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in kindred holiness with hers, but has felt
within him at such seasons, the struggling of
that which is immortal to free itself from
all that is earthly; he would ascend there
where other and purer spirits worship the
Eternal.
Delightful is it to him, to enter the sane*
tuary of the living God on earth: to join in
the tribute of adoration and praise; to kneel
with all humility at his mercy seat; to lis
ten to the'tidings of great joy to sinners; to
the assurances of pardon, and blessedness.
There is a fervour in this man’s devo
tions which the worldly mind never felt;
it is kindled by a spark from the altar of his
God; of the presence of that God in his
temple he is conscious; in the light of his
countenance, be sees light; and how glori
ous is (hal light! It illumines all (bat is dark
and mysterious here, it brightens the pa?
sage to the tomb, it discloses the world of
glory. There he beholds the myriads who
on earth maintained their allegiance, cloth
ed in white ; the patriarchs, and prophets,
and apostles: there he beholds this innu
merable throng kneeling before a throne,
on which is seated one like unto the Son of
God. Now the anthem is heard sung by
the voices of ten thousand times ten thou
sand, of “Honour and glory to Him who
sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb
forever.”
Aud think not any, that all this is the il
lusion of an ardent mind; believe it, that
such are often the joyous meditations of him
who loves God, and trusts in his mercy.
And think not, that the impressions of this
consecrated season will fade with the fading
hues of even : Oh no! they will not fade,
even when the darkness of the grave gath
ers around: confirmed and brightened, they
will be the believer’s stay and stall'in (lie
dark valley: supported by his confidence
in the favour of his Father, of which these
joys are an assurance, he will fear no evil.
He will gather around him the garments n(
earth, and lie down as to pleasant dreams ;
he will awake to array himself in the gar
ments of salvation. IGNATIUS.
From the Rev. Mr. Brandy’s Sermons.
PARENTAL DUTIES.
Nature's instinctive hand has lodged in
the breast of the parent the desire of leav
ing an inheritance to his offspring. This is
an impulse which he cannot restrain unless
he can invert the laws of his constitution.
Situated as he i* in the midst of a little cir
cle, of which he is the centre; encompa?
sed with his little world of helplessness and
dependence, he beholds the rudiments ot
himself, through which his name aud moral
character must be transmitted to future
ages. Their unknown difficulties and tri
als awaken his solicitude. The probability
is almost equivalent to certainty, that they
are doomed to face the rude bla-ts of temp
tation, and to struggle with the ills of a cor
xupt world. His anxious fancy read* the
history of times yet to corne, arid shudder.*
at the horrid ambuscade which awaits their
unsuspecting advance ; he drops from his
manly cbeek the tear of apprehension, is
confounded amidst the weakness of his own
care and capacity, and at last abandon* in
despair the impracticable theme. But
should piety interpose its kind reflections at
this crisis, it brings a seasonable relief to
the troubled heart. The light* which it
sheds on human destiny, the promise which
it affords to an humble faith, and cordial
self-surrender, will quiet the agitations ot
despondency, and show a fairer scene in the
distant prospect. It will appear itself to
the believing parent, as the first and best
inheritance for his cbildreo.
Id our particular denomination, brethren,
every thing that relates to the religious dis
cipline of children must possess peculiar
importance. Oo the subject of the earliest
Christian attentions to them, we have main
tained a conscientious deviation from the
customs of sister denominations. In this
dissent from the practice of others, we have
felt ourselves supported by scriptural au
thority, and a dread of establishing a reli
gious rite in the absence of competent evi
dence from the word of God. Whilst we
have no right to become ihe judges of th >se
who sincerely maintain the duty of* baptis
mal dedications of their off pring, we may
at least scrutinize our own motives and con
duct in relation to what we ought to do, and
consider, that in our fear of doing more than
God require? of us, we may possibly do less,
and that whilst we mark the erroor of
those who transcend Ihe limit? of divine re- j
quirement, we may come short of those
limits, and whilst they incur the sin of pre
sumption, we may incur ‘hat of negligence.
If they have been ieaning too much to
ward? tradition, we may have been leaning
too much towards captiousoess; and in at
tempting to shun the rock? and shallows of
an erroor, we may have launched out too
far into the deep of that unproductive spec
ulation, which leaves the heart exposed,
and the life to float at random.
