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and the tendency of its movements at the present time.

In the press-Thoughts on the Police of England;-Travels in Greece; by Dr. Bronsted;-A Tale of Paraguay; by R. Southey;-Capt. Lyon's Attempt to reach Repulse Bay-On the Advancement of Society in Science, Civilization, and Religion; by J. Douglas.

Oxford. The following subjects are proposed for the Chancellor's Prizes, for the ensuing year:-Latin Verses: "Incendium Londinense anno 1666."English Essay: "Language, in its copiousness and structure, considered as a test of national civilization.” Latin Essay: "De Tribuniciâ apud Romanos potestate."-Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize, for English Verse, not containing more or fewer than fifty lines: "The Temple of Vesta at Tivoli."

Cambridge. Sir William Browne's Gold Medals. The subjects for the present year are-Greek Ode: 'Asp ipar яãox yŵ Tápos.—Latin Ode: Academia Cantabrigiensis tot novis ædificiis ornata. -Greek Epigram: Пspiccoì mávtes oi'v μow λoyo-Latin Epigram: Summum jus, summa injuria. Porson Pirze: Shakespeare, King John, Act vi. Scene ii. "How oft the sight of means," to " an innocent child."-The following will be the subjects of examination in the last week of the Lent Term, 1826:-1. The Gospel of St. Matthew. 2. Paley's Evidences of Christianity. 3. The First

Book of Herodotus. 4. The Fourth Book of Virgil's Georgics.

The Royal Society of Literature has resumed its meetings. A number of new members have been proposed; and several important works, presented by public bodies and individuals, been added to the library. At the last ordinary meeting, the papers read were-by Mr. Faber, on the ancient Mexicans; and by Mr. Tytler, on the introduction of Greek literature into England after the dark ages.

Professor Buckland has published a letter relative to the cave lately discovered at Banwell, Somerset. The Professor states the thickness of the mass of sand, mud, and limestone, through which the bones, horns, and teeth are dispersed, to be in one place nearly forty feet. He adds" Many large baskets full of bones have already been extracted, belonging to the ox and their tribes: of the latter there are several varieties, including the elk. There are also a few portions of the skeleton of the wolf, and of a gigantic bear. The bones are mostly in a state of pre

servation equal to that of common gravebones; but it is clear, from the fact of some of them belonging to the great ex-> tinct species of the bear, that they are of an antediluvian origin."

An Egyptian mummy was lately unwrapped at the Bristol Institution. The case, which was covered with hieroglyphics, exhibited rather the copper-coloured countenance of a Nubian, than the expanded forehead and wide eye-sockets of an Ethiopian. The upper part of the shell being removed, there arose a peculiar, but not unpleasant odour. The skin was blackened, and the neck and one of the hands had been attacked by insects; in other respects, the specimen was very perfect. It was the body of a female. The hair of the head was perfect, of a brownish auburn colour, short, but not at all wearing the character of a. Negro's. The heart, lungs, and intestines were in high preservation.

The number of members of the Mechanics' Institution, who have paid up their subscriptions, is stated in the last quarterly report to be about 750; and on the 2d of December, being the anniversary of its formation, the first stone of a building for a Theatre and Lecture-room, in Southampton-buildings, was laid by Dr. Birkbeck, the president.

The boiling heats of saturated solu tions of thirty-four of the most important saline bodies, have been determined by Mr. T. Griffiths, with the per-centage of dry salt in most of them. The following are a specimen.

Boiling Point, Dry Salt in
Farnh.
100 parts,

Name of Salt.
Acetate of soda256°.
Muriate of soda 224
Sulphate of magnesia 222
Alum...
Sulphate of iron
Sulphate of soda 21331.5

220 216

60

30

57.5

52

61

The first and last of the salts here men tioned are also the extremes as to temperal ture.

When Sir Christopher Wren was building St. Paul's Cathedral, he caused to be affixed to several parts of the structure the following notice, which would be very appropriate for imitation or adoption in all cases of church-building :-" Whereas, among labourers and others that ungodly custom of swearing is too frequently heard, to the dishonour of God and con tempt of authority; and, to the end that such impiety may be utterly banished from these works, which are intended for the service of God and the honour of religion, it is ordered, that profane swearing shall

be a sufficient crime to dismiss any labourer that comes to the call; and the clerk of the works, upon sufficient proof, shall dismiss them accordingly: and that if any master, working by task, shall not, upon admonition, reform the profanation among his apprentices, servants, and labourers, it shall be construed his fault, and he shall be liable to be censured by the Commissioners."

