A DAY IN THE MINISTRY. 299 have embraced the Gospel of Christ, and committed, their idol gods to the flames. During our visit to this secluded neighborhood, the settlers related to us an incident of a truly touching character. It related to the conduct and death of a former wife of my interpreter, who had died some two years before of a lingering consumption; and who is said to have made considerable advancement in civilized housekeeping, a thing which rarely precedes the Gospel of Christ and regeneration. For months preceding her death, she assumed a solemn and melancholy demeanor, which was uncommon to her. Her husband not being enlightened upon the character of her disease, and by Kesha-Muneto.* I then detailed with minuteness the history of the creation of the first man, and how, that when formed, he was good, holy, and happy; and that Kesha-Muneto placed him and the first woman in a delightful garden filled with the most delicious fruits, and beautiful birds and beasts, and every thing which they could want to perpetuate their bliss; that they had remained here for a number of moons, enjoying the company of the birds and beasts, which were tame and under their command, and worshiping their Creator, when Manshe-Muneto, whom they worshiped, came into the garden and persuaded them to disobey their Maker and break his rules; and that in breaking these rules they became wicked at the heart, and were driven { incapable of appreciating the state of her mind, was out of the garden into the world, where their chil-perplexed to account for this conduct. And what dren became wicked like themselves; and as all men to him was still more singular, at this period, day had come from them, they were all wicked even to after day, she would retire from her lodge and repair the present time. I declared to them that this was to the margin of the river, where she would seat the reason of their wickedness, and the cause of herself upon the grass or a rock, and for hours gaze their fighting, quarreling, wars, bloodshed, and deaths upon the gliding waters. These visits to the river of every description; and had this event never taken were continued until within a short period of her place, the children before them would still be alive. death, and caused her husband and neighbors to To make this impressive and intelligible, I drew an suspect that she intended terminating her existence illustration from a new vessel, which, when first by drowning. The news of this strange conduct of made, was pure, good, and bright, and resembled the chief's wife, at length, reached the neighborhood man when created by his Maker; but that the vessel of whites, and excited some curiosity, and was the was bruised and rendered unclean by the devil, and, means of leading an aged Christian female to visit in this condition, it resembled man in his present her, to ascertain, if possible, the cause which induced fallen and wicked state, with his filthy and mad her to act so strangely. And how providential was heart. Here I introduced the economy of purifying this visit! She went as the messenger of mercy, to and saving mercy. I told them about the Father bear to the poor, dying woman the tidings of salvagiving his Son, whom he loved, and who had lived tion to be her instructor in the mysteries and merwith him for ever, to save man from his sins, and cies of the kingdom of heaven. She learned that that the Son had come into the world and become these oft-repeated visits to the river's brink, and her like one of us, and had suffered, and died, and gone solitude, was caused by a desire to renounce her back to heaven, that all men might be saved; told heathenism, become a Christian, and be baptized in them what they must do to be saved; described the the Christian faith before her death. And though kingdom of heaven, and the happiness we should she frankly made known her wants to this Christian enjoy when all the good from every land, and tribe, female, on account of the enmity borne by her and tongue should meet together in peace in that neighbors to the white man and his religion, she had bright country. been afraid to divulge her purposes to them or her husband. But she found mercy! This pious messenger instructed her in the way of salvation, and light from the cross broke into her benighted soul, before she went hence to her newly discovered home. No minister was to be obtained, and the only baptism she received, was that of the Spirit. But where is the devoted itinerant, who, on being apprised of the circumstances, would not have journeyed a thousand miles to administer to her the ordinance of baptism, and point her to his Savior and Redeemerto hold up to her astonished gaze, the cross and the crown! She died in the triumphs of her new faith. Her spirit rejoiced as it broke loose from its frail tenement, and, unfettered, and newly purified, ascended to the bosom of its glorified Redeemer. O, what a change from the wigwam of the deep-shaded forest to a throne in heaven, and its surrounding glories!— At this point, the voice of my interpreter faltered for a moment, a tender chord of the soul had been touched; and as I glanced upon him, I saw that the tear had started from his eye and began to course its way down his manly cheek. The scene for a few minutes was exciting and deeply interesting. Many of the whites wept; the Indians appeared to be astonished, and the beloved companion, who had accompanied me praised God aloud for his goodness in giving his Son to save a lost world. Our services having closed, we commended them to the parent of mercies, trusting that the seed sown would produce good fruit unto His praise and glory, and our hopes and prayers have been realized. Under the labors of a missionary, who has since visited them, they *The Good Spirit. Great Evil Spirit. 300 ANTIQUITY OF THE BIBLE. from the dark orgies of devil worship, to the halleluiahs and thanksgivings of Gabriel and Abraham, and the hosts of the upper sanctuary! Yet this signified naught to her relatives and friends; and in the place of their chanting a solemn melody of Zion, and shedding the tear of Christian sympathy and regret over her grave, they performed the mystic mummeries of their devil worship. But this affected not her spirit: it had escaped from these dark scenes, as well as its frail tenement, and gone up to everlasting glory. But, judging from what we saw and heard on the day of our visit, the hour may come, when this broken tribe of the sons of the forest may bow as meekly, as did this ascended saint, before the feet of their Redeemer. And, my countrymen, as we have taken from them their lands and homes, let us at least hasten to give them that Gospel, which is the testament of God to an inheritance far better. "What is this world? A wildering maze, Where sin hath track'd ten thousand ways, Her victims to ensnare; All broad, and winding, and aslope, Millions of pilgrims throng those roads, Down to eternal night: ONE humble path, that never bends, Is there a guide to show that path? The Bible, need not stray: THE first instance of a revelation committed to writing is that of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, written on tables of stone by the finger of God: (Exodus xxxi, 18.) The Divine Being has been pleased to give, from age to age, such portions of the sacred Scriptures to mankind, as he saw they needed. They were completed in the space of about fifteen hundred years. Moses was the first writer, who wrote what is called the Pentateuch, which embraces the first five books in the Bible. Moses probably commenced writing the Pentateuch about 1493 years B. C., soon after the promulgation of the law on Mount Sinai. This portion of the sacred writings begins at the creation of the heavens and the earth, gives an account of the cretion and fall of man, the history of the first inhabitants of the world, the origin of nations, the call of Abraham, the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, the remarkable events connected with the journeyings of the Israelites for forty years, and brings down the history to about eight days after the death of Moses. The last chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives an account of the death and burial of Moses, was probably detached from the book of Joshua, and should constitute the first chapter of that book. This chapter was probably written by Joshua. Moses died 1457 years B. C. Hence the five books of Moses (if we except the book of Job) contain the oldest writings now extant. The book of Joshua is properly a continuation of the book of Deuteronomy, and brings down the history of the Israelites and the wonderful dealings of God with them to the death of Joshua, which took place 1443 years before the Christian era. The book of Job, according to Archbishop Magee, was originally written by Job, and subsequently transcribed by Moses. Whoever may have been the author, it bears a very ancient date. David was the author of most of the Psalms; hence, he is sometimes called "the sweet singer of Israel." He died B. C. 1014. Solomon, his son and successor, was undoubtedly the author of the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Solomon's Songs. He died B. C. 975. The books of the prophets were unquestionably written by those whose names they bear. The first four books are called the four greater prophets, on account of the size of their books, and the extent and importance of their prophecies. The remaining twelve are called the twelve minor prophets, on account of the smallness of their respective books. All the books of the prophets were written between the years 839 and 425 B. C., during the space of about four hundred years. men. Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Esther, were probably compiled by Ezra out of the journals, which contained an account of events as they passed, kept by the Scribes and other eminent The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written near the close of the Old Testament history. Ezra, the Scribe, is allowed by the universal consent of antiquity, to have restored, collected, and published the canon of the Old Testament Scriptures, which had before existed only in separate parcels, and had suffered much from the ignorance and carelessness of transcribers. He collected and arranged the books of the Old Testament nearly in the order we now find them. This work of collecting and arranging the Jewish Scriptures was probably done about 450 years B. C. All the books of the New Testament were written before the year 97 of the Christian era. From the above synopsis of the antiquity of the Scriptures, we learn that they contain the oldest