The missionary. (Mt. Zion, Hancock County, Ga.) 1819-182?, March 28, 1825, Image 2

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life and demeanour of the excellent person whom I tnwt that yon will again m'*e, Can. not be contemplated without ihe admiration due to her virtu***, and her pure and unpre tending piety. Her lt moment* were particularly striking; and I do not know, that in rhe conr*** of reading the story of nankiod. and still lee* i.i tny observations of the existing portion, 1 ever met with any thing so unostentatiously beautiful. In di'putably tbe firm believers in the Gopel have a great advantage over all others, — for thia simple reason, that, if true they will have their reward hereafter ; and if there be no hereafter, they can be hut with the infidel in hi 9 eternal sleep, having had the assistance of an exalted hope, through life, without subsequent disappointment, since (at Ibe worst for them) “out of nothing, nothing can arise,” not even sorrow. But a man's creed does not depend upon him self ; who can say, I will believe, —this, — that, —or the other? and, least of all, that which he least can comprehend. I have, however, observed, that those who have begun life with an extreme faith, have, in tbe end, greatly narrowed it, as Chiiling- Wortb, Clarke, (who ended as an Ariao,) Bayle, and Gibbon, (once a Catholick,) and some others; while, on the other hand, nothing is more common than for the early sceptickto end in a firm belief, like Mau perlius, and Henry Kirke White. But my busiuess is to acknowledge yonr fetter, and not to make a dissertation. lam obliged to you for your good wishes, and more than obliged by the extract from the papers of the beloved object whose quali ties you have so well described in a few words. I can assure you, that all the fame which ever cheated humanity into higher notions of its own importance, would never weigh in my tr.ind against the pure and pi ous interest which a virtuous being may be pleased to take in my welfare, (a this point of view, i would not exchange the prayer of the deceased in my behalf for the united glory of Homer, Ctesar, and Napoleon, could sum be accumulated upon a living head.— Do me at least the justice to sup pose, that “ Video meliora proboque.” however the “ Deieriora sequor” may have been applied to my conduct. i have the honour to be, Your obliged and obedient Servant, BYRON. (From the Journal of Mr. Wolf, while (ravelling from Jerusalem to Bagdad.) ■Conversation with a Devil worshipper. ‘Fob. 20.—The brother of Ssytd Ktian beck had not returned with the answer of Mustala, I therefore called again on the Christian family. The Christian was sit ting at the door. I sat down near him. He satat my right hand, and there sat a Y zidi (a literal worshipper of the devil) at oiy left hand I looked in Ihe face of the Yezidi, and observed that his countenance and hisdre— differed from those of the Kurds; I asked the Christian, whether that man siding ai my left hand, was a Kurd? The Yezidi, who understood my question, said, •*! arn not a Kurd; I am a Yezidi of the order of the Dauadia. I. What is your belief. Yezidi. We never pray. And lifting up his hands Inwards heaven, and bowing down with his knees, he said, “ We oever do so.” Shudder, my friends, the Yezidi never lifts up his hands towards heaven, and much les his heart; he never bowsdowu. /. Do you sometimes think of God ? Yezidi. -Never. 1 had heard from Christians, that they Worship the Devil, and seeing that this Ye zidi professed frankly his awful belief, I asked him, “Do you worship the De Vil ?” Yezidi. We worship nothing: but we never mention him whom you have named. I. I)o you believe that the Devil is good? Yezidi. No! I. Why do you love him? Yezidi. Thu* it is ! /. Do you believe in the existence of a God 1 Yezidi. We believe! I. Why do yon not pray to him? Yezidi. Thus it is ! I. If I would give you gome present, Would you ihank me for it? Yezidi I would give you many thanks for a ahkbsbish, (present). I. God gives-you life, breath, clothes and raiment, and his sun shineth over you, why do you not thank him ? Yezidi. Thus it is ! I. Du any of you know bow to read ? Yezidi. None of us ! I. Have you priests? Yezidi. No! Khalil Agha, a robber and murderer, re siding at Ockbazyarad, five hours distant from Merdeeo, is the head of the Yezidi of the order of Danadia. They live in ieot, and are very numerous. I left the compa ny of that horrid professor of the devtl, and tried to pray for him, but it was not possi hie. Thus it is! The Yezidi never prays, be never lifts up his hands towards heaven, be never bows down ! Thus it is ! SENECA INDIANS. * The Chiefs of the Seneca tribe of Indians have petitioned the New York Legislature against the sending of missionaries amongst them. I hey say that •” The Priests of the white people make them bad friends and had neighbour*. 