LET the civil and religious rights of every one be secured. State rights not infringed. The general government supported in all its constitutional powers. In contemplating ancient things, which occurred long before Moses, my mind is led to suppose a case, viz: a section of Japheth's posterity, fifty in number, emigrated and began a new colony. Having no king or chief among them, every man did that which was right in his own eyes, enjoy. ing their natural rights in the fullest extent. Had they all been good men, without any inclination to do harm, they might have lived in that happy state of freedom. But one of them, with a club, killed his neighbor. Two of them combined and bound another, and forced him to serve them. Three formed a banditti, and forcibly deprived others of the fruits of their labor. By these overt acts, the whole colony was alarmed; for life, liberty, and property were all in jeopardy. The whole assembly convened under a tree, and formed themselves into a commonwealth, founding their government, or compact, binding themselves to defend the lives, liberty, and property of each other. Feeling their own weakness, seeing their dangers, and conscious of their vicious propensities, they let sober reason take the lead in forming rules for their safety, called a code of laws. Tammerlane, the Scythian, was encouraged in his enterprises by the following incident. He saw a small ant tugging at a lump of provisions, four times as big as itself, and climbing with it over a wall. It tumbled back thirty-nine times, but the fortieth time it got over the wall, and secured its food. The sybils of the heathen, the alcoran of the Turks, the tradition of the Jewish rabbles, the writings of the ancient fathers, the decrees of councils, the mandates of popes, religious creeds, and legislative acts to define and enforce religion, like broken china-ware, are worth what they will fetch. When I was young, the mode of family discipline was as follows: The child committed a trespass—the parent took a rod to chastise with; when the child felt the smart, and began to cry, the parent would say to the child," say you are sorry for what you have done, and promise that you will never do so again.". If the child responded, "I wish in my heart I had not done it, and I will never do so again," the matter closed with one additional stroke to make the child remember his promise, which the child complied with until the next time. The better the cause, the blacker the character of the apostate and betrayer. Law is the voice of sober reason, triumphing over unruly passions. Licentiousness is the disobedience of evil propensities to reason and right. MANY lean upon the Lord, but have no faith in his testimony, reliance on his promise, nor obedience to his precepts. Small incidents that fall from the historian's pen, without any professed design, often give the searcher after truth more aid, than an elaborate narrative. A and B, were intimate friends, and bestowed many favors upon each other. An unhappy event dissolved their friendship, but their minds were so philosophic and grateful, that they never forgot nor undervalued the favors received of each other. The rights of man, and the submission to just laws, preserve harmony; but the claims of aristocrats, and the licentiousness of the people, create confusion, war, and destruction. Words and sentences, like every thing else below the sun, are ever on the change; those expressions, which fifty years ago were chaste, manly, and significant, are now considered, rude, low-lived, and insipid. My hearing is poor, my eye sight is dim, my appetite small, my strength decayed, my prospects gloomy, and what shall I do? Time misspent cannot be recalled, bad calculations cannot be remedied, the calls of nature are great and constant, and my means of supplying those calls, are confined, and what shall I do? But others have been in worse circumstances, and if my state is not as forlorn as that of some others on the earth, nor as hopeless as with some in the other world, not murmuring, but gratitude should fill my heart. When Adam was driven out of Eden, wandering about, he found a mound of sand; and suspecting that gold was in it, he spent his life in squeezing and sifting the sand; but when he was dying, he told his children there was no gold in it. His children, however, in succession, down to this time, regardless of the admonitions of their dying fathers, have been sqeezing and sifting, to find the gold, by bringing their circumstances in all things up to their minds. The gold of contentment and delight, is found by bringing our minds down to those circumstances, which the Almighty metes out for us. 'Tis then we have nothing to wish or to fear. The Bible is a tissue of fine materials, curiously interwoven. All parts of the natural world are used for similitudes, to illustrate the things that belong to the spiritual and invisible world. The main design, is to show what God requires of men, and what he does for them. In the 13th century, when the crusade excitement prevailed, Robert Bruce, of Scotland, determined to visit the Holy Land, and aid in taking the country where Christ was born, wrought miracles, and was crucified, which, at that time, was But as he was taken sick, out of the possession of the Turkish infidels, thought to be a sufficient atonement for all sin. and could not go the military pilgrimage, he gave orders to have his heart taken out of his body, after he was dead, perfumed with spices, put in a silver box, and sent to the Holy Virgin. But, by misfortune, the messenger was taken prisoner in Spain, and the heart never reached where Christ died on the cross; of course, his sins were never pardoned. He that would purchase an elective office with money, would sell the rights of the people to reimburse himself. He who is courting office from the people, will profess regard for their good, but when he has attained his desire, he forgets his profession. If laws were made and printed without technicals, and the mode of administering them, was without fiction, we should not hear "the glorious uncertainty of the law," so much applauded. If you would rule well never rule too much. Many laws, and long parliaments, make