it-
1-i
, .
V
Edited ,by t. Meredith,,
1 - TERM S. . i
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tinuance will be allowed uutil arrearages are paid.
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act' gratuitously,! to secure attention, must be post
ni?i M i .J.J- ' in .. 1 il-.i '
ELEVENTH ItEPORT
i M i : OF THE Ml :-
BO'ARp OF MANAGE PS ;
: OF THE V ;
iPTl!HT CK.NKHAL. TRACT
S0CIETY,
FOR THE YEAR ENDING
V i .Ui: : , if! r,:..
DECEMBER 31sf, 1831.
THE-Managers of the Baptist general Tract
I Society haye occasion, At this meeting, to record
the favor of the Lord, and feel with more than
; usual force, the lesson -which death is constantly
' teaching us. Since the! last Anniversary sever
1 al of our warm and efficient friends have been
i called fromMtheir labor?! on,tarth,;to therest and
joys of heaven, j Joseph Jfayiift, who'was sever
al years a member of your Hoard, departed this
me oii the 1 yth day of April last, -in
the sixty
happy" re-
rsixm vearoi nis aire, witn a tirm anc
liance on the merits of the Redeemer.
lie was
Christian
. beloved for his amiable
manners; and
virtries by numerous friends in Europe, Asia,
and America. . In his lasFmoments the benevb
i lent plans of the age were still,! as they ever had
been; his delightful topic of conversation. : After
a mmisiering orotner naa prayea, ne conciuaea
with lervent petitions tor,
Bible, Missionary, Sun
day-school, . 1 ract and
thus showing his ruling
rem pe ranee f Societies,
passion 3trong in death.
Soon after the ' decease of father Mav-lin, we
received the mournful 1 tidings ofjhe death of
Nathaniel Ii. Qobb, one Of the earliest and most
liberal patrons of our Society. At one time he
j contributed five hundjed dollars to its funds, and
at another, one hundred, besides many smaller
i sums at different! perjous. j In the language of
his biographerHhe respect! which heK attracted
while living, was not yiejdecl merely to the amia
i ble and "generous man ) and the tears which have
p flowt'd-over his gravehave not j sprung solely
from the loss of a pleasant friend and benefactor,
but from so:"Hv that a-devoted 1 servajbt of the
1 Saviour has! sed to toil for the welfue of
on on earti".
i i Paring . rMmmerwbb( our local agents '
jWere remt. -jjr from their respective
spheres ohl -n. Francis JJ Browning, of
iMroit, was suddenly cut down by the Cholera,
irv-jth,t prime of i iis life j and in the midst of his
, usefulness. George C. Shivers, an amiable, pi
lous and talented young;1 lawyer, ; of Columbus,
, , Georgia, was also removed from bis earthly la
' bora. , .Both .of these brethren filled important
I 'stations,' and their memories will be longj cher-
ished, not only by your Boardj but by many oth
er, circles in which their salutary influence had
been felt . 'uS-) '-t 4 t;
yf: In detailing the operations of the past" year,
the Board would first direct your attention to
fl PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. '
1 I - Seven Tracts haye been made during the year
just closed, makirigUa all J40 pages of jnevy mat
1 tor; j Six of these have been added to the-regula'r
.sere's, vvdiich nov mbraces 142 separ,at and
distinct publications! in ! permanent ; type: ' The
f' titles of:these arle,i7ieiincAorr the Soul; The
Stranger i The More Excellent Way ; Lenly ;
Mrs.' Wade's Addresses ; The IIappu Moun
taineer ; An Amazing fact ; and the Mtath of.
Legal Hove' an occasional tract of 0 -fiacres.
tl . ..... i !''. v ; in i
4iie;ioiai.numper oi pages in tne regular series,
includnfg the covers, is 2336, making; six vol
umes; and : 1 GO. pacres of the seventh volume.
