MORAL SOCIETIES, HAVING RELIGIOUS RITES AND SECRETS, "SONS OF TEMPERANCE," "ODDFELLOWS," AND "FREEMASONS!'-NO. I. PHILOSOPHERS, religionists, and moralists have always had, and still have, their sects and parties. Dissent in theory, alienation in affection, and opposition in practice, have unfortunately, in all ages, characterized fallen humanity. When angels fell from love, they became schismatics. Till then, neither jar nor discord found a place in earth or heaven. Harmony, universal harmony, reigned supreme. Angels fell from love. Exiled from heaven, strife, and schism, and war, have since marked their path through every age and every realm. Man, overcome by the sophistry of the great heresiarch, has ever since his apostacy been alienated from God, his brother, and himself. Hence, earth is every where thickly sown with the seeds of discord, strife, and schism. gelists vouchsafed as its adaptation to the work, and as a guarantee of its success. It is, therefore, the only rational, moral, and religious society, under the broad heavens, that can at all hope to ameliorate, sanctify, and bless the world. Men will as soon create a new solar system as achieve that which Christianity contemplates by the Church of the living God. When Christ's gospel, in the hands of Christ's Church, fails to reclaim, reform, refine, and elevate man from degradation, vice, and ruin, no human institution can rationally, morally, or religiously hope to accomplish it. If any theory of morals, of piety, or reformation, is better than the gospel, then is man wiser than its author; if any association, club, party, or fraternity, can accomplish more than Christ's Church, then is not Christ's Church God's wisdom, benevolence, and moral power. Then is the glory of men above the glory of God; and wisdom and benevolence exalted above the Divine. "In the fulness of time," a great Pacificator is born. "The Prince of Peace" appeared on earth, and On opening our Christian Baptist, proposed to mankind to unite with and on reading our first article, now him to form one great party, and to five and twenty years old, in which repossess their forfeited heaven. He reference is made to a tract published lays the foundation of universal sal- by myself seven years before, I am vation by the sacrifice of himself. glad to find that these conceptions His mission, his life, his death, were and views of Christ's Church, its designed to reconcile and heal the proper foundation, its design, and its breach between God and man, and adequacy to the present condition of between man and man. He preached human society, to all the aberrations, peace "to them afar off, and to them follies, depravity, and wickedness of that were nigh." His institution, man, are clearly indicated and forcibly called "the Church," or society of the expressed. And this, too, with respect Lord, the family of Christ, the to all the new foundations, bonds of house of God, the lodge of heaven, is union, corporations, new societies, the only institution which Divine philosophical, moral, or religious, philanthropy could prompt, Divine which the prolific and overheated. wisdom devise, and Divine power imagination of man have given birth execute and sustain for the reconcili- to under the names of benevolent, ation, the reformation, and salvation moral, or philanthropic institutions, of man. It has the oracles of God, having special charters, symbols, rites, the presidency of the Messiah, the ceremonies, &c. &c. for the moral guidance and inspiration of the Holy improvement and reformation of man. Spirit, the ministry of angels, the I must give one or two passages from arguments, the motives, the eloquence it, respecting institutions formed withof Apostles, Prophets, and Evan- in the Church for Church duties. The societies called churches, constituted and set in order by those ministers of the New Testament, were of such as received and acknowledged Jesus as Lord Messiah, the Saviour of the World, and had put themselves under his guidance. The only bond of union among them was faith in him and submission to his will. Their fraternity was a fraternity of love, peace, gratitude, cheerfulness, joy, charity, and universal benevolence. Their religion did not manifest itself in public feasts nor carnivals. Their meeting on the first day of the week was at all times alike solemn, joyful, and interesting. Their religion was not of that elastic and porous kind, which at one time is compressed into some cold formalities, and at another expanded into prodigious zeal and warmth. No; their piety did not at one time rise to paroxysms, and their zeal to effervescence, and, by and by, languish into frigid ceremony and lifeless form. It was the pure, clear, and swelling current of love to God, of love to man, expressed in all the variety of doing good. as the house of the living God. They considered, if they did all they could in this capacity, they had nothing left for any other object of a religious nature. In this capacity, wide as its sphere extended, they exhibited the truth in word and deed. Their good works, which accompanied salvation, were the labors of love, in administering to the necessities of the saints, to the poor of the brotherhood. They did good to all men, but especially to the household of faith. They practised that pure and undefiled religion which, in overt acts, consists in "taking care of orphans and widows in their affliction, and in keeping one's self unspotted by (the vices of) the world.” In their church capacity, they attended upon every thing that was of a social character, that did not belong to the closet or fireside. In the church, in all their meetings, they offered up their joint petitions for all things lawful, commanded, or promised. They left nothing for a missionary prayer meeting, for seasons of unusual solemnity or interest. They did not at one time abate their zeal, their devotion, their gratitude, or their liberality, that they might have an opportunity of showing forth to advantage, or of doing something of great consequence at another.