A RELIGIOUS AND LITERARY JOURNAL.

VOL. I.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY,

SEVENTH DAY, TWELFTH MONTH, 8, 1827.

BY JOHN RICHARDSON, Corner of Carpenter and Seventh Street,

PHILADELPHIA.

FOR THE FRIEND.

NO. 8.

hand a T, because a hand was called Tot. The form in which these objects were presented, when employed as phonetic characters, was conventional and definite, to distinguish them from the same ob. The slow progress, the slight influence upon jects used either figuratively or symbolically; thus, the world at large, of the precepts of Chris-the conventional form of the phonetic T, was the tianity, are among the inscrutable counsels of

66

hand open and outstretched; in any other form the hand would either be a figurative, or a symbolic sign. The number of distinct characters employed consequently many were homophones, or having the as phonetic signs, appears to have been about 120, same signification. The three kinds of characters were used indiscriminately in the same writing, and occasionally in the composition of the same word. The formal Egyptian writing, therefore, such as we see it still existing on the monuments of the country, jects, of which a small proportion had a symbolic was a series of portraits of physical and material ob. meaning, a still smaller proportion a figurative meaning, but the great body were phonetic or alphabetical signs: and to these portraits, sculptured or painted with sufficient fidelity to leave no doubt of the object represented, the name of hieroglyphics, or sacred characters, has been attached from their earliest historic notice.

Price Two Dollars per annum, payable in advance. Infinite Wisdom. "The fulness of time," perhaps, is at length dawning. A knowledge of the Holy Scriptures is fast spreading through out every nation of the earth, and we cannot doubt, that He who has so miraculously preserved the sacred volume, will bless, wherever it is known, its effect upon the heart. More just and pacific principles of policy, may be discerned amidst the wars and revolutions of both hemispheres to be struggling for the ascendency. The golden girdle," as it has been called, of commerce, is fast encircling the globe, and binding nation to nation, and continent to continent, by the ties of interest, to the occupations of peace and industry. Is it the dream of an enthusiast to suppose, that The manuscripts of the same ancient period make the proofs of the truth of Sacred Writ, which us acquainted with two other forms of writing prac must silence every cavil, and drive the unbe-tised by the ancient Egyptians, both apparently disliever from his last covert of doubt; the proof examination, are found to be its immediate deriva. tinct from the hieroglyphic, but which, on careful derived from records, coeval perhaps with the tives: every hieroglyphic having its corresponding children of Noah, were purposely sealed up in sign in the hieratic, or writing of the priests, in which an unknown tongue, to be opened and exam- the funeral rituals, forming a large portion of the ined in the fulness of time-then, when all manuscripts, are principally composed; and in the things else should conspire to bring home the ed for all more ordinary and popular usages. The demotic, called also the enchorial, which was employ. evidence with the strongest conviction, and characters of the hieratic are for the most part obimpart to it an intensity of interest, which vious running imitations, or abridgments of the cor nothing else but a miracle could awaken? responding hieroglyphics; but in the demotic, which is still further removed from the original type, the

The following article, which is extracted from the last number of the London Quarterly Journal of Science, contains the most concise and interesting account I have seen of the recent discoveries in Egyptian literature. The extraordinary interest of the subject will attract and richly repay the attention of all the readers of the Friend. The restoration of the language of ancient Egypt, after an oblivion of two thousand years, may be considered as one of the most wonderful events of this won derful age. The steps by which this discovery has been made; the singular coincidences which have attended it; the intense interest we must all feel in the events of the times, which it has unfolded to view, are but the faint dawn and promise of what must attend the further discoveries to which it may lead. From a few papyri and tablets; inscriptions copied here and there from tombs and temples, and pyramids; the age of Sesostris, of the Exodus and the Pharaohs, has been ascertained. What then may we not expect, when the temples and the ruins with which not only Egypt and Nubia, and Ethiopia, along the whole of the Nile, but the very Desert, as far as the Red Sea and the confines of Syria are strewd, shall have been examined and decyphered? It is a singular phenomenon in the annals of our species, that the earliest should be also the most enduring monuments of civilization. Was not the memory of that great universal catastrophe, which had but recently swept away every trace of human labour, the impelling motive to all these mighty excavations and constructions; to those records upon everlasting granite, of the names of ephemeral kings and dynasties? That thus the fame of monarchs and of empires might be placed beyond the reach of the elements, and of time itself, to efface? Whatever we may think of the motive for these constructions, they must be admitted to furnish a marvellous instance of the manner in which the moral government of the world bends the will and the purposes of men, to work the counsels of the Almighty. The worship of the true and living God, was maintained in the family of Abraham from the time of Noah; it was preserved in the nation to which he gave birth; and since the advent of the Redeemer, there have never been wanting true disciples of his gospel. Yet, although a pure faith has thus been kept

On the Recent Elucidations of early Egyptian
History.

