The clouds which are floating over us, rarely and but transiently, assume the rounded and cumulate form. They do not imbibe that principle or element of heat and rarefaction which under our June and July suns used to display them in fantastic and capricious union and expansion, convolving apparently with attraction and repulsion,-an appearance so well described by Bryant, the poet of American sea sons When even the deep-blue heavens are glad— Now and for weeks past the air cannot brace them; the edges grow rugged and divergent, they are carried along by the wind and stratify in masses. There never was a season with fewer thunder storms; and there have been no summer evening electric flashes. What rains we have had, have come after a low rumbling of thunder, as if the skies were all one sponge of loosened vapor. The hue of the sky, which in summer is of deep blue, sometimes of the lapis-lazuli, sometimes of the slaty tint, has been latterly uniformly pale; and from the east to the zenith, even when the sun is in meridian splendor, there is a silvery opacity, a pearly reflection, which is rather fit to be termed neutral tint than azure. Let the cause be what it will, whether it be the prevalence of steady strong winds at a great height in the air, or a prismatic deprivation to us of the yellow and red rays by vapors held sublimed at a great distance above the earth, the change, nevertheless, in the appearance of the heavens, cannot be denied, and that the properties of the light have been thus deteriorated for the last six weeks. We may well presume that vegetable and animal life are both affected by so untimely and disastrous an alteration. But we have every reason to hope, from the variableness of our climate in a position exposed to the sea and land wind, that this meteoric influence is nearly spent, and will soon be counteracted. We have been wont to see the sunsets of New-York rivaling those of the tropics in gorgeousness, and enkindling the whole air with crimson and gold. Who has seen such a sunset-since Whitsunday? A faintly rosy tinge is the utmost that has brightened the Occident. The sun has been "shorn of his beams," and we have been living, as it were, in the first steps of the shadow of an eclipse. I cannot imagine a spectacle more solemnly sublime than the present aspect of this extensive and half-deserted city, seen in full day, and under the awe and solicitude of impending danger which fills the mind, and impresses the air of the remaining inhabitants. The vast lines of edifices, under the pallor of the crepuscular sunshine, appearing at once with all the clearness of day, and the amplitude and blending of moonlight; the skies and the air blanched in lustre, the streets whitened, and comparatively lonely, and the sentiment of vacuity and vastness increased not alone by the desertion of places of resort, but mainly by that dim, feeble, and imperfect radiance effused over the A earth, and which is, perhaps, the mysterious cause of the epidemic mortality which is walking unseen among us. We of the city are now, I think, like etiolated plants; and deprived of our due stimulus of light, our organs waste and suffer, while those who are the least able to resist this decay of their vital powers, become the prey of such deleterious agents, as would, under the regular and accustomed stimulus of light, have proved inert and innocuous. I should much like to learn whether the same peculiar absence of yellow in the sunshine has not already been noticed where the cholera has prevailed. I am disposed to believe that it has been observed; and it certainly must be owing to this state of the light that the air has become such a conductor of electricity that this agent cannot be detained around us. What are the late discoveries concerning the purple of light and its affinity for magnetic currents? Is it not said that the violet ray is so highly conducting that magnets have been made by applying it with the prism upon steel? In the interim, before I find answers to these questions, I shall, if permitted, continue to observe the influence of this weather upon persons, animals, and insects. I have already had occasion to see that chronic disorders and weaknesses seem generally aggravated by it. Insects have not their usual animation. Animals have lost their usual fire and vivacity. Closer observers than I, must already have given attention to these considerations, and I shall be happy if I awake their interest sufficiently to lead them to communicate their observations for public satisfaction and advantage.' We may remark that on the morning after the above appeared in print, about 4 o'clock, A. M., a very heavy storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with a copious shower of rain, passed over our city. The lightning was unusually vivid, and the claps of thunder-one of which was almost simultaneous with the forked streaks of lightning-were strong and powerful. The following day was remarkably pleasant, the atmosphere appearing much more pure than heretofore. On that day the number of deaths diminished about one third, and there were about one half the number of new cases; and they have been gradually diminishing from that time to the present, so that on the first of September the board of health ceased to make any more daily reports. It is difficult at all times, and more especially in times of any particular calamity, for any one to say positively what the special design of almighty God is in causing it to come upon us; we can only say, in general terms, this 'strange work' is intended as a scourge upon mankind to punish them for their sins, or as a disciplinary visitation to correct them for their faults, to remind them of their dependence, that they may acknowledge His hand, and reform their lives. But though He thus 'draweth back the face of His throne and spreadeth a cloud upon it,' so dense indeed that the eye of reason cannot pierce through it, yet we think we can perceive some benefits which have resulted, and many more which may result from this severe visitation. In the first place, those who have witnessed its desolating ravages among the intemperate will be more and more confirmed in their habits of regular living-moderate drinkers will reform and wholly abstain from the use of ardent spirits-and perhaps some confirmed drunkards may be rescued from the fell destroyer of human life-while luxurious living of all sorts will be set down. among the sure precursors of premature death. Those who have calmly witnessed the progress of the cholera, unless they are madly determined to resist the evidence of their own senses, must allow that this effect ought, at least, to be produced. But if, after such a demonstration of the folly and madness of intemperate indulgence, these delinquents are determined to close their eyes and shut their ears and to harden their hearts against such loud admonitions of Divine Providence, we must then prepare for more awful signals of God's indignation against such an abuse of His mercies, and suffer the consequence when it may be too late to remedy the evil by repentance. In the second place, it has tended to excite a spirit of benevolence toward the suffering poor. In consequence of the dread excited abroad in the country, intercourse with the city has been very much interrupted; nearly one half of the citizens, and those of the most wealthy class, removed; business of course