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But, supposing we do, in some measure, Comprehend ihew mcnoing ; ‘us enquire, Have we the same numerical body that we biJjlght with us into the world? Or,can weprnve the identity of our bodies, upon the principles of infidel philosophy, even for fivp minutes together ? 1“ it the same body that dies at thirty, forty, or fifty years of age, that was horn ? We may reverse this question, and a>k, Is it not ihe same body that dies at any giv en period, that was horn ? Every man, as he advances towards dissolution, however he may speculate and philosophize, is in dobitabiy conscious that his body lias never changed its indentity, from his earliest re collection to the present moment. To deny that any human body is the same body , because of the constant change ot its constituent particles, appears to us most absurd. Who ever dreampt, (for it would be no better than dreaming,) that it was not the same body that assisted Dr. John son to compose his ponderous and elaborate dictionary of the English language, because the material atoms with which his lingers were formed, were not the same atoms when he finished, as when he began the work ? No one, we presume, hut a fastidious so phist, would ever dispute that a river which is composed of a confluence of waters, pas sing, for age s , through the same channel, is the same identical river, because the wa ter a are so constantly changing that it would be impossible for any human, not to say any . ngelick, understanding, to recognize the same dr >ps, as having twice ran in the same course, or ihai they will ever, a second time, h im a portion of th; same river. Matter, in all its modifications and com biuauons, is, allowedly, evanescent: and tins being Itu- case, it appears to us, that though it ought he amusing, it would be equally unprofitable to dispute whether the river is the same river, or the banks ot the river the same banks ; as to enter into a learned disquisition upon the identity of the human body, al ihe general resurrec tion: tor although the fleptmg particles, which form the animal frame, may escape the notice of fini’e minds. He that formed (hem all, has ordained ihe destination of every atom ; and. “ The ttine draw* on IVhen no) a single spot of burial earth, Win*.her oil land, or in the spacious sea, But must give hack its long committed dust Inviolate; and faithfully shall these Make up the full account ; uot the least atom Kmhi zzleii, or mislaid, of the whole tale. Kadi si:nl shall have a body ready furnished; And rach shall have his own. ” Peasants, and other persona of slender abilities, who are, by the providence of God. almost wholly engaged in the meni al occupations of life, having neither leis ure nor talents to enter into abstruse met speculations, are, by this very circumstance, legs opposed to the mysteries of Divine truth : and, when their minds are wrought upon hy the Spirit of God, they no longer lean to their own understandings, but rest upon the infinite understanding o! God: so that when the illiterate humble Christian contemplates the mysterious, joy ful subject of the resurrection of his body, at the great day, he is graciously exempt from all perplexity, by simply taking God at Ins word, that so it ghajl be : he asks not, * How are the. dead raised? 1 ’ or, “ with what body he is to meet bi. Lord in the air.” He knows and is assured, that That reared the piece at first, and took it down, Can re assemble the loose scattered parts, And put them as they Were. ” There can be no doubt, to those who believe in the resurrection of our Lord Je su* Christ, that the body, prepared for him in the womb of the virgin which was borr of her at Bethlehem, which lived to be about thirty three years of age, & which at last, died the accursed death of the cross, was the same, body which rose from the tomb. The evidence of this is strikingly re mark ship from the wounds of the nails and the spear remaining unclosed at his appear ance to Thomas and the. other disciples. “ lie saith to Thomas, reach hither thy fingers, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” Forty days after our Redeemer had risen from the dead, having led his disciples to Ilethanv. he lifted up the hands which had been nailed to the cross, and blessed them, and ascended to heaven in the nature he assumed; a cloud receiving him out of ibeir ight. Whatever change the body of the Lord, or the bodies of Enoch aud Elijah, who were translated that they should not see death, might uodergo, to render them suit able for the eternal world ; we can have no reason to suppose that they changed their identity. The great apolle to the Gentiles, in 1 Cor. xv. declares that—“We shall not all .'deep,”— i. e. die, —“but tve shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall he raised incorruptible, and pee —we who am alive and remain,—shall be changed.