writings extant. No other writings, with which we are acquainted, claim so high an antiquity, and certainly none have equal claims to our attachment and veneration. As to their genuineness there can be no HOLINESS. doubt. He that would doubt it, may, with as much propriety, doubt the genuineness of the works of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Varo, and other profane authors. Who that carefully peruses these ancient records, can but behold the wisdom and goodness of God in their miraculous preservation, and in handing them down through successive ages, for our instruction and salvation? What could we do without them? They are a "lamp to our path, a light to our feet." They are pouring a stream of light on this dark and benighted world. They are destined to point millions of Adam's race, now groping in darkness, famishing with want, and increasing in wickedness, to the blood-stained cross of Christ, and to an unending rest in heaven. The highly gifted Byron, though an infidel, exclaims "Within this awful volume lies HOLINESS. BY THE EDITOR. THE Bible is the most poetical of books. It is full of beautiful imagery. Its figures are drawn from the whole compass of nature, and from all the ordinary and familiar works of art. Its style is transparent as the light. Although many of its allusions 301 Another sun shines they are travelers, winding their way along the narrow but flowery path of life, or, with greater ease and enjoyment, walking up the glorious highway of heaven, which was cast up through the wilderness for the ransomed of the Lord. down upon them. Other stars deck the firmament above them. Other flowers shed their fragrance for their spiritual sense, and notes, sweeter than angels' songs, compose the chorus of their heavenly delight. And it is beautiful to see how all the fine images of language and fancy are made to illustrate the life and character of Him, who is not only the author, but the finisher of our faith. He is the chief among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. To the poor way-worn traveler, he is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. To the Christian warrior, he is a mighty bulwark and tower. To the fallen and cast down, he is a city of refuge, ready to receive the last one that flies for succor to him. To the young and happy, he is a crown of rejoicing-to the aged, a rod and a staff of easy grasp to the tremulous hand. To the hungry; he is the bread of heaven the true manna that cometh down from on high. He is light to the blind, health to the sick, an open door to the houseless poor, and a fountain of unfailing water to the fainting, famishing soul. In short, without quoting the exact terms of Scripture, he is the great Logos of God, the Word that utters the mind of divinity to man, that reveals man to him self, and imparts to him a language for his intercourse with the skies. They that wait upon the Lord, namely, his waiters-those who stand nearest to him, who watch his are now obscure, they are obscure only from the ig-motions, and wait upon his wishes-those familiar, household, body servants, who never lose sight of their divine Master, who dwell under his own roof, and in his special presence-these shall renew their strength-they shall mount up with wings as eaglesthey shall run and not be weary-they shall walk and not faint. They shall mount up. Their souls shall attain to a noble elevation, far above the degra norance of the reader. Its illustrations of the glorious topics which crowd its pages are the most varied, apt, and, I may say, classical, of any in the entire range of the world's literature. All the emblems of the imagination, all the pictures of a glowing fancy, all the figures of a chaste and subdued rhetoric, and all the flowers and refined sweetness of poesy, are exhausted by the inspired penmen, to limnding pleasures and low occupations of ordinary the beauties of Christianity, and set off the raptures of devotion. And yet there is but one special topic, after all, connected with the system of our holy religion, upon which all the powers of language, and all the Imethods of illustration are concentrated. That choice subject is the doctrine of holiness. Those who have been completely restored from the fall, whose natures are filled with the fruit and power of faith, are sometimes represented as standing on an everlasting rock, while every thing around them is crumbling to atoms. They are compared to ships at sea, which, when the tempest gathers, or when the winged storm drives in melancholy fury over the billowy world, stand safely at their anchors, and survive the last wave that threatens them. Sometimes minds. The holy Christian rises in spirit far above the little transitory objects of common life. He gets a broad and commanding view of the works and ways of man. He sees the conflicting principles, interests, and conduct of mankind, and takes a bird's eye glance of the fading glories of all terrestrial things. He fails not, surveying as he does the wide field of time, to obtain for himself a more correct estimate of the real value of the different pursuits and characters of men. But the holy Christian not only mounts up-he mounts up with wings. He might ascend by climbing. He might reach a lofty elevation by hard and laborious toiling. But, like one flying in