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We want the Spirit of God to come as an enlightener and reprover, to show to us as a people our sins and our transgressions.

We want that there should be such an acknowledgment of past error, such searching out of present tampering with evil, such putting away of the accursed thing, that as a people we may plead the promise, (2 Chron. xvi. 9,) "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him."

A great and mighty king of old, raised up by God to be an instrument for the accomplishment of His own purposes with reference to his people, Israel, was afterwards deprived of reason for seven years, and sent to eat grass with the beasts of the fields, that he might know, and that it might be written for our learning, "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom he will." Now, God, my brethren, is now just what he was then, and in words we all acknowledge it. We call him King of kings and Lord of lords. But, oh! the secret and evil root of unbelief which lurks in many a heart. And with the words, God and God's providence on our lips, how prone are our hearts to be secretly leaning on an arm of flesh, on chariots and horsemen, on counsellors and measures rather than on the living God.

Oh how solemn is the warning, "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, that maketh flesh his arm, and in his heart departeth from the Lord." Jer. xvii, 5.

But it is said in busy, clamorous reiteration, we want this thing and that thing, and then all will go on prosperously. I will answer thee-"God is greater than man," and if man acknowledge it not, God must make him feel it, for “my glory I will not give to another, saith the Lord of hosts."

Surely, we have had some experience that "boasting is not good," and that there is one mightier than man, before whose providence all the might, wisdom and wrath of man melt away like smoke beneath the sun, or wood within the fire. "Arise," ye people, "and call upon thy God, for the Lord he is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King; at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation." (Jer. x., 10.)

But we also require a sincere, practical belief that God hears and answers prayer. Consider how appropriately God teaches us this truth. Behold Moses and Aaron, seated on a hill, at the foot of which Israel, in her weakness, contends with Amalek in his mightiness and pride. His hand is lifted up to God in acknowledgment that the battle is his, and that by prayer his people shall prevail. The flesh is weary and his hand falls by his side, and behold how, in a moment, the tide of victory turns

against Israel, and Amalek prevails. But Aaron and Hur are there, the true deliverers of Israel. And how do they deliver them? They lift up his fallen hands and hold them up, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Brethren, look on this picture and believe it. Believe God's own declaration, that united, believing prayer must prevail. How many are the passages in the history of Israel-search them out and ponder and pray over them-in which the prayer -"neither knew we what to do; but our eyes were upon thee, O God," brought deliverance.

Away! away, then! get it behind thee as from Satan! oh miserable delusion, that prayer is the resource of inaction, timidity and weakness. It is the weakness of "the worn Jacob,” engaging in his behalf the strength of the omnipotent Jehovah. It is the timidity of one who fears none but God; and who acknowledges that it is God who must "put the fear of us and the dread of us upon the nations that are under the whole heavens." It is seeking to secure before activity, and in it, that which can make every movement tell, and every effort mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Arise, then, ye people, and call upon thy God; for he has said, "and it shall come to pass, that before they call I shall answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

But to do this, we want, my brethren, a praying heart. And how shall we get this want supplied? We answer, by PERSONAL humiliation and PERSONAL faith. It is to general humiliation and faith that we are now called. And oh, what a giorious opportunity is now afforded to the people of South Carolina to acknowledge, before all the world, that "God is her refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;" and that relying upon him his word, his will, his providence and his protectionshe "will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, and the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, and the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

But still it is individuals who make up a congregation and a commonwealth, and it is only by individual confession and humiliation, it can come before God. And does not the example of Daniel, when his people were in captivity in Babylon, show us that it is the holiest men in a nation who most humbly acknowledge and bewail national and general sins. See him in his closet and on his knees, with face towards the temple, and

his hands and heart towards God. Hear him, as the Holy Spirit has given vocal utterance to his prayers, and his Father who heard them in secret, and rewarded openly, has rehearsed them unto us. "We have sinned and committed iniquity." "Oh, Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, and to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee."