Besides these the Society has ten other fpublica-
wwuo iwciuujujr.iue .scripture xianuai on aaptism
ln the (ierman language, embracing in! all 750
; pagesM Of these,! 308; pages are stereotyped,
making thqtotal number of stereotype' plates
.owned by. the Society 2638J'! , : - i Mi:
: 1 - ie "''ItHough few in number,
1 are' by nopans deficient in merijt' and Impbr
tancp. ; ThlyaTe such, it is believed, asj will be
I found well aqapted to jthe! various Icircunistances,
1 tastes, ahef exigencies of the people trs. 1Wad(e's
f Addresses have already hail an unusual (and in
creasing demand. tWhen we consider how ma-
j ny copies of that tract will be circulated through
the whole lengtlv and breadth of this land, and
j in how many hearts it will awaken an undying
! a anxiety for the spiritual jwelfart? jof perishing
I "unions, we are iilied witn pleasing anticipations
f ic good which thb Society! will be. the means
,01 accomn hshmnr. 4 h ; M :l : ! M;-'V .
' The Death of Leral Hone was t)ublishd ait
tne bstance of Dr. Thomas B. Anderson of
v-aroiine county, Virginia, who contributed lor
Y jto wards i Sefrayirig the .expense ';k
making the stereotyped plates. This work, like
f others from the pen of Abraham Booth, bears"
the inipreSs of the author's pious arid 4iscrim
nating mind. As a doctrinal treatise on ai subv
ject of vital imnortance it stands unrivaled, and
it ought to be read attentively by-every jpbe con
, ccrned to know God's method of justifying the
gu trough faith; in Jesus Christ V 4 '
? ! ' I- , TRACT MAGAZINE. -; . ;'f V; j
U -j The number, of copies f this' wori circulated
j .nng the year, is 22,200, embracing 352,800
i Fges. The expense has been $319 52 while
r ' ltie ! receipts have amounted to only o264 49
' ving the Magazine in debt $55 93- The ar
icarages now due , from subscribers-amount to
; V Vlew of these fects. is a matter of deep
'eSet to your Board, that a publication so im
NEWBEIW,
I portant to the interests of the Soeietv. as ; nn nfli.
hcial organ of communication, should not haye
natter support, especially wnen tf is remembered
Qhat a single document it contains. !th a nnminl
? table, of Associations, is aloneSvorth the Mmb-
cf"t"1;F!lte- it is nopeu, tnereiore, that the
tri&tfs of the cause .will endeavor to 'give the
Magazine a wider circulation, so that its receipts
may at least meet the expense of its publiea
tiv " .
. MONTHLY TRACTS.
; .'TFohc. accommodation of such as wish to re
ceive the publications of the Society by mail, the
Board continue to issue them in the.: form of U
monthly periodical. In this form 12500 copies
uave oeen sent out, emDracing ou.uuu pages, be,-
inff equivaUnt tcj ten monthlyBumbers. pTheT1
peiKeTias been 825. 16. and the receipts have
amounted to 829 75. ci !
ty-:..:.-; . PRINTING AND ISSUES.; ' "
' : The tracts printed during the year ?. amount to
Two hundred and forty-eigHt thousand, three
hundred and twelve copies : makinglFive Mii
jfons, Three Hundred and twenty-fpurThousand,
Six hundred and (Thirty-six pages J being an in
crease of Two Millions, Five Hundred and Forty-nine
Thousand, SixJIundred.and Thirty-six
pages beyond the preceeding year,'
The number of pages issued from the Depot
sitory is Four Millions, Three "Hundred and
Seventy-eight Thousand, Three Hundred aud
'Eighty-two, being an (increase of One Million
Seven Hundred and Two Thousand,' One Hun
dred and Twenty-eight pages, beyond the: pre-:
ceding year.M- : : 1 - - 1 ; . ' ! M . r
The number of Tracts remaining on, hand isf
One Hundred, Twenty-four 'Thousand, Four
Hundred and Fifteen ; making Twd Millions'
One Hundred and Eighty-six Thousand, Four
Hundred and Ten pages! ;;!,: i
GRATUITOUS, DISTRIBUTION. , f
; The gratuitous issues Amount to SOOO pages
which have been distributed as follows, viz : j In;
Monrovia, Africa, 6000 ; in Philadelphia, 5000;:
Sailor's Boarding House Philadelphia, 7,500 ;
Missionaries in Pennsylvania, 11,800 ; Connec-i
ticut Theological Seminary, 10,900 ; Ir) -Virginia,
24,000 ; in Florida3,00d, in New ;Orleans,
10,000; in Mississippi, 33,900 ; in Tennessee,
1 5,500 ; in Georgia and Alabama, 1 00,000 ; in
the Carolina's, 21,500 ;. Granville College, Ohio,
4 1 ,200 ; Hamilton: Institution, "N. Y. 7,100 ; in
New Hampshire, 6,000; in Ohio, 54,000 ; in
New, Hampshire, 6,000 ; in Ohio, 64,000 ; in In
diana, 1 1,500 : in Illinois and Missouri, 98,000 ;
in Arkansaw, 3,500 ; in sundry places, 52,800.
