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AXD IXDIAMS’ ADVOCATE. CHEROKEE NATION, PROPRIETOR. EDITED BY ELIJAH HICKS. \OL. V. 1VEW ECHOTA, CHEROKEE AATIOIX, SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1833. VO. 30. C HER OKEE PH(E \IX PRINTED WEEKLY. I jin 50 if paid in adduce, #3 in six (hs, or $3 50 it pan! ail he end of the ,i subscribers who can read only the pikee language the price v.ill be $2,00 dvance, or $2,50 to be paid w ithin the wry subscription will he considered as jirncd unless subscribers give notice to tpntrary before the commencementofa year, and all arrearages paid. n y person procuring six subscribers becoming responsible for the payment, | receive a seventh gratis. j»All letters addressed to the Editor, puiii, will receive due attention. RELIGIOUS, « Extract from the works of Ike Rev. John Wesley. peak evil of no man—Titus iii, 2, jthe great apostle; as plain a com* id as, thou shall do no murder—- !xod. II, 13. But who even among istians regards this command ? Yea, few are there, that so much as un land it? What- is evil speaking? not t^as sorno suppose) the same lying or slandering. All a man may be as true as the bible, and the saying is evil speaking. For speaking is neither more nor less, speaking evil of any absent per- reluting something evil which was |v done or said, by one that is not cot when it is not related. Sup- 1, having seen a man drunk, or d him curse or swear, I tell this nhe is absent; it is evil speaking, ur language tills is termed linck- i\or is there any material dif- nce between this and what we usu- stvle tale-bearing, if the tale be icred in a soft and quiet manner, haps with expressions of good will ie person, und a hope, that things not be quite so bad) then we call it ipeving. But in whatever manner it be done, the thing is the same; same in substance,* if not incircum- ce. Still it is evil speaking; still command, speak evil of no man, is ipled under foot, if wc relate to an- irthe fault of a third person, when snot present to answer for himself. , And how extremely common is sin, among all orders and degrees mau! How do high and low, rich poor, wise and foolish, learned and earned, run into it continually! per- wlio differ from each other in all igs else, nevertheless agree in this, irfow are there, that can testify be- God, “I ain clear in this matter: I e always set a watch before my ith, and kept the door of my lips? ithat, even among persons, who, he general, have the fear of God be- their eyos, and do really desire to e a conscience void of offence, to- d God and toward man. . And the very commonness of this makes it difficult to be avoided As are encompassed with it on every i, so if we are not deeply sensible he danger, and continually gparcl- l| t wc r,ie liable to bo carried away the torrent. In this instance, al- ittlio whole of mankind is, as it re, in a conspiracy against us. And iir example steals upon us, we know ihoxv; so that wc insensibly slide in- the imitation of it. Beside, it is re manded from within, as well as 1 without. There is scarce any eng in the mind of man, which may I be occasionally gratified by it, and wequently incline us to it. It grati- 1 our pride, to relate those faults of iers, whereof we think ourselves not be guilty. Anger, resentment, and 1 unkind tempers are indulged, by taking against those with whom we displeased. And in many cases, reciting the sins of their neighbors, »n indulge their own foolish and hurt- 1 desires. 4. Evil speaking is the more difficult K avoided, because it attacks us in •guise. Wo speak thus of a noble, aierone, (it is well if we do not say ) ■dy indignation against these vile croa ks! We commit sin from mere ha rt of sin. We serve the Devil out of •re zeal for God! It is merely in or- ir to punish the wicked, that we run to this wickedness. So do tho pas- :°ns all justify themselves, and palm upon up; under the veil oj lioli- 5. But there is no way to avoid the snare? Unquestionably there is.— Our Lord has marked out a plain way for his followers. None who warily and steadily walk in this path, will ever fall into evil speaking. This rule is either an infallible pre ventative, or a certain cure for it. In the preceding verses our Lord had said, ‘Wo to the world because of its offenc es.’ Unspeakable misery will arise in the world, from this baleful fountain. (Offences are, all things, whereby any one is turned out of, or kindred in the way of God) ‘for it must be, that of fences come. Such is the nature of things: such is the weakness, folly and wickedness of mankind. ‘But wo to that man,’ miserable is that man, ‘by whom the offences cometh.’ Where fore if thy hand, thy foot, thine eye, cause thee to offend, if the most dear enjoyment, the most beloved and use ful person, turn thee out of, or hinder thee in the way, ‘pluck it out, cut them off, and cast them from thee.” But how can we avoid giving offence to some, and being offended at others? Especially suppose they are quite in the wrong and we see with our own eyes? Our Lord here teaches us how: TIo lays down a sure method of avoid ing offences and evil speaking to gether. If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him of his fault, between him and thee alone: if he will hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.