Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^??????? I-'roni the Sabbath School Visiter. THE LOST TREASURE. "Oh! mother, I have lost my kite, iny beautiful pretty kite that papa gave inc." James' flushed cheek and quivering lip bore full testimony to the little trial which was almost enough to break his heart. His mother was deeply engaged reading a letter which she had but a few moments before j received. James did not notice that the tears were in her blue eyes, and that the hand in which she held the letter trembled. He went to her, and laid his hand upon her shoulder, and the tears rolled down his checks. It was but a moment before Mrs. i llorton closed the letter and laid it in her basket. A deep sigh escaped her, as she put her arm around her son, aud inquired the cause of his trouble. "Why, Mother," said James," I was flying my kite, and I saw a white cloud, ami it looked very near! I ran up the hill, and j let the string out to see how near my little i kite could go to the cloud; and while 1 was j looking up, the string got out of my hand,and it went away up, and at last 1 saw it go round behind the cloud. I watched it, and I it did not come again; but Mother, it is lost." Mrs. Morton pressed her boy closer to her heart, as she said, ''And so the little treasure papa gave you is gone."? She paused a moment and then added," My son, I have received a letter this afternoon from a dear friend. She says her Father gave her a treasure. Siie loved it as well ?better than you loved yuur kite. She j held it fast. She thought the string by | which she held it was stronger than the little string to your kite. She was thinking how much comfort she should take from her treasure; and it went away, far?far above the beautiful cloud behind which you have lost sight of your pretty kite?and James, it will not come to her again." Tiie large tears soon dried from Jame's ; cheeks, and, as his mother finished speak- ! ing, he glanced his eye first upon her agitated countenance, and then upon the letter which lay in her basket. After a moment's silence, he said, " Mother, won't you read to me about the lady's treasure, and?what was it, Mother?" " My dear, the letter is from your aunt Emily, and your dear little cousin Frances is dead. I will read you the letter." James looked very earnestly and sadly at ills , mother as she opened the leuer, and read;? "My Dear Sister; A mother's heart only can appreciate the agonized feelings with which I sit down to write you. Oh ! could you take a seat by my side you woukl^ ; not ask why my heart is full, almost to bursting. The wild hope which caused my ' heart to bound hut a few hours since, has ' passed away. The shadows of death have : thickened around m \ The cold damps of i the grave have chilled my spirit, for my i beloved boy has gone?forever gone. , Night after night I have watched over his j ] untroubled sleep and longed for the morn- :, ing sun to awaken him to gladness. lie I sleeps forever now. A thousand times I have wept to behold his lightest grief, lie will never sorrow again. He lies before f _ ? O a i me now. 1 es?he rests in the little bed over which I have so often bent to give him j1 the good night kiss. Those lips which I' have moved in an infant's prayer, are closed. ! t lie will never speak again. 11 is brown {; hair lies in clustering curls upon his pale j i forehead, and the rose has faded from his j ( eheek. I, 44 It was but an hour after you left us last, week that he first complainad. I was sit- i ^ ting by the window, still thinking of your j visit, and in my heart blessing God for the j' - ? ? 11 treasures of hope ana happiness ne nas | granted us; when Francis came to me and 1 laic! his head upon my lap. 1 noticed that ' there was a burning flush upon his check,1 but I supposed it merely the excitement of . ] parting with his little cousin. I endeavored 11 to divert his attention, and asked him if he < would like to walk with me. His counten- ; j anco expressed an unusual degree of pleasure I { as he replied, 4 Yes Mother, if you will go j and see Charles. Our visits to the poor , sick boy had been suspended for a few days: and I very gladly complied with his ; J request. We found the suffering boy near 1 death. A scarlet fever of the most nialig- } nant character had dreadfully reduced him. 1 We remained by his bed about half an hour, : { and, as I took leave of the alllicted mother,'1 Francis firmly grasped my hand pressing i close to my side, said, 'Mother, do stay ; < and make poor Charles well.' That night, i ( when I had listened