' ,;.;,' i NEW SOCIETIES. ''. I
The number of Auxiliary Societies forme4 the
past'year is One Hundred and Fifty-nine, being
an increase of One Hundred and six beyond the
preceeding year. The.annexed table in the, ap
pendix will show where they have,. be? n formed.
and exhibit also the names ot tneit Correspond
ing Secretaries. The Board .feel a peculiar
gratification in the reception of these new allies.
as a- hope is thereby enkindled, that the tract
cause in their respective spheres of action has as
sumed a permanent character, and will continue
to advance, As some Societies may, not be! re
cognized for want of -due information respecting
them, the Board would request that in all cases
where a Society exists, of may be organized
Auxiliary to the Baptist General Tract Society.
official notice may be sent without delay to the
General Agent; embracing a detailed account ef
the object officers, funds, and plan of operations
of such Society. r ' : ;
J, , . BRANCH SOCIETIES -r't i '
Three Branch Societies have been establish
ed the past' year, which are located as follows : -
The Kentucky-Branch at Louisville, J. B. Whit
man, Depositary The ; Cincinnati Branch rTt
Cincinnati, N. S. Johnson, Depositary Net
Hampshire Branch at Concord, G. P, Lyon,
Depositary making in all ten ErEmfr es which
own Depositories. '
I , K DEPOSITORIES.
The number-of ! Depositories established las
year is fourteenv Five of these are owned by the
Parent Society, and the remainder have been
purchashed by Societieis, or individuals. They
are located m the lollowing places: Newton
-Theological Institution ; New Haven, Ct. ; Sto-
nmgton, Ct': Hamilton Institution, Hudson, Per
ry, and Trumansburg, N. Y. ; near Erie, Green
county, Ala. ; Columbus, Mi. ' Nashville ; Louis
ville;-. Grdnvijjle College, and. Norwalk, Ohio;
Washington, and. : making the total number b
Depositories fifty-six ; twenty-five of yvhich aire
owned by the General Society. If the inends oi
the eause, where these Depositories are located
would raise funds and purchase them, the Society
wtiuldrbe relieved oi a heavy pecuniary burden
antl new life and energy would be imparted to
all its movements. So thoroughly convinced are
tne coaTa oi tne utility ana necessity oi tnis
measure, iis'to feel constrained to recommend it
to their brethren with all the earnestness which
the responsibility of their sacred trust and the in
terests or a great national Institution demand
, - STATE.5 OF THEFUNDS
' There have been received into the Treasury
from the 8th of January, 1834, to the 6th of Jan-
uarv, loo5, both . inclusive, the iollowmer sums
from the following specified sources, viz
Contributions trom 5 Life Directors, i4' 74 02
Contributions from 95 Life Members, . .946 05
Contributions from 69 Annual Members, 68 50
Donations for general purposes,
. 67d 58
Payments from Auxiliary Societies, ,
Donations on xhe $10,000 plan, .
Tract Sales, .'. 1 . . , .
Donations for circulating tracts in the
757 51
, 140 00
1450 95
West, . . .';.:' : 408 27
Donations for printing tracts in Burmahl 74 62
Donations for circulating the History of '
. the Burman Mission. . 19 50
Donations for printing tracts in Germany, 32 31
Legacies, j ' . r . ' 40 00
Book sales, ' ; . .. . . 4051 19
Pavrnfints for Monthly Tracts, . 29 75
Parmpntti for Trart MflSzine. .i 264 49
6035 7
N. C. WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 25, 1835.
The total income from tne-above sourrp Ko
preceding year, was $6126 97; for the present
including the sum of $347 77 -received for the
Tract House, which is in the hands of the com
mittee for investment, it is 86383 51, being an
increase of $256 54. . .. ' .
r While the Board acknowledge the increase of
their pecuniary means with sincere Igratitude to
those whosei liberality has beerymanifested, they
can assure their friends that stiff their fund's in ro
uy no means adequate to enabW tnem to meet the
to enable them to meet the
numerous and pressing demands lor tracts
The expenditures during "the year have been
as follows ;
of the General AflswU,--
8600 00
fIInS" exPenses the General
.Agent, 10.000 miles.
