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our Saviour came, he found the world prepared for a more stringent legislation, and hence forbade divorce, except for a single cause. And in his day, there were many principles of the divine administration, which even his Apostles were not prepared to comprehend. "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." A teacher does not attempt at once to introduce his pupils into the higher regions of science. And where the eyes of men have long been blinded by ignorance or superstition, it takes time to remove the scales and cause them to see, and at first they only "see men as trees walking." Declare to the devotee of vicious habits and practices a more excellent way, and it will take time to bring him to see, and appreciate, and adopt it. It would be folly to offer the Chinese our laws to-day. Something not so good, would be better for them. Reforms cast their shadows before them, and time is needed to bring them to maturity. So it was with the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It began to dawn long before Luther attacked the wicked sale of Indulgences. So it was in England. As early as 1785, the attention of Clarkson was turned to the enormity of the African slave-trade, and for its abolition he and Wilberforce and their coadjutors earnestly labored; but it was not till 1806, that they saw the desire of their hearts accomplished.

Soon after the abolition of the slave trade, the attention of philanthropists in England was directed to slavery itself, of which the slave trade was only an incident. But it was not till 1823, that the public sentiment was sufficiently ripe for Canning to introduce into Parliament his celebrated resolutions, declaring the expediency of adopting decisive measures for meliorating the condition of the slave population in the West India Colonies, preparatory to their complete emancipation. The subject was discussed for ten years, when, on the 14th of May, 1833, Mr. Stanley introduced a Compromise Bill, granting immediate emancipation to all slaves under six years of age; subjecting house servants to an apprenticeship of four years, and agricultural servants of six years, after which all were to be completely free. The Bill also gave to masters, by way of remuneration, twenty millions pounds sterling. On the 28th of August, 1833, this Bill, providing for the early emancipation of eight hundred thousand slaves, became a law. It also gave to colonies the alternative of immediate emancipation, if they chose. Antigua and the Bermudas availed themselves of it; and on the 1st of August, 1834, Antigua, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, converted into freemen her thirty thousand slaves! On the eve of July 31st, the Wesleyans

kept "Watch night" in all their chapels. At St. John's, whose capacious walls were filled with candidates for liberty, so impressive was the scene, that we shall be pardoned for transferring the record of it to these pages. The evening was spent in prayer and praise till the hour of twelve approached. "The Missionary then proposed that when the clock on the Cathedral should begin to strike, the whole congregation should fall upon their knees and receive the boon of freedom in silence. Accordingly as the loud bell tolled its first note, the immense assembly fell prostrate on their knees. All was silence, save the quivering, half-stifled breath of the struggling spirit. The slow notes of the clock fell upon the multitude; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolled over the prostrate throng in tones of angel's voices, thrilling among the desolate chords and weary heartstrings. Scarce had the clock sounded its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly around, and a loud peal of thunder roared along the sky-God's pillar of fire and trump of jubilee! A moment of profoundest silence passed-then came and burst -they broke forth in prayer, they shouted, they sang, glory! hallelujah! they clapped their hands, leaped up, fell down, clasped each other in their free arms, cried, laughed, went to and fro, tossing upward their unfettered hands; but high above the whole there was a mighty sound which ever and anon swelled up; it was the utterings, in broken negro dialect, of gratitude to God!" But the apprenticeship system did not live out all its days. The longest term of its continuance had been limited to six years. When five of these had elapsed, Parliament brought the entire system to an end; so that on the 1st day of August, 1838, the friends of emancipation assembled in all parts of the empire, to render thanksgiving to God for the final overthrow of British negro slavery. Thus the British Anti-Slavery Reform extended from the first move of Clarkson in 1785, to its final consummation in 1838-a period of fifty-three years. This is one of the instances which go to show that Reforins take time. The history of the other great English Reforms illustrates the same truth.

If now we leave England and pass into our own country, we see the same truth developed. It is more than twenty years since the Anti-Slavery Reform in the United States commenced. Although millions of human beings were groaning in bondage, so torpid had the body politic become, that the application of a blister seemed necessary, to awaken sensation. Some zealous reformers have attempted to follow up the prescription and cure the patient by blistering alone. Others, more wise, have thought that as the patient became convalescent, a little

change of treatment would be proper; a regimen better adapted, as the doctors would say, "to aid nature in her recuperative efforts." But the treatment, for better or for worse, has not yet effected a cure. So long and so hard have some worked at the patient, that they have become impatient; but it all goes to show that Reforms take time. "The good time," no doubt is coming; but when it will arrive, the Omniscient only knows. At first the watchword was-Immediate Emancipation! But all are now convinced that however immediate it may be when it comes, it will not come immediately. When we reflect that one half these United States hold slaves, and are each independent little sovereignties having the staff in their own hands; and especially since the late desperate move of the slave power in connection with the Nebraska Bill, we may well conclude that before each and all of them will be brought to see the duty and expediency of breaking the yoke and letting the oppressed go free, there will be opportunity for patience to have her perfect work. But come the time will, and every one should labor and pray for it, and then wait for it; for what is worth working for, is worth waiting for.