to the evening prayer ( of my beloved boy, he whispered, 'Mother, , will vnn stav with me when I die?' I know J j not why it was so, but there was a vague j J uncertain tear in my breast that the flume |1 kindled in my heart at the altar of God, j1 was soon to be quenched. And while J ' Francis slept, I sat by him, and prayed for j strength to meet the heavy affliction. The i morning sun shone brightly into our pleasant room, but it brought no relief for my ; fears; and ere the day passed, Francis was j evidently a victim of the same disease which had wasted away the strength and checked ! the life-blood of Charles Haven. For aj< number of days ho was delirious ; but even J1 then he manifested the same patient sweet- 1 '< ness which has always characterized him. i i Yesterday, as I sat by his bed, he opened j i his eyes, and wildly asked, 'Who is here?' j ' 1 bent over him, and in a low tone replied, 11 'Francis?mother is here.' lie fixed his j glazed eyes upon me, and I am sure lie J i knew me, for lie put up his thin, emaciated j arms; and clasped them round mv neck,! while he pressed his burning lips to my | cheek. Then sinking back on the pillow, j he said, 'Mother, please say, Suffer little children.' I repeated to him the verse. As 1 finished it, he whispered, 'I have heard j that a good manv times to-day. Who said i\ V 1 told bim perhaps Jesus had said it to his soul. A faint smile passed over his face, and he said in a stronger tone, 'Then, mother, he wants me to come, and I should love to goto heaven.' I did not reply. How could 1 ? He turned his head, fixed his eves upon me; and sweetly added ' And when he tells you to come, then I shall see -on ia heaven,: and shal' you he my moth er in heaven when we both go there V The I sun was setting. I had fastened back the j curtain, and the soft light now shone peace- < fully upon the scene of suffering and death, i Francis turned his eyes upon the window. I After a moment's silence, he said,4 Mother, I read to mo what the dying boy said to his i mother.' 1 knew well to what he referred, and I instantly read to him the following j verse: I 4Yes, mother, T loved in tho sunshine to play, ' And talk with the birds and t lie blossoms ail day. But sweeter the songs of the spirits on high? I And brighter the glories round God in the sky? I see them?I hear them?too full is my heart; | My mother?dear mother?do let me depart.' ( 44 'Mother,' said Francis, 4I do want to ' go to God in the sky. Kiss me, mother, < and do not cry.' lie soon fell asleep, and at three this morning, he closed his little 1 .hands across his breast, and ceased to ' breathe. 44 When von. mv dear sister, have watch-11 od the flower of your uticctions fade and 11 die,?when you miss the bounding steps, ' the joyous laugh, the winning tone, and ] know that they have passed lor ever, then ' will you know the utter desolation of my I heart. My child has gone to join the i:i- ' taut throng around the throne of God. 1 | feel that lie is happy; and that his father 1 has met and welcomed our lovely boy to a i world of happiness. Hut they have left me 1 alone; and vet, it is well with the child, and < I trust He who cares lor me, will not leave, ' in this hour of trial. My kindest love to 11 little James, lie will be dearer to my heart ' for his atleetion for Francis. 1 ' Your affectionate sister, *S." f j From the S. C. Ilerlad. INTERPRETATION* OF SCRIPTURE. IIow frequently do we hear from the pulpit, the character of Dernas field up as a warning to ail icorilly ini.'idt d professors of religion. I am inclined to think Mr. Editor, that hisrepu- 1 tation has been wronged, and that, by some . very judicious commentators on the Bible. , Faui in his 2d Epistle to Timothy 4th ch. 10th j verse?thus speaks of him "For Detnas, hath < forsaken me, having loved tins present world, t and is departed unto Thessalonica." i Forsaken Paul, through the love of the I world, has been construed by many into an in- [ ordinate love of gain as governing Demas, and > all like hiin. ( In his Epistle to Philemon, Paul ranks De- ( mas as one of his fellow prisoners, sending his j kind regards to Philemon?and to the Colos- , sians?1th ch. 14th verse he says: "Luke the beloved physician and Demas, greet you,"? j of Demas, Scott in his commentary says? 14 lie loved the world too much to give up all < for Christ," ami that he departed to Thes- i <alonica, in pursuit of some secular advantage, ( that whether hcfinally apostatized or not we s cannot tell, but the Apostle stood in doubt of ( him. "Twoother helpers, known