Newspaper Page Text
No. 13 Vol. Vl.]
From, the National Gazette.
THE UNFAITHFUL HUSBAND.
Mr. Editor, —As I was strolling’ in the
garden of an American hospital, about two
years ago, my attention was suddenly ar
rested by the aspect of a man who proceed
ed towards one of the arbours, seemingly
desirous of avoiding observation His ap
pearance and manuer were such as would
have excited curiosity, had he even been
in a crowd of those unhappy lunaticks, to
the class of whom he obviously belonged.
Jlis person was tall and graceful, but ex
tremely meagre ; his countenance haggard
and wan; dishevelled grey locks were vis
ible under his hat; still,on the whole,he had
not the air of old age ; as he advanced to
take his seat, he usd j-ome wild gesticula
lions, frequently pressing his clenched
hands against his forehead. I followed him
from an irresistible impulse of curiosity,
and stood some minutes near him in the
arbour, while, unconscious of mv presence,
he continued to give signs of the most afflict
ed state of mind. The tears dropped from
his eyes on the ground—he either pressed
or shook his brows as if under the influence
of a paroxysm of despair. In a short time,
I placed myself next to him on the bench,
when he started, and noticed me with a
look of apprehension, yet did not move to
depart ; but g (Zed despondently for an in
slant, and then let fall his head on hi
breast. These are not, indeed, unusual
proceedings in cases of disordered imngin
atioß—lhey made, however, a profound
impression upon me, in connexion with hi
pi'eons history
Afler considerable pause, l drew him in
to conversation, by the remark that he
seemed to be unhappy, but that the good
ness and power of God were infinite, and
were often exercised for the sudden and
la-ting relief even of the most miserable.
At first be betrayed anew the liveliest ag
itation; muttered something rendered the
more unintelligible by audible sobs; then
grew calmer, until his face settled in deep
sadness, and his recollection and utterance
became distinct and coherent. It happens
at times that a display of interest in the fate
of these stricken being-, and a gentle vi
bration of the cord of their peculiar sorrows,
will produce a sort of lucid interval, and
restore to them the power of narrating re
gularly what has caused their alienation.
This effect was produced here. 1 asked
what had brought him within the walls of
the hospital, and he answered in heart
rending tones, that it was folly and crime
which he would tell—he would tell. His
story I cannot repeat with the pathetick
remembrances, and graphick visions, and
manifestations of remorse and anguish with
which he related it ; but I can give it in
substance briefly, as a salutary lesson,
though divested of that personal and dram
stick effect with which it came from his
mouth, and shook my bosom while it exci
ted me to fervent moral resolutions.
He set out in life with a liberal educa
tion and respectable connexions, an excel
lent character, a competent hn-iness, a
warm heart and a vigorous frame. He
married at twenty “ix, a young ladv of nine
teen, the object of his choice, well trained
(Tnd allied, and in all respects fi’led to en
gage and retain esteem and love. Their
union continued cordial and happy for th
space of seventeen years—they were bles
sed with seven children, three boys and
four girls, of sound constitutions and under
standings; their mutual attachment and de
i votion were constantly evinced in health or
[sickness, on every occasion of joy or dis
tress, and in a manner which confirmed and
lincreased the good will and consideration
■which possessed among their relative
■ind in general society. Tfyeir delights and
Biopes centered in the steadiness & earnest
ness of their mutual regard, and in the
■ondaess and prosperity of their child
■en.
■ 1 could wish to retrace the vivid pictures
Which the awakened husband and father
jirew of the domestick assemblage about
Jpim at his evening fire-side,and in his sum
Bier excursions, and particularly when in
‘dispositions confined him to his chamber,
,-flfr external mishaps and perplexities affect-
Bl his spirits and temper. The recollec
■ion of the tenderness and assiduity which
Be experienced from his wife and children,
Barticularly the daughters when they had
Biassed their childhood, and of the pure &
happiness and endearments which
Be created emotions which might
Be said to amount to a double ecstacy of
Bleasure and grief, than which no specta
cle afforded by an individual,could be more
iharrowiog for my feelings. Such families
.are numerous in this country,and the scenes
,/which be passionately described are there
ifore easily to be imagined, as well as to be
■deeply felt, by most of your readers.
