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non TH* METHODIST MAOABINR.
PROGRESS OF RELIGION IN ALABAMA.
By information received from Ref.
Thomas Griffin, presiding elder of Alabama
district, it appears that the work of reform
ation is progressing in that wilderness part
of oor country. It is certainly cause of
exultation to witness the growing prosperi
ty of the Redeemer’s kingdom, in our new
ly settled states and territories. While the
hardy emigrants are felling the trees of the
forest, and opening the bosom of the earth
for the reception of seed, the heralds of
salvation are itinerating through their scat
tered settlements, breaking up the fallow
ground of their hearts, and sowing the
seeds of eternal life. May they witness a
plentiful harvest!
The writer observes, that at a Camp-
Meeting held on the 6th of July last, on
“ Pearl-river, a few miles from Monticello,
the congregation was large and attentive,
many were awakened to a sense of their
need of Christ, and five or six, gave evi
dence of a change of heart.
“On the 20th we held another meeting
on the river Chickasawhay, about fifty miles
from the town of Mobile, where we have a
large, flourishing society. There were
two travelling and four local preachers,
and one Presbyterian minister at this meet
ing. On Friday and Saturday, the Lord
favoured us with a solemn sense of His
presence. Sinners were struck with awe,
and stood with respectful silence, while be
lievers rejoiced in God their Saviour. On
Sabbath we administered the Lord’s Sup
per. All were solemu as night. The
word of God was heard with great attention
and, I believe much good was done. About
ten professed justifying grace.
“On the 27th of July we held another
meeting, about thirty miles from St. Ste
phen’s, near the Tom-Beckbee and Alaba
ma rivets. Though the principal part of
the people were irreligious, yet they be
haved with great order and decorum, and
five or six professed to be converted.
** On the 2nd of August we commenced
a Camp-Meeting on the banks of the Ala
bama river, thirty miles below the town of
Cahawba, the seat of government for this
state. From the paucity of the inhabit
ants, and the affliction many were suffering
from the prevailing fever, there were not
many that attended this meeting. Some
disorder was witnessed; but He that com
manded the boisterous winds to be still,
appeared in our behalf, and. before the ex
ercises closed, some were brought, as we
have reason to believe, to the knowledge
of the truth.
“ August 10th, another meeting began
thirty miles above Cabawba, on the bank
of the above-mentioned river. A numer
ous concourse of people attended, and much
good was done. On Tuesday morning, I
requested all who had obtained an evidence
of their conversion to God, to come forward
to the altar, when thirty-seven presented
themselves. The two last meetings were
held in a forest, and the Indians were fish- j
ing in the river, while we were preaching j
and praying; the bears were ravaging the I
corn-fields, and the wolf and tygers were
howling and screaming in the very woods
in the neighbourhood of our meeting.
“ These accounts may seem unimportant 1
to those who are accustomed to more name-'!
rous congregations, and who have the priv- j
ilege of assembling in convenient bouses;
but to us, who are struggling with many
difficulties in this newly settled country, it ‘
is highly gratifying, and fills us with a plea- ’
sing hope of yet seeing the desert blossom as ‘■
the rose.”
From the Christian Spectator.
UNHAPPY INSTANCE OF CONFORM
ITY TO THE WORLD.
tWe are assured Irom tlie most respectable au- |
thority . that the following account i strictly
true :]
M. wit’ a brilliant character. Her per
son was attractive, and her mind and heart
were capable of receiving; and retaining
the most refined sentiments of polite educa
tion. She possessed the advantages and
all the qualities necessary to find accept
ance, and hold an important place in the
society in which she moved. Pleasure and
admiration attended wherever she went.
At the age of twenty, her heart was im
pressed with the truths of religion, and she
soon afforded clear and decisive evidence
of a work of grace. She turned from lying
vanities to the pursuit of heavenly wisdom,
and for a time, found great joy and peace in
believing. Unhappily, however, she be
gan to feel that the world was too good to
lose. It held out flattering propects, and
worldly people wished for her society.
She resolved to be a Christian, but she also
resolved not always to appear such.—She
would go with the world to the extent of
what she deemed Christian liberty, but
would be the more careful to maintain piety
in the closet.
