Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

and angels to eternal life, and leaving the rest to perish in their sins, for no other reason than, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." As insincere; for, although Christ died only for the elect a small portion of the human race-and never designed that any besides should be benefited by his death, yet he is represented as earnestly inviting all to come and freely receive the blessings of his grace-as remonstrating with them in the most impassioned strains for not coming: "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" and as augmenting their punishment for not coming to him, causing his sufferings for the elect, which can never perish, to be a savor of death unto death to the reprobate! And is there no insincerity here? Is there no injustice ?-Is there no cruelty here? If not, then we confess that we have not the smallest conceptions of moral right or wrong, and must surely be attached to that miserable corps of illfated reprobates, "whose eyes he hath blinded, and whose heart he hath hardened, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart." But probably these remarks, though just, are as uncalled for as they were undesigned at the commencement of our discourse. We therefore turn with pleasure to another view of the God of the Bible.

How glorious is He, as he appears full-orbed in his whole round of perfections! How pure are the principles of his moral government--pure as the rays which stream forth from the sun, which is a faint emblem of his ineffable Creator! How wise are his counsels! How prudent his purposes! How just, how benevolent his dispensations! As the universal Parent, he "would have all men to be saved ;" and therefore he makes use of all consistent means to secure their salvation. He has given his Son to be a ransom for all; and the benefits of his mediation are sincerely offered to all. In a word, "he is loving unto every man; a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he!" And O! how will this truth stand forth in all its force, when the "wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal!"

Surely, the God of the Bible is the proper object of our highest confidence and hope, our veneration and love! And we shall not find it difficult to respond to the pious language of the sacred poet, "This God shall be our God for ever and ever; he shall be our guide, even unto death!"

"Now, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."

S.

For the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review.

A SKETCH.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF CONGRESS.

It was fitting, indeed, that the city which was to be the capital of this great commonwealth, with its lofty mountains, its vast plains, its magnificent rivers, and, above all, its free and enlightened government, should bear the name of him whose sword severed the political bonds which united us to the parent empire, and whose wisdom guided the councils of the nation, ere yet it arose to the strength of vigorous manhood. There is, therefore, something in the name of Washington which excites our veneration, connected as it is with all that is great, and noble, and exalted, apart from the lofty associations, which, as the city of the American Congress, are clustered about it; but when it is remembered that here, from time to time, are assembled the favorites of the nation, the eloquence and wisdom, the learning and patriotism of a great and free people, we cease to wonder that Washington is invested with an interest which no other city among us can possess. It was, then, with no common feelings, that I first set foot in the city which bears the revered name of the greatest and best of men, and with the eye of a stranger surveyed the interesting scenes of which I had heard so much.

It was during the late special session, and at a period of great political excitement, that I was set down at one of the principal hotels on the Pennsylvania Avenue. Below me was the splendid residence of the President of the United States, and above me, surmounting a gentle hill, which apparently rears its broad shoulders on purpose to receive it, stood that noble edifice, in which assembles the Congress of the nation. Its great size, lofty dome, and commanding position, made it the most imposing object in reach of the eye; and as the banner of my country was proudly floating on either wing, indicating that both houses were in session, I sought at once the gratification of my long-cherished desires of visiting the capitol during a session of Congress.

The weather was most delightful. The sun was pouring floods of light and glory over the beautiful grounds at the western front; the air was still and balmy, and the fountain in the midst of the mall sent up its sparkling waters in the shorn rays of the October sun, and hung out its rainbow colors to allure the passing stranger. I paused, however, only for a moment, and hurried on up the steep of stairs to the outer corridor-thence by the naval monument arising from a stone basin of living water--thence under the heavy stone arches in the lower story of the capitol-up another casement of stone steps-and onward, till I suddenly found myself under the immense dome that canopies the vast rotunda.

Here the statuary and paintings held me for a moment, and for a moment I paused to catch the echoes and re-echoes cast back from the vaulted roof and circular walls, and then hurried through another suite of narrow passages and dark stairways, till, immerging through an obscure door, I found myself at once in the circular

gallery of the House of Representatives, looking upon one of the most imposing scenes that my eyes ever beheld.

What a noble hall! how lofty the ceiling! what an array of dark, variegated marble columns! The statuary, too, and the portraits-there the lamented Lafayette-and here the great, the good, the inimitable Washington. But above all, witness this vast assemblage, the representatives of our twenty-six empire states! They are gathered from the four winds of heaven-here sits a Missourian from the land of bears and buffaloes, and there, by his side, a man bred up amid the luxuries and refinements of a populous city-here is a sallow-faced representative from the rice grounds of the south, and there a ruddy farmer from the bleak hills and fertile valleys of the north;-there is a man from the prairies, and another from the woods, and still another from the fishing grounds-here is the scholar from his cloister, the mechanic from his shop, the laborer from his field, the manufacturer from his warehouse, the merchant from his desk, the lawyer from his office, the doctor from his laboratory, and even the minister from his pulpit. And from what vast distances have they gathered! From Maine, and Florida, and Louisiana, and Missouri, and Wisconsin. They have traversed mountains, ascended great rivers, crossed immense prairies, penetrated thick forests, and been whirled over hundreds of miles of railroads, and passed through every variety of climate, to reach only the common centre of our common country: and yet they all speak one language, are animated with the same love of liberty, and are assembled under the same national banner to deliberate for the good of our commonwealth.

