Christian observer

              *0^"/r * /*?-& t 1 ,J3"
-
NEW SERIES. NO. 205."
FOR THE DIFFUSION OF TRUTH AND THE SUPPORT OfIS PRINCIPLE^
——s
OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.
Southern UtKflfous CeU_rcaph.
A. CONVERSE, EDITOR:—134 Chestnut Street.
PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1843.
VOL. XXII. NO. 44,
©-EmSSto&SS' @II3S5__I_m__IB<
For the Christ inn Observer.
Increase: of popery in America.
Tho views presented on this subject in the fol¬
lowing extracts from an able review of M. D.
Tocqueville's work on Democracy in America,
in the last number of the Biblical Repository,
deserve the consideration of those who would
advance the great interests of truth and liberty
in our country. If American Christians are true
to their Master, and to the great principles which
they profess to appreciate, they will labor with
the zeal which confidence inspires, to rescue
thousands from spiritual ignorance and delusion,
sent to our shores from Europe, and save our
valued institutions from the blighting influences
of Popery. —
•' What are to be the religious and intellectual
and social features ofthe Democratic Era, which
is opening upon us, is among the vast questions
M. De Tocquevillc attempts to solve, or at least
to penetrate with conjecture. The answer he
gives to the first of these—that relating to the
religious condition of the coming ages—seems to
us alike opposed to the indications of Providence,
Prophecy, and Philosophy.    History, and the
laws of the human mind, appear to point to dis¬
similar and more cheering results; and when we
turn from these pages to those of the Sacred
Oracles, and walk along the illumined perspec¬
tive of the future they disclose, we feel as if es¬
caped from the dim cell of a St. Dominic, or the
sliding gloom ofthe sacred office, into the bless¬
ed light of day.
We refer the reader to chapter 6th, vol. 2d,—
entitled, "Of the progress of Roman Catholi¬
cism in tho United States." He concludes as
follows: "There ever have been, and ever will
bc, men, who, after having submitted some por¬
tion of religious belief to the principle of au¬
thority, will seek to exempt several other parts
of their faith from its influence, and to keep the
mind floating at random between liberty and
obedience. But I am inclined to believe, the
number of these thinkers will be less in demo¬
cratic, than other ages, and lhat our posterity
will tend more and more to a single division
into two parts, some relinquishing Christianity
entirely, and others returning to the bosom of
the Church of Rome."
A startling conclusion, truly.   Most American
readers would dismiss it with a shrug or a sneer,
sorrowing at a weakness in a mind they are com¬
pelled to respect and admire, but as too palpably
absurd to merit refutation.  We shall not so treat
it.   The frequency, with which such conclusions
ire drawn by Roman Catholic writers, indicates
ome apparent foundation.  Let us inquire, then,
vith the seriousness to which our author is enti¬
led, whether the belief to which he " is in¬
clined" can be sustained by fact, and logic.    Is
tiere a natural tendency in Democracy to com-
tne with Romanism—in Civil Liberty to ally it-
S;lf with Spiritual Despotism !
We may find it at least instructive to observe,
hew a mind, of such sagacity and candor, has
bem led to a belief so wide from our own ; and
we may be sure, that the facts which have seem¬
ed to him adequate to authorize it, have in them
what strongly claims our regard. By looking at
chapters 5th and 6th, it will be found, that his
opiiions, relative to the religious tendencies of
democracy, are based, first, upon supposed facts
observed in American society—and, secondly,
on the necessary tendencies of the human mind
under the influence of democratic institutions—
which tendencies, he thinks, explain those facts,
and prove them to be a characteristic and legiti¬
mate result of democracy.
First, then, let us look at his facts. Those
failing, doubts at least will be cast over the phi¬
losophy that accounts for them. His sixth chap¬
ter opens with this startling enunciation : " Ame¬
rica is the most democratic country in the world,
and il is at the same time (according to reports
worthy of belief,) the country, in which the Ro¬
man Catholic belief is making most progress;"
after which he significantly remarks—"At first
sight this is surprising." To an American, I ap¬
prehend it will be both "surprising" and new ; or
it augurs poorly for the spread of Romanism in
other countries. If we found representations of
this kind in these volumes only, we should sup¬
pose the ecclesiastical connexion of the author
had unconsciously biassed his judgment, and
distorted the language of facts, .if it had not led
him to mistake wishes for facts. But the great
candor of the author, and the uniform occur¬
rence of such statements in Roman Catholic
writers relative to this country, will not permit
us thus to account for them. Their uniformity
proves them to be a part of a system. For in¬
stance, in Chateaubriand's "Sketches of Modern
Literature," in connexion with facts and reason¬
ings, most novel and extraordinary, relative to
the connexion between Romanism and civil lib¬
erty in Europe, we find it gravely asserted that
" most of the western slates are now Roman
Catholic. The progress of this communion in
the United States exceeds all belief. Here it has
been invigorated in its evangelical element—
popular liberty, while other communions decline
in profound indifference."!! The facts, and the
argument, will, we imagine, strike an American
as equally " surprising" and original. It is stated
also in the "Annalles de la Propagation de la
Foi," for June, 1839, "In ten years, the number
of the Faithful has increased one third. In the
Atlantic states, they form a powerful minority.
