Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-12-17

which contain only TIC ucdtn hcou,
and the fools head, and fix our choice
upon the plain leaden chest " hich con-
tains the treasure.
Tie Puritians were men v hose minds
had derived peculiar character from
the daily contemplation Of superior be-
! ings and eternal interests. Not con.
! tent with acknowledging, in general
! terms, an everything Providence, they
| habitna llv aseribed every event to the
will ofthe Great Being, for whose pow
err nothing was too vast, for whose IN
spection nothing was too minute, Io
| know him, to serve him, to ENJOY him
was with them the great end OF exis'
tence. They rejected with contempt
the ceremonious homage which other
sects substituted for the pure worship
Of the soul. Instead Of catching occa'
sional glimpses Of the Deity through
an obscuring veil, they aspired to gaze
| fall on the intoIerable brightness, and
to commune with him face to face
Hence originated therefore their con.
tempt for terrestrial distinctions The
difference between the greatest and the
meanest of mankind seemed to vanish,
when compared with the boundless in
terval which separated ths. whole race
from him on whom their own eyes were
constantly fixed. They recognised no
title to superiority but his favor, they
despised all the accomplishments and
all the dignities OF the world. If they
were unacquainted with the works OF
philosophers and poets, they were
deeply read in the oracles Of God. ii
their names were no. found in the re-
gister of heralds, they felt assured that
they were recorded in the book OF life.
If their steps were not accompanied by
splended train Of menials, legions OF
ministering angels had charge over
them. Their palaces were houses not
made with hands; their diadems crowns
of glory which should never fade away!
On the rich and the eloquent, on no.
bIes and priests, they looked down with
contempt. For they esteemed them
selves rich in more precious treasure,
and eloquent in a more sublime lam
guage; mobiles by the right Of an earlier
creation, and priests by the imposition
of mighticr hand. The very mean
est of them was being to whose fate
mysterious and terrible importance
belonged; on whose slightest action the
spirits Of light and darkness looked
with anxious interest; who had been
destined, before heaven and earth were
created, TO enjoy felicity which should
continue when heaven and earth have
passed away. Events which short
sighted politicians ascribed to earthly
causes had been ordained on his &C
count. For his sake empires had risen
and flourished, and decayed. Fer his
sake the Almighty had proclaimed his
will by the pen of the Evangelist, and
the harp of the prophet. He had been
wrested by no common deliverer from
the grasp of no common foe. He had
been ransomed by the sweat OF no vul-
gar agony, by the blood of no earthly
sacrifice. 1t was for him that the sun
had been darkened, that the rocks had
been rent, and that the dead had arisen,
that all nature had shuddered at the
suferings of the expiring God!
Thus, the Puritan was made up Of
two different men the one all self-abase.
ment, penitence, gratitude, passion;
the other proud, calm, inhrxible, saga
cious. He Frustrated himself in the
dust before his Maker: But he set his
foot on the neck of his king. In his
devotional retirement, he prayed with
commissions, and groans and tears. He
was half maddened by glorious or ter
rible illusions. He heard the Tyre OF
angels, or the tempting whispers OF
6ends. He caught CLEAN ofthe be-
attic vision, or woke screaming from
dreams ofeverlasting fire. Like Vane,
he thought himself entrusted with
the sceptre of the millennial year
Like Fleetwood, he cried in the bitter
ness Of his soul, that God had hid his
face from him. But, when he took
his seat in the council, or got on his
sword for war, these tempestuous
workings Of the soul had left no per-
ceptible trace behind them. People
who saw nothing ofthe godly but their
uncouth usages, and heard nothing
from them but their groans and their
whining hymns, might laugh at them.
But those had little reason to laugh
who encountered them in the hall OF
debate, or in the field Of battle. These
fanatics brought to civil and military
affairs GOODNESS of judgment, and an
immutability Of purpose, which some
writer's have thought inconsistent with
their religious zeal, but which were in
fact the necessary effects of it. The
intensity of their feelings on one sub
iect made them tranquil on every other.
One overpowering sentiment had sub
jected to itself pity and haired, ambi:
ton and fear. Death had lost its ter
- - .-lo,s,ra -, ,hor,~,e 'rLoy