to Timothy, 1 were gone to different places, about the icvrk 1 of the Lord with the Apostles approbationj His authority, or reason lcr making this ^ distinction between Demas, Crescens and i Titus, Dr. Scott does not give us; nor does \ there appear any in the Bible. This common- < tator and others seem to have lost sight of 1 the fact, that Demas, Crescens and Titus, are 1 ill nominatives to the same iorb, and that f ivhat is affirmed of Demas, is equally ajfirmtd 1 of Crescens or Titus. This will be seeu in a 1 moment by supplying the verb. "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved \ diis present world, and is departed into Thes- 1 salonica? C rose ens, (hath forsaken me, having loved his present world and is departed) into Galada? Titus (hath forsaken me, having loved this present world and is departed) into Dahna:ia? The true meaning of " this present world," s this present life: and the Apostle intends to say, that these three brethren (for that which s atfirined of Demas is said of Crescens and ritus) were not prepared for martyrdom; they -vould not give up life nov\ and therefore had eft him. If Demas had been the Apostate, vhich many represent him, would Paul have lierely mentioned the place to which he had *one and said nothing more about him ! And t vould ho liave mentioned Titus and Crescens i n the same sentence with him and left it so t loubffitl at least, whether he intended the same 1 :harge against them ? I think not, this view * )f the above passage, the writer saw many 1 fears since, in Tilletts Religious Magazine. j [twas said to have been from the pen of a Scottish Divine, and being very much struck kvith its correctness, and being thus, as he . lopes, set right himself, he offers it to tlie ^ Herald, with the hope, that others, may in like t manner, profit lroin it. KNOX. t From the IS. C. Herald. i THi: DUTY OF FAMILY PRAYMK. j I presume that if any professor of religion < were in the daily habit of pr?Tailing the name ; of God, or speaking falsely of his neighbour, ' little doubt would be entertained of his being < i reproach to the church of Christ. Uut it i is as truly the duty of a christian parent 1 to prav in his family, as it is to speak the truth, and by the same authority by w hich he is 1 forbidden to profane the name of God he is i commanded to train up his children in the I nurture, and admonition of the Lord. 11 It may be asked, with some degree ofjt propriety, how it is possible for a parent to j 1 neglect thisduty, and yet profess to belong! I to Christ, and to be ardently attached to his ] cause. Even if it were not enjoined in the * word of God, it would seem that no pious < man upon reflection could fail to see the i propriety of attending to it. The blessing it would prove to iiis children, and domes- < tics ; its influence in sanctifying domestic 1 comforts, and crosses; the means of grace it would afford to himself; the utility it might prove to the community at large ; and its 1 tending to promote religion, decency, sobriety, and good order are matters so evident as at once to convince him of its great iniportance. It would pr -bah-y be going tooi far, if we were to say that no parent who neglects tiiis duty can have any claim to the character of a christian ; but we confidently say that it is no honor to a pious man to have it said of him that he has no religion in his house, and that he never called upon Cod in his family. The responsibilities of parents are truly great, and fearful. The eternal welfare of their children to a very great extent depends upon their example and instructions. Hence we find in matters of religion, that generally children are what their parents were. That is when they make any pretentions to piety. Hut very often those who arc most corrupt in their morals, and sceptical as to their views of the word of Clod have come out of families, the parents of which were members of the Church. And this has no doubt been owing to the fact, that they saw those in whom they placed the highest confidence, their own parents, living so very Jifferenti v from what they professed, hs to leave upon their minds the impression that there was no reality in religion. The want of pious example, and faithful instruction on the part of professing parents. 