11 And the hab its of their women are worse than they were be fore there men came among them, and their young men drink more whiskey.— Kattera Jlrgut. It is a fact ibat such a petition has been presented : but that is not the whole truth. The Seneca tribe is divided into a “Chris tiau parly,” and a “ pagan party and the petition in question is tram the latter This party is composed of men who have heard the gospel, but believe not; men who love whiskey toe well to renounce it, and who are incensed against missionaries and Chris tian Indians, becane .they cannot bear re proof for their evil deeds. And vet the principal blame lies at the door of while men. Traders who live on the vices oi the Indians; tiplers and other vile persons, who hate all that is good; these men, ui white kins and black hearts, fill the head of Pagan Indians with insinuations again*, their real friends, and instigate them to deeds of opposition. These are the m<n, who broke up a missionary establishment in this tribe about a year ago. by pleading a law of Ihe state which prohibited the res idence of whiles on Indian lands, but which was never intended to apply to religion* teachers. And these are doubtless ih* men, who prepared this petition, and in duced the Indians to sign it; and who verv probably procured their assent while they were half drunk. On this point the edit r of the Utica Recorder remarks; “We veu ture to say, that could the history of this paganish petition be fully disclosed, it would implicate more white men than red ones, in the charge of wilful and gross misrepre sentation. We have no doubt of this fact; and we hope that the individuals concerned will be held up to publick contempt.” Against the representations of this fa moos petition, we .may name a few facts, j The tribe in question, and several others, ! reside within a few miles of Buffalo. Last ! winter Ihe member from Buffalo, who is 1 neither a missionary nor preacher, bore ■ testimony in the New York legislature to the good character of the teachers, and to i the happy effect* of their instructions on the j industry and moral conduct of the believing Indians. The several stations in New York j are near to many white settlements, where | ministers and Christians, and the enemies j of religion also, hase.opportunity to know ’ the teachers and their pupils: and where ’ they are occasionally inspected by (he board j which directs (he mission. What they do is not done in a corner. And it is utterly incredible, that a station should have been continued for many years in the coofide.nce of the church, if its influence had been so baleful as the above petition represents.- Editors at this distance may be ignorant of these facts; but they ought to avoid re tailing paragraphs, reproachful to the fol lowers of Christ and to Christ himself, un. less they have some knowledge of tbe source whence they are derived [Christian Mirror. Prayer. —A gentleman conversing with his friend respecting the exercises of his own mind, before and after conversion, ob served tha’ there was a great difference as to the objects of prayer: When I was, (said he.) only a nominal Christian, I used to pray to my family —if any strangers were present I proved to them —when I was alone I prayed to myself: —But since I have been renewed by divine grace, in all my prayer* I pray to GOD Anecdote of Dr. Young.— A9 the -Doctor was walking in his garden, at Welwyn, in company with two ladies, one of whom he afterwards married, a servant came to tell him a gentleman wished to speak with him. “Tell him,” says the Doctor, “ I am too happily engaged to change my situation.” The ladies insisted that he should go, as hi visiter was a man of rank, his patron and his friend. As persuasions, however had no effect, one took him bv the right arm the other by the left, and led him to the garden gate ; when, finding resistance was vain, he bowed, laid his hand on his heart, and io that expressive maimer for which be was so remarkable, spoke the following lines ; Thns Adam look’d, when from the garden driven, And thus disputed orders sent from Heaven ; Like him I go ; but yet to go am loth ; Like hitn I go; for angels drove us both. Ha'd was his fate; but mine still more unkind, His Eve went with him, but mine stays behind. It seldom happens that a wilful deviation from the right path of conduct, if ever so slight, continues so, and that it does not speedily increase into a considerable and persevering fault. Imprudent inclinations are so inen“iWy linked together, that no one can safely select the mo9t trifling one for indulgence—for “ they come, not sio gle spies, but in battalions.” Decency in Dress —Women