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back to Russia: as was his custom, all the imperial carriages and retinue preceded the Emperor by some hours; whilst he followed in a modest calêche, accompanied only by one servant. When he had passed the village some way, he asked what were those beautiful groves, and, hearing it was the Moravian settlement of Zeist, be turned back to see it. He had before visited the settlement at Herrnhut. He inspected all the brethren's shops and occupations, from the upper lofts to the underground work-rooms; and attentively observed all the arrangements. He then partook of a cold collation, which was prepared for him; and went to the chapel to hear Divine Service. As soon as the regular service was over, a little girl went up to him, to present him with a copy of verses, or anthem, in commemoration of his visit, and of the peace in which he had taken so great a part. Immediately, the full choir began, in which there are eighteen brethren, who play on various musical instruments, and as many sisters, who play on the violin and barp. Whilst the choir sang, he appeared deeply affect ed: but when they came to the last verse, ascribing all the honour to God, and declaring it was not to be ascribed to any earthly power, he knelt down most devoutly, and sang it aloud with them.

"On quitting Zeist, he most kindly took leave of the minister, pressing his hand, and saying, 'I never till my last hour shall forget those venerable silvery locks.' The minister terminated his eulogium of Alexander by saying, 'It was a sublime sight to see this man at the head of his army giving peace to Europe: it was a more sublime one to see him saving Paris but we all felt it was the most so of all, to behold this man, whom forty millions obey, and before whom the world is prostrate, kneel and become himself like a little child in humility and simplicity before his Maker."

The "Oriental Translation Committee" offer a premium of from 20 to 100 sovereigns to any person who can point out a translation in the Arabic, or any other Oriental language, of a lost Greek or Latin work, of which the Committee may be able to obtain a copy for translation.

Grotius wrote upon the walls of his prison the five tenses in Latin, as a sort of serious pun upon time and eternity: "Præsens, imperfectum; perfectum, plusquam-perfectum, futurum!"

Mr. Brodie has remarked, in one of his lectures, that an impression made on one part of the body often produces a nervous

affection elsewhere, at a distance from the original seat of the disease, and where no obvious explanation of the fact presents itself. Thus a disease in the liver produces a pain in the right shoulder; a disease in the heart produces a pain in the back. He added, that the late Dr. Wollaston once had a severe pain of the ankle, and lameness, apparently from indigestion by eating some iced-cream.

Among other valuable effects from the properties of chloride, it has been used with signal success on board infected vessels; and it is possible that it may be rendered so effectual as to supersede the necessity for performing quarantine, which to the parties concerned is always an inconvenient, irksome, expensive, and sometimes dangerous detention. In July last year the Spanish fleet destined for the invasion of Mexico, conveying a large number of soldiers, was overtaken in the Gulf of Mexico by a violent tempest, which continued for several days. The severity of the storm rendered it necessary to remove the windsails, and to close the ports, and to place on the hatches. In this condition of the ships, with such a crowd of persons confined together, in the middle of summer, within the tropics, without fresh air, putrid fevers and malignant dysenteries soon made their appear

ance.

The air is described as possessing, in addition to a highly offensive effluvium, an acrid heat, burning to the skin, with a degree of density that arrested respiration and produced giddiness. At this moment of distress and anxiety for the safety of all on board, vessels containing the chloride of lime, in solution with water, were suspended in various parts of the ship. In the space of two hours the atmosphere lost all its deleterious qualities, and became perfectly agreeable. The solutions were renewed every twenty-four hours; and during the whole of the campaign, which lasted three months and a half, the atmosphere was preserved in this pure state by the chloride, to which all the surgeons unite in attributing the very few instances of death that occurred in the fleet, when there existed such fruitful sources of fatal disorders.

Sir James Mackintosh, in his History of England, remarks as follows, respecting Magna Charta :-"The language of the Great Charter is simple, brief, general without being abstract, and expressed in terms of authority, not of argument, yet commonly so reasonable as to carry with it the intrinsic evidence of its own fitness. It was understood by the simplest of the

unlettered age for whom it was intended. It was remembered by them; and though they did not perceive the extensive consequences which might be derived from it, their feelings were, however unconsciously, exalted by its generality and grandeur. It was a peculiar advantage that the consequences of its principles were, if we may so speak, only discovered gradually and slowly. It gave out on each occasion only as much of the spirit of liberty and reformation as the circumstances of succeeding generations required, and as their character would safely bear. On the English nation its Charter has contributed to bestow the union of establishment with improvement. To all mankind it set the first example of the progress of a great people engaged for centuries in blending their tumultuary democracy and haughty nobility with a fluctuating and vaguely limited monarchy, so as at length to form from these discordant materials the only form of free government which experience had shewn to be reconcileable with widelyextended dominions. Whoever in any future age, or unborn nation, may admire the felicity of the expedient which converted the power of taxation into the shield of liberty, by which discretionary and secret imprisonment was rendered impracticable, and portions of the people were trained to exercise a larger share of judicial power than was ever allotted to them in any other civilized state, in such a manner as to secure, instead of endangering, public tranquillity ;—whoever exults at the spectacle of enlightened and independent assemblies, who, under the eye of a well-informed nation, discuss and determine the laws and policy likely to make communities great and happy ;-whoever is capable of comprehending all the effects of such institutions, with all their possible improvements, upon the mind and genius of a people, are sacredly bound to speak with reverential gratitude of the authors of the Great Charter."