We hardly need assert that the comfort
ofM. gradually declined. She wished to
make a pnhlick profession of faith, but she
wished for better evidence of her piety,
and wondered where was the blessedness
of which she once spake. At the end of
two years, an affecting event led her to
consider more attentively her true situation,
an! ‘he was humbled in the dust to per
ceive where she had been, and what she
h*d been doing. She seemed to herself to
have received the grace of God ip vain, to
have abused his mercy and grieved his Ho
ly Spirit; but she determined again to re
turn unto the Lord. With purpose of heart
to new obedience, she confessed Christ be
fore men, again found tranquillity, and
walked as ajchild of the light and of the
day. Her heart glowed with love, and she
seemed to be taking op the cross and fol
lowing Christ. She found ready accept
ance with the pious, her powers found bet
ter and higher employment, and she prom
ised fairer nttaingients than others in a
pure and holy life. £ut her besetting sin,
though quitted, was not subdued. It be
came clamorous for indulgence, and she
would yield a little end little, to induce its
quietness. She became efraid of differing
too widely in opinion, habits and pursuits,
from those with whom she associated.
She would not go to the full extent of
worldly pleasure, but she would show com
placency in it. She was naturally cheer
ful, animated, intelligent, and she now con
tributed by her conversation a full share of
pleasure and instruction in the social circle.
She wished to maintain her influence, im
agining that thereby she might win some
to the cause of truth, not aware that instead
of recommending her religion , she was only
recommending herself; and that it was the
absence of piety which gained her success.
She was vainly striving to unite the irrecon
cilable interests of eaith and heaven, not
willing to lose the one ; and determined to
keep her hold npon the other; not consid
ering that the world is the stronger party,
and the kind hearted reformer is more
likely to become conformed to the world,
than the world to be allured to embrace
religion. We followed her through a se
ries of experiments and trying conflicts,
till her health began to decline, chiefly
from the pressure of mental exertion,
which her delicate frame could not sustain.
Those who honour God, he will hononr.
We saw her fast declining, and greatly fear
ed her sun would set in darkness. No one
doubted her piety, but she bad not suffered
it to shine, and it continued clouded in her
own mind. The solemn hour of death
seemed doubly solemn. She feared to ap
pear before her God, ami she felt, at
times, as much distress as she could possibly
endure. She was awakened to see clearly
that conformity to the world bad been the
bane of her peace, and had well nigh prov
ed her ruin.—She had intervals of light
through the valley, which had else been of
intolerable darkness, and we saw her, as
we doubt not, sleep in Jesus, though bare
ly sustained by the hope that her sins might
be forgiven her. C. L.
—-
From the Christian Register.
SOCRATES AND ST. PAUL.
Mr. Editor —Professor Everett, in bis
admirable Lecture on Athens, delivered 26tb
Sept.(to aid in the erection of a building for
the reception of the Panorama of Athens,
presented to Harvard University by Mr.
Lyman) described Areopagus or Mars Hill.
He said this eminence was now about fifteen
feet high; that on it was formerly held the
Court of Areopagites, which had cogni
zance of offences committed against the
gods; that for this reason St. Paul was car
ried before this tribunal. He said there
was a platform on the brow of the hill,
whereon the Judges sat, in the open air,
the audience being on the ground below.
He took occasion to say that Bishop Sher
lock had finely contrasted the appearance
of Socrates and St. Paul at that court of ju
dicature, when arraigned for the same of
fence, showing the superiority of the apos
! tie over the philosopher. I send you the
extract so pertinently referred to. It is
found in Vol. I. Discourse 4, cf Thomas
Sherlock, D. D. Lord Bishop of London.
The text is 1 Cor. i. 21— k For, after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God, it pleased God by the fool
ishness of preaching to save them that be
live.’