I One false step —one act of weakness—a
Blind and infatuated sensuality—blighted
■bis manifold and expansive felicity. No
■nan was ever farther from supposing or
Breaming than he, that he could prove an
Bdulterer —that he could lose for an in
j|nt even his personal preferance for his
■haste and attractive and doting compan-
Bin, much less the ruling and binding sense
■fhis various obligations to her and their
■flspring, of religion, duty, honour and grat
THE MISSIONARY.
ilude. Yet so it was—and let no man be
sure of the force of ordinary ties, or neglect
to guard himself from a similar fate by in
cessant self-distrust and watchfulnesg.
A young woman of a handsome exteriour
and engaging manners was received into his
family, as an assistant or companion for his
daughters. After some time he suffered
his attention to he attracted to her, and they
became guilty—by what mutual arts and
with what struggles and compunctious pangs
on his part, 1 need not state in the detail,
into which he was carried by the force of
his affliction and the sort of extenuation that
he found in them for his delinquency. The
illicit commerce continued for several
months, unsuspected by those who could
not have believed it possible. The con
sciousness ol his situation brought on fits of
gloom and indications of secret chagrin,
which produced new proofs of exquisite ten
derness and unfailing sympathy from his
wife and children ; and it was in these mo
ments that he suffered most intensely, as a
self condemned hypocrite and culprit, whose
former source- of delights were converted
thus into visitations of bitter shame and re
gret. At times, he met by moody har-h
ness what deserved thank- and caresses—
he wrung anxious and ovetflowing hearts
with anew and inexplicable injustice.
Occasionally the resolution was formed
to break with the paramour and disclose
all to the wife ; hut there was a spell in his
guilt, and lie shrunk from the im ige of the
distress and horrour into which the latter
would he plunged. If was too much that
she should know him to he false am! degrad
ed. Di-covery ensued, however, in -pile
of all precautions for concealment; and us
consequences were even more fatal than
his fancy had traced. The amazed and in
digoant wife was at first frantick with her
wrongs and disappointment—she became
ere long a maniack and speedily sank into
the grave. His household was broken op
—his connexions abandoned him with scorn
—his affairs went to ruin—his children were
received as objects of charity by those who
shunned and detested him—be retained hi
senses long enough, in poverty and di-tress,
to comprehend the tidings that two of hi
sweet girls, ivhom be had formed and wor
-hipped as models of innocence and delica
cy, lost their selfesteem and their honour
in their dependent and mortified condition,
and had completed the disgrace of the once
flourishing and respected family. He said
no more, hut I could understand that tin
blow proved destructive to his reason, al
ready impaired as it was by the previmj
calamities. The wildering brain excited
perhaps, compassion in some of his old ac
quaintance, who placed him in the asylum
where he lingered.
Such is the outline of a melancholy tale,
narrated in a way which showed that it
formed, as it were, the whole sound thought
of the relator, and which convinced me of
its rnality in every particular. I can con
vey no idea of the terrifick truth and ener
gy of expression, with which he exhibited
the progress of his contrition, and painted
the angui-h of his wife when she delected
his infidelity, and the dismay of their chil
dren, when they saw the first discord ami
tempestuous agitation of their parents. Af
ter he ceased to -peak, exhaustion prevent
ed him from moving for a short lime. A
oon as he recovered a little he ejaculated
-otne phrases indicating an entire relapse of
the mind, and ha-tened from his spat, in the
direction of the house, moaning, and throw
mg his arm- about with more rapidity and
vehemence than before.
I could not leave the institution withoul
making inquiry concerning him, of the su
perintendent. The information I received
confirmed ihe accuracy of the recital to
which I had listened, and served to height
en my commiseration for the poor wretch.
He was harmless, docile, and even kind in
his demeanour towards all the inmates—his
age was conjectured to be about fifty—l
could learn nothing of the fate of his other
children.
The example may be useful. A wreck
is the best of beacons. Shun temptation—
beware of implicit reliance on your own
strength and ihe apparent security of your
position. Calculate all possible consequen
ces when you are drawn towards vice.
Regard religion as your principal defence,
THE RESURRECTION - .
From Dr. Spring's Sermon on the Death of
Rev P. M. Whclpley.
What roust be the sensations of those,
who in the distant and last ages of time,
discover not merely here and there a pop
ulous grave-yard, but behold this globe it
self one mighty sepulchre. Over what an
extended empire will Death then maintain
hi undisturbed dominion.
