Ver. 24-37. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, And avenge me of mine enemies; And I will restore thy judges as at the first, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. And her converts in righteousness. The preceding complaint concerning the corrupt state of the Jewish nation is now followed by a prediction of the future. The wicked magistrates will be removed, and their places supplied by others, who will restore the nation to its pristine virtue, prosperity and glory. The adversaries and enemies here mentioned are the Jews devoted to idolatry.-Tin is often found mixed with more valuable metals and has to be separated from them as dross, in the refiner's furnace.— At the first, in the time of Moses, Joshua, David, &c.-The 25th and 26th verses express the same idea, one in metaphorical, the other in plain language.-Judgment and righteousness, often denote salvation or deliverance, which is probably the meaning in the 27th verse. V.28-31. And the destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together, And they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks in which ye delight, have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, And as a garden that hath no water. And the strong one shall be as tow, and his work as a spark, And they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. This prophecy of Isaiah is concluded with a solemn denunciation of utter ruin to the enemies of God. In the 29th verse there is an abrupt transition from the third person (they,) to the second person (ye.) This is frequent in the Hebrew prophets. See Is. xlix, 25, 26; Deut. xxxii, 15, 17, 18; Mic. ii, 5. It is unnecessary therefore to amend the text, as Lowth has done.-By the oaks and gardens are intended sacred groves, which were furnished with altars, idols, and temples for the worship of false gods. The imagery in the 30th verse is elegantly drawn from verse 29. The prophet illustrates their punishment from their crime.-By the strong one is meant the powerful and influential characters among the Jews. Others suppose, with less probability, that the strong one means an idol, and render the next clause thus: and the maker of it as a spark, as in our common version. The above explanation of this chapter coincides mainly with the latest efforts of the best German critics, and shows how futile the principles are, on which even Lowth, the most judicious of the English critics, has attempted to amend the sacred text. Modern criticism is, on the whole, approximating fast to our common English version. D. E. ON THE LOVE OF COUNTRY. For the Panoplist. PARTIALITY for the land of our nativity is a sentiment congenial to our nature. No man spends his earliest years in a place, without acquiring and retaining some kind feelings for the objects by which he was then surrounded. In the charming dawn of existence, when the sensibilities are alive and the heart tender, the impressions left on the memory are deep, and the features of the mind, whose strong lineaments are then marked, are rendered prominent and lasting. As the successive revolutions of time pass along, and bear away something that is dear to us, the recollection of what we once have been still remains; the earlier scenes of childhood are made to pass anew before the field of vision, and we hail the images as they move onward with a glow of chastened delight, and almost with veneration. The hills on which we have wandered, the vallies and groves where we mused in solemn silence-the springs at which we slaked our thirst,the fields where we inhaled the fragrant breath of morn, or "trod the pure virgin snows"-these and their thousand associations steal softly over the mind, almost like a dream of celestial happiness. They assist in moderating the intensity of disappointment at the misfortunes of life; the remembrance of the beauty and frailty of the subjects of early delight diminishes the ardor of the passions, as a summer cloud darkens the splendor of the prospect, while its cooling influence recruits the strength of the weary traveller. In these deep impressions is laid the foundation of that almost universal feeling, called patriotism. However various are the ideas attached to the name, it has ever been a popular appellation; and nations the most degraded have claimed it as strenuously, and clamored for the honors of it as loudly, as any others. Were a picture drawn of those communities, which have made the loftiest pretensions to patriotism, it would present a most humiliating contrast to the integrity and moral elevation which alone is worthy of such an honorable distinction. Not only the most narrow selfishness, but nearly every other vice which disfigures human nature, has, by various subterfuges, endeavored to hide its head beneath the cloak of some public virtue. The vague and indefinite application of the term in question must greatly lessen its value in the estimation of any reflecting mind. Under the shuffling pretence of devotedness to their country thousands of unprincipled men, burning with the malice of fiends, have engrossed the applause and the idolatrous homage of millions. To have received the incense of a stupid mob, and be praised and toasted as a patriot, is passport good enough to the society, the caresses, and the highest honors, which can be bestowed by those, who are elevated to seats of office, and distribute its gifts among their favorites. If this pagan custom of exalting a poor mortal above all praise, although impious and absurd, went no further than he possessed a tolerably fair character, it might better be endured. But what excuse. can be alleged for attempting to deify a creature, who has no other merit but that of the destroyer of his species?-whose ambition is sated only with blood-whose predominant passion is revenge? who, burning with intense hatred to God, calls out his fellow-man for a disrespectful word, and will accept of nothing less than life as a sacrifice to his honor? Men absorbed in the grossest vice, and slaves to the vilest passions, can, nevertheless, obtain the name of patriots, provided they acted a conspicuous part in war, the great "game which kings and republics choose to play at." - The false notion, that modern patriotism is a noble principle, that it is more honorable than any other, or all other, sentiments,—that every opposing obstacle is to be prostrated before it, might be worthy of a heathen government, but is inconceivably disgraceful to a Christian people. Where it exercises uncontrolled dominion, the voice of the gentle virtues cannot be heard. The car of the boasting patriot is closed against the demands of justice, and the cries for compassion may be urged in vain. If the sufferer cannot bend to the crooked dogma, that one's own country is every thing and others' nothing, he must be cut off unheard and unpitied. Some maintain the extravagant doctrine, that there can be no legitimate expatriation; that the country of one's birth has claims on him paramount to all others; that these claims can neither be obliterated by time nor cancelled by injuries. Men holding this opinion have roundly asserted, that however eminent the services of a citizen may have been, with whatever disinterestedness and zeal he may have spent his best days in the service of his country, notwithstanding all this, if, on any abuse or injustice, he should presume to throw off all allegiance to the country, and adopt another, he