Among the evidences for the canon of the Old Testament, there is a very remarkable one arising from the Jewish colonies settled in China and India about the Christian era, or even some centuries earlier. They all declare that they originally brought with them, and had preserved in manuscripts, which they regarded as of great value, the very same sacred books which they, in later times, found in the possession of their brethren in Europe and nothing appears from any other quarter in the least to invalidate their testimony. In the last century, the

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remains of a Jewish colony were discovered in China, which had been established in that empire about the year seventy-three after Christ, perhaps even three hundred years earlier. Seven hundred families of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, who had escaped from the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, made their way overland to China, and there either founded or reinforced the colony in question. Seventeen centuries of persecution, massacre, or apostasy, have reduced them to a very small number. They are now found only at Kai-zong-fu, one hundred and fifty miles from Pekin, and amount to six hundred persons. They had taken with them their Scriptures, and had preserved them for eight hundred years; but, at the end of that period, a fire destroyed their synagogue and their manuscripts. To repair the loss, they obtained a copy of the Pentateuch, which' had belonged to a Jew who had died at Canton. Not only the synagogue, but private persons, possessed transcripts of this manuscript. But, what is extremely remarkable, and highly important to us, is, that, besides the Pentateuch, they preserve different portions of the remaining parts of the Old Testament, which they say they saved from a fire in the twelfth century, and an inundation of the river Hoango, A.D. 1446. With these fragments they have formed a supplement to the law, divided into two parts. The first contains small portions of Joshua and Judges, the four books of Samuel and Kings complete, and the Psalms. The second contains some portions of Chronicles, Nehemiah and Esther almost complete, of Isaiah and Jeremiah the whole within a little, and of Daniel, and seven out of the twelve Minor Prophets, some fragments.

The following was lately stated to be a correct list of the number of Jesuits in England, Ireland and Wales.-Cumberland, 1; Dorset, 2; Essex, 2; Hants, 2; Hereford, 1; Lancashire (Stonyhurst and thereabouts), 92; Lincoln, 2; Middlesex, 5; Monmouth,1; Northumberland, 1 ; Norwich, 1; Oxford, 1; Somerset, I; Suffolk, 1; Wilts, 1; Worcester, 2; York, 3: Flint, 1; County of Kildare (Clongowes), 45; King's County (Tullabeg), 10; County of Dublin,2; Dublin City, 1.—Grand total in England, Ireland, and Wales, 178.

Mr. Bicheno, in a recent work entitled "Ireland and its Economy," puts forth the opinion that the attempt to convert Ireland to Protestantism is most impolitic; for that such a conversion would weaken

the attachment of the people to those hereditary "attachments and prejudices which influence uneducated persons; and which he considers essential to their moral and political restraint. "The scheme of conversion," he says, "which is going on, is one which proposes to loosen all those ties, and to place the religion, the morality, and the loyalty of the common people on a reasonable foundation." 66 But, taking the aggregate of the Irish nation, the bulk of which is composed of persons without reflection, slaves to their affections and passions, and unsteady and wavering in their feelings, to a proverb, I think no prudent statesman would be willing to loosen the ties that now bind them together, with the chance of planting in their rude minds a purer system of faith."-This argument is frequently heard in conversation, but we have not often seen it thus boldly put forward in print. We are persuaded, however, that it influences much of the opposition that is made, by too many persons, to every plan for the Scriptural education and "conversion of Irish Roman Catholics. It is doubly incumbent on Christians, therefore, to shew, both by argument and fact, the folly and untruth of this anti-religious doctrine; a doctrine which makes Christianity useful only to keep the populace in good order; and even this good order is not to be built upon a reasonable foundation," but upon mere "prejudice." Can any thing be more unwise and unstatesmanlike, as well as unchristian and anti-protestant, than a despotism like this?-a despotism which, wherever it is acted upon, must in the end subvert itself, and, in place of peace and loyalty, lead to discontent and revolution? Will the "Irish nation" bear to be told that they are to be kept the slaves of ignorance, that they may be the more loyal; and that they are to be the devotees of a religion which rests upon no reasonable foundation," that they may be the more Christian? Are Spain, and Portugal, and Italy, which are thus prudently managed, more secure and happy than Great Britain?