1 verily believe has made more inlidels than all the writings of Paine, Hume, and Voltaire taken together. Can a child believe that his parent iooks upon him as in danger of everlasting misery, and ardently desires his saluatkhn, when he sees him putting forth every etTort tnti using all honest means to promote his tromfort and respectability in life, and yet lot express any anxiety concerning his immortal welfare which must be infinitely more mporant ? How terrible must be that man's gttilr, who by his example, or want of fideltv bears his own ollspring to ruin ! M. S. R. From the London Christian Qbsercer. ON TIIK TESTS OF SPIRITUAL SAFETV. To know that "we have peace with Cod hrongh our Lord Jesus Christ," and that )ur "names are written in heaven," is a privlegenot to be valued by any ordinary standird. Thousands are miserable for want of t; and daily confirm their misery by persevering in that "broad way," which, whether swept by morality or defiled bv vice, atrely "leadeth to destruction." Even the bllowers of the Lamb are not in all instances, icssesscd of that precious knowledge to vhich I have now referred. They have occasionally, like the poet Cowper, wanted the :onsolations, while they have manifested the ? ? * * * %-v m/1 4 Lat Itntm cpini, Ul cuu vju5j?ci , auu umy uuiv >uui^n jitter things against themselves, notwifiistanding it has been evident to their brethren that they were "made accepted in the Beloved." As the assurance of spiritual safety is of such inestimable value so it is a subject on hich the most devoted Christians tire not ntirely agreed. Witness the conflicting nf I^lin Wticlriif oint cnmp nC lnv urai*1 What I would r4.sk, will boils probable operation in theorise of young religionist,and ndeed of all who may adopt it rather suddenly than seriously.' Id ejecting as legal ind pharisaical, and in principle akin to bondage, ail inquiry whatever, either as to our conduct or disposition, as evidence of our spititual safety, they maintain that he who lath the Spirit hath the witness in himself. What follows ? Wanting, as I have ventured to suppose, Christian seriousness of mind, and being led away by strong feeling, they will scarcely "commune with their heart,and prove the character of their actions by the only infallible rule of faith and life. Never can they stop and ask, consistently with their views of assurance, if they possess those marks of acceptance which [as 1 shall presently demonstrate) are specially pointed out in Scripture. On the contrary, they look above them, when considering the all important question. Am I a child of God ? I do not affirm that this theory necessarily leads to such Antinomianism in practice; hut I verily think that such is its probable result. For if wo are at liberty to conclude "we are in Christ Jesus," without any direct reference to the spirituality of our life and conversation, (Rom. viii. 1,5,8,) then, though such spirituality be wanting, may we not still imagine we XJUUli J<~1J tO Ui i'UUII vv VOi \ (4UU o?y>nv \y a u<u contemporaries: he insisting on assurance is the indispensable evidence of conversion, md they confidently denying it while each larty respectively appealed to Scripture. In he present day similar discrepancies are bund among the saints of God. Caesar Malan, tor instance, in his well-known reigious publications, makes it the very test of conversion that we "know we have eternalife," and that in a personal sense, so as to lave no doubt whatever of our interest in b'hrist. Nor will the divine in question, ami he advocates of his system of theology, adult that any other test of our Christian security should he instituted than our our shrilly believing the record God has given us )f his Son, (1 Johnv. 10.) The present subject being one ofunquesionable importance, may I be enabled by he Spirit of truth to treat it agreeably to his iwn revealed wi'ii! To begin with our sim>ly believing the divine record. Where juch a faith is implanted by the Holy Spirit, t may safely be admitted as a proofthatthc Lord has had mercy on our souls, and "callid us with a holy calling yet it supplies a est of his acceptance to the individual alone. IVho is so intimately acquainted with the * -i'Uinrlunrl. lUiin Ui JIItill lU PlUllUUlitt; unit uiuivtuial" sincere on the mere ground of his proession 1 Though the Spirit itself may bear vitness to Ins spirit that he is a child of jfod, still may he not, on the contrary, de. :eivc his own heart on this infinitely monentous point ? Jesus Christ accordingly ells us in his word, (Matt. viii. 22.) that it s one thing to he confident of our accep. ance, and another to he really accep'ed on lie great day. Jf, then, it he insisted on, by hose to whom I have alluded, in order to wove our title to "glory and immortality" in Jhrist , we have simply to ask, "Do 1 beieve God's promise ?" and also