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No. 10. Vol. V.
THE NUMBER SEVEN.
Seven is composed of the two first per
fect numbers, equal and unequal—three &
four ; for the number ttfo consisting of re
peated unity, which is no number, is not
perfect; it comprehends the primary nu
merical triangle, or trine ; and is square or
quartile ; conjunctions considered by the
favourers of planetary influence as of the
most benign aspect.
In six days creation was perfected, the
7th was consecrated to rest. Oc the 7tb
of the 7th month, a holy observance was
ordained to the Children of Israel, who
fasted 3 days, and remained 7 days in tents
—the 7th year was directed to be a sab
bath of rest for all things ; and at the end
of 7 times 7 years, commenced the grand
jubilee—every 7th year the land lay fal
low ; every 7th year there was a general
release from all debts, and all bondsmen
were set free. From this law may have
originated the custom of our binding young
men to 7 year’s apprenticeship, and of pun
ishing incorrigible offenders by transporta
tion for 7, twice 7, or three times 7 years :
every 7th year the law was directed to be
read to the people—-Jitcob served 7 years
for the possession of Rachel, and also no
other 7 years—Noah had 7 days warning
of the Hood, and was commanded to take
the sow Is of the air into tße ark by 7’s, and
the clean ‘ easts by 7’s. The ark touched
the ground on the 7;b month, and in 7 days
a dov.e was sent ; aiufagiin in 7 days after.
The 7 years of plenty qnd the 7 years o,
famine were foretold in Pharaoh’s dream
by the 7 fat and the 7 lean beasts ; and the
7 ear* of full and the 7 ears of blasted corn.
Nebuchadnezzar was 7 years a bea9t, and
the fiery furnace was heated 7 times hot
ter to receive Shadrach,Meshech and Abed
nego. The young of animals were to re
main with the dam 7 days, and a|.the close
of the 7th to be tikeu away. By the old
law, man was commanded to forgive his of
fending brother 7 times; but the meekness
of the last revealed religion extended his
humility and forbearance to 70 times 7
“IfCain shall be revenged 7 fold, truly
Lnmech 70 times 7.” In the destruction
of Jericho 7 priests bare 7 trumpets 7 days.
On the 7lh they surrounded the wall 7
times, and after the 7th time the walls fell.
Balaam prepared 7 bullocks aod 7 rams for
a sacrifice. Seven of Saul’s Sons were
hung to stay a famine—Laban pursued Ja
cob 7 days and 7 nights, and offered 7, bul
locks and 7 rains as an atonement for their
sins—ln the 7th year of his reign, Abasue
rus feasted 7 days, and on the 7th direct
ed his 7 chamberlains to find a queen, who
was allowed 7 maidens to attend her. Mi
riam was cleansed of her leprosy by being
shut up 7 days—Solomon was 7 years build
ing the temple, at the dedication of which
he feasted 7 days—ln the tabernacle tlieie
were 7 lamps—7 days were appointed for
the atonement upon the altar, and the
priest’s son was ordained to wear his fa
ther’s garment 7 days—The children of
lsreel eat unleavened bread 7 days—Abra
ham gave 7 ewe lambs to Abimelech as a
memorial for a well—Joseph mourned 7
days for Jacob—The rabbins say that G'd
employed the power ofanswering this num
ber to perfect the greatness of Samuel, his
name answering the value, of lbs- letters e
the Hebrew word, which signify 7; whence
Hannah, his mother, in her thai.ks says,
“ that the barren had brought forth seven.”
