struments in the discomfiture of the lawless aggressor and the frustration of his ambitious designs. From Thee ALONE Cometh the victory."

This, with much more of the same sort, formed a prayer offered up to the Universal Father, from the lips of the priests, and muttered over after them by the people, of an enlightened and professedly Christian nation, in the nineteenth century! This the sentiment of the saints in lawn, who claim to be the only true apostolical succession!

No doubt, however, that they speak as truly, in ascribing to God the savage murders over which they rejoice, as did Moses and others in attributing their bloody slaughters to the direct agency of the same Being.

It has always been very common for battle-victors to ascribe the conquests which they themselves have achiev ed by military tact and cunning, or by the more palpable force of superior numbers, to the arm of the Lord. How often have we been told, in Fourth-of-July orations, what great things the Lord did for our revolutionary fathers. And, to go still farther back in the history of this country, we find that our venerated pilgrim-ancestors referred every triumph they gained, over the Indians, directly to the Lord. They considered themselves (no doubt, sincerely-the pious souls!) as the special agents of God; the divinely appointed avengers of his violated honor.

As a specimen of the manner in which the Puritans

were wont to express themselves, on this subject, take the following Address of Rev. Thomas Hooker to Capt. Mason and his army, at Hartford, Connecticut, when about to march against the Pequot tribe of Indians, in 1637:

You are only the pretend, that your No; their hatred

they would deBut my brave

"Fellow Soldiers, Countrymen and Companions, you are this day assembled by the special providence of God. You are not collected by wild fancy, nor ferocious passions......You, my dear Hearts, were selected from your neighbors, by the godly fathers of the land, for your known courage, to execute such a work. Your cause is the cause of heaven. The enemy have blasphemed your God, and slain his servants. ministers of his justice. I do not enemies are careless, or indifferent. is inflamed; their lips thirst for blood; vour you, and all the people of God. soldiers, their guilt has reached the clouds; they are ripe for destruction; their cruelty is notorious; and cruelty and cowardice are always united.-There is nothing, therefore, to prevent your certain victory, but their nimble feet, their impenetrable swamps and woods; from these your small numbers will entice them, or your courage drive them. I now put the question, Who would not fight in such a cause? fight with undaunted boldness? Do you wish for more encouragement? More I give you. Riches waken the soldier's sword; and though you will not obtain silver and gold on the field of victory, you will secure what is infinitely more pre

cious; you will secure the liberties, the privileges and the lives of Christ's church in this new world. You will procure safety for your affectionate wives, safety for your prattling, harmless, smiling babes. You will secure all the blessings enjoyed by the people of God in the ordinances of the gospel. Distinguished was the honor conferred upon David, for fighting the battles of the Lord. This honor, O ye courageous soldiers of God, is now prepared for you. You will now execute his vengeance on the heathen; you will bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron. But perhaps some one may fear, that a fatal arrow may deprive him of this honor. Let every faithful soldier of Jesus Christ be assured, that if any servant be takon away, it is merely because the honors of this world are too narrow for his reward. An everlasting crown is set upon his head, because the rewards of this life are insufficient. March then, with Christian courage, in the strength of the Lord. March with faith in his divine promises; and soon your swords shall find your enemies; soon they shall fall, like leaves of the forest, under your feet."*

OBSCENE PASSAGES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

In a volume published within a year or two past, which has become so popular as to reach, at least, the sixth edition, the young are warned against several standard

* Emerson's Supplement to Goodrich's History of United States, pp. 65, 66.

English literary works on account of what is alleged to be their indelicacy, among which are specified the writings of Bulwer, and that charming production, Thom son's Seasons.

The author is a popular clergyman, at the West. I shall not deny the justness of his remarks concerning the moral influence of some of the writings of Sterne, Moore and Byron. But in his thrust at the delightful poem of Thomson, I conceive that he does injustice to the memory of that writer, whose reputation for sweetness of disposition and moral purity is unblemished. Yet, in relation to his immortal work, the author of the volume referred to employs this language:

"Embosomed in the midst of Thomson's glowing Seasons, one finds descriptions unsurpassed by any part of Don Juan; and as much more dangerous than it is, as a courtesan, countenanced by virtuous society, is more dangerous than when among her own associates. Indeed, an author who surprises you with refined indelicacies in moral and reputable writings, is worse than one, who, without disguise, and on purpose, serves up a whole banquet of indelicacies."*

The writer has allusion, I presume, to the scene of Musidora, bathing, in "Summer." If impure thoughts arose in his mind while reading that chaste and delicate description, I sincerely pity him. He must, I think, belong to a fastidious tribe. I should never have

*Lectures to Young Men, on Various Important Subjects. By HENRY WARD BEECHER, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Son of the celebrated Dr. Lyman Beecher.) p. 177.

dreamt of associating an immoral idea with the beautiful passage in question; and I cannot but think that others, whose attention may be called anew to the subject, will be indebted to him for whatever impure sug gestions they may connect with it.

But why does he overlook the indelicate passages of the Bible? Is it because he thinks they are divinely inspired? Verily, it seems to me he has strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. He is a preacher; and therefore cannot be ignorant of the fact, that the Old Testament contains many things as obscene as any thing he can possibly find in the works of the several writers he has referred to. If he is shocked at Thomson's Seasons, what does he think of some parts of the Song of Solomon ?* Why does he not pronounce the Old Testament unfit to be placed within the reach of the young ?+

In alluding, as I have just now done, to certain parts of the Bible, I have not been governed by any thing like a desire to magnify the vulgarity which certainly characterizes some of them. But I have simply en deavored to off-set the criticisms (which, I admit, are just, in part) that have recently been published, in relation to some works, whose authors stand high in the

* See Solomon's Song, vii. 1-3, 6—10. viii. 8.

+ If any persons think I have expressed myself too strongly, let them consult, at their leisure, the following passages: Genesis, xix. 30-36. xxx. 1-10, 15, 16. xxxviii. 8, 9, 12-18. Leviticus, xv. 16-33. Deut. xxii. 13-30. 2 Samuel, xi. 2-5. xiii. 1, 2, 8, 11-20. Many other passages might be referred to; but these are sufficient to show that I have not over-stated the case.