GENESEE EVANGELIST—WhoIe No. 801
§«i*f.
AFRICA, AND HER SONS.
nr «M*s montooiiist.
ttfh.™ the stupendous Mountains of the Moon
hroail shadows o’er the realms of noon}
l Caffraria,
With stately heads among the forest boughs,
To Atlas, where Nnmldian lions slow
with torrid fire beneath eternal snow |
From Nubian W>'»-
Regktna 1m nt enacunsearchable, unknown,
S in the sphm.ior of the solar zone)
n f womters i where creation seems
Co moro the works of nature, but her dreams:
", W H,|, and beautiful, beyond control,
She reigns in all the freedom of her soul.
In these romantic regions, man grows wild!
Here dwells the negro, Net lure's outcast child ,
Scorned by his brethren} but his mother’s eye,
That gazes on him from her warmest sky,
sees in his flexile limbs untutored grace,
Power on his forehead, beauty in his face }
Sees in his breast, where lawless passions rove,
The heart of friendship, and the home of love}
Sees In his mind, where desolation reigM;
Fierce as his clime, uncultured as his plains,
A soil where virtue’s fairest flowers might shoot,
And trees of science bend with glorious fruit }
gees in hts soul, involved with thickest qjght,
An emanation of eternal light,
Ordained, ’midst sinking worlds his dust to fire,
And shine forever when the stars expire.
Is he not wan, though knowledge never shed
Her quickening beams on his neglected head?
is he not Mas, though sweet religion’s voice
Ne’er bade the mourner in his God rejoice?
is he not man, by sin and suffering tried?
Is be not man, for whom the Saviour died f
Belie the negro’s powers—ln headlong will*
Christian, thy brother thou shalt prove him still t
Belie his virtues—since his wroags,began,
His follies and his crimes have stamped him man,
THE BURIAL OF MOSES.
"And He hurled him In the land of Moah, over against Betb-peor;
but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this daylMtoi.xxxiv. 8.
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan’s wave,
In a vale of the land of Moab,
There lies a lonely grave;
And no man dug the sepulchre,
And no man saw it o'er—
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth}
But no man saw the tramping,
Or saw the train go forth.
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes when the night Is done,
And the crimßon streak on ocean’s cheek
Grows into the great sun.
Noiselessly as the spring-time
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves j
So, without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain’s crown
Thegrent procession swept.
Perchance the hold old eagle,
On gray Beth-peor’s height,
Out from his rocky eyrie
Looked on the wondrous sight;
Perchance the lion, stalking,
Still shuns that hallowed spot;
For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.
Atnid the noblest of the land,
Men lay the sage to rest,
And give the bard an honored place
With costly marble dressed,
In the great minster transept,
Where lights like glories fall,
And the choir sings, and tbe organ rings
Along the emblazoned wall.
This was the bravest warrior
That ever buckled sword;
This the most gifted poet
That ever breathed a word;
And never earth’s philosopher
Traced with his golden pen,
On the deathless page, truth half so sage
As he wrote down for men.
And bad he not high honor—
The hill-side for his pall—
To lie In state while angels watt,
With stars for tapers tall;
And the dark pines, like tossing plumes,
Over his bier to wave,
And God’s own hand, in that lonely land,
To lay him lo the grave?
In that deep grave without a name,
Whence hie uncofflned elay
Shall break again— most wondrous thought!
Before the judgment day,
And stand with glory wrapped around,
Oo the bill he never trod,
And speak of the strife that won our life,
With the inoarnate Son of God.
o,lonely tomb in Moah’s land!
0, dark Beth-peor’s hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to bo still.
God hath hie mysteries of grace,
Ways that we cannot tell}
Ho hides them deep, like the secret sleep
Of him he loved so well.
Dublin University Magazine,
€amsjian&en«.
[From the Banner of the Covenant.]
AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM THE
CAMP.
10th Company, 79th Regiment, N. V. 8. M, \
Washington, Aug. 29th, 1861. $
My Dear Friend I know not whether yon
are aware that I am now in the army, ready to
sacrifice life, if need be, as I have already sacri
ficed every comfort, for the sake of preserving
that "Union” whose Constitution has been the
pride of Americans, and the envy of "foreign
horn.” In the ranks of the Highland Guard,
09th N. Y. S. M.) I have the honor to be en
rolled, and, under the command of the lamented
Cameron, participated in the fearful doings at
Ball Run, on the 18th, and at Stone Bridge,
oo the 21st of July. I feel that it would be a
waste of time for me to refer at length to the
orents of those memorable days; and yet I can*
act refrain from making one remark in regard
to what has been called the "Politicians’ Bat
tle.”
REICCTANOB TO FIGHT ON THE SABBATH.
"When the order was given for us to march
°n Sabbath morning, yon have no idea how de
pressing an influence it had on very many. We
knew the enemy was near to ns, and that to
®Meh was to fight, and, though the order was
received by many with enthusiasm, not a few
felt that no good would result from such a wil
fel, unnecessary aud 111-advised violation of the
Holy Sabbath. And on that lovely Sabbath
morning as we marched along to the field of bat
lfe. even amid all the military enthusiasm natu
tal to an army composed of at least two-thirds
Dutchmen and North of Ireland brothers, ever
at |d anon the wish would be expressed that we
not fight that day, while not a few en
tertained a hope that our march that morning
w os only to take up our position and be in good
trim for the next day. But when, as we entered
tke woods on the right of the Warrentown
H°ad, we heard a signal gnn of defiance firtpi
rom our batteries, hope failed us, and while we
were resolved as soldiers to obey our officers,
and fight in oar country’s battles to the best of
our ability, we felt that the battle was decided
then, and that our army would again suffer de
feat. When resting at the edge of the woods
where we had a full view of the enemy’s posi
tion, and where we could observe the efforts
produced by the fire of our artillery, a colored
boy, the servant of one of our Captains, came
up to me and said, “Do you want a book to
read ?” I replied, "I’m afraid there is no time
for reading, but what have you got?” “Oh,”
replied he, “something very good, I found it,
I’m very lucky—good book—New Testament.”
