Our author supposes that "the prophecy by Ezekiel, (ch. xxxviii., xxxix.) of the invasion of Gog and Magog, received its general fulfilment in the state of the Jewish church, at the time of the Lord's appearing in the world ;" and that the prediction of Christ's second coming in the clouds of heaven, "means, that the Lord, who is the Divine Truth itself, will discover himself, or impart a just knowledge concerning himself and the things of his kingdom, by opening the literal sense of the holy word, and disclosing its spiritual contents." pp. 202, 245. Consequently, as we must conclude, the publication of the volume before us is a fulfilment, in part, of this awful prediction; and the Lord Jesus is now actually coming in the clouds of heaven!! The zeal of Mr. Noble for the spiritual sense of Scripture leads him in some instances to disparage very injuriously the literal sense. It should be added also, that he makes a distinction among the sacred books, pretending that a considerable portion of either Testament is not furnished with the secondary sense, and consequently is not in a full degree inspired. See Appendix, p. 29. 2 A Discourse on the occasion of forming the African Mission School Society, delivered in Christ Church, in Hartford, Conn., on Sunday Evening, Aug. 10, 1828. By J. M. Wainwright, D. D. Rector of Grace Church, New York. Hartford, H. & F. J. Huntington. pp. 24. This Discourse is marked by great simplicity, and warm feeling, regulated by sound sense. The author seems aware of the difficulty attending the emancipation of the blacks, and to be of the opinion, to which we must all come at last, that liberty is not to be attained in a day, and that, could it be so acquired, men would be poorly fitted for the enjoyment of it. The object of the Society before which the Discourse was delivered, seems to imply the same;-it is for the education and improvement of the blacks in this country, for the purpose of carrying religion and civilization into Africa. We also think that, though slavery will and must be modified in this country before long, yet it is to the growth of a great, moral, intelligent, well regulated nation of free blacks in Africa, that we are to look for the complete abolishment of slavery. It is the influence that such a nation will have upon the world, that must work this final change. The writer of the Discourse reminds us, of the Eastern States, that we were once slaveholders, and that it was probably as much owing to our climate, as to our conscientious scruples, that slavery was abolished amongst us. We have no inclination to make apologies for those who consider slaves as only so much property, which they are determined to hold, right or wrong; nor are we inclined to give in to the doctrine of those who are so eloquent upon the happiness of the blacks, and their freedom from care. This very freedom from care is no small part of the degradation and curse that weigh upon them. And as for their happiness; there is a nobler happiness-that of a free body and free mind. Yet, having seen the evil, let us say the sin of 70 VOL. I. such a state, in our eagerness to remedy it, we may not have enough considered, whether we were not, through our hurry, in danger of bringing in even greater misery. We are, however, becoming more patient, though, we trust, not less determined or hearty in the great cause. We are now aware that it will require time, and general and steady effort. This state of the public mind should give us confidence; for impetuosity is sure to meet with disappointment; and disappointment to the impetuous is ever followed by indifference or despair. Reformers are very apt to act as if they thought God's method of working was too slow, and that they must take the conduct of affairs into their own hands. This grows out of that ardent confidence which belongs to reforming spirits. But God humbles them, and teaches them not to depend so much upon their good arm of flesh. And he sees proper to carry forward slowly his changes in the world, that his creatures may be the better fitting for them. Let us not, then, be cast down. Great and continued effort is good for us. However slowly the work may go on, and however frequently, for a time, it may be brought to a stand, forward it must and shall go; for God has said it. "Now, my brethren, in the contemplation of this, may we not feel encouraged to place a full trust in the words of prophecy? But what do I say? Trust in the words of prophecy! Dare we distrust them? Whose words are they? Whose Spirit pronounced them? Whose veracity is staked upon them? Whose power is put forth to accomplish their execution? No, my brethren, we dare not distrust the words of prophecy. As surely as the waters of the ocean reach from pole to pole, and from continent to continent, so surely will the knowledge of the Lord make its way to all kindreds, and nations, and people, and wheresoever it makes its way, so surely will it promote peace on earth, and good will towards men." pp. 16, 17. We are glad to find Dr. Wainwright, throughout this Discourse, resting the improvements of all man's powers and relations upon the religion of the Gospel. It seems strange, that in a Christian community we should need to express ourselves thus. But so it is; there are those who think they deserve well of their Master, and are paying his system a high compliment, when they tell their fellow men, that it has shown itself equal to keeping up with the march of their minds! This comes of that intellectual pride, which talks as if it was reason that was improving Christianity, rather than Christianity which was bringing man's intellect out of twilight and shadows into its own clear and broad light. Notwithstanding our pride and perversity, it is doing this. The influences of the Gospel are breaking out, like so many lights, upon the ends of the earth; and the sword of the Spirit is drawn, and it will be lifted to slay, till Christ shall reign king of nations. 