swer to Pilate's request that they should take Jesus, and judge him according to their laws, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

Yet they say, John xix., 7, "The Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die."

These show us, that the right to put persons to death had been taken from them by the Romans. Matt. xxvii., 25. "Then answered all the people and said, his blood be upon us and on our children." When God makes inquisition for blood, he will seek for it where it is, in the hands of the guilty, and that upon legal principles, however men may determine to the contrary.

The position, that Gentiles are guilty of the blood of Jesus of Nazareth, enables us to determine the application of the parable of the vineyard and husbandmen, Matt. xxi., 32, 41, Mark xii., 1–9, Luke xx., 9, 16. It is said, "When the lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto these husbandmen? He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons." Matt. xxi., 40, 41. This parable had a partial application to those who heard it from the mouth of Jesus.

But its grand application is to those who killed the Son, and the killing of the Son is the moving cause of the determination of the Lord to destroy them, and give the vineyard to others who will make a good use of it.

Thus we see that the ark is to be taken from the Gentiles, and to be restored to the Jews. Obadiah says, 15, 16, 17, "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, as thou hast done it shall be done to thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

"For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, shall all the heathen drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness."

Paul, in Rom. xi., 20, says, "The branches were broken off, that the Gentiles might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded. For if God spared not the natural branches, lest he spare not thee.

"Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on

them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

What application can be made of Paul's doctrine? Have the Gentiles stood in the faith? Is the institution called the Church now in the world like that established by the Saviour and his apostles? Do its present condition and character agree with the pattern left for their guidance and direction?

Are the people called Christians all of one heart and one soul? Have they all things common like those of old? Are their teachers filled with faith and the Holy Ghost? Do they heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils?

If these things have not been, and continued to be done, then the Spirit of Jesus and his apostles is not with them; they are bastards, and not true-born sons. Then the Gentiles have not stood in the faith, and God will not spare them, but will cut them off, and give the vineyard to others, bringing forth the fruits thereof. The inquiry may be made.

D.

AGAINST SHAVING OFF THE BEARD.

[The reason of wearing his beard long has been briefly noticed in this volume, in the manner stated by Mr. Pierson to a friend in conversation. Among his papers, the writer has discovered the following argument upon the subject, which is certainly entitled to the praise of ingenuity.]

Why should a man wear his beard?

Ans. Because God made him with it.

When God made man it is said, "So God created man in his image." Gen. i., 26, 27.

When Adam came perfect from the hands of his Maker, he had a full-grown beard. Does any one suppose he shaved it off while in paradise?

When God sent his Son Jesus into the world, he was seen with a beard according to his age.

Jesus said, John xiv., 9, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

In Adam and Jesus we have the two witnesses of God, declaring and confirming to men in all ages and to all the

world, what his mind is on this subject,-for in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. Besides, these witnesses have never been corrupted by traditions of men. Their testimony is of the purest character. If Adam was to reappear in the world, would he not be surprised to see beardless men, and inquire whether they were ashamed of him, their father, on account of his beard, or say, You think you have become wiser than God was when he made me in his image?

When God gave his people a code of laws for their government by Moses, shaving was expressly forbidden. Levit. xix., 27. "Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard." Levit. xxi. 5. "Neither shall they shave off the corners of their beard."

God's chosen people wore the beard; it was considered a reproach to be without it.-See 2 Sam., x., 4. "Wherefore Hanun' took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and sent them away. When they told unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed and the king said, Tarry at Jericho (a frontier city) until your beards be grown, and return."

God made our bodies for himself to dwell and walk in. 2 Cor. vi., 14-18. "I will dwell in them and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

When God made our bodies, was there a deficiency of wisdom? Who is authorized to alter or disfigure God's dwelling? Rom. ix., 20.* "Shall the thing formed say," &c. What does shaving preach?

Ans. That God has given us something not only useless, but burdensome, and that we must almost daily be at the trouble of ridding ourselves of it. Thus we daily reproach our Maker, and his Son Jesus. Rom. ix., 20.

It is said that it is singular. it should not be practised.

This forms no objection why

Because it is singular for men to be holy in this age, will any one say we ought not to be holy? Men often pray to be like Jesus. Now, if their prayers were never answered, would they have beards?

Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed, why hast thou made me thus?-Note by Mr. Folger,

i

Who was Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God?

Ans. A Jew. If the Son be a Jew, what is the Father? Jesus said, John iv., 22, "Salvation is of the Jews. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship." Again he says, John xiv. 9, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

When God appears, his sons are to be like him. 1 John iii., 3. The beard is the grand visible distinction between the male and female. It denotes age, wisdom, strength, and gives dignity to the being God has made lord of his creation. Henceforth, men who become holy will wear their beards by the appointment of God.

Children have no beards: so those who are children in the kingdom of God will have no beards, till they be grown to the age and stature of young men.

E.

THE SABBATH OF YEARS.

[The following meditation contains Mr. Pierson's notions respecting the Seventh Millennium, or the great Sabbath of years.]

June 28, 1832. Meditation. God made all his works in five days, and the sixth day made man, and gave them commandment what to do, and rested on the seventh day.

This is a type of what God is about to do now; viz:

The new creation is to be completed and made perfect before the Sabbath of years begins, that is, before the six thousand years are ended, that God may rest from all his works on the seventh thousand years.

The new creation is the new heavens and new earth for men to dwell in, and new men after God's image, holy, and that entire renovation of the animal and vegetable world which is needful. The entire destruction and banishment of the wicked from the earth before the six thousand years are ended.

God will then have nothing to do but rest on the seventh thousand years, and bless them, and enjoy the fruit of his labour.

The world to be a Garden of Eden.

[The consecration of his house in Fourth-street, as a place of worship, after his removal from the Bowery Hill, has been mentioned in the text. The following entry occurs in

his diary upon the subject.]

Friday evening, 6 o'clock, April 19, 1832. Finished fixing the carpets, cleaning the house, &c.

While meditating on the goodness of God for his help and aid in all our moving, the Spirit said, Sanctify your house unto the Lord.

I was directed to go into every room, from the cellar to the garret, praying that God would take up his abode with me in the house. Keep all evil from us, let no destroyer come nigh us, keep us from fire and all hurtful elements, give me power to speak his words. Grant hearing ears to the people, &c. &c.

[The particular occasion of the following entry is not known.]

June 3d and 4th, 1833. Go not anywhere abroad. Hide thyself three months till the indignation be overpast. I will bring evil upon this place, such as has never been, because they have rejected my words, and thee my servant. Wo, wo, wo unto this place.

F.

DOCTOR CONDICT'S STATEMENT.

[The elder Doctor Condict, a physician of standing, and a gentleman of high respectability, conceiving that his testimony on the trial had not been correctly reported, has transmitted to the writer the following statement respecting the post mortem examination of Mr. Pierson's body, in full. It is deemed of sufficient importance for insertion entire.]

On the 18th August, 1834, the body of Elijah Pierson was disinterred for examination. The surface of it was of a dark chocolate colour, and the face nearly black. The abdomen was laid open, a ligature passed round the oesophagus above the stomach, and another round the intestine below the stomach, and the stomach then taken out of the body. It