In the greater part of the western states, they
form a plurality, and, at some points, perhaps
a majority of the inhabitants."!! This state¬
ment, though evidently phrased with a view to
convey to the careless reader more than the
words strictly interpreted might hold the writer
responsible tor, will seem \ d{- , ,,
pnsing" than the formnr o ?rui>. 'ess. sur;
LvL       f '   Such uniformity and
persistency of misrepresentation seem to point
to a systematic fraud somewhere, ortoYsUl„u te
consistency ,„ delusion.   It may arise Xr
from ignorance, but it looks like Jesuitism-like
a deliberate imposture, practised by the Romish
priesthood, in this country, on their patrons in
Roman Catholic Europe-or, rather a fraud by
the Romish Church upon the Romish world to i
stimulate their charities and their zeal     Such
statements have been frequently put forth without
any formal contradiction, because their notorious
absurdity, amid an American community, nei¬
ther required nor admitted one.  This silence on
our part has probably furthered the design for
which they were  made.    They seem designed
f»i effect upon Europe, to stimulate the hopes
atl(* enterprise of the Papists, and abuse demo¬
cracy in the eyes of its Protestant friends, and at
lhe same time to demonstrate it to its Roman
atholic admirers, to be the " evangelical ele-
1 of Romanism1; while despotic and penu
^"stria. on thp n
into th
" s Austria, on the other hand, is to be allured
great North American mission, by the
promise oi' tw_ .    i      u        • r i
lis.r,     ,    1e ('\cntual subversion of popular
.    Jesuitism
the nose
it is, that is to put a hook into
— - "use ot thi. r      •   .i
fierce th t       ^       Leviathan, now grown so
mcantvhile Dh'U dart! s''r n'm UP*   Our silence,
1 4i has undoubtedly been used to our
disadvantage. Upon those for whom these state¬
ments were designed, the impression has been
made, that the question at issue has gone against
us by default.
As a summary refutation of statements, like
those above quoted, let us invite the attention of
our transatlantic brethren to a few statistics,
which will show the value of M. De Tocqueville's
statement for the purpose for which it is used.	
They will indicate, that, even granting to be true
what he says of the increase of the Roman Ca¬
tholic communion in this country, it will prove
nothing of the religious tendencies of democra¬
cies. It would simply demonstrate that free in¬
stitutions, civil and religious, a cheap and rich
soil, and high wages being presented on one side
of the ocean, and starvation and civil and reli¬
gious oppression driving nations into the sea on
the other, there will naturally set a strong tide of
migration from the latter to the former; and this,
of course, will produce a "surprising" increase
of the communion to which this migration is at¬
tached. Such is the relation of the United States
to some of the nations of the old world, and es¬
pecially those of Roman Catholic Europe; and
hence the increase of that communion in this
country, which has given color to the sanguine
predictions of its adherents. But the increase as
little proves the tendency of democracies towards
Romanism as the present condition of Hindoos-
tan does the tendencies of Brahminism towards
the English Episcopacy, or the irruption of
Northern Barbarians the tendencies of Roman
civilization towards Vandalism.
The increase of Romanism in the United
States, is mainly the increase of Roman Catholic
immigration. A failure to notice this fact, gives
to the reports, which Roman Catholic Ecclesias¬
tics are wont to make from this country, though
true in words, all the mischiefs of a positive
falsehood in their logical interpretation. But, not
only is the cause of increase unnoticed in their
inferences from it, but the increase itself is ex¬
aggerated. That the Roman Catholics constitute
"a majority of the population" of any of the
western states, except, perhaps, the one origi¬
nally planted by them, is a statement too much
of the Bombastes vein, to require serious denial
on this side of the Atlantic. Nor do they form*
a "plurality" in any state other than the two
founded by themselves. In most of the other
states, they are far from being a "powerful mi¬
nority;" and it should be remembered, that
Protestantism, though divided on minor points,
in relation to Romanism should be reckoned as
one body; in suspicion and aversion toward that
system they are united. The "Annalles" quoted
above estimate our Roman Catholic population
at 1,250,000. No other estimates, which we
have seen, put it higher than 1,000,000: but
granting it to amount to 1,200,000, their increase
by birth and immigration during the last ten
years has not exceeded 700,000. A few statistics
will deprive this augmentation of much of its
marvellousness.
The writer (Prof. Post) here gives a page of
statistics, showing that the number of Roman
Catholic immigrants which Europe sent to our
country from 1830 to 1841 amounts to 761,762.—
This estimate is unquestionably too small.