Since the commencement of the present century,
the researches of philologists have ascertained that
the language of ancient Egypt-the language of the
hieroglyphical inscriptions engraven on its ancient
temples and monuments, and of the still existing
manuscripts of the same period-differs from the
modern Egyptian or Coptic, only in the mixture in
the latter of many Greek and Arabian, and a smaller
portion of Latin words, introduced during the suc-
cessive dominion of the Greeks, the Romans, and
the Arabs, and occasionally substituted for the cor-
responding native words. The grammatical con-
struction of the language has remained the same at
all periods of its employment: and it finally ceased
to be a spoken language towards the middle of the
seventeenth century, when it was replaced by the

a

Arabian.

a

derivation is less frequently and less obviously traceable. In the hieratic, fewer figurative or symbolic signs are employed than in the hieroglyphic; their absence being supplied by means of the phonetic or alphabetical characters, the words being spelt instead of figured; and this is still more the case in the demotic, which is, in consequence, almost entirely

alphabetical.

After the conversion of the Egyptians to Christiani. ty, the ancient mode of writing their language fell into disuse; and an alphabet was adopted in substi tution, consisting of the twenty-five Greek letters, with six additional signs, expressing articulations and aspirations unknown to the Greeks, the charac

ters for which were retained from the demotic. This

is the Coptic alphabet, in which the Egyptian appears as a written language in the Coptic books and manuscripts preserved in our libraries; and in which consequently, the language of the inscriptions on the monuments may be studied.

In writing their language, the ancient Egyptians The original mode in which the language was employed three different kinds of characters. First, written having thus fallen into disuse, it happened, figurative, or representations of the objects them at length, that the signification of the characters, and selves. Second, symbolic, or representations of cer- even the nature of the system of writing which they phorically, or conventionally, certain ideas; such as, subject as existed in the early historians being either tain physical or material objects, expressing meta-formed, became entirely lost; such notices on the people obedient to their king, figured, metaphori- too imperfect, or appearing 100 vague, to furnish a cally, by a bee; the universe, conventionally, by clue, although frequently and carefully studied for beetle. Third, phonetic, or representative of sounds; the purpose. The repossession of his knowledge that is to say, strictly alphabetical characters. The will form, in literary history, one of the most rephonetic signs were also portraits of physical and markable distinctions, if not the principal, of the age of the word in the Egyptian language which ex-ry by the French, during their possession of Egypt, material objects; and each stood for the initial sound in which we live. It is due primarily to the discovepressed the object portrayed: thus a lion was the of the since well-known monument called the Rosetta sound L, because a lion was called Labo; and a Stone, which, on their defeat and expulsion by the

British troops, remained in the hands of the victors, thirty dynasties, not all of separate families; a
was conveyed to England, and deposited in the memorable reign appearing in some instances to
British Museum. On this monument the same in- commence a new dynasty, although happening in
scription is repeated in the Greek and in the Egyp- the regular succession. It originally contained the
tian language, being written in the latter both in hie- length of reign as well as the name of every king;
roglyphics and in the demotic or enchorial character. but in consequence of successive transcriptions,
The words Ptolemy and Cleopatra, written in hiero- variations have crept in, and some few omissions
glyphics, and recognised by means of the correspond also occur in the record, as it has reached us through
ing Greek of the Rosetta inscription, and by a Greek the medium of different authors. The chronology
inscription on the base of an obelisk at Phila, gave of Manetho, adopted with confidence by some, and
the phonetic characters of the letters which form rejected with equal confidence by others-his name
those words: by their means the names were dis. and his information not being even noticed by some
covered, in hieroglyphic writing, on other monu- of the modern systematic writers on Egyptian histo-
ments of all the Grecian kings and Grecian queensry-has received the most unquestionable and deci-
of Egypt, and of fourteen of the Roman emperors, sive testimony of its general fidelity by the interpre-
ending with Commodus; and by the comparison of tation of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the existing
these names one with another, the value of all the monuments: so much so, that by the accordance of
phonetic characters was finally ascertained.
the facts attested by these monuments with the
record of the historian, we have reason to expect the
entire restoration of the annals of the Egyptian
monarchy antecedent to the Persian conquest, and
which, indeed, is already accomplished in part.
Before we pursue this part of our subject, we must
conclude our brief review of the original authorities
in early Egyptian history, by a notice of Eratos-
thenes. He was keeper of the Alexandrian library
in the reign of Ptolemy Evergetes, the successor to
Ptolemy Philadelphus, under whose reign Manetho
wrote. Amongst the few fragments of his works,
which have reached us, transmitted through the
Greek historians, is a catalogue of thirty-eight kings
of Thebes, commencing with Menes, (who is men-
tioned by the other authorities also as the first mo-
narch of Egypt,) and occupying by their successive
reigns 1055 years. These names are stated to have
been compiled from original records existing at
Thebes, which city Eratosthenes visited expressly to
consult them. The names of the two first kings in
his catalogue are the same with the names of the two
first kings of the first dynasty of Manetho; but the
remainder of the catalogue presents no further ac-
cordance, either in the names or in the duration of
the reigns.