to exatniw.: jurselves whether we be in the faith ;and to jrove our own selves," I would submit it to be impartial reader, if this former test, when vholly severed from the latter, he not uncerain, unsatisfactory, and above all, unscrip "abide in Him ?n Let a patient Ik; told by I bis physician, "If you are fully persuaded of ' vour recovery vou need not regard any other ! evidence of the factthe patient might possibly be rigi:t; yet were it not probable he would be deceived ! The application may safely be left to the judicious reader. I pass on, then, to some other tes's of our spiritual safety, which are of a plainer, a more practical, and I conceive, of a more scriptural kind; promising, however, that they are wholly and essentially different from the grounds of our acceptance with God, and therefore to he carefully distinguished from them. One of the mos* satisfactory, because the most tangible, oi'these tests, is that love of the brethren which is mentioned by the Apostle John, (1 John iii. j 14,) "We know that we have passed from I death unto life, because wc love the brethren." Here, if any where, we may reach the point of certainty. For by nature, as ' enemies to Gorl," we are, "aliens from the commonwealth <>f Israel," and count the societv of saints a burthen rather than a privilege. Accordingly, when a ladv of I rank, after a spiritual change had been wrought in her by divine grace, once met the sainted Wilberforce at Harlev-Woou. * 7 | she was suddenly so much affected as to | sited many tears, and that at the painful re. ! collection of having once abhorcd his very I name. When, therefore, site loved and j honored it, was not that change of feeling at | least a presumptive proof of a correspond! ing change of character and condition be; fore God ! j Not, however, that any one scriptural evidence of our interest in Christ is either to | be overlooked or undervalued. What God J has taught man must implicitly receive: what the Lord values man must in no wise disregard. Prayer, therefore, when proceeding from the heart, and directed to the ; great objcctsofreconciliation to (rod through i ! the blood of Jesus, of conversion by his Holy Spirit, and of a consistent Christian lite, must be his immediate work, and on ! that account is an index of our participation i of the rich blessings of the Gospel covenant. | As such it was clearly recognized by God * v.- -i - " . -I A "... .J - I nimseii in ma instance 01 me groui aposue, J Acts ix. 11. And the more this grace is ! exercised, especially in the season of temp. | tation, or in the hour of sorrow, the more | cause have wo to rest satisfied that the Lord lias mercifully taught us how to pray. I speak not of our devotional frames or feelings. Tliey vary even in the best. Yet however dull our affections at a throne ! of grace, if still we pray like David, (Ps. | cxix. 25,) "My soul cleaveth unto the dust; j quicken thou me according to thy word," | is not this petition an evidence that we are taught of God, and adopted as his dear chil; dren ? Never does a mail of this world ! mourn secretly before God over such fail| ures in devotion, nor implore such spiritual recovery as a blessing of the highest order. | 1 low closely the beatitudes are connected ! with that spiritual safety I have noticed, is I [ conceive, sufficiently clear to all who im! partially regard them. 1 have indeed heard I it askt'</, "Did the dying thiet possess tliese (evidences of iiis safety ?M Admit that he I did not visibly or confessedly possess them; ! yet who will deny that they were implanted i in him bv the Iloly Spirit, and that they did exist, however feebly or imperceptibly, in i his then contrite breast ? I lis, however, j was a case of no ordinary occurrence. After all, the beatitudes are unmeaning, if we I are not permitted, and even required, to ask, ! in order to decide the question of our indi | vidual interest in the biood of Christ.?Am | j I meek, poor in spirit, and especially pure | in heart, &c. &c. Notwithstanding that impurity which cleaves to the most exalted ! earthly saint, there is a comparative purity ! imputed to him by the Spirit, as appears by 1 certain passages in the holy Scripture- Ileb. 1 ii. 11 ; viii. 10 : Phil. ii. o. If, therefore, it is the fixed and intense desire of our hearts that God would cleanse their very thoughts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit (prayer before the communion service,) have we not I an abundant proof that we are made "new I creatures," and consequently are in Christ ;JCSUS ? j In the third chapter of the first epistle of i St. John and third verse, the question now ! under discussion is very simply and practij callv decided. "Every man that hath this j hope in him purificlh himself, even as he is j pure." "He that committed! sin isofthe devI il." On that love of the brethren which is next ! insisted on by the apostle, I have already j dwelt. The whole chapter ought indeed, to I be seriously studied both by those who have I i j:_.?r.?"