FRIENDS’

‘REVIEW.

 

‘better known to the next generation than they
were to the people who lived cotemporary with
those crimes, which cost much blood and im-
mense treasure, and did much to fill the cup of
national iniquity. How far the cruelties, re-
cently perpetrated by red men inthe West, have
been caused by frauds on the part of ‘bad white
people,” will also, no doubt, be shown. When
we consider the claims of these people as the
former owners of our soil, and as members of
the brotherhood of man, shall we not be brought
to the contrite acknowledgment that ‘we are
verily guilty concerning our brother?”

“But oh, my country, tho’ neglect alone

Were crime sufficient, deeper guilt is thine:
Thy sins of crimson, added to his own,

Have crushed the savage with a weight malign.

isda
We seize the comforts bounteous Heaven has given,
With strange diseases vex him from his birth,
We soothe his sorrows with no hopes of Heaven,
Yet drive him headlong from bis home on earth.

As shrinks the stubble from the rushing blaze,
Or feathery snow from summer’s tepid air,
So, at our withering touch his race decays,
By whiskey poisoned, all that war may spare.

But can the Power, whose awful mandate rolled
This globe abroad, and gave all nations birth,
Can He, the Source of being, pleased behold
A PEopLE perish from the uncumbered earth ?

No—from their slumber let the good and wise
At length awaken, and their task begin ;
Reform, enlighten, soften, christianize
The border savage, with the paler skin.

Then lead the wild man of the forest forth ;
With kindness lure him ; to his eye disclose
A new creation ; let him feel the worth
Of all industry on a land bestows.

The page of knowledge to his view unroll,
The charms‘of virtue to his mind display,
And open wide on his benighted soul
The full effulgence of the gospel day.”*

On the evening of the date of the preceding

letter, S. A. was taken with a chill, which seems]

to have been the precursor of the sickness that
closed his honorable and useful career.

 

The duty and benefit of applying a portion
of our time, every day, to the perusal of the
Holy Scriptures in Families.

BY LINDLEY MURRAY. -
_ (Continued from page 168,)

The Holy Scriptures may sometimes be read
With advantage, by being accompanied with the
appropriate remarks and exhortations of devout
and learned men, who have religiously devoted
their time and talents to the study of these an-
cient records of the divine will. Practical re-
flections and comments on small portions of the
Scriptures, made by pious and, enlightened

—_—

*Samuel J. Smith in 1820,

| lightened and devotional spirit.

 

minds, under the influence, in some degree, of
the same Spirit by which those Sacred Writings
were dictated, may, indeed, often prove subsidi-
ary to their operations, by opening our under-
standings, expanding our views, and cherishing
in our hearts solemn and grateful emotions.
Bishop Horne’s Commentary on the Psalms ;
Burkitt’s Exposition of the New Testament;
Scott’s Practical: Reflections on the Bible;
Orton’s Reflections on the chapters of the Old
Testament; and Dr. Doddridge’s Family Ex-
positor, or the Abridgment of it by Palmer;
are some of the books, which, on these occasions,
may be frequently read with comfort and im-
provement. They contain much of a pure, en-

The manner in which we address ourselves to
the performance of this duty is a point of great
importance. When duly observed it will havea
strong tendency to accomplish the end which
we desire to obtain. If we endeavor reverently
to compose our minds, when we engage in this
service, to recollect that we are peculiarly in
the Divine presence, and humbly to hope that a
blessing may attend our upright endeavors, we
shall often be favored with a renewal of religi-

_| ous strength, and be encouraged to persevere in
_|the paths of watchfulness and obedience. And
|as we should, when we enter on the reading

of
the Holy Scriptures, be careful to do it with a
solid and becoming frame of mind, so the pious
service in which we are occupied will, doubt-
less, be more effectual and prove still more bene-
ficial to us by our observing a proper, reverent
state of silence, for a short period, after every
perusal of the sacred volume; and by devoutly
meditating on the subject which has been spread
before us, or on any other religious impressions
which at the time may be made on our hearts.
At these seasons our minds may sometimes be
secretly exercised in prayer, thanksgiving or
praise.
If, instead of a solemn sense of the serious

business in. which we are employed, we should

accustom ourselves to sit down together with
an easy indifference of spirit, and should allow
our thoughts to wander and dwell on subjects
unconnected with the present concern, or if we
should immediately dismiss the good impres-
sions which may have been made upon us, we
shall unquestionably lose the improvement and
consolation which a grave and due attention to
this engagement is so well adapted to effect:
and we shall not only sustain this loss but be in
danger of contracting a very injurious habit of
inattention, at other times, to the great interests
of religion and virtue.

But though we may not indulge a wandering
and improper disposition when we are met to-
gether to read the Holy Scriptures, we must not
expect that the comfort and benefit to be derived
from these religious exércises will, at all times,
be sensibly and equally experienced. We are