not rich. I judge it not possible to frame a government, energetic enough to do good, and yet have it so responsible, but that trust, in some of its branches, must be placed in some of the agents. To make the ambition and covetousness of one, a check to the ambition and covetousness of another, will not always prevent injustice, fraud, and usurpation; and fines and punishments are as ineffectual. Few good laws, written plain, without technicals, justly administered, without fiction, or usurpation of the rights of individuals, not disturbing old peaceable customs, would tend to the happiness of society. It is a hard, persevering work, for a majority of the people to get the majority of official power out of the hands of the minority, who have it in possession. A majority, of numerical and physical strength, is kept in subjection by an aspiring minority, who have more pride and cunning, than philanthropy and honesty. What a pity! It is difficult to find a man who does not possess some one good pro. perty, which is useful among men ; and as difficult to find one who has no defect, which he would be better without. Thirteen of the epistles have the name Paul embodied in them. That he superintended them, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there remains, no doubt; but it is probable that he, sometimes, had copyists. The token which he gave to every epistle, was, "The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you," or words to that amount. The epistle to the Hebrews, does not give the name of its author. It is most generally supposed that Paul wrote it; if so, why did he withhold 4 his name? The epistle to the Galatians is called a large letter, but contains only 3,087 words. The epistle to the Hebrews, which contains 6,893 words, it is said to be a letter in few words. If Paul wrote both, how are we to understand large and few? Honor God as a law-giver, and adore him as a redeemer. Trust in his wisdom, to direct your lot in life. If he crowns you with wealth, be thankful, if with poverty, be patient. My views of God are so obscure, by faith in him so low, my love to him so small, my evil propensities so many, and my resistance against them so weak, that the balance of evidence seems against me, in point of my adop tion; and yet, passing strange, I remain so careless about my future destiny. The greatest opposition (among men) that I have met with, has been from preachers; among the people, I have fared better. This may be one reason why I am so great a friend to democracy, and so deadly an enemy to aristocracy. Quick perceptions, depth of thought, strength of memory, clearness of voice, acceptable words, being influenced by the Holy Ghost, and clothed with the garment of salvation, are characteristics of a good preacher. Can causes ever be diverted from their natural effects? When meat, and drink, and clothing are taxed, the poor man, who has only one lamb, has to pay as much as he, who, like Job, has fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. Friendly time and patience, give relief, when precipitant legislation pulls the scab off from the sore, before it is ripe, and makes it bleed afresh. If a president appoints his successor, how does it lead on to an elective king? Are not the appointments of the president confirmed or rejected by the senate ? Of all shapes of beauty, images, carvings, paintings, and colorings, that I have ever seen, none equal a young woman, fully grown, well formed, free of decay, neatly clad, with modest piety blooming in her face and eyes. And when she sings, and makes melody in her heart to the Lord, no musical band, with all their instruments, can equal her heavenly sound. Eph. v., 20. Giving thanks unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. iv., 20. Now unto God and our Father be glory. Coll. i, 3. Jesus Christ. Coll. ii., 2. The mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. Coll. iii., 1. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father, by him. We give thanks unto God, and the Father of our Lord 1 Thes. iii, 2. Now God himself, and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. How is the word God to be understood in these six places? Does it intend the Holy Ghost, mentioned before the Father and Christ, or what does it mean? Psalms xxi., 13. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength. Psalms xc., 1. His right hand and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. Isaiah lxiii, 5, 11, 12. Mine own arm brought salvation unto me that put his holy spirit in him, to make himself an everlasting name. Acts i, 7. Which the Father hath put in his own power. Eph. v., 27. Rev. xi, 17. That he might present it to himself. Thou hast taken to thee thy great power, &c. If God can thus operate upon himself, why not the incarnate God pray unto himself? Is it not the man, who prayed unto the God? The slave trade, in purchasing and kidnapping the Africans and making slaves of them in America, is justly condemned by every benevolent man ; but thousands and thousands of those who were thus treated, with their offspring, have heard the gospel and received its blessings, which they would' not have obtained in their own land. Men should never do evil, that good may come; but when they do evil, God can overrule it to good purposes. Eccl. vii, 10. "Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these, for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this." For nearly fourscore years, I have heard a continual lamentation among the aged, crying, "O tempora! O mores!" (O the times! O the manners!) "the customs and manners of the people, are greatly depreciated from what they were when we were young. Many are little enough to be big in their own esteem, but few are big enough to know themselves little. He who can bear praise without being elated, will bear reproach with out vexation. The higher a man rises in fame, the more his spots can be seen. It is easy to see defects in another, but hard to escape them ourselves. Precept addresses the ear, and tells how we should behave. Example: appeals to the eye, and shows how works are done; but such is the opposition of the human heart, that precept is rejected, and example disregarded. |