********
We all know with what ease the affec
tions of children are won over, l>y kind,
conciliating behaviour. They even con
tract strong attachments to those whose du
ty it is to lay upon them the wholesome re
•mraiots of discipline, the severities of which
might be expected to draw off their good
will, and alienate their regard. Much
more are they affected by the attentions of
those who are always bringing them a mes
sage of love, and • resenting the manifesta
tions of ardent affectioD for (heir souls. To
such they will Look with reverence and
gratitude, will hold their persons in high
respect, and will cherish their admonitions
with lively feeling, will establish the early
liaL it of denying themselves many things in
order to please their benevolent counsellors
and guardians, and will grow into the clear
promise of future respectability and use
fulness.
The expectation is authorized by facts of
undoubted certainty. The minister of the
hutuulest talents and acquirement?, who
’ may have acted upon our suggestion, has
I not failed to map the happy fruit of his la-
J hours of love. Hi? unaffected benevolence
j and prayerful diligence have been reward
ed by the deference and seriousness of
those youths with whom his Christian la
hours had been laid, ll Ihe effect is such
in the case of inferiour talent, how much
more striking will it be, when a higher or
der of ability and attainment is connected |
with the endeavours of piety and affection?
How much greater will be the influence,
when goodness and intelligence are blend
ed, and he who is loved for his kindness,
becomes respectable for bis meolal supe
riority ?
The distance at which we sometimes
stand from the younger branches of our pas
toral charge is hurtful in several respects.
If as ministers, we think to advance our
cause by the stiffness and reserve of a for
bidding, stern deportment, we greatly err.
The youthful mind will be shocked at the
unaffable austerity with which we may en
compass ourselves, and instead of being sub
dued into conformity, will resent our unsea
sonable severity with speedy neglect. Our
studied sadness will cast a repulsive gloom
over the religion which we profess, and
will rather confound the young inquirer by
the terror of an inapproachable solemnity,
than allure him by the loveliness of attrac
tive virtue and piety. We should not em
ploy any unbecominglevilies of deportment,
in order to place ourselves in the society of
the young, nor should we conceive any de
parture from true Christian propriety, re
quisite to gain admission to them.
They understand too well the decencies
of our office to demand from us any hurtful
compliances with their youthful frolicks,
and extravagant modes of thinking. But
we may certainly lay aside for their sake
some portion of our natural rigidity, may
meet them on the common ground of reli
gious cheerfulness and ease, may win them
by the harmless familiarities of affectionate
intercourse, and may recommend to them
our religion as the source of the truest joy.
***** ***
Whatsis to be avoided, and what is to be
done, comprise (he whole of parental dis
cipline, aud should therefore receive Ihe
full measure of reflection and prayer.
Be careful, then, least any part of your
conduct should induce your children to un
dervalue religion. If they perceive that
you make its dulies a mere matter of con
venience, that you can perform or delay as
it suits your ease or wordly advantage, you
can postpone it to a more convenient sea
son, they will soon acquire a contempt lor
that religion which is so accommodating in
its requirements, and will either feel indif
ferent or unfriendly. They will hardly
imagine that a faith so dead and inopera
tive, is founded upon truth, and there
fore will relax their endeavours in its pur
suit.
Avoid harsh and frequent rebukes. The
custom of dealing out censures on every
occasion, and of laying the child to be
trained under the incessant frown of a
threating countenance, will soon harden
him in hi* perver--- determinations, and ren
der him ten-fold worse than at first. This
uofeeling treatment, the offspring of impa
tipnee, and petulance, has probably ruined
more children than even downright Deglect,
or undue indulgence. Along with your re
proofs carry the softness of affection, and in
the sentiment of one of our older divines,let
the point and severity of your censures be
covered under the tenderness of a loving
spirit, like a lancet Concealed in a sponge,
which mollifies the wound and heals the
laceration.
Use your diligence to furnish the minds
of your children with early lessons of piety
and wisdom. Select such portions of Scrip
ture as are plain and intelligible, and let
them be committed to memory, & frequent
ly repeated. In like manner let the most
simple questions he selected from Cate
chisms, aud carefully treasured up in the
memory, whilst those questions of a more
difficult and abstruse character should be
avoided. Let them see that you begin eve
ry work with God, and that you refer every
event to Him. Let them he accustomed to
voluntary labours and privations, that those
which are unavoidable,and involuntary may
he the more easily borne. Let the differ
ence betwixt virtue and vice, be early in
culcated on tbeir minds, and show them
how soon the pleasure of a sinful action
passes away, leaving the remorse, whilst
the pain of virtuous conduct will be speed
ily forgotten, and the pleasure remain for
ever.