—And this corruptible must,” —not another,, hut— “ this corruptible must put on incorruptinn, and this mortal must put on immortality.” And, in Phil. iii. 21. Speaking of thr secend coming of our Lord, be says, “ Who shall change our vile body, that it" —our •vile body—“ may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. And, finally, we have the testimony of the same apostle upon the subject in I Tliess. iv. 15. IG, 17. “ For thi we say on so you by the Lord, that we which arp alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, sholl not prevent them which are asleep For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the urch -ngel. and the trump of God: and the de-vl in Christ shall rte first: Then vie winch are alive mid remain, shall be caught tip together with them in the clcunds, to meet Ihe Lord in the air; and so shall tve be ever with the Lord ” T. P. MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN. From Sancho the Proverbialsi. ” A Society of Churchmen, who had for the last century, been engaged, among oth er benevolent designs, in conveying the knowledge of Christianity to Heathen, con vened a meeting near my aunt’s mansion house, to consider the means of extending to about sixty millions of poor idolatrous Hindoos the knowledge of Christianity. Now,whalever religion JJ- wisdom might urge upon so plain a point, mere prudence could not hut be alarmed at an attempt, however quiet, to disturb the creed of sixty millions of people. Accordingly, having entered the assembly, I rose, and to the admiration of my aunt, made the following oration. “ I rise, sir, to oppose the motion which has been submitted to the assembly, on the following ground*: “In the first place, the Hindoos are sav ages, and Christianity was never designed for savages. “ In ihe second place, the religion of the Hindoos is a very good religion—wtiy, then, should we try to change i’ ? “In the third place, their religion has made them excellent dupes for centuries why, then, teach them a religion which is only fit for Europeans? “ In the fourth place, they are sunk so deep itvv ice and mi-ery, that it is impossible to release them from it —why, then, at. tempt it ? “ In the fifth place, who would think of beginning to convert foreign nations, til! we have converted every one of our own peo ple ? “Sixthly, when the time comes for the general conversion of the world, some sign will be sent from heaven to tell us of it. •“ Such, sir, are my reasons for resisting the measure ; and whoever promotes it, and opposes me, is an enthu-iu s t, and an enemy lo the Kmsr. and to the Church of England.” “ Having made my speech, I will own that I expected, as the very smallest return, the loud acclamations ot the astonished clergv. But a most profound silence ensu ed ; till a clergyman, who, I then thought, looked old enough to know better, arose, and thus addressed the assembly : “Instead, sir, of replying directly to the reasonings cf that speaker wtio has preced ed me, I will simply put another case, and request bis decision upon it. Suppose, in stead of the present a-*emMy, a thousand Peruvians were convened ou the hanks of the Amazon, to take into consideration a supplication from the nations of Europe to supply them with that bark of Peru, which is the only known antidote for a very large- 1 class of our diseases. And conceive, if you j will, the preceding speaker, who, I am sure, would be happy to undertake the embas sage, lo he the advocate for these feverish •and aguish nations, to the only possessors of this antidote. Imagine him to arise amidst the tawny multitude, and with much feeling an.-? Vo slats, that at least sixty millions of people depended upon their de termination for health and life. At once, I am persuaded, the cry of that multitude would interrupt ihe pleadings of the orator, | •and one and all would exclaim, “ Give them bark 1 give them bark! and lei noi an Eu ropean perish, whom it is possible for a P ruvian to save.” Thus far all would be well. But conceive, instead of the assero bly being permitted to act upon this benev olent decision, some Peruvian, of an age in which the prevalence of policy or mere prudence over justice and benevolence is: more imeliigible and pardonable, to arise, and thus address his countrymen : 44 Peruvians, you are far too precipitate. Consider, 1 beseech you, the character and circumstances of the person* for whom this privilege is demanded. “ In the first place, they are civilized na tions—they read and write; they sleep in j beds, and ride io coaches ; they w-ar coats and trowsers —who, then, will say that bark’ is meant for such persons as these? v* In the second place, thpir fevers and agues may have many excellencies with which we are unacquainted—why, then, at tempt to cure them ? “In the third place, their fevers and agues assist exceedingly to thin their ar mies—why, then, strengthen them, merely j to destroy ourselves ? 