The hieroglyphic alphabet thus made out, has been subsequently applied to the elucidation of the earlier periods of Egyptian history, particularly in tracing the reigns and the succession of the Pharaohs, those native princes who governed Egypt at the period of its splendour; when its monarchy was the most powerful among the nations of the earth; its people the most advanced in learning, and in the cultivation of the arts and sciences; and which has left, as its memorials, constructions more nearly ap. proaching to imperishable, than any other of the works of man, which have been the wonder of every succeeding people, and which are now serving to reestablish, at the expiration of above 3000 years, the details of its long-forgotten history. To trace these stupendous monuments of art to their respective founders, and thus to fix, approximately, at least, the epoch of their first existence, is a consequence of the restoration of the knowledge of the alphabet and the language of the inscriptions engraven on them. We propose to review, briefly as our limits require, the principal and most important facts that have thus recently been made known in regard to those early times; and shall deem ourselves most fortunate if we can impart to our readers but a small portion of the interest which we have ourselves derived in watching their progressive discovery.

The following are the authors to whom we are chiefly indebted for the few particulars we know of early Egyptian history. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, Grecians, and foreigners in Egypt. Manetho, a native; and Eratosthenes, by birth a Cyrenean, a province bordering on Egypt, both residents. Jo sephus, a Jew, and Africanus, Eusebius, and Syncellus, Christians, Greek authors. Herodotus visited Egypt four centuries and a half before Christ, and within a century after its conquest by the Persians. In his relation of the affairs of the Greeks and Per sians, he has introduced incidentally a sketch of the early history of Egypt, such as he learnt it from popular tradition, and from information obtained from the priests. It is, however, merely a sketch, particularly of the earlier times; and is further recorded by Josephus to have been censured by Manetho for its incorrectness. Diodorus is also understood to have visited Egypt about half a century before Christ; and from him we have a similar sketch to that of Herodotus; a record of the names of the most distinguished kings, and for what they were distinguished; but with intervals, of many genera. tions and of uncertain duration, passed without notice. Manetho was a priest of Heliopolis, in Lower Egypt, a city of the first rank amongst the sacred cities of ancient Egypt, and long the resort of foreign ers as the seat of learning and knowledge He lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, two centuries and a half before Christ, and wrote, by order of that prince, the history of his own country in the Greek language, translating it, as he states himself, out of the sacred records. His work is, most unfortunately, lost, but the fragments which have been preserved to us, by the writings of Josephus in the first century of the Christian æra, and by the Greek authors above named of the third and fourth centuries, contain matter, which, if entitled to confidence, is of the highest historical value, viz. a chronological list of the successive rulers of Egypt, from the first founda. tion of monarchy, to Alexander of Macedon, who succeeded the Persians. This list is divided into

(To be continued.)