should not confine their attention to dress fur tbeir public appearance. They should accustom themselves to an habitual neatness ; so tha< in the most careless undress, in their most unguarded boors, they may have no reason to be ashamed of their appearance. They will not easily believe how much men con sider their appearance as expressive of their characters: Vanity, lenity, slovenliness, & folly appear through it. An elegant sitn plicily is an equal proof of taste and deli cacy. LAFAYETTE. From Memoirs of Lafayette—just published. His great military command, and bis still greater personal influence, now brought him constantly in Cof’act with the court & the throne. His pd%, therefore, was extremely delicate atf</,f‘Soolf, especially as (he popular party iu Pavheaof which he was not so much the leadciTorTihe idol, was already in a state of excitement, and atrocious violences were beginning to he committed. The abhorrence of the , Queen was almost universal, and was ex cessive to a degree of which we can now ’ have no just idea. The circumstance that the Court lived at Versailles, 16 miles from- Paris, and that the session of the National , Assembly was held there, was another ’ source of jealousy, irritation, and hatred on the part of the capital. The populace of Paris, therefore, as a sign of opposition, had , adopted a cockade of blue and red, whose ‘effects were already becoming alarmiog.— | Lafayette, wbo was anxious about the coo sequences of such a marked division, and who knew how important are small mean of conciliation, added to it, on Ihe 26'h ei July, the white of the royal arm, and a* he placed it in his own hat amid*t the ac clamations of the multitude, prophecied that 4 it would go round the world’—a pre diction which i* already more than halt ac complished, since the triculonred cockade has been used for the ensign of emancipa lion in Spain, in Naples, in some part* of S. America and in Greece. Still, however, the tendency ot every thing was to confusion and violence. The troubles of of the times, too, rather than a positive want of Ihe means of subsistence, had brought on a famine in the capital, and <he populace of Fauxbourgs, the most de graded certainly in France, having assem bled and armed themselves, determined to go to Versailles ; the greater part with a blind desire for vengeance on the royal family, but others only for the purpose of bringing tbe king from Versailles, and for cing him to reside in the more ancient but scarcely habitable palace of the Tbuilleries in the midst of Paris The National Guards clamoured to accompany this savage multi lode ; Lafayette opposed their inclination; the municipality of France hesitated but supported it ; he resisted nearly the whole of the sth of October, while the road to Versailles was already thronged with an exaperated mob of above an hundred thou sand ferocious men and women, uojlil,fit last having received an order to march, from the competent authority, he set off at four o’clock in the afternoon, a9 one going to a post of imminent daoger.which it had clear ly become his duly to occupy. He arrived at Versailles at ten o’clock at night, after having been on horseback from before daylight in the morning, and having made, during the whole interval, both at Paris and on the road, incredible exertions to control the multitude and calm ihe sol diers. 4 Tbe Marquis de Lafayette at last enteied the Chateau,’ say* Madame de Sta el, ‘and passing through the apartment where we were, went to the king. We all pre**ed round him, as if he were the mas ler of events, and yet the popular party was already more powerful than its chief, and principle* were yielding to factions, or rather were beginning to serve only as their pretext. M. de Lafayette’* manner .was perfectly calm ; no body ever *aw it other wise; but hi* delicacy suff. red from the im portance of the part he wa called to act. He asked for tbe interionr post* of ihe cha teau, in order that he might ensure their -safety. Only the outer post* were granted him. This refusal was not disrespectful to him who made the request. It was given, simply because the etiquette of the court reserved the guard of the royal per*oo and family to another body of men. Lafayette, therefore, answered for the National Guards and for the posts committed to them ; but he could answer for no more ;* and his pledge wa* faithfully and despe ratelv redeemed. Between two and three o’clock, tbe queen and the royal family went to bed. Lafayette, too, slept after the great fatigues of this fearful day. At half past four, a portion of the populace made their way in to the palace by an obscure, interior pas sage, which had been overlooked, and which was not in that part of the chateau entrusted to -Lafayette. They were evi