Let your offspring, parents, be early ac
customed to the fear and subordination
which properly belong to the period of
childhood and youth. Y’our corrections
should be dealt out with a sparing, and re
luctant hand, and should he avoided in all
possible cases ; but remember, notwithstand
ing all the schemes of modern speculation
and whining lenity, that the doctrine of in
spiration has bestowed an explicit sanction
upon the exercise of early discipline. Pun
ish therefore with certainty, and readiness,
all obstinate and wilful departures from du
ty. If you manage this matter with discre
tion, and show yourselves the tender, and
affectionate, as well as the coercing and cor
reefing parents, your punitive measures
will lose all their bitterness and severity;
the tears of affection which the hard neces
sity of pnnishment may cause to flow, will
be more terrible to the offending child than
a thousand threats ; the expressions of your
kindness will strike with a deeper effect
into his heart, than the keenest edge of un
feeling rebuke.
Tak care to secure the affections of
your children at an early period. Many
parents think that it is so much the dictate
of nature for children to love those who
have brought them forth, that they neglect
all the pains requisite to engage their love
aud good will, and hence proceeds that al
ienation, and indifference among children
towards their own parents, which destroys
the good understanding of the parties, cre
ates reserve and coldness, and spreads a
dismal gloom overfamilies that might other
wise enjoy the lively comforts of affection
ate intercourse.
Look forward to the account which you
must finally give for the principles and ha
hits, upon which you may have conducted
the education of your children. View them
in the passiveness of infancy, and in thp
tenderness of youth, submissively awaiting
the forming touch of your diligence, and
ready to answer, or abjure toe great
purpose of their being, according to your
control. Seize (he moment of nature’s
flexibility to bend to glory and virtue, those
softer faculties which a deceitful world will
soon harden, or which a more deceitful
heart will soon fix in hopeless perversion.
Direct to Heaven the first dawnings of rea
son in your infant charge, endeavour at
once to secure a place for God in their
hearts, press on with your little train to
those hallowed abodes where care and
watchfulness shall pass into repose, and you
shall utter before the approving God,“Here
Father am I, and the children which thou
hast given me.”
DIVERSITY.
BAFTISTGENERAL TRACT SOCIETY.
From a mass of letters received by the
Agent of this Society, all of which are fill
ed with expressions of cordial approbation
anJ assurances of z uilous concurrence, we
select the following only. The letter
from the Agent of the American Tract So
ciety is an admirable one. It was dictated
by the catholick spirit of primitive Chris
tianity. [Col. Star.
Eatonton, (Ga.) July 9.
Sir, —I am directed to inform you, that
in order to promote the views of “ the Bap
list General Tract Society,” in the dissem
ination of religious Iracts, a Society has re
cently been formed in this place, styled
“the Eatonton Tract Society, auxiliary
to the Baptist General Tract Society.”
AftPr adopting a constitution, differing
but little from that published in the Colum
bian Star, of the 10th April, the present
year, Thomas Cooper, President; Waid
Hill, Treasurer; and John M’Bride,
Agent.
In obedience to an order of the Board of
Managers, I herewith transmit you S2O;
for which we wish you to send us, 8“ soon
as practicable, Ihe value of sls in Tracts;
the balance, $5, you will, according to your
constitution, retain in order to aid the Gen
eral Tract Society in its operations.
As you have established no depository of
Tracts iQ this section, we would suggest the
propriety of making one in this place.
There are in this county six Baptist church
es. Amongst these,as well a9 amongst our
population generally, we feel no hesitation
in saying, a large number of Tracts might
be profitably distributed.
Yours, with respect,
John M’Bride, Jigent.
OBSERVATIONS ON CRUELTY.
The following “ Observations on Cruelty,” are
extracted from the American Monthly Magazine,
and furnish a just and impressive lesson to pa
rents, in the education of their offspring, which
cannot be too fully inculcated. j
“Like other evils to which human na
ture is prone, we may impute the heinous*
crime of cruelty to the errors of education.’
