Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1840-11-23

John Quincy Adams second Lecture ~
the Il tabernacle Last Evening

John Quincy Adams second Lecture, ut
the Tabernacle Last Evening.
Another immense audience of over 1000 persons
attended to hear the venerable ExPresident at the
Tabernacle last evening. The gathering, thoagh
even more numerous than the one on "Wednesday
evening, was by no so fashionable. The per-
formances of the evening commenced with an an
them by the Sacred Music Society.
MIR. Adam, commenced INN ediately after the an
them ceased. The subject of his lecture was
Faith"
He said-It is related by the historians of Alexan-
der the Great that in the expedition against Persia,
and the Persian monarchy at the battle of Tarsus,
in PRenicia, when covered with lust and glory,
day, and in manner similar to own battle Of
Monmouth, painting under the fervent heat Of the
meridian sun, and languid after hard fought bat
tie, Alexander, the Macedonian, plunged, heated,
into the peculiarly cold waters Of the Cydnas to
joy the refreshing influence Of the bath. As natu-
raj consequence, he was seized with shivering fit,
and a succession of commissions that brought
him nearly to the verge Of dissolution. These
were followed by q succession Of faintipg FITS;
animation appeared for time entirely suspend
ed; and when it revived, he underwent the
torturing agony Of spasms to such an extent as to
alarm the army for his life, and struck CONSERVATION
into his attending ply scians. Unaccustomed TO the
symptoms of the frighu disease. and not liking to
prescribe powerful remedies for fear of the worst
results, the Macedonian ply sicians in despair
not knowing what to do. But there was one excep-
ton, in the person of Philip; he was naturally the
favorite Of the king who gave him his unbounded
confidence. Philip was fully of the nature Of
the disease, and of the fearful consequences of fa
lure in the remedy he wished to administer; yet he
ready and willing to devote his life to his mas
ter and his friend. He undertook therefore to pre-
scribe for the king, explaining that it wosld not
operate in any other than q violent manner, and that
the could not be confirmed under three days.
Alexander, however, was determined to try it and
alb de the issue.
His ply sicians burst not give him any medicines,
Jccause they thought themselves not SO certain OF
the the danger they must incur in the APP
plicatiou for they fe AIRED the Macedonians, if
did not succeed, would suspect them of some bad
practice Philip, the Acarnanan, saw how des pc rate
the kings case was we'll the rest but, beside
the confidence he had in his friendship, he thought
it the highest ingratitude, when his was in
much danger, not to risk something with him, in
haustng all his art for his relief He therefore at.
tempted the cure, and found difficulty in persua-
ding the king to wait with patience till his medicine
prepared,o to take it when ready; so DESTROYS
was he Of speedy recovery, in order to prosecute
| the war.
| In the meantime, PArmenio sent him letter from
the camp, advisag him To beware of Philip. whom
he said, Darius had prevailed upon by presents OF
infinite value, and the promise Of his daughter in
| marriage, to take him off by poison As soon as
Alexander had read the letter, he put it under his
pillow, without shelving it to any Of his friends
The tims appointed being come, Philip, with the
u,s friends h. mi hovi he in
which contained the medicine in his hand. The king
received il freely without the least marks ofsuspi-
con, and at the same time put the letter in his hands
1t striking situation and interesting than
any scene in a tragedy the one reading while the
! other was drinking. They looked upon each other,
| but with very different air. The king, with an
opca aud unembarrasscd countenauce, expressed his
| regard for Philip and the confidence he had in his
| honor; Philips look Showed his indignation at the
cslumny. One while he lifted up his eyes and hands
to heaven, protesting his fidelity another while he
threw himself down by the bedside, entreating his
master to be Of good courage and trust to his care
| The medicine, indeed, was so strong, and over
powered his spirits in such manner, that at first
he was spcechless, and discovered scarce any sign
Of or life. But afterwards he was reliev-
ed by this faithful hysician and recovered well
that he was able TO slew himself to the Macedo.
nans whose distress did abate till he came per.
| sonally before them.
All history may be said, 10 certain degree, to be
like all scripture, given for our instruction. gui.
dance, and example. And the narratives Of all times
past Of except they transerbc the char
acter and expose the principles Of action, Of the
men who formed the chief feature Of the times SO
treated of. Alexander was whose aud ae-
tons stamped Intellectually the tide Of time.
His character influenced the age in which he lived
aud all the succeeding ages ofmau. The deeds Of Al
exndcr have been sounded by the trumpet fame for
the last two thousand years. The words and the
| letters Of Alexander have been treasured, talked
about, and quoted in eveay age and every country.
But there is event Of ancient history that is more
frequently recorded; none which has frequent
| Iy exercised the judgment Of the wise; upon
which there has been greater diversity Of senti-
ment--of exalted admiration and Of severe dsap-
probation, than this act OF swallowing the medicine
administered 10 him by Philip under the circum-
stances.
And ono Of the most extraordinary men that ever
lived, John j. Rousseau, in writing novel, has in
troduced an incident in his life, in which this
particular act Of Alexander's was fully discussed
and varioasly commented upon. This man, in his
origin, Use, and whole career, most astonsh-
ing man. The Of humble Geneva watch
maker who passed the greater part Of his life po-
verify and misery at one time servant in a fami-
ly, while, although It disgraced by his situation,
he disgraced himself by charging upon an insonent
GIRL to her ruin, the theft Of piece Of ribbon which
he had puroinsd himself, at another time the miser-
able tenant Of a miserable garnet in Paris, copying
music for a subsistence for a crown a day liv.
ing a life Of lccntiousne.s in a loose sexual con-
nection with woman to whom he was not married,
and ruttinc all the children she had nv him from the