Litchfield enquirer., 1829-06-11

tianity from the fulfilment of prophecies.
 He gave the customary views of the duTa-
 tion of the prophetic year. Said he, MT.
 Owen denies the truth of the prophecies,
 and is at the samO time prophet himself ---ay, and a false prophet too, as shall
 prove. Few of you can have forgotten, that within three years since, he prophesi- ed in this very city, that within three years, the houses would be tenantless, and the inhabitants emptied into the city of mem tai independence 1t was home thrust l; and seemed almost too severe for the com fly of debate, in which the parties cOn- stantly called each other my worthy friend' MT. Owen arose with his invin- cible equanimity of good humOr. At that time,' said he, being prophet, and availing myself of prophets pllraseOlOgy,
 I Spake of prophetic years. Taking the exposition of my worthy friend, the peri cd of my prediction includes something like 75o years. The prophecy will be fulfilled long before that
 Mr. Campbell possesses fine voice, a little inclined to the nasal; and first rate attributes and endewments for a lawyer in the interior perfect elf-possession, quick
 ness Apprehension, and readiness for re- tort, all disciplined to effect by long con-
 troversial training. The words logic, ratiocinatiOn, syllogisn., premises, subject, predicate, conclaxsion, dilemma, demOnstr0- tion, a1iOm, 8-c., were uttered, perhaps, too frequently; and the whole had too much the air of being said, ad cGptassdam.
 We forbear to notice the unfortunate demonstration touching the two parallel lines. In popular argument before such an audience, many provincialisms, ,and ungrammatical phrases, ought, of course, to be excused. But we could with diffi- culty, reconcile his occasional fine flights, with the bad taste of introducing God and the Saviour in such perfectly equal, trivial, and common parfance collOquy with mortals, as he often ascribed to them. We know that this is the almost universal popular strain in the western countrys A man of such talents and power ought to- give the first example of correcting it. The incongruity of such associations in every trained mind is monstrous. We dissented wholly from the favorite theory,
 that the idea of God, spirit, an altar, a priest, GEc. could only have been taught by revelation or tradition. We yielded no readier faith to his declaration, that language must have had the same origin. Some parts of that system of Christianity which he presented, were as new, as they seemed circumstantial, singular and whim- sical to us; and the whole of the logmachy had resemblance to any thing, rather than a public forensic discussion at Cambridge or Yale.
 But apart from these defects, as. they seemed to us, he evinced very great a. mount of various reading of every thing that could be supposed relevant to his discussion. Every ancient writer, sacred or profane, that had left any remains, which had the least bearing on his subject, came from his niche to instruct us. Warburt0n, l Newton, Locke, Milton, Butler, Soamei Jennings, and the great names offhat class were put in acquisition on the one hand !:
 md the whole herd of philosophers, scep-
 ics, and atheists on the other, were e. 1oked from their sleep of the tomb, to be compared, judged and sentenced. Hisl proofs of christianity were sUf the common and, arranged ist the common way. We cannot say that the argusas6ss were stronger or better arranged than Pa ley's; but they were able and we were at once pleased and surprised to find that his views of christianity were decidedly oftheI liberal cast. In his contrast between theI tenderness of the two systems, and the hopes of christian, departing in the joy- full triumph of faith to. his eternal home. and the desolate sullenness of the epieu-i rean, laying himself down under the on-
 nipotent pressure of hostile nature to the eternal sleep ofthe grave, he was impress, siye and happy. Very often, during the debate, he manifested those resources, which belong only to al endowed and dis ciplined mind. s ssa& a.s .gsqi1sha.8as
 On the 7th day ofthe debate, the shot in the locker of the Welsh philosopher hav-I ing temporarily given out, without hanging out any signal of surrenders he retreated behind his twelve fundamental laws,' and intimated that his antagonist miglit thunder upon him unanswered for some hours, if he chose. Mir. Campbellavailed himself of the opportunity, to carry forward his arr gumentative sequence of proofs, in con- nected and uninterrupted essay of some hours. Having recruited somewhat during this interval, MT. Owen availed himself once more of his thirty minutes, not for getting the famous twelve flndasnental laws and the debate closed.