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Mr. Mason, the Secretary of the Irish Society, is publishing a grammar of the Irish language. This dialect, we believe, is not remarkable for its intrinsic excellence, or for the works that enrich it; but it is widely spoken, and by great numbers of persons who know no other, or willingly speak no other, tongue; we rejoice, therefore, that the sacred Scrip tures, and also our Book of Common

Prayer, and some useful tracts, are now circulated in it, and that the Irish clergy are turning their attention to its cultivation, for the benefit of their flocks. Mr. Mason's assistance, therefore, is highly useful and well-timed.

GERMANY.

The family of M. Rothschild, whose financial transactions were never equalled by any one family in any age or country, are the sons of a banker and dealer in ancient coins, and afterwards a loancontractor, at Frankfort. He was a Jew, and it was chiefly in consequence of his character and influence that the Grand Duke conferred upon the Jews the full enjoyment of civil and political privileges. He died in 1812; urging his five sons to live in inviolable unity and affection, which they are stated to have done, all being connected in one common European firm, the several members of which reside respectively at Frankfort, Vienna, London, Naples, and Paris.

UNITED STATES.

It is surprising to us, that, so long after the excellent example of England, the American legislature has not abolished lotteries. In the mean time individuals and religious bodies are protesting against them, and we doubt not that before long the eyes of the nation will be opened to the enormity of the evil. What shall we despair of, when we learn that the populace of Paris have put down public gambling, which the late government of France upheld, and our own government, we lament to say, take no steps to abolish, though it protrudes into the very vicinity of our most fashionable abodes, and might, we fully believe, without any improper or unconstitutional stretch of power, be promptly and effectually suppressed? We are led to the above remarks by a series of excellent recent resolutions of theGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, denouncing lotteries as "legalized gambling," and urging the duty of suppressing them.

A Society is formed at Washington, the object of which is "to afford to Persons of Colour, destined to Africa, such an education, in letters, agriculture, and the mechanic arts, as may best qualify them for usefulness and influence." The object is closely connected with the plans of the American Colonization Society.

The Governor of Connecticut states, in his message to the legislature, that the sum disbursed from the public treasury in the last year, for the support of schools, amounts to more than double the sum

collected within the same period in every form of state taxation.

The present number of Unitarian Congregational Societies in the United States is about 182, of which 149 are supplied with ministers. Of these, 150 societies and 127 ministers are in Massachusetts.

Several large donations have been made to the American Tract Society, towards stereotyping the Pilgrim's Progress.

The New-York revised statutes require that a roller, instead of a square edge, shall be used in striking grain measured in a half bushel or other measure. It is stated to have been ascertained that a square edge will draw off a pint or more of corn below the even surface, while the round one makes it exactly level.

An American physician remarks:"I have been a professor in this university twenty-three years, and can say, as a physician, that I never observed so many pallid faces, and so many marks of declining health; nor ever knew so many hectical habits and consumptive affections, as of late years; and I trace this alarming inroad on your young constitutions principally to the pernicious custom of smoking cigars. I am convinced that smoking injures, ultimately, the hearing, smell, taste, and teeth."

The Ohio State Bulletin says, that good board and lodgings may be obtained for fifty students in respectable families at Athens, the seat of Ohio College, for one dollar a week.

The following, among other facts, have been attested, in reply to the arguments of those who think that it is unconstitutional

for the government and legislature of the United States to give their countenance to Christianity, lest they should hurt the conscience of those who make it a conscience to reject it. So long back as the pear 1777, Congress appointed a committee to confer with a printer, with the view of striking off 30,000 Bibles at the public expense; but it being difficult to obtain paper and types, the committee of commerce were ordered to import 20,000 Bibles; and they give as a reason, that "its use is so universal, and its importance so great." In the year 1780, Congress appointed committees to attend to printing an edition of the Bible in Philadelphia; and voted, that they "highly approve the pious and laubable undertaking, as subservient to the interests of religion; and recommend this edition of the Bible to the people of the United States." In eight successive years Congress voted and kept. sixteen national fasts and thanksgivings, On the committee who reported these bills were such men as Livingston, Lee, Sherman, Jay, Boudinot, and Madison. Some of these men signed the Declaration of Independence, and most of them were engaged in framing the constitution, and knew its true spirit. The anti-religious party, in their zeal for liberty, wish to be more American than the Americans; and yet they see no hardship or breach of liberty in driving the mails and keeping open the post-offices on Sundays, by which persons of religious feeling, concerned in this department of the public service, must either violate their consciences or quit their employment.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Discourses on the Millennium. By the Rev. M. Russel, LL.D.

"The Nature of the Christian Sabbath;" a Sermon. By the Rev. C. S. Hawtrey. 6d.

"The Law of the Sabbath;" a Sermon. By the Rev. H. Smith. Is. 6d.

