Essays: by Anna Farquhar, ca. 1850

86. 60. 39a

The Christian Church. Its primitive condition considered. The early converts to the christian faith were exclusively from amongst the Jews, and for a considerable time these rigidly adhered to the observance of the ceremonies and rituals of the Mosaic law. The first serious controversy that arose in the Church was upon the question, whether Gentile converts could be admitted as members, with -out being first circumcised, and having also observed the other outward requisitions of the Law. So deeply was the senti -ment that such could not be received, impressed even upon some of the apostles, that a miraculous manifestation of the Divine Power was necessary to convince Peter, that under any circum -stances whatever, they could be accepted. (Acts , ch 10th verse 11.)

The persecution which followed the martyrdom of Stephen at Jerusalem, having driven most of the apostles and many of the more distinguished converts from that city, and these having fled into Greece, Samaria, Pontus, Cilicia, Syria, Egypt and other Countries, became yealons and effective missionaries in extending their doctrines and principles into those regions; so that in a little time, the Gentile converts far outnumbered those of the Jews. The effect of this great and sudden accession of so many hetereogeneous members, educated as they had been under such various and conflicting opinions and systems, with minds strongly prepossessed by early and deep-rooted prejudices in favor of their respective dogmas, very soon began to be felt in a want of harmony in the church, which even in the Apostolic age, threatened its dissolution.

The Jewish converts insisted on the observance of circum -cision and other rites of their law, while the Egyptian, Hellenic, and Asiatic converts, drawn from the various conflicting sects of the Socratic, Pythagorean, and Alexandrian schools, utterly repudiated and rejected these rites. At the same time each sect laid claim to some tenet or dogma of their peculiar school; this led to the convention of a council at Jerusalem, when with no

small difficulty, the controversy was adjusted by the Gentile converts being absolved from any obligation to observe the Jewish rituals, or laid under other yoke than, that they should abstain from meat offered to idols, or of animals strangled from blood, and from unchastity, (Acts, ch 15th verse 20th) while the Jews were left free to conform to all the requisitions of the Mosaic law, as far as they might desire to subject themselves to these.

The effect of this decision, which could only be viewed as a liberal and amicable compromise of discordant prejudice, could not be expected, nor did it long preserve harmony between the Judaic and Gentile converts. Amongst the Jews themselves there were several conflicting sects, and amongst the Gentiles there were many; the consequence was that new controversies soon arose which, even by the middle of the first century or in less than thirty years from the time of the crucifixion, had already occasioned serious divisions and great agitation in the church. These controversies were not unfrequently maintained with a violence, and in a disposition wholly incompatible with the meek and forbearing spirit of the religion the parties professed, and the result was, instead of adhering to the plain simple doctrines and precepts left by the founder of the christian system, first one ceremony or observance, and then another, derived either from Judaic or Pagan preceents, was interpolated upon the forms of public worship, until the church attaching undue importance to these, and losing sight of the great fundamental principle, upon which it had been established, to wit: Immediate divine revelation, (Mat. ch 16th verse 17th & 18th) had by the end of the third century scarcely retained the least resemblance of its original features, and was become fully prepared for the last fatal blow given to it by Constantine, when by the artifice of that crafty statesman, it voluntarily consented to matriculate itself with the existing Roman Government, when the most corrupt and renal in the world.

86-60, 39b

The American Revolution, commenced April 17th 1775, and was occasioned by the undue taxes of England upon us. The Stamp act Law paused in 1765, was one which most incensed the Americans, and determined them not to bear the impositions of the English any longer. The first time the two armies met, was at Lexington, near Boston, but this could scarcely be called a battle, for neither party was conquered, but the Americans were obliged to retreat, because their powder gave out and no more could be procured. In the battle of Bunker Hill which was the next that took place, the Americans were victorious, though Dr Warren, one of their best and most loved generals was killed. About this time the country became very much annoyed by the Tories, a set of persons, who instead of fighting for their own country, joined the English and assisted them. They were much hated by their country and were sent away as soon as discovered.

Manufacturers were exceedingly high at this time, for as we were at war with England, of course we would not use any articles which she produced, and we had not begun to manufacture many things of importance.

Congress was in session in Philadelphia during the war, and in it were engaged some of our most honored and respected men. General Washington who was much distinguish -ed for his firmness and discretion, was appointed commander of all the Armies, and we have had great cause to rejoice that this was done for his conduct throughout was entirely satisfactory. In the winter of 1775, the Americans made an attack upon Canada but all their battles here were unsuccessful, and the armies suffered many hardships. General Montgomery was killed in trying to conquer Quebec, December 31st 1775.

In the spring of 1776 this country determined to become independent of England, and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were each appointed by Congress to write the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson's was read first, and as it contained everything that was necessary, the other two were not even brought forward. It was signed by every member

of Congress on the 4th of July 1776. The American troops after their return from Canada were defeated in New York and retreated across the Delaware. An important battle was fought at Trenton, with the Hessians, on Christmas day 1776. These were people the English had employed to assist them, and they were so disliked by the Americans that they named a fly after them which was very destructive among the wheat. After this Washington was defeated in two small battles at Brandywine and Germantown, and Burgoyne and his army were conquered at Saratoga by General Gates. In 1777 Benjamin Franklin was sent to France to ask the assistance of that nation, and, in the same year, La Fayette came over at the head of a large French army. At Monmouth and Camden battles were fought and soon after the largest of the British armies went to the Southern States. General Green was then sent to the South and here many important battles were fought, among which were those of Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs, General Green being commander of the American armies and Lord Cornwallis of the British. Finally, Cornwallis was obliged to surrender at Yorktown in 1781. His surrender was received in Philadelphia with the greatest rejoicings. It was midnight when the news arrived, and it was first heard through the watchman, who cried, "past twelve oClock and Cornwallis taken." In the year before, that in 1780 the Americans were thrown into a great state of excitement by the treachery of Benedict Arnold. Major André carried letters from one of the British officers to Benedict Arnold, who lived at West Point, and had promised to let the British army enter the fort without any resistance if they would give him a sufficient reward. But as Andre was returning from West Point he was taken prisoner by three Americans and on searching him, they found letters from Arnold in his boots. He was taken to prison, tried and executed, and Arnold escaped, without punish ment. So ended the American Revolution. Anna Farquhar.

86.60.39c No 1.

History.

The history of the world is divided into two parts, An cient and Modern; the latter beginning about 500 years B.C. Ancient history is then divided into two portions, the first, including the time before the rise of Greece and Rome, and the second that, during which, these empires flourished. Our knowledge of ancient history is very limited, as we have no written records of the events which were taking place at this time, and it is in this way, only, that we become thoroughly acquainted with any branch of learning. In these old times, instead of writing as we now do, figures and pictures, called Hieroglyphics, were made, and this was but a very imperfect mode of expressing the events that were passing; so that we feel great uncertainty in looking back upon the time that has gone. In the first part of ancient history, there were five great empires, the Chinese, Hindoo, Asyrian, Egyptian and Jewish. The Chinese pride themselves upon being the oldest nation in the world, but this is uncertain , though record an ecplise of the sun 3000 years B.C. and they must have attained a considerable degree of civilization before they could have calculated this. Fohee was their first emperor, and Yao, who reigned 102 years, wrote his own history. Confucius lived 600 years B.C. He was much respected by the Chinese, and did a great deal towards civilizing the people. His writings are still in existence. The Chinese are remarkable for not having any communication with the rest of the world, so they are therefore very little enlightened. The next nation was the Hindoos who trace back 3000 years BC with some certainty. They too had