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AN Historical Sketch of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, read to an assembly of citizens at the opening of Washington Hall, Nov. 16, 1813. By Josiah Bartlett, M. D. Boston: John Elliot 1814.

The burden and heat of the day borne by the Jewish Church: A Sermon preached at Shelburne, before the Auxiliary Society for Foreign Missions, at their annual meeting, Oct. 12, 1813. By Joshua Spaulding, A. M. Pastor of the Church in Buckland. Boston: S. T. Armstrong. 1814.

OBITUARY.

DIED, in North Carolina, ALEXANDER DIXON, Esq. leaving $12,000 for the education of poor children in Dublin County.

At Hudson, (N. Y.) the Rev. HENRY JENKS, A. M. aged 27, pastor of the Baptist church in that place:

At Boston, on the 12th ult., the oxLY SON of Mr. Constant Hopkins, aged 4 years, of the hydrophobia.

At Delhi, (N. Y.) JAMES GRAHAM, EXecuted for the murder of Hugh Cameron and Alexander M' Gallaway.

At Bath, Maine, on the 12th ult. THREE CHILDREN of Mr. John Parsley, aged from 8 to 12, suffocated and burnt to death, in his house, which was consumed very suddenly by fire.

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At Wilkesbarre, Penn. JOHN DIXON, a U. S. soldier, whose death was sioned by the brutality of a serjeant. Verdict of the inquest, Wilful Murder.

At New Haven, on the 26th ult., Mr. BARNEY CARROLL, stone-mason, burnt to death in the house where he lodged, which was suddenly consumed by fire.

At Salem, the Hon. BENJAMIN GooDArE, Esq. aged 66, formerly a Senator in Congress from Massachusetts.

At Newburyport, the Hon, ENOCH TITCOMB, Esq. aged 62.

In London, on the 6th of August 1812, Jacob MIN, a Jew, and native of Elbing in Polish Prussia.

He embraced the Christian faith upwards of twelve months before his death, and was publicly baptised by the Rev. Dr. Nichol, at the Jews' chapel, on the 20th of May, 1812. From the time he professed the Christian religion, he was

diligent in attending the means of grace at the Jews' Chapel. Having received a German Bible from the London Society, he was observed to be constantly and seriously engaged in perusing it; and from the plain and unequivocal declarations he made of his faith in the Messiah, there is good ground to believe that the Scriptures were accompanied with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

He had been, in one moment, reduced from very affluent circumstances to pov erty, by the incursion of the French. From the natural independence of his mind, he applied himself diligently, at the age of forty three, to learn the business of a tailor; but grief was rapidly undermining his constitution. He gradually became weaker, and, soon after his bap tism, was so reduced as to be confined to his room. During his illness he often expressed the greatest solicitude about his family, who arrived in England only five weeks before his death, and to whom he earnestly and repeatedly recommended the Christian religion. Fearing he might not live to see them, and being deeply concerned for their eternal interests, he had, before their arrival, made a will, appointing the Rev. Thomas Fry, the Rev. J. S. C. F. Frey, and Joseph Fox, Esq. guardians of his five children, with foll power to secure their instruction in the Christian religion. When his family arrived, he committed his wife and children to the London Society, expressing the greatest resignation, and declaring the satisfaction it would give him to see them baptised. He was sensible to the last, and his conversations evinced that he built his hopes on that Foundation which God has laid in Zion.

He was interred in the German burying ground, Ayliff Street, Goodman's Fields, attended by the Committee of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, and the children under its patronage. The Rev. Dr. Schwabe addressed a numerous and attentive audience in the German language, and spoke to the children in English; and the Rev. Mr. Frey concluded with an address in English. This account was printed by desire of the committee of the above named Society.

We are often led to adore the Provi dence and electing love of God, ia making temporal afflictions the means of everlasting good. Unless this Jew had been suddenly reduced to poverty, he would not, in all probability, have been brought to hear the truth, much less to embrace it.

N. B. As our number for July cos ained half a sheet more than usual, this contains half a sheet less.

THE

PANOPLIST,

AND

MISSIONARY MAGAZINE.

No. 10.

Sir,

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RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

To the Editor of the Panoplist.

I am extremely happy to learn, from the minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and of the Gen

eral Associations of Connecticut and Massachusetts, that it was resolved, at the late sessions of these venerable bodies, to unite in petitioning Congress, to put a stop to the carrying and opening of the mail, upon the Sabbath. The plan of circulating copies of the general petition for signature, among all denominations of Christians throughout the United States, is, I think, very judicious. It is calculated to embody and ascertain the strength of the good people of this country, and to bring their views and wishes, in regard to the importance of the Christian Sabbath, fairly before the national legislature. Anxious to forward this noble and patriotic design, by every proper means in my power, I have been induced to depart a little from the regular order of the discussion on which I have entered, and to send you a few strictures, which I had intended to make in another place, upon the existing regulations of the Post Office Depart ment. If you think an early insertion of them will be likely to promote, in any degree, the great and good object in view, they are at your service.

