mighty prince required her attendance, would you not with joy have sent her to his courts? Would you not have parted with her pleased with the consideration of her advantage? In her absence would not your mind be satisfied with having well disposed of her? Can Can you grudge her to the king of Heaven, in whose presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore ? But for yourself these sorrows flow, nor will I in moderation, blame them. She was the dearest blessing of your life; a child, a companion, a friend, dutiful, obliging and sincere, all this, and more. She was the wonder and delight of all who knew her. But the more her goodness, the greater her reward, and that should be your comfort. The Almighty Author of all things has a right to dispose, as He pleases, of all his creatures, and it is impious in us to murmur at his dispensations. From Him she camc, to Him you owe the joy she gave you for nineteen years together. Does this demand no gratitude, and can you be angry because God has resumed what he but only lent? Examine human life. View its most cheerful side, its gaities, its joys, its pleasures. Alas, how low, how trifling and how transient all! Consider youth, health and beauty, how quick ly are they gone! Is not the body subject every moment to accident, to pain, to sickness; the mind to anxious cares, to piercing griefs, and would you wish your daughter back again from heaven to such a state? Where she now is, no tears will ever flow; no sorrow, no discontent, no pain can ever there be known. To view the face of God, to sing his praises and admire his wonders, to possess the full fruition of every hope, and that for ages infinite, how vast the thought, how unspeakable the felicity! Methinks I see her amidst a crowd of celestial inhabitants, encircled with glory, chanting hymns to her Creator for so soon releasing her from the sorrows of mortality. Now, will you still lament, and let self love so far prevail, as to repine at your loss, when she has gained so much? How trifling was your pleasure in her society, compared with her eternal happiness! Dry up those tears then, for if in heav en, any thing could interrupt her bliss, your grief, I am sure, would do so. Imagine her descending from the skies arrayed in brightness, and enquiring the cause of your incessant love. Would you not blush to tell it, and must she not wonder that her felicity should bring you sorrow? From the Universal Spectator. MR. EDITOR, A SECRET PRAYER. Ar the earnest request of some enlightened friends, I transmit for your publication a prayer of ArchbishopTillotson, "which, as his publisher conjectured, he used before composing his sermons." We think it discovers a spirit so much in harmony with the gospel that it ought to be more widely diffused. Such a spirit, we believe, is slowly but surely becoming universal; breathing the love, the mildness, the good will of its divine author; banishing the exclusive rancour, the party zeal, the uncharitable bitterness, the blood thirsty bigotry of intolerance and persecution. These black vapours, burdened with mildew and death, are dispersing before this spirit of truth, this spirit of God, this day-spring from on high. The features of the moral landscape begin to assume their native verdure and beauty. The smile of God seems to rest upon their freshness; while glimpses of a still purer sky are opening above, "the bright dilating blue of Heaven." O when will the broad illumination commence! When will the promises of Jehovah be accomplished! All remain firm and immoveable. Even now, with a voice of faith, and the voice of thanksgiving, may we exclaim, Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. We will be glad, we will rejoice, we will give him glory. Vol. VI.-No. 4. A. 15 For the Christian Disciple. "O Lord God of truth I humbly beseech thee to enlighten my mind by thy holy spirit, that I may discern the true way to eternal salvation; and to free me from all prejudice and passion, from every corrupt affection and interest, that may either blind me or seduce me in my search after it. Make me impartial in my inquiry after truth, and ready whenever it is discovered to me, to receive it in the love of it, to obey it from the heart, and to practise it in my life, and to continue stedfast in the profession of it to the end of my days. I perfectly resign myself, O Lord, to thy conduct and direction, in confidence that thy mercy and goodness are such, that thou wilt not suffer those who sincerely desire to know the truth and rely upon thy guidance, finally to miscarry. And if in any thing which concerns the true worship and service of thee my God, and the everlasting happiness of my soul, I am in any error and mistake, I earnestly beg of thee to convince me of it, and to lead me into the way of truth; and to confirm and establish me in it daily more and more. And I beseech thee, O Lord, always to preserve in me a great compassion and sincere charity towards those that are in error, and ignorance of thy truth; beseeching thee to take pity on them, and to bring them to the knowledge of it, that they to do what I know to be thy will and my duty. Grant, O Heavenly Father, these my humble and hearty requests, for his sake, who is the way, the truth, and the life, my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ." Amen. REPORT OF GOD'S TREATMENT OF THE FIRST MURDERER. OUR civil tribunals in the trial of any cause, pay great veneration to ancient usages and immemorial customs; and especially to precedents taken from higher courts in similar cases. I can adduce a precedent which is of greater antiquity and of higher authority, than any that can be found in all our law reports. It may be found in the reports of Moses, the first reporter of law cases; and it stands recorded in the sacred volume, for our imitation. It is the trial and punishment of Cain for the murder of his brother Abel. Cain being under a theocratical form of government, God himself was