A NEW SERIES

FOR 1809.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATRONAGE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

BY WILLIAM P. FARRAND, EDITOR.

VOL. III.

P H I L AD E L P H I A

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM P. FARRAND AND CO.

Fry and Kammerer, Printer.

1809.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file October 30, 2003.

Page numbers in the original order are shown in brackets as: [ 3 ]

[ v. ]

THE Editor of the Evangelical Intelligencer, on the publication of the first number of a new volume, begs permission to make a tender of his acknowledgments to those patrons who have thus far supported the work. He will suspend no exertions on his part to deserve the continuance of their favours.

A production, whose aim is to state and defend evangelical truth and to announce the circumstances attendant on its triumph among the nations, by which the exemplary lives and happy decease of ancient and later godly characters are exhibited for the conviction of the unbeliever and the imitation and comfort of the sincere christian, must, at first sight, claim the countenance of the friends of God and man. In it, the divine and the historian, the philosopher and the poet, the minister of the sanctuary and the private saint, are invited to associate the rays of genius and piety, for the purpose of firing, by their convergent splendour, the bosom of every reader, with holy love. Materials for the work are sought not merely from the circles of immediate observation, but from " the uttermost parts of the earth;" and it is believed that there are few evangelical efforts of a missionary nature, on their way, of which it is not a correct Intelligencer.

The paucity of publications of this kind in a world that greatly needs them, the ease by which they may be

[ vi. ]

tamed even by persons and families who boast not of wealth, arising from their cheapness and periodical issue, the advantages which result to youth, whose curiosity is gratified and information extended by the monthly arrival of at once a stranger and a friend; and the arousal of active zeal by the examples of men, that, like Barnabas and Paul "have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus," and whom God has set among the nations "to root out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant," are among the countless considerations that invite the public patronage.

The age in which we live is marked with revolutions; and is preeminently an era of missions. While the nations are raging and the earth is moved, the rivers of salvation are winding their silent and majestic way around inhospitable mountains and through dismal deserts; producing the excellency of Sharon and of Carmel, wherever they roll; prophecies are fulfilling with an unusual rapidity; and, in the general expectation of the church, the millennial glory will ere long cover the earth, To be found at this eventful crisis, "fellow workers with God," and to be waiting with cheerfulness until "the end" shall arrive, are the duty and privilege, in which we are encouraged to abound and rejoice.

[ 91 ]

Mr. HENRY, on Luke xxiv. 30. Handle me and see, for a spirit bath not flesh and bones as ye see me have, has the following observations: " If there were really no spirits or apparitions of spirits, as by this and other instances, it is plain the disciples did believe there were; now had been a proper time for Christ to have undeceived them, by telling them there were no such things: but he seems to take it for granted, that there have been and may be apparitions of spirits; else what needed so much pains to prove that he was not one?" Without attempting to decide on a question concerning which great and good men are divided in opinion, we lay before our readers the subsequent narration. We have received it from a gentleman of this city [Philadelphia, Willison Ed. ], on whose veracity we rely. It may serve at least to show that God, in his providence

will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and that the way of transgressors is hard.

"Some years ago a young man of my acquaintance, lodges for a few weeks at my father’s house. I slept in the same room with him. One night I was awakened by his loud exclamations, which I attributed to his being disturbed in dreaming. I called his name several times, but without any effect I was about going to awake him, when I perceived his agitation subside. He soon after told me, that he would take an opportunity of explaining to me the cause of his alarm. This he did, the ensuing morning, and to the following effect."

For nearly a year past, I have been acquainted with a young lady of decent family, but, inferior in property to my own. By frequent intercourse our passion for each other became strong. One evening, listening only to its imperious dictates, forgetful of the commands of God and the consequences of sin, our connexion became criminal. Sometime after she disclosed to me her situation and earnestly importuned me to save her reputation by a fullfilment of my promises. I proposed to her to retreat a distance from her father’s house, but to the measure she would not consent. Convinced that marriage would be followed with my being deprived of all my expected fortune, such were the temper and system of my relations, I was obliged to leave the place and have come hither.

"Last night, when you heard my screams, I was not asleep. I was fully awake. At that very moment I saw her at the side of my bed, pale and apparently in anguish. She looked steadily at me, and taking both my hands pressed them in such a manner that I was not able to move myself. I was in this state, probably ten minutes."

Thus far was the communication of the young man. Two days after he received a letter from her brother, mentioning that after the birth of a daughter she died; having undergone a most painful scene of suffering. The hour of her dissolution corresponded exactly with that in which the young man had awakened me by his dreadful cries.