And will the period ever arrive when
this long slumber of the tomb shall pass
away ? Will that day ever dawn on the
earth on which these graves will open—
these tombs burst asunder—ibese cemetries
be emptied—this universal charnel-house
heave as by a tremendous earthquake, and
give up its dead? Blessed be God, that
problems of such interest are of no difficult
solution. Wherever time has demolished,
the resurrection shall revive. Wherever
death has been the conqueror, death him
self shall be swallowed up 11 victory. The
~, ... Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature Testis Christ
Os all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.- Washington.
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTV, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1824.
announcement made by our blessed Lord,
on his way to the grave of Lazarus, has
travelled down the descent of time in UDdi
minished verity, and conveys its consola
tions to us, as truly as to the weeping wo
man, to whom Ihey were first addressed.
The doctrine of the resurrection has not
always been accredited by the wisdom and
philosophy of this world. Among wise and
learned pagans, some believed, and others
considered it supremely fabulous. The
Epicureans, the Stoicks, the Platonists, the
Pythagoreans, and even the Sadducees
among the Jews, all either rejected, or en
tertained very confused ideas concerning it.
And well they might, so long as they rested
the evidence of such a fact upon the analo
gies of nature, the suggestions of unaided
reason, or the traditions of men.
The analogies of nature are not indeed
silent. When we see the morning gradu
ally breaking from the tomb of midnight,
and diffusing its cheering light over men;
when we see nature emerging from her
wintry grave of silence and desolation, into
resuscitated life and beauty ; when we see
the corrupted and putrescent grain bursting
the clod (hat covers it, and lifting its prnlif
1 ’ k stalk above the ground; when we see
the meanest reptile buryiog itself in unob
served retirement, that it may come forth
into existence with new life, awake with
new powers, and fly through the heavens
in new splendour: a contemplative mind i
ready to n=k, 1-there no mighty voice that
shall break the sileDce of the grave, and
once more inspirit the mansions of the
dead? Is there no breath of heaven that
-ball brood over those dark abodes, and re
new the life, and reetore the vigour of that
moral crealion, whose infancy was barely
awakened into existence, in the present
world? Is mortal man the ooly being doom
ed to be the perpetual tenant of the tomb?
‘1 he suggestions of unaided reason are
not -dent. Since the body and the soul, at
their original creation, constituted one en
tire being, it is not unreasonable to suppose,
that when the shock of dissolution is past,
the period will arrive when this undiminish
ed existence will live anew, and the endear
ed companionship become unwasting and
immortal. The idea of a future and ever
lasting state ol retribution seems more nat
urally to involve than dpny the future exis
tence of the body as well as the soul.
The traditions of men are not silent; for
there are not wanting those whose dark
ness was never illuminated by the direct
rays of revelation, who have embodied in
their creed some indistinct conceptions of
the revivification of the body.
But all these are rather the confused im
ages of a gratified fancy, than the clear de
ductions of sober reason. The resurrec
tion of the dead stands confessed as one of
thp distinguished peculiarities ol revealed
religion. We repose our entire and unal
terable confidence in this glorious truth, in
the simple testimony of that God who “ can
not lie.” “1 know that my Redeemer liv
eth, and that he shall stand al the latter day
upon the earth : And though after my skin,
worms destroy this body, yet in uiy flesh
shall I see God.” The Lord God “will
swallow up death in victory.” “ I will ran
som them from the power of the grave; I
will redeem them from death. Oh death I
I will be thy plague; Oh grave ! I will be
ihy destruction.” “ Thy dead men shall
live ; my dead body shall arise. Awake,
am* -ing, ye that dwell in dust, for thy dew
i- as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out the dead.”
The force of the testimony in favour of
the resurrection lies in that capital fact and
that finished testimony of the Messiahship
ot Jesus of Nazareth, —his own resurrection
from the dead, on the third day after his
crucifixion. “If Christ be preached, that
he rose from the dead, how say some
among yon, that there is no resurrection of
the dead ? If there be no resurrection of the
dead, then is not Christ risen. Bnt now i*
Christ ri-en from the dead, and become the
first fruits of them that slept. For since by
man came death, by man also came the res
urrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Hence the apostles “ preached through Je
sus, the resurrection from the dead.”
“ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, eveo so them also, which sleep in
Jesus, will God bring with him.” “To this
end, he both died, and rose, and revived,
that he might be Lord both of the dead and
the living.” As (he constituted King and
Lord of all worlds, the Mediator himself an
nouuces, “ l am he that liveth and was
dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore,
and have the keys of death and the grave.”
By virtue of this exaltation, already has he
raised multitudes from the dead, as the evi
dence both of his power and his purpose;
and we know be will continue to reign “ till
all enemies shall be put under his feet,”
and that the “last enemy that shall be des
troyed is death.”