his dreams, with all the ease conceivable, he rises upward, and soars away at pleasure. He ascends not only easily, but rapidly. How swift is the flight of birds! From some projecting crag on the ocean shore-from some lofty limb of å dry and barren beech or oak, with what great rapidity rises the bold bird of heaven in his sublime towering! So soars the Christian, whose wings of faith are full-fledged and ready for their work. His motion is also regular. The air has no rocks, nor hills, nor other impediments. It yields to the slightest force. The Christian, like the bird, has only to keep his pinions waving, and with constant ascent he reaches the loftiest elevation. And what is more beautiful-what truer image of rapturous delight, than a bird on the wing! Shall I tell you? It is a holy spirit, a redeemed immortal, upward bound, soaring away toward the realms of eternal light! But the holy Christian not only mounts up-and mounts up with wings-but with wings as eagles. And how mounts the eagle? I answer, fearlessly. The eagle is the king of birds. God has given him the powers and principalities of the air. And, also, so soon as he reaches his native element, nothing earthly can alarm him. Far above the reach of rifle shot or arrow's barb, he looks down upon all the machinations of the prostrate world. But his flight is not limited by mere personal safety. He takes delight in soaring-soaring for its own sake. We are told by ancient writers, that the eagle of more southern latitudes, where the feathered as well as animal tribes reach the highest physical perfection, mounts up so high as to give being and almost basis for the fable of his continuing upward to the If later ornithologists speak the truth, the fable consists only in supposing that he reaches it; for it is said that there is strong proof, from recent observations, of the eagle's fixing his eye upon that glorious light, and pressing his ambitious flight onward and upward many successive hours. sun. All this illustrates the life of one perfectly restored from sin. The air, with its spiritual powers and principalities, has no alarm for him. The God he serves sits upon the circle of the heavens-walks upon the blast and whirlwind, and directs the storm. Nor is it in the power of man to do him harm. He has passed the wide limits of his ire. God causes him to soar and triumph over all he sees; and, as the joyous eagle mounting upward for the bare delight of mounting, rises and towers the happy spirit in its flight to God. It is not the natural sun upon which he fastens his eye, but that spiritual light that gives day to the moral world. On that he fixes his gaze, and, like the bold eagle, turning to neither right nor left, he goes upward for the mere love of going, each day, each hour, approaching nearer and nearer to the bright world above. necessary result. Revelation is far above nature. Nature can go along with revelation a little way; and so far as they do walk together they go hand in hand; but there always comes a period, when revelation must pursue her sublime path alone. So we find it now. The eagle mounts up-he soars very high-he goes beyond the reach of man-he gets into a world peculiarly his own, where he has nothing in the world to fear-he even sets his mark upon the sun; but, poor bird, he must return from his lofty journey, and seek rest for his weary wing. ́ But not so with man-redeemed, sanctified, heavenbound man. Man was not made for earth. Heaven is his native home. Striving to reach that home, ascent, and not descent, is his established law. He belongs to that celestial world, whose inhabitants can run and not be weary-can walk and not faint. The more he labors, the more he renews his strength; for every stroke of his towering wing, he receives new vigor in return; and when, through much soaring, he reaches the bright world of glory, he sits down among the heavenly inhabitants invigorated and refreshed. WHEN I DIE. BY REV. G. H. M'LAUGHLIN. THERE sits a sweet little girl, only four years old, seated beside her attentive father, near a spacious window, which admits the gentle zephyrs of a summer eve, perfumed with the various odors of rich and various flowers, which adorn the retired domicil. I seem to see the delicate fingers of the breeze brush back her flowing ringlets, as if to say to the loving father, "Behold thy beautiful daughter," and to her tutelar attendants, "Kiss the cheek of innocence and beauty." And though her eye is gently turning, and is occasionally fixed upon some gorgeous flower, and though, in miniature, this eye appears to reflect a perfect picture of the domestic elysium; and though the ear be attuned to the rich melody of sportive birds, as, in joyous glee, they pass from bough to bough among the shrubbery; and though the odors minister to vivifying and delicious sensation, yet this young mind, conscious of its own superiority, is cogitating on scenes of immortality. The music of earth gives only the keynote to the heavenly anthem. The beauty of earth only inspires the beauty of heaven. The flavor of flowers and forests coming, as well unseen from these as those, seem to say to her, that there are superior spiritual scenes and sensations, which shall develop, delight, and mature your mental and moral powers; and the perfect happiness of your whole being shall be