Scripture Sketches, with other Poems. By the Rev. T. Greenwood. 5s. Thoughts on Education. By W.

Johnson.

The Evidences of the Christian Religion. By the Rev. A. Alexander, D.D. 2s. 6d.

The Great Mystery of Godliness incontrovertible; or Sir Isaac Newton and the Socinians foiled in the Attempt to prove Corruption in the Text 1 Tim. iii 16. By the Rev. E. Henderson, D.D. 8vo. 3s. 6d.

The Moral Muse. By Emma. 12mo. A Letter to the Rev. E. Irving. By the Rev. J. Duncan.

"The Christian Messenger;" a Sermon. By the Rev. J. Temple. 1s. 6d. Correspondence respecting the Lord's Day. By the Rev. H. Smith. 6d.

A Charge delivered at an Ordination. By the Rev. J. Leifchild. Is.

'Devotional Sonnets. By a Member of the Church of England. 4s.

"Outlines of History." Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia.

Sermons, occasioned by the Death of his late Majesty: by the Rev. R. Ainslie; the Rev. Č. S. Hawtrey; the Rev. H. Blunt; the Rev. R. C. Dillon; and the Rev. J. Morison.

1830.]

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

517

STATE OF RELIGION IN FRANCE. refined ear; how few preachers can they listen to how few sermons are profound enough to instruct them, or striking enough to interest them! The very name of a sermon displeases them; it is in disgrace ;-a circumstance so strongly felt by Mr. Irving, the only preacher who has shared the renown of Dr. Chalmers, that, as he could not change the thing, he changed the name, and published four sermons under the whimsical title of Orations for the Oracles of God. Another ancient word which has slipped from the vocabulary of these pretended believers, is edification. They know not practically what it is, and have therefore invented a form of worship more worthy of their superior intelligence. They keep apart from the multitude, and soar above them; like Moses, they go to the top of a mountain to worship, and hide themselves in the clouds from vulgar inspection-but with this difference, that God did not send them there."

IN the Revue Protestante for April last
there is a dissertation on the state of re-
ligion in France, from which we translate
the following passage, which may be not
uninstructive at the present moment. The
reader must bear in mind that the Revue
Protestante is Neologian in its principles.
"I speak it with deep regret, that, if we
except the Reformed church, Christianity
seems to me to have lost far more ground
than it has gained in France during the
last fifteen or twenty years.
The proofs
of this decline are visible on every side;
in the numerous editions of Voltaire and
Rousseau, which are bought up by tens
of thousands of subscribers; in the avi-
dity with which every thing is caught at
that may throw ridicule or contempt on
the ministers of religion; in the popu-
larity of profane songs; in the opposi-
tion to the religious instruction of chil-
dren; in the sympathy shewn to persons
accused of impiety; and, finally, in the
writings of your religious philosophers,
who call themselves defenders of Chris-
tianity, but who seem to fear being sus-
pected of faith or piety, and excuse their
belief under the plea of the morality of
the Gospel."

Another writer, in the same Number of
the Revuc, gives a mournful account of
some who call themselves Protestants.
"Too many," he says, " immersed in
worldly pursuits, do not allow themselves
time to be religious, or to make a religious
profession. They have no Sunday; they
know that once a week the public offices,
and courts of justice, and exchanges, are
shut; but they are not aware that the
churches are open. These men love to
live, and they forget that this life ceases
at death, and re-commences with eternity.
to both
"Another excuse, common
classes of our anonymous Protestants,
springs from pride. They have conceived
a sort of disdain for that mode of worship
which in theory they praise for its simpli-
city. The homeliness of our beautiful
liturgical prayers shocks their refinement;
the old-fashioned style of our psalter
revolts their classical feelings; they do
not like to praise God in such bad taste;
our superannuated melodies wound their
CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 344.

Much of this description, and similar descriptions, would apply to individuals of almost any body of professed Christians; but we fear that it has been but too strikingly applicable to the modern Reformed church of France. We speak it in grief, and shall rejoice to witness the extension of that spiritual revival which has already commenced. Only, will the conductors of the Revue, and all those of the same school who mourn over the admitted religious depression of their church, allow us to add, that the so-called rationalism which they advocate will never elevate it to the true scriptural standard either of faith or morals? There needs a more glowing coal from a more hallowed altar, to touch both the lips of the priest and the hearts of the people, ere French Protestantism shall again become "a praise in the whole earth."

The question respecting the Apocrypha is exciting much attention in the Protestant churches of France, and we firmly hope, will ultimately lead to the rejection of that pseudo-revelation. A minister in the department of Deux-Sevres, himself a zealous friend to the Apocrypha, writes: "A division has unhappily arisen among us on this subject. M. D. has withdrawn from his colleagues, urging that we ought 3 X

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