—And if he will not hear them, tell it to the church; but if he will not hear the church, let G. O that all you who hear the re proach of Christ, who are in derision called Methodists, would set an exam ple to the Christian world, so called, at least, in this one instance! Pbt yea- way evil speaking, tale bearing, whis pering: let none of thorn proceed out of your mouth. See that yob ‘speak evil of no man:’ of the absent! nothing but good. If ye must be distiiguished whether ye will or no, let thin he the distinguishing mark of a Nethodist, ‘he censures no man behind lis back: by this fruit yc may know him” What a blessed effect of this self-denial should we quickly feel in our hearts? How would our ‘peace flow as a river,’ when we thus ‘follow peace with all men?’ How would the love of God a- bound in our souls; while we thus con firm our love for our brethren! and what an effect would it have on all that were united together in the name of the Lord Jesus ? How would brother ly love continually increase, when this grand hindrance of it was removed ? All the members of Christ’s mystical body would then naturally care for each oth er? ‘If one member suffered, all would suffer with it; and every one would love his brother ‘with a pure heart fervent ly.’ Nor is this all’ but what an af fect might this have, even on the wild unthinking world? How soon would they deserve in us, what they could not find among all the thousands of their brethren, and cry, (as Julian the apos tate to his brethren courtiers) ‘‘see ! how these Christians love one another!” ! By this chiefly would God convince the | world, and prepare them also for his 1 kingdom: as we may easily learn from ! these remarkable words in our Lord’s solemn prayer. ‘I pray for them who will believe in me, that they all may be as thou father art in me and I him be to thee as an heathen man and ; ___ a publ.can-Matt xvm, lo 16, 17.1 th ee—that the world may believe thou bee that thou speak in a meek as well • •• — - J - ■ as a lowly spirit: for “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” If he be overtaken in a fault, he can no otherwiso be “restored than in the spirit of weekness.” If he op pose the truth yet he cannot be brought to the knowledge thereof, but by gen tleness. Still speak in a spirit of ten der love, ‘‘which many waters cannot quench.” Love can bow down the stubborn neck, Tho stono to flesh convert; Soften, and inclt, and pierce, and break, An adamantine heart. Confirm then your love towards him, and you will thereby heap coals of fire upon his head. Who will take God’s part against the evil speakers? Art thou the man? By tho grace of God wilt thou be one, who are not carried away by the torrent? Art thou fully determined, God being thy helper, from this very hour, to set a watch, a continual watch before thy mouth, and keep the door of thy lips? From this hour wilt thou walk by this rule, speaking evil of no man? If thou scost thy brother do evil, wilt thou tell him of his fault between thee and him alono! Afterward take one or two witnesses, and then only, tell it to the church ? If this be tho full purpose of thy heart, then learn one lesson well. Hear evil of no man: if there were no hearers, there would be no speakers of evil, und is not (according to the vul gar proverb) the receiver as bad as the thief? If then nny begin to speak evil in thy hearing, check him immediately: Refuse to hear the voice of the charm er, charm he ever so sweetly: let him use ever so soft a mannor, so mild an accent, ever so many professions of good will for him whom he is stabbing in the dark, whom he smitheth under the fifth rib, resolutely refuse to hear, though the whisperer complain of being burdened till he speak. Burdened thou fool, dost thou ‘travail with thy cursed secret as a woman travaileth with child?’ Go then and be delivered of thy burden, in the way the Lord hath ordained. First ‘go tell thy brother of his fault, between thee and him alone.’ Next ‘take with thee one or two’ coin mon friend*, and tell him in their pres ence. If neither of these steps take effect, then, ‘tell it to the church.’ But at the peril of thy soul, tell it to no one else, either before or after. Unless in that one exempt case whon it is abso lutely needful to preserve the innocent Why shouldst thou burden another as well as thyself, by making him par taker of thy. sin. hast sent me!’ The Lord hasten the time! The Lord enable us thus to love one another, not only ‘in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth,’ even as Christ hath loved us—James i, 2G St iii, 16, 17, 18. MAHOMEDANISM. At a late meeting in New York, the Rev. Eli Smith, missionary to Western Asia, made the following statements on tho subject: He said he rose under a deep impression of tho responsibility which rested on him as a personal ob server of the things he was about to state. And therefore lie should state nothing at random, nothing which he had not well considered and weighed every word and sentence. He would gladly set before the audience a view of all the regions and mingled people which he had surveyed. But there was not time. He should therefore confine their attention to a single ob ject, the present attitude of Mahome- danism. This power which has heretofore raised so haughty a front against the kingdom of Jesus Christ, 1ms long held arge bodies of subjugated Christians under its sway, and stood in high atti tude of contempt for tho name of Chris tianity. Until recently, it has never maintained its persecuting laws. Even in Egypt although toleration is now es tablished, when I was there the laws prohibited efforts to convert Moslems, under tho heaviest penalties. It has long been the boast of the semi-civil- ized inhabitants of Mt. Lebanon, that their regions was the only portion of the Sultan’s dominions when there could be no prosecution of Christians, and where a Moslem could change his religion without the penalty of death. While I was at Alexandria, a Chris tian in anger cursed Mahomet, and was put to death. No Christian in Tur key dares to curse the false prophet, if he is ever so much excited. The Mis sionaries do not wish to curse Mahom et ; they only desire by plain arguments and friendly exhibitions of truth, to show his followers their delusion. 1 was told at Constantinople, that it would endanger my life to charge Mahomet with being an imposter. A German Missionary in tho Russian Army was found to have been trying to persuade some Mahomedans in a town where the army were, to renounce their faith, and such an uproar was made that he was compelled to desist. In regard to efforts for the conver sion of nominal Christians, the obsta cles interposed by Mahomedan rulers are rather mere arbitrary acts of op pression than the operations of estab lished law This law pays no regard to the diversities of Christian sects, but holds them all alike in abhorrence.— The government, for prudential rea sons, are ready to uphold the authority of the ecclesiastical dignities of all the sects. And so long as they remain quiet, all is quiet. But when, by mis sionary efforts, and the conversion of some of their people, the wrath of ec clesiastical authorities is roused, the government interferes, and stops the disturbance by removing the exciting cause.—And in this they show no par- liality for different sects. Mr. S. said he had been m regions, where he had known the Missionaries of Rome to.be bastinadoed, and imprisoned and ban ished. On precisely the same princi ples our own Fisk and Parsons we*e imprisoned at Jerusalem. But of late there have been very au spicious changes, not in their code of laws, but in public opinion and public feeling. These changes operates in two respects; first, they tend to liber alize the policy of the Turkish govern ment, and secondly, to humble their arogance.—Their arogance is humbled also, in two ways. Their policy is es sentially military, and they have pre served the same system of Europe, they have admitted that some good things may he learned from Christians They arc further humbled under a most mortifying sense of their imbecility. Their weakness is both incoherent and relative, and now they feel it. Another thing to be noticed is, that the Sultan has severed his ecclesiastical from his civil power. This has divested Ins au thority of all that peculiar sacredness which it used to bear in the eyes of all good Moslems, so that the bigoted a- mor.g them do not scruple to call him an infidel. Ho can no longor make that irresistible appeal to the fanaticism of his followers which formerly render ed his armies so desperate and so terri ble. The unfurling of the sacred stan dard on the mosque of St. Sophia, no longer acts as a charm 911 their minds. The relative weakness of Turkish power was established at the battle of Navarino, and afterwards when their capital was at the mercy of the Russi an army. There is a peculiarity in the Turkish character, illustrated by this humbling itself in adversity. The op position to the spread of the gospel is now far less firm than formerly, and we find every where liberty allowed to ar gue in favor of Christianity. In Egypt there have been frequent discussions between the English missionaries and the Moslems. At Damascus, where a few years ago there prevailed the most deadly popular rage against the very name of Europeans, now the door is open for the circulation of the Scrip tures. Other similar facts wore mentioned. But said Mr. S., wc must take care not to build too high expectations on such circumstances. To allow discussion is one thing; to allow actual apostacy is another. Let a Missionary publicly baptize a Mahomedan, and we shall sec whether the spirit of persecution is dead or only asleep. Still we may hope, that though the laws against a- postacy