FRANCE.

The depth of water produced by dew, at Vivieres in the department of Ardeche in France, during the year 1823, has been carefully ascertained by M. Flaugergues. On 125 mornings appreciable quantities of dew fell, which nevertheless amounted to only 242 French inches, or the 1-152-5th part of the depth of rain which fell there (on 132 days) during the year, and amounted to 36-90 inches. The least depth of dew in March was 059 of a line, and the greatest in October 749 of a line: the fewest dewy mornings were, two in January; and the most, nineteen in October. CHINA.

A singular proclamation issued by the Foo-yuen, or Sub-Viceroy of Canton, December 28, 1822, translated by Dr. Morrison, exhibits the character of his Excellency Ching in a very flattering light. The objects of this proclamation are stated in eight words: Encourage Industry, Establish Education, Praise Virtue, Repress Vice. The proclamation is introduced by the following declaration :

I

"Ancient rulers (says the Foo-yuen) thought that, if one man was unreclaimed, it must be some fault in the ruler. commenced life (adds he) as a Che-heen magistrate, and in Canton province I served twenty years. I was removed to Shantung and to Honan; and now I am placed here in the situation of Foo-yuen, bearing also the office of Censor-general, General Adviser of his Imperial Majesty, and a Captain empowered to call forth the army

of Canton. Music and women; goods and gains; revelry and avarice have no charms for me. My only, constant, unremitted, heedful, anxious desire (which I dare not decline to cherish) is, that I may look on national affairs as if they were my domestic affairs, and the affairs of the poor people as if they were my own personal affairs.'

says,

TARTARY.

Mr. Moorcroft, in a letter from Tartary, "The novelties which have already met my view in natural history are so great, as to invite the introduction of details that would swell a letter to a volume." One example is the Ladakh sheep. "This animal," says he, " at full growth, is scarcely so large as a South-Down lamb of five or six months: yet in the fineness and weight of its fleece, the flavour of its flesh, and the peculiarities of its constitution, it is inferior to no race. It is as completely domiciliated as a British dog. In the night it shelters in a walled yard, or únder its master's roof; in the day it feeds often on a surface of granite rock, where cursory observation can scarcely discover a speck of vegetation. If permitted, it will pick up crumbs, drink salted and buttered tea or broth, or nibble a cleanly picked bone. It gives two lambs within twelve months, and is twice shorn within that period. A British cottager might keep three of these sheep with more ease than he now supports a cur dog; as they would live luxuriantly in the day on the stripes of grass which border the roads, and by keeping clean hedge-bottoms." Mr. Moorcroft has procured some of them with a view to import them into Britain. The letter contains likewise a notice of a nondescript wild variety of horse, which he thinks might be domesticated for the use of the small farmer and poor in Britain. It is about fourteen hands high, of a round mus cular form, with remarkably clean limbs.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

Three Letters addressed to the Rev. Fred. Nolan, on his miscriticism relative to 1 John v. 7; with strictures on the vindication of the same passage by the Bishop of St. David's. By the Rev. J. Oxlee.

Fashionable Amusements the Bane of Youth, a Sermon. By the Rev. J. Morrison.

Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a Picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the Advent of our Saviour; from the German of Strauss. 2 vols. 16s.

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 277.

Bunyan explained to a Child. Part II. with about 50 engravings. By the Rev. Isaac Taylor. 4s. half-bound.

A Reply to the Second Postscript to Palæoromaica. By the Rev. W. G. Broughton. 2s.

The Sabbath Remembrancer, &c. &c. with 52 wood cuts. By the Rev. A. Fletcher. 1 vol. 12mo. 5s. bound. Vol. II. The Evangelical Rambler.

3s. 6d.

Twenty-two Discourses on various Subjects. By the Rev. B. S. Claxson, M. A. I

A Letter, in Reply to the Animadversions in the Quarterly Review, on a Work entitled "Divine Influence.' "By the Rev. T. T. Biddulph. Literæ Sacræ; or, Moral Philosophy and Christianity compared. 8vo.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cole's Bibliographical Tour. 8vo. 8s. and 12s.

Memoirs of the Life of John Law, of Lauriston. By J. H. Wood, Esq. 12mo.

6s.

An Introduction to the Metres of the Greek Tragedians. By a Member of the University of Oxford. 8vo. 3s.

The Cambrian Plutarch. By J. H. Parry. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Mounteney's Inquiry relative to the Emperor Napoleon. 8vo. 16s.

My Children's Diary; or, Moral of the Passing Hour. 6s. 6d.

