
English characters and as there area no points, :I
will supply them with vowels. It is as follows:
"Mosheh f a alter bottmthicba me eietz
zraim t mibeth ngabhadhim 't Anodii" j'ehokrah .
Eloheicha. = Lot Yihyeh `L'eha Elohim acherim
ngal panai. Lo thangasch 1 cha pheser
this ha eth,shem Jehovah ,clobeicha zachur eth
ion hashadatli rquadasho..' (1-lore is a large
punctuation mark; whiCh Ido notundersand. It
is riot Maseretie.) "Sheshith ion v'ngashith cal
cielachthecha---Cabbed abheha , v'hueeha—Lo
thirngaach. Lo thiiaeph. Lo thivlobh. Lo than
galehh bliarengincha ngad shager. Lo thach'
mock bath rengecha—lo thachamodh esheth ren
geeha v'tigabhedo v'a.mtitho v'shn t v'eharo'va'h
hamoro v oho' saber lerengecha."
This mark (t) shows the divisions of the parts
of the inscription. The translation may be
"Moses who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt tout of the house of servants. I am Je
hovah (or irehveh) thy God. There bball not be
to thee gods other than me before me. Thou shalt
not make for thyself a graven image. t Thou shalt
not bow down to them nor worship them. Thou
shalt not take the name of Jehovah . thy God in
vain. - Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it;
the six of day thou shah do all thy work. Honor
thy lather and thy Mother: Thou shalt not mur
der. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy: neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy
peigNapy'so4L- 7 , thTit shalt.-rioraxsA k ymei g h..
bor's wife, nerlus aervant, nor his maid, nor his
ox, nor his aes, nor any thing that is his.".
- TheNigirds.Th italics point' those" which 'dif
fer froth' the ffebrewtext,in interchanging lamed
for VIM I cannot vouch for the perfect accura
cy of the form
,presented. It is, however, car
rect.enoUgh to give a general idea of the object
infend
The alphabet used on this curious relic, .1 have
not yet.been able to find anywhere. Some of the
letters are - evidently Hebrew—one is Syriac -;—one
is • Etruscan—some bear a general resemblance to
those characters most nearly alike in almost all
latigua i*es reduced to regular alphabets—and some,
being entirely , unique, are no more than cipher.
This mingling, or apparent mingling of characters,
is a most unaccountable feature. The clearest a
priori view of the matter would at once demand
that if the stone were not genuine, its author took
an unprecedented method of immortalizing him
self.
A . writer has said, "1 doubt not when the
secrets of, all hearts are made known, it will be
found that ,many precious works of grace, which
have ceased' saints and angels to rejoice, have com
menced 'in self-denying efforts and fervent prayers
of one'or two individuals." Then an instance is
narrated'of a revival - in which over one hundred
souls were converted, where the interest com
menced in the dwelling of an humble woman, who
earnestly besought the Lord to pour out his Spirit
urion the community, and accompanied her prayers
by faithful labors among those within the sphere
of her influence..
In the western part of New York State, a large
and prosperous church is now located in a place
where once there was only a hardened, degraded
set of gddless wen. "One pious neighbor at length
settled down among them, whose righteous soul
was vexed from day to day by their ungodliness.
Bat he knew that God was all-powerful and he
prayed unceasingly for their conversion. At length
one was led to turn froth his evil way, and unite
his prayers with those of the man of God. Soon
ffteen were brought to a saving knowledge of
Christ. Still there was no minister until the little
praying circle numbered fifty-four, when they were
enabled to build a church
,and calla, pastor, giving
a . salary`adequate to hi6suppOrt, without assistance
from the B9ard of Missions.
Rev. E. E. Adairits.
poor blacksmith, who could hardly speak for.
stimmer*g -Came p ius.mipister,one day, and,
begged him to appoint a 'conference meeting. He
felt confident that a blessing *as about to descend
on the long-slumbering church. His soul had
been so ,oppressed with the burden of souls that he
had closed his, shop and ,spent tho .afternoon in
pia.yer. The meeting was appointed with little
hope of many attending. When the heir, came
the house was crowded to overflowing. A marked
solemnity prevailed;—soon one arose and asked
with tears for the prayers of the church. Then
another and another followed,, until it was found
that individuals from all parts of the town were
under deep conviction; and, what was peculiar,
they dated their impressions from the time when
l the poor old man was agonizing in prayer in that
humble blacksmith's shop.
Reader, never feel that the sphere of your influ
ence is too narrow to admit of your doing good.
No one can draw nearer to God than you may.
He is no "respecter of persons." Oh will you
not go, then, at once to your closet, and beg- of
him to pour out a blessing on the church to which
you belong? and let this be the hourly cry of your
burdened hearts. Surely he will not turn you
away: unanswered:
:EPISCOPACY SELLING our.
