The missionary. (Mt. Zion, Hancock County, Ga.) 1819-182?, February 07, 1825, Image 2

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tad all the motions of nations and of individ ual* in subserviency to (he great design for which he created and preserves them. Hi eye has been ever filed on the day whidh he has appointed to judge the world in righteousness; and he has directed all things towards that grand consummation of the system of bis Providence, which shall fix the unchangeable destiny of bis accoun table creatures, vindicate the wisdom and goodness of all his. t proceedings, and glori ously iHustrate his justice and his mercy. All-around us the preparations for this event have been progressive. We Have seen in fancy opening Its eyes upon the world and commencing it* journey to eternity- We have followed to the house appointed tor all Jiving the coM remains of those who had closed their earthly career and gone to their last account. We have beheld artless childhood, chaaging into -blooming youth, the activity and beauty of youth giving place to the vigor and grace of manhood, and then again retiring before the frosts & sorrows of age. Another column in the page of oar history has been filled with the record of our principles, oor feflings, our plans, our resolutions, our self-reproach or self complacency, our failures or successes, our frailties, our follies, or our sins. God has tried us by the dispensations nt bis pro vidence and bis grace, and our passions have been weakened or invigorated, our habits have been formed or fixed, our char Mtn hare We wore fiilly developed and more strongly marked, oar whole prepara tion for judgement has been progressing as rapidly as our approaches to eternity. Shall we opt to day seriously ask ourselves whither we have been tending daring the past year - ? Wbat is the nature of those changes which it has wrought in our char acters? What influence will it have upon our last account ? What effect upon our everlasting destinies? If that influence has ieeD on the whole propitious, how might it have been more benign? If it has been unfriendly, how may the disastreus cone quertces-which it threatens be averted ? how may the traces it has left upon our characters be erased—the gloom it has spread over oor prospect*, be dissipa ted ? Such a review cannot-indeed alter any . thing that has passed. It cannot recall one moment we have wasted, or change one feeling we have cherished, one word we have uttered, one action we have performed or blot out their record from the register# of the Omniscient Judge: “ Our days and hours and moments past, Descending down to night, Can thenceforth never more return Back to the gate* of light But Infinite goodness has spared us (o begin anew year. He who bassommoned j away myriad# of our fellow-men to th*-ir [ last account, still prolongs our term of pro i bation and gives us time and space to make i preparation for eternity. The year we! ‘have entered, will be as frailful in changes 39 that isiich has just closed. The same ‘Almighty being, will still conduct all the ctKicerov of his vart-empire to thdir catas trophe. Ooe and woollier of those who are now,actors on the scenes of life will rr tire and give place to the it successors. Os ns it may be written in the decrees ol Ilea*- en, 44 This year thou shall die.’’ This year, like the last, will give experimental demon- j stration of the instability of all earthly pos sessions, the imperfection of all earthly en joy meals. We may profit by the lesson* of experience, we maybe encouraged by our past successes, be made wise by our failures, be reprovedand bumbled by our errors. ont of the darkest season of the year that has gone by, light shall arise to irradiate aior path through that we have ju*t entered to guide us in the wav of duty, and safety and consolatioo. If indeed a re view of ournins teach ns our unworthiness; If (be recollection of our frailty work in us an'abiding and practical conviction of our entire dependence; if a deep sense of our guilt bring us low in genuine contrition at the footstool of unmerited mercy ; if while we meditate on the stupidity with which the years that are gone have flitted by and the momentous influence they have exert rig on our everlasting destinies; if we see in them an emblem of the rapid transition ofthe few remaining years that separate os srom eternity ; if the recollection rouse every power of our souls to vigorous, per severing and prayerful exertion: if listen ing to the exhortation of the wisest of men, 44 whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, fn the, grave whither thou art hastening if we make our resolutions to be more penitent and more holy with believing reliance on the nil sufficient gVace of “ Him who loved ns and gave him-elf for us;” if we begin to day to carry Ihera into execution and persevere ip a course of cheerful, univer sal and constant obedience, then shall this be to each one of us a Happy New Ydar, a year to which we shall look back with gratitude and joy through every year of our subsequent lives, a year that shall be gild ed with celestial brightness as we look back to it from the dark valley of the shadow of death ; a year that shall rise like a res plendent column amid the dreariness of our earthly pilgrimage, while we behold it with songs and everlasting joy from amid the Mount Zion of our Lord and Redeemer ou high. From the Recorder and Telegraph. MEMOIR OF CATHARINE BROWN, J) Christian, Indian ofthe Cherokee Nationt. By Robert Anderson, A. M. Assistant See retar y of the American Board of Cominis sinners fir Foreign Missions. Boston. ’ 9. T. Arrnstrong. in w e tv-ilderuev, far from the abodes of polished life, wa* born the infimt savage, (if tftie term may fie applied to so lovely qa dljject) whose name is here prefixed, about the year 1800. The (all fotesl twes had waved over the place of her nativity from beyond the memory of her fathers ; and in ail the traditions which had descended from the remotest generations of men, there was not one which made mention of. a Saviour, or n atonement, or any *acred ordinance ofthe Christian religion. All they knO’w of God was comprehended in their fantastick notions of the Great Spirit, the author of the visible creation, whose character was, in their conceptions, made up of the most jarring and discordant elements imaginable. With a language powerful and rich in epi thets of imagination, they had no literature nor books, nor schools, nor any thing intel lectual. but what grows wild in the forest of Ibe mind. it was in such a condition, nearly, that the Cherokees were found by the Missionaries of the American BoarJ, when they com menced their labours among them in ibe spring of 1817. Catharine, now at theage of 17 or 18 years, had already learned the. English language in the family oi a Cher okee friend, also the letters of the alpha bet, and to read in words of one s\ liable.— Through this twilight of intelligence she was nble to discern the beauty and loveli ness of a well-educated mind ; and no soon er did she learn of the establishment ol a school at Brainerd, than she besought her parents to send her thither, though at the distance of a hundred miles. Her request was granted and she joined the school in July, 1817. Catharine was beautiful, modest, and pre possessing in her demeanour. She was a child of nature in its most attractive forms. And yet it was easy to perceive that she loved herself, her ornaments, and her dress. So much so, that when she presented her self for admission to the school, the mission aries were apprehensive she would not con sent to their regulations, particularly that of requiring manual labour of the scholars. Shn, however, made no objection ; and so astonishing was her progress, after admis #ion, that in sixty days she was able to read intelligibly in the Bible, and in ninety days could read a* well as most persons of com mon education. Alter writing over three *heets of paper, she could use the pen with accuracy and neatness,even without a copy. But a different train of thoughts were about to occupy her mind. For some week* she had been unusually serious—but on the last Sabbath of Mr Cornelius’ preaching at Brainerd, (Nov. 1817) her mind was deeply affected, and she was constrained to seek in earnest for an interest in the Saviour of sinners, lo December followiog she cher i*hed a hope that she had found acceptance through hi* blood. She now became ex tremely anxious for the salvation of her brothers and sisters, the Cherokees. 44 She wept and prayed for them in se cret places, a* well as in the company of her female friends at their weekly pray pr meetings. Among the rest, the -case of her brother David, then on the Ar kansass-river, was specially interesting.— One morning, having retired to the neigh bouring woods for devotion, she became so deeply eugaged in prayer for this dear bro ther, that the time passed insensibly, and she remained in her sacred retreat till the sun was near setting. She had been fa voured with unusual nearness of access to the thrrfne of her heavenly Father, and re turned home with an humble confidence, that he would fully answer her prayers.