Handing it to me, he added in a low voice, for
the Colonel and his master were close beside
us, “Yon see we will have no luck to-day for
fighting them. We would all have been better at
Centreville to-day resting, reading that' good
hook and going to service. You see we will'
have no luck,” “ What makes yon think so ?”
said I. “ Oh, don’t yon know what the good
book says, and it does not tell any lies. It tells
us that we must keep the Sabbath day holy, and
fighting when we don’t heed to is not doing
that, and now, if you live till you cam read your
Bible again, you hunt for that place where it
says that we ‘shall flee when none pursqetb,’
andi I rather expect you will find that that’s the
punishment of them that don’t do as God tells
them to do.”
How many times daring that desecrated
Sabbath these words rang in my ears, and, as
we retreated that night to Washington, I felt
that my colored friend was right. The passage
he referiid to is, I suppose, Leviticus xxvi. 14
—l7. ■
A SABBATH VICTORY TURNED INTO DEFEAT.
Well, my dear friends, we did fight—we did
all we could to ensure victory, marching np to
the very cannon’s month, and sacrificing our
noblest officers and men upon this.holocaust in
obedience to the orders of the Generals in com
mand. It was my first experience upon a bat
tle-field, and, I assure you, I will never, never
forget it. Oh! the sight of those dead and
dying men caused me to shudder, and almost to
faint; while the groans of the wounded rose
even above the roar of artillery, and struck ter
ror to my very soul. How precious then the
xci. and exxi. Psalms were to the soul, and I
felt that, as I repeated the familiar lines:
Thou th&n, my soul, in safety rest,
Tby Guardian will not sleep;
His watchful care that Israel guards,
, Will thee in safety keep,
At home, abroad, in peace, in war,
Thy God Bhall thee defend,
Conduct thee through life’s pilgrimage,
Safe to thy journey's end.
I felt strengthened and comforted even amid the
horrors by which I was surrounded. We
fotaght and conquered, but we khew It not.
judicial ..blindness, sealed our eyes,. causeless
fear took possession of onr armed hosts, and
just when the prize was ours, when the greater
portion of the field was oars, and when the ene
my had already begun to retreat, we fell hack
in disorder, and onr victory was turned into a
ront disgraceful and complete. I trust, my dear
friend; that the people of the North will demand
that henceforth onr Generals shall not offer bat
tle on the Sabbath. I know the army is op
posed to it—even wicked men say they do not
want to fight on that day. And conld yon only
hear the testimony of the poor sufferers in the
hospitals, you would feel that they meant all
they said when they declare “that it was jnst
what they expected from fighting on Sunday.”
May God, in mercy, prevent onr leaders from
incurring his displeasure by wantonly, cruelly
seeking their own ends, forgetting him who is
the great law-giver, and who will not suffer
his statutes to be disobeyed with impnnity.
THE SEVENTY-NINTH.
Of my own regiment I can write little.
Though my life has been spared, I am, and have
since the battle, been unable to do anything, in
consequence of a severe fall, causing a sprain
of my right foot, and producing a weakness
which I fear will be permanent. Still, I hope
to be able to see our dear friend Watkins
n Richmond. If there is one thing more
than another that I long for in connexion
with this war, it is that I may be permitted to
meet him, and tell him why we fight against
him and his brethren. God knows I love him
with my whole heart, but I cannot, therefore,
shut my eyes to his sin. O, that his eyes were
opened to see that in this matter he is, indeed,
judging ns unrighteously, and that we are only
doing our duty to our country and our God, in
resisting him.
When our regiment waß mastered in, we had
100 t men, now we are less than 500. Few, if
any regiments, suffered more in killed and
wounded than we did. The shameful mutiny
among a few of the bad men prodnced a very
unhappy result, and yet I hope it is for the good
of the Regiment. We are now rid of the worst
men among ns, mostly drunken Catholics, and
an effort will be made by the remaining boys to
redeem the character of the regiment. We
have a very excellent chaplain, Rev. Mr. Rizer,
formerly of your State, a clergyman of the Evan
gelical Lutheran Church, but adhering to the
doctrines of the Westminster Confession. Onr
services on Sabbath are very well attended, and
every evening, at dress parade, we have a short
service. Nearly 100 of the men are known as
praying men of the regiment, and are claimed
by the chaplain as the 11th Company.
COME TO JESUS—THE SABBATH-SCHOOL DRUM-
Since writing the above, Mr. Sterling of the
De Kalb Regiment, has called upon me, and
gave me the following fact: A few days ago, I
gave him some German tracts and books for
circulation among the members of his regiment,
and also among the officers. On reaching the
camp, he found the men eager to get the tracts,
and great regret was expressed that there were
not more. He handed the precious little vo
lume, “Come to Jesus,’’ by Newman Hall, to
one of the Lieutenants. He looked at the book,
and said, " * Come to Jesus,’ eh, what come to
hiin for ?” Mr. Stirling replied, “ Read, it will
tell yon.” “Oh, no,” he replied, "I have no
time for such stuff.” Mr. Sterling said no more
at the time, but went to another part of the
camp. On Kia return he looked into that Lieu.
