Letters From Michigan: Number XII

The doctrine of Wú'liani Mnierconeeming the end of the wond, is we!! hnowD. F or many yeaw he has been engaged in teachingtbatj accoriinf (o thjï S!:rip!ure prophecies, the second comino of Cl'i would take place between tlie iwenty ihird of March ICiO, and the Uvpiity tltird of March, IC14, al wivcli time the material woiid vou!d be desiroyeel, ond ali true believen in Chrisl ivould be taken home tu glory. TÍiis resu't has been announred by Mr. AJiJjer and his friemls with e coofioVnco but l.;f!](% f Kt ;t!i, tijort of cerfaín!y.Sc has fonnd belioiers in neailv or quile every poition of the country. In Michigan sremony yvho have had fui'. h in-Ibis doclr'me. though the proinuljration of it has iot been attended with Ihat exciicment and ontimsiasm wbich has been displayed in othcr States. - The converts to tlns -deliision in ve been made the subject of sneers ond niicule fnim the public p.ress and peilen:. :om ihe pulpit, in a manner a'toofeilier anauthorizcd. by ilic nature óï tlie error into vvliich they have fallen. Errors of relisious fuiíí), siiicerely adopted, and conscientiou&ly carriod out in praciice, are not proper topics of ridicule. I have spoken of the doctrine as a dclusion. Such T "hinic it must now be ácknpvvledgedj tven by thote who have hilherto had faith in it. Their belief was that the world bedestroyed on or bcfore a certain d-iy. The Jast peiiod hns now pased, anti "all things remain as í hev were.'1 They do not prclend to have discovered arty error in tlieir former reckoning,or to have found any new iight. Irom prophecy, but must now :ake their stand witfi the rest of Ihe Chris: ir: n tvorld, nnd await the coming of ihe Lord at Lis own appohited seaton. The eficcls of t!e preaching of this dcctriue, Wil] net, probali'y, be cdvanlageous to the cause of truth. ït lias been put forih as one of líie tiulhs of Revelalion; and now that expenence has proveo it io be a mere human error, there is dnnger .lest those who have been inclmed to beliévc it as a revealed truth, upon this to be fullacimis, should go to the o! her extreme, and reject all reve'atiou as false,because rliis, wiiicli they had eupposed lo be one of iis doclriiics, has proved to be but another of the ten thousand baseless visions with wliicli enlluisiastsoí" every age liave ieceived f heinselvesr. Calculations respect iog the end of the wojld havo been in vogi;e from the earüest periods. Some of the leatned Je'.v3 im.igined it would take place at li,e end of ÜCOO yeara. Among the eurly Ciri.siiins, a:i e.pecta(ion of the peedy personal coming of Clnist,Sc of the end of the worlil, wae very preva'ent, Sc to correct this, one of Ihe Apostles wroie bis epistle, de claring that there must fust be a faüing away, and the coming of be Man of Sin m:igt preeede the fiurl consummaiion .of al) things. - Other peiiods have been designaled in difTerent oges for the end of time; but the end is nct vet; and jf in ihe absence of Reveiation we may be permi'.ted to take counsel from the suggeslions of Reason, we may safely conclude that it wiil not take place for many ages to come. We are scenstomed to attribute to the Creator an exient of purpose and design in a!iHis works, which i.s incomprehensible to man. He has a great heart to fee! for Lhe welfare of His creatures. ond a great intellect with vvhlcl) to bring IJ is fcehngs to bear upon their destiny. He hns made our woild, wliicli is yet in itE iufancy. Six thonsand years liave not elapsed since its forma tion. Allo win tlial three generarions live in a cenlury, and taking into account the Jongevity of the original pa triarclis, not one htmdred and fifty successions of the race have yet made tiieir sp])earance on the sartfu All these, too, have; existed nnuer the most unfavorablc circutnslances. As a whole, they have been ignorant, superstitiotiF, cruel, beostly , degraded. How liule have thoy known of all tliët can be known in this world! In knowlcdge and com prehensión of noliid; they have been mere chiJdren. But in moral depravity. they have exhibited a precociousness, an exuberancc of crime and vickedness, which, unless checked by the truths of Revelaiion, would ullimaiely result in conveningr the carth iuto a great receptuckof woe. Bat considered merely as physical beings, the greater purtion of the race have been able to display but little of which they might justlv be preud. The mud cottages, 6canty clolhing, and precarious sustenauce of the fftr greater portion of mankind, even at the present time, speak but poorly for theniiy of the race. And can it be supposed that vhcn the few generalions that hnve preceded us have lived and died in this degraded condi(ion, the world is now to come to on end, at a period when science nnd knowledge and riht principies are just beginning to t-xteiul tlieir away over the mass of me? The crer.tion of the wófld for such small results as have haberlo taken place n it wouldbe a vast array of means without n proportionate end - ' it wóüïa be building sn immense pórtico without any muin edifice, or lilte wilt ing a large proface for a "Very diminutive volume. On the contrary, eo far as we may jtidge from Reason and