3. A Discourse preached in the Centre Church in New Haven, Aug. 27, 1828, at the Funeral of Jehudi Ashmun, Esq., Colonial Agent of the American Colony at Liberia. By Leonard Bacon. With the Address at the grave, by R. R. Gurley. New Haven, Hezekiah Howe. pp. 36. This Discourse is founded on the interrogation of Judas Iscariot, when "Mary, the sister of Lazarus, had anointed the feet of her Lord with very precious ointment, and wiped them with her hair, and poured the ointment on his head, so that the house was filled with the odor of the ointment:"To what purpose is this waste?' The design of the Discourse, so far as it is doctrinal, is to shewfrom the example of our Puritan ancestors, and revolutionary heroes, and from the more authoritative example of Christ, and "the goodly company of the apostles"-that "there are some objects, for the attainment of which men may sacrifice their lives," as the lamented Ashmun did his for Africa," and at the same time deserve, on that very account, our highest veneration." This point is briefly but very happily illustrated; and the remainder of the Discourse, with the Address at the grave, and the Appendix, is filled up, in delineating the character of the deceased, and in detailing some of the leading events of his history. We are happy to learn that "a Memoir of the life of Mr. Ashmun is expected, from one well fitted for the work." This Discourse is exceedingly well written, and will be read, where read at all, with interest and profit. We give the following, as a specimen of the author's manner, and with a view to spread information of what has actually been accomplished by the American Colony on the coast of Africa. "Do you ask, to what purpose has he (Mr. Ashmun) died? I would that we could stand together on the promontory of Montserado, and see what has been accomplished by those toils and exposures, which have cost this man his life. Hard by, we might see the island, where, a few years since, there was a market for the slave-trade. To that place, crowds of captives were brought every year, and there they were sold like beasts of burthen. From that place, they were consigned to the unspeakable cruelties of thronged and pestilential slave-ships; and those whom death released not in their passage across the Atlantic, went into perpetual slavery. At that time, this cape was literally consecrated to the devil; and here the miserable natives, in the gloom of the dark forest, offered worship to the evil spirit. All this was only a few years ago. And what see you now? The forest that had crowned the lofty cape for centuries, has been cleared away; and here are the dwellings of a civilized and intelligent people. Here are twelve hundred orderly, industrious and prosperous freemen; who were once slaves, or in a state of degradation hardly preferable to bondage. Here are schools, and courts of justice, and lo! the spire which marks the temple dedicated to our God and Saviour-strange landmark to the mariner that traverses the seas of Africa. Here, for a hundred miles along the coast, no slave-trader dares to spread his canvass; for the flag that waves over that fortress, and the guns that threaten from its battlements, tell him that this land is sacred to humanity and freedom. Is all this nothing? Is it nothing to have laid on a barbarous continent, the foundation of a free and Christian empire? This is the work in which our friend has died." p. 14. 4. Parallel between Intemperance and the Slave-Trade. An Address delivered at Amherst College, July 4, 1828. By Heman Humphrey, D. D., President of the College. Amherst, J. S. and C. Adams. pp. 40. In the introductory part of this Address, the author observes, "I have long thought, that a great advantage might be gained, by comparing intemperance with some other terrible scourge of humanity, which has fallen under deep and universal reprobation. Such a scourge is the African slavetrade; and the position which I mean to take is this, that the prevalent use of ardent spirits in the United States, is a worse evil at this moment, than the slavetrade ever was, in the height of its horrible prosperity." p. 6. In support of this alarming position, Dr. H. observes, and we think shews, that the aggregate of misery resulting from intemperance is greater than that occasioned by the slave-trade; and that intemperance exceeds slavery in the guilt with which it stains; in the hazard which it brings to our free institutions; and in the destruction of immortal souls. After a full and eloquent discussion of these several particulars, the Address is concluded with a number of inferences, in which is exhibited the duty of rulers, of magistrates, and the sober part of the community generally; and in which the inconsistency, not only of drunkards, but of retailers, distillers, and moderate drinkers, and indeed of all who will not "gird themselves up to the great work of reform," is strongly set forth. We would gladly publish this Address entire, could it be brought, with propriety, within our limits. And not only so, were the scheme practicable, we would call on every periodical in the United States to follow our example, that its strong voice might be heard, and its influence felt, throughout the land. As it is, we must content ourselves, though we hope we shall rather excite than satisfy the interest of our readers, by extracting a single page. In