MER BOY.
PHILADELPHIA, THORS
tenant’s tent, and there saw him eagerly read
ing those heaven-blessed pages, tears running l
down his cheeks. Since then, he has lent the
book to others, advising them to read it, and
to-day sent a request for more such books.
May this seed spring up, and bring forth fruit
to God’s glory in the salvation of that Lieu
tenant’s soul; and many more.
Before I left New York I visited some of the
regiments in the Park Barracks one Sabbath,
distributing tracts, Testaments, and endeavoring
to have personal conversation with all I could
approach. Among others with whom I had a
very pleasant chat, was a youth of about 14,
who had been listening to some remarks I made
to one who seemed utterly indifferent to the
claims of the Saviour. Turning round to him,
I said, “Well, my lad, I think that I can tell
that yon are a Sabbath-school boy, is not that
so ?” "Yes, sir,”be replied, “I’ve always been
at Sunday-school till ' I left home, the last day
I was at home was Sabbath, and I was at school,
as usual.” “Well, then,” said I, “You have
heard of the Saviour and his, love for you, now
will you tell me what you will do for him ?”
“ Oh, sir, I’ve given him my heart, I hope, a
year ago, and I hope I am ready to work for
him wherever I am.” I expressed my joy in
finding in him a brother in Christ, and asked if
he had come down to the Barracks to see any
friends. He replied that he was on his way
with the regiment to the seat of war as a drum
mer boy. “But, oh,” said be, “it is hard to
live among such people.” I tried to encourage |
him in the discharge of his duty, reminding him
that very soon onr labors might be closed in
death. He replied, “Oh, yes, I know it. They
wanted to frighten me from going to the war by
telling me that a bullet might kill me ; but, I
say, God will take care of me, and if he sends a
cannon ball on the battle field—why, it will be
the shortest road, home .” Poor boy, a cannon
ball did strike him,'and to-day he ‘has reached
his home on high!
LETTER FROM THE SEAT OF WAR
IN THE WEST.
Hi.
St. Louis, Missouri, September 13th, 1861
Messrs. Editors:— A visit to Pilot Knob,
Ironton, and vicinity, has'occupied me a portion
of the past week, and you shall have the benefit
of it. For - twenty-five miles the railroad runs
down the Mississippi from this place to Sulphur
Spring, passing in succession, the Arsenal, Ca
rondelet, and Jefferson Barracks; each of them
now. points of interest, but which I will not Stop
to describe.
The country aU the toay*t% “broken,” no plains,
no prairies; but everywhere are rugged hills, and
precipitous valleys, spanned by lofty bridges.
These are all protected by our men in arms, and
the whole countryiTfHus ’tranquillized. Missouri’s
own sons have done much of this work very effi
ciently in this part of the state, aided to some
extent by the men of lowa, and Nebraska, her
neighbors.
The region of the Iron Mountains, (for there
are many of them,) is well worthy of a visit, and
of study. Here nature has done her work on a
grand scale, as she has in the Lakes, in Niagara,
and in the gold and coal fields of this western
continent. Internal fires have undoubtedly had
to do with the' formation of this strange district
of country. The beetling cliffs of Pilot Knob
show this; and the nodules of chalcedony or agate
"which appear to have oozed from the valleys, like
gum Arabic from trees, testify perhaps to the
same origin.
I must describe the Knob. It is itself only
about six hundred and fifty feet in height above
the narrow valleys around it, and three miles in
circuit, while it is surrounded by a sea-of moun
tains, some of which are even higher, but broader.
All of them too are wooded. So is the entire
country'around, excepting the few "openings,”
made by the hand of man. The rocks here ap
pear to be stratified, and the iron seems to have
been infiltrated through them, or to have perme
ated them, like tallow through a candle-wick, or
tar through cordage. At Iron Mountain, to the
north, the ore is specular, or solid; and at Shep
herd’s Mountain, to the south, it is fibrous and mag
netic, yielding in both instances about sixty-five
per cent. The Knob is castellated and large
masses of it rise, up one hundred aud fifty feet
above the “quarries,” which are near the sum
mit; The rocks - are - cleft asunder, as if by
some mighty convulsion, and many of them
still stand on end, exhibiting the primary and
compound forms of crystallization peculiar to ifdn.
The hue of the rocks is slaty, and the lustre of
metallic iron is often seen beneath the footsteps.
Beautiful flowers unknown on the Atlantic coast,
grow here everywhere among the rooks of this
Alpine region. “And for stones iron” is con
stantly in one’s mind, as he traverses this district
of country. A good railroad, has now made it
easy of aceess, and it will yet become a successful
abode of industry and wealth.
But our soldiers’ encampments around the basis
of these mountains recall my thoughts to the
“leaden rain and iron hail” of the “eruptive and
chaotic era,” in which Providence has east our
lot at present. Society here has had an upheaval,
and is passing through a "cataclysm,” from its
foundation stones. The era of slaves, and of
gambling and drinking saloons, of fights, and blood
and idleness, and violence is passing; and an era
of sobriety, equality, law, and right is beginning.
One already feels safe. The lions and tigers of
society are hunted out in their lairs and fast
nesses among these mountains, and “ brought in ”
by dozens and scores surrounded by gleaming
bayonets. ,
One old “counterfeiter,” sixty years of age
and more, particularly attracted my attention
as he was brought into the cars. He was tall
and cadaverous, dressed in shaggy home-spun,
ragged, bare-headed, and in his stocking-feet.
As he “loped ” along, half-bent, and looked out
of his gray, glassy old eyes, from midst his long
and mottled locks, unkempt, I could only think
of Giant Despair. No school had probably
ever been within that poor wretch’s reach.
“ A savage horde among the civilized,
An exiled band among the lordly free.”
To them this man had belonged. He was one
of the “poor white trash,” such as we. meet
every where in the South, the Pariahs of society,
white and black. Mr heart was pained for
him. “And this is s every, ’’ thought I. My
soul was sick. “O,6>d of justice,” thought I,
“shall thine anger slat ber forever ?’’ No ! by
these volcanic rocks, I infer a better day!
The people of this r gion are from the South
for the most part. Ig: orant often, yet wonder
fully shrewd in some bings, they are just be
ginning to feel the puli itions of the great heart
of liberty and law, a; d to perceive the first
glimmerings of light i the Egyptian- darkness
by which they have b sen surrounded. I pity
them from my soul. 2 owhere in this land have
I seen a better missic a ary field. No, school
house, no church that me can recognise is to
be seen. Our soldier fill the court-house,
guarding prisoners, ati an unfinished building
for a church has been',nsed as a hospital. It
was there I found need qf Miss Dix’s labors.
A poor soldier from lowS had been left to per
ish, with no one to car*| for him. He was very
feeble with disease, weiat out sick of the build
ing where he remained! day and night, and then
he was found dead when the attendant took him
his breakfast in the morning! Many more will
probably thus perish m out-of-the-way places,
with “none to care for their souls” or lives.
I have no fear, duringj'tkis war, of the neglected
at hospitals in placesilike Washington, or St.
Louis, or Cairo, where the best of sanitary re
gulations exist; but I fear for the out-of-the
way places, like Manassas, and Ironton, and
Gauley River. I attempted to see Miss. Dix
on this subject, while she was here, but failed.
There is danger that while the great ones are
songht out by the philanthropist—persons and
places—the humbler may sometimes be over
looked. I write thus,, hoping that Miss Dix
may perhaps see how it is, and that'the remedy
may be applied in season. Most of the regi
ments have able and most excellent surgeons
and nurses, I have,mo doubt. Let all have
them. * **
NATIONAL FASTS IN AMERICA.
rnoai mb,. duefield’«<sekmon, jan. 4th, 1861.
“ Went to church and fasted.all.day." • Such
is. the record in the private journal of the great
“Father of his Country," under date of Wednes
day, June Ist, A. D., 1774; a day solemnly ap
pointed by the 5 Assembly of Virginia, on hearing
of the passage of the: Boston-Port Bill, “as a day
of fasting, humiliation*and prayer, to avert from
us the evils of civil war, and to, inspire us with
firmness in support of our rights." .
A year later, just after the battles of Lexington
and Bunker Hill, the Old Continental Congress
appointeda day of General Fast.
On May 17th, 1776/ “which was kept as a na
tional fast, George Buffield, the minister of the
Third Presbyterian Church in. Philadelphia, with
John Adams for a listener,, drew a parallel be
tween George the First and Pharaoh, and inferred
that the same providence of‘God which had res
cued the Israelites,i ?i&ended .to Ameri
cans.” t;i *7 ■**
Could it have been in remembrance of this day
in Old Pine Street, that “unfashionable as the
faith in an over-ruling Providence” then was, this
same John Adams was not ashamed to proclaim
another National Fast, May 6th, 1798? Was it
an evidence of the value of such a day, that even
though hostilities had actually commenced be
tween the United States and France, and a vessel
of each nation had suffered capture, that such a
body of men as the French Directory, so speedily
and unexpectedly made, overtures of peace, and
that of their own accord ?
In the fourth year of the second war with Great
Britain, the example of John Adams was followed
by President Madison, and January 12th, 1815,
was recommended by him as 1 a National East Day.
Even, while the people were yet speaking, He
“in whose hand the king’s heart is as the rivers
of water; and who turneth it whithersoever he
will,” heard their prayer; and only one month
after, February 18th, 1815, they received “an
answer of peace,” literally, and had the privilege of
celebrating a day of National Thanksgiving.
, The last two days of this character are withiu
the recollection of nearly all here present, viz.:
May 14th, 1841, being the day of national fast
recommended by Mr, Tyler on the decease of
President Harrison; and August Bd, 1849, the
fast day recommended) by President Taylor, that
God in mercy would airest the further progress of
the cholera.
Once more, and it may he for the last time, a
Proclamation comes from the President to the
people of the United? States, designating this 4th
day of January, 1861, as a day of fasting, humi
liation and prayer, th oughout the Union, that
God may “remember i s as he did our fathers.”
As Presbyterians, w: arejin no doubt as to the
propriety ,of observing this day. ‘‘lf at any time,”
says our excellent Diiectory for worship, “the
civil power should thihk it proper to appoint a
fast, it is the duty of the ministers and people of
onr communion, as we 'live under a Christian go
vernment, to pay all |ue respect to the same."
We are at no loss as td the manner of observing
the day. “Tkere sball be public worship upon all
such days,, and let thej prayers, psalms, portions
of Scripture to be read and sermons, be all in a
special manner adapted to the occasion.” As to
the character of tho prayers and sermons, thehook
is even more explicit still. “On fast-days let
the minister point out" the authority and provi
dential calling to the observation thereof; and let
him spend a more tha A usual portion of time, in
Bolemn prayer, particularly confession of sin, es
pecially of the day and place, with their aggrava
tions, which have bfttq ht down the judgments of
Heaven. And let the uhole day be spent in deep
humiliation and mourn ng before God.”
