The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-04-28 00:00:00, page 1

WHEELING REPOSITORY.
Thursday, 28th April, 1808.
(VOL. I.)
(No. 51.)
MIS C E L L A NT.
--■»<$> ——
Intemperance Cured.
A PLANTER in a southern state,
(No matter on what clay or date)
Repeating oft the cheering drop,
Had almost burnt his heart-strings up.
One night he thro’ his parlor door,
Could hear his kitchen in a roar ;
And having gratify’d his ear,
Resolv’d to see as well as hear ;
■jo thro’ the key hole sought to know
What pleas’d his laughing negroes so.
Cuff, he beheld with mighty glee.
In attitude of mimicry ;
Exposing every look and motion.
Occasioned by the pois’nous potion ;
I U ed twas clear the sable elf
Ac* i ,s mass a did hi ms If.
A- i h rhe -r’ ning company
Cri’u “ 1 ";>a's self, the berry he.”
Tli pi .. i *"V its proper force.
And grew a s.»ber man of course.
—Let those who mock an evil thing,
Keep up their plan until they sting,
And force the man (to save his feelings)
To change his course, and ’scape their
railings.
••€ -4 4 •< -4 < -4 *4** > > ••• > >- > >
Law.
In the first code of laws in Mas
snehussetts, we find the following whole
some provision made to restrain scold
ing-u Whereas there is no express
punishment by any law hitherto esta
blished, nflixed to the evil practice of
sundry persons, by exorbitancy of the
tongue in railing and scolding:—It is
therefore ordered, that all such per
10ns convicted before any court or ma
gistrate, that hath proper cognizance of
the case,shall be gagged or set in a duck
ing stool, and dipped over head and ears
•hree times in some convenient place of
fresh or salt water, as the court or magis
trate shall judge meet.”
The Human Hearty in one hour, heats
36(X> times, discharges 7200 ounces of
blood, and conveys through it the whole
mass of blood in the body not less than
<.v, ‘*nty-fivc timesr
Judicious Observations,
By a man who renounced Deism.
The late opposition I have made to
Deism, in the Polemic Hall, [in Balti
more] has answered my expectations to
the full. It has caused the Christians to
doubt, inquire, and with high-seasoned
j suspicion ask, “ Can any good come out
of Nazareth ?” On the other hand, it
has caused the open and avowed Deists
to represent me as one of the most hate
fid and abominable pests ; as one that
never was, nor never will be, stable in
any cause ; but, like a weather-cock, e
ver changing with the shifting breeze :
in short, as one in whom no dependence
could be placed in any situation, circum
stance, or state in life.
They have, however, put cne truth in
circulation about me, and in so doing
have inadvertently paid Christianity a
compliment, for which thev have my
hearty thanks. Say they, “whatever his
pretensions maybe, he is no Christian.”
To this I plead guilty. There is in
deed a wide difference between talking
about Christianity and being a Chris
tian ; but this is a truth they have as yet
to learn, and the time may come, when,
to know it, will only serve to aggravate
remorse,feed the flame of bitter anguish,
and blow reflection into an inward Hell.
Tho’ I can call God to witness that as
it respects hypocrisy I am guiltless, yet
my mind, my affections, my every fa
culty have been too long buried in the
rubbish of deistical delusion, and fed
too greedily in the company of filthy
swine, upon the husks of pagan dark
ness, to be easily or speedily restored, so
as to assume even the name of Christian.
'Tis an easy thing to sport and play up
on the smooth surface of an ebbing tide,
’till we have gone beyond our depth and
almost out of sight of land; but how to
return with safety is always exceedingly
difficult, and, sometimes, alas, impossi
ble.
Others make a necessary inquiry—
How, say they, came this man so sud
denly to change his.principles, and from
a fierce defender of deism instantly be
come an apparent zealot va the cause of
Christianity ? To this I answer, that
the change was by no means sn sudden
as they may imagine ; for I had doubts
long before I knew their meaning, and
when I did I kept them within my own
breast, and I candidly confess that I was
determined not to part with favourite
t principles on slight or flimsy proof ; es
pecially as I saw that a recantation would
bring upon me every species of imputed
infamy that malice could invent : but
doubt succeeded doubt, 8c circumstance
after circumstance occurred, till at last i
resolved fully and freely to investigate
the two opposite systems, Sc bring them
both to that touchstone by which all pro
fessions, and religions, all men and sys
tems, must be tried Sc fully proved, viz,
u Iiv their fruits ye shall know them.’5’
The result of my enquiries then, take
as follows :
1. That I never saw, heard, or read
of any man, woman or child, that was
reformed either in whole or in part, by
embracing the principles of Deism.
2. That I have known hundreds, and
heard of thousands who have been refor
med by embracing Christianity.
3. That I have known industrious
sober men, who, by imbibing the prin
1 ciples of Deism, almost instantly bc
' came desperately wicked, and in many
instances dangerous members of civil
society.
4. That I have known some Deists,
and manv scoffers at all religion, speedi
Iv and effectually turned from the most
abandoned practices, by the preaching
of the gospel, to a life of righteousness,
which showed itself by sobriety, indus
try, charitv, brotherly kindness and u
niversal philanthropy.
5. 1 hat 1 do not recollect ever near
ing hut one Deist profess really to be
lieve in a future state of rewards and
punishments.
6. That I never met with a man who
professed to he a real Christian, but
what built his principal hopes upon
reality of a future state-.