them that there lay the secret of the white man's power; that it was by recording his thoughts and observations that he was enabled to effect the wonders they witnessed; and that if the Indians could invent a method of writing their language,that inferiority would no long er be felt. From that moment the desire of accomplishing so great an end seemed to take the entire possession of his soul. He shut himself up in his cabin, and after several months of seclusion appeared again before his countrymen with an alphabet of their language. It was a wonderful effort of unassisted genius, for he was ignorant of all language except his own, and knew not even the sounds of the English letters from which he formed his characters. The rapidity with which a knowledge of this alphabet was spread throughout the nation was surprising. The old men learned it in a few days,and the children,more docile, in a still shorter time. It is said that there are but few in the nation who are now ignorant of it; and a constant correspondence is maintained by its means, which their brethren on the Arkansas, to whom the invention was speedily made known. It is stated in the newspapers, that Elias Boudinot, a native Chelaque, who has received a liberal education, is about to publish a weekly journal, printed partly in English and partly in his native tongue; and that a fount of Chelaque letters has been cast for this purpose in Baltimore. The facility with which this alphabet has been acquired by the Indians is no doubt owing to its being syllabic, and thus not requiring so minute an analysis of the sound of words, as would have been necessary, had fewer characters been adopted, sufficient only to express the mere elemental sounds. It consists of eighty-six characters, which are said to represent all the monosyllables contained in the lanThis noble tribe of aborigines exhibits at guage. With the progress of improvement and the present time a singular and interesting civilization new terms and new sounds will spectacle. It has abandoned the wandering be introduced, requiring new characters to life of the hunter for the employment of the express them unless a more minute analysis plough and the loom-it has established a civil of the words be made, and letters with the government, somewhat on the plan of ours-power of the Roman alphabet be adopted. it encourages education-many of its leading An accurate representation of the alphabet men have embraced Christianity,and to height- is annexed to this paper. It would be unfair en the interest of its situation, a new Cadmus to subject an invention, made under such cirhas arisen, who has, by an extraordinary ef- cumstances, to the test of severe criticism; but fort of unassisted genius, given to his country- there are some of its features which may well men, the elements of a written language. attract our attention. In the first place the I have received the following narrative of Chelaque language does not appear to posthe invention of this alphabet from an intelli- sess the sounds B, D, F, P, R, V, X and Z. gent traveller who passed through the Chero- Six of the characters represent vowel sounds, kee country soon after the circumstance oc- viz: the short, long and broad a, e, o, and u; curred. At one of their council fires-at which fifty-two represent the remaining consonants recollections of the melancholy fate of their of our alphabet, four represent the aspirate, fellow-tribes, who had perished as if blasted and sixteen of them stand for syllables conby the touch of civilization-a retrospect of taining two consonants, and one vowel sound. the former extent contrasted with the present We find a great redundancy of characters limits of the Indian power-the consciousness representing the same radical sound, for inthat they themselves had felt the withering stance, there are ten characters for n variouscontact filled the chiefs with gloomy fore-ly modified by vowel sounds, which also have bodings, and disposed them to envy the in-characters, by the aid of which one character fluence of that civilization and of those arts for the simple sound of n may replace the which rendered the white man so immeasurably their superior-an Indian named Guess rose from his seat, and pointing to a book told *This is the true name of these Indians. It seems absurd to call them by a word (Cherokee) which their own language cannot sound.

FOR THE FRIEND.

THE CHEROKEE, OR CHE-LA-QUE INDIANS.

NO. I.

whole ten. In the same manner C L, Y, W, and M, have each four characters, L, T, S, and K, have each five, T and K, have each six, and Q has three characters, each representing a syllable with the same consonant sound.

magnitude, bursts at once, like a noble foun- from illustrious ancestors, and born at Ferrara tain, from the side of the mountain, and flows in 1452. Distinguished while very young by rapidly along the bottom of the ravine, to- his proficiency in theological studies, he sepawards the south. On the sides of the moun-rated himself from his family at the age of tains which encircle this little spot, and seem twenty-three years, and uniting with the Doto shut it out from all communication with minicans of Bologne, his extraordinary talents

FOR THE FRIEND.

The following epitaph has lately been placed over the grave of a young Greek, who died last spring at Tottenham, near London, aged about 13 years; and whose gentle and amiably sweet disposition, had attracted for him a strong attachment from those who kindly visited him during a lingering decline. Far from his native Greece, the mortal part Almost ere childhood melted into youth, Bold, wild, and free, the little Suliote came To England's shores a student; and his soul All knowledge, save of ill, with eager joy Received; but chiefly with a spirit's thirst, He drank the waters of immortal life. Meek, holy, calm, the little Suliote died; His last breath murmured, in his country's tongue, The name of mother.-"Twas a father's death, (Sad tidings, told him in this foreign land!) First bade him droop; no hand of relative Closed his sad eyes, yet left he mourners here, And one of these inscribes this humble stone. Truc friends, whom his sweet gentleness had made;

Of Constantine Sotiris here was laid,

Obiit, Aprilis xviii. MDCCCXXVII.
Etatis, circiter xiii.

