Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-11-22

only the thunder roll. lie ioTBe's e"e' "!
these The lazy elements are scourgec 10 action,
and purified from pestilence. and that the
earth, the air, The skies, are all reVivlhed ana
put forth fresh charms Of splendoar oil oeaa'
~ =,
things present, with his FINITE powers o: oo-
servation. He seeks HE dark and the mys'efi.
Gus future; and thwar,ed in the aspirations OF
his lofty spirit, his soul recoils upon himself
and from a doubter Of the goodness OF the De-
| ity, he becomes, alas! Drawer OF his power
| And vet there are thousand excellencies IN
| Gains nature. II is true, the unbounded thirst
| after forbidden knowledge gives an immoral
grandeur to his char ac,er, but II is grandeur
| still, and we sympathise with the spark mat
fires to things unknown, and jumps the world
TO come, in spite even OF ourselves.
"Let our very sympathy serve as guard 10
our presumption! For who is there that has
known sorrow who does not feel inclined to say
with him, "Wherefore was born? Why was
this breathing being, SO seniien: to calau'ity,
prodigalled unasked upon me-, only to make
me wre,chedo am sick of all that dust has
done unto me-heuceforth let me dwell IN shad-
ows!'
"Who can look upon his love for Adah, and
his child, without feeling his whole heart over
flow with tenderness? And whoecan see HIM
bending over the dead body Of Abel, (slain, be
i, remembered, in the very gust and whirl-
wind of passion, aud amid the The invaded tu-
mul, Of his subjuga,cd & sorely-,empted soul.)
OF listen 10 his deep and beautiful lament, with
out feeling that remorse and penitence from the
connecting link between humanity and Heaven!
How inexpressiyely affecting is that passage,
where he says Undressing himself to the blee>
ding cCrse.) Farewell! must not, dare not
touch what ! have>made thee! My branded
heart refuses me the comfort Of composing thy
sweet limbs into the gravel
"And Adah's love tor him! How pure, how
perfect, how ineffable! When she clasps her
brothers murderer 10 her bosom, and says,
'Nay speak 10 me-fo me-thine o,Dn! | will not
leave thee, Cain! will no, Leave thee. though
God himself should leave thee!''
This is the truest pa hetie, ennobled by the
highes, sublime, for it is the sublime OF wo.
mans tenderness and virtue
"Nor let US fear that Heaven averts the face
from such picture. No, Heaven which scans
all hearts, looks down with gracious eye on this
all pure abandonmenl; and in Adams love, sees
only the intense reflection of lis own benevo-
lence.
"But 10 recur to The moral Of this produc-
ton Observe the simple piely Of Adah the
pastoral purity of Abel; the mild and star-like
innocence OF Adah; the resignation OF Eve; (we1
speak Of her frs appearance in the drama, and
before the Madison is pronounced upon her
unfortunate fspring. Listen to the prayer Of
which raisesupko the Creator in
she ,.s. %s'e q Dr. ags"' MARK MARK
the contrnt6 los up in he
human heart ffo0lI |II1I sc of ihese duties;
ant, above all, from the perfect reliance they
inculca,e in the wisdom and goodness Of the
Creator.
Reverse the picture now Behold the mind
Of Cain hardened by the 100 close contempla-
ton Of evil, till j, has los, sight of good. In
vain for him The sun shines, and he earth puts
forth her vegetalive beauty. Pride and self.
will have taken possession in his heart: and the
daring ambition Of coping with his maker, in
the pursui, Of unlawful knowledge, has poison
ed all the springs Of moral and intellectual en-
loymen,.
The passage from this state OF feeling to he
commission Of c,ime is one Of short transition.
For what control remains over the in,ractable
energy Of the passions, when reverence for the
Deity, which is the foundation Of all moral res
traini, is once removed? In the character Of
Cain, we see pre6sured the type Of our own
weakness. Let his fall chastise the insoence
Of wisdom.
at is in the temper Of mind above described
and beset by all the lurking dangers which at
tend an overweening confidence and blind pre-.
sumption, that Cain is found BY Lucifer. The
Arguments he uses, are the natural arguments
tina. occur to every man who thinks, and lead to
the same consequences; unless such thoughts
be regulated by faith in Gods mercy, and
humble dependence on his power They lead,
frs, Of all. to doubt the wisdom of the Creator,
mex, his goodness. In this dopb, lie hid ten
thousand deaths; it is the canker worm OF life's
hes, and flares, blossoms; it consumes our hap.
piness with perpetual and living death, as the
vulture which preyed upon Prome,heus: and,
what is worse, it denies even the grave its SOL
ace, and takes even from our very tomos the
expectation Of repose.-
1t is that settled ceaseless gloom,
The tabled Hebrew wanderet bore;
Tha, will not look beyond the tomb,