— After David had gone to New England to complete his education, having previously ( given satisfactory evidence of piety, she re lated these facts to a confidential friend, and said she wished to remember them with gratitude.” She was baptized Jan. 25tb, 1818, being regarded as the first fruits of missionary la bour among the Indians, under the direction ofthe American Board Since then about one hundred adult Chi ‘okees have receiv ed the same ordinance, preparatory to ad mission into the church. She was admitted to full cooitnuDion March 29th of the same year. On the 20th November, Catharine was removed from Brainerd by her father, Mr. John Brown, who then purposed emigra ting to the Arkansas without much delay. This event was so overruled as to afford joy to the very friends who were afflicted by her departure, and no doubt also to the angels of God, for to her removal maybe clearly traced the formation of schools, and the stated preaching of the word at Creek Path, the place of her father’s residence ; and likewiee the hopeful conversion of near ly a|l the member* of the family—there being no less than nine who give evidence of piety. To the no small satisfaction of her friends at Brainerd, her father carried her back to that place, May 1819, and committed her to the care of the missionaries till her educa tion should be completed. This change in the intentions of her parents respecting her she always ascribed to the special provi deoce of Him that heareth prayer. After about a year, it seemed to be her duty lo go and lake charge of a school, about to be commenced in her father’s neighbourhood, and she could not hesitate. The following i extract from her journal, was written the day before she left Brainerd. “ Brainerd , May 30, 1820 Tomorrow morning 1 shall leave (bis school, perhaps ocver to return. It is truly painful lo part with my dear Chrialian friends, those with whom 1 have spent many happy hours in the house of worship. I must bid Ihem j farewell. This is the place where I first; became acquainted with the dear Saviour. He now calls me to work in his vineyard, and shall I, for the sake of my Christian friend* and df my own pleasures, refuse to go, while many-of my poor red brothers and sisters afe perishing for lack of know, ledge ?9, no. 1 will not refute to go. ,1 will go Wherever the Saviour calls me. I know he will be on my right hand to grant me ell the blessings that ( shall need, and he will direct me how to instruct the dear children who shall be committed to my ‘care.” Catharine commenced her school with about twenty achotnis, anti the number soon increased. After couUnoing in it three quarters of a year, much to the satisfaction or her scholars, their parents aud the mis sionaries, she relinquished it to tho ebarg* of Mr. Potter, that she might herself be able to prosecute sopae higher branches ot study, in the hope of greater usefulness to’ her people. But her course of life was almost run.— From the time she left Brainerd. she seem ed in general to think it so. Yet as her times were in the -hand of God she felt it her duty not o deprive herself of the mean* of doing good, should her days be prolonged heyoud her expectation. Early in the year 1323, the seeds of consumption began to take deep root in her constitution, and the scene of her departure seemed evidently to be drawing near. Her greatest desire to live was that she might teach her perishing people the way of salvation. But 44 as she approached nearer to eternity, her faith evidently grew stronger, and she became mure and more able cheerfully to resign, ont only herself,but her pareots,her friends, her people, her all, to the disposal ot the Lord.” About the middle of May she was attack, ed by a hemorrhage from the lungs, and for a few days was viewed as 00 Ibe borders ol the grave. Mr. Bascotn’s journal ol the 19th contains the following paragraph : 44 l have rarely if ever seen a more love ly object for the pencil than she appeared to be on her dying bed. The natural mild ness of her features seemed lighted with a beam of of heaveoly hope, and her whole aspect was that of a mature Christian, wait ing with filial patience, the welcome sum mons to the presence of her Lord.” Mrs. Potter says — 44 Death was now dis, armed of all his terrors. She could look into the grave without alarm. She con fessed ber sins with great meekness, and mourned that she had not been more faith ful in the service of God ; yet rejoiced to resign her soul into the bauds of her Re deemer. 