Now, according to the estimates of Roman
Catholics themselves, their increase during this
period, allowing 50,000 to have been added
during the last year, has not exceeded 800,000;
and this estimate is thought to be too large by at
least one hundred thousand; but at their own
reckoning, against an augmentation of 800,000,
there is an offset of above 760,000 immigrants,
in addition to natural increase meanwhile. The
latter we admit is not great—sickness acd acci¬
dent have dealt hardly with the poor emigrant;
but, amid a people that is doubling itself every
thirty years, may not the natural increase fill up
the deficit of 40,0001
In the light of these facts, does the progress of
the Romish communion amongus "exceed all
belief!" Is it even very "surprising!" Does it
indicate a mighty change in the course of public
sentiment, or merely in the course of shipping'1
Does it show an increase of Romanism, taking
Christendom at large! Could not a person
speedily grow rich, on this scheme of gain, by
shifting coin from one pocket to another! Is
there any thing to warrant a tone of triumphing
gratulation, even in view of numerical increase,
to say nothing of intellectual and moral value,
in a country where nations are literally born in
a day! But we should not compute numbers
merely, A regard to the intellectual and moral
worth of the increments, leaves still less reason
for exultation. While Romanism has been re¬
ceiving into her communion her ignorant and
pauper masses in hundreds of thousands, Protes¬
tantism has gathered around herself from the
bosom of our nation, and warm from its heart
with pilgrim blood, her millions. Could this ar¬
ticle reach the ears of the foreign patrons of the
Romish priesthood in this country, we would
say to them, as knowing something of the West,
the representations made to them of this part of
our republic, if not in the letter, are at least in
the intent and impression, glaringly false. The
disgorgement upon our shores, within ten years
past, of almost a million of foreigners,—a mul¬
titude which, though comprising many ihat we
gladly welcome, consists, to a great extent, of
the refuse of the prisons and poor-houses of the
old world, and ofthe abject or turbulent outcasts
of ghostly and secular despotisms,—furnishes
the philosophy both of the growth of Romanism
in ihis country, and of the recent alarm on that
subject.
Among the extremely ignorant and credulous,
the demi-savage of the frontier, or the frivolous
rabbles of our great cities, priestly charlatanism
and pretension may, from time to time, inveigle
a convert. Music and painting, and costly deco¬
ration, and pompous ceremonial, may allure the
weak, the voluptuous, the libertine, and the sen¬
timentalist:   but into lhe true American heart
little intoxication has been thrown.   Upon the
substantial and intelligent citizens of the United
States, the fascination of outward and sensuous
attractions is likely to produce but little impres¬
sion.   We are, in general, too much of a matter-
of-fact people—requiring to be convinced rather
than delighted or to be converted by mere appli¬
ances to the taste, by the lull of music, or charms
of painting, or by the sublimity and richness of
cathedrals; and we are too much inclined to
| have our own way, even in things sacred, to be
cheated out ofour liberty of thinking as we will,
and speaking as we think, by suavity of man¬
ners, or splendor of costume, or consecrated
titles, by the soft matin or solemn vesper, or the
imprisoned sanctity of seraphic sisterhoods.—
Romanism  may, from time to time, secure a
convert; and so do the impostures of Mormon
and Matthias.   For no delusion, however absurd
or blasphemous, can  fail  of some  supporters
amid a people, where so much intellectual and
social activity is at work, not only amid the en¬
lightened masses, but ferments in wild freedom
amid the dark-minded and the fanatical. But the
case ot  an intelligent, native born American,
turning from Brotestantism to Romanism, is ex¬
ceedingly rare.   The truth is, Romanism is al¬
most universally felt to be antagonist to the spirit
of our institutions, and, as such, it is regarded
with .suspicion, and its thronging armies, from
abroad, with alarm.
OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.
To the Editors of the Mer. Journal.-	
Dear Sirs,—On my return from Ohio last even*
ing, I was gratified to see, in your paper of yes¬
terday, an extract from Weed's letters with re¬
gard to the observance of the Sabbath in Scot¬
land, in which he says, "there are no modes of
travelling here on Sunday—railways, steamers,
and coaches, rest on the Sabbath."
It is pleasing also to see an increasing atten¬
tion to the observance of this day in our own
country. There are now more than seven hun¬
dred miles of railroad over which no cars can run
on the Sabbath. And on many roads, which have
not adopted this practice, the travel is constant¬
ly diminishing. We are told, too, by directors
and stockholders, that over three hundred miles
more of railroad will be brought into the six-
day arrangement in the course of the ensuing
year.
A large number of canal boats have also ceas¬
ed to run ; and the boatmen are getting up peti¬
tions praying that they may all be permitted to
rest on the Lord's day. And the extensive line
of tow boats from Troy to New York now prac¬
tically regard the Sabbath.
A gentleman resident at Saratoga Springs, re¬
marked, not long since, that though there had
never been so large a number of visiters as dur¬
ing the last season, there vvas vastly less riding
on the Sabbaih than during years past.
