THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY.

Illustrated in a German Parable.

"In the neighborhood of Antioch, in Syria, dwelt two families, who had long been at bitter enmity, which was transferred from the parents to the children. Attalus and Meno, the heads of these families, seized every occasion to annoy one another, and their animosity increased every day.

"Now Meno had a slave, who was a disciple of the Lord, and walked worthily of the gospel, and was faithful in all things, so that Meno esteemed him highly, and placed him over his whole household. The name of this slave was Silas. And in all that Silas did, God was with him, and blessed the house of his master for his sake. Meno, therefore, frequently conversed with his steward, and Silas converted him, so that he believed and was baptized in the name of the Lord. From this time forward Meno became a totally different man from what he had been before; and he ceased to speak ill of Attalus, his enemy, tho Attalus hated and persecuted him more than ever, and daily did him fresh injury.

"By such forbearance Attalus was still more exasperated, and he hired wicked men to lay waste Meno's garden in the night, and they destroyed his finest trees, on which Meno set a particular value.

"Then Meno's friends went to him and said, If thou dost not revenge this injury, he will soon do thee a still greater. But Meno answered them and said, This mischief was done at night: he will deny it. To me it serves for an exercise in patience. I was myself formerly actuated by the same spirit.

"Soon afterwards, Meno's friends brought two of the villains whom Attalus had suborned to lay waste the garden, and said, These men have confessed the fact, therefore now thou mayest have him punished. But

Meno answered, I have forgiven him, and will not admit enmity into my heart, tho I am certainly grieved for the loss of the trees. And Meno's friends were angry with him for his forbearance.

"Some time afterwards a furious fire broke out in the house of Attalus. Meno hastened with all his people to the spot, and saved two of his enemy's children from the flames. He thereupon went up to Attalus and offered him his hand, saying, Let there be no longer enmity between thee and me, and between thy house and mine! And Meno offered to assist him in building a new house instead of that which had been consumed.

"But Attalus turned from him, and was wroth in spirit, and said, This fire was the work of Meno,-and many believed his words. And this circumstance troubled the heart of Meno beyond measure, and his friends said, Take no farther account of that wicked man, but deliver him over to Satan!

"But Meno said, He is still a man, and bears in his bosom a wounded heart. I will not curse him.

"In process of time Attalus lost all that he possessed, and he became exceedingly poor, and suffered want with his wife and children, and Attalus himself fell sick with distress and grief.

"Then Meno took courage and went again to him and said, Ah, Attalus! let not discord prevail any longer. between me and thee, but let us shake hands before we die! Behold, what is mine shall be thine. Let us then in future live together as brothers.

"When Attalus heard these words, he looked at Meno with hollow eyes, and his face was distorted, and he turned it away. But his wife and children wept, and Meno wept also.

"Then did his friends deride Meno, and say, Now surely hath thy heart exhausted its kindness on the unworthy wretch; what more canst thou do for him?

And Meno secretly supported Attalus and his family, so that they suffered no want.

"After those days Attalus became worse, and at length gave up the ghost. When Meno heard this, he wept for him and attended him to the grave, and became the protector of the widow and orphans.

"The people then said, How is it possible for a man to act thus? But they knew not the spirit that dwelt in Meno."

REMARKS.

We have copied the above from the EVANGELIST, an orthodox work published in this city; and altho it portrays Christianity in its true and engaging light, we are astonished that it obtained favor with the advocates of modern theology, as they believe it right to pray for the destruction of their enemies, and that, in offering such prayers, they are moved by the spirit of God. If the power of christianity induced Meno to forbear, forgive, and to return blessing for cursing, if it persuaded him not to faint, but to overcome evil with good, by what is he influenced, who curses his enemy, and who prays that God will destroy him? If one be moved by the benevolence of Christ, the other is excited by the malignity of Antichrist; if one be incited by a good, the other is actuated by an evil spirit. But if the spirit of Jesus prompted a servant, a disciple to use an adversary with kindness during his life, to weep at his death, and to protect his wife and children after his departure, what would have been the conduct of the Master? When will Christ's commands cease to bind, or when will it be right for us to hate our enemies, to curse those who curse us, to maltreat those who hate us, and to imprecate eternal vengeance on those who despitefully use and persecute us? And whose children should we be, did we possess and exercise this desolating spirit? Are Christ's precepts limited to this VOL. VI.

4

stage of being, and will he direct us in the coming state to curse and deliver to Satan those whom he commanded us to bless and protect in this life? If Meno were influenced by christianity, or the spirit of Christ, in treating his enemy with kindness while he lived, and after his death, how can Christ love and pray for his enemies while they live, and damn them as soon as they are dead? The above parable makes the disciple superior to the Master, and the copy to the original, or Christ will treat his enemies with love, and pray, Father, forgive them, so long as he is the image of God. It may be said, the attention and unwearied kindness of Meno did not reclaim Attalus, and that the love and tenderness of Christ may be equally ineffectual in overcoming his foes. This is mere assertion, and is directly contradicted by the scriptures, in which we are taught that Christ shall subject his every foe. As Meno could not conquer his enemy but by overcoming evil. with good, so Christ can never vanquish his adversaries till their hearts are conformed to his benign spirit. moral victory is the only one Christ can obtain over his foes, and the scriptures declare he shall reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, and that when all things shall be subdued unto him, he shall be subject to the Father, that God may be all in all. Were the vanquishinent physical, Christ would resemble Tamerlane, Alexander and Bonaparte, and Meno, instead of manifesting the spirit of christianity, was not the follower of Christ. From the whole argument this conclusion is evident: if Meno treated his enemies with christian temper, and in the manner commanded by his great Master, Christ must treat his enemies in the same manner or he will disgrace his own commands. If this inference be incorrect, Attalus exhibited the christian spirit, and so did Nero and Caligula.

Hartf. Rel. Ing.

A

[As the following has recently been published in the Woodstock Observer, we have thought best to insert it in our pages, contrasted with Scripture eloquence, that our readers may behold the difference. Believing that we are not strangers to Dr. Griffin's sentiments on theology, knowing him to be a strict Calvinist, we would just inquire of him, or some one of his sect, whether he views the elect in any danger of being overtaken by this terrible storm. We know he does not. Then we would again inquire, whether he believes the non-elect can be benefitted by his alarm, called "pulpit eloquence?" We are again certain he does not. Then, where is the propriety in making this attempt to frighten weak and timid minds, when it is altogether visionary, a vox et præterea nihil, and even if real, according to his own theory, could benefit no one?

From the Columbian Telescope.

PULPIT ELOQUENCE.

Close of a Sermon, by Dr. Griffin, Pastor of a Church in Newark, N. J.

Now then, my friends, my reasons are all before you, and I hope to be justified by your consciences, while I execute the commission given me in the text. God hath said to the wicked, "O wicked man, thou shalt surely die;" and the watchmen are commanded upon their peril to sound the alarm. I therefore solemnly. declare, in the name of God, that there is a dreadful war waged of all the divine perfections against sinthat the sacred rights of heaven have taken the fieldthat every glory of the Godhead holds a livid lightning pointed at every thought-that the inviolable honor of heaven's King is enlisted, and is coming down to crush a rebellious world. In equally solemn tones I declare, as my office obliges, and call every angel to witness, that in this war, God is right and the world is wrong. These great truths, while I live, I will declare, and hope to pronounce them with my dying breath,-God is right and the world is wrong. I wish they were set