We haVe sonic curious diSchisures of the mole:
siastical affairs of London. An' act of parliameW
bas just been passed, and having secured the royal
assent, has become the law of the land, authorizing
the sale of several churches because they have
failed to answer the purposes for which they are
&Signed; The act -embraces • fifty-nine church
edifices, but it is incomplete in reference to ten.
Omitting these, the act shows .that there are forty
' nine,phurches, capable of accommodating 22,352
persons, the incumbents receivingbacomes amount
ing to £17,000, (885,000) arid the clerical staff
amounting to sixty-four. If the cost of organist,
beadle's, 4741, be' taken from the account the annual
expense of maintaining these forty 7 nine churches
has not been less than £21,900.0109,500.} In
stead,however, of .
22;352 worshippers, the average
attendancebai only been alittle over 8,000, in
cluding children. If the average niimber of com
municants be taken as a — test, the failure. (is still
more glaring. Thisieonly 1093. These churches,
therefore, are maintained at an average expense
of .t2O, or one hundred dollars for' every commu
nicant.
„Here then are forty-nine churches, and sixty
four clergymen, receiving $85,000 a year besides
their parsonages and perquisites, and only preach
ing to a little over a thousand communicants,
about as many as would make up the average at
tendances at two or three respectable diisenting
churches. A more instructive - cornmentary Upon
that ancient petrifaction, the Anglican Church,
could hardly be imagined..
During the debate on the passage of the act,
authorizing this wholesale transfer of ecclesiastical
property, a curious specimen of bigotry manifested
itself. The bill originated in, the house of Lords,
and among its . provisions was one enacting that
certain of the churches should be sold to " foreign
Protestauts;" thus evidently forbidding English
Dissenters from purchasing or occupying them.—
Thisv Clause caught the vigilant eye of Sir M. Peto,
a stout non-conformist and a Baptist, and on his
motion was initriediately withdrawn. No doubt
that these churches will soon pass into the hands
of dissenters, and be filled with flourishing con
gregations. • The Puseyites are terribly incensed
at the idea of Dissenters preachingin " consecrated
churches."— Chronicle.
Our northern and occidental constitution often
needs to be restrained from an excess of pbleg
m-atib wisdom. -1 must think that we have some
thing to learn froth the more impulsive working of
the Southern and the'Oriental mind. I must be
lieve, that it was not without a wise forecast of
the world's necessities; and an insight into human
nakure all around that God ordained that the Bible,
which should contain our best models of sanctified
cUlture, should be constructed in, the East, and by
the inspiration of minds of an Eastern stock and
discipline; whose imaginative. faculty could con
ceive such a poem as the Song of Solomon ; and
PRAY FOR A: REVIVAL
ORIENTAL DEVOTION
VOL. V.—NO. I.6.—Whole No. 233.
whose emotive nature could be broken up like the
fountains of a great deep. I must anticipate, that
an improved symmetry of character will be im
parted to the experience of the church, and more
of the beauty of holiness will adorn her courts,
when the Oriental world shall be converted to
Christ, and Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands
unto God. Our unimpassioned, taciturn, and often
cloudy temperament in religion, does need an in
fusion of the piety which will grow up in those
lands of the sun.
Such an infusion of the Oriental life-blood into
the stock of our Christian experience, would
bring us into, closer sympathy with the types of
sanctification represented in the Scriptures. It
would be like streams from Lebanon to our culture.
We need it, to render the Psalms of David, for
instance, a natural expression of dur devotions.—
We need a culture of sensibility which shall
demand the Psalms as a medium of utterance.
COMELY;•TO-THE LITERARY TASTE
OP THE. CLERGY.
In the last number of that old and standard
quarterly, "The North Ame.rican Review," there
is an able article upon the "English Language in
America" in- a review of Marsh's " Lectures on
the English Language." The writer speaks of the
different standards of appeal in this country and
in England.. There the fact that a word
was used "by a dignitary •of the church, by a
prominent member of the bar, or by the Times
newspaper, is usually decisive of its correctness.
