meetings. There were no outcryings; no bodily agitations; but a solemn, awful stillness, which indicated the special presence of God. No attempts were made to work upon the passions and imaginations of the people, but the naked truths of the Gospel were exhibited to their view, and pressed upon their consciences. The doctrines particularly insisted on, were were the entire depravity of human nature; the necessity of a change of heart, by the special influences of the Holy Spirit; justification by faith alone in the merits of a Divine Savior; and the sovereignty of God, in the government of the world, and in the dispensations of his grace. These, together with the doctrines intimately connected with them, appeared to be the power of God unto salvation. The work continued to progress with great power and rapidity, till some time in the month of August, when it suddenly abated. For a little season, there appeared to be a total suspension of the special influences of the Spirit. After two or three weeks, however, the work again commenced, and progressed slowly till the latter part of the following winter, since which time it has gradually declined. At present, though we see many precious fruits of the revival, and have great occasion to rejoice, in what we have been permitted to witness; we have also cause for deep humiliation before God, that we have grieved away the blessed Comforter. The number of those who have manifested a hope, that they have passed from death unto life, since the revival com. menced, is not far from eighty.* That all of these will hold out to the end, is more than we can rationally expect; and, indeed, some already give us too much reason to fear, that they were no more than stony-ground hearers. But with few exceptions, they appear, as yet, to bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Forty eight have been added to the church, three more stand propounded, and several others are expected soon to present themselves, as candidates for admission. The subjects of this work are of all ages from nine years old to sixty. Several heads of families have been hopefully brought into the kingdom; in consequence of which, family worship is now maintained in many houses, where, a short time since, there was no altar for God. The largest number, however, is among the young. It is peculiarly pleasant to witness the alteration, which has taken place, among the rising generation. Many, who eighteen months ago were remarkably thoughtless, and some of them openly profane and dissipated, are now sober and discreet in their behavior, and appear to be growing fast in Christian knowledge and preparing for distinguished usefulness in their day and generation. They have renounced the sinful vanities by which youthful minds are apt to be captivated, and have found from experience, that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace. In the previous external char *The whole number of souls in the parish, exclusive of sectarians, does not exceed 500. acter of those who have been awakened and hopefully converted, there was a great diversity. Some were persons of exempla ry morals, and constant attendants on the means of grace. Others were immoral in their conduct, deistical in their sentiments, regardless of the institutions of the Gospel, and open revilers of the Christian religion. But by far the greatest proportion, were persons, who in early life, had been dedicated to God, and who had enjoyed the privilege of a religious education. Thus while God has strikingly displayed his sovereignty, he has also remembered his covenant, and shewn himself to be faithful to his promises. The exercises of those who give evidence of having experienced a saving change, though essentially the same in all, have been circumstantially very different in different persons. There was a great difference in persons under conviction; both as to the duration and pungency of their convictions. Some were distressed for months. Others obtained relief in a few weeks, and some in a few days, after their first impressions. In many cases, convictions were very distressing. I have seen men in middle life, men of great natural fortitude, so borne down with a sense of guilt, that their burden seemed scarcely supportable. In others, though their convictions appeared to be equally genuine, they were not attended with that extreme distress. In most the work of conviction progressed gradually, though in some much more rapidly, than in others. They were first awakened to a sense of their danger and excited to make exertions to obtain salva. tion. They endeavored to recommend themselves to God by their abundant duties; but as they came to see more of the nature of the divine law, they found that all their services were radically defective; and that so far from procuring the favor of God, they became more and more obnoxious to his wrath. In this way they were led to a sight of the total corruption of their hearts; and it was not unusual for them to be troubled with dreadful heart-risings against the character and gov ernment of God, and against the requirements and threatenings of his law. They found that the carnal mind, is, indeed, enmity against God. Thus they were brought to see their utterly lost state by nature, and their entire dependence on the sovereign and distinguishing mercy of God. While in this situation, their distress of mind was often great beyond description. But this was usually a prelude to joy and peace in believing. When they obtained relief, their views of divine things appeared to be entirely changed; though the views of some were much more clear than those of others. The character of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, against which they had felt great opposition, now appeared amiable. They could rejoice that just such a being was on the throne of the universe, and that he would dispose of all things, even of themselves, according to his sovereign pleasure. This seemed to be the language of their hearts, "Here are we, Lord, vile, unworthy, hell-de serving sinners; do with us as seemeth good in thy sight; if we are lost, it is just what we deserve; and if we are saved, it will be all of grace, and to thy great name shall be given all the glory." The law of God now appeared reasonable in all its requirements, and perfectly just in its penalty. In the character and offices of Christ as a divine Savior, they discovered a beauty and a glory, of which they had before no conception. They saw him to be just such a Savior as they needed. He was, therefore, precious to them, and regarded as the chief among ten thousand and one altogether lovely. The Bible appeared to them a new book. They found it a rich treasury of precious instruction and of the most refined entertainment. The doctrines of grace, to which they had felt great opposition, they cordially embraced. They found them to be the sincere milk of the word, which furnished them daily with spiritual nourishment. They felt a peculiar love and attachment to the people of God; and in the duties of religion they experienced a satisfaction with which they were before totally unacquainted. Concerning the consolations of religion, they were ready to say, with the queen of Sheba when she had surveyed the glory of Solomon's kingdom, "It was indeed a true report which we had heard of these things, but lo! the half was not told us. The above is but an imperfect sketch of what we have been permitted to witness. Truly the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad, and to his name be ascribed all the