I feel more joy and assurance in my heavenly calling; it is a blessed thing not to see and yet believe. The Lord has given me an evident blessing among our German brethren, many of whose hearts he has opened. Pray for me that I may grow in faith, and continue steadfast to the end; and not become slothful, careless, or lukewarm. I have now been a year at this place, without a passport. I am not looked upon as a mere servant to a Tartar, or I should have received a passport. My manner of life awakens attention, but I am easy. Prince G-, and General I-, told me I might stay, as they would answer for me. How ever, if I should be removed, I shall go where the Lord leads me, and I am happy every where.

Be not uneasy respecting what you hear from Russia; many important events are occurring in this empire, even within my own experience. Almost insurmountable obstacles are to be overcome by a Christian among Musselmen. No idea can be formed by a person who has but a superficial acquaintance with the doctrines of Islamism, of the fanaticism, Ignorance, and pride, as well as peculiar manners of the Tartars. However, I have reason to bless the Lord, that I have been so successful, and live so peacefully.

I should soon have left Ali and gone to

live with another Tartar, if he had not altered his conduct towards his wife Tasche, whom he used to beat cruelly. I remonstrated and reasoned, but he told me that the Koran commanded the men to

beat their wives; and that he had bought his wife. I endeavoured to give him correct ideas on the subject, but in vain. I then declared that I would not stay with him if he treated his wife so barbarously. At his request, however, 1 have remained till now, and he has not beat his wife since our conversation. My health is excellent, notwithstanding my diet consists of the flesh of dead or diseased horses. Labour sweetens every thing, and gives an appetite even to the most disgusting viands. A person must be exposed to the cold and wet, and have slept in both, before he can enjoy the miserable abodes of the Tartars; and yet, it would give me great pain to see any of my dear relations or friends in such a situation, among this people, in a barren wild, where frequently, during the burning heat and severe labour, not a drop of good water is to be had.

A violent storm lately raged in this district; many houses, even whole villages, were blown down in the old settle ment. The misery this has occasioned is

very great; many families are without a shelter. The hurricane extended to the Dnieper, into which whole herds of cattle were swept by the violence of the tempest, and even the shepherds were drowned. Waggons laden with corn were overturned, and the corn scattered before the wind.

I am now acquainted with the most familiar things in the Tartar language; and shall proceed to acquire a sufficient knowledge of religious terms in order to speak to them soon about the Saviour, which I greatly long to do; for what is every thing on earth to compare with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord? Nothing appears to me more delightful than this truth, that God loveth sinners, and me who am a sinner also. But we must be assured of being freed from sin in Christ, and feel the powerful influence of the divine love within us. We must resign our lives to him, else we cannot find true life in him. Every day I feel more satisfied with my condition, for I am in my Father's house and service.

AMERICA.

THE Boston Recorder for March, 1824, contains the following summary of intelligence on the subject of "revivals of religion" in the United States. Have accounts of this nature obtained as much attention in Britain as they ought?

AFTER a careful examination of the papers, from Sept. 1822, to Sept. 1823, for the purpose of ascertaining the number' of revivals reported in that period, results have been published, by which it appears, that more than 400 revivals, in which the number of hopeful converts exceeded 27,000, were reported. This is probably a greater number of revivals than the American churches have known in any preceding year. In the Presbyterian church in 1815, there were only three revivals. From this small number there was a regular and rapid increase till the last year, when there were 98. We have not the means of ascertaining that there has been the same, or a similar progress in the other denominations, But we do not recollect that we have ever before been cheered with the intelligence of so many hundred revivals, and so many thousand converts in a single year. The prayer, that converts may be multiplied as the drops of morning dew, seems to be answered.

At the present time, there are revivals of religion in several Baptist Societies in Maine. A letter from the Rev. Mr. Ripley, of Portland, mentions particularly those in Nobleboro', Jefferson, and Sidney. The number who have been admitted to the churches, and who are expect ed soon to be admitted in these places, exceeds an hundred.

The revivals in New Hampshire and Vermont, of which we find an account published in the month of February, are those in Burke, (Verm.) and Leinster, (N. H.) There is a striking contrast in the intelligence from these states, in re lation to revivals at the present time, and at some preceding periods.

In Massachusetts there are revivals in Cambridgeport, near Boston; and in Carver. In the former place it is in the Baptist Society, and is spoken of as a very interesting work; in the latter, it is hoped about 50 are recently converted, and the revivals appear to be extending to some of the societies in the vicinity. No particular intelligence has been published concerning the revivals in Cohasset, Hingham, and Scituate; but they have been spoken of as exhibiting, in a remarkable manner, the power of God; for they advanced against great opposition. There is not in Massachusetts, at the present time, any thing resembling the revivals of former years, when numerous churches in the vicinity of each other, were, at the same time, visited and refreshed by the presence of the Spirit of God.

In Connecticut, there are revivals in Colchester, Lyme, Millington, East Haddam, and in the State's Prison. In Colchester the revival extends to the different denominations, and has been of great power. In the State's Prison, several convicts give evidence of penitence, and others are anxious to secure their salvation. A letter from the Rev. Mr. Nettleton, published within a few weeks, states,

that about twenty towns, within the last eighteen months, in the vicinity of Bolton, in the eastern part of Connecticut, have shared in the gracious influences of the Divine Spirit. In these towns more than 1300 are hopeful converts, of whom 800 have been added to the church.

In New York, there are revivals in Northumberland, Moreau, Sandy Hill, Glenn's Falls, Lenox, and in Dr. Macauley's Society, in New York city. The revival which commenced in Moreau and Northumberland (where about 70 have been added to the church,) has been greatly promoted by Union Prayer-meetings of neighbouring churches. The revival in Dr. Macauley's Society, in New York city, commenced soon after his removal from Schenectady, and has continued from that time to the present. More than 200 persons have been added to the church, of whom 98 are heads of families.