The following, which has before appeared in print,

soon attracted the notice of his superiors, by century, that country had risen to the pinnacle whom he was appointed to deliver lectures on of prosperity-superior to most, and inferior philosophy. In this new vocation, our young to none of the neighbouring states in political Dominican had much to contend with; his influence, its commerce and manufactures had voice was at once feeble and harsh, his physi-produced an accumulation of wealth, which cal powers debilitated by long and severe rendered the republicans of Italy the bankers abstinence, and his delivery so singularly un- of Europe. Literature was encouraged by graceful, that although respected for his eru- the munificence of princes and the enthusiasm dition, he was deserted when he ascended the of citizens; and no period, perhaps, has been pulpit. adorned by a greater number of distinguished But genius and determination triumphed men, than that which was illustrated by the over these obstacles. Another Demosthenes, Medici, by a Nicholas V. and a Machiavel. Savonarole acquired by practice in his retreat, But the evil days drew nigh. Divided into a the graces which nature had denied him; and large number of states, not only disconnected those who had been disgusted by his awkward but always at variance with each other, Italy recitation, could scarcely recognise him, when, was about to become the prey of the surroundafter the lapse of five years, they heard him ing nations, whose repeated attacks were soon modulating at will a voice strong and harmo- to reduce her from that proud eminence to the nious, and assisting it by graceful and impos- lowest abyss of wretchedness and imbecility. ing gesture. Conscious of the change, and fear-At the period to which we refer, Charles VIII. ful of priding himself on the success of his of France had already commenced the war, efforts, the preacher professed to consider it a which was to end in the subversion of the miracle, designed to prove the divine authority Italian republics. Florence, prostrate at the of his mission. It was in his 31st year, that feet of the Medici, seemed to have forgotten Savonarole began to be sensible of that secret her attachment to free institutions; while the and prophetic impulse which designated him a See of Rome, occupied by a Borgia, particireformer, and called him to preach repentance pated in the ignominy and contempt which but in an imperfect form, has been handed in for to Christians, announcing to them the calami- already attached to a name, since proverbial publication in the Friend, with corrections, and an ties which impended equally over church and for flagitiousness and vice. Such was the state. Six years after, he travelled on foot to situation of affairs when Savonarole comFlorence, and fixing his residence in the con-menced his discourses at Florence. In the vent of his order, he continued during eight name of the Most High, he every day addressyears to preach the necessity of reform, until ed his numerous audience, on the calamities death, the manner of which he is said frequent which threatened them, and the vices by which ly to have foretold, put a period to his labours. they were provoked. He placed before them The reformation which he recommended as graphic pictures of the laxity of morals, and "a work meet for repentance," had for its the progress of luxury; of the disorders of the object an improvement of morals, not a change church, and the corruption of the prelates; of of faith. the abuses in the state, and the tyranny of its rulers. If when he discoursed upon spiritual subjects, he displayed an imagination brilliant and enthusiastic; when he reasoned upon temporal affairs, his logic was not less powerful, nor his eloquence less attractive. Nor were his labours without their full effectalready the citizens of Florence began to testify, by the simplicity of their dress, and by the modesty of their conversation and demeanour, that they had become converts to the reformation of Savonarole-already the women had relinquished their ornaments, and a change of manners was observable throughout the whole city. C.

Enthusiastically attached to the church of Rome, Savonarole did not suffer himself to question the truth of its dogmas, while he believed its discipline to be corrupt, and its pastors faithless to their trust. It was not by reasoning that he assailed the established or der, but under the sanction of divine inspiration; not by syllogisms, but by prophecies and miracles. But if he stooped to the authority of the church, he did not yield to that which was temporal. Liberty was in his eyes almost as sacred as religion. Usurped authority could be retained only at the peril of salvation; and Lorenzo de Medici, who withheld from the citizens of Florence their privileges, which were their birthright, could not prevail upon him to recognise his authority by and mark of respect. When on his death bed, Lorenzo sent for him to receive absolution at his hands, the confessor required that he should express his willingness to restore liberty to the Florentines, as the only condition on which this boon would be granted. It is not a little curious, that so firmly was the love of power planted in his breast, that the dying usurper could not be prevailed upon to accede to these terms, and the priest was compelled to leave him, according to the dogma of the church.