It does not spring up at once, it grows,
with our growth. Ever too ready to tern- j
porize with our own faults,and to see quick j
ly the faults of others—cruelty grows out 1
of injustice, and we soon learn to give pain
without compunction.
“ The infant who is allowed to kill flies
for his amusement, will, in boyhood, rob
bird’s nests, worry animals, and tyrannize
over his school fellows. The guardians of
childhood cannot, at too early an age, check
the smallest propensity to seek pleasure
by occasioning pain or inconvenience to any
sensitive being. No slap given to a nurse
that she may pretend to cry to please the
chuckling babe, not a stick given into infant
hands to strike the unoffending dog, or to
beat naughty puss, but tends to harden the
infant heart. Above all things, cruel sights
should be kept from the eyes of children.
The bleeding lamb under (he butcher’s
knife, the chickens that have eaten the
crumbs from his infant hands, should not
flutter in convulsive death before his eyes.
Such scenes may lead him on to view, with
out dismay, the timorous hare, broken be
neath the fangs of the infuriate dogs—to
watch the big round tear roll down the
cheeks of the hunted stag—his “ leathern
sides swelled almost to bursting,” may fit
the young spirit to find delight in all the
cruellies of field sports. He may adroitly
fix the live bait upon the torturing hook,
and smile to see him victim play round the
treacherous lure, and with a dexterity
worthy of a tiger, or a Roman Emperor,
may dally with his poor entangled captive,
until grown weary, he tears the murderous
weapon from his vitals and throws him
bleeding and dying at his feet. These, and
such sports as these, are excellent lessons
to engraft cruelty on the young heart, be
fore the unformed mind has felt the gener
ous charm of mercy. And still these tres
passes on humanity are allowed as innocent
pleasures ; they are not at once discovered
as acts of necessitous man to supply himself
with allotted food, but they are soon intro
duced to (be plastick mind as wanton sports ;
and the boy feels it a lordly right to teaze,
to kill, and to destroy. In older growth
he is allowed to see dog fights, bull-fights,
and under the specious term of “ The art of
self defence ,” he is initiated into all the my
stick rules of pugilism, and consequently
attends boxing matches, where he may,with
the very quintessence of brutal delight,
watch death-blovv9 dealt by two human be
ings, whose personal courage is sacrificed
at the shrine of cruelty , for the amusement
of a refined multitude
SABBATH SCHOOL SCHOLAR v
Two persons in Utica, (N. Y.) were a
short time since engaged in a controversy
upon religions subjects. A Sabbath school
scholar happened to be present; and when
he found the conversation to be on the Bi
ble, he was all attention; tor he had been
learning some of the truths of this book,
and was still thirsting for more and more ol
divine knowledge. One of the disputants
was endeavouring to support the opinion,
that the belief of a man wa* in no case a cri
terion by which to judge of hi? moral char
acter, or, in other words, that it matters not
what a man believes, provided he is sincere
in that belief; and in proof of this doctrine,
he quoted as he supposed, a passage of
scripture, hut which is no where to be found
in the Bible. The little boy watched an op
portunity, when it would he proper tor him
to speak, and then addressing his superiour
in age, though perhaps not in divine knowl
edge, with perfect simplicity and unassum
ing modeaty, mingled with reproof, he re
plies, “ Ye do err, not knowing the scrip
tures.”
At a meeting of the British and Foreign
School Society, Mr. F. Buxton told the fol
lowing curious anecdote: —It had been hi?
misfortune when very young to live with
gentleman, whose prejudices against the
improvement of the poor were numeroii
and inveterate. There were, in that gen
tleman’s opinion, three great causes ot the
demoralization of the poor—reading, wri
ting and arithmetick —and whenever a
quarrel took place in his neighbourhood,
he was in the habit of saying, “ That is
the effect of education.” If a theft or mur
der was committed, “There,” he would
say, “is another test of the bad effect of
education.” In speaking of his own steward,
this hater of human improvement would
say, “ That man, to his credit he it spoken,
is not able to read a word, or to write a
figure ; and yet he is, perhaps, the best ac
countant in the country.” It was natural
to inquire by what process of memory the
steward kept his accounts. This was shown.
