very lively and profitable. At our prayer meeting on sabbath evenings our chapel is generally well filled, and the congregation, with few exceptions, is attentive to the solemnities of the occasion. Our society is thought, by our brethren, to be more generally engaged in the work of the Lord at present, than it has been for some years past. However, we have much cause for humility and mourning on account of the dulness which yet remains among us. Doubtless much of our present order and prosperity is to be attributed, under God, to the indefatigable labour and unwearied pains of my worthy predecessor on this station."

Buffalo District.-A letter from the Rev. Loring Grant, published in the Christian Advocate, contains much

cheering information respecting the revival and extension of the work of religion on several circuits in that district. After an interesting detail of the particulars of this gracious work, the letter concludes as follows: "To conclude I would observe, that the district is rising-the preachers are increasing in zeal, in the abundance of their labours, and in usefulness. Quarterly meetings are attended with much Divine influence, are rendered seasons of refreshing, and are crowned with the conversion of immortal souls. We therefore thank God for what he has already wrought, and hoping to see still greater things than these, take courage to pursue our glorious career, trusting for support and success in him who hath said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of theworld."

OBITUARY.

DEATH OF MRS. SABRINA S. PIER. Communicated by her husband, the Rev. Orris Pier. MY late consort was born February 27, 1802, in Monkton, Addison county, state of Vermont. At the age of eleven she lost her father, in consequence of which she was separated for a while from the rest of the family; but on the second marriage of her mother, she returned to the domestic circle. In early life she manifested an amiable disposition and deportment, which secured her many friends At the age of seventeen, at the time of a reformation in her neighbourhood, under the ministry of the Rev. Nicholas White, Sabrina was awakened to a sense of her lost estate. With many prayers and tears she sought until she obtained mercy; and she was noted for the plainness and simplicity of her Christian manners and deportment. She attached herself to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and became an exemplary attendant on all its ordinances.

may be clothed with salvation as with a gar ment."-She was mine; but I cannot say less, than that she was a most devoted Christian, an affectionate wife, and a tender mother.

On the first day of July, 1819, we were united in marriage; and we lived, delighted in oach other's society, for upwards of seven years short, indeed, they seem, since I am deprived of one who so eminently contributed to pass them away so pleasantly.

During my absence in the work of the ministry she fulfilled the duties of a wife and a mother at home, evincing a steady desire to do all the will of her heavenly Father. In the midst, however, of the enjoyments of the present life, she seemed to anticipate but a short stay here. This she intimated in a letter to her mother, in which she says, "Death is on our track; and I pray that we

On Tuesday, the 29th of August, she was attacked with the typhus fever, which was but moderate at first, but finally increased with that violence and obstinacy, as to resist all attempts, to arrest its progress. Though cheered on the first appearance of the disease with a prospect of a speedy recovery, when the alarming symptoms were discovered, they seemed to turn our thoughts on the painful prospect of a separation by death. During her illness her mind, borne up by the Spirit of her Saviour, seemed ascending to heaven, and she conversed freely on the subject of death, manifesting a perfect resignation to the will of God, whether it were for her to live or die. Being sensible, at last, that her days upon the earth would be but few, she requested me to join with her in singing a favourite hymn, descriptive of the heavenly world.

A little before her death, wishing distinctly to understand the state of her mind, I took her by the hand, and called her by name, but was so excited that I could not speak more. Anticipating my desire, she raised her eyes to heaven, with a countenance brightening with immortal hope, and exclaimed, "Let those wheels roll; I shall soon be on the shore." She then sunk into the arms of death, without any apparent pain, and her spirit no doubt rests with God.

NO. 2.]

FOR FEBRUARY, 1827.

DIVINITY.

[VOL. 10.

CHRIST'S KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD.

A Discourse delivered before the Legislature of Vermont, on the day of General Election at Montpelier, October 12, 1826.

BY THE REV. WILBUR FISK, A. M.

(Concluded from page 10.)

5th. This kingdom of Christ is distinguished from the governments of this world, in that it presents objects suited to man's capacities and desires, and affords comforts suited to his lowest and extremest miseries.