R. Baynes's Catalogue of Books. 8vo. Compendium of the History of Ireland. By J. Lawless. 24s.

Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe, from the Peace of Utrecht. 4to. 21. 10s.

Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late Rev. E. Williams, D. D. By J. Gilbert. 8vo. 14s.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN THE
WEST INDIES.

WE feel great pleasure in inserting the
following proposal for the establishment
of a separate fund for the Moravian Mis-
sions in the West Indies. We need add
nothing to the circular, except our earnest
wishes and prayers for the success of the
object, and our gratitude to God that the
unhappy condition of the Black and Co-
loured population of our Slave Colonies is
beginning at length more adequately to
awaken the sympathies of our fellow-
Christians of all denominations. Our own
church, in particular, will, we trust, before
long, take a far more prominent part in
this work of Christian mercy than she has
hitherto done. There is ample scope for
her exertions, and the most encouraging
prospects of success to call them forth,
The circular is as follows:-
:

"Some considerations have lately presented themselves, connected with the Missions of the United Brethren, in the West Indies, which the Committee of the London Association in aid of the Brethren's Missions think themselves called upon to bring, in an especial manner, before the notice of the Christian public.

"The Brethren have long observed with gratitude the general disposition which appears to prevail among the heathen, in the vicinity of their various settlements, to seek after and receive the Gospel. This disposition has been manifested in a remarkable manner among the Negro Slaves in the West-India islands; and there appear to be, at present, some peculiar facilities for cultivating it with success in that quarter.

“Notwithstanding the unfavourable

feeling which unfortunately prevails in some of the islands, many of the colonial governments and of the proprietors of estates, have shewn themselves much disposed to countenance, and even to invite, the exertions of the Brethren, who have been domiciled among them, as a Protestant Episcopal Church, for nearly a century past, having no less than 28,000 Negroes under constant instruction, and the beneficial effect of whose efforts they have experienced in the improved character and conduct of their slaves. From several of these proprietors offers have been received of land for new settlements, and of other assistance in forming them. Though the Brethren will not attempt the establishment of new stations, with.. out invitation or consent from the owners or superintendants of adjoining estates, yet, where invitations are received, they are anxious to avail themselves of such openings for the further extension of the Gospel. But the present embarrassed state of the islands renders it impossible to obtain in them an adequate supply for the erection of chapels, and other necessary buildings it is only, therefore, by the aid of their friends in Great Britain that the Brethren can hope to accomplish the objects which they have so much at heart.

"In some islands there is required more adequate accommodation for the increasing congregations in their present settlements, and greater facilities for affording Christian education to Negro children; a branch of their labours from which they anticipate the happiest effects, in ameliorating the character of the rising slave population, and therein of promoting the best interests of the colonies.

"Two objects connected with the foregoing views especially claim attention at the present time.

"At Lenox, in the parish of Westmoreland in Jamaica, a grant of land has been offered, accompanied by an urgent invitation to the Brethren to establish a new station there and not only the gentleman who has made this offer but other neighbouring proprietors are willing to supply such materials for requisite buildings as the country affords. It is calculated that, around this spot, there are from 3000 to 4000 Negroes (besides others) who will thus be brought within the reach of the Gospel, and who are at present removed to a distance of above twenty miles from the parish church, and twentyfive or thirty miles from any other missionary station. Thus destitute of the ordinances of religion, these poor creatures are sunk in ignorance and barbarism; yet when any occasional opportunities for instruction have been afforded, they have shewn great readiness to attend the worship of God, and have, in several instances, appeared to be powerfully affected by it. The necessary expense of establishing this station, in addition to the local supplies, is estimated at more than 12002.

“ In the island of Antigua above 1800 of the offspring of Christian Negroes are left destitute of education, from the want of school-rooms, the chapels being occupied, throughout the Sabbath, by successive crowded audiences of adults, of whom above 12,000 attend the ministry of the Brethren in that island. It is therefore earnestly to be desired that at some of the settlements, school-rooms should be erected; and that at the principal station at St. John's, the capital of the island, the present chapel should be converted to that use, and a larger chapel erected, the existing one being totally inadequate to accommodate the many thousands who attend the service there. The only present remedy, namely, successive services throughout the day, severely tries the strength of these laborious and indefatigable missionaries, and prevents their paying attention to the children whom they would otherwise collect and instruct in a Sunday school. Upon this object about 1200. might also be most usefully and economically expended; and theCommittee have great pleasure in stating by way of encouragement, that a few individuals of the Society of Friends have kindly contributed above 100l. towards the erection of school-rooms in Antigua.

