two o'clock, P. M. in collecting people from all sections of the town, and the towns round about. And as far as possible they carried his high behest into execution. They ransacked the village, the town, and other places, and almost dragged the people, especially the young and the diffident, from their homes and their business, to the scene of mental slaughter. Merchants were required to shut their stores, mechanics their shops, and all laborers to abandon their usual occupations. The good regulations of society and the habits of industry were to be broken up at the nod of a man, who proclaimed himself, at the onset, "a poor, blind, miserable sinner." Had it not been for the firmness and good sense of a few persons, every store in the place would have been shut, as Mr. B. boasted had been done in other places.Thanks to the men that did not bow to a little Nebuchadnezzar, nor fall down and worship his idol, fanaticism. They are richly entitled to the gratitude and patronage of an enlightened but recently insulted public.

The reader will have discovered by this time, that it is all vanity to talk about "time for consideration," and deliberate choice, among those who were candidates even, for believing in the sincerity of Mr. B.'s pretensions. If they had not phrenological and experimental knowledge enough to read him

through, and understand his hollow-heartedness on the first observation of him, they were thrown into commotion, by his manner of speaking, and the whirl of the surrounding elements. The mind was tremendously roused, meetings were kept up late, and sleep fled away; and as bodily exhaustion and lassitude came on, the understanding was proportionably weakened and deranged, and became an easier prey to the "miserable" "wolf in sheep's clothing." By the faculty of secretiveness, Mr. B. kept his real designs concealed, till he was ready for the attack. He took the credulous by surprise, and conquered, without giving them time for resistance. Were this but the fiftieth time that he had played the same game with deluded congregations, we might be induced to hold our peace. But as the case is, we feel it a solemn duty to cry aloud and spare not. be sure, he is far from being a learned or highly talented man; but he is a powerful speaker and manager, and by the engine which he puts in operation by enlisting the several churches in each place, he produces great commotion. Instead, therefore, of being "lulled to sleep, people should be put upon their guard"-be apprised of his manœuvres-by seeing him in a mirror.

To

PART FOURTH.

PUBLIC EXERCISES ON THURSDAY.

WE come now to another very important branch of Mr. Burchard's labors. As has been seen, he had slain the Philistine-conquered the church-put its members upon the chase, hither and thither, in complete obsequiousness to his sovereign command, so that he might safely unfurl his colors, and no one would dare say, "what doest thou?” Soon after he began his exercise, some gentlemen came in with benches, which they designed for the aisles, to accommodate persons who could not otherwise have seats. Mr. B. let them have time to get up near the desk, and then directed them to carry the benches out of the house. Several distinguished individuals, C. Marsh Esqr. among the rest, told Mr. H. B. Dana and those assisting him, to place them in the side aisles. "No," said Mr. B., "take those benches out of the house, Mr. Dana; carry them right out; for I shall have occasion to use the aisles. Take them away, Sir." And Mr. D.-who, forsooth, is a very pleasant man,smiled, blushed and obeyed their "common

master." We shall do injustice not to add that the clergymen who were present, buckled down and laughed in their own bosoms, to witness this exhibition of pontifical authority. They were satisfied, by this time, that the battle was fought, the victory won, and all the people in the hand, and subject to the control, of the conqueror.

AFTERNOON SERMON,

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Psalms li, 11, 12.

The first leading point was, that christians are sometimes cold, lifeless, dead, and do not enjoy the spirit of their religion-the joy of their salvation. He dwelt largely and zealously on the substantial joy and happiness which every active christian must necessarily experience, and declared emphatically, (holding up and waving about the holy book in the face of the congregation,) that christians were the only people who could be said to be truly happy and joyful.

We could not avoid reminding a friend at our left, of another denomination, of the contrast between this, and the statements in Mr.

B.'s first discourse, viz. that religion does not admit of happiness in this life. We were satisfied, that if the members of the several churches in this town, and others of equal talents who had not made a profession of religion, could swallow and digest such contradictions, they were not a whit behind those mentioned by our Saviour, in Matt. xxiii, 24.

It reminded us of a serious anecdote which was related in a discourse by Elder JOHN RAND, Something less than twenty years ago, in Springfield in this state. Mr. Rand was speaking of the credulity of church-members, and the influence of the clergy over them. He said they would receive the most palpable contradictions, and believe even, that black is white or white is black, if the priests told them it was so. In support of this statement, Mr. R. told the following anecdote.

"As two Standing-Order clergymen were riding together one morning, one of them complained to the other, that it was a thankless task to be a minister, in these days. He thought they were getting to be of the falling order. Aye, said his friend, and what is the matter? Why, he replied, the people begin to open their eyes, and see for themselves; so that if I happen to contradict myself, they at once discover it; and hence I am losing * See page 26.

+ Elders Jasper Hazen and Uriah Smith were present.