? ?i' is therefore the language in which all who c look unto Jesus, whether trembling or con- s liilently, should be addressed, and more I particularly by their ministers. The heart r of the righteous should be made sad, neither i by withholding from him those texts which speak of our completeness and joyful alliance in the Saviour Christ; nor, on the other ' hand, by concealing those which pronounce a blessing on the contrite, the timid, and the poor in spirit. Let votir readers bear with 1 me, as far as I may appear to them to have ' erred, either in my conception or represen- ' tion of the subject. Truth is my object; 1 and the Lord, by his Spirit, lead us into all 1 truth, till at length he lodges us in a region ( where the perception of divine things will be forever clear ihe judgment for ever sound, and the soul forever happy in "the oxcellen 1 ' It L' 1^1 . I | i cv oi tne Knowledge oi vairisi .jcsus our ; ' Lord." When I speak, as I have now done, of those proofs of our reconciliation to Cod in Jesus Christ which our spiritual character may supply, 1 would not overlook those < deeply atlecang cases, in which nothing but "looking unto Jesus," exclusive of all such proofs, can uphold the desponding Christian. 1 Such a one is wont to argue, "If I look into myself I despair." Let him then look out of himself, to One who was "holy, harmless, i and undefiled;" and who having obeyed the law for lis, is therefore emphatically 11 called the Lord our Righteousness." To Him should every inquiry respecting the evidences of our acceptance lead the fallen creature, the miserable sinner. Thus, while ' we regard such evidences as inseparable from our spiritual safety, we must still make them subservient to a simple reliance upon Him, who is himself ' all our salvation. ' in a word, whore th<* life proves the reality of ; our faith in Jesus, it is of course unnecessa- 1 ry to press the application of the test in 11 question. j ] ________ WIIY ARE SO MANY OF THK CLERGY FEE- j 1JLE IN* HEALTH ? It was not so in tiie [vast century. We j have vet lingering among us some of the ' hoary headed veterans who have been the standard bearers of the Redeemer for fifty long years. The advancing age will see ' no such venerable men. It will take up ' the lamentation of David, " There is 110 more anv nronhct." What occasions this J 1 1 ? 1 change! Has the labor of preaching Christ crucified become essentially more destructive to the physical powers of man ? | Certainly not. The glory of a prosperous age is the ruin of the clergy. The division 1 of labor which contributes so richly to the | advacement of the trading community ! shuts out the learned professions, and es- 1 pecially the clerical professions from the | means of preserving health. In the last century the clergy of New England occu- ' pied and cultivated the glebe lands belong- J ing to many parishes, or where such pronertv did not pertain to the spheres of labor \ l y ? they owned or hired farms and were robust and practical farmers:? ' tempora tuman- 1 lur, ctnos mutamur cum illis" It would 1 be difficult to find in what is called the 1 more improved part of New England, a ' parish where the minister occupies, and ! cultivates the glebe land. In many places it has been sold and the money invested in stocks : where it is still retained the proper- { ty is rented, and the income paid to the ! minister. If a clergyman should vulgarly prefer to devote part of his time to the care ' of the glebe, his pretensions to fitness for ( his oflice would l>e at once settled :?sufii- 5 cient proof would be afforded either that 1 his tastes were too grovelling, and his mind 1 too low to leave him enough of intellectual ( qualification for his office, or that his spir- \ ? L_ 1 _11 1 ituality lias so deciineu mai ne nas iosi uu , his relish for liis Master's work, and was 1 the rather anxious to procure rhe meat 4 which perished. And the feelings of the clergy themselves have assumed a bias correspondent with these popular views. ' They feel very generally, that such avoca- r tions as the cultivation of a portion of the j land, are really inconsistent with the due $ discharge of their spiritual offices, if not J decidedly prejudicial to their clerical char- t acter. Tlicy have learned to believe that s their work should be confined to their own s studies, the visiting of their people, and the t attendance of occasional meetings:?every 1 thing extraneous to these is consistent. < Whether this is the effect or the cause j f -1 _ ?..r>?i.nnnt n,i ftiie VV/? . 