the sole judge. The crime of murder charged against Cain was aggravated in many respects. It was fratricide, or the killing of a brother. It was committed immediately after the kindest assurances, encouragements, and promises, and the most solemn warnings from God, Gen. iv. 7 It was committed on a man of real piety, and without any provocation. The fact was proved, not by fallible semi-evidence, and uncertain conjectures, but by the incontestible evidence of God's own perfect knowledge; and, by But the voice of his brother's blood haps, for form sake, it might be added, and the Lord have mercy on your soul !' But it was a very favourable circumstance for Cain, that he did not fall into the hands of men, whose tender mercies are cruelty! All the punishment which God inflicted on Cain for this aggravated murder, was hard labour and banishment. And Cain thought this was too severe; for he said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.' And it appears that God compassionated his case. For upon Cain's saying that, that it will come to pass that every one who findeth me will slay me. God kindly relieved him, not only from the danger itself, but also from the fearful apprehensions of mind he was under. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Please to take notice. Not lest he should kill another man; the danger of which, (even in this our half humanized age) is urged by many in justification of the inhuman practice of putting murderers to death. But God, who best knew the human heart, knew that the danger of killing was on the other side; and therefore He took his measures accordingly, in order to prevent it. The mark which the Lord set upon Cain, whatever it may have been, answered a double purpose. It warned mankind not to commit murder; and not to take away the life of the murderer. In both these respects this mark was a more effectual, lasting, and benefi cial warning to mankind, than it would have been, to have seen a human being, created in the image of God, hanging on a halter under a gallows, and expiring in all the excruciating agonies and contortions of a violent and unnatural death! Such an awful spectacle would doubtless give a greater shock to the feelings and sensibilities of human nature, than the punishment which God inflicted on Cain; but the impression would be momentary, if not pernicious; distressing while it lasted; but would not equally with the latter, convince the understanding, and mend the heart. I might now conclude with this exclamation, what could God have done more than he hath done to prevent the effusion of human blood! But I am constrained to mention one thing more. Although the mark placed on Cain might answer its appointed ends, as above mentioned, during his natural life, yet, lest they should be forgotten after his death, and that succeeding generations might be left without excuse, God was pleased to leave on record a most solemn declaration and warning to civil magistrates, and all others, not to shed the blood even of a murderer. And the Lord said unto him (and probably in the hearing of others) Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold.' Here let us pause a moment. These words demand our most serious attention,for God spake them. I am willing that my opponents should give the most favourable construction to the text, which the words can consistently admit. I conceive their true meaning to be this, That the vengeance, which God would have taken, here and hereafter, on any person or persons who should have taken away the life of Cain, although a murderer, would have been seven fold more than the punishment He had now laid upon Cain, merely for the violation of a civil duty. At any rate, the text denounces an awful doom on any person or persons who should have inflicted a capital punishment on Cain for the murder that he had committed! I must request all the defenders of sanguinary pun ishments, once more to read with attention the whole of the -proceedings in his trial, as they stand on record in the sacred volume. They will find no dislocation of bones by the tortures of the rack; no burning at the 'stake; no strangling by a halter under a gallows; no life taken away, nor day of probation shortened; not even a hair of Cain's head scorched or plucked out. And, on due reflection, I request them to say, whether mankind, amidst all their witty and cruel inventions, have ever discovered any sanguinary punishment that has had a more effectual tendency to reclaim the offender; to deter others; and to secure the public, than the punishment which God laid on Cain for the murder of his brother Abel. It is certain, that by it the public was effectually warned and secured. And there is great reason to believe, that Cain was effectually reclaimed, for he regretted being hid from God's face.' This was a happy omen of sincere repentance, and very different from what his parents exhibited, whilst under the influence of impenitent guilt; they endeavoured to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord.' It appears that Cain lived many years after this; and in all likelihood became a good member of society, for he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, ENOCH.' The preceding article has been borrowed for the perusal of our readers. It is the substance of one of five Essays on Capital Punishments,' which ald, a newspaper published at originally appeared in the HerWindham, in in Connecticut. They were reprinted in Philadelphia, in Poulson's Daily Advertiser. In 1811 they were printed in a Tract. In 1812, An Appendix by the author was published, containing anwhole has recently been preswers to 13 objections. The sented to the Editor by a Friend. However intelligent sentiments of this author, there men may disagree as to the can be but one opinion of his talents as a writer. The fourth Essay, which has now been given, is a fair specimen of the ability with which the several arguments and objections are managed. |