Evidently in the mi ads of those who framed
the Constitution pf tie American Presbyterian
Church (adopted in the same year, and framed
by some of the same men who framed our Na
tional Constitution, nojw in such imminent dan
ger,) the proper observance of such a day as this,
both on the part of minister and people, was con
sidered by them one of the most solemn and im
portant duties that coiild possibly be discharged
on earth.
To say nothing of the Biblical, and Trans-atlan
tie history of such days, they remembered the
first fast-day i n New England, July, 1621.
“ Though in the morning when we were assem
bled together, the heavens were as clear and the
drought as; like to continue as ever it was, yet
(bur exercise continuing some eight or nine hours)
before our .departure, the weather was overcast,
the clouds gathered together on all sides, and on
the next morning distilled such soft, sweet and
moderate showers of rain, and mixed with such
seasonable weather, as it was hard to say . whether
our withered corn or drooping affections were
most quickened or revived. Such was the bounty
and goodness of our God.” Hobomok and the
Indians were astonished to behold! [“ Journal of
the Pilgrims at Plymouth’’ edited by Dr. Chee
ver, New York, 1848, p. 284. J Also a similar
day in 1681. “The last batch of bread was in the
Governor’s oven. But God, who delights to ap
pear in greatest straits, did work marvellously at
this time; for before the very day appointed to
seek the Lord by fasting and prayer, in comes
Mr. Pearce (in a ship from Ireland,) laden with
provisions. Upon which occasion the Fast Day
AT, SEPTEMBER 26,1861.
was changed, and ordered to be kept as a Iky of
Thanksgiving.”:— Young's Chronicles of Massa
chusetts, p. 385. ■
Doubtless they were well aware of the memo
rable fast-day in 1746. “As an inhabitant of New
England, I am bound solemnly to declare, that
were there mo other instance to be found in any
other country, the blessings communicated Io this
would furnish ample satisfaction, concerning this
subject, to every sober, much more to every pious
man. Among these the destruction of the French
Armament wider the Du7ee D'Anville, in the year
1746, ought to be remembered with gratitude and
admiration; by every inhabitant of this country.
This fleet consisted of forty ships of war ; was des
tined for the destruction of New England; was of
sufficient force, to render that destruction ;in the
ordinary progress of things, certain; sailed from
Cbebueto, in Nova Scotia, for this purpose; and
was entirely destroyed, -on the night following a
general fast throughout New England, by a terri
ble tempest.”—See Dwight’s Theology, Vol. iv.,
p. 127,
• RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHIL-
BREN
The application of Jeremiah’s prophecy, about
Rachel bewailing her lost children, and refusing
to be comforted on account of the apparently hope
less deprivation she had sustained, to the slaughter
of the children at Bethlehem, undoubtedly pro
ceeds upon a certain connexion between the earlier
and the later event, But from the very nature of
things, and the terms of the passage cited, the con
nexion could not be regarded as of such a close and
organic kind, as that indicated in the last quota
tion, [Matt. ii. 15; Hos. xi. I.] There, stress
was laid,eyen on the external resemblance between
what befell Christ, and what had anciently be
fallen Israel; the connexion of both with Egypt
formed the immediate and ostensible ground of
the Word, spoken originally of the one, being ex-,
tended to the other. Here, on the other hand,
there is a palpable diversity as to the external cir
cumstances; for the scene of action in the one ease
was Rama, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, a few
miles to the north qf Jerusalem, while in the other
it was Bethlehem, a city about the same distance
to the south, in the tribe of Judah; and, conse
quently,! if respect were bad to literal .exactness,,
Leah, the ancestral mother of Judah, should have
been addressed as the chief mourner on the pre
sent occasion, as Rachel had been on the former.
In such circumstances of obvious and palpable dis
agreement, the Evangelist could, not possibly
mean, that the passage he quoted from Jeremiah
had either been, directly uttered, of the scene at
Bethlehem, or even that the original mourning at
Rama! had a typical relation, in the stricter sense,
to that at Bethlehem. And hence he does not say,
as he usually does, that the circumstances took
place in order that .the word might be fulfilled,
but merely that then was fulfilled what had been
spoken by Jeremiah. The hind of fulfilment in
dicated must be determined by the points of agree
ment in the two related transactions,, . Even in its
Original application, the passage is highly poetical
in form, and cannot be interpreted as a piece of
prosaic .writing. It was at Rama, as wo learn
from Jer. xl. 1, that the last band of captives was
assembled by the captains (Sf Nebuchadnezzar, be
fore they were sent into exile; and either in an
ticipation of this sore calamity,, or in reference to
it after it had taken place, the prophet represents
Rachel, the ancestral mother of the tribe, where
"EffiTTtipiess exiles were gathered,; bewailing ihe
fate of her offspring, and giving way to aa incon
solable grief, as if all were gone. The introduc
tion of Rachel is, of course,.a mere cover, to bring
out in vivid colors, the sadness of the occasion, and
the apparently hopeless character of the calamity;
to human eye, and especially to the passionate
fondness of maternal affection, it seemed as if Is
rael had utterly perished under.the stroke of, Ne
buchadnezzar. Yet it was not so in reality; and
the prophet presently goes on to assure the dis
consolate mother, that her grief was inordinate,
that her children, should- return again from the
land of the enemy, and that there was hope in her
end.