consummated in perpetual and progressive beatitude. How swelled the father's sympathetic soul, and glowed his admiring mind, while WHEN I DIE. gazing on that angelic form! Peculiar child of peculiar father-in cast of mind, the reproduction of himself. Here was perfect sympathy. And now, strange to tell, amidst this lovely scene of life, a thought of death breaks the "expressive silence." Says the sweet girl, "Father, when I die, they will not bury me in the ground, but they will place me upon the piano, and cover me over with flowers, and mother will come and sit by me always." O, what words are these from infant lips! Health, the scene, and circumstances, would seem calculated to inspire thoughts and wishes about continued life. Yet these sweet words, like those of inspiration, give thoughts of death. The Holy Spirit inspired them, the scene impressed them, and those sweet lips, now closed in the long sleep of the grave, gave them utterance. Ah! what did she say? "When I die." As much as to say, "Beautiful as is this rural spot, and beatifying as is the place, collating all the felicity of an earthly home,' here--the place of my nativity, and here, where you tell me, three short years ago, amidst conjugal festivities, I was dedicated to the Lord in holy baptism-here I must die, leaving with you only this little body, which, being dust, will return to dust as it was; but my happy spirit will go to God that gave it.' 'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away.' 303 figurative and literal language of her final wish as to her exequies-"When I die, they will not bury me in the ground, but they will place me upon the piano; they will cover me over with flowers, and MOTHER Will come and sit by me always." Motherthe name first learned in life, and the last lisped in death-the soul of sweetest song. "Mother will come and sit by me always." Father, you will, occasionally, have to leave home, and engage in the busy scenes of life; but mother will come and sit by me always. Yes, mother, how pleasant to tread that private path, meandering most delightfully through the vineyard, and then along on that undulating vale, luxuriant with living green, to the proximate "forest home" of thy departed! Beauteous scene! Though now a hundred miles away, I seem to linger there. There grows the bunchy beech and sugar sapling. There, the weeping willows kiss the gurgling waters, as mournfully they pass the grave, never more to return, except, perchance, as celestial visitors to refresh the forest foliage, which, spreading broad, presents a grateful shade to weeping friends, and bending low, curtains the couch of the sleeping infant, or dress in pearly dew-drops the thick, wild fern, and winding cypress, which vie in mantling the new-made grave. And there are not only "flowers" to variegate and deck the scene; but there is "music" to soothe the soul. In time of day, the birds pour forth their "Father, when I die, these heart-strings will mellow, mournful notes. In time of night, there is break; but my heart shall still be as thy heart.' 'Death may the bands of life unloose, But can't dissolve my love."" Only a few days of health remained. Disease came suddenly, and did its work of destruction rapidly. The closing scene of a brief but brilliant life has come. And now, were her mind not weighed down too heavily with mortality, and could her sweet lips speak as formerly, and were her silver voice as clear as once it was, would she not now sing her own epicedium? "Descend, some shining servants from on high, The grassy turf shall raise my head, Then mount and lead the path unknown, On pinions of my own." She has departed. As she was loved in life, so was she lamented in death. As in life her conversations were impressive and interesting, especially to her friends, so, now that she has gone, will we recollect them, never to be forgotten. Let me again repeat one item of her sweet sociality-at once the the music of the spheres, which rolls and always rolls mellifluence. Did the morning stars sing together, and the sons of God shout for joy at the birth of time? Will they not tune their harps to plaintive sound at the pain of death? Were they not mute or mournful, while here this little grave was being dug, and, at early morn, ere yet the golden sun had gilded nature, the cold earth closed from sight, for ever, that lovely form? And there are seats beside the grave, that tell not only of a mother's attentions, but invite the wayward traveler to eternity to pause and think awhile of death. It was but yesterday, a delightful Sabbath afternoon, just before the pealing bell called us to evening worship, that the father took me there, and talked long of love, and disappointed hope, in the premature departure of his dearest child. He wept paternal pity. He looked to earth and then to heaven, and seemed to wish a real sight of her whom, since her death, in fancy's vision, he had so often seen. But we cannot lift the curtain of time. The period wl come, however, when "we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known." O, how sweet, and impressive, and profitable was that hour! But we will not seek the living among the dead. It will be our employ and our pleasure to "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth." "He builds too low, who builds beneath the sky." |