to the feelings, the reason, and the interests of the persons they addressed. After a short debate, Agnodicè was honourably acquitted and the obnoxious law revoked. Such was the salutary triumph of merit and good sense over selfishness and absurd prejudice.

AGUR'S PRAYER; the rational petition of a diffident and pious mind, generally considered as a safe standard, an effectual boundary to the desires of a good man, who, while he prays for deliverance from the infelicities of poverty, is far from being solicitous for superfluous wealth; convinced that the first might tempt him to invade the property of his neighbour, and that he might be enticed by the latter to a profuse and unfeeling misapplication of his own.

The strong, the scriptural, the oriental figure, at which so many have trembled, that "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God," hath also been produced in support of the propriety of Agur's wish. Yet this popular and impressive effusion, apparently suggested by humility and moderation, and preserved by a great monarch, for the instruction of future ages, in the book of wisdom, has been attacked by a modern writer who unites deep reasoning with a lively fancy.

"Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, or be poor and steal,” are the words so often produced and so frequently praised. "Yet," says the author I quote, I cannot but consider this ejaculation as the narrow conception of a selfish, unsocial, and frigid imagination, contented with safety and the negative enjoyment of uninterrupted security, neither hoping for, nor aspiring to the honour and happiness of diffusing the warm rays of benevolence and comfort beyond its own contracted circle. For, after all that envy can create, or common-place collect against pecuniary accumulation, the man who misapplies, and not he who acquires, is clearly the criminal agent; if to reward industry, alleviate listress, and support helpless indigence, are the great and most satisfactory duties of life, how can riches make salvation difficult? How can the same thing enable us to exercise the first of virtues, yet endanger its future rewards? For this reason, I cannot but consider the very desire of wealth, in a good man, as meritorious; he is endeavouring to qualify himself to act as the delegate of the Almighty in diffusing good and diminishing evil; he cannot, he will not forget that omnipotent Creator, who has graciously placed so powerful an instrument in his hands, and planted in his breast sympathies so admirably calculated to direct him in the application of it. Such a character may, and naturally will, deprecate poverty, not merely because it subjects human infirmity to new temptations, but because it renders benevolence impotent, leaving him hourly to witness distress he cannot relieve, and to resent wrongs it is not in his power to redress."

Yet, in spite of all the sophistry and ingenuity of this writer, I cannot but consider Agur's prayer as excellently calculated for the condition of a creature like man, who, though confessedly a compound of reason as well as passion, is governed, ninety times in a hundred, by the im

pulse of the latter, rather than influenced by the former; and although GIVE ME RICHES, may be justified as a proper prayer in the mouth of a good man, every day's experience proves that immense wealth too often leads its possessors to capricious dissipation, or the grossness of sensual indulgence. I agree that a carnal-minded man, who sees nothing in money but the means for indulging irregular appetites, may well desire not to be rich; and that so rare a species of self-denial, if not a meritorious, is, at least, a prudent wish; but until the author I have quoted has proved that the conduct of the majority of the wealthier classes of mankind, in the same proportion that they are richer, is more correct than that of their poorer neighbours, I shall continue to join with Agur in his prayer, from a firm conviction, that the state of mediocrity to which it points, is most favourable to moral purity, external propriety, and internal peace.

ANABAPTISTS, a religious sect so called, whose opinions concerning baptism appear to be founded on the primitive practice of the Christian church. They contend that this ceremony should be administered only to persons grown up to years of discretion, and that the common mode of sprinkling is insufficient and incomplete; they therefore re-baptize, by dipping, those who are admitted into their society.

But to these and other harmless institutions, neither injurious to the peace or welfare of society, they added doctrines of a most dangerous tendency, which springing into action in the sixteenth century, soon after the successful efforts of Luther, were mentioned to his reproach although he attacked their irrational chimeras, as subversive of social happiness and fatal to true religion, with great strength of argument, and his customary acrimonious language.