Revclaiion, the coreer of . man has luit j.ist commenced. líe has strugg!ed along hilherto through a trifiiog, ignorant, and brotol childhood, end now begins to put forti) the intelleclual, moral, and pfiysical energes of raaturcr ycars. Tlie sigos of his future progress are already before us. Tlie sciences improve - the arts are perfecting - war and vio'ence arecensing among al! civil- ized nations - just principies of human li'erty are disseminating, nnd universal commerce and travel are preparing the way for the spread of universal Icnovvledge, and the recognition of the commnn brotherhood of man. We may look forward throiigh unnumbered ages before us, in which the progress of man in even' depariment of excellence shall cause bis past d-'gradation, folly and crime to be forgotlen, or remembered onlv with the same feelinos wiih whicfothe accomplished man of bupineBs looks back upon the retrospect of his youthful delinquences, his puerile pursuitSj or his chiiüish dreams and delusions. But this cheering view of the destines of humanity s met by a ciass of inathematicnl reasonsrí!, who oñer ío demónstrate by incontrovertible figures, tbaf the Ayrld mnstsoine time come to an end, or a poriion of '■c inhabifants will be constaii' ly dying of privation and iiunger. A vriler in the Journal of Commeice last stimmer piesented a form idable arrov of calen Ín tions, showing tfi.it i two honclred yenr?, slarvation wiil put iis effect ua] quietus on the increase of populution i) al! civilized countries. A very general view jf tie subject will show that tbis period, if it ever comes, will be very remote. Men, considered as pbysical beings, need Shelter, Clothing, and Food, Witli a suffi ciertcy of these, there wil; te no limit ío populution. Dwéllings in eufficient numbers can be construcled in every pnrt of tbe earlli where the inaterials exist. These materials are Wood, Stone, snd Clay. There is wood enough in many parts of the world to build with; aud where that is deöicient, Uiere is stone, either on the surface, or in ledges, in immeasurablequantities; and ifany district, be found destiíute of both, Clay and Sand can be manufictured ilíto bricks enough to cover the surface of the globe. So íiir, then, as shelter is require-.!, the materials for making the human family comfortable and happy are nmuly supplied for unuumbered myriads of beings. The second requisite is Clothing. In hot dimates, tiio amount necedsary for comfort is süiall; aud in the températe and colder regions, it must be supplied by animal or vegetable proditctions. f he only limit to the production of wool, flax, or coíton, is the extent of space they will require on the eurface of the eanh; and by the most tkiliul cultiva ■ tion, an immen&e amount of these articies may be raised od a small extent of land. The third requisite for populalion is Food. Here it must be admitled there is a natural limit lo production, beyond which jio resource hns yet been devised. How fur science and skill may add lo ihe productiveness of the soil, we know not. Much has been gained, even with our imperfect cultivation. The Slate of Massachusetts, on an areaof 7,500 square miles, once Fupported a fuw thousands of needy aborigiual wretches; while the same soil niw rears a prosperous and increúsing population of more than one hundred persons on eadi square mile. Yet its capabilities are not half developed. The immense produclive power of a perfeclly cnliivated acre hns not vel been realized. EacJi acre of arable land in the Union will produce as much vegetable food of ony kind as will supply the necessities of a family. For instance, with the best cnltivaiion, each acre will produce forty or fifly bushels of wheat or rye, a hundred busluls of corn, or eeven hundred bushels of potatoe? - more tban euongh for a family of five [ersons. But, lo allow for waste lui:ds, water, fcc. I main'.ain that, even with our present scirn;ific]r!owledge, two aeree can bc made to produce all the necessory malcriáis for clothing and vegetable food which a family requires. But in the warmer chmntes, the C06t of living 13 Par less than with us. Less food and clolhiugare required, while rice, the principie anide of food, is harvesled tvvice in a scason. Henee the dense population of India and China, notwithstanding the wretched government of those coun'ries. There i?, then} a limit (o the supply of food and ntiment, but this limit is very far removed f rom the necessities of any nalion now existng. But it may be asked, "Do we not read of people starving to doath in Europe and india, and do not the Chinese exposé their female children because they caunot procure (bod for them?' Mo&t certainly; but does that prove that the soü is incapnble of furmshing food enough for the people? Or does it not ralbei prove that a large portion of the carnings of the Jaborer ars spent on the iuxuries of the rich who earn nothing, while the children of Ihe poor are starving, and are uncerimoniously hustled out e world which denies tliem even a scnnty stibsistence? The difficulty ie not in thecapabilities of the eorth, but in the avarice, ptide, and grasping selfishness of a portion of the beings who inhabit it.