Z. X. Y.

ON THE SABBATH. NO. IV.

justified by the plea of necessity; it will, I trust, be admitted, (nay more than admitted,) by all who have any regard for the Sabbath, that it is a practice, which ought to be discontinued. Does the practice, then, interfere with the. religious duties of the sacred rest? This is the first point to be considered; and surely, there can be no room for doubt, where conclusive facts present themselves,

"Thick as the leaves, that strow the brooks,

In Vallombrosa."

It will be seen, at a glance, that in a country so extensive as ours,and one which is every where intersected by post-roads, it requires a very great number of drivers and carriers to transport the mails.

All these persons

have souls to be saved or lost. The law of God binds them, equally with others, to keep the Sabbath holy. It is their indis

On carrying the Mail upon the pensable duty to make it a day of

Sabbath.

If it can be made to appear, that the regular transportation and opening of the mail, upon the Lord's day, interferes, unavoidably and extensively, with the appropriate duties of holy time; and that the practice cannot be VOL. X.

rest from worldly employments, and to spend it in the "public and private exercises of God's worship." But the existing regulations of the General Post-Office render such an observance of the Sabbath, by them, impracticable. They are required to be on the road, when they should be in the

55

house of God, in their families, or their closets.

Thus freed from the restraints, and de prived of the blessings of the Lord's day, they gradually lose whatever reverence they previously had for its sacred hours, and divine requirements. The consequences are such as might be expected. The Sabbath being soon forgotten by them, other divine institutions are of course disregarded, and they are placed at a remove, almost hopeless, from the kingdom of heaven. How many persons are employed every Sabbath, as mail-carriers, in this extensive country, I know not. The num ber must certainly be great. Probably from ten to fifteen hundred. And ought not their services to be dispensed with, if possible? I am sure, that the answer of Christian benevolence must be in the affirmative.*

As we conceive this subject to be incalculably important, our readers will pardon us for adding, by way of note, a few remarks on some of the topics, discussed by our respected correspondent.

We must premise, that no salutary effect can be expected to be produced, by this discussion, upon the mind of any person, who does not regard religion with seriousness, and man as an immortal being, whose future destiny is to be fixed by the character which he forms in this lite. Infidels and scoffers are beyond the reach of the most powerful and decisive arguments on this subject. But we make a confident appeal to every person, who meditates with sacred awe upon the value of the human soul;-to every person, who believes, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and that with the observance of the Sabbath are intimately connected all the ordinary means of grace and salvation. No such person will deem it a light thing, that a thousand or fifteen hundred men are statedly employed in such a manner, as to separate them utterly from public worship, and to transfor them into heathens. We are of opinion, that not a single employment, which is tolerated among us in time of

But mail-carriers are not the only persons, who are prevented from sanctifying the Sabbath, by

peace, is so perfectly hostile to every thing of driving stage-coaches on the Sabbath, of a serious nature, as is the employment which is an inevitable consequence of earrying the mad on that day. Let a young man be engaged one year in this employment, and it is almost certain, that he will be an inveterate Sabbath-breaker throngh life, and that his soul will be lost for ever. We say almost certain; for God may interpose and rescue such a man from eternal death. Neither the word of God, however, nor his Providence, authorize any expectation that he will thus interpose. Quite the reverse.

We insist not here, on the vastly greater number of persons, who are employed on the Sabbath in driving other carriages than those in which the mail is conveyed, and who would not be thus employed, were it not for the customary travelling of mailstages on that day. Let us suppose all other travelling on the Sabbath prevented, and all the inhabitants, except mailcarriers, in the happy possession of the Sabbath, and its various means of spirit. ual improvement. In that case, would it not be thought a great evil, that several hundreds of persons should be so employ. ed, as to be removed from hearing God's word, from the ordinary means of grace, and the offers of salvation? Would not the whole country be filled with lamentations, on account of so melancholy a seclusion from the common blessings of Christianity? Is the evil less now, when the multitudes involved in it are immensely greater, than in the case supposed? and when its magnitude is concealed by the extent and authority of bad example? Would it be thought a small matter, that a thousand or fifteen hundred men should be subjected to all the horrors of Algerine captivity without hope of deliverance? Would a humane man consent, that so many individuals should be exposed to imminent danger of such captivity, for the purpose of furnishing him, and others like hima, with papers and letters a day earlier than he would otherwise receive them? But how trifling an evil is Algerine captivity compared to an eternal confinement in the great prison of despair.