In Scripture are enumerated seven resur
regions—the widow’s son by Elias, the
Shunamite’s son by Elisha, the soldier who
touched the bones of the prophet, the
daughter of the ruler of the sy nagogue,the
widow’s son of Nain, Lazarus and our bles
seel Lord—The Apostles chose 7 deacons ;
Enoch who was translated, was the 7th al
ter Adam —and Jesus Christ the 771 h in a
direct line—Our Saviour spuke 7 time*
from the cross, on which he remained 7
hours ; he appeared 7 times—after 7 limes
7 days he seot the Holy Ghost—lu the
Lord’s Prayer are 7 petitions contained in
7 times 7 words, omitting those of mere
grammatical connexion—Within this num
ber are contained all the mysteries of ihe
Apocalypse, revealed to the 7 churches of
Asia —There appeared 7 golden candle
sticks, and 7 stars in the hand of him that
•was in the midst —7 lambs before the 7
spirits of God—The book with 7 seals—
The lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes—7 an
gels with 7 seals—7 kings—7 thunders—
*7 thousand men slain—the dragons with 7
heads and 7 crowns—The beast with 7
heads —7 angels bringing 7 plagues and 7
vials of wrath —The vision of Daniel was
70 weeks—the elders of Israel were 70 —
There are also numbered 7 heavens, 7 plan
ets, seven stars, 7 wise men, 7 champions
of Christendom, 7 notes iumusick,7 prima
ry colours, 7 deadly sins, 7 sacraments in
the Roman Catholick Church—The 7th
son was conidered ns endowed with pre
eminent powers—The 7th son of a 71 h son
is still thought to possess the power of heal
ing diseases spontaneously—Perfection is
likened to gold 7 times purified in the fire
an d we yet say, “ you frighten me out of
my 7 senses.” The opposite side of every
face on the dice makes 7 ; whence players
at hazard make 7 the main. Hippocrates
says that the septenary number, by its oc
cult virtues, tends to the accomplishment
THE MISSIONARY.
of all thing*, to be the dispenser of life aod
fountain of all its changes ; and, like Shaks
peare, he divides the life of man into 7 ages.
In 7 months a child may be born apd live,
and not before ; and anciently it was not
named before 7 days, not being accounted
fully to have life before that periodical day.
The teeth spring out in the 7th month, aod
are shed and renewed in the 7th year,when
iufancy is changed into childhood. At twice
7 years puberty begins ; at thrice 7 years
the faculties are developed, manhood com
mences, and we become legally competent
to all civil acts. At four times 7 man is in
toll possession of his strength,; at five times
7 he is fit for the business of the world ; at
six times 7he becomes grave and wise, or
never ; at 7 times 7 he is in his ‘apogie,
and from that time decays ; at eight
limes 7 he is in his first climacterick,
at nine times 7, or 63, he is in his
grand climacterick, or year of danger; and
‘en times 7. or three score years and ten,
has, by the Royal Prophet, been pronoun
ced the natural period of human life. The
shield of Ajax consisted of 7 bolls’ hides.—
There were 7 chiefs before Thebes—The
blood was to be sprinkled 7 times before
the altar—Naaman was to be dipped 7
times in J ordan—Apuleius speaks of dipping
the bead 7 times in the sea-fnr purification.
In all the mlemn rites of purgation, dedi
cation and consecration, the oil or water
was 7 times sprinkled Tbe house of wis
dom in Proverbs had 7 pillars.
\ HISTORICAL.
, JERUSALEM.
Extract from “ A Review of the Palestine Mis
sion, with some Historical Facts relative to
Western Asia”—copied from l**'j Latter-day
Luminary for Aug. 1823.
The city of Jerusalem is situated in Jo
dei t, 31 deg. 45 min. north, and 35 deg. 30
mi-t. east, from London. .It is first mention
ed in Gen. xiv. 18, under the name of Sa
lem, which signifies peace. One author sav
(hat Jerusalem was founded in the year of
the world 2023, by thp royal priest Melchis
edeck.* A degree of obscurity, however,
rests upon its origin and early history
About fifty years after the settlement of
Abraham in the “goodly land,” the citv
was taken by thp Jebosites, who erected on
Mount Sion a fortress, which they called
Jehus, from the name of their father, a son
of Canaan. The whole city then received
the appellation of Jerusalem, which signi
fi e vision of peace. Joshua made himself
master of the lower town, in the first year
after his arrival in the land of promise. * H •
put to death kmg Adonibezek, and the foui
kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and
Eglon. The Jebusites still retained posses
sion of the upper town, or citadel of Jebus,
and kppt it till they were driven out by Da
vid, 824 years after their entrance into the
city. David made additions to tbe fortress
of Jehus, and gave it his own name. He
“reeled also on Mount Sion a palace, and a
tabt-rnacle for the reception of the ark of
the covenant.