Now where have we a class of men to whom any
one thinks of appealing? Our only resort is the
dictionary, and thus a lexicographer who can, by ono
means or another, get the ascendency, forces all
his caprices and- notions up to the dignity of a
standard. Who ever quotes Congressional usage,
upless to show how low a style of language pre
vails in our national legislature? "In truth,"
said Mr. Webster, "I must say that in my opinion,
the vernacular tongue of the country has become
greatly vitiated, depraved and corrupted, by the
style of our Congressional debates." The news
paper press of this country, adopting too often
the morals, and politics of the mob, take their
language too, and what is in other countries, and
ought to be every where, the conservative and the
model of pure language, here gives sanction and
currency to all sorts of slang—to the terms of the
card table, the ring, and the pit. Compare, mere
ly on the score of language, the leading, and most
widely circulated dailies of New York with those
of London, Paris, Brussels, and Berlin, and see
in part the explanation of the fact, that in no
country is so much slang spoken by educated
People as here. If there is any class of men in
this country to whose example and influence the
ordinary speech of the country is under obligations,
that class is unquestionably the clergy—even with
'all the faults justly chargeable upon them. They
certainly, as a body, use better language than any
other class in the community, and their example
has been almost the only moral witness against
the wide-spread tendency to vulgarisms and slang
in the popular speech of the country.
At one period of disaster and deep depression
in the struggle for Italian independence, the he
roic,patriot-general, whose fame has gone over the
world,, issued this proclamation : "In reward for
the love you may show your country, I offer you
hunger and thirst, cold, war, And death. Who
ever accepts these terms, let him follow me." It
was patriotism echoing its response to the great
truth of religion:, "Re that loseth his life for my
sake,, shall find it," It was a sublime assertion of
moral nobleness as a superior good to pelf or plea
sure.
Are we, then, to allow the love of country to
move men more profoundly than ourselves are to
be swayed by the love of God? There is a heroic
element in genuine piety, which, in our luxurious
age, we are in danger of losing out of it. Mar
tyrdom is out of date; but the martyr spirit be
longs to all lands and ages alike. It is that spi
rit which our Lord discovered and honored repeat
edly in, his disciples, when there was no blood to
be shed. He throws no chill of mercenary pru
dence over their enthusiastic self-abandonment.
He bad no rebuke, but the heartiest praise, for
the poor widow,—wildly rash as men would account
her—who threw into the treasury her whole living
at once. He would suffer no carping at Mary for
expending the amount of at least fifty dollars on a
vase of perfumery for His sacred head. And his
own self-immolating spirit is seen, at times proving
contagious. Even the doubting Thomas catches
it. "Let us all go that we may die with Him !"
—bow aptly that rallying cry chimes with the
words of Jesus—" Whosoever forsaketh not all he
bath, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple."
It is not uncommon for even good men to sup
pose that they may retain a close hold upon the
property that God has given them while they live,
and then leave by will some goodly'proportion of
it to the cause of .religion and philanthropy when
they die. Undoubtedly, too, it is well to feel and
act like the devoted Swartz, when on his dying
bed he said; "I leave the church of God my heir,"
but it may be questioned whether this is, as a
general thing, in any sense, the best course, In
the, first place, no executor can ever, make as safe
and' thorough a distribution of a man's property
as he could do himself. No man, too, should de
prive himself of the spiritual enjoyment and pro
fit, which he may himself have, from the very act
of doing good with what has been intrusted to his
care. And seeing that he is to be one day re
quired to give Account of his stewardship, no man
may;be considered as at liberty to leave his pro
perty subject to the many Contingencies ' losses,
and delays almost always attendant upon the set
dement of wills.
We have been much struck with the facts that
have been brought out in regard to the somewhat
famous Mcponough estate, and most seriously
commend than to the attention of all of our readers.
It was 'valued on' his death at $5,000,000, and
the most careful and minute arrangements were
made in his will for 'it to be expended chiefly in
public and charitable uses. Up to this time, how
ever, more than half has been wasted away. The
whole estate now amounts to $2,230,000. Over
$250,000 has been spent in litigation, over $2OO,-
000 in charges and commissions, ove;$500,000 in
loss of interest and delays, over $500,000 in de
cay and pillage of property, and not one dollar has
ever yet been realized from it for the charitable
and useful purposes intended by McDonough him
self.
Reader, bare you any guarantee that what
you are.proposin.• b to leave by will for some good
object, will not be perverted or lost in some simi
lar way? Had you not better appropriate it your
self?
Givn9,—A recent English treatise, "Giving
made Easy and Pleasant," mentions the case of
a London Episcopal church, which raised in a
half-year on the pew-ient and supplementary
subscription system, $595, and in the next half
year, on the apostolic system of weekly storing
and weekly giving, $1,099. It mentions, also,
a Baptist church which, on the former system,
gave for the ministry and home expenditure au
average for three years of $765, and the next
year, on the latter system, $1,7`25.
A LESSON EROS GARIBALDI
"0 learn to scorn the praise of men!
0 learn to lose with God!
For Jesus won de world through shame,
/aid beckons:thee His road."
AN UNPROFITABLE BENEVOLENCE.
The Still Hour.
C. C. Herald
Congregationalist,
Christian Instruetor