11 Fourthly, those fevers and agues are so deep seated and violent, that i< is impossible to cure them—why, then, attempt it ? “In the fifth place, who would think of curing foreign nations, till we have cured all the sick io Peru ? “ Sixthly, when thp time comes for the general cure of lever and agues, I have no doubt but the Great Spirit will give us some signs from the mountains. “ Such, Peruvians, are my reasons for op posing the wish of the speaker; and who ever promotes it and opposes me, is a mad ! man. and an enemy both to the Incas and ; the Great Spirit.” “Now then,” continued the old clergy man, “supposing the Peruvian Orator thus to reason, I should be glad to know by wha! answer that young gentleman would repel his arguments.” “ He then, to my infinite horrour, sat down, and left me, with the eyes of the as sembly fixed upon me, as if waiting for thy reply; but not having any precisely ready, 1 thought it best to he taken suddenly ill, and to leave the room.” From the Family Visitor. FOLLY OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. The Editors of the National Intelligen cer, in commenting on an engagement of marriage between an Indian at the Foreigu Mission School in Cornwall and a young la dy in that vicinity, makes this extraordina ry assertion: “It is certainly a very unpleasant conse q>n nee of the excessive z at for prnpag* ting the gospel among the heathen, of which, since the days of Ihe Apoßtle9, we doubt whether a single durably beneficial result can be shown.” In regard to the first clause of this qnota licn, it is sufficient to say, the treachery of Arnold was a very unpleasant consequence of the excessive zeal lor establishing civil liberty in these United States. Had we I continued the willing and obedient subjects ’ of his Majesty, Arnold had never betrayed bis country. If the friends of ihe missiona ry cause are responsible for the indiscretion |of a youth, the friends of liberty are like wise responsible for the treachery of Ar nold—a double portion of which must ot 1 course rest upon Washington, La Fayette and Bolivar. I)o the Editors really intend |to maintain such absurdities ? It not, what has this marriage to do null the expedien* !cy or duly of prosecuting the missionary enterprise ? The last clause of the above quotation may be reduced to oue of the lollowmg propositions. i 1. Christianity i® a forgery : 2. The Deity has manifested great folly in ushpriug into the world, with much prep aratnm and solemnity, a religion which is of no value; and has shown himself a liar in declaring it, “ worthy of all acceptation.” 3 The Gospel has never, since thp days of the Apostles, been extended from one country to another nj mi-siouaries. It is mciim'ient on the wriler of the para graph in question, as well as on every oth er person who takes it upon himselt to op pose the cause of missions, to establish ihe truth of one of these propositions. He may make his own selection. If he declines the lask, or is unable to perform it, lei him he ware lest the cause of Christian Missions should prove to be the cause of God, and flourish auit extend, until its sublime and heavenly effects reach from sea to sea, and from the rivi r to the ends of the earth. But independent of the moral effect of the missionary enterprise, it argues no common -bare of wilful bliodueas not to see any beneficial results of a literary na ture. Is it nothing that heathen countries are explored, their geography and geology made Knewu, the manners, and customs, ami government, and religion of their inhabi tants -ascertained, their languages mastered, and their treasures of science and literature Uid open? Is it nothing in a commercial point of view, that the world becomes ac- j quainted with the kind, and extent, and val-: ne of their productions? Is it no benefit to! uncivilized countries to become, acquainted! with the blessings of civil liberty and the free institutions of our country, with the} arts and sciences and language of America ; and Englaod and other civilized countries? Who are translating books into the various languages and dialpcts of the earth? Who ( fill our Journals with valuable information) respecting the interiour of Europe, Pales tine, Persia, India, South America, the So ctety and Sandwich Islands, and the natives of our country ? The very men who, like the apostles, glory in beuig misionarics or the cross, and ire sustained and urged on ; ward, by motives and principles of heavenly j oriffin, through studies and researches, and difficulties under the pressure ot which the heart of any other man would sink. It is a well known fact that the people of this country generally, have, within Ihe last twenty years, obtained more correct and useful information respecting distant coun tries and their inhabitants, ihan in fifty or one. hundred yearn preceding, and that a large portion of this information has been derived from Christian missionaries ! AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. We learn, with pleasure, that the opi-r ation® of this highly important Society are rapidly increasing. The utility of Sunday Schools has been so long tested, and the advantages of religious instruction have been so fully demonstrated, that it would I e a work of supererogation, at this day, to enter into a discussion of either subject. To our hrethrea, especially, with whom the design of Sunday schools originated, we need no’ offer any argument to perse vere in this cause, stronger than the words of holy writ—“ Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.” We hope that they will give to the American Sunday School Union, prompt and steady support. We believe tbattbe business of the Society is conducted on evangelical principles. Thf Board have, at present, 15 Sunday School Missionaries employed in different parts of the United States, and design to in crease the number, as soon as the fund to support them, which is derived solely from the donations of friends , will permit. These missionaries are employed in visiting old schools, forming new ones, in organizing town or country Unions, and in making efforts to increase the funds of the Institu tion Their labours, except in the last particular, have been attended with success. In one county, in Pennsylvania, a roisiopa ry has organized 72 schools, in connexion with the County Union. We understand that the Board are much in want of funds to support this branch of their operations, and depend on the liberality of their Chris tian friends for a supply. The Union have, on (heir catalogue of publications for Sunday schools, 35 books, lessens, &LC. ; about 80 premium books, and 56 tracts. Their new works are princi pally stereotyped; and their presses have, for the last three months, produced an aver age of about 80.000 pages per day Three hundred and forty-three auxiliary socie ties have already joined the Union ; four of which embrace the States of New Hatnp shire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, & Rhode Inland ooe embraces the States of Missou ri and Illinois —one the northern section of the State of Ohio—and three include the schools in the District of Columbia aad its vicinity. .\lt communications on the business of 1 the American Sunday School Union, should be mhlress e*to Mr. Frederick W. Porter, Corresponding Secretary, No. 13, North Fourth-street, Philadelphia. — Col. Star. The Treasurer of the Missionary Society of the Synod ot South Carolina and Georgia, acknowledges the receipt of the following sums for the month of July and Ist of Au gust inclusive, viz: Contribution from the Salem Union Society, per Rev. Mr. Thomas Alexander, $32 00 Charitable Society of do. per Mrs. Angelina Alexander, 8 50 Collection 2d PresbyterianCburcb, monthly Concert Prayer, 20 28 CHAS. O’NEALE, Treasurer. South. Intel. Revivals.—We have before mentioned that a work of Grace was progressing in (he Rosemary and Healing Spring Church es, within the hounds of the Savannah Riv er Association; and we are now rejoiced io state (bat this revival still continues. Up wards of 100 members have been added to each of these churches, and the prospects are yet flattering. —Southern Intel. THE MARINERS’ MAGAZINE, Devoted to ihe moral improvement of seamen, is published weekly, in the city of New York, under the patronage ot the “Society for Promoting the Gospel among Seamen,” and the “ Bethel Union of New York,” at $2 per annum. This publication is the appropriate vehicle ol communica ting Jo the publick the transactions and op eratior.s of the Societies for the promulga tion of ihe gospel among seamen ; and is de signed to diffuse more generally a knowl edge of the past, present, aud relative con duion of this class of our fellow men; t notice the progress andsuccess of the means used for their moral and religious improve meni; to present and advocate their claims upon Christian benevolence, and, in gener al, to make known every thing that may be useful, entertaining, oi interesting, relating to ihe subject. It is believed that the general