glory. O! that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. To the Editor of the Panoplist. Sir, I send you a specimen of an essay on the doctrine of the Trinity, by G. A. Baum, lished a few years since at Berlin, in the garten-Crusius of Merseburg, pub. German language. This essay consti tutes part of a work, written in opposi tion to the principles of Infidels, and of the Unitarians of the present time in Germany. The original is written with little attention to the graces of style, and in many places too, little regard to perspicuity. The sentences are very long, in some cases containing more than a page and, as is customary in German, long sentences occurring in the part I not a little involved. I have divided these have translated, as often as I could do it, without absolutely new-modelling the whole phraseology of the writer, and his arrangement of thoughts. In some instances, I have supplied the connecting words, which a disruption of the parts of a long sentence rendered necessary; but in no instance have designedly added or omitted any thing, which changes the sentiment of the author. It is very probable, that some of your readers will find fault with the length of the sentences, as they now stand in the translation; but I did not dare to venture on making a further separation, because I was willing, as much as possible, to present the public with the original author. Besides, it costs more time and pains than every one is aware of, to subject the original to such a process. If this specimen should excite sufficient interest among your readers, to make the continuation of the translation desirable, my efforts in this way shall be under your direction. Aug: 20, 1813. AGAINST the doctrine of the Trinity, the acknowledgment of which is at present not unfrequently made a reproach to or. thodox Christians and theologians, and which ceases not to be assailed with every kind of wea pon, many think that just objec- I. Agreeable to the decisions of the Scriptures. comprise under the name of the Bible, the Holy Scripture, or the Revelation of God, provided he will allow, that if any doctrine in its representation requires ac curacy of expression, definiteness, and circumspection in the choice of every word; these are never more to be expected, than when disclosures are made,which have relation to the unity of the Godhead. Were the fable credible, (which however according to the nature of things is inconceivable and impossible) that during the II. That the belief of it is not Babylonish captivity, all the ancontrary to reason: and III. That it constitutes an important and essential part of the Christian system. I. THE DOCTRINE OF A TRIN- AGREEABLE TO THE DECISIONS cient sacred writings of the Jews were lost; and that consequently, after the captivity was ended, they were replaced by Ezra from memory, or were composed anew by him, or some other Jews who lived with him, or after him, and were attribut ed to earlier Jewish teachers and writers; yet, in this case, it cannot be supposed, that Ezra, or his cotemporaries, or successors, would have incorporat ed in these writings, passages, which would almost unavoidably have led any one to suppose, either that a person who was not God, was to be regarded as such, or to believe in a plurality of gods. Never were the Jews more completely weaned from their former propensity to idolatry; never more zealous for the defence of the divine Unity, and for the honor of Jehovah alone; never more filled with abhorrence for every kind of idolatry; My first remark is this. For never more solicitous to avoid the present, I will not contro- the remotest appearance of it, vert with any one, the question or the least occasion of encourrespecting the origin of the sev-aging it, than in mediately after eral books, that constitute our the period when they returned holy religious records, which we from the Babylonish captivity. Whoever, at that time, by his Before I produce the multitude of proofs, which make it appear to the impartial investigator of the Scriptures beyond a question undeniable, that they instruct us in the knowledge of a triune God, and command us to worship him as such, I shall premise a few remarks. If these remarks are deeply impressed upon the mind, and continually present with us during the investigation of the question, Whether the doctrine of the Trinity is a doctrine of the Scriptures; they will add greatly to the force of those scriptural testimonies, which we are going to exhibit. behavior, his conversation, or writings might excite the least suspicion against himself of sentiments which appeared to be in opposition to the doctrine of the unity of God, instead of procuring regard and credit for his words and writings, would rather have drawn upon himself gene eral hatred, and subjected himself to a most speedy and violent death. If his own conviction and opinion had not obliged a writer of that period to be at all times cautious, certainly a regard to his own safety, and to the people among whom he lived, and on whom his life was dependent, would have made him extremely watchful, that he might not by any word, or expression, draw upon himself the suspicion of polytheism, or of any design to infringe upon the doctrine of the divine Unity. But if the books of the Scripture were the actual compositions of those men, whose names they bear, and to whom the testimony of antiquity ascribes them, and should one still regard these men only as common men, and reject every idea of inspiration, in their sayings or compositions; yet, such men as they were, so often as they spoke or wrote any thing which had or could have the least reference to the doctrine of the divine unity, they must have weighed their words with the greatest exactness. They dared not give the remotest occasion for the supposition that they venerated as God, any being that was not and is not God; nor that they regarded the idolatrous representations of other men, as indifferent, or gave any countenance themselves to these representa tions. What shall we say of the representations of Moses? Moses, let it be remembered, led out of a heathen land a nation who had become almost uncivilized, and so far corrupted as to have taken an actual part in the idolatry of their masters, for a considerable period. Moses designed to bring them to a land, where, with their secret propensity to their former idolatry, they would still dwell in the midst of mere heathen. Moses, moreover, not only made it a capital principle of the religion of his nation, but a fundamental principle of his laws the sole basis of all his legislation-that Jehovah the God of Israel was the only true God. Moses was the author of a variety of institutions, and among these of very many, which it must have been extremely difficult to make ac ceptable to his nation, and which to them were disagreeable, expensive, and productive of much trouble: and all this, only to prevent, entirely and for ever, the least approach of his nation to the idolatry of the heathen. The denial of the Godhead of Jehovah, or the maintaining of the divinity of any being not truly divine, or of any person who was not God-did not belong to the Godhead of Jehovah--was made by the Jewish legislator a transgression so heinous, that it was punished by immediate death without mercy. Moses was moreover an enlightened opposer of idolatry; an opposer, who possessed sufficient powers of mind to make refinements, and who did, with all imaginable solicitude, provide in all respects, for the improvement of every individual of his nation, |