319 96
Incidental expenses at the General De
pository, i : pi , . . .
Postage, i r-;
Clerk- hire, " . - .
129 49
111 74
350 00
525 12
380 00
995 42
381 71
1210 83
992 24
Salaries tDf Agents, including travelling
expenses, r
Kent of the Depository, . j ..
Books, 1 . . . . i .
Binding, folding and stitching tracts,
1'rinting,
Paper,
S599'6 51
- 4
To be continued.
From the London Christian liObscrver
STATE OF RELIGION IN FRAN
CE
A rapid tour in France enables me
ybu with: a few remarks, which will, I
to present
bust, have
a useful tendency.
The degraded state of religion in that country.
or rather the absence of1 all reliffionlwhatever.
almost exceeds belief. Not onlv is it a fact frrne-
rally acknowledged, that the churches are almost
entirely forsaken by the male part of tKe popula
tion, but sentiments are boldly expressed in
conversation, which, though the natural effects of
infidelity, appear too atrocious for an aire of civi-
iza:tion. I met, sometime ago, with a gentleman
who calmly maintained, that when calamity had
reached a certain pitch, it was a most Wise and
justifiable measure to take poison; and more
recently, with another, who argued at conside-i
rable length lor the policy of destroying by law!
a large portion of infants, in order to avoid the
evil of an overgrown population. The death-l
blow has been given almost to the semblance of
a Christian Sabbath, by the custom of i devoting!
tne golden hours ot the sabbath morning to the;
review of the. National Guard. The evening,'
alas has lorfgbeen given up to the theatre and
outer prolane amusements. : j.
v Jutj gross as is the present darkness, the dawn
of day appears to brighten the horzonl NowJ
first, in the history pt v ranee, is entire freedom!
of religion conceded to the inhabitants. A min-
ister of the Gospel of whatever denomination, ',
has now only to inform the public authorities ot
the place which he visits, of his intention' to j
establish a religious service, and he is immediate- j
ly placed under their protection. Hence efforts i
have been undertaken for the good of France,
trifling indeed, in their apparent importarice, but
blessed already with remarkable success and the.
harbingers, we humbly tjust of more extensive
labors. In a small town which had been' visited
by theitinejant colporteurs, who sold Bibles and
tracts, and conversed on religion with those who
would hear them, so active a spirit of c jriosity
was awakened in regard to doctrines pi ofessed
by Protestants, that immediately on the. arrival
of a Protestant minister a considerable number
of persons resorted to hear him ; and now, hough
eighteen months have scarcely elapsed, upwards
of thirty individuals have been converted from
Romanism, and give evidence by their spirit and
conduct, of i conversion to true Christianity.
I have myself visited this infant church, and can
bear testimony to the unfeigned piety j which
appears to pervade it. Nor has the divine favor
been limited merely to one place. In two adja
cent townsr much more considerable for popula
tion, Protestant services have beeniopenua for
the first-time,, since the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, and each of these services is attended
by upwards of two hundred persons, of Whom
not more probably than twenty are Protestants.
In one of these new temples I had myself an.
opportunity of preaching; - and the impression
produced on my mindly the whole conduct and
.conversation of those witl whom I came in con
tact, was this, that had the temple been capable
of containing three thousand instead of jthree
hundred persons,! it would have been as fijli in
the one case as in the other. Indeed if God would
give grace to some- individual oriindividuals to
make a grand effort for calling the attention of
the whole town . to the great doctrines of Chris
tianity; perhapsthe whole town might be brokight
over to the side of truth. ' jj
I cannot describe the jminful admixture of joy
and anxiety which have been, agitating m' rjiind
by exhibitions of the present description. It jwas!
greatly joyful to see hundreds of Roman Catho
lics lending an ear to the preaching of Christ
crucified; but it was deeply afflicting to think
that this valuable opportunity-might be lost, either
by the total neglect or the injudicious conduct of
Protestants. Oh for a new Farel to appear at
this crisis!. Where is such abeingamong all
the Protestant churches, to be found ? There fcan
be little question that, in the ordinary course of
God's providence, a man of FarePs spirit would
soon meet with a Farel's success. ; f J .