In Sidney and Bridgetown, N. J.; in the Methodist Society in Wilmington, Del.; in several Baptist churches in the vicinity of Orange, Virg. and at Taloney, among the Cherokee Indians, there are revivals. At Taloney, nine Cherokees and one white person have been admitted to the church.

A letter from Edgefield District, South Carolina, states that one minister alone in three churches, has baptized 250 persons in two years, and that there are revivals in several of the churches in that region at the present time.

In Illinois and Missouri, a letter from Rev. J. M. Peck states, the prospects of religion are more favourable than they have been for six months past. In the county of Boon's Lick, Missouri, an extensive revival of religion has existed for more than a year. Upwards of 500 have been added to the churches. In several settlements in Illinois also, the spirit of serious inquiry is increasing.

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770

OUR last number contained a short extract from the recently discovered "Treatise on Christian Doctrine," written in the Latin language by our great poet, Milton, and published by His Majesty's command. It will probably gratify many of our readers, if we briefly state the manner in which this interesting work was brought to light, and is now presented to the world. Robert Lemon, Sen. Esq. of the State Paper Office, had the honour of discovering Milton's manuscript. It was found, with several other important documents, loosely wrapped in an envelope, addressed to Mr. Cyriack Skinner, who, it is well known, was the intimate friend of the poet. It is a small quarto, of 735 pages, fairly written: Mary, Milton's second daughter, and Ed. ward Philipps, his nephew, it is supposed, were the amanuenses employed in preparing it.

When His Majesty was informed of the discovery, he immediately directed the publication of the work, and committed the translation of it to the Rev. C. R. Sumner, M.A. the Royal Librarian and Historiographer, under whose superintendance the book has issued from the press in a truly splendid form. Two editions are published, one containing the original Latin, and the other the translation by Mr.

Sumner.

That the work is really the production of Milton, none can reason

VOL. XVII.

ably doubt. His biographers knew that such a treatise had been written, but supposed it was lost: it was probably seized and detained, with other papers of Skinner's, during the troublous times of Charles II. The internal evidence, arising from the similarity in style and sentiment to the poet's published works, is remarkably clear: Mr. Sumner has taken considerable pains in the selection of passages from the author's former treatises, illustrative of this resemblance.

The treatise is divided into two parts, of which the first relates to the "Knowledge of God," and the second, to the "Service of God." Under these heads is comprised an examination of almost every subject usually discussed in systems of divinity.

The size and price of the work* will necessarily prevent many of our readers from enjoying the pleasure of perusing it. We intend, therefore, to furnish them with an analysis of its contents, and to extract those passages which express the sentiments entertained by the illustrious author on some of the most important points of faith and practice.

The present paper will consist of extracts from the Preface:

"JOHN MILTON, to all the churches of Christ, and to all who profess the Christian faith through

Large Quarto, £2 10s.
20

out the world-peace, and the recognition of the truth, and eternal salvation, in God the Father, and in our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Since the commencement of the last century, when religion began to be restored from the corruptions of more than thirteen hundred years to something of its original purity, many treatises of theology have been published, conducted according to sounder principles; wherein the chief heads of Christian doctrine are set forth, sometimes briefly, sometimes in a more enlarged and methodical order. I think myself obliged, therefore, to declare in the first instance why, if any works have already appeared as perfect as the nature of the subject will admit, I have not remained contented with them—or, if all my predecessors have treated it unsuccessfully, why their failure has not deterred me from attempting an undertaking of a similar kind.

"If I were to say that I had devoted myself to the study of the Christian religion because nothing else can so effectually rescue the lives and minds of men from those two detestable curses, slavery and superstition; I should seem to have acted rather from a regard to my highest earthly comforts, than from a religious motive.

"But since it is only to the individual faith of each that the Deity has opened the way of eternal salvation, and as he requires, that he who would be saved should have a personal belief of his own, I resolved not to repose on the faith or judgment of others in matters relating to God; but on the one hand, having taken the grounds of my faith from divine revelation alone, and on the other, having neglected nothing which depended on my own industry, I thought it fit to scrutinize and ascertain for myself the several points of my religious belief, by the

most careful perusal and meditation of the Holy Scriptures themselves.

"If therefore I mention what has proved beneficial in my own practice, it is in the hope that others, who have a similar wish of improving themselves, may be thereby invited to pursue the same method. I entered upon an assiduous course of study in my youth, beginning with the books of the Old and New Testaments in their original languages, and going diligently through a few of the shorter systems of divines, in imitation of whom I was in the habit of classing under certain heads, whatever passages of scripture occurred for extraction, to be made use of hereafter as occasion might require. At length I resorted, with increased confidence, to some of the more copious theological treatises, and to the examination of the arguments advanced by the conflicting parties respecting certain disputed points of faith. But, to speak the truth with freedom as well as candour, I was concerned to discover, in many instances, adverse reasonings either evaded by wretched shifts, or attempted to be refuted, rather spe ciously than with solidity, by an affected display of formal sophisms, or by a constant recourse to the quibbles of the grammarians; while what was most pertinaciously es poused as the true doctrine, seemed often defended, with more vehemence than strength of argument, by misconstructions of scripture, or by the hasty deduction of erroneous infer ences. Owing to these causes, the truth was sometimes as strenuously opposed as if it had been an error or an heresy-while errors and heresies were substituted for the truth, and valued rather from de ference to custom and the spirit of party, than from the authority of scripture.

According to my judgment,