The steamboat from Detroit arrived in Cleve¬
land last Monday morning much earlier than
usual. The captain, being asked the reason, re¬
plied that he left before the time on Sabbath
morning, as there was no use in stopping—the
people would not travel on the Sabbaih. And
two weeks before, while the week-day boat car¬
ried about two hundred passengers, the Sabbath
boat carried but about twenty.
It has also given me pleasure to observe the
great improvement among the boatmen in re-
spect to profane swearing. During the whole
route I recollect hearing but a single oath. And
a gentleman has lately informed me that he went
up the lakes, crossed ever to the Ohio river, and
returned by way of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, &*c,
without once hearing a profane expression.
Yours, truly, J. Edwards, Sec'y Am.
and For. Sabbath Union.
Boston, Sept. 30, 1843.
THE  LORD IS MY  SHEPHERD.
Many and variousare the figuresby which,in the
Old and New Testament, the protecting care and
Providence of Godisimagedandshadowed. The
Lord is sometimes a sun in whose cheerful and
glorious light we may safely dwell. Sometimes
he is a shield to turn away the arrows of hostili¬
ty. Sometimes he is a rock, towering above the
plain, by the shadow of which we are sheltered,
on the impregnable summit of which we may
defy any assault. Again, he is the King of kings,
and Lord of lords, whose infinite armies fill the
sky and compass the earth—before whose com¬
ing marches the thunderbolt and storm. And
then the sweet instincts of earth are types of his
protecting love. "As the eagle stirreih up her
nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad
her wings, taketh them, bearelh them on her
wings; so the Lord alone did lead him,and there
was no strange God with him." (Dieut. xxxii.
11.) Or the deeper tenderness of human parents
isappealed to—"Can a woman forget her sucking
child! Shall she not have compassion on her
son !   Yea! she may forget, yet will I not forget
suggest to us! If those who come back from the
Tropica and the Poles entertain us with stories of
icebergs and Esquimaux, of palm-trees and hur¬
ricanes, why should we not, though our journey
be but a few hundred miles, describe the reli¬
gious feelings and emotions, the sense of God's
presence and love, and the wonders of his hand
and providence which we may have seen, felt,
and enjoyed!
 ~****mm>***** *-
HEARING AND HEARERS.
Th^re are those who hear as critics on manner
and slyle, who bring their nicely adjusted bal-
ancesalong with them, to weigh words and sen¬
tence", and that they may determine on all the
little proprieties of gesture, and attitude, and
emphasis, and tone. They came to hear the man,
and tfjey esteem it of small consequence what
he says, if he does but say it well. If he is logical,
it matters not what he proves; if he is eloquent,
they care not what he is eloquent about. And if
they will take the pains to examine themselves,
they will find that the impression made on them,
h^s been made almost entirely by the marmerof
the preacher.
Another class of hearers are sullenly complai¬
sant. They never think of rebutting argument
with argument, or of dissenting, or, if they should,
of giving a reason for their dissent; but the less
they have to say against what is advanced, the
more desperately are they set in the rejection
of it.
Across what a multitude of souls the truth floats
and passes off, leaving no saving impression of
itself, but merely disturbing the "mire and dirt
ofthe troubled soul," and causing it, perhaps, to
be deposited more fairly on the surface.
*******-p*nSi*-
But even this picture must be shaded. If the
cradle be one ofthe things of home, so is the cof¬
fin! The bridal robe is, alas! too often succeed¬
ed by the funeral pall. " Six years ago," heard I
the minister of God say, at the funeral of a young
and lovely member of a friend's family, "she
who lies there stood here to take the marriage
vows. She is now the bride of death." Striking
thought! How short the passage from the home
of love and felicity to the grave! A few years since
I sat amid a domestic circle of father, mother,
three sons, and a daughter. It was the home of
hospitality. Where are they now! The solemn
churchyard will tell. They have all sunk into the
long, dreamless repose ofthe grave. Silent are
those halls that once echoed to the cheerful
sound of their voices. They have gone to their
"long home." And we follow. In the fine lan¬
guage of Paul, "it becomes those who have
wives, to be as though they had none, and those
that weep, as though they wept not, and those
that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not"—let us
add, and those who have a home, to be as though
they had none, for the fashion of this world pass-
eth away I—Jour, of Com.
:*****Q^^ *****'"••
them." (Isaiah xlix. 15.) Or in the New Testa¬
ment, where God becomes a Father, uniting
wisdom and firmness with natural affection, who
sees his returning child a great way off, and runs
and falls on his neck and kisses him. And in
both old and New Testaments, there often re¬
turns the beautiful image, so natural to a pasto¬
ral people, of a shepherd watching over his
flock, protecting them from wolves, and guiding
them to pleasant valleys. Jesus calls himself
" the good shepherd, who lays down his life for
the sheep," in a passage which we all remember.