It is atfecting to see when the bodies of
men are committed to the dust, what dis
honour is cast upon these tabernacles of clay.
Once they were cherished and beloved;
once they sparkled in the circles of gaiety
and splendour; once thpy commanded res
pect and admiration. But now, their lustre
is passed away. Their liveliness is led.
All that is due them i9 to give them a place
where “the worm shall feed sweetly on
them.” O! this is a most humiliating re
flection. When you visit the grave yard,
and behold one after another with cold and
unmeaning ceremony consigned to its bo
som ; or when you see the heedless hearse
bearing away its daily load; or when, per
haps away from the decencies of Christian
lands, you see the bodies of men launched
from Ihe common cart in heaps into the
earlh, or thrown into the publick sewer, or
cast upoo the funeral pile ; how deeply you
feel the thought, “It is sown in dishon
our !” But, “ though sown is dishonour, it is
raised in glory.” All its ignominy and re
proach are wiped away in the grave,
from that abyss ol infamy it rises in beauty,
brightness, and splendour, and is fashioned
—what shall I 9ay ?—“like unto Christ’s
glorious body.” “There is one glory of
the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars; for one star dif
fereth from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection of the dead ”
It is affecting when you stand at the
mouth of the sepulchre to witness the
weakliest, the death, the clod-like inertness
of the body, when it slumbers with the
dead. Once it was life, motion, sprighlli
npss, and activity ; but what is it now? A
corpse, a skull, a ske.leton, a mere collec
tion of motionless dust. But, what “is
sown in weakness, is raised in power.”
That primitive and youthful vigour, that ac
tivity and animation shall all be revived,
and continue undiminished and unwasteil to
interminable ages. Then, and not till then
shall that proud label be imprinted on the
human form, which the doating affect ion
and lying imaginations of men have prema
turely impressed oo it, “always new, and
ever young ”
THE POPE AND BIBLE SOCIETY.
It appears by the following extracts from a let
ter lately sent by the pope to some of the catho
liek clergy, that the spirit of popery is the same
now it was two or three centuries ago.
What shall 1 say more ? The iniquity of
our enemies lias so increased, that beside
the deluge of pernicious book-, conirary
to the faith, it even goes so far as to con
vert to the detriment of religion the holy
scriptures, which have been given us from
above for the general edification.
You are not ignorant my venerable broth
ren, that a society commonly called a Bible
Society, is audaciously spreading through
the earlh, and that in contempt of ihe tra
ditiocs of the holy father-, and again-t the
celebrated decree of the council of Trent,
it endeavors with all its powe.r, and by eve
ry means, to translate or rather corrupt
the holy scriptures into the vulgar tongues
of all nations.
Many of our predecessors have made
laws to turn this scourge. In these law
are found passages taken as well from the
holy scriptures as from tradition, and col
laled with care and judgement to show
how injurious this subtle invention is to
faith and morality.
And we, in the discharge of our apoto
lick duty, exhort you to remove your flocks
with care and earnestness from this fatal
pasture. Reprove, intreat, insist on all
occasions, with doctrine and patience, in
order that the faithful may be persuaded,
ibat if they let the holy scriptures he indie
criminately translated into the vulgar
tongues, there will result, in consequence
of the rashness of men, more evil than
good.
There have been formed heresies and
perverse dogmas, which involve the soul
of men in their snares, and drag them down
the abyss only because the holy scriptures
have not been well understood, and, be
cause having ill understood them, men have
-npported their false interpretations with
rashness and audacity !
Such, venerable brethren, is the tenden
cy of this society, which, besides, omit
nothiog for the accomplishment of its pious
wishes; for it boasts not only of priming the
translations, but of disseminating them by
going through the towns; and even to se
duce the simplp by a perfidious liberal
ity, choose to distribute them gratuitous
'y-
We exhort you not to let your courage
be cast down. You will have for you, and
for this we rely with confidence on the
Lord, the power of secular princes, who as
reason and experience show, defend their
own cause in defending that of the authori
ty of the church.
JEWS IN PRUSSIA.
At Koenigsbnrg, the good seed of the
word sown by the Missionary Hofl, has tak
en root in the heart of many Israelites,
some of whom have made an open profes
sion of faith in Christ, notwithstanding the
severest trials. In the same city the Gos
pel is faithfully preached from many pul
pits. Os forty deans in Prussia and Lithua
nia, five are cordially united in the object
of the restoration of Israel. The plan of a
school for Jewish children, formed in 1822,
had been relinquished as impracticable, and
the funds of the Koenigsbnrg Committee,
raised for this object, have been devoted to
the general objects of the Barlta Jews So
ciety.