Having been driven by the vigilance of the magistrate from other parts of Germany, the Anabaptists had propagated their opinions with zeal and boldness at Munster, an imperial city of Westphalia, where they were attended with memorable consequences, and produced a temporary revolution, of which an interesting narrative has been given by a modern historian. These wild enthusiasts maintained, that among Christians, who had the precepts of the gospel to direct and the Spirit of God to guide them, the office of a magistrate was not only unnecessary, but an unlawful encroachment on their spiritual liberty. They resolved that all distinctions occasioned by birth, rank, or wealth, ought to be entirely abolished, as they were contrary to the spirit of divine revelation, which considers all men as equal, and all earthly possessions as common; they openly avowed themselves friends to polygamy, both in doctrine and practice, declaring that neither the laws of nature, nor the precepts of the New Testament, laid any restraint on a plurality of wives, and that it was a liberty which God himself had allowed to the patriarchs.

Two of their principal prophets, Matthias, a baker, and Boccold, a tailor, uniting confident plausible manners and apparent sanctity with a spirit of enterprise and a thirst for novelty and making proselytes, had fixed their residence at Munster, where, among other converts, they

gained Rothman, who had first preached the Protestant doctrines in that city, and Nipperdoling, a wealthy and respectable citizen. Stimulated by, or not contented with these encouragements, they were desirous of establishing their tenets by public authority; caballing with the city guards, they forced the arsenal and senate house at midnight, whilst their associates, rushing through the streets with drawn swords, proclaimed to the terrified inhabitants, "DEPART YE UNGODLY, OR REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED. The senators, canons and nobility, with the more sober citizens, fled from the city, which was abandoned to the dominion of a frantic multitude, and a superstructure of intolerancy, usurpation, and licentiousness was impiously erected on the foundations of the gospel. Nipperdoling and another proselyte were immediately elected consuls, though all proceedings were directed by Matthias, who in the style and with the authority of a prophet, uttered, as by inspiration, commands which it was death to disobey: he encouraged the multitude to pillage the churches and deface their ornaments, to destroy all books except the Bible, and directed the estates of those who fled to be confiscated. Every individual, in the mean time, either voluntarily or by command, brought forth his gold, silver, and other precious effects, and deposited them in a treasury or common stock, which was dispensed for the common use of all; to complete the plan of equality, the whole society ate promiscuously, without regard to age, sex, or rank, at tables publicly prepared for them.

The defence of their newly acquired city was not neglected; large magazines of every kind were formed, the fortifications repaired, those persons capable of bearing arms were disciplined, and Matthias, by a rare union of prudence and fanaticism, by precept as well as example, animated his followers to act as well as suffer; while the impetuosity of enthusiasm was occasionally roused by exhortation, revelation, and prophecy. The German princes, offended and alarmed at the presumption of these usurpers, voted a supply of men and money to the Bishop of Munster, who advanced with a considerable body to besiege the town, which the Anabaptists dignified with the scriptural name of Mount Sion. When the enemy appeared, Matthias sallied forth to attack them; gaining some advantage, he returned with spoils and glory, and was so much intoxicated with this partial success, that he appeared the next day brandishing a spear, and declared he would go with a handful of men and smite the ungodly; thirty of his deluded disciples followed him without hesitation, and, rushing forth, were all of them immediately cut to pieces. The death of their prophet caused great consternation, but Boccold revived the spirit of his followers by strong assurances of more fortunate events, and mildly censuring the rashness of Matthias; he gradually wrought on the affections of the people, in a short time succeeded to the direction of their affairs, and it was declared by sound of trumpet, to be the will of God" that Boccold should be King of Sion, and sit on the throne of David." He satisfied himself with carrying on a defensive war, waited with patience for succours from the Low Countries, which had been long promised, and often foretold by their prophets; but he was a wilder enthusiast than

his predecessor, and of more unbounded ambition; he marched naked through the streets, declaring with a loud voice, "that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, that the highest should be brought low, and that the lowest should be exalted." To exemplify by practice this equalising theory, he caused every church in the city to be levelled with the ground, degraded the senators, and placed them in menial offices, and depriving Nipperdoling of his consulship, the highest post in the commonwealth, he appointed him to the lowest, that of common hangman.

Boccold wore a crown of gold on his head, and put on splendid apparel; a body of guards acompanied him when he appeared in public; a drawn sword, and an open Bible, on a cushion of velvet richly embroidered, were also carried before him; he coined money, assumed the state and pomp of royalty, and soon after married three wives, one of whom was the widow of Matthias, a woman of extraordinary beauty, who was dignified with the title of queen. Enthusiasm being generally accompanied with a proneness to sensuality, the new king of the Anabaptists, allured by female charms, or the love of variety, increased the number of his wives to eight, to twelve, and at last to fourteen; an example which the multitude was not backward in following, and under the specious deception of polygamy and divorce, they gave themselves up to an uncontrolled gratification of licentious passion; thus by a monstrous and almost incredible union, voluptuousness was grafted on religion, and dissolute pleasures accompanied the austerities of fanatical devotion.

