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the efforts of the wicked to unite anarchy, irreligion, vice, and state, and desperate threats, and bloody intimations have in this city of New York, already been made by men, whose hue and cry ever is liberty," liberty," the dagger of the secret assassin, as intimated in the handbills convening the Anti-Magdalen meetings, may yet, at no distant day, by those who made the threats, be stained in the blood of the Magdalen committee, its aiders and abettors. Are ministers harnessed for the conflict, or will they tamely succumb to the dogmas of unrighteousness? Have they a zeal for the Lord of Hosts, and a determination to divide the word of God so that every man may have his portion in due season? The blessing of the Lord is in the house of those who keep his commandments, wherefore ministers ought to remember what has happened unto some of their brethren.

"O Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." Ezekiel.

The prevalence of vice, and the criminal neglect of the ministers of God to preach with boldness against it, are sure precursors of national ruin. The history of the world furnishes ample proof. Remember the carnage in France, in the days of Robespiere, and let it be borne in mind by Americans, that French infidels of that same school that sucked the richest blood of Europe, are now in this country gulling them, and exciting the cry of Union of Church and State, Sunday mails, &c. Pass over from France to England, and notice the state of open licentiousness in the court and church of Charles, and mark the consequences. Read the story of Balbec, Babylon, and Palmyra. But the position is maintained by still bet. ter evidence. It is in the history of the Jews. What swept that nation from the land of promise, and reduced to scinders the cities of the plain, and deluged the world? Vice. Yes, vice. It was Ezekiel (ch. 22) who said, "the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Now thou Son of man wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations. Then say thou, thus saith the Lord God, the city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed. Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppres

sion with the stranger; in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood; and in thee they eat upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they commit lewdness; in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which has been shed in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross; all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass, and iron and lead, and tin in the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and profane; neither have they shewed any difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I

sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the LORD God."

It is an inquiry of vast moment to this nation to the perpetuity of its existence to the stability of its civil, literary, and religious institutions and to the freedom of man from persecutions on ac count of his religion, whether, in the preceding description of morals in Jerusalem, is not described the morals of New York, and other portions of the land? The causes that brought judgments on the Jews, will also bring them on the Americans. The only hope of our escape, is in the antidote-reformation. Except we repent, we shall perish. And let magistrates bearing rule, and sworn to execute the laws, remember that they are the servants of God, and that they must give an account to him for the fidelity with which they discharge their trust. Let them bear in mind that the Supreme Judge is omniscient, and impartial, and just.

No. 13.

THE IMPRISONED LADY.

"Forlorn of hope, the lovely maid he left,

"Pensive and pale, of every joy bereft.

"She to her silent couch retired to weep,

"While her mad swain embarked upon the deep."

The following is a narrative of some facts that happened in the city of New York and elsewhere, in the summer of 1831, to a lady who moves in the first circles of fashion and wealth. Some of the interesting circumstances of her history are omitted, in order to conceal the place of her residence, and the name of her family, for the simple reason that the detection of her name and place of residence might operate unpleasantly on the minds of those with whom she associates, and thereby consummate her ruin.

An orphan, in her infancy, a wealthy gentleman adopted, and treated her as a daughter. In the society of his children, and in that of the man who beguiled her into his power, she grew to the years of maturity. While on a visit at the house of a distant relative, her betrayer told her that he had asked the consent of her family that their marriage might be solemnized-for she had previously accepted his proposal that she should be the companion of his life-but that her family withheld their consent, and that there

fore, before a certain time, which he then named, she must take the alternative-to part with him forever, or to accompany him to a certain place where their engagements should be fulfilled.