j Is it not painful and, even extraordinary, that
done of our younger clergy can cross the Straits
of Dpver and devote five or six of their youthful
years to thes Evangelization of France?. Labors
of this kind' would never unfit them for the sub
sequent duties of a clergyman at home, if after a
certain, period they deemed it advisable to retujrn
to their native, land. And how is it that our
Dissenting brethren lose sight of this object? ff,
vKth all the ministers of all the religious denomi
nations in England, there is still a large portidn
of our ppulation without any religious instruc
tion whatsoever, how much wider is the range
1 : L 1
ti vmicuaii t-iior in rrancel Here is scope
too wide, alas I fotall the zeal and activity which
all the Protestanl communities of England and
America could bring into exercise. And yet I
find; ho protestants of 'our country, except the
Wesleyan Methodists, who have sent a single
English evangelist to preach to the French
nation the "unsearchable, riches of Christ!"
How abundant are the opportunities for minis
terial effort in France may be inferred from' this
circumstance, that durincr six days which I nas
sed at Nismes, I had no -less than two occasions
for preaching in the temples, and four in more
nnvate assemblies. bpsid tw rttKnr u-Ki!LhT l
t51 truiir iiw-noie oi invitation arriving too latfc
yvu inese means ot uselulness were afforded me
by the asssistance and sanction of one of the
established, clergymen. ,- ' ' . ,
The plan of exertion to be recommended for
France, is not to fix on the same place as Protes
tant ministers. Occasional visits to such stations
arc very " desirable, and might prove greatly
encouraging and beneficial , to the Protestant
churches ; but the method of finding access to the
Roman Catholics is "to fix on one of the many
towns in which there isnot a Protestant minister ;
aridfinding out the few Protestants who reside
there.1 to invite them to the performance of divine
worship. There are probably few towns where
such a simple effort would not soon be followed
by a concourse of persons, Roman Catholics more
than Protestants, who would fill any place, how
ever large, in which divine . service 1 might be-
ceierjrateu.
; ...... i j
The great thing, after all, which is requisite
for the advancement of true religion in. France,
is a spirit of self-renunciation- , Men are wanted
who for the Jove of Christ can surrender the love
of; ease, and emolument, and applause, and,
"enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus
Christ," can delight in their work.and say. "None
of these things move me, neither count I my life
dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course
with joy." For my own part,. I look with more
sincere respect and admiration on a Christian
fminister who is 'spending and being spent" in
the obscurity of a remote village in France, than
onone who is commanding vast assemblies of
our countrymen by the splendor of his eloquence.
or is ever so useful, where there is so much of
human reward connected with his labors. We
ought to admire every Christian minister who is
faithful to his Divine Master ; but most, the man
whose earthly solace is little else than the warm
affection of the converts given him from infidelity
or 'superstition, and whose simplicity and sin
cerity of purpose will not perhaps be known or
appreciated till the moment when the , language
shall be addressed to him, " Well done good and
faithful servant ! enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. Thou hast been faithful in a few things,
be thou ruler over many things.
FROM FLINT S "INDIAN WARS OF THE WEST.
I "An amusing incident which occurred in a sec-
una inaian expeaition against vvneenng, serves
to break the gloomy uniformity ofthese chroni
cles. s The house of Col. Zane, outside of the
Fort contained a supply of ammunition; and was
garrisoned by seren or eight persons, male and
female, besides his own family. ; He was deter-
1 . ml " I
mined to maintain it, inc. savage tarmy ap
proached, and before tiring upon the fort, deman
ded the surrender of the housed A brief and
well directed fire was! the reply. The women'
as usual,' moulded bullets, charged the gnns, and
handed them to the men, enabling them -to fire
with so much vivacity, as to cause the assailants
to recoil. By night, they attempted to fire-the
i house. : A savaffe . crawled to the kitchen, and
while waving a brand in the air, td kindle the
fire, so as to communicate it, received a shot from
a black man "which sent him yelling ayay An
incident which promised the savages success in the
end operated in favour of the besieged, j A small
boat from fort Pitt, bound to thefalls of the Ohio,
loaded with the cannon balls, put to the. shore at
Wheeling. It was steered by one m:ln, who,
though slightly wounded, reached the foil. The
boat of course fell into the hands,of the 'savages.