--Christ. Baptist, 1st ed. pp. 14-15. They knew nothing of the hobbies of modern times. In their church capacity alone they moved. They neither transformed themselves into any other kind of association, nor did they fracture and sever themselves into divers societies. They viewed If these views are just and scripthe Church of Jesus Christ as the tural as respects widows and orphans, scheme of heaven to ameliorate the the poor and wretched outcasts of world; as members of it, they con- society, contributions, prayers, and sidered themselves bound to do all efforts for their relief, and new assothey could for the glory of God and ciations specially for these as their the good of men. They dare not exclusive objects, how much more transfer to a missionary society, or apposite to the institutions, named at bible society, or education society, a the head of this article, as appendages cent or a prayer, lest in so doing they to the Christian Church! And now should rob the church of the glory, I desire to state, very distinctly and and exalt the inventions of men above emphatically, that so far as we advert the wisdom of God. In their church to, or expatiate upon, the three insticapacity alone they moved. The tutions named, it will be only as they are regarded by the members, or by professors of Christianity, as a succedanium or substitute for the Christian church they considered "the pillar and ground of the truth;" they viewed it as the temple of the Holy Spirit Church, in the particular duties which they assume to perform for one another, or for mankind. As respects their wisdom, benevolence, or character, as mere worldly institutions, operating on those without the church, I have little or nothing to say at present. Amongst Jews, Turks, Infidels, or Atheists, they may be occasionally as useful as they are benevolent; but as to their being composed of Christians, in whole or in part, or as to its being either necessary or expedient for them to become members of such institutions, we have some doubts, and some reasons for such doubts, which I desire to submit to my readers with all respect and benevolence for those who may differ from me in their opinions. This is a subject to which my thoughts have often been called, but to which I have, as yet, paid little or no attention, because of more pressing engagements and obligations. But the great number of these societies, recently springing into existence, and soliciting from State governments acts of incorporation, and also soliciting the patronage of the Christian Church, it seems to be in season now to pay some attention to their claims, if not upon the State, at least upon the Church, for its smiles and benedictions. Of these, the youngest seems to have stronger claims upon our attention, because, it is presumed, from its assumed title, to be a proposed reformation upon its two elder brothers—the Freemasons and Oddfellows-because it is likely to become a substitute for temperance associations, whether called Washingtonian, Republican, or Christian; and, especially, because our brethren, from their letters to me, are soliciting some light upon the propriety of members of churches becoming Sons of Temperance. To all especially concerned in such an examination, it might be expedient to say, that we ought to hear and examine with candor before we decide any matter of even apparent good report among men. Christians should neither approbate nor disapprobate any institution professing humanity, much less become a member of it, or reprobate those who are members, without such a knowledge and consideration of its nature and character as is perfectly and completely satisfactory. In all questions of morality and virtue, we have, indeed, but one standard to which we can appeal. Nothing that is not either by the letter or by the spirit of that standard commended to our adoption, can either be honorable or useful to the Christian. We shall, then, with all candor, in our next, examine the constitution of that new association called the Sons of Temperance. A. C. LETTERS FROM EUROPE. NO. XIII. GLASGOW, August 31, 1847. MY DEAR CLARINDA-I am far behind my travels in this interesting island. I have been almost to latitude 58 N. in Scotland, and am now in the county of Lanark, in the midst of its almost half million of inhabitants, and have seated myself hard by Lord Nelson's monument on the banks of the Clyde, where I spent many a pleasant hour, almost forty years ago, to note down some things of London and England; yet far in the distance of my undeciphered symbols. Were it not that London has in it so many of the wonders of art, and so many of the wonders of the world, I would now tell you some things of my present localities and of my very singularly unexpected reception in Edinburgh and Glasgow-the Athens and the Corinth of Scotland, if not of Great Britain; but I must leave these for other letters, and endeavor to get out of the environs of London, Cambridge, and Oxford, with all their interesting associations. Having been to Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, I cannot pass by St. Paul's and the Colosseum without a respectful notice. These are two of the most magnificent triumphs of art in the esteem of the millions that have seen them. You have surveyed their rich and numerous treasures, their grandeur, and magnificence, and need not be informed of their well earned claims upon the admiration of all the amateurs of the fine arts of sculpture, statuary, and archi tecture. The old St. Paul's so injured by the fire of London in 1666, was very fortunately removed to make way for the display of the unequalled genius of Sir Christopher Wren, who may be regarded as both the builder of the present London and of the present St. Paul's. Having lived to complete his ninetieth year, he was able to spend five and thirty years in the erection of the present St. Paul's, and to expend upon it one million and a half sterling, or the handsome little sum of more than seven millions of dollars. Of course it is no mean, no humble synagogue, in which to bow the knee of prelatic grandeur or aristocratic pride. Its length from east to west, within the walls, is but 500 feet; from north to south, 286. The circuit of the building is 2292 feet; the diameter of the ball 6 feet; height of the cross, 30 feet; total height from the ground, 