Solomon enlarged the Holy City. He
built the firt temple, the. grandeur and
magnificence of which are described in
Scripture, and by Josephus, the historian.
Five years after Solomon’s death, Sesac,
kintj of Egypt, attacked Rehoboam, and
took and plundered Jerusalem.
It was piilagpd one . hundred years after
wards by Joash, king of Israel. Conquered
by the Assyrians, Manasseh, king of Judah,
who carried away captive to Babylon. At
last, during the reign of Ze.lekiab, Neb
uchadtiezzar razed the city to its very foun
slat lots - , burned the temple, and transported
the Jews to the land of Nimrod “ Sioo,”
says Jeremiah, “shall be ploughed like a
field.”
Four hundred and seventy-seven years
had elapsed from the time of David to Ze
dekiah, and the city had been governed by
seventeen kings.
After the seventy years’ captivity, Ze
rubbabel began to rebuild tbe temple and
the city. This work, after an interruption
of some years, was successfully prosecuted
and completed by Esdra9 [Ezra] and Ne
hemial;.
Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem in
the year of the world 3583, and offered sac
rifices in the temple. Ptolemy, the son of
Lagus, made himself master of Jerusalem,
and kept it for some time subject to the
Egyptian yoke. , ‘
Antiochus the Great retook the city from
the Egyptian monarchs, and afterwards ce
ded it to Ptolemy Evergetes. Antiochus
Epiphanes, that relentless scourge of the
Jewai, again plundered the city, and erected
in the temple a statue to Jupiter Olympus.
The Maccabees restored liberty to their
country, and defended it against the kings of
Asia. When the Romans became masters
of the East, Pompey hastened to Jerusalem,
and being admitted into the city, besieged
and took tbe temple. Crassus abstained
not from plundering this august monument,
which the victorious Pompey had respect
ed. The Parthians afterwards invaded Ju
dea, and triumphantly entered Jerusalem.
* Chateaubriand’s Travels in Palestine, London
edition, 309.
Os all the dispositions and°habits tv" 1 P reacb lhe G ° S H to every creature.— Jesus Christ.
‘ P Ol lca prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.— Washington.
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1823.
After they had evacuated the city, Herod
the Great, son of Antipater, left in undispu
ted possession of Jerusalem; tilled it with
splendid edifices. During the reign of this
prince, Christ came into the world. It was
Herod Antipas, his son, who ordered John
the Baptist to be beheaded, and who sent
Christ to Pilate. This tetrarch was after
wards exiled to Lyons, in France, by Cali
gula, a tyrant emperour of Rome. On tbe
death of Agrippa, a grandson of Herod the
Great, the same before whom Paul spoke,
Judea was reduced into a Roman province.
The Jews having revolted, against their
masters, Titus, the son of Vespasian, be
sieged and took Jerusalem. During this
“eige 200,000 Jews perished by famine.
From the 14th of April to the Ist of Julv,
in the year 71 of the Christian era, 115,180
dead bodies were carried out of Jerusalem,
by one single gate. According to Josephus,
the inhabitants were in the greatest exlrem
ities of suffering. A mother devoured her
child. 1,100,000 Hebrews perished in the
city, and about 240,000 in the rest of Judea.
99,200 were taken prisoners of war, 9ome
of whom were doomed to labour at the pub
lick work®, and others reserved for the tri
umph of Titus. The women and children
were sold at auction. The blood of the
just Jesus was sold at Jerusalem for money,
and the people cried, “His blood be upon
ourselves and upon our children.” God
heard this wish of the and for the last
time he answered their prayer; after which
he turned away his face from the land of
promise, and chose for himself another
people.