* We have an account of the speculative
opinions of many of the wise men of Greece
preserved to us in authors of great credit;
but of their practice and personal behaviour
in fife, little is said; which makes it hard
to judge how far their own practice and
conduct was influenced by their opinions,
or how consistent they were in pursuing the
consequences of their own doctrines. The
case might have been the same with Soc
rates, had not a very particular circum
stance put him under a necessity of explain
ing his conduct and practice with respect
to the religion of his country. He had
talked so freely of the heathen deities, and
the ridiculous stories told of tbem,_that he
fell under a suspicion of despising the gods
of his country, and of teaching the youth
of Athens to despise their altars and their
worship. Upoo this occasion he is sum
moned before the great court of the Are
opagites ; and happily the apology he made
for himself is preserved to us by two of the
ablest of his scholars, and the best writers
of antiquity, Plato and Xenophon ; and
from both their accounts it appears, that
Socrates maintained and asserted before
his Judges, that he worshipped the gods of
his country, and that he sacrificed in pri
vate and in publick upon the allowed altars,
and according to the rites and customs of
the city. After this publick confession, so
authentically reported by two 90 able hands,
there can be no doubt of his case. He was
an idolater, and had not, by his knowledge
and ability in reasoning,, delivered himself
from the practice of the superstition of his
couutry. You see how far the wisdom of
the world could go : give me leave to show
you what the foolishness of preaching could
do in the very same case.
‘St. Paul was in the same case : he was
accused in the same city of Athens of the
same crime, that he was a setter forth of
strange Gods; and before the same great
court of Areopagites be made his apology,
which is likewise preserved to us by St.
Luke in the seventeenth chapter of the
Acts. We have then the greatest and the
ablest among the wise men of Greece, and
an apostle of Christ, in the same circum
stances. You have heard the philosopher’s
defence, that he worshipped the gods of his
country, and as his country worshipped
them. Hear now the apostle: ‘Ye men
of Athens,’ says he, ‘ I perceive that in all
things ye are too superstitious: for, as I
passed by and beheld your devotions, I
found an altar with this inscription—TO
THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there
fore ye -ignorantly worship, him declare I
unto you: God Jhat made the world an£ all
things therein—this God,’ he tells them,
•it not worshipped with men’s hands, as
though he needeth any thing. Nor was
the Godhead like unto gold, or silver, or
stone, graven by art and man’s device.’
He then calls upon them in the name of
this great God, to repeat of their supersti
tion and idolatry, which God would no long
er bear; ‘ because be hath appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in right
eousness, by that man whom he hath or
dained ; whereof “he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him
from the dead.’ ’
Which of these two, now, was a preach
er of true religion? Let those who value
human reason at the highest rate deter
mine the point.
JEREMY TAYLOR— bishop of down.
This eloquent prelate, from the fertility
of his mind, and the extent of his imagina
tion, Iras been styled the Shakspeare of
Divines. His sermons abound with some
of the most brilliant passages, and embrace
such a variety of matter and such a mass of
knowledge aud learning, that even the
acute Bishop Warburton said of him, ‘1 can
fathom the understandings of most men,
yet I am not certain that 1 can always fath
om the understanding of Jeremy Taylor.’
His comparison between a married and sin
gle life, in his sermoD on the Blessedness of
the Married, is rich in tender sentiments,
and exquisitely elegant imagery. * Mar
riage,’ says the Bishop, * is the mother of
the world, and preserves kingdoms, and
fills cities, churches, and even heaveD itself.
Celibacy, like the fly in the heart of an ap
ple, dwells in a perpetual sweetness ; but
sits alone, and is confined, and dies iu sin
gularity ; but marriage, like the useful bee,
builds a bouse and gathers sweetness from
every flower, and labours and unites into
societies and republicks; and sends out col
onics and fills the world with delicacies;
and obeys their kiug, keeps order, and ex
ercises many virtues and promotes the in
terest of mankind; and is that state of things
to which God hath designed the present
constitution of the world. Marriage hath
in it the labour of love and the delicacies of
friendship; the blessings of society, and the
union of hands and hearts. It hath in it
less of beauty, but more of safety, than a
single life ; it is more merry and more sad;
it is fuller of joys and fuller of sorrow ; it
lies under more burdens, but is supported
by alt the strength of love and charity; and
these burdens are delightful.’
On the Longevity of the Antediluvians.