In this form, and by such supports, their government had subsisted more than fifteen months, but their promised assistance from the Low Countries had been intercepted, the bishop's army gradually enclosed the town, cut off all communication with the adjacent country, and the besieged, notwithstanding the prudent management of their provisions, had the evils of famine added to the fatigues of military duty and working on the fortifications. But under the impulse of fanaticism, which imparts such wonderful strength to the human mind, they were not to be subdued, and submitted to the most shocking hardships and the vilest food, rather than listen to terms of capitulation, which were repeatedly offered; the least symptom of want of faith in the divinity of Boccold or the prophets, was punished with instant death; one of the king's wives, from the distresses of the inhabitants, having presumed to doubt the heavenly nature of his mission, was immediately beheaded by her husband. At length a deserter, in whom excessive hunger had cooled enthusiasm, made his escape; with an emaciated body and in a faint voice he petitioned for food, and having obtained a promise of pardon, pointed out to the besiegers a decayed and neglected part of the walls, by which a detachment passed in, one of the city gates was taken possession of, and the whole army soon after entered. The Anabaptists, though surprised, formed in the marketplace, and valiantly defended themselves; till surrounded, overpowered by numbers, and without a possibility of escape, the whole of them were cut to pieces, except Boccold, Nipperdoling, and a few others, who were loaded with chains, and exposed to the curiosity and derision of the principal cities of the empire. This extraordinary man, who

had acquired such dominion over the minds of his followers, and excited such dangerous commotions, was only twenty-six years of age, but did not appear humbled or dejected by this reverse of fortune; he adhered with unshaken firmness to his tenets, though he suffered the severest tortures that could be inflicted, and died without receding from them.

The kingdom of the Anabaptists was extinguished, but their principles had taken deep root in the Low Countries, where the sect still subsists under the name of Mennonites, which, notwithstanding its seditious and bloody origin, is altogether innocent and pacific: they hold it unlawful to wage war or to accept of civil offices, and devoting themselves to industry and charity, endeavour to compensate to mankind for the sanguinary violence of their founders.

ANDRE, JOHN, a major in the British army, of amiable manners and enterprising spirit, who, in the zeal of public duty, or from gratitude to his patron, the commander-in-chief, became the instrument of illicit intrigue with Arnold, a general officer in the American army, during the campaign of 1780. Being detected in this intercourse, which had for its object the possession of important posts, and the betraying a large colonial army, Arnold escaped on board the Vulture sloop of war, but the unhappy Englishman was imprisoned, and after the most powerful intercessions, suffered death.

This melancholy business powerfully interested the public mind, and deeply distressed a very worthy family; but how much soever we may lament the untimely catastrophe of a good young man, a dutiful son, and an affectionate brother, we are bound by the severe decrees of impartial justice to consider the punishment he suffered as strictly conformable to the laws of war. With clandestine views, and in a secret manner, he had introduced himself within the lines of an enemy: disguised in his dress, and assuming a feigned name, he was taken in the very act of conveying intelligence; he himself declared that it was impossible to suppose that he came on shore under the sanction of a flag; he was of course in every sense of the word a spy, and, with all his valuable qualities, certainly merited death. Had another agent in this unfortunate affair been sacrificed, few persons would have deplored his fate; could the rigid maxims of the military code have been somewhat relaxed, or the harsh mode of putting the young man to death have been altered or softened in its odious form, which mortified him more than the loss of life, the cause of America would not have been injured; and such humane conduct would have done credit to the finer feelings of the American generals, in which, by the voice of party malevolence or of truth, they are accused of having been grossly deficient.

Major Andrè indulged, when a boy, a strong passion for a military life; this turn was not encouraged by his family, who placed him with a merchant in the city: the following is part of a letter he wrote in this situation: "Instead of a merchant in snuff-coloured clothes, counting money, turning over bales, and accepting bills, I sometimes in a reverie fancy myself a Marlborough, mounted on my charger, and