Without some such personal sense of sin and humiliation, we cannot fast right, nor can we humble ourselves aright. We cannot draw nigh fervently and with a pure heart, with holiness and confidence, unto him who has said, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite heart, and that trembleth at my word." Oh, seek, brethren-each for himself apart, and each family apart-seek his spirit for yourself, for this church, for this community, and for our beloved commonwealth.

But to individual humiliation, we must add individual faith. The one great hindrance to faith-to faith in prayer, and to believing, prayerful humiliation-is guilt upon the conscience.

This is what separates between us and God. This is the dead weight which sinks our hearts to earth, when they would rise to heaven; clouds the soul with fear; and benumbs and paralyzes the energies of conscience which if at peace with God, would impart concentration of power to the will, the understanding, and the heart.

Oh, what a blessed day, then, might this become to each one of you if it leads you to search out and discover the reason why you find it so hard to believe, to pray, to expect and to confide; if it leads you to see your need of an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; to rely upon his blood which cleanseth from all sin; and thus to find peace in your own soul towards God. Then would you become in deed and in truth, one of your country's best benefactors and defenders, and that, too, although incapable by sex or age for any public or active service in the field, or in the forum-because you would become one of the "Lord's remembrancers," "the worn Jacob" wrestling with God, and prevailing with him to bless us and to do us good, by turning every one of us from our sins to our Saviour, and by sending his invisible and invincible chariot and horsemen, to defend and to deliver us. Then would the voice from heaven cry, and when I ask what shall I cry, the response is, "Cry unto to her that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity pardoned," and that though a little one she shall become a thousand, and that though one of the least among the tribes of Israel, she shall become great.

And do I not hear a responsive voice from every heart in this congregation and commonwealth, saying, "I wILL ARISE AND GO TO MY FATHER?"

ARISE AND GO, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly in such untold blessings upon yourself, and upon all the people of South Carolina, so that you shall be able to say to any one who is faint-hearted, and ready to fly from it in this day of darkness and tribulation, in the language of holy Rutherford, in one of Scotland's darkest and bloodiest days, when he himself was privily doomed to death, and when a friend proposed to leave the country, "Let me entreat you to be far from the thought of leaving this land; I see it, and find it that the Lord hath covered the whole land with a cloud in his anger but though I have been tempted to the like, I had rather be in Scotland beside angry Jesus Christ, than in any Eden or garden of the earth."

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To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:

I suppose it has entered into the heads of but few people to consider the real meaning and derivation of the above word, and the following is offered as a small contribution to that object: The English word "freeman," is expressed in Latin by the word "liber," the word "freedom," by the corresponding word in Latin, "libertas," i. e., the condition of a freeman. Now, a "liber" at Verona, was a person privileged to enjoy the peculiar rights of certain classes there, and thus "libertas" (liberty) meant exclusive privilege. So, in later times, we hear continually of persons endowed with the "freedom and liberty" of such and such a city; and, in this case, the meaning of the word is most distinct, and perfectly analogical-it is privilege out-and-out. THOMAS JFEFERSON was the first statesman (!) who "declared" that all men were born with equal privileges, and thus contradicted himself in terms direct. Our great CALHOUN, on the contrary, asserted that JEFFERSON'S dogma was at the bottom of all the trouble in both hemispheres. The Roman PERSIUS says, that "liberty is the power of doing or saying anything, without the possibility of suffering any penalty in consequence thereof,"—hence, according to definition, liberty can only exist in the Godhead. B. W.

JEFFERSON.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:

Allow me space to say a word about the famous sentence imputed to JEFFERSON, which stands so prominently in the Declaration of Independence. Whether that distinguished man was an infidel or not, or whether he was biased in his views by his association with his French compeers, is of little moment. JEFFERSON reported, as Chairman of the Committee, the paper which embraced the words, "all men are created equal." The quotation of "all men are born free and equal," is incorrect. It is astonishing that a statement erroneous in fact and false in philosophy should have accomplished so large an amount of evil. But one man was created-and ADAM was free. Since his creation, according to Biblical authority, no other being or thing has been created, animate or inanimate; and the evidence stares us in the face daily, that all men are not born equal or free. However, it was not to discuss this

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