him; assuring him, at the same time, that he would bless him, and make of him a great nation, and make his name great. In what manner God made himself known to Abraham, the sacred penman does not inform us, but we may certainly conclude that he did it in such a way, as to banish all doubt from Abraham's mind that it was indeed God who was addressing him, and with such an influence on his mind as effectually disposed him to comply with the divine command. Acts vii. 2. No sooner was the divine will made known, than it was obeyed. "So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran; and Abram took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came." One of the strongest proofs of the corruption of our nature, and of our apostacy from God, is the fact, that mankind have been universally prone to the worship of idols. The apostle dwells on this crime with peculiar force, in asserting our universal depravity and guilt. Men "professing to be wise became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things." The true sources of idolatry are to be found in the vanity, pride, and ignorance of men; their folly, and fondness for licentious gratifications; and their aversion to the self denial and holiness imposed on them by the law of God. "They liked not to retain God in their minds, and therefore they worship and served the creature more than the Creator." That an individual should thus be selected by God-that this individual should be commanded to leave his home and his kindred, and wander in a foreign land, without any settled abode-and that God should select him and his posterity, and promise to bless them above all others are circumstances calculat-ped ed to fill us with surprise. We ask, Why was this? and as all the ways of the Lord are wise and good, we feel certain that a transaction so singular, must have been designed for the most important purposes. The situation of the world at the time when it occurred, the condition of Abram, and the purposes of God in relation to mankind, will aid us in endeavouring to ascertain this design-and a serious inquiry after it, will richly repay our labour. 1. A consideration of the state of the world at large at the time of this call, will greatly assist us in It is impossible to ascertain the precise time when idolatry began, or who were the first to introduce it. Whether it did, or did not, exist before the flood, is a question on which there are different opinions. It is not improbable, that as having false gods was the great crime of men after the flood, so having no god was the great crime before it; for Atheism and superstition are the two extremes into which men are continually running, when they once forsake the only true and living God. That it commenced at a very early period after the deluge, is un- vine excellencies and honours. The questionable, and it is equally un- worship of fire, too, as the symbol questionable that Abraham's fore- of the sun, which is the dispenser of fathers were guilty of it. When light and heat, began very early, and Joshua had gathered all the tribes prevailed very extensively in the of Israel at Shechem, he reminded East. It has been frequently obthem of this fact, and charged them served, that from the name of Abraagainst imitating it. Joshua said ham's native city, which, in Chalunto all the people, "Your fathers dee, signifies the city of fire, it is dwelt on the other side of the flood highly probable that it was distinin old time, even Terah, the father guished for this idolatry, and that of Abraham, and the father of Na- this name was given to it because chor, and they served other gods." of the fire that was worshipped Joshua, xxiv. 2. The vestiges of the there. (See Park. Heb. Lex. Sub. awful judgment which God had, § 3. p. 38, and Calmet's Dicsent on the whole human family tionary.) were still visible in every direction -the ark was yet resting on Ararat-the earth was bleached with the bones of the unhappy victims of divine wrath,-Noah, the venerable. patriarch who had witnessed the terrifick effects of divine vengeance in the flood, still survived to remonstrate with his ungodly descendants, and to remind them of the folly and guilt of departing from God-but all in vain-With the most fearful monuments of divine justice before them, with the clearest proofs of the folly of irreligion and wickedness, they erect their altars, and impiously worship their false divinities; they forsake, and proceed afresh to affront and insult the Lord of Hosts, they are bent on their idols, and after them will they go. Alas! what evidences have we in every age, of the depravity of the human heart, and of the folly and perverseness of men in the concerns of religion. No judgments of heaven, no instructions, no warnings, not even proofs clear as the light of the meridian sun, of the folly and awful consequences of sin, can restrain them from persisting in that which displeases God, and will plunge their own souls into perdition. The first objects of idolatrous worship were, probably, the heavenly hosts the sun, moon, and stars -their beauty and their usefulness leading men to ascribe to them di In mercy to Abraham, and in mercy to our sinful race, the Lord called him out from