The temple was burned thirty eight
year* after the death of Christ; so that ma
ny of liiose who heard tbe prediction of our
Saviour, might also have witnessed its ful
lilment,
The remnant of the Jewish nation having
atr tin rebelled, Adrian completed the des
truction of what Titus had left standing, in
ancient Jerusalem. • On the ruins of tbe
ci-.y of David, he built another town, to
which he gave the name of iElia Capitoli
na. He forbade tbe Jews to enter it upon
pain of death, and caused the figure of a
hog,* in sculpture, to be placed on one of
tiie principal gates. Gregory Nnzianzen,
nevertheless relates, that they were per
mitted to enter iElia once a year, to give
vent to their sorrows; and Jerome adds,
that they were forced to purchase, at an
exoibitant price, the right of shedding
tears over the ashes of their country.
About 600,000 Jews perished by the sword,
in the war under Adrian. In the persecu
lions and ravages of the liomaD emperours,
Hebrews and Christians suffered promiscu
ously. In the fourth ceßtury, Constantine
and his mother Helena, repaired to Jerusa
lem, made diligent search for the holy pla
ces, and built the magnificent church of the
Holy Sepulchre on Calvary. The super
stitious people pointed Helena to the places
where they pretended Christ had wrought
his miracles, and done many other wonder
fnl acts. Chapels, oratories and altars by
degrees, marked most of these places; and
many of them, either entire or in ruins, still
remain the monuments of a magnificent
bigotry. -
Julian the Apostate, in order to give the
lie to our Saviour’s prophecy, collected the
scattered Jews, and resolved to rebuild
ihe temple. But autheutick history informs
us, that he was prevented by earthquakes,
pestilence, and other calamities. Globes of
fire issued from the half-excavated founda
tions, dispersed tbe labourers, and prevent
ed the accomplishment of his design.t
Jerusalem was taken by Cosroes, king of
Persia, in the year of Christ 613. The
Jews, scattered over purchased of
that prince 90,000 Christian prisoners,
whom they put to death. In 627 the city
was taken from Cosroes, by Heraclius.
Nine years afterwards, the Caliph Omar,
the third in succession from Mahomet, took
Jerusalem, after a seige of four months, and
Palestine passed under the Saracen yoke.
For four hundred years the city wa9 alter
nately taken and retaken, plundered and
ravaged by different tribes of barbarians,
issuing from the sands of Arabia, Lybia, and
Cyrene.
At the close of the eleventh century com
menced the enthusiastick and mad expedi
lions of the Crusades. As military enter
prises, they were doubtless favourable to
the progress of science and civilization.
They weakened the Mahomedan hordes;
they saved Europe from intestine wars, and
opened an outlet for that excess of popula
tion which sooner or later occasions the ru
in of states. But as a religious undertaking,
never were people more infuriate and more
murderous in their dispositions than the
multitudes who crowded to the Holy Laud
to butcher the enemies of the Cross, and
immolate themselves on tbe altar of super
stitious folly.
Godfrey, at the head of bis host, appear
ed on the frontiers of Palestine in the year
1099. He was accompanied by “ Peter
the Hermit,” with his pilgrim’s staff. On
the 12th of July they lifted on the walls of
* On account of the aversion of the Jews td
that animal, Adrian could not have adopted a
more efficient method to exasperate them.
t Dr. Warburton has collected the evidence of
this fact, and produced many arguments to prove
it the special intervention of Divine Providence.
Jerusalem the banner of the crucifix. f
About the year 1 145 was the second cru- j
sade. Saladin, a Saracen sultan, retook;
the city from the Christians in 1188. After
this were three more crusades, all bloody,
unfortunate and destructive. Heaven over
ruled these frenzied wars for the accom
plishment of Hi 9 own purposes, and for the
advancement of true religion. The ill suc
cess of the crusaders was a fatal blow to
tbe power and interest of the Pope, who
calculated upon thenvfor his own aggran
dizement. The arm of persecution Inst
much of its nerve, and soon aftbr the church
came up from the wilderness, and stood tri
umphant, disenthralled from tbe relentless
grasp of papal tyranny. ‘
Since the Holy Wars, Jerusalem has been
subject to Egypt, the Circassian Mamelukes,
and Turkey, though other nations have
found permission to visit the renowned city ;
and numerous pilgrims, by paying the exor
bitant tribute demanded by the pachas and
agas, have been suffered to worship in tbe
churches and convents.