comparing intemperance with slavery, in regard to the pain which it brings to the conscience, Dr. H. remarks, "Whatever bodily torture the slave may be compelled to endure, he has a clear conscience. He did not sell himself. He never lacerated his own flesh, nor plucked the bread out of his own mouth. Poor and half naked, indeed he is, but not by his own fault. In bondage he must wear out his life, but he did not forge and rivet his own chains, nor thrust himself into the dungeon which conveyed him to market. If his parents died with grief after he left them, he was not the guilty cause of it. If his wife has sunk down by his side, with a broken heart, gladly would he have saved her if he could. If his children are as wretched and hopeless as himself, it is not through his voluntary agency. Of all this guilt he stands acquitted at the bar of conscience. He can lie down in his cabin and be at rest. "But how is it with the bond-slave of intemperance? What tormentor was ever so fierce and relentless as a guilty conscience? I know it is possible to silence her voice for a season. But in most cases she maintains a long and desperate struggle in his bosom. She upbraids him with the guilt of wasting his property, sacrificing his health, blasting his character, destroying his usefulness, disgracing his friends, violating his connubial vows, entailing poverty and infamy upon his children, and ruining his own soul. When thus maddened by her whip of scorpions, he flies to his cups for relief, she but intermits her tortures, to renew them the first moment that returning reason brings him within her reach, and scourges him back again to the very brink of desperation. Again he plunges, deeper than ever, in the oblivious flood, and again emerges to feel the dreadful renewal of her stripes, and perhaps the next mo‐ ment to rush into a burning eternity. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?' "Rarely indeed, I believe, does the drunkard, with all his pains, free himself entirely from the compunctious visitings of his conscience. She knows how to make her terrible voice heard even in the midst of his revelry. She enters before him into his sick chamber, with her thorns for his pillow-takes her stand by his bed-side, on purpose to terrify him with her awful forebodings and rebukes; and when the king of terrors comes, she anticipates his entrance into the dark valley, that she may there haunt his soul with undying horrors. Now what, I pray you, is African slavery in its most terrific forms, compared with this? The mere sting of an insect, compared with the fangs of a tiger—the slight inconvenience of a ligature, contrasted with the live and crushing folds of the Boa Constrictor. Drag me bound and bleeding, if you will, from my blazing habitation-thrust me half dead into the fetid hold of any slave-ship— sell me to any foreign master-doom me to labor in any burning climate-set over me any iron-hearted driver-load me with any chains, and compel me to toil night and day in any sugar-house ;-but deliver me not over to the retributions of a conscience, exasperated by the guilt of intemperance! O bind me not to a rack where I can neither live nor die under the torture!" pp. 20-22. 5. The Christian Almanac, for New England; for the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1829. Boston, Lincoln & Edmands. pp. 36. We notice thus early this little manual, that we may apprize our readers of its existence, and assure them that it contains its usual quantity and variety of instructive, interesting, and profitable matter. There is not a page of it, which does not contain some useful information, and not a sentiment expressed in it, to which the most conscientious friend of God and man would not willingly subscribe. How different this from some of the Almanacs in common use! And how desirable that the circulation of this truly religious manual, which is already very great, should be extended more and more! Near the close of it there is an article, entitled, "The Cost of Intemperance," prepared by Mr. Sidney E. Morse of New York. After discussing the subject under several particulars, Mr. Morse sums up the result of his investigations in the following appalling bill of charge, which, with a very little alteration, we lay before our readers. "The People of the United States to Intemperance, Dr. 28,000,000 53,760,000 7,500,000 unknown, but immense. To the support of 150,000 paupers, made so by intemperance, To the ruin of at least 30,000 and probably 48,000 souls annually, incalculable. infinite! unspeakable! To loss by the premature death of 30,000 persons in the prime To losses from the carelessness and mismanagement of in- Certain pecuniary loss, (in round numbers,) 30,000,000 unknown, but very great. $120,000,000 infinite! eternal! Thus it appears that, independently of items which cannot be estimated, our country pays or loses at the rate of One Hundred and Twenty Millions of dollars per annum, by Intemperance! This sum is five times as large as the revenue of the United States' government-it would pay off our national debt in six months-it would build twelve such canals as the Grand Erie and Hudson Canal, every year—it would support a navy four times as large as that of Great Britain-it is sixty times as much as the aggregate income of all the principal religious charitable societies in Europe and America-it would supply every family on earth with a Bible in eight months-it would support a missionary or teacher among every two thousand souls on the globe!-How prosperous might this country be,-what blessings might it confer upon the world, if it were only relieved from the curse of Intemperance!" |