A drawer was produced : in one compart -
ment there was a parcel of beans, in anoth
er a parcel of peas, and in the remaining
divisions thpre were various descriptions of
grain. These were symbols of various debts
and payments, which, with the aid of a
strong memory, the steward kept with
great exactness, until one night a rat broke
into his account box, and down went the
account of what was due from various ten
ants, and all was thrown into the wildest
confusion and doubt (loud laughter.) From
(hat moment, he had been a convert to the
superiority of writing, or printed symbols.
LORD COBHAM, THE MARTYR.
Sir John Oldcastle, the good Lord Cob-!
ham, was the first British nobleman who (
suffered martyrdom for his religion. He
was born in the reign of Edward 111. and
distinguished himself as the friend of pub
lick liberty. He was a general in the
French campaigns, and obliged the Duke
of Orleans to raise the siege of Paris; but
as he was a follower of Wickliffe’s doctrines,
and maintained itinerant preachers for their
greater dispersion, he incurred the hatred
of the Romish clergy, and was accused of:
heresy and disaffection to Henry V. Henry
endeavoured to reason with him, but when
Cobham declared the Pope anti-christ, the
monarch, shocked at his impiety, delivered
him up to the archbishop, who sent him to
the tower. He had the art to escape from
confinement, hut so violent and watchful
were his persecutors, that after four years
concealment in Wales, he wa9 seized and
dragged to London. Asa heretick and a
traitor he was hung up on a gallows alive,
and a fire lighted under him, so that he wa9
thus cruelly roasted alive, in St. GUles’ fields,
1417. He wrote 12 conclusions addressed
to the parliament of England.
CAIRO.
The market at Cairo, or place where
the Circassian women may be purchased,
cannot fail to be interesting, though at the
same time repulsive (0 a stranger’s feelings.
These unfortunate women, as we term
them, though it is a doubt if they think
themselves so, are bought originally of
their parents, who are generally peasants,
by the Armenian and other merchants who
travel through Georgia and Circassia.
Their masters procure them an education,
as far as musick and singing go, give them
handsome clothes, and (lien sell them in
private to the rich Turks, or bring them to
the market at Cairo, where, however, the
business is conducted with tolerable deco
rum. The lady, habited handsomely, and
as best becomes her figure, and veiled, is
attended by the merchant whose property
she is, and may be seen by the person who
wishes to become a purchaser. The veil
is lifted, and the beauty stands exposed.
This is better, however, than a Turkish
wife, who, on the bridal evening, lor the
first time perhaps, draws aside Ihe shroud
of her charnw, and throws herself into her
husband’s arms, when he may recoil with
horrour from his own property, at finding
the dazzling loveliness he had anticipated
changed into a plain, yellow, and faded as
pect. But the Georgian style of beauty is
rich and joycus, and their dark eyes!—
there are no eyes like them in the world.l
The stranger then casts bis eye over the |
figure, the band and foot: a small and deli- :
cate hand is, with the Orientals, much val- j
tied—even the men are proud of possessing!
it. He demands the lady’s accomplish
ments; if she sings or is skilled in mtisich,
in this case the price is greatly enhanced:
a thousand or fifteen hundred pounds are.
sometimes given for a lovely woman so
highly gifted.
One day, in company with another trav
eller, I paid a visit to a rich Jew, one of the
first merchants in Cairo. He received m
in a handsome apartment, Ir which a flight
of steps ascended. Tin floor was coversi]
with a rich carpet, and Ihe divan elevated)
couple of feet higher, was lined with soft
cushions, aud laid nut for luxurious enjoy,
ment. A lofty dome of glass lighted the
chamber. We reclined on ihe divan with
the master of the house ; and a few yardi
from us was another and more interesting
party : six Oriental ladies, all unveiled and
richly dressed, were at dinner, and seated
in a circle on soft cushions on the floor
round a low table about a fool high. The
lady of the house, a handsome young wo
man, was just recovered from her confine
ment, and this was the first day of her re
ceiving her friends. They ate and con
versed much at their ease, and sent us some
sweetmeats, and a pleasant drink like sha-.
bet. The husband told us he and *l3
bride were married at Ihe age of fourteen,
and they were then six-and twenty, and had
a houseful of children. Bismillah! bles
sings to the Prophet! a Turk would have’
added, with a devout look: but, being a
Jew, he invoked nobody, but looked very
resigned about it. The ladies having fin.
