Account of Moneys, and other Articles, received by the Treasurer of the Newton Theological Institution, from July to November, 1834. Charles St. Industrious Soc. by Mrs. Sharp-16 pair of pillow-cases. Dr. Jona. Wales, Randolph, being money placed at his disposal by Mr. $100,00 100,00 100,00 100,00 20,00 100,00 1,00 200,00 5,00 100,00 50,00 5,00 50,00 150,00 LEVI FARWELL, Treas. Dr. Jona. Wales, balance of his subscription to Prof. houses, Dea. Nathan Alden, East Bridgewater, J. W. Tolman, North Randolph, (received in Dec.) for Prof. houses, Collections toward a 3d Professorship, not published in the above. Cambridge, Nov. 11, 1834. Account of Moneys, received in Donations, by the Treasurer of the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States, for Foreign Missions, from Nov. 15, to Dec. 15, 1834. From the Bap. Ch. in Bangor, Me., col. at Mon. Con., by Dea. R. Clark, 34,00 25,00 30,00 Bap. Ch. Jefferson, Ohio, at Mon. Con., for Bur. Miss., by Mr. 2,00 Mrs. Betsey Corbin, Pomfret, Con., for Bur. Miss., by Mr. T. 3,00 Miss Clarinda Pierson, of Carrolton, Illi., for Bur. Miss,-the 11,25 13,26 Foxborough Bap. Ch. and Soc's. mission box, by Rev. T. C. 18,33 31,59 The following was received by the Treas., on his late tour to Cincinnati, Ohio: The unsolicited contribution of Dr. Dibble, and other generous 16,50 Mrs. Harmon, by Mrs. Cook, 1,00-New Lyme Ch., 2,43-Ashtabula Con. for Prayer, 10,18-A widow's mite, 16 cts.-Individuals in Geneva, 1,50-Rome, 87 cts.-Chester, 1,31-Madison Con. for Prayer, 4,00-Fidelia Wright, 25 cts.-Kingsville Fem. Miss. Soc., 12,00-do. Con. for Prayer, 1,83-Col. Grand River Asso. 12,30-Mon. Con. in Bap. Ch. in Henrietta, 1,62 -all for Bur. Miss., by R. J. Bailey, 49,45 Fem. Miss. Soc. of Enon Ch., Cincinnati, towards the support 46,00 Dr. Isaac Colby, of Cincinnati, for Bur. Miss., 20,00 44,75 217,00 200,00 Capt. Dorman, of steamboat Wacousta, in part for the passages 5,00 From Mrs. Dr. Colby, (who gave $10, two years since,) for the educa- James Saunders, Esq., of Passadunkeag, Me., for Bur. Miss., A friend in Aurora, Ohio, by J. E. Jackson, Tr. of Portage Bap. Miss T. Rogers, Treas. of the Carey Soc. in the First Bap. Ch. 20,00 618,70 10,00 10,00 5,00 15,00 10,00 Young Ladies' Industrious Soc. of West Dedham, by Miss 7,76 Together with a box of clothing, valued at $16,24,"for the Keeseville, N. Y. Bap. Ch., for Bur. Miss., by A. Hayes, Esq., Tr. 12,00 Mrs. A. Hayes, Treas., 22,75 34,75 Miss Mary Van Matre, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Bible in 1,00 Bap. Ch. in Townsend, Mass., collected at Mon. Con., for Bur. 1,75 Fem. Miss. Soc. for For. Miss. in Chester, N. H., Mrs. Adeline 2,75 A balance from Clarke Wilder, Esq., by Mr. John Putnam, a native preacher in Burmah, Cortland Bap. For. Miss. Society, Karen Society, Cortlandville, by Rev. D. B. Purinton, Cayuga Bap. For Miss. Soc., by Dea. Crossman, Treas., Walter Read, Oswego, for Bur. Bible, by Rev. E. Galusha, ,50 65,00 12,00 7,00 Subject to the appropriation of Rev. I. Mc Coy, 28,00 A brother in N. York, by Rev. J. D. Hoford, ,50 Utica, New York, 447,15 Virginia Bap. Miss. Society, 6,12 Youth's Miss. Soc. of 2d Bap. Church, Richmond, Va., by Rev. 2,50 8,62 HEMAN LINCOLN, Treasurer. In the November number of the Magazine, we furnished our readers with some remarks on the providence of God, in relation to the perpetuity of modern civilization, endeavoring to show thereby that, but for the directing power of the great Ruler of nations, we could place no confidence in any existing barrier against the return of barbarism upon all mankind. We will now offer a few observations, calculated to cheer the mourner, and encourage the desponding, upon another mode in which the Deity (our heavenly Father) exhibits his providential care, over the creatures of his hand. The substance of these observations is contained in the following proposition:-that what we call afflictions, are a part of the great system of love, manifested by God to man, and are intended for the accomplishment of wise and valuable purposes, connected with the economy of redemption. Obvious as this doctrine may seem, to one familiar with the pages of divine revelation, it is not one which readily suggests itself to those who have no light, but that of nature. It may increase our regard for this truth, and for the Holy Book wherein it is revealed, to cast a rapid glance at the ideas which would naturally arise in the human mind, and which have been entertained, on the subject of those various afflictions, to which mankind are liable. Looking abroad upon society at large, or looking inward upon himself, every man perceives that the train of human events, and the course of his own experience, are composed of various, dissimilar, and seemingly discordant elements: of gladness and sorrow, of pain and pleasure, of prosperity and adversity, which pursue each other like sunshine and shadow across a summer landscape. Upon every son and daughter of man, has the same lot fallen,a lot of mingled joy and woe. Scarcely a day passes by, unmarked by this strange alternation, as though our good and evil genius were ever contending, and with fluctuating success, for the mastery. We know that hearts, which now beat high with