became stagnated; industrious mechanics and others were thrown out of employment, and many thriving merchants found themselves almost entirely deprived of customers; while many children were left fatherless and motherless. This melancholy state of things could not be viewed by those who had something to spare with cold indifference. With that liberality by which the citizens of NewYork have ever been distinguished they have, in this season of suffering, exerted themselves to furnish a home for the lonely orphan, food and clothing and a shelter for the poor, and have administered to the sick and dying. These acts of charity have been as seasonable as they are- Christian-like and praiseworthy. In the third place, the skill and activity of our physicians have been called into exercise in a way which demonstrated the importance of their profession. While a very few of them fled from the approach of this enemy of human life, the most of the physicians stood to their post, were actively employed at all hours of the day and night in visiting the chambers and beds of the sick, making no distinction between the poor and the rich, and manifesting no more fear of the cholera than if it had been a common fever. Those who have thus braved the danger, and endured the hardships of this season of calamity, have acquired for themselves much credit, and well deserve the confidence and support of the community; while those who fled will doubtless suffer the punishment of their timidity. Perhaps the value of the medical practitioner was never more highly estimated than at the present time, as the life of the cholera patient very much depended upon pro curing medical assistance in the early stage of the disease. The skilful physician, indeed, was justly considered as an angel of mercy. What shall we say of those who have been mercifully preserved from the attack of this justly dreaded epidemic? Will not such feel the obligations of gratitude to the Supreme Disposer of events increased tenfold for such an escape from sudden death? Surely we ought to say, 'It is because Thy compassions fail not that we are not consumed'-and be ready to exclaim, 'What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits?' We doubt not, indeed, but that many a professor of godliness has been led to a serious examination of his own heart, to humble himself before the Lord, to confess his sins, and pray for a clearer manifestation of God's reconciling love--that his title to the heavenly inheritance might be made more satisfactory to him. These are some of the results which we may hope will be produced by means of this visitation. May they indeed be realized! Sept. 4, 1832. THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. WHEN we speak of the distinctive peculiarity of the Christian religion, we mean that trait by which it is distinguished from all other systems of religion, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Mohammedan; and we mean also one particular item in this religion in distinction from all others, and which is not found in any other system of which we have any knowledge. Now what is this item? It is not in the belief of one supreme God, for this is found among some at least of the Pagan writers, among the Jews and Mohammedans. It is not the doctrine of the Trinity, for this we believe was embraced by the Jews as well as by the Christians. The doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, of human depravity, the necessity of repentance, justification by faith, holiness of heart and life, death and the resurrection, the immortality of the soul, future rewards and punishments, was taught and believed among the Jews, and more especially by their ancient prophets, and the Pharisees in the time of our Saviour. That these latter rejected Jesus of Nazareth, as the promised Messiah, is no proof that they rejected the doctrine taught so especially by the Prophet Isaiah and others, that He should appear in human flesh, be rejected of men, and be slain for the sins of the people. These things therefore are not peculiar to Christianity. Nor does it consist in the doctrine of atonement. For, to say nothing of the sacrifices in use among most of the Pagan nations, which are to be considered in the light of atoning sacrifices, sometimes consisting even of human victims, it is manifest that the various sacrifices instituted by Moses were expressly called atoning sacri fices, and were accepted by God in the place of the punishment due to the sinner himself. It is true they derived all their efficacy from their pointing to the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ; but the doctrine of atonement, or of a vicarious sacrifice, was most manifestly veiled under these significant rites, which were indeed emblematical representations of the 'one offering of Christ,' 'to take away the sin of the world.' It may be said by some, that that which distinguishes the religion of Jesus from all others is its requiring us to love our enemies, to bear with a meek and forgiving disposition their injuries. That this is indeed a trait in Christianity of a peculiar character, when compared with other systems of religion not sanctioned by Divine revelation, we grant; but it must be remembered that God required the Jews to love Him with all their heart, and their neighbor as themselves; and although they justified themselves in the indulgence of personal revenge for private injuries, from a wrong interpretation of their lex talionis, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' it is manifest that this proceeded from a misapprehension of the meaning of this law of retaliation, as it was never designed to countenance private revenge, but to guard them against rash and personal injuries: for if a malicious individual were allowed to inflict injuries upon his fellows, such as plucking out his eyes and knocking out his teeth with impunity, there was an end to all personal security. And this holds equally good now as it did then. It is essential indeed, for the peace and preservation of human society, that all such disputes should be decided by the public magistrate. That this is a just view of the subject, any impartial reader will be convinced by consulting the places where these laws are recorded, Exodus xxi, 22-27, and Deut. xxiii, 3-8, both inclusive. That the Jews were forbidden to avenge themselves for private injuries, is not only manifest from the right interpretation of these laws, the penalties of which were to be determined by a magistrate, but also from Exodus xxiii, 4, 5, and Prov. xxv, 21, 22. In the former passage it is commanded, "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that is an enemy to thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.' Was this allowing them to indulge in private hatreds? So far from it, that they were required to do good to their enemies. It is therefore very evident that our Saviour designed to correct the erroneous interpretation which had been put upon their lex talionis, or law of retaliation, by their scribes, which was a public statute, to guide the conduct of the magistrate in his decisions, when any master had maltreated his slave, or a wicked recreant had smitten a woman; and thus to restore the precept to its original meaning, and not to do it away. That this ought to be so understood is farther manifest from the words of Solomon above referred to:- If thine enemy be hungry, |