Isaiah, in one of his lofty strains of prophecy,
says of God, "He shall feed his flock like a shep¬
herd ; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and
•carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those
who are with young." (Isaiah xl. 11.) And what
more lovely picture of quiet trust and peace than
in the psalm from which our text is taken, "The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He mak-
eth me to lie down in green pastures; he lead-
eth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my
soul; he leadcth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Yea, thoughT walkthrough
the valley ofthe shadow of death, I will fear no
evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me."
It is one ofthe great blessings of religion, that
it leads to realize and feel that God is our shep¬
herd. The irreligious man does not feel this.
Those who live without God in the world cannot
feel it. To the unregenerate there is no such fa¬
therly Providence watching over them. Heaven
is empty—earth is desolate of any spiritual pre¬
sence. If they are prosperous, it is a lucky acci¬
dent—a fortunate chance. If they are in trouble,
in danger, there is no power higher than their
own ingenuity to which they can appeal—no wis¬
dom beyond their own sagacity on which they
can rely. But those who have given themselves
to God—who have accepted his offers of mercy
and love—who have entered into the covenant
offered through Christ—these feel themselves al¬
ways under the divine protection. They are
watched over by a covenant God. Having re¬
solved to make it the great object of their life
to serve and honor him, they have a blessed as¬
surance that he is always near them, and they are
never without God in the world. What peace can
equal theirs who have the Infinite Father of the
universe for their protector and friend!
This feeling of reliance on a higher power is,
perhaps, the deepest and most blessed man can
feel. To rouse and quicken this feeling, all earth¬
ly events, all the pains, joys, hopes, and fears of
life, are mercifully adapted. All may lead us to
God, if we are but willing to go. They are an¬
gels beckoning us to the skies, if we will only
look up and see their fair invitations. It is the
part of wisdom to learn these lessons, but our
heart too often slights them.
Experience, wilh a world of sighs
Purchased, and pains and heart-break have been hers,
And taught her nothing; where she erred, she errs.
Instead of learning submission and trust,
through affliction, we too often only repine. In¬
stead of learning a lesson of thankfulness from
joy, we become proud and self-indulgent. In se¬
curity we go to sleep, and if danger rouses us, it
is but for a moment. As soon as it is past we for¬
get its lessons, and become as indifferent and
dead in spirit as before. Oh for some power to
quicken our dead souls, and wake us from this
leaden sleep of indolence and inaction !
These thoughts have been suggested to me dur¬
ing the journey from which I have lately return¬
ed. There are many things in travelling which
may remind us, if we are so disposed, that God
is our shepherd. There are some lessons which
we may learn abroad better than when surround¬
ed by the ease, the comfort, and security of
home. And if travellers to distant climes remem¬
ber theirfriendsat home, and carry backto them
little gifts procured in China or the Indies, why
should we not also bring home to our friends the
reflections and thoughts which our journeyings
THE ATTRACTIONS OF HOME.
BY REV. J. N. DANFORTH.
The seare sweet words. Who is not charmed
with its music! Who hath not felt the potent ma¬
gic of its spell! *
By home I do not mean the house, the parlor,
the fireside, the carpet, or the chairs. They are
inert, material things, which derive all their in¬
terest from the idea of the home which is their
locality. Home is something more etherial, less
tangible, not easily described, yet strongly con¬
ceived—the source of some of the deepest emo¬
tions ofthe soul, grasping the heart-strings with
such a sweet and tender force, as subdues all
within the range of its influence.
Home is the palace ofthe husband and the fa¬
ther. He is the monarch of that little empire,
wearing a crown that is the gift of heaven, sway¬
ing a sceptre put into his hands by the Father of
all, acknowledging no superior, fearing no rival,
and dreading no usurper. In him dwells love,
the ruling spirit of home. She that was the fond
bride of his youthful heart, is the affectionate
wife of his maturer years.
The star that smiled on their bridal eve has
never set. Its rays still shed a serene lustre on
the horizon of home. There, too, is the addition¬
al ornament of home—the circle of children—
beautifully represented by the spirit of inspira¬
tion as "olive plants round about the table." We
have been such. There was our cradle. That
cradle was rocked by a hand ever open to sup¬
ply our wants—watched by an eye ever awake
to theapproach of danger. Many alivelong night
has that eye refused to be closed for thy sake,
reader, when thou, a nelptess cniid, Wast in¬
debted to a mother's love, sanctified by heaven's
blessing, for a prolonged existence through a
sickly infancy. Hast thou ever grieved that fond
heart! No tears can be too freely, too sincerely
shed, for such an offence against the sweet
charities of home. If there was joy in the palace
at thy birth, oh, never let it be turned into sorrow
by any violation ofthe sacred laws of home.
We that had our happy birth, like most of the
human race, in the country, can recall many
tender and pleasant associations of home. There
is earnest poetry in this part ofour life. We re¬
member with delight the freshness of the early
mom ; the tuneful and sprightly walk among the
dewy fields; the cool repose amid the sequester¬
ed shades of the grove, vocal with the music
of nature's inimitable warblers; the "tinkling
spring," where we slaked our thirst with the
pellucid waters as they came from the hand of
the Mighty One—the bleating of the flocks, the
lowing of the herds, the humming of the bees,
the cry of the whippoorwill, the melancholy,
monotonous song of the night bird, relieved
opj^y by lhe deep bass of that single note, which
he uttered as he plunged from his lofty height
into a lower region of atmosphere—these are
among our recollections of home. And they
come softened and sobered through the medium
of the past, but without losing their power to
touch the heart, and still endear that word home.