Her situation was unpleasant. She had left home to visit a relative. Her mother had given her some money to shop for the family, not apprehending her danger, but confiding in the hope that, at the set time, her daughter would return to cheer the domestic circle. Under these circumstances, the lady was embarrassed. To comply with his request, was to exchange a certainty for an uncertainty; to lose relatives, and hazard the acquisition of others equally kind. Therefore to leave her father, and mother, and friends, so unceremoniously, and without permission, to do that which would incur their sore displeasure, she hesitated-she thought of it—she viewed it in all the attitudes in which she could place it-and it is not impossible that solemn thoughts entered her mind on the duty of honoring her father and her mother, that her days might be long on the land which the Lord had given to her. It of course was with no usual interest that she weighed the consequences of accepting the proposal. But the very thought of parting forever with the man whose image was ever in her mind, and in whom she confided more than in a brother, and whom she loved as her own life, was painful beyond description: she knew that his standing in society was as good as her own-that his employment was lucrative, and that his acquaintance and residence in her father's house had been of long and acceptable standing. The ardor of her attachment to him who, as of right, had become her gallant, gave to these circumstances an importance in her mind of no usual character; for they became the basis of a hope, that a pardon or an atonement for an act of filial disobedience would reconcile her to her relatives.

The appointed hour arrived. She decided in his favor. They eloped, and on the journey, she passed, among strangers, as his niece. They arrived at the specified place. She was humbled. The marriage ceremony was not performed. On the third morning after their arrival at the place, as she was urging on him his duty to fulfill his engagement, he said that he had just received letters from New York on business, and that they must put off being married until they arrived there.

They embarked for New York. Her prospects were not at an end, and cheerfulness was once more seen on her countenance, lately marred with anxiety. On the journey, in a packet, she saw a newspaper which contained an extract from the first annual report of the executive committee of the New York Magdalen Society. An interview with a friend at that moment preventing her from perusing it, she placed the paper in her reticule until the occurrence of a favorable opportunity for reading it. That time came, and she read it. It was the case of an unfortunate girl. Tears started from her eyes. He saw them, and asked her why she wept. She placed the paper in his hand. He read the article, and asked her if she was afraid that that would be her lot. No, replied the afflicted lady, but I cannot refrain from weeping. Ah! could he have seen

the grief that sat corroding on her soul, he would have seen the cause of her tears.

An acquaintance of his, but a stranger to her, a day or two previous to her entrance into the packet, had joined their society, and was traveling in their company. Her journey was rendered somewhat pleasant by the kind attentions of Mrs. J. and her husband, who were in the packet going with them to New York. On Satur day evening they arrived in the city, and took lodgings in a highly respectable hotel. There with redoubled solicitude she renewed her request that he would remove her shame and reproach, by fulfilling his engagement. With artifice he put her off, saying, at one time, that they could live together as happily without as with the minister's speaking a few words over them; and, at another time, that he would purchase many fine things for her, if she would be cheerful and contented—a characteristic of the profligate. On the sabbath he entered her parlor, and requested her to walk into the city. She declined. He importuned. She renewed her intreaties that he would marry her. "What," said he, scornfully tossing his head and straightening his body, "is it the old thing still? If you will be contented, (a hypocritical smile playing on his face at the time,) I will write to our friends that we are married, and will buy you a fine house, and make you the mistress of it." "No," said the unhappy female, "I cannot live so. You promised to marry me. As a gentleman of honor, fulfill your engagement." It was the desperate purpose of an injured female that now flashed in her eye, and gave tone to her voice. He tapped her on the shoulder, and said, "My little girl, remember that you are far from home. I am the only friend you have in this city. My pleasure is your law." Indignant, she sternly replied, "Once I took your alternative, now you must take mine-either marry me immediately, or leave my presence forAs your neice I shall pass no longer. Unless you marry me, I will expose you."

ever.

He turned, walked to the door, stopped, looked at her, asked her if she would walk into the city, left the room, and came no more into her presence.

was.

She went to her meals after this without a maintainer or an escort, for he was missing. A few days elapsed, and her situation became unpleasant, for it was noticed, and she was asked where he She was pressed for an answer, but what could she say? The company read in her blushes, and confusion, and hesitation, that all was not right, and was unwilling to allow her to be silent. Her afflicted, palpitating heart unfitted her for solid reflection. She thought of excusing his absence, by saying that he was unexpectedly called into the country on business. Thus she hoped to allay an inquisitive spirit. Finally she gave the subject a turn, and after that seldom left her room, but received her meals in it. The stranger— his friend-was far more inquisitive than all the rest of the company. He pressed his suit so boldly, that on one occásisn he entered her private apartment, and told her that she was in trouble, and that he wished to lend her all the assistance in his power. He made several inquiries which were deemed impertinent, and received the treatNo. I.-JAN. 1832.

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