dently led by persons who well knew the secret avenues. Mirabeau’- name was af terward* strangely compromised in it, and the form of the infamous Duke of Orleans was repeatedly recognized on the staircase, pointing the assassins the way to the queen’s chamber. They easily found it. Two of her guards were cut down in an instant;: and she made her escape almost naked. Lafayette immediately rushed in with the national troops, protected the Swiss guards from the brutal populace, and saved the lives of the royal faintly, which had so near Iv been sacrificed to the etiquette of the monarchy. The day dawned as this fearful scene of guilt and bloodshed was passing in the mag nificent palace, whose construction had ex hausted the revenues of Louis Fourteenth, and which, for a century, had beeD the most splendid residence in Europe. As soon as it was light, the same furious mul titude filled the vast space, which, from the rich materials of which it is formed, passes uoder the name of the court of marble. They called upon Ihe king, in tones not to be mistaken, to go to Paris ; and they cal led for the queen, who had hut just escaped from their daggers, to come out upon the balcony. The king, after a short consulta tion with bis ministers, announced his in tention to set out for the capital; but La fayette was afraid to trust the queen in the midst of the bloodthirsty multitude. He went to her, therefore, with respectful bes itation, and asked her if it were her purpose to accompany the king to Paris. ‘Yes,’ she replied, 4 although I am aware of the danger.’ 4 Are you positively determined ?’ ‘Yes, Sir.’ ‘Condescend, then, te go out upon the balcony, and suffer me to attend you.’ 4 Without the king ?’—she replied, hesitating.— 4 Have you observed the threats?’ ‘Yes, Madame, I have; but dare to trust me.’ He led her out upon the bal cony. It was a moment of great responsi bility and great delicacy; but nothing, he fell assured, could be so dangerous as to permit her to set out for Paris, surrounded by that multitude, unless its feelings could be changed. Tbe agitation, (he tumult, ihe cries of the crowd, rendered it impossi ble that his voice should be beard. It was necessary, therefore, to address himself to tbe eye, and turning towards tbe queen, with tfiat admirable presence of mind, * So completSly were all persons unsuspicious of any immediate danger that the guards of the interior posts were no where increased ; and not the slightest change was made in the customary arrangements except what was made at the soli citation of Lafayette. which never yet forsook him, and with that ntiogied gmr. and dig-i'y. which were the peculiar inheritance of the ancient court in | France, he simply Itn>*ed her hand before the vast multitude. An instant of silent as i Unishment followed, hut the whole was im mediately interpreted, and Ihe air was rent ( wjih cue* of 11 Long live the qne>-n ! Long the general!’ from the same fickle and| cruel populace, that only two hours before! had etphrued their hand* in tbe blood of tbe guard-, who defended the life of this same: qu< en. ‘ I The same day, that this scene was pas-’ sing, the first meeting of ihe Jacobin club was held. Against this club and its projects ; Lafayette at once declared himsplf With! Bailey, the Mayor of Paris, he organized an opposing club, and the victory between the; two parties was doubtful for above a year and a half. The contest, however, which was produced by this slate of thing*, placed Lafayette in a very embarrassing and dau gerous position. He was obliged to oppose the unprincipled purposes of the Jacobins, without retreating towards the principle* of the ancient despotism ; and it is greatly to his honour, that he did it most faithfully and consistently. When, therefore, on the 20tb of June, 1790, a proposition was sud ih-nly made in the Convention to abolish all titles of nobility, Lafayette, true to his prin ciples, rose to second it. A shori discus sion followed. It was objected to the abo lition of rank, that, if there were no titles, no such reward could be conferred -as wa* once conferred by Henry Second, when he created an obscure person, according to the terms of his patent, ‘noble and count, for having saved the country at such a time.’ ‘The only difference,’ replied Lafayette, 4 will be, that the words, noble and coum will be left out, and the patent will simply declare, that on such an occasion, such a man saved the State.’ From this lime La fayette renounced the title of Marquis, and has never resumed it. Since the restora tion of the Bourbons, indeed, and the revi val of ihe ancient nobilily, there has been sometimes an affectation among tbe Ultra Royalists of calling him by his former title ; but he has never recognized it, and is still known in France only by tbe address of General. At lea9t, if he is sometimes cal led otherwise there, it is not by his frieuds. At length the constitution of a represen tative monarchy, which Lafayette’s exer tions had from the first opening of the Con vention, been consistently devoted to es tahli-h, was prepared; and all were desi rous that it should be received and recog nized by the nation in the most solemn mac r.er The day chosen, a* most appropriate for the ceremony, was Ihe 14th of July, 1790, the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastile; and the open space behind the Military school, called the Champ de Mars, from the Campus Martius of the Romans, was the place fixed on for this great nation al festival and solemnity. By the constant labour of from one in two hundred thousand persons of both *<xs and all ranks, from Dukes and Dulchesses, Bishops and Depu ties, down to the humblest artisan*, who ail made the occasion like the Saturnalia of the ancients, an amphitheatre of earth for four miles in circumference was raised in a few weeks, whose sides were formed of seats destined to receive the French people, and in whose centre stood the throne and the altar On the morning, therefore, of the day when the whole was to he consummat ed, the King, the Court, the Clergy, (he National Assembly, a deputation of the military from the eighty-three departments, and a body of people amountir.g to above four hundred thousand soul* were assem bled in this magnificent amphitheatre. Mass was first said, and then Lafayette, who that day had the military command of six millions of men, and held in his hands the pow*-r of the monarchy, swore to the con stitution on behalf of the nation, at tbe altar which had been erected in the midst of the arena. Every eye of that immense mass was turned upon him; every hand was raised to join the oath be uttered. It was, no doubt, one of the most magnificent and solemn ceremonies the world ever saw; and. perhaps no man ever enjoyed the sin cere confidence of an entire people more completely than Lafayette did. as he (hu bore the most imposing part in these extra ordinary solemnities. The Champ de Mars, however, as Ma dame de Stael has well observed, was the last movement of a genuine national enthn siasm in France. The Jacobins wrre con stantly gaining power, ahd the Revolution was falling more find more into the bands of the populace. When the king wished to go to St. Cloud with his family, in order to pass through the duties of Easter, under the ministration of a priest, who bad not taken certain civil oaths, which in the eyes of ma ny conscientious Catholicks desecrated those who received them; (he populace and the national guards tumultuously stop ped his carriage. Lafayette arrived at the first suggestion of danger. “If (said he) this be a matter of conscience with your Majesty, we will, if it is necessary, die to maintain it;” and he offered immediately to open a passage by force ; but Ihe King hes itated at first, and finally determined to re maiD in Paris. Lafayette, indeed, under all drcumstnn ces, remained strictly faithful to hi* oaths; and now defended tbe freedom of the King, as sincerely as he had ever defended the freedom of the people. His situation, therefore, became every day more danger ous. He might have taken great power to himself, and so have been safe. He might have received the sword of Constable of France, which wa* once worn by the Mont morencies, but he declined it; or he might have been Generalissimo of the National Guards, who owed their existence to him ; but he thought it more for the safety of the State, that no such power should exist. Having, therefore, organized ‘his last body, according te the project he had originally formed for It, he resigned all command, i'li it disinterestedness of which, perhaps, Washington alone could have been hi* ex ample ; and retired to his estate in the country, followed, as he had been for many years, by crowds wherever he went, and accompanied on his way by every form of popular enthusiasm and admiration. From the tranquillity to which he now gladly turned, he was soon-called by the war with Austria, declared April 20th, 1792, and in which be was, at once, appointed one of the three Major Generals to com mand the French armies. His labours, in the beginning of this war, which he did not approve, were very severe, and the obstacles he surmounted, some of which were purposely thrown in his way by the factions of the capital, were grave & alarm ing. But the Jacobius at Paris were now a well organized body and were fast matur ing their arrangements to overturn the cnn stninion. Violences of almost every de gree of atrocity were become common, and that publick order of which Lafayette had never ceased to speak on all suitable occasions, no longer existed.