ished their repast, each of thpm had a
Turkish pipe, about five feet long brought;
aud polling themselves in an easy posture,
with the amber mouth piece between their
lips, and the ball of Ihe pipe resiing 00 the
carpet, began to smoke, sip coffee, and chat
at intervals. The custom of smoking in
the East is very different from that in ow
country : the tobacco is so very mild arid
sweet, that it does no injury to the teeth or
breath, and it is often used as a luxury by
the women; and the tube of fine amber
would not disfigure any lips; and the atti
tude, when holding the long chibouque, or
flexible argille, displays so advantage a
beatiful arm.
The cruel punishment inflicted on the
eastern ladies for infidelity with a Christian
is sometimes resorted to on the Bosphorus:
the latter may escape by turning Mahome
tan, but the lady is tied, clad in her usual
dress, in a sack, and either carried out in a
boat, or thrown from the lattice-window of
the lofty walls into the river beneath, and
a sullen plunge, amidst the silence of the
night, announces that all her miseries are
over.
ITURBIDE.
The following description of the late Eemperor
of Mexico, i taken from “ Notes on Mexico,”
by the Hon. Mr. Poinsett.
“I was prpsen'ed to Hi* Majesty this morn
ing, (Nov. 3.) On alighting at the gate of
the palace, which is a>: extensive and hand
some building, we weie received by a num
erous guard, and then made onr way up a
large stone stair-case, lined with sentinels,
to a spacious apartment, where we found a
brigadier general s'ationed to usher u n
the presence. The emperor was in his
cabinet -md received u- with great polite
ness. Two of his favourites were with
him. We were all seated, and he convers
ed with us for half an hour in an eay, un
embarrassed manner, taking occasion to
compliment the United Slates and our in
stitutions, and to lament that they were
not suited to the circumstances of his coun
try. He modestly insinuated, that he had
yielded very reluctantly, to the wishes of
the people, but had been compelled to suf
fer them to place the crown upon bis head
to prevent misrule and anarchy.
He is about five feei, ten or eleven inch
es high, stoutly made, and well proportion
ed. His face is oval, and his features are
very good, except his eyes, which are con
stantly bent on the ground or averted. His
hair is brown, with red whiskers, and his
complexion lair and ruddy, more like that
of a German, than of a Spaniard. As you
will hear his name pronounced differently,
let me tell you that you must accent equally
every syllable, I-tur bi-de. I will not re
peat the tales I hear daily of the charac
ter and conduct of this mao. Prior to ihe
late successful revolution, he commanded
a small force in the service of the Royalists,
and i* accused of having been the most cru
p| and blood thirsty persecutor of the Pa
triots, and never to have spared a prisoner.
His official letters to the viceroy substan
tiate this fact. In the interval between the
defeat of the patriot cause and the last rev
olution, he resided in ‘he capital, nnd in a
society not remarkable for strict morals, he
was distinguished for his immorality. His
usurpation of (he chief authority has been
the most glaring, and unjustifiable, and his
exercise of power arbitrary and tyrannical.
With a pleasing address and prepossessing
pxteriour, and by lavish profusion, he has
attached the officers and soldiers to his per
son ; and so long as he possesses the means
of paying and rewarding them, so loDg he
will maintain himself on the throne : when
these fail, be will be precipitated from it.
It i9 a maxim of history, which will proba
bly be again illustrated by this example,
that a government not founded on publick
opinion, hut established and supported by
corruption and violence, cannot exi*t with
out ample means to pay the soldiery, and
to maintain pensioners and partisans.
Aware of the state of his fund?, and of the
probable consequences to himself of (heir
failure, he i* making great exertions to ne
gotiate loans in England; and such is the
infatuation of the monied men in that coun
try, that it is possible he may effect his ob
ject.
To judge Kurbide from his publick pa
pers, I do not think him a mao of talents.
He is prompt, bold and decisive, and not
scrupulous about the means be employs to
obtain his ends.”
A worthy man, (one of our venerable ancestors,
who fled to this land from persecution) one day
after he and his companions had all dined on
clams, without bread, returned God thanks for
causing them “ lo suck of the abundance of Ihe
seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.”
(Deut. xxxiii. 19) [Plymouth paper.