"Unanointed, unaneal'd,

No reckoning made, but sent to his account
With all his imperfections on his head."
The situation of Italy at that period, was
one of peculiar interest. During the fifteenth

additional stanza or two.

It

It

GRIEF FOR DEPARTED FRIENDS.

is not when the parting breath

We watch with anxious heart,

is not in the hour of death,
When those we love depart,

Nor yet when laid upon the bier,
Which leads us to their dwelling low,

We follow slow the corse,

That most we feel their loss.

When past the last and solemn rite,
And dust to dust bath gone,

And

in its wonted channel'd course Oh! who can tell how drear the space

The stream of life flows on,

Once fill'd by those most dear;
When well known scenes, and local things,

And all but they are there!
This deep, this heartfelt loneliness,
This quietness of grief,

Falls heavier on our flowers of joy,
The wirlwinds tear the blossoms fair,

Than tempests strong but brief;

Yet still the stem may thrive,
While a cold season's withering blast

Scarce leaves the root alive.

But as our earthly pleasures fade,
If plants of heavenly peace
Spring in our bosom's wilderness,
And nurtur'd there increase,
In humble hope, and holy fear,
Our minds will daily prove,
That smitten friends are angels, sent
On errands full of love!
Then seek not hours of sober grief,
Or sorrowing thought to shun,
Until our hearts are brought in truth,
To say "Thy will be done!"
And grateful love for strokes like these,
Our hearts to God may warm,
Perhaps he saw the gathering cloud,
And housed them from the storm.
If in his own good time and way,
He shelters these from ill,
And in his mercy, bless the blow
To those remaining still,
May we not hope to join in Heaven,
The song the blessed raise,
Almighty Lord, and King of Saints,
How just and true thy ways!

AVIS C. HOWLAND.

FOR THE FRIEND.
TEXT.

"We feel an ardent desire, that in all our proceedings tending to this end, our conduct towards all our brethren, may, on every occasion, be mark ed with love and forbearance."

Green Street Address of the 4th mo.

COMMENTARY.

whom was entrusted the care of the meeting house, is a Friend. Until the 8th month last, he had never experienced any difficulty in transacting the concerns of the preparative meeting, nor had any complaints been brought against him. But at the meeting in that month, when he rose to read the opening minute, one of the followers of Elias Hicks peremptorily commanded him not to proceed, alleging that he was unfit any longer to serve the meeting in that capacity. This summary mode of displacing the officers of Society, was entirely unknown till the new principles were embraced; and it is totally incompati

of the followers of Elias Hicks.