The only attempt which deserves notice
to account for this extraordinary longevity,
on philosophick principles, is the follow
ing :—lt has been proved that the atmos
paere in which we live consists of only one
fourth part of pure, or oxygen air; all the
rest is deemed noxious, and called azotic, i.
e. unfit for the purposes of life. Now, it
is known that only the pure part of the air
is attracted by the blood, as it passes
through the lungs, and contributes to the
support of animal life ; but it may be reas
onably supposed, that when the creation of
the world was fresh and recent, the atmos
phere contained a much greater portion of
the pure and vital air, and that exemption
from diseases, and longevity would be the
natural consequences. After the flood, the
mephitick exhalations arising from the
stagnant waters, from putrid animals and
vegetables, would of course corrupt the
atmosphere, diseases fff various kinds would
be generated, and a speedier dissolution
would inevitably follow. It must be re
marked also, that when once the great
mass of atmospherick air was contamina
ted, it would be perpetuated by the constant
act of respiration, in every creature that is
furnished with lungs.
“ If it be objected to this, that Noah liv
ed nine hundred and fifty years, and that
some of the descendants ofShem, lived till
they were upwards of five hundred years
old, it should be remembered that the
stamina of both was formed before *the
flood ; and that it was most likely, that the
decrement of human life would be gradual,
not 9udden, which we find to be agreeable
to fact ; but in the course of about 500
years, it was reduced nearly to the period
that it is at present, for Mo9es says of Abra
ham, that he died in a good old age ; an
old man and full of years, when he was but
an hundred and seventy-five years old.”
[ Hew let's Commentary.
From the Religious Remembrancer.
Extract of a letter to the Editor, from a cor
respondent in North Carolina , dated Oct.
14, 1821.
In Hillsborough the work is still progres
sing. The mercy drops are still descend
ing ; and I trust the church there is arising
from the dust and putting on her beautiful
garments of praise and salvatioD. “ O mag
nify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his
name together.” Let your prayers be co
tinually offered that the hopes of the pious
may not be disappointed; but that, as a
plant of the Lord’s right band planting, this
. branch of the spiritual Zion, refreshed by
that stream which makes glad the city of
our God, may extend its healing influence,
and many contrite souls sit under its shadow
with great delight.
The Spirit of the Lord is still resting
powerfully on the congregations at Eno and
Hawfields. Last Sabbath was their Sacra
mental Sabbath at the latter. I hope soon
to hear some of the particulars.”
— *>:o:o:
A committee of the Episcopal Conven
tion of Virginia, recommend the establish
ment of a Theological School at Williams
burg, to be connected with the college in
that place, which has generously offered
gratuitously to all bona fide theological stu
dents, a course of lectures for the support
of such school. The same committee re
commended that a correspondency should
be entered into with the standing commit
tee of the Diocess of Maryland and North
Carolina, to ascertain whether the mem
bers of the church iu those states are dis
posed to co-operate with them in this mea
sure. This seems like an interference with
the Theological Seminary at New Haven,
established by the General Convention,
and is much disapproved by the editors
of the Episcopal Magazine. No inter
ference is inteuded, however—the ob
ject is rather to retain among themselves
those young men who may be disposed to
devote themselves to the sacred office of
the ministry, and avoid the danger of that
extended acquaintance which might lead to
their ultimate location out of the bounds of
the Diocess, where their services are sup
posed to be nowhere else so much wanted-
B. Recorder.
GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH.
At the meeting of the General Synod of
this church, at Hagerstown, (Md.) in Sept.
1820, returns were received from 389 con
gregations. The whole number of congre
gations of this denomination in the United
States is about 500, and the number of min
isters not more than 90. In some cases one
clergyman has charge of as maoy as 12
churches. About 250 of the congregations
are in Pennsylvania, more than 50 in Ohio,
and others in Maryland, Virginia, the Caro
linas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Service
is generally performed in the German lan
guage, except in a few of the larger towns,
where English aud German are used alter
nately. The sentiments of this church are
conformable to the Heidleberg Catechism
and the sentiments of Zuinglius. The Sy
nod passed a resolution to iound a Theolo
gical Seminary at Fredericktown (Md.) of
which the Rev. Mr. Milledoller, ofNew-
York has been chosen the Principal. The
students are to be taught the usual branch
es of Theology, and Stapfer’s work, in 12
volumes, is to be the leading text book.
The sands of the institution are respecta
ble ; and several clergymen have obligated
themselves to collect annually a certain
sum for ten years, which will increase its
resources. The inhabitants of Frederick
town have become responsible for $12,000.