Now, with all the circumstantial diversities that
distinguish the original event at Rama, and the
message it called forth, from the,slaughter of the
infants in Bethlehem, there, still is a fundamental
agreement in the more peculiar features of both.
Herod was the new Nebuchadnezzar, who, by his
cruel and crafty policy, sought to do what, after
another fashion, tbe'Chaldeau conqueror thought
he had done, viz., extinguish for ever the better
hopes and aspirations of Israel. When the one,
after having razed* the foundations of Jerusalem,
bore away from Rama the shattered remnants of
her people, he had struck, as he conceived, a fatal
blow at their singular pretensions and distinctive
glory. And, in like manner, when Herod smote
the children at. Bethlehem, with the impious de
sign of embracing in the slaughter the new-born
“King of the, Jews,” he would,,had his aim
been accomplished, have buried in the dust all that
was to render Israel pre-eminent among the na
tions. They might as well, thenceforth, have
ceased to exist, gone to a hopeless exile, or a dis
honored grave. So, that, looking upon matters
with the eye of sense, the ancestral mother might,
as of old, have raised anew the wail of sorrow, even
sueh as might appear incapable of any true solace.
Yet God, in His paternal faithfulness and over
sight, had provided against the worst, and here
again had taken the wise in his own craftiness.
As regarded the main object in view, the stroke
fell powerless to the ground;, the bird escaped
from the snare of the fowler. But situated as
matters how were— not only with a Herod in the
seat of pbwer, but with a Herodian party, who
thought that the best thing for the people was to
maintain the Herodian interest, it was well to bring
this memorable transaction to Gospel times into
formal connexion with the ancient catastrophe —
to show that Herod was virtually now what Nebu
chadnezzar was then—and that, so far as concerned
the real glory and salvation of Israel, to look for
help from the existing representatives of the world
ly power in Judea, was like going to Babylon for
pity and succour. From such a quarter misery
and despair, not life and-hope, were what might
surely he looked for.
THE WEARISOME RAIN.
A tract of wet and stormy weather had set in,
and continued so long that the people at last dis
liked even to look out at the window. Many
thereupon became impatient, and nothing was
more common than to make and hear complaints
of the bad weather. Says Gotthold: What do
yom mean by bad weather? Can any thing he
worse than ,we, bad and ungodly, men, who are
born and bred in wickedness, have grown up in it,
and, did not the Divine mercy prevent, would also
die in it? Be assured, it is anything but a venial
sin to censure God’s weather, and speak as if it
were never good enough for us, or worthy of our
gratitude. Did we but reflect who we are, and
what we do, we would soon forget to murmur at
the weather, and would rather be thankful to God
for raining mere water upon ns, and not fire and
brimstone.
My God, I thank thee from the bottom of my
heart for this forbearance. I thank thee also
for having given me a home, beneath whose
roof, despite the storm, I now sit safe and dry,
and along with it a sufficiency of bodily nourish
ment, so that I am under no necessity to seek for
food in the heavy rain. O faithful God, if to thy
ever wise and holy will it shall perchance seem
fit to involve my soul in the storm, I know not
whither I could fly for refuge but to thyself, and
to the tent and tabernacle of thy grace and truth;
for in the time of trouble thou shalt hide me in
thy pavilion; in the secret of thy tabernacle shalt
thou hide me.—Ps. xxvii. 5. In the shadow of
thy wings will I make my refuge till these cala
mities be overpast.—Ps. lvii. 1.
Gotthold’s Emblems.
A writer in the Savannah (Georgia) Republi
can asks the question; ‘*Hbw shall we dispose of
the, prisoners?’' and answer it as follows:
“Let the Quartermaster-General of the Confe
derate States issue his proclamation, stating that
the prisoners will be hired out to the highest bid
der for some specified time, and in such number
as the hirer may desire. I know of a gentleman
of this city, a. rice planter, who would gladly take
two hundred of the Yankees on his plantation to
build up and mend the dams of his field. He is
more desirous of doing this, he saysjas'the north
ern gazettes have long asserted that we can do
without negro labor, and he is anxious of testing
the question. One good black driver to every
forty Yankees would insure good order and lively
work- among them.”
Albert G-. Pike, who was commission e'4 to '“ treat
with the Greek nation/’, makes the following re
port:
“Notwithstanding a heavy outside influence a
treaty advantageous to both parties was made with
the rulers of the Greek nation. Before entering
upon the consideration of the it was voted
by a unanimous vote of the council .to go with the
South, treaty or no treaty. The principal men
have been true as steel to the South from the be
ginning of the negotiation, and the nation ratified
their treaty by a unanimous vote in council, every
town being represented. Their regiment will be
ready in afeip days, and probably a half-dozen
companies more,”
The Helena (Arkansas) Shield mentions that
a large body of Indian warriors are already in the
-field, destined for Missouri. It says:
“Prom the Hon. C. W. Adams, of this county,
who arrived ; at home a few days since from the
northern part of .this state, we learn that on last
Monday week thirteen hundred Indian warriors
—southern allies—crossed the Arkansas river,
near Port Smith, on the way for McCulloch’s
camp. These Indians were armed with rifle,
butcher-knife and tomahawk , and had their faces
painted one half red and the other black.”
A recent number of the Richmond Dispatch
(published at the seat of the Confederate Govern
ment) furnishes the following additional particu
lars relating to:the negotiations conducted by Mr.
Albert G. Pike, commissioned to treat with the
Indians on the south-western border, in order, if
possible, to enlist their services in the present war.