circulation of this Magazine will, more than any other means, aid and pro mole the benevolent views of the Friends of Seamen, by exciting publick attention, and enlisting in their behalf the sympathies, the contributions, and the prayers of the pious and benevolent. Subscriptions will be received by the Rev. John Truair, at No 14, Cherry street, and by Mr. D. Fan shaw, No 1, Murry street, New York &s*• Editors of Newspapers are respect fully requested to give the above a lew in sertions. Reward of Dishonesty . —The only sailor who perished in the Kent Indiaman, as we learn by the British Sailor’s Magazine, was present in the hold very shortly after the commencement of the fire which destroyed the vessel, when, availing himself of the confusion, he hastened to the cabin of the second mate, forced open the desk, and took from thence 400 sovereigns, which he rolled up in a hankerchief, and tied round his waist ; but in attempting to leap into one of the boats, hp fell short, and the weight of his spoils caused him immediately to sink ! Unhappy sailor, of what avail was his 400 sovereigns when be lifted up hi eyes in an eternal world, and stood belnre a righteous judge as a self convited robber ; What if he had gained the whole world, aud could have put it round him, it would only havp sunk him deeper and quicker into ibe hottomles. pit. How many millions of immortal souls have gone down to this abyss, loaded with ill gotten wealth ! [Seamen’s Magazine. (Extract from Reviews given in N. Orleans pap.) “ Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi and of the River Sangtante , by J. C. Bel- TRAMI The author, although an Italian by birth, has deemed it a duty to the inhabitants of this country, to publish his work in the French language, which is spoken in Lou> isiana, and read over the whole continent of Europe. Under whatever view the work may be considered, it cannot fail to excite puhlick interest. The author after following the whole course of the Ohio and of the Mississippi as far as Fort St. Antho ny, continued his journey in a north west direction, to the source of the river St. Pe ters ; he then shaped his course to the norih, and penetrating immense deserts, amid an extensive wilderness where scarcely aves tige of man can be found, and where nature, accustomed to the most profound silence, was probably interrogated for the first time, he reached Lord Selkirk’s settlement. His work contains a rapid sketch of the origin, progress and present situation, ot that colony, as well as of the North West and Hudson Bay Companies. After the necessary delay to procure all the informa tion relative to that Settlement, he ascend ed the River Sanglante up to its source ; prosecuting his researches, he found on the highest land of North America, a small riv ulet of limpid water, which ran slowly among reeds and wild rice growing in its bed; he launched upon it in a small canoe of bark, (which had borne him on the riv er Langlanle,) descended the Mississippi in all its extent, a thing never accomplished before ; k after a journey of one thousand leages reached the city of New Orleans. 41 It is a remarkable circumstance, that all the discoveries in the western world, have been made by Italians —Columbus, Americ Vespuce, Cabot, Verassani. At the same time that Mr. Beltrami, actuated by the noble enthusiasm which inspired these Tl illustrious then, was penetrating Hudson Bay, discovering the sources ot the M'-sis sippi, and the communication between th® Icy Ocean aod the Gulph of Mexico, anoth er Italian, celebrated in Europe, Mr. Bel zoni, was visiting Africa, and ascending the Niger. In ancient times the Romans over run the world, as conquerors, hi and dictated laws to nations —at present, their deceud ants, groaning under the yoke of ho*e bar barians, so well depicted by Tacitus, cross the seas, and penetrate to the most distant regions, for the purpose of enriching the. world and benefiting mankind by tbeir dis coveries and observations. “li may truly be said, that Mr. Beltra mi's work is the only one giving a full ac count ot the Mi-sissippi, and of the trilus living on its banks. Before he discovered the real sources of that magnificent river, many were given, which were merely its outlets. The White Bear Lake, the Leech Lake, the Red Cedar Lake, were disputing with each other the honour of being ihe source of the finest river in the world. a< and Messrs. Bike and Shoolcraft that of hal ing discovered it. When we reflect that a stranger, assisted only by a few interpre ters, has done more alone, than all the ex peditions, undertaken at great expense t>v government —When we think of the dan gers to which he has been the (oils and fatigues he has