[Price $3 50 per ann.
RELIGIOtS.
Georgia Education Society.
Athens. 28th August, 1824.
To the Editors of Ike Missionary
Gentlemen —The Georgia Education So
ciety held its annual meeting on the sth
iost. at which a Report of the Directors
was read, and the Officers of the Society
elected for the ensuing year. The Consti
tution was altered so far as relates to the
number of Vice Presidents and Directors,
making the former nine, and the latter sev
enteen. Maj. Abraham Walker was re
elected President, and all the other officers
of the last year.
Society adjourned to meet in Augusta, on
the 20th of November next.
Alter the meeting of the Society, the
Directors met and attended to such busi
ness as the Constitution makes their par
ticular duty.
The standing Committees, according to
the 13th Article of the Constitution, were
appointed.
For Athens, Rev. Dr. Watldel, Rev. T.
Stanley, Maj. A. Walker. John Nesbit,Esq.
Jas. Nisbel,E-q A. Hull, E-q. & A.Church.
For Augusta, Rev. Win. T. Brantly, Rev.
Wm. Moderwell, T. Cummings, Esq. and
S. Dowse, Esq.
For Savannah, Rev. M. Howe, Rev. A.
Carter, and Joseph Cummings. E-q.
For Medway, Rev. Wm. MrWhirr. Rev.
J. O. Scriven, Rev. R. Quarter man, Rev.
Ripley, Col. J. Law and James Ne
phew, E-q.
For Darien, Rev. J. Joyce, E Reese,
Esq and John Kell, E-q.
For Mount Zion, Rev. Dr. Brown, Rev.
B. Gihiersleeve, and J Bryan, Esq.
For Washington, (Wilkes) Rev. A. H.
Webster, A. G. Seme, Esq and Adam Alex
ander, Esq.
Ivitonton, Rev. C. P. Beman, T. Cooper,
E-q. and Dr. T. Hoxey.
Madison, (Morgan) Rev. R. Chamber
lain, Dr. J. Wingfield, Augustus Alden
Esq. and Ernst Wiiucb, E-q.
Appropriations were made for those Ben
eficiaries which are under the care of the
Directors, and resolutions instructing the
Clerk to notify members of the Committees
of their appointment, as also a resolution
reqoe-ting the particular aistance of Drs.
VVaddel and Brown in corre-p.aiding with
the friends of the Society. Dr. Waddel was
appointed to preach a Sermon before the
Education Society, which stands adjourned
to meet in Augusta ou the 20ih ol Novem
ber next, and Mr. Church bin substitute.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS op
THE GEORGIA EDUCA'J ION SOCI
ETY,
Read before the Society, at its Annual Meet
ing on the sth instant
No institution which has had for its nb
ject the good of men and the glory ol God,
has been permitted to proceed without dif
ficulties. For though the Great Hoad of
the Church carry on his work- of benevo
lence and of mercy by secondary causes—
though he use men as instruments of ad
vancing his glory and of promoting the
good of the world, yet he generally orders
all events in such a manner, hs to convince
them that his blessing is necessarv for the
success of any cause. Hence the efforts
and the exertions of pious and godly men
are often without immediate eff ct, without
an immediate blessing from God. But
while he often refuses at once to answer
the prayers of his people, and for a season
permits their exertions to promote his glory
in the advancement of the interests of the
Church, to remain without apparent effect,
he has every where encouraged his friends
to use the proper exertions, with the assur
ance that in due time be will grant such
blessing as in his infinite wisdom he may
see best calculated for the honour of his
own name and for the good of the world.
The truth of these observation* is fully
demonstrated in the history of Bible, Mis
sionary and Education Societies. From
small and almost imperceptible beginnings,
have many of these arisen to be the means
of diffusing light, and life, and love to mil
lions of the human family. And had not
their first founders and supporters been
men whose trust was in the God of the
universe, and who were conscious that all
the exertioos of be futile and
vain without the blessing of Heaven, des
pondency aud despair would soon have ter
minated their existence ; they would soon
have fainted. The Bible would not now
havp been in the hands of many who enjoy
its blessed influence; millions who have
already been directed to the Redeemer of
men, would never have heard of ihe name
•i ad many a failhfal herald f the