44 Once, when l visited her, 9he affection ately took my hand and said, 44 My dear sis ter, I have been wishing to see y on for sev eral days. I have thought a great deal of you and Mr. potter. I love you much,but am going to leave you. I think I shall not live long. You have done much for me. I tnaok you, and hope the Lord will reward you. lam willing to die if it He the will of God. I know that 1 have experienced his love. 1 have no desire to live in this world but to do good. But God can carry 00 bis work without me. I hope you will contin ue the meetings of females ; you must not be discouraged. 1 thought when I should gel to the Arkansas, I would form a society among the females, like ours. But I shall live lo get there. I feel for my dear parents, but the Lord will take care of them.” 44 At another interview, she said, 4 l feel perfectly resigned to the will of God. I know ha will do right with his children.— I thank God that 1 am entirely ia his bands. I feel willing to live or die as He thinks best. My only wish is, that he may be glorified. 1 hope should 1 ever recover, I shall be more faithful in the cause of Christ than I ever have been.’ ” On the 23d,” says her physician, Dr. Campbell, 44 she seemed to have the most cheering evidence of her interest in the Lord Jesus; Thus, she exclaimed, Now lam ready to die. O how delightful is the view of my Saviour ! How Happy shall I be when I arrive at my Father’s house.”’ It being impossible for Dr. Campbell to attend upon her at a distance of 40 or 50 miles from hi* residence, she was carried on a litter, (being unable to ride in a car riage) six miles to the Tennessee river, then down (be river 40 miles io a boat, and from thence about five miles in a litter to Limestone, Alabama, the residence of Dr. Campbell. Here, with every attention which could possibly be afforded, she con tinued to languish, with only such intervals of apparent relief as are common in cases of consumption. On the 13th of June, her friend, Mrs. Potter, who had followed her to Limestone, wrote a letter to Catharine’s brother David, informing him of her ill ness. “ When about to close the letter, says Mrs. Potter, I went to her bed-side and said, 4 Catharine; what shall i say to your broth er for you?’ 44 After a short panse, she replied, ‘ If you will write, 1 will dictate a short let ter.’ 44 Then raising herself ia the bed, and wiping away a tear that was falling Irom her eye, she with a sweet smile, began to relate what Gad bad done for her seal while upon that sick bed. 44 To my partial eye, she was, at that moment, an interesting spectacle, and I have often wished, that her portrait could then have been taken. Her countenance was softened with the affectionate remembrance of an endeared brother; her cheek was a | little flushed with the exertion of speaking, her eye beamed with spiritual joy, and a | heavenly smile animated the wlicde scene. ! | shall never forget it, nor the word* she i then wbispereJ in my ear.” ! We cannot withhold a brief extract of • the letter which she dictated on this occa jsioo. 44 1 have found, that it is good for me to be afflicted. The Savionr i* very precious ,to me. I often enjoy his presence, |nd I long to be where I cao enjoy it without sin. | have indeed been brought verjf |ow, m.d did,nut ekpeet to live until this time. But ! have had joy, such as I nevfereXperiencett before. I longed to be ffone ; was ready to die at any moment. n 1 love you very much, and il would be a great happiness to me to see you again in this* world. Yet I don’t know that 1 shall. God on I v knows. We must submit to bi* will. We know, that if we never meet -.gain in this world, the Lord has prepared .1 place in his heavenly kingdom, where I Hust we shall meet never to part. We •aght to be thankful for what he has.done; for us. If he*had not sent us the Gospel, j we should have died without any knowledge j .f the Saviour. * ,< .J- t i 44 I know lam his. He. has bought me ■ with his blood, and I do not wish to have | any will but hi*. He i* good, and can do nothing wrong. I trust, if he spares my life, he will enable me to be tailhtol to his cause. I have no desire to live In this world, hut lo be engaged in hi* service. The closing scene we give in the words of the memoir : 44 Dr. Campbell now thought it his duty to iulorm her parents and herself, that his hopes, even of her partial recovery, were gone. 44 Upon communicating this intelligence, to her father, whoa little before had come to Limestone, the good old man, after a sol eum silence of several minutes, obset.ed, 44 The Lord has been good to give me such a child, and he ha* a to lake her when he thinks best. But though it is my duty to give her up it is hard to part with her.” 44 Catharine received the notice without manifesting the least alarm, only requesting the Doctor to inform her how long she might probably live. On the morning es July 17tb, she was supposed to have commenced her last ago Dies, and Dr. Campbell was immediately called to ber bedside. 