That paper says:
“About sixty of the Reserve Camanches,
(Pondah Ross,) Wichitas, Kiehas, &c. t have had
a talk with the Commissioner. He expects to ef
fect a treaty with the wild Camanches, who are
coming into Wichita Agency to meet him for that
purpose, (as well as the Kioways,) and to settle
them all upon reserves. As soon as the Seminole
treaty is signed, Commissioner Pike,, with Super
intendent Rector, Agent Deeper, Wm, Quisen
bury, the Secretary of the Commissioner, and the
others of the party, accompanied by a delegation
of the Creeks and Seminoles, and a strong escort
of Indian troops, will go to the Wiehita Agency
to meet the Reserve Indians and wild tribes.
These is little doubt that at least five thousand
Camanches will be present.
“ffhe standard of the Commissioner is a signi
ficant one. In its blue field are the efeven white
stars in a circle, and inside the circle the Commis
sioner has placed four small red stars, forming the
four extremities of a -passion cross, for the four
nations, the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and
Seminoles, in token that these Christian tribes of
red men are encircled by our protection, and are
with us and.of us. When, if ever, we deem it fit
to treat with the Cherokees, a fifth red star will
form the centre of the cross. The Commissioner
will not again seek to treat with Mr. Ross, nor
with the Cherokees while he remains in power,
hut the Government will not desert or leave un
protected the friends of the South among the
Cherokees.”
We have no comment, says the National Intelli
gencer, to offer on these proceedings. We leave
them to be appropriately characterized by the civi
lized world. And if, turning fron this revolting
spectacle, we fix our gaze upon the kind of war
which the secessionists themselves wage in Mis
souri, (and, we may add, in a greater or less de
gree wherever they have the power,) we shall be
brought to adopt the conclusion that the presence
of Indian savages cannot greatly intensify the hor
rors of the internecine strife into which they will
ingly,plunge every State or community that they
cannot entirely control or possess. The condition
into wliich they have brtraght Missouri is thus
described by that leading Democratic organ, the
St. Louis Republican, in its number of the Ist
instant:
“The Secessionists of Missouri have undertaken
to make this State too hot for those who love the
Union and the Constitution of our fathers. Pre
tending to build-the edifice of disunion on the
doctrine of State rights, they wage war upon the
State as well as upon individuals. And their way
of waging war 1 Shooting into passenger trains; ly
ing in wait in ambush and behind stumps, to fire
upon some defenceless traveller; placing kegs of
powder upon railroad tracks; calling citizens out
of their beds at night to tar and feather or hang
them; robbing fields of their crops, orchards of
their fruits, farms of their stock; burning bridges
and depots; setting fire to barns and dwellings,
and establishing sueh a reign of terror as is making
women and children frantic, and driving peace
loving inhabitants from their homes by scores and
hundreds.
What would be thought of a proposition made
in one of our newspapers to “hire out" the south
ern prisoners now in our hands to masters to be
worked on our farms! What a burst of indigna
tion would go up from the civilized world, if it
were published that the North was employing In
dians with tomahawks and scalping knives to wage
war upon the South.
In our war of the Revolution there were men
in the British Parliament who were brave and hu
mane enough to denounce their own government
for hiring Indians to help them in their savage
war. But the South is now willing to have such
allies, and to bring them with their barbarous
weapons into the field.
•Fairbalrn.
We do not desire to see, we earnestly hope
that we shall not see the spirit of revenge awaken
ed in the North, but now that we have a thousand
prisoners in our hands, the fear of retaliation will
rest oh the South, from resorting to any such out
rages as the Savannah Republican proposes.
The fortunes of war will throw thousands more
into our hands, and we trust that they will always
be treated with that humanity which becomes a
brave Christian people.
We have had a long conversation with a young
gentleman who was ah active participant in the
fight at Bull Run. He was a member of the Mi
chigan 2d, and we have known him well for many
years, and we have entire confidence ih his vera
city. He confirms the statements that have been
denied respecting the atrocities perpetrated by the
rebels on our wounded : his own observation ena
bled him to testify that our wounded were butch
ered while they were lying helpless and pleading
for merey. It is painful to repeat such statements,
but when they come to us in a way to compel us
to believe them, it is a duty to make them known
to the shame of the men who do such deeds, even
in the excitement of war.
Hefee not repentance till another day. God has
promised pardon upon your repentance, but he has
not promised life till you repent.
SPIRIT OF THE REBELLION.
New York Observer.
VOL. VI—NO. l. —Whole No. 273.
ROMAN AND MODERN SLAVERY.
There are two things in which modern Ameri
can slavery differs, to its discredit, from the Ro
man. It is more mercenary; it has more of caste.
In this, we may say, it is almost exclusive, beyond
any known slavery that ever existed upon earth.
The Roman lawyers ever declared that slavery
was against natural right, and it is the civil law,
with that maxim, that has kept it out of Christian
Europe. No Roman court ever made a decision
so easting a man out of the state, and out of the
pale of humanity, as the Dred Scott. Hence we
are prepared to say that, though the Roman ser
vitude gave a more despotic power to the master,
it was not so debasing to the slave. It was more
eruel, perhaps, but’less dehumanizing. It did
not leave such a long taint behind it after eman
cipation. The freed man was but little affected
by the servile condition: his children rose up to
the common level, and moved on, afterwards,
without any degrading distinction in the common
stream of social life. Horace’s father was a freed
man ; Horace,, himself took rank with the noblest
of his day. ’Teachers, artists, took their places
in society," though homing from the servile ranks.
From “ being servants of man,” others rose to be
“freed men of Christ,” and even Christian bi
shops.