* Uuder these circumstances, be felt that his silence would he an abandonment of the principles, to the support of which he had devoted his hie; and with a courage which few men ia any age, have been able to show, and with a temperance, which has always kept ovpcon duct on one even line, he wrote a letfer (o the Convention, dated June 16ib, in wb.ch he plainly denounced the growing faction of the Jacobins, and called upon the consti tuted authorities to put a stop to the atro cities this faction was openly promoting, la the course of (his letter he dared to say ; “ Let the royal authority be nntouch ed, for it is guarantied by the constitution ; let it be independent, for its independence is one of the springs of our liberty ; let the King be respected, for he is invested with the majesty of (he nation; lei bimlAtooss a ministry that shall wear the chaiSr of no faction; and if traitors exist, let them per ish under the sword of the law.” There was oot another mao in France, who would have dared to takp such a step, at such a time ; and it required all Lafayette’s vast influence to warrant him io expressing such opinions and feelings, or to protect him af terwards. At first the Jacobins seemed to shrink from a contest with him. He had said to the Assembly, “Let the reign of clubs, abolished by you, give place to tbe reign of the law;” and they almost doubted wheth er he had not yet power enough to effect what he counselled. They began, there fore, as soon as the letter had been read, by denying its authenticity ; they declared it, in short, to be a forgery. As soon as Lafayette heard of this, he came to Paris, and avowed it at the bar of the Assembly. The 20th of Juoe,however,had overthrown the constitution before his arrival ; and, therefore, though he 9iood with an air of i calm command amidst its ruins, and vindi cated it as proudly as ever, he was, alter all, surrounded only by those who had tri ! nmphed over it. He could not succeed, i therefore, and returned to htsermy on the i borders of the low countries. But the ar ! my, too, was now infected. He endeavour j ed to assure himself of its fidelity, and pro j posed to (he soldiers to swear anew to the constitution. Avery large proportion re fused, and it immediately became apparent, from the movements, both at Parts and ia tbe army, that he was no lodger safe. Hi* adversaries, who, for his letter, were determined and interested to rnin him, were his judges; and they belonge.d to a party, which was never known to devote a viciun without consummating (he sacrifice. On the 17th of August, therefore, accompanied by three of his general officers, Alexandre Lavretb, Latour Maubourg, and de Puzy, he left tbe army, and tn n ®>w minutes was beyond the limits of 1 ,|hce. His general purpose was, to reach the ter ritory of the repuhlick of Holland, which was quite near; and from that point either rally the old constitutional parly, or pass to Switzerland or the United States, where he should be joined by his family. That he did not leave France, whileflmy hope remained for him, is certain, since before his escape was koown at Paris, a decree, accusing him of high treason, which was then equivalent to an order for his execu tion, was carried in the Assembly by a large majority. Lafayette and his companions hoped to avoid tbe enemy’s posts, but they did not succeed. They were seized the same night by an Austrian patrol, and soon afterwards recognized. They were not treated as pris oner* of war, which was the only quality in which they could have been arrested and detained ; but were exposed to disgraceful indignities, because they had been the friends of the constitution. After beiDg de tained, therefore, a short time by the Aus trians, they were given up to the Prussians, who, because their fortresses were Dearer, were supposed to be able to receive and guard them more conveniently. At first they were confined at Wesel, on the Rhine, and afterwards in dungeons at Magdeburg. But the Prussians at the last became un willing to bear the odium of such unlawful and disgraceful treatment of prisoner* of war, entitled to every degree of respect from their rank and character; but espe cially from the manner in which they had been taken. They, therefore gave them up again to the Austrians,who finally trans ferred them to dark and damp dungeons in the citadel of Olmutz. * It is a singular fact, that in all Lafayette’s speeches and addresses between 1781 and 1782, he hardly once mentioned freedom, without coup ling it with some intimation or injunction to res pect and support publick order. Since that time, the two phrases have been generally united ; but they have not always meant as much as they did when used by Lafayette.