<S. Ev. Intel.
DIGNIFIED SENTIMENTS.
The address of Governour M’Minn, to the le
gislature of Tennessee, on the 17th ult. closes in
a strain of dignified piety and gratitude,worthy of
all praise. We cannot resist the pleasure of ex
tracting the concluding part.—— Mom. Chron.
“ The term of service to which the kind
partialities of my fellow citizens has called
me, will now be measured in a few days,
and with it may be closed for ever my po
litical connexions with the world. Very
few of those who with me entered the
publick vineyard nearly half a century ago,
are still toiling in the service of the state.
I recognize amongst you however, many
with whom I have long been connected by
the tenderest recollections, and the kindest
sympathies of the heart; and many by
whose friendly aid and countenance 1 have
been enabled to bear my feeble part in the
common duties of the day. For all the im
perfections of my political errours and i
short comings, I have ever experienced the i
tenderest charity at the hands of a gener
ous publick, towards whom my best servi- 1
ces were but a poor requital for multiplied
evidences of their confidence and good will.•
I have witnessed the march of our country’s!
freedom from the manacles of lawless pow
er ; 1 have witnessed the progress of refine
ment in this, the home of our choice and
centre of our affections; from the domin
ion of savage cruelty to the most perfect
enjoyment of all the comforts of civilized
life. I have participated in the means by
which all these blessings were achieved,
and the measure of my earthly prospects is
nearly filled. Many of us must, in the
course of a very few fleeting years at most,
be called to reckon the profit we have
made of the talent we received, and happy
will be the end of that servant who may
have known and done his master’s will.
The ligaments by which we are bound to
the world are yielding to the silent influ
ence of every moment’s flight, and the ob
jects by which we were once delighted will
be seen and known no more.
“ Let it then be our emulation, under the
special direction of that divine intelligence,
to whose beneficeace and bounty we refer
the enjoyment of every good and perfect
gift, to grow in the works of tenderness,
forbearance, charity and benevolence, one
to another. Let us endeavour to be good
citizens, good neighbours, good brothers &
good friends; ever recollecting that perfect
goodness is one of the highest attributes of
diviuity itself.”
(Q® We are authorized to state
that James Thomas is a candidate for the office
of Sheriff of this county at the ensuing election.
May 30.
(t2r We are authorized to announce
Richard Sims, Esq. as a Candidate for Tax
Collector of this County, at the ensuing election.
Aug. 98. 1821.
03“ We are authorized to announce
Lawson Bulloch, Esq. as a Candidate for Tax
Receiver, for Hancock County, at the approach
ing election. Sept. 1.
93® We are authorized to an
nounce John W. Scott as a candidate for Sher
iff of Hancock County at the appro&cliilig elec
tion. May 30.
Commission Warehouse,
AUGUSTA.
THE subscribers haying put their WARE
HOUSES in complete repair, offer their
services ip the above line, and will be thankful
for any business entrusted to them. They will
keep at their warehouse a constant supply of Salt,
Iron, Sugar, Coffee and other Groceries, aud Cot
ton Bagging. MACKENZIE If PONCE.
Augusta, Ist o<;t. JB2l. 8w
THE MISSIONARY.
MOUNT ZION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19.
The Sjnod of South Carolina and Georgia con
vened at Washington, Wilkes County, on Wed
nesday the 7th of the present month, and closed
the stated annual sessions on Friday evening, the
10th. A larger number of the clergy attended
than has ever before been together at this Synod.
During pars of the session, there were present
twenty-three ordained ministers, several licen
tiates, and one Presiding Elder of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Many circumstances con
spired to render this meeting more interesting
than any which has for a long time been held in
this section of the country. In addition to the
ordinary business of Synod, no inconsiderable in
terest was excited by the concerns of the Mission
ary Society connected with this body, and whose
annual meeting is fixed at the time and place of
the Synod.