What a glorious country! how vast its extent! how endless its resources! Above all, what a picture of human freedom is here presented! Here are no castes, no orders of knighthood or privileged nobility. The high-souled representative, whose bursts of manly eloquence now fill this noble hall and startle this mighty mass of mind, may, in another week, be a private citizen, retired upon his acres, or perhaps working in his shop. He who, with so much dignity, occupies the speaker's chair, and with a word directs the business and guides the deliberations of this proud assembly, will in a few days be on a level with the meanest citizen of Tennessee; that venerable looking man, in the decline of life, and dressed in a brown frock coat, leaning his smooth bald head upon his hand, and looking with an air of abstraction upon the mass of papers before him, though he be at present but the representative of a single congressional district in the " Bay State," was once at the head of this great republic, and stood on a footing with the proudest monarchs of the old world. Wonderful country! long may it remain to cherish the rights of man, and, like the dews of heaven, to dispense equal laws and equal justice to all.

The Senate is a more dignified body than the House. The seats are farther asunder-the members older and more decorous. The hall itself is less imposing in appearance; but as I sat in the gallery and looked down upon the mighty intellects which were there assembled, and thought of the admirable machinery of our government, by which the sovereignty of the states was recognized in this august assembly, I felt an indescribable awe, a holy reverence, which the

other house had failed to inspire. Before me sat the representatives of twenty-six sovereign, independent states, chosen by their several legislatures for their learning, ability, and patriotism, and constituting, without a shadow of doubt, the most enlightened and talented legislative body in the world.

There, too, were the choice spirits which had so often elicited my admiration when at a distance. There was Johnson, the gallant colonel, sitting in the chair of the vice-president, with a frank, open, good-humored expression upon his countenance, which savored little of the far-famed Indian killer-and Webster too-I can see him now with his fine massive forehead, and full expressive eyes. He seems as "calm as a summer's morning," but arouse him and you startle a lion. What a voice! what a countenance! what solemnity of manner!—and Clay-that tall, coarse looking man, with the broad, good-humored mouth, who leans so gracefully upon his desk, is the renowned senator from Kentucky. Mr. Wright, the courteous chairman of the committee on finance, is the plain, farmer-looking man, dressed in a brown coat, who rises so calmly to answer the fierce attack of the member who has just sat down. He is never excited, never passionate, never personal, but addresses himself to the business of the session with an industry and decorum worthy of all commendation. The tall, slender man, with a countenance a little inclined to severity, is Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina. How earnest his manner! how strong and overwhelming his method! But our space would fail to call up the stout-framed Benton, the eloquent Preston, and White, and Grundy, and Rives, and Buchanan, and Southard, and Wall, each a host within himself, and fit to guide the destinies of a nation.

And this, then, thought I, as I retraced my way to the Rotunda, is the Congress of the United States-the great forum of American eloquence! Here resides the common sensorium, the great ganglion of our beautiful system, sending out its nerves into every county, and town, and village in this vast commonwealth, and sympathizing with every member, however distant or obscure. A single spark electrifies the whole-an injury at the extremity pervades the mass-and agitation in the centre shakes the extremities-“ E pluribus unum" is written upon the whole. We are many in name, but one only in fact, one in government, one in interest, and one in destiny. May he whose spirit brooded over our infant councils, and crowned our early struggles with victory, still defend us against disunion, and lead us on to still greater degrees of prosperity and glory. S. G. A.

Brooklyn, 1838.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. ROBERT GREEN.

THE subject of the following brief memoir was among the first Methodist preachers in this country. In the incidents connected with his life and early travels, are exhibited, in an eminent degree, some of the peculiarities of Methodism at that period of its history; and a record of them will be both instructive and interesting to those who now enjoy the benefits of the institutions reared and fostered by those holy men of God. The sketch which we give of this venerable man was furnished by his son, the Rev. Lemuel Green, for the purpose barely of aiding the minister who was to preach his funeral sermon, in preparing a discourse for the occasion, and not with any view on the part of the writer that it would be given to the public. The paper was handed to us in its original form, for the purpose of making out a memoir for publication; but believing that we should mar its beautiful simplicity, rather than improve it, by attempting any considerable alterations, we give it entire, as it came to us, with only a few slight verbal corrections:—

My father, (says the writer) was born about the year 1765, some ten miles from the city of Baltimore, which then was known only by the name of the county of Baltimore. His parents were members of the Episcopal Church, and his father an officer in that church. His advantages as to the means of acquiring an education were very limited, the nearest school being about three miles from his father's house. During a revival with which that part of the country was blessed, he became one of its subjects, which I think, from what I have heard him say, must have been when he was about twenty years of age. He felt, from the commencement of his religious course, that a dispensation of the gospel had been committed to him. On one occasion he was appointed to conduct a prayermeeting, and give a word of exhortation. During his exhortation, the Lord wrought powerfully by him, and no less than four persons were awakened, who obtained religion during the night. He then concluded no longer to hold his peace. He immediately procured license to exhort; and one Sabbath, a large congregation being collected, and the preacher disappointing them, his feelings were so deeply exercised, that he stepped forward and took the stand. Here he preached his first sermon. It was a time of great power; and there was shaking among the people. Rev. Jesse Lee, hearing of this circumstance, got him to fill two or three of his appointments; and conference sitting shortly after, he took him with him, and recommended him to travel. After examination by Bishop Asbury, in open conference, he was received and appointed to Montgomery circuit, in Maryland. This was in the year 1788. On this circuit a most powerful work of grace broke out, which extended all round it. It had its commencement in a very wicked and hardened neighborhood, and in a manner convincing to all that it was of the Lord. The preachers who were previously stationed on this circuit had often conversed on the propriety of VOL. X.-Jan., 1839.

9

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »