Page images
PDF
EPUB

and is incorporated by royal charter. The Directors in their last annual report dated March 1824, say "Its ordinary funds and exertions have been directed almost exclusively to the education and religious instruction of the Poor in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland." Its operations have been uniform and steady for more than a century; during all which time no extraordinary call has been made on the charity of the public.-By its teachers, missionaries and catechists, the most important benefits have been conferred on a once rude and neglected population. 264 schools with 13,541 scholars, are supported by this Society, together with 11 missionaries, 16 catechists, and 38 superannuated teachers, at an annual expense of £4251. The Marquis of Bute is President of the Institution.

The Church Missionary Society have made preparation for the establishment of a Seminary for the education of their missionaries, at Islington near London. There are at least three other Missionary Seminaries in Europe-one at Gosport, (Eng.) one at Basle, (Switzerland,) one at Berlin, (Prus.)

At the last Monthly Concert in Boston, a letter from Mr. Garrett, at Bombay, who had received letters from Jaffna in Ceylon, communicated the very interesting intelligence that "all the stations there have been favoured with the merciful visita

tions of the Holy Spirit, and that SIXTY OR

SEVENTY NATIVES HAVE RECENTLY GIVEN EVIDENCE OF A SAVING INTEREST IN THE MERITS OF THE REDEEMER. Others are inquiring what they shall do to be saved."

GERMAN TESTAMENTS.

Not long since Messrs. Moser and Peters, two enterprising Germans, established in Carlisle, Pa. a foundery of Stereotype plates, and commenced the publication of an edition of the New Testament, in the German language, from the plates which they prepared. They have already printed and sold 2500 copies, and are now striking off another edition, which will make the number amount to between 3 and 4 thousand. They are retailed to subscribers well bound with clasps, after the German method, at the rate of 75 cents, and in sheets at 37 1-2 cents per copy. The demand for them has been very great, and the typographical execution of them does credit to the printers.

DONATIONS TO RELIGIOUS AND CHARIT-
ABLE INSTITUTIONS.

(In the Month of September.)
To the American Board of Commission-
ers for Foreign Missions, 4,404 77.

To the United Foreign Missionary Society, $935 78.

To the American Education Society, $358 67.

Ordinations and Installations

Sept. 1.-The Rev. ABIEL PARMELE, over the Presbyterian Church in Warsaw, N. Y.

Sept. 15.-The Rev. NATHANIEL CHAPMAN, over the Congregational Church and Society in Bristol, Me. Sermon by Rev. Professor Smith, of the Theological Institution at Bangor.

Sept. 21.-The Rev. JOHN B. STEELE, over the Reformed Dutch Church of Boght, N. Y. Sermon by the Rev. John Ludlow, of Albany.

Sept. 23.-The Rev. MICHAEL QUIN, over the Church in Patterson, N. Y., Sermon by the Rev. J. Dewing.

Sept. 26.-The Rev. WILLIAM WITHINGTON, was admitted to the order of Deacons, at Newburyport, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Griswold. Sermon by the Bishop.

Sept. 28.-The Rev. ERASTUS MALT

BY, as a Missionary of the Connecticut
Missionary Society, and the Rev. LEON-
ARD BACON, as an Evangelist, at Windsor,
Con. Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Robbins,
of East Windsor.

Sept. 29.-The Rev. THOMAS WILLIAMS, over the Congregational Church and Society, of the West Parish in Attleborough, Mass. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Emmons.

Sept. 29.-The Rev. ROBERT G. ARMSTRONG, over the Church and Congrega. tion in Smithfield, N. Y. Sermon by the Rev. J. Dewing.

Sept. 30.-Messrs. HEMAN M. BLODGETT, JOSEPH 1. FOOTE, STEPHEN FOSTER, JAMES NOYES, EDWARD PALMER, ZABDIEL ROGERS and ROYAL WASHBURN, as Evangelists, at Boxford, Mass. Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Perry, of Boxford.

Oct. 6.-The Rev. HORACE SESSIONS, and the Rev. ELBRIDGE G. Howe, as Evangelists at South Wilbraham, Mass. Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Strong, of Somers, Con.

Oct. 6.-The Rev. H. HERSEY, at Barnstable, Mass. Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Palirey, of Boston.

Oct. 6 The Rev. JUBILEE WELLMAN, over the Congregational Church in Frankfort, Me. Sermon by the Rev.

Professor Fowler, of the Theological Seminary at Bangor.

Oct. 12.-The Rev. JAMES MARSH, Professor of Languages and Belles Lettres in Hampden Sidney College, was ordained at Hanover, N. H. to the work of the Ministry.

Oct. 20.-The Rev. WILLIAM MITCHELL, at Watertown, as an Evangelist, by the South Consociation of Litchfield, Con.

Diew of Public Affairs.

FOREIGN.

SPAIN. The fortress of Tariffa, mentioned in our last as having been taken on the 4th of August by a body of exiled Constitutionalists, was retaken by storm on the 19th, by the French and Spanish troops. The prisoners were delivered up for trial. We hear nothing further of the prospect of a "simultaneous struggle" throughout Spain. The affair of Tariffa seems to have been a mere act of desperation on the part of the exiles.

FRANCE. The death of Louis XVIII. was announced at London, on the 13th of September. He is succeeded by his brother, the Count d'Artois, whose title is Charles X.

GREECE.-Among the most interesting events in the history of the Greek revolution are the taking and retaking of the island of Ipsara. The Captain Pacha, after spending a month at Mytilene in raising and concentrating his force, set sail on the 3d of July, with a fleet said to consist of more than 180 vessels, and carrying from 30 to 40,000 men. The forces of psara amounted to about 7000 On the moruing of the 4th the Pacha commenced landing which he effected without difficulty in consequence of the treachery of 300 Albanians to whom the only two places favourable for a landing had been confided, and who instead of defending these important posts turned their arms upon the Greeks. It became necessary that the

Greeks should abandon the town and castle and retire to their monasteries on the hills. Under one of these was a mine of powder. The Turks after two unsuccessful attacks upon it, increased their numbers for a third attempt, when the Greeks suffered them to rush in and then blew up themselves and enemies together. Many of their women and children also perished with them. The destruction of lives was great on both sides.-The Turks massacreing all that fell in their way, and the Greeks defending themselves with desperation. Even women were seen contending hand to hand with the barbarians, and when they had no other means of avoiding captivity, throwing themselves and their children into the sea.

The Captain Pacha, having accomplished the object of the expedition, returned to Mytilene, leaving the desolated island in possession of 2000 of his Egyptian troops

But the possession of Ipsara by the Turks was of short duration. Three days after its capture, the Greek government at Napoli di Romania sent to its aid a fleet of more than 50 sail; the result of which was that nearly the whole of the Turkish fleet and garrison left at the island were destroyed. Various accounts estimate the aggregate loss of the furks at from eight to upwards of twenty thousand men. Among them were the 300 traitors, whom the enraged Greeks annihilated during the first attack.

S. W. is received.

Answers to Correspondents.

I. P. W. and A. B. are necessarily deferred.

cate.

B. will probably hear from us through the friend whom he undertakes to vindi

We handed W. L.'s communication to K. as he requested. Our only objection to publishing it, is its inconclusiveness. It is written with an excellent spirit, but discovers a wand of that knowledge of the Scriptures in their original languages, and of Biblical Archeology which is indispensable to a proper investigation of the subject.

THE

CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR.

No. 12.]

DECEMBER 1, 1824.

Heligious Communications.

On Betraying Christ.

A SERMON.

One of you shall betray me,-Mat

thew, xxvi. 21.

THE circumstances in which these words were spoken, and the occasion in which they originated, are familiar to every reader of the gospel. Our blessed Lord had nearly filled up the life of sorrow and suffering to which he had condescended, and was just on the eve of that tragical scene which was to complete the price of man's redemption. He bad before often intimated to his incredulous disciples that he was to be cut off by a cruel and ignominious death; but never till now did he disclose to them the awful secret that this was to be brought about by the treachery of one of their own little number. It would have been a great thing for them to be told, on infallible authority, that their master must die; for they had given him their strongest affections, and had looked forward with confident expectation to the time when they should share in the glories of a temporal kingdom. But then they might have hoped according to the ordinary course of events, that they should be indulged the melancholy privilege of soothing his last agonies by their vigilant and affectionate attentions. But no, he is to be denied the privilege of dying in their arms, and they the privilege of endeavouring to minister to the conVOL. VI.-No. 12.

[VOL. VI.

solation of their dying master. He is to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and to be hung up on a cross, a public spectacle of disgrace and agony. But even then, they might enjoy the melancholy consolation of reflecting that they had all been faithful to him unto the end ;-that in his own beloved family he had found none but friends; that they had stood by him to the last, and rendered him every assistance and every consolation in their power; and made a united and most vigorous effort to deliver him out of the hands of his enemies; and if he must suffer, they might be able all of them to wash their hands of his blood, and to appeal to each other, and to him, and to the world, that they had all borne for him a love stronger than death. But no, far from this; their hearts were wrung with the melan. choly intelligence that one of them was to be the traitor;--yes, one of that little number, who were then eating and drinking with him at the same table, was to be instrumental in procuring his master's death. Is it any wonder that their hearts should have sunk in fearful expectation, and that each one should have begun to utter the expressive and anxious interrogation, 'Lord, is it I ?'

The event fastened the guilt and the odium of this horrid act upon Judas; the very man perhaps, of whose integrity and fidelity the disciples were most unsuspicious, E77

ven then, while he was apparently as much devoted to the interests of his master as any of the disciples; even then, while he was mingling with him in an act of professed friendship, and virtually pledging himself to be faithful to the end, the malice and treachery of hell were awake in his bosom; and in a short time he was seen at the head of the murderous band which came with swords and staves to seize the innocent sufferer, and carry their horrid plot into execution.

I doubt not Christians, that when you have read the history of this horrid act, and have marked the conduct of this most wicked man, you have been almost ready to believe that the same degree of guilt never blackened the character of any other man. But perhaps you mistake in this opinion. No other man, it is certain, ever was, or ever can be guilty of precisely the same sin, in forin, of which Judas was guilty; but I am by no means certain that many a false professor may not find as low a place in the world of wailing as he:and you mistake, if you suppose that the sin of betraying Christ was confined to Judas, or that it may not be committed in substance now as well as when our Lord was on the earth. Every false professor of religion is chargeable with it; and the object of this discourse is to exhibit some of the forms in which it appears, and the awful guilt with which it is conúected.

I. I am first to mention some of the ways in which professed Christians betray their master.

They do this, in the first place, when they are ashamed of their religion. The language of a Christian profession is that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. When we come forward and voluntarily take upon ourselves Christian vows, and promise to live devoted to the Lord in all the ways of holy obedience, we virtually declare that we will glory in nothing in comparison with the cross of Christ. But how painfally

frequent are the instances in which the subsequent conduct gives the lie to this declaration! How often have you witnessed cases in which the Christian professor has manifested a shrinking timidity in the presence of the world, and has been afraid to take a decisive stand in favour of religion.-But I hesitate not to say that the man who is not willing that the world should know that he has renounced their ungodly practices, and has resolutely determined on a religious life ;-nay, the man who shrinks from reproving vice, because it may subject him to worldly reproach, is so far a traitor to his master. Christ will acknowledge none as his friends, who are ashamed of his service. If we dare not carry our religious character into the world with us;-if we are not willing that all-high and low, rich and poor, should know that we are Christians, and should know it from our conduct as well as our profession; it is a sure indication that the elements of treachery are lurking in our bosoms; and it is not improbable that it may yet be acted out in some of its more visi

ble and odious forms.

And here, professing Christians, as I pass along, I wish to bring this matter home to your heart, by way of examination. You have never sold your master for thirty pieces of silver; but have you never sold the credit of his cause for a still more paltry consideration ? When you have been thrown among the ungodly and profane, have you never felt willing that they should remain ignorant that you were a professor of religion; and have you not, even at the expense of your own conscience, been willing to appear compliant and courteous? When you have seen that religion was unfashionable in the circle in which you happened to fall, and found that all around you were given to trifling and vanity, have you not sometimes secretly wished that you might be free from the restraints of a Christian profession, and that you might even forget that you had

solemnly covenanted with God? What name, professing Christian, I put it to your conscience--what name does this conduct deserve better than treachery; and who will say that he is slandered, who being guilty of this conduct, is called a traitor?

2. Those professors also betray Christ, who attempt to make a compromise between his service and that of the world. I do not mean that Christians are forbidden to enjoy the world, or that religion lays an icy band upon any truly innocent and rational indulgence: still every one on entering the family of Christ, does virtually renounce the world as a portion; and promises to sacrifice every enjoyment which may come in competition with his Christian obligations. But how many are there, who, after a while, practically forget that they engaged to make this sacrifice; and as they cannot decently throw off, in a formal manner, their Christian obligations, they endeavour to bring down the standard of duty to their own taste, and to persuade themselves that all the pleasures of the world to which their inclinations lead them are innocent. They may even plead for these pleasures as a part of religion, notwithstanding they are directly fitted to drive every serious thought from the mind; and they may charge you with being unrea sonable, and endeavouring to defeat the kind purposes of our heavenly father, if you admonish them ever so kindly of the guilt of such indulgences. But nothing is more certain than that such conduct as this indicates a spirit of treachery towards Christ: and let me add that the world understand this matter perfectly. It is not the professor who is most ready to sink the character of the Christian in that of the worldling, whom they in their hearts respect most; it is not the person whom they see handling the sacramental elements in the church, and then going out into the world with as keen a relish for its pleasures, as those who profess to Have no other portion; but it is the

man between whose profession and whose conduct they observe a happy consistency; who after having professed before God to have renounced the world as his supreme portion, proves by his life that he actually has renounced it. This is the man whom the world respects most, even though it may heap upon him a load of malediction. That professor, therefore, who attempts to unite religion and the world as objects of pursuit, while he acts the part of a traitor to Christ, defeats the very purpose at which he aims; for even the open enemies of religion discover his inconsistency, and secretly despise him as more guilty than themselves.

3. I remark, once more, that those professors are especially guilty of betraying Christ, who become open apostates from his religion.—In order to this, let it be remembered that it is not necessary that a man should come into the church with a deliberate design to stab the cause of christianity; on the contrary, he may have been the subject of very serious impressions; and he may have joined the church with a resolution that he would live a holy life; but his faith proves to be that of a stony ground hearer ;--when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, he is offended; he gradually yields to one sinful indulgence after another till the sensibility of his conscience is extinguished, and he openly renounces all pretensions to religion, and comes out before the world in the character of a scoffer. It may be that he is now heard to profane the name of God; or that he is seen with the poisonous cup of intoxication at his lips, or that he makes the piety of others as well as his own former professions the subject of pro fane jesting. Such a man, be assured, has the guilt of Judas blackening his heart. His master looks upon him as a traitor, and the most profane and abandoned persons in society secretly exult in a comparison of their characters with his.

But let it be remembered that it is

« PreviousContinue »