And none can have failed to notice, in the progress of Reforms, that there are seasons when they are apparently stationary, and again apparently retrograde. But it is only apparent.. The same is seen in nature. The planets are observed occasionally to slacken their pace, then stop, move backwards in their track, stop again, and finally resume their onward motion. This for a time stumbled the astronomer, till in imagination he exchanged his geocentric for a heliocentric position. Now the true centre of motion being found, the mystery was solved. From this central point he could look out upon the planetary group, sweeping in beauty and harmony, and with apparent as well as actual progress, around their common centre. So in the vegetable world. Now the tree is adorned with foliage, now laden with fruit. Look again, the frosts of winter have breathed upon it, and it is apparently dead. But it is not dead. It is only resting, and by recruiting its wasted energies, preparing for a fresh onset on the return of spring. And if you examine a little more closely, you will find an earnest of its future, in its already formed and swelling buds. So in the moral world. Look upon a map, and you will perceive that the track of the children of Israel in their march from the slavery of Egypt to the freedom of Canaan was very circuitous. But notwithstanding their marches and counter-marches, their rest and retrogradation, it was all progress. He who led

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them has informed us that it was all intended to try them, and prove them, and prepare them for their final conquest.

If now we call to witness the Temperance Reform, we find the same rule of growth. At first the movers dared not ask for what is conceded by every temperance man now-total abstinence from all that intoxicates. They saw it must come to that at last; but if they could induce men to abstain from distilled spirits, they would permit them for the present, “because of the hardness of their hearts," to drink fermented liquors. Some may say they erred-they ought to have gone against the whole at once. But in the attempt they would probably have snapped the cord, and lost the whole. Better throw the harpoon into the whale, and then give him rope, and bye and bye you can bring him to. At all events, such is the history of this Reform. It is distinguished by different epochs-first, abstinence from distilled liquors; then, from all that intoxicates; then, the Washingtonian movement; then, the Sons of Temperance and their affiliated organizations; then, the Maine Law. The Reform which began with "moral suasion" has grown into "legal suasion;" in duration has covered half a century, and is not yet complete. We lay it down then as established, that Reforms are, and from the very nature of the case must be, gradual; and that any temporary check, or apparent reverse, is not inconsistent with real progress and ultimate success. The volcano may for the time cease to emit liquid fire, but it has only retired within itself to acquire new strength, and prepare for another, and, peradventure, a more vigorous onset.

As a third condition of successful Reform, it must proceed on correct principles. Reforms may embrace much that is Utopian, and yet effect some good. But to be thorough and complete, correct principles must underlie them, and it may be added, men of principle must carry them forward. Society will never be thoroughly reformed, except by the principles contained in those "two great commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets." And it is cheering to believe that politicians and statesmen are beginning to some extent to recognize this truth. It is gratifying, for instance, to find in the last annual message of the President of the United States, the following language: "I should shrink from a clear duty, did I fail to express my deepest conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any apparent progress, if it be not sustained by national integrity, resting upon the great truths af firmed and illustrated by Divine Revelation." Would that all our statesmen in offices of high trust, were prepared to pro

pound such a sentiment. Our laws are professedly founded on the great principles of the word of God; yet we are sorry to say, that many of the so-called Reformers reject the Bible as a Divine Revelation.

Many of the leaders in the Woman's Rights movement are reputed to be disbelievers in the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures; and if we may judge from their doings in their Conventions, there would seem to be some foundation for the opinion.

So of Fourierism, it overlooks the great fact of human depravity. It proceeds on the assumption, that if you group men together under certain external arrangements, they will be prosperous and happy; while it leaves out of the account the regulating process within, on which, chiefly, prosperity and happiness depend. Hence it ever has and always must fail. As we have said, many of the so-called Reformers of the present day are strongly tinctured with infidelity. Some utterly discard the Bible as the word of God. About others it hangs very loosely. Their gospel contrasts strangely with that of Christ. He even sought in prayer his heavenly Father's blessing. They seem not so much as to know whether there be any heavenly Father. He taught that the life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment. They seem scarcely to recognize the fact that man has an immortal soul. "To make the soul bondsman to the body, is to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage; to leave our Father's house and feed swine; to educate the eagle from his empyrean heights to grovel in the dust. Divorce temperance from religion, and what is it but apathy or a godless maceration? Exorcise the spirit of slavery without the sanctions of Inspiration, and you beat down the devil in one form to rise in another. In a word, abolish any evil on selfish principles, and you do not destroy iniquity; you only commute it for other forms. Industry is better than idleness; peace is better than war; temperance is better than excess; freedom is better than bondage; if the exchange be a godly barter. But if not, then it is of little consequence whether a man go to hell drunk or sober; in peace or in war; free or bond; doing nothing or working with his might; from Pagan or from Christian lands." The notion that a man may be a true Reformer, and at the same time a grievous sinner; that he may be secretary of seven Reform societies, and yet commit the seven deadly sins, is an absurdity. An Infidel Reformer is a contradiction in terms.

Do any ask, are all but the pious to be excluded from participating in Reforms? No. Or do any inquire, have not Infidel

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