his country and kindred, in order that in his family the true religion might be preserved. Had he left mankind to themselves, all true religion would have become extinct-a flood of wickedness, more dreadful than the flood of waters, would have swept over the world-profound ignorance, absurd polytheism, and awful corruption of manners, would have universally prevailed, as in fact, during a very long period, they did very generally prevail. The torrent however was arrested in Abraham and his family. For a long time, the knowledge and worship of one only living and true God, was confined to the land of Judea, while the people of every other land were idolaters, and looked on the Jews with hatred and contempt, because they refused to worship their idols. That we now have the knowledge of the one true God, and worship him only-that we are not bowing down to stocks and stones, or worshipping the hosts of heaven, is owing to the goodness of God in calling Abraham out from his countrymen, and choosing him and his posterity as the depositaries and guardians of the truth. Philosophy and science alone, never delivered a people from a corrupt religion. The renowned philosophers of antiquity were themselves, either po FOR THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. appeared to have early possessed MEMOIR OF THE REV. WILLIAM ASH- great tenderness of conscience, and MEAD. Departed this life, in the city of Philadelphia, on the morning of the 2d of December last, the Rev. WILLIAM ASHMEAD, A.M. in the 32d year of his age, and the 10th of his ministry. The friend whose death, in the midst of his days and his usefulness, it is our painful duty to record, was a native of this city. Of his ancestry little more is known to the writer, than that he was the grandson of the late Captain Ashmead, who was, for many years, a worthy and respectable citizen of Philadelphia. His mother was one of the excellent of the earth, and the deceased cherished the most tender recollections of her to the close of life. But a day or two before he died, he spoke of her with the deepest feelings of filial affection. Doubtless the prayers and instructions of this pious mother were greatly blessed to him, as he to have been preserved from many of the follies and sins of youth. In his nineteenth year, he was. admitted to the communion of the First Presbyterian Church of this city, under the pastoral care of his distinguished friend, the Rev. Dr. J. P. Wilson. Whilst quite a boy, he gave evident indications of superior natural abilities. It was a manifest fondness for literary pursuits, which attracted the attention of the friend and pastor just mentioned; under whose private instructions he was prepared to enter college, and by whose generous aid he was enabled to defray the expenses of a collegiate course. is however but justice to state, that in less than two years after he entered the ministry, he refunded the money thus expended, which he had regarded only as a loan. Yet he was far from considering his obligations as cancelled, by returning what he had received, but always It retained the most grateful and devoted attachment to his early pa tron. In 1815, he was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania, and passed through the several classes of that institution, with a good reputation both for conduct and attainments. He graduated in 1818. Shortly after, he engaged in teaching, and at the same time commenced, under the direction of his friend and pastor, the studies preparatory to entering the ministry. In the spring of 1820, he was licensed to preach the gospel; and he soon acquired-what acknowledged talents and attainments in so young a man justly meritedconsiderable popularity as a preacher. In the winter of 1820, he received from the Presbyterian church in the city of Lancaster, Pa. a unanimous call to become their pastor. He accepted the call, and was shortly after ordained to the pastoral office, and at the same time installed. In his introductory sermon, he declared his determination to "know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and him crucified." To this resolution he adhered, and to promote the spiritual interests of his congregation he devoted the best energies of his powerful mind. Many a heart will bear witness that his labours were not in vain, and many a soul, we trust, among the people whom he loved, will prove jewels in his crown of rejoicing, in "the day of the Lord Jesus." But whilst labouring with growing popularity and usefulness, both at home and abroad, his devotion to study, and his sedentary habits, were making sure, though secret inroads, on a constitution not naturally the most robust. In the years 1827 and 28, he had repeated attacks of hemorrhage of the lungs; by which, and the necessary medical treatment for his complaint, his health became so impaired, as to render rest and relaxation from the labours of his charge absolutely indispensable. With the advice of medical and other friends, and the cordial concurrence of his congregation, he sailed, in the autumn of 1828, for Charleston, South Carolina-in hope that a more genial climate might facilitate his recovery. Finding his health considerably improved while there, he occasionally