Many yet believe, on the authority of
certain trite sarcasms, that the city of Jeru
salem was io a miserable little valley, and
wholly unworthy of the pompous name
with which it was dignified The whole of
the sacred scriptures, the Pagan authors, a9
Theophrastus, Strabo, Pliny, Pausanius,
Tacitus, and several others—the Jewish
writers, as Josephus a fid the compiler of
the Talmud—the Arabian historians and
geographers—the .travellers in Palestine,
from the yarliest times down to the present
day, unanimously bear testimony to the fer
tility of Judea. It is now, however, sterile
and unproductive. Could it appear surpri
sing, if so fruitful a country had become
barren, after such repeated devastations'?
Seventeen times has Jerusalem been taken
and pillaged; millions of men have been
slaughtered within its walls; and still the
massacre continues, for not a year passes
but some rapacious cadi sends his Jannissa
ries to bathe their scimetars, indiscriminate
ly, in the blood of Jew an Christian, and
plunder their gords for his own use. No
other city has experienced such n fate.
This protracted and almost supernatural
punishment-announces unexampled guilt—
guilt which no chastisement is capable of
expiating. This city rejected the message
of heavenly mercy, and murdered the
Prince of life. For this, it is bitterly curs
ed. “In this country, consigned to the
ravages of fire and sword, the .uncultivated
land has lost that fertility which it derived
from human toil; the springs have beeD
buried beneath heaps of rubbish; the soil
of the mountains oeing no longer kept up
by the industry of. the vine dresser, has been
buried down into the vnlltes; and (he emi
nences, once covered with woods of syca
more, now present to view naught but
parched and barren hills.”*
Pilgrims from almost all Christian nations
repair to Jerusalem to view the sacred
relicks, and do homage on that Calvary
where was crucified the “ Lord of life and
glory.” Numerous monks keep tbe church
es and convents, where they are supported
by the charity of tbeir brethren abroad.
They are kind and hospitable to strangers.
The pacha not unfrequently makes exorbit
ant demands upon them, and they must pay,
or their heads are severed and borne thro’
the streets as a terror to others.
The houses of Jerusalem are heavy,
square masses, very low, without chimneys
or windows. They have flat terraces or
domes on the top. The steeples of the
churches, the minarets of the mosques, the
summits of the few cypresses, and the
clumps of nopals, are so interspersed as to
interrupt in some degree the tedious uni
formity of the place. The streets ate nar
row and nnpaved, the ground very unequal,
and the traveller walks among clouds of
dust and loose stones. In this deic.ide city
little noise is heard pxcept the galloping of
steeds; it is the Janissary who brings the
head of the Bedouin, or returns from plun
dering the unhappy Fellah.
In Jerusalem are still some Jews. They
are a community, and live in the
most abject Seventeen
times have the seed of Abraham witnessed
the destruction of their city of peace , yet
nothing can discourage them, nothing can
prevent them from turning thpir faces to
ward Sion. They expect a king who is to
deliver them from slavery and cruel oppies
sion. Crushed by the cross that condemn*
them, they know not why God’s ancient
people are thus cursed; but continue in
their deplorable infatuation. The Persians,
Greeks and Romans, are swept from ihe
earth; but a petty tribe, whose origin pre
ceded that of those great nations, still exists,
unmixed among the ruins of its native land.
Here the character of a miracle is legibly
impressed.
* Chateaubriand’s Travels in Palestine, &c. 322.
RELIGIOUS.
FAECANT EXTRACT FROM CHALMERS.
. No man hath seen God at any time—and
the power which is unseen is terrible.—
Fancy trembles before its own picture, and
superstition throws its darkest imagery over
it. The voice of the thunder is awful; but
not so awful as the conception of that an-
Price $ s 3 v so pr. ann. or, )
( gry Being who sits in mysterious conceal
| ment, and gives it all its energy. In these
, sketches of the imagination, fear is sure to
predominate. We gather an impression of
Nature’s God from those scenes where na
ture threatens, and looks dreadful. We
speak not of the theology of the schools,
and the empty parade of its demonstrations.