404 feet. To the Whispering Gallery you have only to ascend 260 steps; and to the ball, but 616. Of course, being somewhat enfeebled after delivering 15 lectures in the city, I did not think it quite expedient to place my foot upon the 616th step. The weight of the ball at its apex 5600 lbs; and of the cross, 3360. No easy task, no light burthen, to carry the cross of St. Paul's Church! The whole building covers only two acres and sixteen perches of English ground. I cannot condescend to detail its immense balustrade of cast iron-its seven beautiful gates, weighing some two hundred tons-its grand entrances-its superbly rich portico, consisting of 12 lofty Corinthian pillars below, and 8 Composite columns above, supporting a triangular pediment, the entablature 64 feet long and 17 high, representing the conversion of Paul, sculptured in low relief; on whose apex stand colos| sal figures of Paul, Peter, and James, who have grown, since their death, eleven feet high in the esteem of those who worship here. But, alas for England and the world! this splendid edifice is but a proof of the folly and emptiness of modern and fashionable religion. The interior of this great pile is but a receptacle for the dead-for the dust of military heroes; and is really a house sacred to Mars, the god of War, rather than to the Prince of Peace, and his humble friend, the true and veritable Saint Paul. Many, indeed, are the gems of sculpture, the triumphs of the chisel, and the proud achievements of genius, treasured up within these walls. But the subjects of these trophies are not saints, but heroes. Their glories are not those of martyrdom, but of violence and blood. Here repose in state the shades of Generals Gore, Dundas, Mackenzie, Bowers, Ross, Pakenham, Gibbs, Gillespie, Brock, &c. &c.; also those of Admirals Duncan, Nelson, Howe, with many chiefs, such as Sir John Moore, the Marquis of Cornwallis, Captains Cook, Duff, Faulkner, &c. &c. "who fought gloriously, fell gloriously," and are gloriously embalmed in the memory of Britons, and sculptured within the walls of St. Paul's Cathedral. A walk through the immense area of St. Paul's, which has ten times more space for dead heroes than of seats for living worshippers, is incomparably better adapted to make heroes than saints, warriors than Christians, sons of thunder rather than sons of peace. It is, indeed, a grand pageant -a sublime delusion-a monstrous insult to the person whose fame it falsely celebrates. True, indeed, a door resounds as a peal of thunder, amongst some forty thunderbolts of war, stand the monuments of Dr. Johnson, John Howard, and Bishop Heber; and also one marble slab commemorating in Latin its illustrious architect, viz. : "Beneath lies Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN, the who lived upwards of ninety years-not for himself, Builder of this Church and City; but for the Public Good. Reader, seekest thou his monument? Look around! Died Feb. 25th, 1723, aged 91." His ashes lie in the south aisle of the Crypt, on the side next the dome, in front of the gallery containing an organ which cost 10,000 dollars, having 2123 pipes. The great painters, Reynolds, Barry, Opie, West, and Lawrence, are interred side by side. Choral service, that is organ worship, is "performed" twice every day -at a quarter before ten in the morning, and after three in the evening. Sermons are also preached by the Dean and Canons resident every Sunday and holiday, and, during Lent, every Wednesday and Friday. Brother Henshall and myself heard one of these very splendid choral services-an exquisitely splendid affair -in the most august, ancient, and venerable cathedral in the city of York-second only to Westminster Abbey, in the kingdom, as we were on our way from Huddersfield to Sunderland. There were two parsons, ten boys, and six men, in linen vestments, engaged some hour and a half in performing this service. The boys were selected of an age favorable to a peculiar voice, that the worship might be musically perfect. The organ was elegant, the singing superexcellent, the reading rhetorical, the tones of the organ most pious, the worship exquisitely carnal, and the whole affair a superbly grand farce. I cannot describe the Whispering Gallery of St. Paul's Church. The least whisper on the opposite side appears as just at your ear, although 130 feet distant; and the shutting of or the heaviest discharge of distant artillery. The floor below, laid with black and white marble, forming a mariner's compass with its thirty-two points, looks superbly grand and beautiful when viewed from this gallery. The whole Cathedral would require a month's inspection and study, and a volume, rather than a few pages, to give an adequate description of it. How imperfect and inadequate, then, the gleanings of a few hours, and the notice of a few of its more impressive and peculiar objects of attraction and general admiration. But in noticing the Colosseum we shall carry with us the reminiscences of St. Paul's. In Regent's Park stands the Colosseum, a colossal building truly, consisting of a vast polygon of sixteen sides, severally 24 feet in length. Before it stands a Doric portico of six columns having an entablature unique, supported by pilasters at its angles. It is covered with Roman cement, painted to resemble stone. You visited it at either its morning or evening exhibition, I know not which. We enjoyed a morning visit. Its museum of sculpture, its classic ruins, and its splendid promenade, with its models of the temples of Theseus and Vesta, much interested us. We surveyed Titus' Arch, the Mer de Glace, and the Alpine Torrent, with all its interesting curiosities. Its conservatories are beautifully decorated and furnished with indigenous and exotic plants, with a splendid Gothic aviary and stalactite caverns; but its Panorama of London, as seen from the top of St. Paul's, covering 46,000 square feet, including the Thames and the surrounding country, almost down to the sea, is, without exaggeration, the grandest display of the painter's art that I have ever seen. I am told it is regarded by all who visit it as superior to any thing of the sort in the world. In walking round a dome of a few |