remain, there will arise a pub lic opinion that shall make the law a dead letter. For the conversion of Moslems, two steps were needed. One lay beyond the reach of religious mcaris, but Pro vidence has done it, while we have looked on, and seen how ‘‘The Lord hath wrought wonderously.” Now it is our turn to work. The way is open, the barrier is broken down, the perse cuting power is humbled. Now we ought to have missionaries enough at hand to pour in the light, and fill the land with the knowlodge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Otherwise all this work of preparation will come to no results. The darkness of infidelity will succeed the delusions of-the False Prophet. There must be direct reli gious effort to secure the advantage now gained for free inquiry, and turn it to the benefit of Christianity. The agents of tho devil will not wait and do nothing if we do so. Already are the Moslems beginning to use the free use of strong drinks to their other imita tions of European manners and cus toms. O, when will the time come that Christians shall learn to anticipate tho powers of darkness in occupying the fields which tho Providence of God lays open. Mr. S. said, however, that Mahome dan opposition to the spread of the Gos- pel among nominal Christians has ceas <“d. European and American citizen ship is now respected, and secures the personal safety of the Missionary. He may go any where in Turkey, where the laws reigns, and 110 Turkish ruler will molest him. Mr. S. alluded to the events of tho six years he had resided in Turkey as scenes of destiny, where there had been a constant succession of changes deci sive ^ of the fate of nations. Not a Christian here could help looking at them with amazement. He saw theni from a nearer point and saw the deve- lopement of unfulfilled prophecy. God was at work. Were you not disnpointed, said he, when you saw the Russion army with in a days march of Constantinople, and the Turkish empire about to be anni hilated at a blow, and yet Constantin- ple was not taken? Why, the Russian power over those countries would have covered them over like the lav* con gealed over pompeii. God just saved Turkey where it is. He saw the des truction of Moslenism w'as too high a prize for Russian ambition. Perhaps he has reserved this honor for Christian enterprize to gain, by converting Mos lems and nominal Christians to the faith of Jesus. And it can be done.—C/m's Han Index, Extract from Hugh’s (Catholic) letter to Mr. Ureckenridgo. You seem to be frightened at the condition of Protestant Germany—and call upon me to show that the “free and self-interpreting use of the Bible has done all the evil.” It is not the use of the Bible, but the use of Ike Prot estant rule of faith, that has done all this evil. It is the abuse of the Bible. I have repeatedly protested against the disingenuousness of your statements in which 1 am constantly represented as arguing against tho Bible—or the 11 use of the Bible.” The use of tho Bible is in the Catholic church as f contend, and the abuse of it in the Protestant denominations. But I am surprised that you should require proof of a matter that is so plain and ob vious. The Germans were told by Luther to read the Scriptures and judge for them selves. They have done so, and ceas» ed to be Christians! Was it simply by reading the Scriptures that this occur red? No certainly. But because reading the Scriptures according to the Protestant ride of faith, they were o- bliged to make their private reason the standard and measure of their be lief in the doctrines contained in the Bible. As you require proof however I will give it yon. Robison in his “Proofs of a Conspiracy” tell us, speaking of the Lutherans and Calvin ists of Germany,—“The Scriptures, the foundation of our faith, were exam ined by clergymen of very different ca pacities, dispositions, and views, till by explaining, correcting, allegorising, and otherwise twisting the bible, men’s minds had hardly any thing to rest on as a doctrine or revealed reli gion. This encouraged others to go farther, and say that revelation was a solecism, as plainly perceived by the irreconcilable differences among those enlighteners of tho public, and that man had nothing to trust to but the dictates of natural religion.” (p. 64.) These “enlighteners” ar0 following the Prot estant rule of faith every where; and ev ery where, the same causes necessarily existing, will be succeeded by the same effects as in Germany. Look at tho congregations that have gone over to Unitarianism in New England at the beck of the “enlighteners.” And all this by the use—not of the bibjp—but of 1four rule of faith. In the Catholic church notwithstand ing all that Protestant say to the con trary, we rend the Scriptures as the inspired written word of God—we ex ercise our judgment,—and arrive by a rational process of investigation, at the proofs of our doctrine. But we do not, like the protestant readers, take upon us to become “enligteners of the public, by explaining, correcting, alle-