01 II1U puUHC aciuiim-wi vii mw jui/jwij ..v, j do not pretend to decide. One thing is cer- j tain, the sentiments of both clergy and lai- [ ty are entirely accordant. The practice f which has grown out of these views, is the immediate occasion of the ill health which ? is so prevalent in the clerical profession.? "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you; and many sleep." At the ( same time, that all healthful bodily exercise i has been discarded as unclerical, intellectu- t al and spiritual labors have been multiplied. The confinement of the study has been rendered much more rigid and constant, and wcarv, paralyzed minds have become content to labor two hours to accomplish what their more healthful predecessors could have effected in one. Tuis is all wrong? at war with the laws which God has framed for the government and best good with the physical man;?it is morally wrong?at war with the best interests and more vigorous progress of the cause in which the ministers of Christ are engaged. The spread of the gospel is a work which de- j mands, not enfeebled, enervate and dying men, but strong and active labors; those ' who can "endure hardness as good soldiers. "Sana mens in corpore sano," is in no profession, more imperatively required. VVe would not have it inferred from our remarks that every minister should put his hand to the plough; but that the laws of Cod which pertain to physical being should be allowed to exercise some control over his habits of life. Ministers must be willing and people must submit to it, to devote a reasonable portion of their time to pleasurable bodily exercise. The execise which they can obtain in their parochial labors is only better than one. They must unbend, and forget their professions. They must be allowed ] sonic repose ibr affections ami their intellects j Illtlieno ueeil uisirussina lium v. am ui suiiic ' sufficient evidence of their saving union with i Christ, and by those who would covjine such evidence within the limits of that inward testimony which the Spirit generally means in the safety of the true believer. Nor is it unimportant to remark with what j tenderness the Lord speaks to those whom j he has not yet enriched with the full assuri ance of faith. lie does not, like some pi' ou>, but, alas ! misjudging men, charge such : persons with the unbelief (though undoubtedly in some sense chargeable with it;) but he says to them, "Fear not," Isaiah xxxv. 4 ; "O man greatly beloved," Dan. x. 11. 10 : "It is I, be not afraid," Mart. xiv. *J7. And in Rom. xiv. 1. St. Paul exhor.s. in the snirit j of his heavenly .Master, "Him that is weak in the faith receive lie.*' Is it then an inference from the foregoing observations that we are not to seek and cherish the inward testimony of the Holy Ghost to our spiritual acceptance and security 1 Surely not. In attempting to handle a very difficult as well as important point in Christian experience, I have chiefly designed to show that we are not to be rcstric! ted to that one branch of evidence; and thai j those who advocate such restriction are themselves liable to serious delusion on the subject. Happy are thev who are mercifully taught by God to know in whom they have believed?to know that they have eternal life in Christ. Yet those who are denied such knowledge have no ground whatever to conclude that that they are not his children. This, I trust, has now been sufficiently established by a fair appeal to Scrip ttire. Ymiiort y. comf >rf ye ;ny people," >r they will become morbidly active, and ioon wear out;?they must exercise the unctions or their animal nature, or para alysis, partial or entire, will at first derange md finally destroy them.?Ch. Witness* From the Pittsburg Christian Herald. 'ROCEEDINGS Or THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Monday, Aug. 29,1936. The Executive Committee humbly lookug to God for his blessing, and relying jpon him to sustain, direct, and encourage :hem, and the missionaries and agents under heir cure, will endeavor, during the ensuing rear, to enlarge their present missions and establish new ones, as follows : Enlargement of their Present Missions. I. Mission to Africa. 