is forsooth to be branded and punished as a traitor. I intend no denial of the position, that a man is to love his country; but will insist, that this duty imposes no obligation of services, any longer than that country remains worthy of his love. So long as it affords him quiet protection of "life, liberty and property” and allows him so much freedom in pursuit of happiness as does not infringe the rights of his neighbor, he is to repay the protection thus afforded with obedience to its laws and support of its institutions. But whenever obstructed in the peaceable enjoyment of any of these, he continuing a faithful subject, he may at once transfer his allegiance to any other nation by which his fidelity will be better rewarded. To me this appears no less reasonable than that one should cease to cultivate a field when found to be unproductive, and bestow his labors on a better soil affording a prospect of remuneration. What shall oblige a man to wear out his days in a particular spot in unremitting toil, merely to suit the caprices of a thankless race, even a community of enemies, for no other reason than that Providence ordered his birth among them? Most of what is commonly termed patriotism, is only a modification of the worst kind of selfishness. A self inflated being overflowing with VOL. XVI. 20 the most malignant passions, can prattle loudly about all sorts of virtues. He does this whenever interest prompts, or ambition stimulates him. A feeling of this nature is compatible with the bitterest malice against all nations, and a burning revenge is its principal constituent. The heart that thrills with transport at the sight of the enjoyments of others is not the soil in which this kind of patriotism can flourish. A cold and heartless collection of opinions on moral subjects;-a strong desire for personal aggrandizement, and a determination to sweep away all obstacles to this elevation, are the amount of a modern patriot's principles. So far as he has any regard reaching beyond the conaracted circle of his own personal interest, it is not an effusion of benevolence, but perfectly a party feeling, and intended to serve party purposes. The moment the interests of the cause he professes to serve, clash with his own, all apparent good-will to the sect, or the nation, disappears. The operations of this spurious patriotism are as various, as its pretensions are imposing. I mention two or three of the most common. If a plan of benevolent operation be proposed, any part of which is to be accomplished in a foreign country, the cry is instantly raised, "Why do you transport the wealth and other resources of the country abroad, when there is so much need of them at home." "Let every one look at home first for objects of charity." Under this shelter it is very easy to escape; something of this sort may be urged in almost every instance. If the theatre of operation be in a distant part of our own land, still, it can be objected, that a nearer district needs it much more. Were the applicant to change his proposal, and ask assistance for a precise spot which he mentioned, it would avail nothing; he would then be told that "charity begins at home." But even that charity he does not well apply. No homes are so sadly neglected, as those which are substituted in excuse for not affording relief to any other. Covetous men contrive to turn the principle to their account. Taking a single example: the same persons, who strongly object to sending the Gospel to India, because it withdraws a trifle of money from home, seem to imagine, that they have used a powerful argument. But these same people can see no harm in the transportation of many millions to those countries for procuring articles of luxury. Provided the expense be lavished on any other object it is no matter; but if it be for the support of a Christian missionary, it must be reckoned an unpardonable offence. Determined enemies of the Gospel take advantage of it. They have always represented the disciples of Christ as enemies of the state, and repeat the stale accusation after it has been refuted a hundred times; these who have turned the world upside down have come hither also." One of the causes of this virtue being so much counterfeited, is found in the fact of its universal popularity. The bright exemplars of it in every age have attracted great applause. Some of them have done honor to our nature. They have indeed been stimulated by the warmest praises, and received the most unequivocal testimonies of the gratitude of their fellow-men for a season. With a knowledge of this respect and veneration, unprincipled legislators have seized the occasion of some strong excitement on the public mind, have dragged forward those venerated names, always remembered with feelings of enthusiasm, and used them to bolster up an unjust measure, and to carry into execution the darkest designs against the liberties of a nation. Indeed, there is no method in the management of a wicked cause, which has been so universally adopted, as that of mixing, in some form, truth with falsehood. Z. Y. CENTURIAL CELEBRATION. For the Panoplist. THE close of this year will complete two centuries from the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth. It is hoped and presumed, that their descendants will set apart a season for the public and solemn celebration of an event so interesting to our country and to the Church. It would afford a suitable occasion to commemorate the virtues of our ancestors, to take a retrospect of the dealings of Providence with our nation, and commend all the interests of the American church and of our rising empire to the holy and beneficent guidance of Him, without whose blessing we can never make any progress in the way of solid glory and permanent happiness. I have heard this proposal made in conversation, and it has been uniformly received with pleasure. Should it be extensively approved, the large and respectable ecclesiastical bodies, which meet in the course of a few months, can agree upon a day to be recommended to general observance. A. B. REFLECTIONS ON 2 PET. iii, 11. For the Panoplist. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? THE Apostles, in their addresses to the primitive Christians, gave their arguments an immediate bearing on the conscience and the heart. Not content with barely convincing the understanding, they either directly or implicitly brought forward the great truths which they had proved, placed them in a strong light and in their majestic proportions before the mind, giving the hearer full opportunity to perceive the direction of his present course, and the destiny which awaited him. According to each man's reception or rejection of the divine command, he has, from infinite authority, a declaration of what he is, and an infallible sentence respecting what he shall be. Let the reader's attention be directed a moment to the argument of St. Peter in the text above quoted. In the preceding part of his epistle, he had briefly recited some instances in which the divine power had been miraculously displayed in punishing human guilt, when its enormity bade defiance to earthly power, and called for the vengeance of heaven. He infers from the examples adduced, that "the Lord is not slack concerning his promise;"-that he had, hitherto, though with much long suffering, always chastised incorrigible transgressors in due time;-that, as he had invariably accomplished all his |