There, too, perhaps we saw a father die; hav¬
ing attained to a patriarchal age, he bowed him¬
self on his bed»saying, "Behold I die, but God
shall be with you," and was gathered to his peo¬
ple. Nor can lhe memory ever forget that mo¬
ther in her nieek and quiet old age, Walking
through many a peaceful year on the verge of
heaven,; &<r_athing its atmosphere, inhaling its
fragrance, reflecting its light and holy beauty,
till atlt-ngth she left the sweet home of earth for
her Father's home in heaven.   •
"8o gently dies the wave upon the shore."
Home, too, is the scene of the gay and joyous
bridal. When the lovely daughter, affianced to
the youth of her heart, stands up to take the ir¬
revocable pledge. What an interesting moment!
I saw, not long since, such an one. She stood
unconscious of the blended charm which inno¬
cence and beauty threw around her face and
person; her soft, smooth, polished forehead, was
circled with a wreath of flowers; her robe was
of purest white, and in her hand was held a bou¬
quet of-rariegated roses. Beside her stood the
happy nkan, fur whom she was to be
u a guardian angel o'er his life presiding,
Doubling his pleasures, and his cue dividing."
As I pronounced the words that made them one,
that she loved father and mother less, but hus¬
band more. That piece of music, "The Bride's
Farewell " plunges deeper into the fountain of
emotion in the soul, than any other combination
of thought and song to which I ever listened.
Was the bride ever found who was equal to its
performance on the day of her espousals, or ra¬
ther in the hour of her departure from her long-
loved home, when the time had arrived to bid
farewell to father, mother, brother, and sister!
Perhaps in looking at the picture of domestic
life, as exhibited in such circumstances, we
should not omit to notice some of the least pro-
minenttraits and coloring, for they never escape
the keen and practiced eye of the true poet.
Thus Rogers, in his graphic and natural poem
of Human Life, in which he snatches so many
graces "beyond the reach of art," does not, in
describing the wedding scene, forget the young¬
er portion ofthe family, even the liitle daughter,
so often the gem and the joy of home—
" Then are they blest indeed, and swift the hours
Till her young sisters wreathe ber hair in flowers,
Kindling her beauty—while, unseen, ihe least
Twitches her robes, thenruns behind ihe rest,
Known by her laugh, that will not be suppressed/'
THE BIBLE IN COMMON SCHOOLS.
What is to make us better, purer, freer, than the
rest of the world, if it be not the word of God!
What shall raise us above other nations if it be
not a baptism into that word, an engirding of
our souls with its panoply, a surrounding ofour
institutions with its atmusphere of light! What,
all the world over, is the cause of the ignorance,
degradation, and misery, marking those countries
which, when the light of the Reformation raised
Protestant nations io liberty and happiness, re¬
mained beneath the darkness of the papal des¬
potism! lt is the absence uf the word of God,
and the presence, in its stead, and the power, and
the slavery of debasing mummeries and super¬
stitions—a bondage to rites, constituting, at the
will ofthe priest, the only channels of salvation
—an education of intellectual servitude, with¬
out one element of spiritual freedom mingled
with it.
Knowing all this as we do, it is astonishing
that even an attempt could be made to exclude
the Bible, that grand source of intellectual and
spiritual liberty and power from our public sys¬
tem of education. There is cause for alarm in
the existence of such a state of carelessness, in¬
difference, or apathy, in regard to our best bless¬
ings, as could give occasion to the attempt.
Take away the Bible from our public schools!
Why, truly, a few years ago it would have been
asked, who dare propose it! In the time of the
French Revolution, ii would have been thought
that we were going headlong into their career of
infidelity. An open acknowledged proscription
of the Bible in the heart of the greatest city in
the United States, a war with it to drive it from
the vitalities ofour country's existence, is what
a few years ago no man could have believed pos¬
sible. And whence comes it, that, in a land fa¬
mous foritsjealousy ofthe dominion of any one
religious sect over another, and for its care
against the laying of the hand of sectarianism
on the ark of our civil institutions, this particu¬
lar sect of Roman Catholics can be permitted to
enter and drive this sectarian wedge! Whence
the indulgence of this act of bigotry in them,
which, had it been undertaken by any other sect
under neaven, woum naveorougiu uown tne ani¬
mosity of all classes in its reprobation! If the
Presbyterians, or the Baptists, or the Methodists,
not aliens, but native Americans, had attempted
such a movement, it would have been treated
with unmingled obloquy and scorn. There is
scarce a press in this city but would have con¬
demned it with the extreme of severity. If
the Presbyterians had undertaken it, you would
never have heard an end of the denunciations
lhat would have been poured out upon them.