preached in several of the churches, at the solicitation of his brethren, and once only, just before he left that city, in the then vacant church of which he afterwards became the pastor. He returned, early in the spring, to his family; and immediately after his return, received a call to the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston-a call which it is right to state, was unsolicited and unexpected. After serious and solemn deliberation, he concluded to accept it, believing that a new sphere of labour, and perhaps a change of climate, had become necessary to his existence on earth. He felt the more at liberty to do this, because he had proved his attachment to the congregation at Lancaster, by rejecting, a few years previously, a most pressing call to the pastoral charge of the church at New Brunswick, in New Jersey. He now thought that duty to himself and his family, as well as to the church, warranted his removal; and he accordingly obtained a dismission from his congregation, in April last, and repaired to Charleston, where he was installed pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of that city. He remained there till late in June; but his health beginning again to decline, he left his new charge sooner than he had contemplated, and hastened to his family. But scarcely had he arrived, when he was attacked with a bilious fever, which confined him to his bed for several weeks. As soon as he was able to go abroad, though still very weak, he made the necessary arrangements for proceeding with his family to the south. He reached Philadelphia, and had taken passage for Charleston, when he was again confined by a second attack of fever, which his enfeebled system was unable to sustain, and which, in less than six weeks, terminated his labours and his life. In this mysterious Providence, the Presbyterian church has lost one of her most gifted, eloquent, and promising sons. God had blest him with a mind of a high order, and he had improved it in the best manner his acquirements being uncommon for one of his age. With such talents and his habits of application, health and years were only wanting, to have made him one of the first scholars and most profound divines of the age. In connexion with a discriminating and solid judgment, he possessed a fine imagination, and the most correct taste. Of him it may be said with perfect truth-" Seldom have any been endowed with a more just discernment of what is beautiful in composition and discourse, or with a more accurate sensibility to what is becoming in manner." As a publick speaker, he was second to few. His voice, though not powerful, was full of sweetness and melody, and its tones were modulated with the happiest success. His manner was serious and impressive, and at the same time graceful, animated and engaging. His eloquence was of that insinuating, persuasive kind, which never failed to awaken the attention, and interest the feelings of his audience. In doctrine he was decidedly Calvinistick; though he learned his religious opinions from the Bible, and not from the systems of fallible men. To the doctrines of grace he was warmly attached. On these his own hopes of salvation were exclusively founded, and these he explained and enforced, with great clearness and effect in his preaching, and earnestly endeavoured to impress on the minds of his fellow sinners. A great degree of originality characterized all his sermons. In his hands, passages of scripture which, from frequent use, were quite familiar, would originate discourses new, and highly interesting and impressive; and while his general acquaintance with literature, philosophy, history and the sciences, enabled him to give a rich variety to his discourses, the plain and simple truths of the gospel, were ever enforced with the most affectionate earnestness. His style was energetick, chaste, and classical. His early compositions abounded, too much perhaps, in figures; but for several years he had almost entirely rejected the aid of ornament, and frequently said, "I wish only to feel and understand my subject, and to make my hearers do so likewise. It is the matter, more than the manner, which is important." In delivery, although sometimes rapid and impassioned, he was remarkably distinct. In prayer, he was solemn, impressive, appropriate and copious; and in reading the word of God, and the sacred poetry of the church, his manner was peculiarly happy, and could scarcely fail to awaken the devotional feelings of the most thoughtless hearer. On the subject of the religious charities of the day, his feelings were always alive. In his sermon to his church in Charleston, on assuming the pastoral charge, he says, speaking of Sunday schools, Bible societies, missionary societies, tract societies, and other similar institutions of enlightened and pious benevolence-"Brethren, these institutions are all dear to my heart, and I shall seek by every practicable means to foster and expand among you, the spirit by which they shall be duly estimated and zealously supported. I shall tell you, again and again, that you have not done enough, when you have secured your own personal salvation;-that you can never discharge your obligations to Him who loved |