1 ordained minister, 1 teacher 2 I. Northern India. 2 ministers, 1 physician, 1 teacher, 1 printer, and their wives. 5 }. Ioway Indians. 1 minister, 1 teacher, and their wives. 2 1. Smyrna. 2 ministers, 2 teachers, 1 physician, and their wives. 5 New Missions. L. China. 2 ministers, 2 physicians, 2 teachers, 1 printer, 1 typefounder, 1 superintendant, and their wives. 9 2. Calcutta. 2. ministers. 1 teacher. 1 printer and their wives. 4 3. Mandan Indians, or some other Tribe on the Upper Missouri. 1 minister, 1 physician, 2 teachers, 2 farmers, 1 blacksmith, and their wives. 7 1. Osage Indians. 1 minister, 1 teacher, 1 farmer, and their wives. 3 * Total, 37 { Of the 37 missionaries and assistant missionaries wanted, the Executive Committee mvo engaged 10, and they have encouraging prospects of obtaining the others during the coming year. CONVERSION OF IRELAND. A letter from Mr. J. L. Nolan, to the Dublin Packet, states the conversion of the Rev. Mr. Swayne, recently a clergyman in :he Romish Church, to Protestantism, and hat he is about to become a Missionary preacher in the latter faith. Another communication in the same paper from a Mr. Urotty, who signs himself a Catholic priest, states that on Sunday the 5th inst., at Birr, the ceremony of the mass was performed in English! The letter, which is a curiosity, coming from such a quarter, is as follows : lk We have glorious news to communicate to the friends of pure religion which we trust will be hailed as the dawn of brighter and happier days for Ireland.?On this [lay we have celebrated the ceremony of the mass in the vernacular tongue. The people were highly edified and delighted ; iind as they left the chapel were heard to exclaim ' may God forgive the priests for laving so long kept us in the dark. We lever heard u mass until this day!' It may )e right to mention that we have reformed he Roman missal, and expunged excepionable passagt.s, such as prayers to saints md for the dead, with many other parts of he cannon. We have also changed the substance of the mass. In the church of Rome it is offered as a sacrifice propitiatory or sin; but we offer it as it was offered by ill the early fathers of the church,4 in comnemoration of the death and passion of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ, and in thanksjiving for all the favors and blessings we have ibtained through the merits of the same Je>us Christ our Lord.' It may be right also to nention, that we have expunged the cereliony of the elevation, together with all the )ther nonsensical mummery and criss-cross's of the Romish mass. Our intention s not to form a new religion, but to retrench he novelties and superadditions of men, ind revive the old religion of Jesus Christ." Dublin Journal. Bequests to the Moravian Missions.? rwo benefactions of ?10,000 each have ecently been made to the United Brethren's Missions?one by Mrs. Sophia Van;it:art, the oilier by a sister of Lord Bexly. n the committee room of the Basle instituion, (says the Missionary Begister,) are suspended on the walls, portraits of 98 Missionaries sent for by the German branch of % his Society to the heathen world, in the /-v ' ast nineteen years. Of these Missionaries, leventy-five are still laboring in different jarts of the world, but chiefly in India. A loble example this! How should they blush n the contemplation of it whose numbers md wealth so much exceed those of the ew and poor Moravians. Southern Chttrchnian. Open Convents. Just received and for Sale at the Book Store Dpen Convents, or Nunneries and Popish Seminaries dangerous to the Morals, and degrading o the Character of a Republican Community. July 25th, Just Received. Home's Book of Health and Medicine, Sesmondis Fall of the Roman Empire, Wirts Life of Patrick Henry, new Edition, Chalmers' Works, I vol. new Edition, Addresses to Youth, by A. D. Eddy, Combe on the Constitution of Man, Oswalds Etvmological Dictionary, The Great Teacher, Tholuck on John, Dicks Works in one volume, Ramsay's Misssionary Journal, rwtnn on the Religions State of the Countrv^ For Sale at the Boole Store. July 25th, New Books. > Harmony of Divine Truth by Williston, Fuller's Works, Gaston's Collections, Mrs. Heman's Works complete in 1 vol. Hookers Family Book of Devotion, Christian Brahman, Memoir of Mrs. Ellis, Nevm's Thoughts on Popery, Do. Practical Thoughts, The Marthas, by Phillip, Boston on the Covenants, Dodrids es Rise and Progress, Young Wife's Book, Daughters Own Book, The Hebrew Wife, For Sale at the Book Store. ^ j