At twelve o’clock, on Wednesday, the Synod,
was opened with a sermon by the Rev. Francis
Cummins, D. D. the last moderator, from John
xiv. 12: “Verily, verily, 1 say unto you, he that
believeth en me, the works that I do shall he do
also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because Igo unto the Father.” After sermon,
the Synod was immediately constituted by pray
er, and the Rev. George Reid elected Modera
tor, and N. S. S. Beman Temporary Clerk. The
principal business transacted before adjournment
was the appointment of a Committee of Bills and
Overtures, and Committees to review the Records
of the several Presbyteries constituting the Synod.
In order to accommodate the Missionary Society ,
the Synod adjourned after the business of the day
was closed, to meet again at 4 o’clock on Thurs
day evening. The Committee appointed for that
purpose, reported several overtures relating prin
cipally to the government of the Church, whicVi
were taken up and discussed, and upon which
decisions were made during the Sessions. The
Rules for the government and direction of Judi
catories recently recommended by the General
Assembly, were unanimously adopted. These
regulations are well calculated to promote order
and expedition in business, and embrace the gen
eral principles of parliamentary form, established
in the best organized deliberative assemblies.
Two questions of some importance were referred
to the Synod by the Church of Indiantown South
Carolina one respecting the nature and extent
of that dimplus4*whicb ought to be exercised to
wards mere baptised members of the Church, and
the other respecting the right of slaves to marry
again who have been involuntarily and forever
separated from their wives by the acts of their
masters. On the first reference, the Synod ex
pressed a unanimous opinion, that a Church Ses
sion cannot consistently go farther, in the exer
cise of discipline, than to advise and admonish en
offending baptised member of the Church. On
the second , which respected the cases of two
black men (slaves) who had married again after
an involuntary and inevitable separation from
their wives, it was the opinion of the Synod, that
this act does not furnish a sufficient ground for
excluding them from the privileges of the Church.
The most important business of Synod was
transacted on Friday. In view of the present
state of vital religion among us it was voted to set
apart Saturday afternoon for supplication for the
influences of the Spirit upon the Synod, and the
special blessing of God upon their labours du
ring the session { —and the Saturday before the
first Sabbath in February next was appointed as
a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer through
out the bounds of this Synod.
Considerable alteration has taken place in the
organization of the Presbyteries belonging to the
Synod of S. Carolina and Georgia. On a petition
of the Presbytery of Harmony, all the members
of that body residing in the State of Georgia,we\{e
set off from that Presbytery, and, with the addi
tion of the Rev. N. S. S. Beman formerly attached
to the Hopewell Presbytery, were erected into a
new Presbytery to be known by the name of The
Presbytery of Georgia. This Synod now
embraces within its bounds five Presbyteries—
South Carolina, and Harmony in the State of
South Carolina, Hopewell and Georgia in the
State of Georgia, and Alabama in the State of
Alabama. These five Presbyteries consist of about
48 ordained ministers, and have under their care
seven or tight licentiates and nearly the same
number of candidates. Many congregations are
vacant, and rarely enjoy the preaching of the
word and the ordinances of the Gospel.
The unfinished business of the last stated ses
sions of Synod, in relation to the endowment of a
Professorship in the Theological Seminary at
Princeton under the care of the General Assem-i
bly, was, this day, called up and discussed by the”
Synod. The amount necessary for this purpose
and which was assumed by the Synod at the last
annual meeting, is $15,000 dollars. In view of
an equitable distribution of this amount among
the several Presbyteries, it was ordered, that each
Presbytery make report to the Synod at the next
annual meeting, and continue to do so at each
successive meeting, till this business be fully ad
justed, and the whole sum secured.
A communication was received from the Agent
and Trustees of the Presbyterian Church in New
Orleans, and Messrs. Beman and Davis were ap
pointed a Committee to address a letter to that
Church expressive of the views and feelings of this
Synod, on the subject to which their communica
tion relates. These papers, containing an affect
ing picture of the state of religion and morals iu
that part of our country, and making, at the same
time, an appeal to the charity of the Christian
publick, will be presented to the readers of The
Missionary, and, we hope, will meet with that
consideration which they richly merit. We trust
i the ear of mercy will not be deaf nor the hand
I that can be liberal,withhold relief.
Tha business of the Missionary Society, which
was conducted during the recess and adjourn
ments of the Synod, was prosecuted with much
Christian zeal. This Society has been in exis
tence tvvo years, and begins to excite considers-