44 1 found,” says he, 44 some appearance of anxipty on bei- countenance, which was the result of new sensations of bodily dis tress, and not of any agilatioo of mind. A“ soon a* she could speak (far she was some times speechless) extending her hand to me she calmly observed, 4 I am gone.’ 44 Some hours alter (hi*, when her dis tress returned, and her respiration became difficult and painful, she said in reference to her sufferings, 44 What shall I do ?” I inquired if, in this trying hour, she could not confidently rely on her Saviour ? She answered, Yes. 44 Through the day hrr mind was per fectly tranquil, and though several times when ber mother and friends were weeping about her, the tear* would start into her eyes, she would quickly suppress them.— She seemed to spend most of her time in prayer. 44 The night was one of considerable dis tress, owing to her difficulty of breathing. In the morning she looked toward the win dow, and asked me if it was not day. 1 re plied that it was. She then turned her eyes toward heaven, and\an indescribable placidnesß spread over her countenance. 44 Perhaps she thought that the next morning she should behold, would be the morning of the resurrection. 44 As death advanced, and the powers of nature gave way, she frequently offered her hand to the friends around her bed. Her mother and sister weeping over her, she looked steadily at the former for a short time, filial love beaming from her eyes,and then, shecloged them forever. 44 She expired without a groan ora strug gle. Even those around her bed scarcely knew (bat the last breath had left her, un til I informed them she was gone. 44 Thos fell asleep this lovely saint, in the arm 9 of her Saviour, a little past six o’- clock, on thfe morning of Jolj 18, 1823.” Effltß MOUNT ZION, MONDAY, FFiB. 7, 1325. Whenever an enterprise of any conside rable magnitude is commenced, it is natu ral for disinterested spectators to form some conjecture with regard to its result. Their opinions are formed principally from the nature of the enterprise, and from the ex perience and wisdom and resources of those who are to conduct it. If it be a subject of considerable interest, and on which a di versity of opinion exists, every circum stance will be noticed which has a tenden cy to raise or sink it in the publick estima tion. Thi* is emphatically true with res pect to Domeßtick aud Foreign Missions.*— Even those who have not thrown a mite into the treasury that support* them—nor lifted a finger for the advancement of the cause, frequently inquire with a canting, satirical sneer, Where is the fruit of their labour ? And then gravely tell us, that mil lion* have been expended for evangelizing, the heathen, and all to no purpose. So many changes have been rung upon this theme, that it has become extremely dull and uninteresting. Every objection has been answered, and yet 44 They glean the blunted shafts that have recoil’d, And aim them at the shield of Truth again.” In spreading the Gospel of ‘Christ, time btit especially the blessing of heaven is ne cessary to give success to all efforts which may be made. Such is the nature of the undertaking that man is the honoured in strument, but God will have the glory. Another testimony to those which have heretofore been given, that our Missiona ries do not labour in vain, is the authentick intelligence lately received from Ceylon. Kev- Miron Winslow, missionary at that place, slates that a work of the. spirit es God ha* commenced in. the six missionary stations on that island, principally in Ihe ‘schools, and eighty are believed to hat# become tfaa sobjects of re. generating grace. This intelligence aau*t prove refreshing to those who have long been engaged 1 in’ Ihe cans* of missions, Had praying that God would fulfil his promise with regard ti- the 44 isles of the sea.” Let others 44 behold aqd wonder nhd despise,” 1 yet the Christian will not be ashamed to be hieve that God will accomplish still greateV thing* than these, and eventually can;e all the nations of the earth to submit to the authority of