Nor is the evil to be lightly estimated because it may be voluntarily incurred? How many of the sufferings of this life are brought upon men by their voluntary misconduct. Yet no man thinks lightly of these sufferings on this account. Men are too ready, it is true, to trifle with their

1

the practice now under consider ation. All the postmasters, who are required to open the mail on that day, are subjected to such interruptions, as must be very painful to a serious mind, and very prejudicial to religious improvement. By the arrival of the mail, during the hours of public worship, many are prevented from waiting upon God in his house. And where this is not the case, how painful must it be, to those post-masters, who have any proper regard for the Lord's day, to be interrupted by the arrival of the mail, when reading the Scriptures, or, per. haps, in the midst of family or closet prayer, and compelled to turn their attention, for hours together, to letters, newspapers, and way-bills. How much also, in many cases, are their families disturbed, by the arrival and departure of stages, and the noise and bustle which they occasion.* Nor do the evils complained of stop here. For the sake of carrying passengers on the Sabbath with impunity, stage-coaches are employed, even on those routs, where the mail might be conveyed with convenience on horseback. The consequence is,

eternal interests, and to squander away their all. But is this a reason why they should be encouraged to do so? We should rather argue, that the disposition of men to neglect their souls should make every Christian community cautious how any practices are tolerated, which have an irresistible agency in strengthening this perverse disposition.

In

In ur larger towns, each post-master employs from two to six clerks, who are eccupied, more or less, on the Sabbath, in the common business of the office. some towns, it is believed the business done at the post-office is little less on the Sabbath, than on any other day of the weck.

that all the stage-houses are
subjected to more or less dis
turbance every Sabbath. Some-
body must be in waiting. Horses
must be changed. Passengers
must be accommodated. The
whole company of Sabbath-break-
ers must breakfast at one int,
Have inn-
and dine at another.
keepers no souls? Have they no
religious duties to perform? Is
it not exceedingly to be lament-
ed, that they should be subjected
to all these interruptions on the
Sabbath, in consequence of the
transportation of the mails on
that day?*

Let another thing be considered. The mail-stages cannot travel, without making a great deal of disturbance. It is no uncommon thing, where they pass near houses of public worship, for the voice of the speaker to be wholly confused by their rattling, while the eyes of half the congregation are turned to the doors and windows. Thousands and thousands of families, are much disturbed by the same means.

Further; the multiplied profanations of the Sabbath, which are occasioned by this practice, qught not to be left out of the general estimate. A stranger, who happens to spend the Lord's day in one of our large commercial towns, has his attention arrested by crowds of people passing by his lodgings. His first

Passengers in the stage, on many routs in the United States, are compelled either to travel on the Sabbath, or to stop on the road three or four days. Such a delay cannot usually be suffered without extreme inconvenience. But if no stages travelled on the Sabbath, every passenger in the stage could so arrange his jour ney, as to suffer no inconvenience.

thought is, that they must be going to public worship; but he soon recollects, that it is not the proper hour, and perceives, that they are pressing not into the church, but the coffee house and the post-office. He inquires the cause of all this eager bustle, and is told, that the mail is expected, or that it has just arrived. But are the people of your city in the habit of thronging the post-office on the Sabbath? O yes, nothing is more common. Hundreds go thither directly from the churches. Whenever the mail arrives, people must and will go, to inquire for letters and to hear the news. The stranger, if he is a man of piety, answers with a sigh, These things ought not so to be.

We need not inquire as to the rest, it being perfectly obvious what must follow. If newspapers and letters are taken out, they will be read; and, in nine instances out of ten, their contents will more or less engross the thoughts for the rest of the day. Nor is this all: many of the letters demand, or are thought to demand, immediate answers. Writing these answers occupies much of that time, which God claims as his peculiar property. By the fluctuations of our own and of foreign markets, new fields of speculation are opened, on which hundreds are eager to enter. Nor must the Sabbath be permitted to prevent, or to interfere with, the requisite calculations. All these cvils, and many more, are directly occasioned every Sabbath, in a single town, by the arrival and opening of the mail.

Now let the reader stop a mo

ment, and consider how many large commercial towns there are in the United States, besides a vast number of smaller ones, where the mails are opened on the Lord's day; and of course how many thousands of people, of all ranks, are induced to profane the day, in the manner just mentioned. Let him consider, likewise, that where the mail is merely carried through a place, without being opened, many are in the habit of collecting at the stage-house, to glean whatever news they can, from the driver and passengers. Then let him say, whether a practice, which is productive of so much evil, ought not to be discontinued.

There is one other point of view, in which this subject deserves to be seriously contem. plated. Merely seeing the mailstages pass every Sabbath, tends exceedingly to make the young think lightly of that sacred institution; to embolden transgressors, and to increase the difficulty of executing the laws. It is extremely natural for children to suppose, that what is sanctioned Ly high authority must be right. They soon learn that the mail is carried by such authori ty. Their first deduction is, that there can be no harm in the prac tice. Their second, that travel. ling for other purposes, cannot be very criminal. And thus their reverence for the Lord's day is gradually weakened, and, in many cases, ultimately destroyed. The mail-stages being filled with passengers, and permitted to go on, others think they have as good a right to travel in their private carriages, and the pressure becomes so great, that

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