We speak of the theology of actual feeling,
that theology which is sure to derive its
lessons from the quarter whence the hu
man heart derives its strongest sensations ;
and we refer both to your own feelings, and
to the history of the world’s opinion, if God
is more felt or more present to your imag
inations in the peacefulness of spring, or the
loveliness of a summer landscape, than
when winter, with its mighty elements,
sweeps the forest of its leaves—when the
rushing of the storm is heard upon our win
dows, and man flees to cover himself frona
the desolation that walketh over the sur
face of the world.
If nature and her elements be dreadful,
how dreadful that mysterious and unseen
Being who sits behind the elements he has
formed, and gives birth and movement to
all things ! It is the mystery in which he is
shrouded—it is that dark ams unknown re
gion of spirits, where he reigns in glory,and
stands revealed to the immediate view of
his worshippers—it is tbe inexplicable man
ner of his being so far removed from that
province of sense, within which the Under
standing of man can expatiate—it is the to
tal unlikenes.s to all that na'nre can furnish
to the eye ot the body, or to the conception
of the mind which animates it—it is all this
which throws Ihe Being who formed us at a
distance so inaccessible—which throws an
impenetrable mantle over his way,# gives
us the idea of some dark and untroddeD in
terval betwixt the glory ofGod, and all that
i“ vi-ible and created.
Now, Jesus Christ has lifted up this
mysterious veil, or rather he ha 9 entered
within it. He is now at the right hand of
God, and though tbe brightness of his F--
ther’s glory, and the express image of rus
person, he appeared to us in the palpable
characters of a man ; end those high attri
bute# of truth, justice and mercy, wbicji
could not be felt or understood as they ex*
isted in the abstract and divisible deity, are
brought down to our conceptions in a man
ner the most familiar and impressive, by
having been made through Jesus Christ, to
ffiwf in utterance from human lips, and to
beam io expressive physiognomy from u
human countenance.
So long as I had nothing before me but
the iviseen spirit ofGod, my tniod wander
ed in uncertainty, my busy fancy was free
to expatiate, and its images filled my heart
with disquietude and terror. But* in tbe
life, and person, and history of Jesus Christ
the attributes of the Deity are brought
down to the observation of Ihe senses ; and
1 can no longer mistake them when in the
Son,who is the express image ofhis Father,
I see them carried home to my understand*
ing by the evidence and expression of hu
man organs—when I see the kindness of
Ihe Father in the tears that fell from the
Son al the tomb of Lazarus—when I see
his justice blended with his mercy in tbe
exclamation, “ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,”
by Jesus Christ; uttered with a tone more
tender than the sympathy of human bosom
ever prompted, while he bewailed the
sentence of its desolation—and in the look
of energy and significance which he threw
upon Peter, 1 feel the judgment ofGod
himself flashing conviction upon my con
science, and calling me to repent while his
wrath is suspended, and be still waiteth to
be gracious.
BRITISH MUNIFICENCE.
From Bell's London Weekly Messenger of
May 19.
This is the month of the year, in which
the. Anniversaries of the gieat Public
Charities in London are generally celebra
ted. It will readily be admitted, that no
capital can vie with our own metropolis, in
the number, the ample funds, aod excellent
regulations, of its charitable institutions.
The stream of London benevolence (lows
in a channel, which, though deep and migh
ty, is noiseless and unobtrusive. But
though the patrons and directors of these
establishments make no ostentatious display
of their exertions in the cause of suffering
humanity, their resources are always obvi
ous and accessible to the sick, tbe poor,
and Ihe friendless ; and their gates are nev
er closed upon any human calamity, how
ever singular or peculiar it may be in its
character and form.’
It is highly gratify ing to be able to bring
forward so rich a catalogue of mercy and
benevolence, as the British metropolis dis
plays. It is indeed, so great in its extent,
that when its several parts are collected
together in one point of view, they fill the
mind and stretch the imagination to a
boundless prospect; and cannot fail to
create surprise, even amongst those who
have been accustomed to make the largest
estimate of the good feelings of our coun
trymen. It is, we say, truly surprising to
consider how numerous these charities
are, how extensive and splendid are their
funds, and widely their friends and contri
butors are spread in every part of the
kingdom ; that they are found in every clast