This little book may afford, according to the temper of the reader, materials for consolation or for regret. It shows us that the new world has its dreamers, as well as our old Europe; and that, on the shores of the Ohio, as well as those of the Seine, makers of systems are employed in wasting their own time, and making others waste theirs. Some imIn fulfilling the unpleasant duty of present-ble with the spirit and letter of our excellent prudent expressions of approbation suffice to ing our readers with an authentic and faithful code of discipline. The clerk therefore reencourage them, their enthusiasm becomes narrative of the conduct of the followers of plied, that he was regularly appointed to the contagious, they publish books, and they ac- Elias Hicks, in excluding friends from the station, and not having been released, he quire disciples. All this vain notoriety perish- occupancy of their meeting houses, we have thought it his duty to go on with the business; es with them; but they retard the progress of already had to record many painful and hu- which he did, amid the clamour and outcries real knowledge. In some future age, when miliating transactions. The occurrences at men shall have forgotten that such things Abington, Byberry, Falsington, Bristol, SoleAfter the preparative meeting had concludwere spoken of, as expansion, on this side the bury, Darby, Radnor, and Haverford, are ed, Friends retired as usual; but the members Atlantic, and a hollow world, in the other marked by a spirit but little consonant with of the new sect remained in the house, and continent, they will not be able to imagine the professions contained in the Addresses is-organized themselves into a distinct meeting, what were the obstacles which were able to sused by the new sect; and are, in our opinion, which they called a preparative meeting. This retard the human mind, and prevent it from incompatible with the benign temper of the irregular assembly, amongst other business, arriving at the knowledge of such a great gospel, which breathes the harmonious lan- took upon it to appoint a new care-taker for number of truths, long within the reach of guage of "peace on earth, good will to men." the meeting house and premises; and instructevery one, and with which every one oughtage After perusing the specious pages of the ed him to call on the Friend who regularly to be acquainted. Epistle of the 10th month last, with a know-held that station, and demand the keys; and It seems that the number of the Symmes-ledge that many of the persons engaged in in case of his refusal to surrender them, to ites are, in proportion to the population, the violent actions we have narrated, attend- take off the locks, and put new ones on the greater in the United States than those of ed the meeting which issued it; we were al- doors. This, however, was not immediately the sectaries, to whose opinions we have almost ready to conclude, that conviction had at done; the Friend retained unmolested possesready alluded, have become in France. Per- last arrested their minds, and shown them the sion of the keys, and opened the house as haps the American system may even have in great inconsistency of their former demeanour. usual for the preparative meeting in the 10th its favour a decided numerical superiority; We had hoped, too, that the fair professions, month. At this meeting, in virtue of his of and, on both sides, the inventors are of opin- the solemn asseverations, of the Epistle, were fice as clerk, he went to the table in order to on that questions of this nature should be the prelude to the practical illustration of that transact the business; but it was already ocdecided by majorities. But a philosophy, most comprehensive and noble precept of cupied by one of the new sect, who had taken zealous for the honour of the human under- Christianity," As ye would that men should his seat there in the early part of the meeting. standing, would direct it towards a more no- do unto you, do ye even so to them." But The clerk stood by the table for a few moble destination, and not suffer it to consume our charitable anticipations have all been ments, to see whether he would be permitted all its activity in vain amusements. We should blasted, and the apparent sincerity of the to proceed, but the person persisted in retainrecollect the injury which physical science Epistle has only heightened our disappoint- ing his seat, and read a minute opening a prereceived from the system of Descartes: and ment. Surely there must exist a wide differ-parative meeting for the new sect. yet Descartes did not content himself with ence between the feelings of those who wrote, the mere employment of his imagination; he and those who read and sanctioned, that doknew how to observe, measure, combine cument, or they must alike be involved in forces, and calculate their effect; he was, in the just imputation of great insincerity. For fact, a profound geometrician. By an incon-professions and practices could scarcely be ceivable fatality, none of those who have undertaken to reform Newton, are willing to take the trouble of learning mathematics; and it is with this capital stock of ignorance, that they attempt to solve the highest questions of astronomical mechanics.

Besides, is it really praise, when we say of a system of universal science, that "its reasonings are often ingenious?" Not one single work of genius is ingenious. Genius has never been sunk so low as that expression. A pun may deserve it sometimes: the forms in which wit chooses to clothe its vain conceptions, must be ingenious, or they will either be in bad taste, or vanish quite away. The march of reason is imposing, and inspires no sentiment but respect; the impression which it leaves is a profound conviction, in which the understanding delights, because it feels the price at which it has paid for the acquisitions it has made; and these acquisitions are

It was then proposed by a Friend that they should quietly withdraw and hold their meeting out of the doors, as the followers of Elias Hicks seemed determined to preclude them from transacting the business in the house. more directly adverse, than the tenor of the This was accordingly done; for although the Epistle, and the subsequent conduct of some clerk of the preparative meeting had never of those who composed the meeting which been released, nor any other regularly apadopted it. In performing the task assigned pointed in his place; and the followers of Elias us, we shall have to record in the present num-Hicks, regardless of the discipline and order ber, the principal facts relative to the seizure and occupancy of Friends' meeting house at Buckingham, by the followers of Elias Hicks -a transaction which has occurred since the Epistle of the 10th month was issued, and which is more painful and outrageous in its character than any thing which has yet taken place. There are circumstances connected with it, which from respect to the feelings of our readers, and from regard to the reputation of civil, not to speak of religious society, we feel it our duty to withhold.

To give a clear view of the occurrences, it will be necessary to observe, that the person who has acted as clerk of Buckingham preparative meeting for several years, and to

of the Society, had organized a new preparative meeting of a new sect, distinct from Friends, and of course could have no right, nor even a plausible excuse, for usurping the control and possession of the property; yet Friends patiently submitted to the wrong, and did not contend with them, even for what was so evidently their just right. The new preparative meeting appointed another person to take possession of the house, probably from an apprehension that he whom they had before entrusted with the commission, was not resolute and hardy enough for their purpose. Be this as it may, the new incumbent proceeded forthwith to give proof of his promptness and determination, for he began