They had balls in abundance, and a single cannon
would have enabled theni to batter down the pal-
lisside. i Necessity with the red ; as with the
white, race is the mother of invention. A hol
low log was procured with a cavity of calibre as
nearly fitting the balls as they could find. To
render the new piece of ordinancd safe, they
adopted the ingenious expedient j of applying
chains obtained from a blacksmith s shop hard
by, and strongly twisted them a round either end
of the wooden cannon. It was then heavily char
ged arid pointed towards the pallissade; Their
imaginations presenting the walls (battered
down, and themselves entering j to apply the
tomahawk and scalping knife ; they applied fire.
Like the overcharged erun of Hudibras, the wood
en mischief blew into a thousand fragments; kil
led a number, wounded more, &left the survivors
staring in mute astonishment at the folly of med
dling with the inventions of the white men.
'Exasperated to. frenzy, they returned fr6m dis
comfiture of the log cannon to the assult of the
house. !A deadly fire again compelled j them to
to retire.! Meanwhile theammunition was fail
ing, and unless a supply could be obtained, the
house must yield. It was proposed that soiiie
one should make a sally among the' savages, and
bring from the fort a keg of powder. Though
the enterprise was forlorn, volunteers offered to
assume it. A young sister of Col.i Zane, who
had just relumed from a boarding school in Phil
idelphia, was of the number, WHen reminded
of the advantages of fleetness and force, which a
man would have over her, the heroine replied,
thattie loss of a woman would be less felt." Ar
ranging her dress for the purpose, she bounded
towards the fort. The besiegers under their na
tive impulses, stood wrapt in admiration, and on
ly exclaimed, a squaw !, a squaw. !' vhen ar
ihn fortJCol Silas Zane. who command
ed the fort, filled a table cloth with the contents of
a keg of powder, bound it round her waist, andj
sent tortnms iair anaurniraoieKuia
her glorious errand- The Indians discovering
VOL. 1,
the object of her mission,' were no longer chain
ed into inaction by the daring of the lair , squawk
but she escaped untouched through a whole vol-
iey ot balls, and reached the fort m. safety.: A
party soon after relieved the fort and raiser! the!
siege.
j ; A MARTYR. :. j .. . ;
Mr. Ellis, in his " Polynesian Researches," giref . J
the following affecting narrative of the martydom ;
of a Christian native of the Georgian Islands. t
was related to him by Mr. NotC . . - -
A fine intelligent young man, on becoming a
discinle of Christ'and a Public
"Van, waTTidiciited tnr his familv-this
effectual, flattering promises were made of tempo- "
ral advantages if he would again.unite with those .
who had been his forme associates in idol-worship;
these he also declined. He then was threats
ened with all their weight of vengeance ; and still
remaining firm to his determination, he w as banish--ed
from his father's houe, and forced to leave the ;
neighborhood. Not satisfied with this, that rae -and
malignant hatred of Christianity which is gen
dered by ignorance and idolatry, and cherished by
satanic infatuation, pursued him still. A heathen
ceremony w as at hand, for which a human victim
was required ; and this young man was selected
by his persecutors,, because he professed to be a
worshipped of the true Gcd. A more acceptable
sacrifice thy thought they could not clTer as tho ,
revenge tlxcy should there by w reak upon him
would Tiot dnly gratify their own insatiate malice, ;
but be so acceptable to the gods whom he had re- '
jected aa certainly to render them prophious. lt'J
is probable ihey also f xpected, by this summary
vengeance, to deter others from lollowing bis ex
ample. Ori the evening of the day preceding that
on , which the ceremony was to take plaee, the
voung manias his custom was had retired to the
brow of a hill that overlooked the valley where
he dwelt ; and there, seated beneath the embower
ing shade cj" an elegant clump of trees, was ob
soibedin meditation, previous to efft-rirg up hi. "
evening supplicatiohs.tqhis God. While thuscn
gaged. his serlusion was invaded andlm solitude ,
disturbed by-ihu appearance of a band, similar, in -some
respects, to that which broke in .upon the
Savioul's retirements Gethsemane. A nvmber
of the servants of the priests and chiefs approached
the young man, and told him thatihe king bad ar
rived and wishing to see him, had sent them to in
vite him down. lie knew of the approaching ce
