himfelf, according to the words "judge yourselves and ye shall not be judged"-" The judgment to come is that in which all who have not judged themselves-all unbelievers of the human race, and all the fallen angels, fhall be judged by the Saviour-but these two characters, viz. unbelievers of the human race, and the fallen angels, fhall be placed, the former on the right, the latter on the left hand of their Judge; the one under the denomination of sheep, for whofe falvation the Saviour laid down his life-the other under the denomination of goats, who are the accurfed, whofe nature he paffed by-" The human nature,” i. e. the Sheep or unbelievers of the human race, as the offspring of the everlafting Father, and the ransomed of the Lord---fhall be brought, by divine power, into the kingdom prepared for them, before the foundation of the world---the other nature, i. e. the goats, or fallen angels, "will be fent into the fire prepared for them."* From which it appears, that it is their opinion, that unbelievers of the human race, or sheep, and the fallen angels, or goats, will be the only claffes of creatures concerned in the awards of the last judgment---and that the righteous, or believers in Chrift, will not then be judged, having previously judged themselves +---" But the rest of mankind," fay they, "will be the fubjects of this judgment, when our Saviour shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel; and they Shall then be punished with everlasting deftruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power." Their inferences from, and exposition of this paffage, are peculiar, and will ferve to give the reader an idea of their manner of explaining other parallel paffages of Scripture. From this awful revelation of the Saviour, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gofpel, they infer this confequence, they fhall then be made to know God, and obey the gospel.---The everlafting deftruction, from the prefence of the Lord and the glory of his *The reader will doubtless notice that the plural pronoun them, is feveral times ufed to express the fingular noun human nature, and Prince of this world, as the human nature, &c. fhall be brought into the kingdom prepared for them; the other nature will be fent into the fire preprared for them-the Prince of this world fhall be cast out, and judgment be executed on them. This is a phrafeology apparently peculiar to this denomination. In the following paffage, the contrary seems to be afferted. Speaking of the last judgement it is faid, "Here, instead of head and members being judged together, by the bead, Chrift, the divine nature, the members are confidered in their distinct characters, as good and evil, or believer and unbeliever, as children of light, and children of darkness-and judged by their own heal." power power, with which they shall be punished, they fuppofe is fuffered by unbelievers, in confequence of the revelation of the everlasting deftruction, previous to this awful period---and that they will fuffer no punishment after it---for “it is not faid," they fay, " that they fhall be everlastingly punished with deftruction." They explain their idea of everlasting punishment and suffering the pain of eternal fire, thus, "Were it possible to find a culinary fire that never would be extinguished, but remain in the ftricteft fenfe of the word, everlafting or eternal---fhould any member of the body pafs through that burning flame, though but a moment of time had been thus fpent in paffing through; yet even in that moment, it would fuffer the pain of eternal fire." But whether they believe it poffible that there fhould be fuch a fire, or that unbelievers fhall be doomed to fuffer the punishment of eternal fire by thus paffing through it, I do not find exprefsly afferted, but it is highly probable that they do. They do not fuppofe that "all mankind will be on a level in the article of death, but that they who die in unbelief, will lie down in forrow, and rife to the refurrection of damnation, or condemnation; and when the books shall be opened, and the dead, both finall and great, fhall be judged out of the things written in the books---every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God; and while confcious of guilt, but ignorant of a Saviour---they fhall call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb---But that in this judgment the judge is the Saviour---they will be judged by their own head;" and as the head of every man is Christ --all of courfe muft be acquitted and faved. Although they believe that the Devil is the doer or worker of every thing that gives offence; yet they affert that "all men at all times are finners, and come short of the glory of God"--but they believe that what Christ suffered, "was confidered by the Great Lawgiver, as done and suffered by every man in his own perfon; and that every man is as much interested in what Chrift, the fecond Adam did, as they were in what the first Adam did"---This idea appears to be incongruous with any future judgment of any kind, The Confiftent Universalist, therefore "does not confider himself under the law any more than a woman confiders herself under the direction or dominion of a husband that is dead and buried---nor is he afraid of death, being affured that Jefus hath abolished death, and left nothing of it but the shadow." The Univerfalifts of this denomination, in common with other Chriftians, profefs themselves to be the advocates of piety, religion, and morality. They affert the duty of doing right as men-as members of civil fociety fociety-and as Chriftians. As mere men," they hold, that "they muft follow nature, or they will fiak beneath the level of the beafts of the field,"-aud yet they affert that " all the righteousness found in the best of mere human nature is but a filthy rag"-That as members of civil focietý they must submit to the laws, or if thought too fevere, they may avoid them by a removal from the ftate."