hope, will soon be throbbing with anguish: while many an eye that to-day glistens with the drops of sorrow, shall to-morrow sparkle with the light of mirth. Behold the bounding step, and free spirit, and dauntless confidence of youth, springing thoughtlessly forward from the delights of the present, and destined ere long to be overwhelmed with the storm of disappointment, and the deadening shock of despair. As in individual cases, so also is it with relation to whole communities: the web of their destiny, to use the language of sorcery is composed of alternate threads of black and white, as though, while benevolence was weaving their fate, some malignant spirit had jointly thrown the shuttle. Would it not be natural for us, on beholding such a state of facts, if we had none of the teachings of God's word, to conclude that human events were under the direction of two supernatural beings, one of whom delighted in blessing, and the other in tormenting us? It seems to us that this theory would be the first that pagan wisdom would suggest, in explanation of existing cir cumstances. The keenest and most enlightened intellect, that ever studied the philosophy of life by the unaided guidance of his own genius, happened upon the correct doctrine in relation to affliction. Rebuking the idle fables of the religion of his day, as set forth in the poets of Greece, Socrates, whose soul seems to have been almost inspired, exclaimed-" If any one undertake to describe in poetry the sufferings of Niobe, or of others, let him not say that these are the doings of God;-or, if they be of God, we must perceive that there is a good reason for them, and must say that God did what was just and proper, and that they were benefited by being chastised: but we must not suffer a poet to say that they are miserable who are punished, and that their misery is of God. But if they say that the wicked needed correction, and that they were punished for their benefit, we may permit such assertions. But most ancient philosophers and theologians mistook where Socrates judged rightly,-and the preciousness of our Scriptures is very strongly illustrated by the practical errors, into which men * Plato in Repub. have been led by these mistakes. It cannot, therefore, be amiss to notice some of them. The theologians of ancient Persia, who founded a religious creed, under which millions and millions of our fellow-men lived and died, recognizing the agency of a divine power, in the course of human events; but feeling unable to reconcile with the character of one God the apparent contrariety of will exhibited in the alternation of happiness and misery, of good and evil, came to the conclusion that there were two Deities, possessed of similar but not equal powers, and of opposite and hostile principles and feelings, the one being benevolent, but the other malevolent, and of course engaged in a continual struggle for mastery. To the one who was benevolent, they referred every "good and perfect gift," which is given to man, regarding him as the fountain of light and truth and love. To the other they looked, as the cause of all the misery and suffering under which men groan, regarding him as the source of darkness, sin and woe. They fancied, therefore, that this world was the great battle-field, whereon the conflict between these two opposing Deities was waged, and that as the one or the other prevailed, mankind were blessed or cursed. In consequence of this error, the active religion of the Persians was singularly inconsistent and contradictory. At one time they would worship the Power of Darkness, endeavoring to propitiate his favor, and recommend themselves to the mercy of his hard heart. At another, they offered sacrifice and thanksgiving to the Prince of Light, for his affectionate care and protection. But at no moment could they feel safe. Tossed forever about, like a tempest-worn sailor, on a sea of doubt and perplexity, their life must have been one of incessant dread and alarm. This protracted warfare between their gods, they supposed would continue for the period of twelve thousand years, when benevolence should triumph over malignity, and the virtuous soul be forever ransomed from its sufferings. Another historical example may not be deemed impertinent to this subject; inasmuch as we shall be led to regard with increased thankfulness our own blessed faith, by every contrast that can be drawn between it and the imperfect religion of others. Our ancestors, the Scandinavian tribes of northern Europe, adopted a creed somewhat similar to that of Persia. They personified and deified the principle of evil, as well as the principle of good, and imagined that each of these was ever laboring, through' the agency of countless inferior gods, to influence mankind,-the one doing all in his power to render them virtuous, and happy, and the other inflicting upon them every form of evil, and inciting them to sin. The prince of evil, whom they called "Loke," they represented as fair and beautiful, in his external appearance,—but filled with satanic malice and cruelty; thus giving him a character not unlike that of the great adversary of Christianity. From the names given to his family and messengers, we gain a clear idea of his |