There is a spirit, an active, aspiring principle in man, which cannot be broken down by oppression, nor satisfied by indulgence. "He has a soul of vast desires,

It burns within with restless fires."

Desires which no earthly good can satisfy; fires which no waters of affliction or discouragement can quench. And it is from this his nature, that society derives all its interest, and here also lies all its danger. This spirit is at once the terror of tyrants, and the destroyer of republics. To form some idea of its strength, let us look at it in its different conditions, both when it is depressed, and when it is exalted. See when it is bent down, for a time, by the iron grasp and leaden sceptre of tyranny, cramping and curtailing and hedging in the soul, and foiling it in all its attempts to break from its bonds and assert its native independence. In these cases, the noble spirit, like a wild beast in the toils, sinks down at times into a sullen inactivity, only that it may rise again when exhausted nature is a little restored, to rush, as hope excites or madness impels, in stronger paroxysms against the cords which bind it down. This is seen in the mobs and rebellions of the most besotted and enslaved nations. Witness the repeated convulsions in Ireland, that degraded and oppressed country. Neither desolating armies, nor numerous garrisons, nor the most rigorous administration, enforced by thousands of public executions, can break the spirit of that restless people. Witness Greece: generations have passed away since the warriors of Greece have had their feet put in fetters, and the race of heroes had apparently become extinct; and the Grecian lyre had been long unstrung, and her lights put out. Her haughty masters thought her spirit was dead; but it was not dead, it only slept. In a moment as it were, we saw all Greece in arms she shook off her slumbers, and rushed with frenzy and hope upon seeming impossibilities, to conquer or to die. And though the mother and the daughter, as well as the father and the VOL. X. February, 1827.

6

son, have fought and fallen in the common cause, until her population grows thin; though Missolonghi and many other strong holds are fallen, until her fortifications are few and feeble; though Christian nations have looked on with a cruel inactivity, without lending their needed aid; yet the spirit of Greece is no more subdued than at the commencement of the contest. It cannot bé subdued.

Look at the negro slave, who is said to be among the most stupid of the race of men. He is degraded at his birth, he is degraded throughout his life, so that not a ray of science is allowed to enlighten his mind, and not a spark of ambition is allowed to be kindled up in his soul; till one would think there was not enough of native fire left in his bosom to excite him to a venturous action. But we have heard, not only of individuals rising up and destroying their oppressors, or bursting from their yokes, but we have heard of the inhabitants of a large island, rising from the lowest servitude, mastering their masters, butchering and expelling them, and raising up a government and a commonwealth of their own, and establishing themselves in a rank among the nations of the earth.

We see then that man has a spirit, which is not easily broken down by oppression. Let us inquire, whether it can be more easily satisfied by indulgence. And in every step of this inquiry, we shall find that no miser ever yet had gold enough; no office seeker ever yet had honour enough; no conqueror ever yet subdued kingdoms enough. When the rich man had filled his store houses, he must pull down and build bigger. When Cesar had conquered all his enemies, he must enslave his friends. When Bonaparte had become the emperor of France, he aspired to the throne of all Europe. Facts, a thousand facts, in every age and among all classes, prove that such is the ambitious nature of the soul, such the increasing compass of its vast desires, that the material universe, with all its vastness, richness, and variety, cannot satisfy it. Nor is it in the power of the governments of this world, in their most perfect forms, so to interest the feelings, so to regulate the desires, so to restrain the passions, or so to divert, or charm, or chain the souls of a whole community, but that these latent and ungovernable fires will sooner or later burst out and endanger the whole body politic.

I know it has been supposed, by the politicians, that in an intelligent and well educated community, a government might be so constituted, by a proper balance of power, by equal representation, and by leaving open the avenues to office and wealth, for a fair and honourable competition among all classes, as to perpetuate the system to the latest posterity. Such a system of government, it is acknowledged, is the most likely to continue; but all these political and literary helps, unaided by the kingdom of Christ, will