-That as Christians they must be under the direction of Chrift, and do whatfoever he commands them; and thefe are his commandments, "that we believe in him, and love one another." This denomination of Univerfalifts, are not very numerous in the United States, fome are in Pennfylvania-fome in different parts of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire; but the body of them are in Boston, and Gloucefter, in Massachusetts. They have feveral conftituted churches, which are governed by an ecclefiaftical conftitution, formed in 1789, by a convention of their minifters at Philadelphia. SHAKERS. This is a fmall and fingular fect of Chriftians, which have fprung up in America as lately as 1774; when a few of this fect went from England to New York, and there being joined by a few others, they fettled at Nifqueunia, above Albany, which is their principal fettlement: a few others are scattered in different parts of the country. * The head of this party, while fhe lived, was Anna Leefe, ftyled the Elect Lady. Her followers afferted, that she was the woman spoken of in the twelfth chapter of the Revelations, and that she spoke seventy-two tongues and although thefe tongues were unintelligible to the living, fhe conversed with the dead who understood her language. They alledged also that she was the mother of all the Elect; that the travailed for the whole world-that no bleffing could defcend to any perfon but only by and through her, and that in the way of her being poffeffed of their fins, by their confeffing and repenting of them, one by one, according to her direction. Their leading doctrinal tenets, as given by one of their own denomination, are, "That the firft refurrection is already come, and now is the time to judge themselves. That they have power to heal the fick, to raife the dead, and caft out devils. That they have a correfpondence *This woman afferted, that the fhould never die; but notwithstanding Her predictions and affertions to the contrary, he died in 1784; and was fuc ceeded by one James Whitaker, who alfo died in 1787. Jofeph Meacham, who has attained the reputation of a prophet among them, is at present their leader. with angels, the fpirits of the faints and their departed friends. That they speak with divers kind of tongues in their public affemblies. That it is lawful to practife vocal mufic with dancing in the Chriftian churches, if it be practifed in praifing the Lord. That their church is come out of the order of natural generation, to be as Chrift was; and that those who have wives are as though they had none. That by these means heaven begins upon earth, and they thereby lofe their earthly and fenfual relation to Adam the first, and come to be transparent in their ideas, in the bright and heavenly vifions of God. That fome of their people are of the number of the hundred and forty-four thoufand, who were redeemed from the earth, and were not defiled with women. That the word everlasting, when applied to the punishment of the wicked, means only a limited period, except in the cafe of those who fall from their church; and that for fuch there is no forgiveness, neither in this world nor that which is to come. That it is unlawful to fwear, game, or use compliments—and that water baptifm and the Lord's Supper are abolished. That Adam's fin is not imputed to his pofterity-and that the doctrines of election and reprobation are to be rejected." The difcipline of this denomination is founded on the fuppofed perfection of their leaders. The Mother, or the Elect Lady, it is faid, obeys God through Chrift. European elders obey her. American labourers, and common people obey them: while confeffion is made of every secret thing, from the oldeft to the youngest. The people are made to believe that they are feen through and through in the gofpel glafs of perfection, by their teachers, who behold the state of the dead, and innumerable worlds of fpirits good and bad. These people are generally inftructed to be very industrious, and to bring in according to their ability, to keep up the meeting. They vary in their exercises. Their heavy dancing, as it is called, is performed by a perpetual fpringing from the house floor, about four inches up and down, both in the mens and womens apartment, moving about with extraordinary transport, finging fometimes one at a time, fometimes more. This elevation affects the nerves, fo that they have intervals of shuddering, as if they were in a strong fit of the ague, they fometimes clap hands and leap fo as to strike the joists above their heads. They throw off their outfide garments in these exercises, and spend their strength very cheerfully this way. Their chief speaker often calls for attention; when they all ftop and hear fome harangue, and then fall to dancing again. They affert that their dancing is the token of the great joy and happiness of the new Jerufalem ftate, and denotes the victory over VOL. I 3 E fin. fin. One of the postures which increases among them, is turning round very swift for an hour or two. This, they fay, is to fhow the great power of God, They fometimes fall on their knees and make a found like the roaring of many waters, in groans and cries to God, as they fay, for the wicked world who perfecute them. * JEWS. The Jews are not numerous in the United States. They have, however, fynagogues at Savannah, Charlefton, (South Carolina) Philadelphia, New York, and Newport. Befides those who refide at thefe places, there are others fcattered in different towns in the United States. The Jews in Charlefton, among other peculiarities in burying their dead, have thefe: After the funeral dirge is fung, and just before the corpfe is depofited in the grave, the coffin is opened, and a small bag of earth, taken from the grave, is carefully put under the head of the deceafed; then fome powder, faid to be earth brought from Jerufalem, and carefully kept for this purpofe, is taken and put upon the eyes of the corpfe, in token of their remembrance of the holy land, and of their expectations of returning thither in God's appointed time. The articles of their faith are well known, and therefore need no defcription. They generally expect a glorious return to the Hely Land, when they fhall be exalted above all the nations of the earth. And they flatter themselves that the period of their return will speedily arrive, though they do not venture to fix the precife time. The whole number of perfons who profefs the Jewish religion, in all parts of the world, is fuppofed to be about three millions, who, as their phrafe is, are witnesses of the unity of God in all the nations in the world. Befides the religious fects here enumerated, there are a few of the German inhabitants in Pennsylvania, who are ftyled SwINSEILDIANS, and, in Maryland, a fmall number called NICOLITES or NEW QUAKERS; but the diftinguishing fentiments of these fects are not material, confifting chiefly of a few peculiarities. * H. Adams's " View of Religions." Article Shakers. HISTORY |