The reason is plain. Romanism, by its inse¬
parable connexion of Church and State, is essen¬
tially a political sect, and, by means of its spiritual
bondage, its whole masses may be moved to the
ballot at the will of one man. Political parties
are therefoie afraid of offending it. Taking ad¬
vantage of this fear, there is no foreseeing the
measures, which, in that sect, may be tolerated.
The attempt to take the word of God out of our
public schools, shall certainly be spoken of as it
deserves. A Protestant from abroad, acquaint¬
ed with the history of the papal system in its
insidious advances, and acquainted by observa¬
tion wiih its nature in actual operation in the
world, as also with the dangers by which our
liberties afe beset, would certainly exclaim, are
you in your senses, in permitting, even to be at-
temped, this exclusion of the light of divine
truth from your educational system! Are you
acting like wise men, like free men, in permit¬
ting a sectarian ban to be laid upon the reading
ofthe Bible in the hearing of your children in
their place of common education, permittiug a
proscription ofthe best book of education in the
world, the best book for the formation of your
children's minds, the best book for the acquisi¬
tion and preservation of a pure idiomatic style
in their native language, the best book to pro¬
mote and secure the purposes of family govern¬
ment in its purity and power at home, the best
book to make your children enlightened and
good citizens of your Republic, and the best book,
in fine, to preserve them from all evil, and train
them up to all good! What does it mean ! Can
there be any objection to the New Testament, as
a school book! Is the New Testament, without
note or comment,sectarian! Ohno! It is not
sectarian enough. And this is the very reason
why the sect of Romanists wish it to be exclud¬
ed. It does not teach their system. Their jea¬
lousy of it as a school book is not at all wonder¬
ful. But if they wish to educate their own chil¬
dren without it—if they wish to defraud their own
children of the bread of life, and to give them
stones instead, then let them do it in schools of
their own, and not attempt to take the element
of life from our schools. It is the element of
life, and volumes might be written on the excel¬
lence ofthe Bible as a school book, and the in¬
describable importance of still keeping it, where
our forefathers laid it, as the cornerstone of our
invaluable system of public education.
Mr. C. went into considerable detail as to the
happy influence of the word of God over the
minds of children, and also dwelt upon the impor¬
tance of having their minds familiar, when the
process of education is going on, with so perfect
a model of pure, uncorrupted English, as is pre¬
sented in our incomparable translation of the
Scriptures. He dwelt upon the power ofthe Bi¬
ble to develop good, and repress bad tendencies,
especially by the child-like simplicity of its
teachings, and to make the mental and moral
constitution one of vigorous good sense, and
watchful against evil. Knowing, he said, as the
Romanists do, the power of early culture, it is
not surprising that they seek to shut out the Bi¬
ble from such an influence over the minds of chil¬
dren. It is on the same principles that Roman
Catholic servants in Protestant families are for¬
bidden to attend family prayers. We havesome-
times hoped that God, in his providence, is gath¬
ering the Romanistsfrom Europe into this coun¬
try, to have them all " translated from the king¬
dom of darkness into the kingdom of God's
dear Son." But how is this change to be effect¬
ed! Is it in any other way than by the applica¬
tion of divine truth to the heart and conscience!
But if you allotv them to exclude the Bible from
your school, or tinge your institutions with their
peculiarities, when will you ever bring them
into contact with the truth as it is in Jesus! Let
them, if they choose, establish schools for them¬
selves; the way is«open; they are at perfect lib «
erty to do so; they are admitted, without price,
to all the freedom which we enjoy at the price
ofthe blood of our fathers. Let them not take
the advantage to undermine ourinstitutions. Let
them not prove themselves the snake, warmed in
ou r bosom, to bite at our vitals. If they chooso<
let them establish papal schools, distinguished
by the exclusion ofthe Scriptures, and let them
put up over their gates an inscription, who en-
TER   HERE,  LEAVE   THE   WOED    OF   OoD   BEHIND t
an inscription almost as terrible ns ihat over the
gate of Dante's Hell, but let Out the genius of
Protestantism suffer them to make our schools
such schools! In Heaven's name, let no Pro*
testantcommissionerhelp to nailsuch an inscrip¬
tion over our educational institutions. Letthem,
if they please, be as Egypt, where is darknes j
but we, „a under God's mercy, thus far we ever
have done, will keep our beloved country as Go*
shen, where is light!—___-_. G. B. Cheever.
_£&********    -
THE  SEW ZEALANDER AND   THE  RODII&II
BISHOP.
The Word of God is giving new illustrations
of its power, in vanquishing the heathenism of
Rome, even in the hands of converted heathen.
