"VESTRY [vestiare Fr., vestiarium, Lat.] a room appendant to the church, in which the sacerdotal garments and consecrated things are reposited." Johnson.

If the reader discovers a good deal of tortuousness (to use a mild term,) on the part of the church leaders, he must not be surprised. Persecutions for opinions' sake, are set on foot, either from hypocrisy, or from a defective, or perverted moral sense; in either of which cases, indirection, sinuosity, jesuitism, and even downright falsehood may be expected: And the hypocrisy is greater, the defect or perversion more palpable, and the consequences spoken of, therefore more sure, in persecutions for opinions' sake, in things manifestly indifferent or innocent. The desire for spiritual domination, baneful, cankering, corroding, and anti-christian, destroys in proportion to the strength of the passion, the finer feelings of the heart, and its possessor becomes an artificial monster, who will sometimes, like Paul, stand by consenting even unto murder, and verily believe he is doing God's service. The still small voice of God in the heart, is for the time unheard, or unheeded.

The reporter has had some doubt whether the cause of religion might not be injured by this disclosure. But the cause of truth cannot conflict with the cause of religion, and never will, until cant becomes piety, hypocrisy virtue, and the sincere errings of the fanatic, sacred.

CHAPTER I.

"Be not righteous overmuch." Ec. vii, 16.

"Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."

Matt. xxiii, 24. "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." Rev. xxii, 18.

"And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who come in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour." Gal. xi, 4, 5.

THE South parish congregational church in Augusta was originally established on liberal principles. It recognized no creed but the Bible, and allowed no spiritual interpreter to come between the conscience and its God. The attempt (always abortive, yet constantly made by narrow minded men who have never troubled themselves with looking into the history of their race) to produce uniformity of opinion in the most minute particulars, was never made by the high minded founders of this society: but all who loved the Lord Jesus in sincerity and desired to profess him before men, avouching Jehovah to be their God, were received into its bosom and embraced as brothers and sisters of the great household of faith.

What though they differed on the great and exciting topics of the day! What though they were dissimilar in their views of domestic economy-in the management of their children-in their mode of receiving and entertaining company! They were not thereby prevented from meeting in harmony around the table of their Lord.

That monastic rigor which, under the garb of superior sanctity, would denounce the innocent recreations of life, met with a constant rebuke from the pious and lamented DANIEL STONE, the former pastor of this church. Any attempts, also, to make religion consist

in any affected plainness of dress, by crying out "to what purpose is this waste," obtained no countenance from this excellent man.

Under his successor, the Rev. Benjamin Tappan, a new order of things was gradually introduced. Ultra in all his feelings and views, he soon gathered around him a clique of kindred sentiments; and there was commenced a regular encroachment upon that liberty wherewith Christ has made his followers free.

Committees of examination for candidates for admission were appointed, which cooperated in carrying out the views of the pastor; and none were admitted who did not come fully up to what he regarded as the fundamentals in theology; so that a system was silently in operation which eventuated in bringing into the church a majority of men and women who sympathized with the ultras in religious sentiment, and who, from the confidence they felt in the piety, good sense, and judgment of their minister, would be likely to adopt without much hesitation, any views of practical duty that he might suggest. True there were many exceptions to this class, but the number was insufficient to affect the result.

When sufficient strength was attained for the purpose, a proposition was brought forward to have appended to the covenant, a creed, drawn up to meet the views of the pastor, and those who acted with him: but this was strenuously opposed by the old patriarchs of the church, among the foremost of whom, were the lamented Judge BRIDGE and the Hon. NATHAN WESTON. The class which these gentlemen represented were generally sound in their theology, according to the orthodox interpretation of soundness; but they saw in the adoption of a strict creed the germ of farther demands, and they were unwilling that this church, originally Arminian, should, in their day, by the course proposed, subject itself to all the usages and customs of Calvinistic societies.

The opposition to this measure from a determined minority, induced the majority to defer it to a more convenient season, the more readily as by their committees

of examination, they were in possession of all the practical benefits which would have resulted from its adoption.

It is not our intention to trace every movement of the pastor and his friends. The length ultimately reached will sufficiently show the extent of the intermediate space. We will, however, give an incident or two, taken at random from many of the kind, to show how much the society had changed from days of yore, both in pastor and people.

For instance-a lady was remonstrated with by Mr. Tappan for allowing her daughter to wear a gold watch.

Again-a lady had decorated her bonnet with some foreign flowers, of rare beauty, sent to her by a far distant husband with the request that she would wear them. They attracted the attention of some superlatively pious person who could not bear to see a christian countenancing in this way "the vanities of the world." Perhaps it would be uncharitable to suppose that the impossibility of procuring similar ornaments, enhanced the guilt of the offender. The "cause of grief" was forthwith communicated to the pastor, who instead of rebuking the censorious spirit of the "aggrieved party," and telling her that she would better serve God by watching he own heart instead of scrutinizing the dresses of others called upon the "offender" for an explanation of he conduct. When told that the flowers were worn at th request of her husband, we believe he was satisfied What would have been her doom without this palliatio is uncertain.

Is it to be wondered at that personal liberty was in vaded in other respects?

Many members of the church had long been in the habit of having their children taught the accomplish ment of dancing, and of allowing the "young people' to enjoy at their houses a social dance on suitable oc casions. This was thought by Mr. Tappan and others to be a sore evil-a reproach to religion and to the church, which they were determined to remove.

Attempts were made to frown down the amusement, by branding those who allowed it as "pleasure loving