ly bent. His beard, pretty thick of hair, and of a sufficient length, and like his locks, interspersed with grey." Witsius. From the Universalist Magazine. Proposals for publishing by subscription Three Essays. Essay 1. On the Intermediate State of the Dead. Sect. 1. The Scriptures examined respecting the state of man's Body, Soul and Spirit, between death and the resurrection. Sect. 2. On Ghosts, and their intercourse with this world after death. Sect. 3. On the various opinions which have been entertained respecting the nature of man's soul; its immortality; its condition after death; whence such opinions originated; and how they came to be incorporated with the Christian-religion. Sect. 4. Facts stated, showing that the common opinions respecting man's soul, and its condition after death, cannot be true. Sect. 5. Objections considered. ESSAY 2. Sect. 1. On the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Sect. 2. On the resurrection of man from the dead. Sect. 3. Remarks addressed to Christians, Jews and deists. ESSAY 3. On the Greek terms krino, krisis, krıma, &c. rendered judge, judgement, condemned, condemnation, damned, damnation, &c. in the New-Testament. Concluding remarks, on Mr. Hudson's Letters, in defence of a future Retribution, addressed to Messrs. Hosea Ballou, Balfour, and others. By Walter Balfour. These three Essays were commenced for the Author's personal satisfaction, without any view to immediate publication, or as an answer to Mr. Hudson's book. But as we deem them a full answer to it, we proceed to prepare them for the press. All his texts in proof of a future retribution are particularly considered; the principle of analogy on which he reasons betwixt this state and the future, is also examined; and the assumed ground on which he builds his whole scheme of punishment after death, is shown to be without foundation in the Bible. Conditions.-The work shall be handsomely printed in a 12mo. volume, containing between 350 and 400 pages, and will be delivered to subscribers at 81 in boards, or $1 25 bound. Persons becoming responsible for 6 copies can receive a 7th gratis. The work will be put to press by the first of January next, if the subscription will warrant the expense of publication. Charlestown, Mass. Nov. 7, 1827. POETRY. From the Christian Telescope. Daniel's wisdom may I know, Mary's love may I Job's submission may I show, Isaac's meditative heart, Abraham's friendship, may I prove, Faithful to the "God of love." Most of all may I pursue, The bright pattern JESUS drew, Then shall I these worthies meet, With them range the blissful shore, No. 5. WOODSTOCK, FEBRUARY, 1828. SERMON, NO. XXXIX. Vol. VIII. [This Sermon is from our venerable Bro. H. BALLOU, of Boston.] EXODUS XXXII. 35.-"And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made." } When Moses, the Jewish lawgiver, was called into mount Horeb, or Sinai, to receive the tables of the law from the hand of the Lord, he was absent so long as to render the people uneasy. The people, therefore, came to Aaron the priest, and said, "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." Aaron, it seems, was like many modern priests, very much disposed to please the people, whether he pleased God, or not. "And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden ear-rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand; and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf; and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings: and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." The hearer will be careful to keep in mind this aecount of the making of the calf; for we shall find that Aaron gave a very different representation to Moses afterwards, when he found that Moses' wrath was hot against him for this wickedness. The Lord informed Moses in the mount, of the idolatry of the people, and sent him down immediately. "And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." You perceive here, that Aaron gives no intimation that he had any hand in forming this image; but endeavors, with all craftiness, to exonerate himself from any blame. In the first place, he referred Moses to what he himself knew of the people, that they were set on mischief. This answered as an excuse for his complying with their demand. This is the way that priestcraft excuses itself in our day. If preachers are asked why they preach such absurdities, such nonsense, doctrines not taught in the scriptures, doctrines which are dishonorable both to God and manthey refer to the wickedness of the people, and say that nothing else will suit them or their circumstances. The real fact is, they are afraid, if they do not continue in the traditions in which they have been educated, they will be discontinued in their professional labors. Aaron, no doubt, was afraid of losing his office, if he did not please the people; he therefore made it his study to do it. He furthermore said to Moses, "Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." Here was an evident design to deceive Moses, and make him think that a miracle had been wrought to produce this image; for how could it happen that gold ear-rings cast into the fire, should come out in the shape of a calf, if some invisible power had not given it form? And surely if a miracle had produced this image, the people might be justified in paying it divine honors; and Aaron was by no means censurable for what an invisible power had effected. By referring to history, we may be satisfied respecting the way in which this image of a calf became the idol of these Israelites. Diodorus Siculus mentions Remphis, a king of Egypt, about the time that Jacob went down there; and says of him, that he gathered an infinite mass of wealth, and left behind him at his death four million talents; which makes it probable that he was the prince, which in the famine, by the advice of Joseph, got all the wealth of Egypt and of the neighboring countries into his hands. This person was afterwards worshipped as a god, for having saved his country in time of famine; and was accordingly placed among the stars. This star, it seems, was Saturn; for in an old Egyptian alphabet, Saturn is called Reephan. St. Stephen, in the 7th of Acts, assists us in this inquiry. He says, alluding to this image, "And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan; figures which ye made to worship them." Concerning this prince of Egypt, there is a tradition in Suidas, which the author whom I consult says is very intelligible. This tradition says of Apis, the Egyptian god, that he was a certain rich man, to whom, at his death, they erected a temple; in which an ox was fed, as being the hieroglyphic of a husbandman. By which it appears, that this was the calf or bullock worshipped by the Israelites; Saturn being among the gentiles |