endured, ob stacles of all kinds which he had to Sur mount, to achieve such an undertaking, we canuot help admiring Ihe perseverance and courage of that distinguished individual, re grelling at the same lime that the glorv of the enterprise does not belong to one of our own citizens. MOUNT ZION, MONDAY, AUG.ITi, USfiT That branch of political economy which refutes to the education of youth has not been sufficient ly studied. Men of talents capable of investiga ting the subject, have generally been so engrossed in other pursuits, as not to give it the attention which it deserves. Legislators, though the sub ject lias been frequently before them, have cast upon it only a hasty glance—felt something of its importance, and under the impulse of present conviction ralher than of settled principle, have dipped their hands into the treasury, and thrown its money promiscuously abroad ; aud tins too, apparently without calculating upon any perma nent benefit as the result of their beneficence. Iu some states, however, the publick mind lias re ceived a proper direction on this subject, and while they have patronized with a dignified libe rality, their Academical and Collegiate Institu tions, they have not forgotten to extend their fos tering care to common schools ; and have placed them upon such a foundation, Ibid. none are so poor as to be deprived of the means of instruction. It is a noble object. It speaks volumes in their praise. But whether any system extant—wheth er that on which the common schools of Connec ticut, or New York, are established, could be adopted in all its length and breadth in this State, may very properly be a subject of inquiry. This, however, would lead us into more lengthened de tails than we are prepared to make. A few has ty remarks on the policy which has hitherto been pursued, together with a brief description of our situation, and a suggestion of a plan which, in our opinion, might be successfully adopted, must for the present suffice. It is a principle upon which our Legislators have acted (and we feel no disposition to censure their doings) to distribute their favours with an impartial hand. A strict adherence to this rule has prevented publick patronage from being ex tended to local Institutions. Whatever may have been their wants, or their claims, assistance has not been rendered them only as they have shared in common with others, what has been generally bestowed. As this is the policy which has been uniformly pursued, it may be considered so far established, as to render any efforts to obtain the patronage of the State for particular Institutions futile. The College, however, is an exception, and is not embraced in these general remarks. There is, it must be acknowledged, a wide dif ference between different sections of the State as it relates tt> the advantages of Education. Some Counties, and those not a few, whose population is thin and scattered, and oven many neighbour hoods in the more thickly inhabited Counties find it impossible to keep up a school, where only the first rudiments of Education are taught. Wealthy families can send their children abroad, or they ran hire private Instructed—but the people are generally poor where schools are most wanted. Pome of them could contribute their share to wards the support of a school consisting of thirty or forty scholars, if it were in their vicinity ; but many are too poor ever for that. But from the state of our population, it is impossible to bring a school to every man’s door; and many must be deprived of the advantages of a common Educa tion, unless some means shall be adopted different from any that have heretofore been proposed. Even were Ihe State to establish schools in some of our Counties,at the distance-of ten miles, from each other, and make the Instruction gratuitous, a dozen scholars could not be obtained for each. It has made provision for the poor by setting apart a very considerable fund for their Education, and I by adopting rules by which its distribution shall |be regulated. Yet we have not discovered any practical benefit resulting from its liberality. Whether its failure of affecting the object for which it was designed, consists in the laws regu lating the appropriation, or in the want of efficien cy on the part of the people, we cannot tell. It may be both. That there is a defect somewhere many of our politicians have seen and acknowledged—but they have not been able to point out the remedy. The question then is, what general mode can be adopted which shall give to the poor, the means of a common Education. What plan promises a permanent and practical result? But one method suggests itself to us, and that is ipterweven wi'h the ever active principle cf