not secure any community from revolution and ruin. And he knows but little of the nature of man, who judges otherwise. What has been the fate of the ancient republics? They have been dissolved, by this same restless and disorganizing spirit of which we have been speaking. And do we not see the same dangerous Spirit in our own comparatively happy and strongly constituted republic? The wise framers of our excellent political institutions, like the eclectic philosophers, have selected the best parts, out of all the systems which preceded them; and to these have added others, according to the suggestions of their own wisdom, or the leadings of providence, and have formed the whole into a constitution, the most perfect the world has ever witnessed. Here every thing that is rational in political liberty, is enjoyed; here the most salutary checks and restraints, that have yet been discovered, are laid upon men in office Here the road to honour and wealth are open to all; and here is general intelligence. But here man is found to possess the same nature, as elsewhere. And the stirrings of his restless spirit have already disturbed the peace of society, and portend future convulsions. Party spirit is begotten; ambitious views are engendered, and fed, and inflamed; many are running the race for office; rivals are envied; characters are aspersed; animosities are enkindled; and the whole community are disturbed, by the electioneering contest. In proof of this, we need only refer to our late presidential election. This alone will show us, that the higher the elevation, at which men aim, the more restless, troublesome and dangerous do their aspiring spirits become. No meanness is foregone, no calumny is too glaring, no venality is too base, when the mind is inflamed with strong desire, and elated with the hope of success, in the pursuit of some favourite object. And when the doubtful question is decided, it avails nothing. Disappointment sours the mind, and often produces the bitterest enmity, and the most settled and systematic opposition, in the unsuccessful party; while success but imperfectly satisfies the mind of the more fortunate. And if no other influence comes in, to curb the turbulent spirits of men, besides that which is found in our general intelligence and constitutional checks, probably, at no great distance of time, such convulsions may be witnessed in our now happy country, as shall make the ears of him that heareth it tingle, and the eyes of him that seeth it weep blood. State may be arrayed against state, section against section, and party against party, till all the horrors of civil war may desolate our land. Are there no grounds for such fears? Already the partisans of a murderer, in one state, have disorganized the whole judicial system, and put a serious check, for a time, to the administration of justice. The high spirit of a governor, in another state, has threatened opposition, and almost defiance, to the constituted authorities of the general government. Already.

disgraceful disorder has been countenanced, from mere party feelings, in the highest, and what ought to be the most dignified legislative council of the nation. Already the capitol of the nation, it is said, is a place of much intrigue and political chicanery, to secure office and promote the interests of parties. Already office seekers, in different parts of the country, unblushingly recommend themselves to notice, and palm themselves upon the people, by every electioneering manoeuvre; and in this way, such an excitement is produced, in many parts of the Union, as makes the contending parties almost like mobs, assailing each other. Only let the public sense become vitiated, and let a number of causes unite to produce a general excitement, and all our fair political proportions would fall before the spirit of party, as certainly and as ruinously, as the fair proportions of Italian architecture fell before the ancient Goths and Vandals.

And is there nothing that will satisfy the mind of man? Has Heaven placed a race of beings upon this earth, and constituted them with souls of such capacity, and with desires of such compass, that nothing in this wide orb can fill them? Does our Creator take delight in giving an impetus to the human mind, which drives it irresistibly over all the fields of fatal experiment, spreading desolation in its track, through all the fairest works of God? There is a remedy. Amidst all the commotions and agitations of earthly governments; amidst the feverish heat and burning thirst of this world; amidst its rivalships and its enmities, the restlessness of its desires and the raging of its passions, "the God of heaven hath set up a kingdom." In this kingdom there is no rivalship and no disappointment; all the subjects are candidates for the highest honours, and all win, who run. Here those "who hunger and thirst are filled;" filled with that "righteousness and peace and joy, in the Holy Ghost," which are the peculiar properties of this kingdom: a "peace that is like a river," a righteousness that is like the waves of the sea," and a joy that is "unspeakable and full of glory." The subject of this kingdom, therefore, is at rest; he says of its joys, they are enough, its treasures are satisfactory, its prospects are ravishing. And will such a man disturb the peace of society, to obtain honours from man? Will he exchange his peace of conscience for the joys of this world? No;

"On all the grov'ling kings of earth,

With pity he looks down;

And claims, by virtue of his birth,

A never fading crown."

He is now able to view things more in their true light; the fascinating charms of this world are broken, and he sees its comparative worthlessness; he sees the value of the soul, and the vast importance of eternal things. That beauty which charms the angels,