Roman slavery may have been more cruel, we
say, but it was less degrading. In other words,
though it hurt the individual more, it hurt huma
nity less. - This'deep debasement has been re
served for the Christian; slavery, and we have al
ready given a reaspn for it in that trouble of con
science, or-that troubled self-respect, which must
cither make a man let go the ownership of his
kind, or get a plea for casting it down among the
lower and animal Tabes. We have divine autho
rity for saying, that what Christianity does not
■make better, it makes worse. If it is not a sa
vor of life to an institution, it is a savor of death.
So the actors in the old Roman drama were a
higher class of men than our' nominally Christian
politicians. The reason is obvions enough. Where
they are not true and hearty Christians, the hol
lowness of the common profession has taken away
the native manhood which appears so grand in
these old heathen, while the counterfeit Christi
anity has given ho compensating grace. As with
men, so it is with institutions. Christianity healed
the old slavery; the modern which has come up in
defiance of it, may,bo left to die of its own mer
cenary corruptions. This is doubly true of what
may be called, not simply the modern, but the mod
modern slavery, with the new features it has as
sumed within the past thirty years. The Roman
servitude was bitter enough; it was Pandora’s
box of woes, buLstill with hope remaining at the
bottom. Emancipation might speedily restore
the dovlos, or his children, to the level of soeiety.
It was, therefore, a better thing than this Cal
;houu,' Hamitic bondage, “ normal,” endless, hope
less, to which no year of jubilee shall ever come.
Tayler Lewis.
Many a good clerical brother who takes a little
’daughter on his knee at home, and delights her
With some simple story, cannot be persuaded to
carry the same style and the same power into his
: churcb, oreven his lecture-room. We believe there
is not a pastor in New England who cannot, if he
will give.himself to the work,, in earnest and in
the love of souls, come down to the level, and win
the delighted interest of every child of common in
telligence in his congregation. And they who raise
this complaint of incapacity are the very men who
most need, for themselves and their people at
large, the benefit of the work. It would infuse
new life and freshness into the stiff propriety of
their discourses. It would give flexibility and
vivacity to their whole manner of address. It
would increase the practice of illustration in ser
monizing. It would, indirectly, greatly aid the
Sabbath-school.. It would more deeply interest
parents in the spiritual welfare of their children,
and Suggest to them interesting modes of convey
ing truth. Any pastor who will, by carefully col
lecting facts and anecdotes from the newspapers
and from his general reading, gather materials for
this labor, will be surprised to find how little labor
will enable him to interest an audience of children.
The writer has as large an attendance at the Sab
bath-evening service for children as at any other
during the day; while with the aid of a well
stocked scrap book, his, preparation for that service
is often made in an hour. It is, moreover, the
testimony of every pastor engaged in this work,
that the most intelligent adults in his congrega
tion are not I ’the less interested in these simple
and fdlly illustrated addresses, than the children.
It is note-worthy that our Lord, when discoursing
to the scribes and learned doctors of the law, made
hardly less use of parables than when instructing
the common people. “ A good illustration is an
argument;” and it is also a power to force the
truth irresistibly fhcrane.
If any pastor would, multiply the strong ties be
tween himself and his people, if he would extend
his influence over them, if he would win the grati
tude of every parent ib his charge, and above all,
fulfil the Master’s solemn injunction, “ Feed my
lambs”—w.e should urge him to enter at once
and in earnest on this most delightful and reward
ing work. u
THE VICARIOUS ATONEMENT ILLUS-
' In the year 1795 a serious disturbance had
arisen in Glasgow among the Breadalbane Fenci
bles. The soldiers being made sensible of the na
ture of their misconduct; and the consequent pu
nishment, four men voluntarily offered themselves
to stand trial, and suffer the sentence of the law
as an atonement for the whole. These men were
accordingly marched to Edinburgh Castle for trial.
Oh the march, one of the men stated to the offi
cer commanding the party, Major Colin Camp
bell, that he bad left business of the utmost im
portance to. a friend in Glasgow, which he wished
to transact before his death; that, as to. himself,
he was fully prepared to meet his fate; but, with
regard to liis friend, he could not die in peace un
til the business was settled; and that, if the officer
Would suffer him to return to Glasgow for a
few hours, he would join him before he reached
Edinburgh, and march as a prisoner with the
party. The soldier added, ‘You have known
me since I was a child; you know my country
and kindred, and you may believe I shall never,
•.bring you to any blame by a breach of the
promise I now make, to be with you in full time
to b‘e delivered up in the Castle/ This was
a startling proposal to the officer; however, his
confidence was sueh, that he complied with the
request of the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow
at night, settled his business, and left town before
daylight, to redeem his pledge. He took a long
circuit to avoid being seen and apprehended as a
deserter, and sent back to Glasgow. In conse
quence of this caution, there was no appearance
of him at the appointed honr. The perplexity of
the officer, when he reached the neighborhood of
Edinburgh, may be easily imagined. He moved
forward slowly, indeed, buCno soldier appeared;
and, unable to delay any longer, be marched up
to the Castle, and, as he was delivering over the
prisoners, but before any report was given in,
Macmartin, the absent soldier, rushed in among
his fellow-prisoners, all pale with anxiety and fa
tigue, and breathless with apprehension of the
consequences in which his delay might have in
volved his benefactor. The whole four were tried
and condemned to be shot, but it was determined
that only one should suffer, and they were ordered
to draw lots- The fatal chance fell upon William
Sutherland, who was executed aceordinglv.
Quarterly Review.
PREACHING TO CHILDREN.
TRATED.
Congregational ist.