The simple New Zealander, with a Bible in his
hand, proves more than a match for the subtlety
of Romish priests and bishops. One of the
speakers at the last Anniversary ofthe British
and Foreign Bible Society, gave the following
fact: A Chief of New Zealand met with a Romish
bishop, who was vindicating the worship of the
Virgin Mary and the crucifix. The bishop argued*
that God commanded his people of old to make
cherubim ; and that the angels over the ark were
images; and the people bowed down before
them. To this the chief replied: That is very
true, but with this difference : God commanded
them to make images, and has commanded you
not to make them ; and God himself vvas between
the cherubim, talking with the people. But I
never yet heard, that he ever yet spoke through
your Virgin Mary. Thus the simple-hearted
Christian, made wise unto salvation by the sim¬
ple Word of God, was able to put to flight tho
subtleties of Rome.
Multitudes of similar instances have been fur*
nished by the missionaries at the Sandwich.
Islands. One of the greatest wonders of God's
wonderful providence touching that people, is,
that they have been so little affected by the
powerful onsets ofthe Papists, that a people in
their infancy can so withstand the trained legions
of Jesuits. Perhaps a few years more of experi¬
ence of this kind will show us what wise designs
Frovidence has had, in suffering those fair fields
of missionary enterprise to be so invaded. Per¬
haps God intends, by this means, to illustrate the
power of his word ; and to put to shame its
enemies, by the very feebleness of the instru¬
ments by which he puts them to flight.
JEWS IN NEW YORK.
According to thc report ofthe agent ofthe So¬
ciety for Meliorating the Condition ofthe Jews,
their number in  this city, including children
twol-r-c jturo ulJ, ia   abum tncltc   iliuu-UuU.     ia
every hundred of that population, there are esti-
mated to be 52 Germans, 11 Americans, 8 Poland-
ers, 7 Prussians, 6 Dutchmen, 5 Portuguese, 4
Englishmen, 3 Frenchmen, 2 Austrians, and 2
Spaniards. Upwards of one half of them are ped-
lars; many of them are merchants and brokers j
some are petty dealers in dry goods, others in
liquors ; there are among them also shoemakers
and tailors, and a few butchers. More than one
half of them are poor; some so much so as to
require assistance from their brethren. Many are
in comfortable circumstances ; but very few are
wealthy, compared with their brethren in Ger¬
many and England. There are two children un.
der twelve years of age, on an average, to each
family. These are taught the Hebrew letters
very young, and can generally read prayers in
that language when eight years old ; without,
however, in most cases, understanding the im¬
port of what they read. It is estimated that of
the poorer classes, nearly all of whom read the
language fluently, and not one in twenty reads it
understandingly.
The Jews here have Sabbath-schools, which
are taught on Saturday. They have also schools
on the other days of the week, in which their
children are taught Hebrew, German and Eng¬
lish, by Jewish instructors. A few send their
children to the Public schools and to Christian
Sabbath-schools. They have nine synagogues
in the city, three of which are well attended.
They manifest a strong attachment to their faith.
It is their firm conviction that they and their
people shall yet be restored to the land promised
to their father Abraham and to his seed after him,
and that their long-looked-forMessiah will come
to rule over them and over the world, as an
earthly Prince, and will subdue all opposition to
his reign upon the earth. They cherish a bitter
hatred towards Roman Catholics, whom they
stigmatise as the robbers and murderers of their
fathers. Towards Protestants they are mere
charitable. They commonly express their views
thus: "If a man is born of Christian parents, let
him be a good man, and strictly obey the com¬
mandments of God, and it will be well with him
in this life, and in the world to come ; and if a
man is born of Jewish parents, let him be honest
and upright in all his dealings, and strictly obey
the laws of God as they are found in the five
books of Moses, and he will be saved at the day
ofthe grand judgment."—Journal of Commerce.
RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION  OF  CHILDREN.
How frequently have 1 been asked to repeat a
tale, and how have their little eyes glistened
with delight, when, seated on my knee, they
have listened, not to an imaginary tale, but to
the history of Christ. How often have they in¬
quired where they could find any thing so pret¬
ty ; and, by gently exciting their wishes for a
continuance of the tale, I have led them with
delight to their Bibles, and thence to repeated
questions, increasing their religious knowledge.
What can be more delightful than to raise tha
infant mind by every thing they see—as the
knowledge that all is created by an invisible be¬
ing, who watches over them, to lead them to the
Saviour, who hath said, "suffer little children to
come unto me."
I would more particularly address myself to
those parents, who, with the knowledge of the
blessings of salvation, neglect their children, or
leave them to the care of servants, because they
fancy them too young to comprehend that they
are but living for eternity.   Most children are
taught to say their prayers and read their Bibles,
but both are a task; the prayers are said when
half asleep, and the Bible is a solemn-looking
book, which is brought out on a Sabbath day—
that gloomy day—when " Mamma goes out once
or twice—and, when she is at home, will not suf¬
fer me to play."  Such are the ideas of children,
who are not gently led to prize, and are not
brought to consider, the Sabbath as a blessed
day.   But how different when the infant mind is
aroused.    Will you tell me something about
Jesus! said an interesting child of eight years