remony, that a human sacrifice was then to boof
fered ; and he no sooner saw them- advancing ti
his retreat, than a sudden thought, like a flash of
lightning, darted thrcuph his mind, intimating j
that he was to be the victim. He received it as a
premonition of his doom ; and in reply to the re
quest, told them, calmly, that he did not think the
king had arrived, and that, therefore, it was unno
cassary lor him to go down.- They then told him
that the priest or scrrie of his friends wished to see
him, land again invited him to descend. "Why
said he, "dq you thus seek to deceive me? The
priest or 'friends may wish to scerrie, but it is un
der Tcry dilTerent circumstances frbra what ycur
message would imply :; I know a ceremony ap
proaches, that a human victim is then to be offered
something within lr.c tells me I am to be that
victim, and your appearance and your message
confirm my conviction. Jesus Christ is my keeper
without his permission you cannot hurt me ;you
maybe permitted to kill my body, but I am net a
fraidtodie! My s;ul you cannot hurt ; that is safr
in the hands of Jesus Christ, by v. horn it shall be
kept beyond your power." Perceiving there was
hut little nrospect of inducing him by falsehood to
accompany them towards the beach, .and irritated.
iroDaDiy. ny nis r.eroicai reply, tnc-y ruswa upcu
iim, woupded and murdered him, and then, in a
long basket made with the have's cf the oversha
dowing cocoa-nut tree, bore bis body to the tem
ple, where, with exultation, it was offered in sa
crifice to their god. They had, perhaps, beheld
with fiend-like joy his withing agonies in death,
and listened with equal delight to his expiring
groans. The unconscious earth'had breh saturated -with
his blood :' and when thev placed his body oa
I the rude altar, or suspended it from the sacred. tree,
in the presence of their god, they not only" supposed
they ottered a sacrifice at once acceptable and x lli
cacious, but doubtless viewed the immolatiori ai
one by which they bad achieved for idolatry a tri
umph over humanity and Christian principle. Be
fore, however, these feelings could be exercised
and the earth had drunk up his blood, his insult
ed corpse was deposited on their altar, his liberated
and ransomed spirit had winged its way to the
realms of blessedness, had joined the noble 'army. .
of martyrs'l and, united in ascriptions of grateful
homage unto Him who had loved him, and not
only mafle him faithful to the end, but triumphant
over death. Those who head the youtfg man's
dying words, and witnessed his calm unshaken
firmness in the moment of trial, with many among '
whom the report circulated; were probably led to
think differently of the religion he professed than
they had done before. ' The blood of the martyrs
has ever been the seed of the church ; and from an
exhibition of principles so unequivocal in their .
nature and so happy in their effects, it is not too
much to presume that it proved so on the present
occasion. , ' . . .
ON KNEELING IN PRAYER.
It was an observation made by Frederick the
Third, that the forms used by the Catholics in
divine service made their worship seem to have
a superior for its object ; those of the Protestants
to have an equal, i Were that princc now living,,
and were he1' to visit many of the churches and
chapels in this nation, might he not say the pos
ture in which many place themselves, is such as
indicates the object of their addresses to be neither
a superior Inor an equal 7 Their prayers-arc i ,
neither in prostration,' like the Mahometans; nor
in islanding, (like! the Jews; nor kneeling as
Christians, but sitting; an attitude in yvhich l a
superior receives and addresses an inferior. This
is a custom which? has been introduced, -partly
through the example of those who ought to have
set a better ; ' ar d partly. i to be feared, from '
that kind of indifference which arises from igno
rance and carelessness; for did people think,
who, and before whom, they are; did they pro- ! '
perlyreflect on the j nature of prayer; did they
contemplate Cod a the creator ef heaven and
earth ; as the universal sovereign, with whom is
honor, power, and dominion, majesty and glory ;
I say, did men consider these -things, can. wo
suppose they would j dare to address Jebovah in
an attitude which is the utmost distance from
reverence and deep humility ? . . .
Eusebius one day perceived that his wife like? -others,
begun to give up kneeling at her prayer?,
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