Christ, and acknowledge hi? sway. Revivals of Religion have lately commen ced at Farming'on and Mercer (Me.) prin cipally in the Methodist .denomination—ln Blandford, (Mass.) among the Baptists—Al* *0 in West Boylston, At Ashford; about 100 have become the subject* of Diviue Grace. la Westford, (Vj.) considerable additions have been made to the church. In the county of Bertie, (N. C.) about COO persons have been added t‘> the church by baptism during the last Summer andlpaU. In Middlesex couH'y, (V.) a work of grace still continues. Forty eight persons have been baptized, since last April. Intelligence has also been received from Troy, (O.) and from the Michigan Territory, that tite 3pirit of God is manifest in the. churches. Catharine Brown.—To those who have been in ahy degree conversant with thd history of the Mission at Brainerd, Chero kee Nation, the name of Catharine Mown most be familiar. Her deep and ardent piety, added to more than ordinary mental powers, impressed a distinctive mark upon her character, which willffong render her memory dear to the Christian Church. So interesting was her short bht useful career, ihat a Memoir has been published embrac ing the leading events of a life, the last stages of which exemplified all the graces of the most devoted, blameless and humble follower of Christ. We h ive hot hail the pleasure of seeing (his little work, but the article given on the preceding page, con vinces us that it is worthy of general circu lation. Who knows how many among the native daughters of the forest, a* unnoticed and as unthought of as was Catharine Brown be fore she heard the glad tidings of salvation, may yet be brought out of the darkness which shrouds them, and exhibit such taste and talents and piety as appear in the exam ple before us. 44 Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear ; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste i|s fragrance on the desert air.” Such examples as this should eocourage the daughters of Zion to press forward in the work in which many are engaged O, how should they pity their sisters on whom the lights of science and civilization and Christianity have never sh v ne, when they remember bow much they owe to the Gos pel of Christ! Where thi* gospel i* un known, how degraded and enslaved are the female sex, and how elevated io all Chris tian countries! This fact, if there were no others; is sufficient to awaken them tuptill greater exertioos for the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom. f General Intelligence. Congress. —The Bill making an appropriation for the continuance of the Cumberland Road,was taken up in the House o*l the 17lh nit. and the blank filled with the sum of $150,009, ayes 90, nays 88. Mr. Clay advocated the bill with great ability, in a speech of considerable, length. His intention of addressing-the House being previ ously known, the galleries were filled, and the privileged seats and vacant places of the hall crowded by ladies. Among the auditors were Gen. La Fayette arid his sou. The Bill has since passed. 1 The Bill authorizing a subscription Us $300,000 to the stock of the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, has also passed the Ilopse. The President communicated to Congress a mass of documents relative to the effect produced on our relations with Spain by the recognition of South American Independence. These papers, says the Intelligencer, show a state of considera ble excitement on both sides, for the last two or three years, between the American and Spanish government;. The conduct of Mr. Anduaga, the last Minister from Spain, was so offensive a to hare been made the subject of representation so his government, through Mr. Nelson, now at Ma drid. The Bill abolishing imprisonment fer debt was rejected in Senate on the 17th, by a majority of three votes. The objection was not to the prin ciple, but to some of the provisions of the bill. 1 The bill for the relief of certain sufferers by the 1 destruction of property during the late war, par- j ticularly on the Niagara frontier, which has long j engrossed the attention of the House, has finally passed by an unexpected majority of 64 votes. A reward of S2OO has been offered by Oov. Troup for the apprehension) of William Clark, charged with the milder of Ridjfimond R. Watson, in,Decatur county, on the,lßth lJecember last. By oflicieV document* laid before Congress, it appears that the number of Militia enrolled in the! U. Staes, amount* so one million fifty-three thoiM sand eevrp hundred and erghty-ievep men; foftj