"Of these openings (as well as of others in various and important quarters),

for the extension of their pious and beneficial labours in the West Indies, the Brethren are wholly unable to avail themselves from their own resources. These resources have been long inadequate even to the ordinary expense of their various missions, and they will be still further contracted by the heavy loss lately sustained through the destructive fire which has desolated their settlement at Sarepta. By the blessing of God, however, especially upon the exertions of their friends in this country, the means have been provided of nearly liquidating a large debt which had grown up, and probably of enabling them to meet the current expenses, but yielding no surplus applicable to such objects as those above referred to.

"Under these circumstances the Committee of the London Association, encouraged by the anxiety so generally prevalent in behalf of the unhappy Negro race, and stimulated by an earnest desire for the wider extension of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour in these eventful days, venture to bring this case before the Christian public, which they do in the confidence that the prospect of so important an amelioration will not be blighted by the want of means to carry it into effect, and to satisfy the ardent desires, and the extreme necessities of this hitherto benighted and degraded class of our fellowcreatures."

The Committee propose to open a separate subscription for the purpose of assisting the Brethren in the establishment of new stations in the West-India islands, with the consent or on the invitation of the proprietors or superintendants of estates, and in providing facilities for the education of the children of the Negroes. The plan on which this last branch of missionary labour is conducted by the Moravian Brethren, will be seen in the following extract from a recent letter from the Rev. L. Stobwasser, lately a missionary in Antigua.

"It has always been the practice of the missionaries of the Brethren's Church, whenever they could possibly do it, to establish schools among the Negroes. It is evident what an influence may be obtained on the minds of children by means of schools, especially if the sole aim of them is to procure for them a more immediate access to the sacred books of Scripture. Among Negro slaves, a Sunday school seems the only one practicable. Our method is to give to every child a lesson pasted on a small board, which they put into a bag or pocket they have for that purpose, and in which they exercise them

selves in the evenings, also at noon, and in the field at their breakfast time. We take care to find on every estate, if possible, a Negro who is able and willing to instruct them; and when there are no such Negroes to be found, we encourage the most able we can get to visit us once or twice a week in the evening, besides Sunday, in order to be qualified by us for the instruction of others: much has been done by the Brethren in this way, and in our Negro congregations in Antigua, teachers are not wanting to give effect to the charity, which the generous friends of missions and Sunday schools might feel disposed to exercise in this cause.

"When I first came to the island of Antigua, Sunday schools were generally reckoned to be impracticable, though frequent and not unfruitful attempts were made, especially by our truly indefatigable brother, James Light (now in Jamaica). By degrees the prejudices of the planters against permitting the Negro children be ing taught to read, which in the beginning were very perceptible, wore away; and we see on those estates where the children are most generally instructed, the beneficial consequences of it. Quite a different generation seems there to rise, and gives the prospect of happier days for the Negroes." "There is now an amazing desire among the children, and even among adult Negroes, to learn to read; and many have declared that they wish to be able to read the sacred Scriptures themselves, for their comfort and instruction. An opportunity to satisfy such a laudable desire is now afforded, which, if permitted to pass away, may perhaps not soon return, but which, under the blessing of God, may lead to an entire reformation of the slave population of Antigua."

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF PARIS. The Report of the Society, delivered, by M. Abel-Rémusat, at its first anniversary, held under the presidency of his Serene Highness the Duke of Orléans, contains the following passage on the co-operation of the Society with Bible Societies.

"I cannot but remind you, gentlemen, of the very particular and repeated tokens

of good-will, received by us from that religious and philanthropic Society, which labours with zeal for the accomplishment of one only design-the highest social advancement of all nations, by means of a single book-the Bible. Not to speak of the interest which every Christian, and we may say every philosopher, cannot avoid feeling in this vast enterprise, it is incumbent on the members of the Asiatic Society, more particularly to take a share therein. With Bible Societies, you have natural bonds of alliance; and, if I may so speak, a kind of identity. The immense resources at their disposal enable them to maintain relations with the most secluded parts of the East, and to procure translations of the sacred books into idioms of which sometimes the very names are unknown to us. On the other hand, many of these translations, undertaken by persons who have not always enjoyed opportunities of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the languages, require careful revision; and may be greatly improved by passing under the eyes of skilful linguists, such as those who are united with the Asiatic Society.

"Far from concealing from itself this beneficial dependence on others, the Bible Society receives, with a candour deserving the highest eulogium, such observations as may be made on the works which it publishes; and its good-will appears to be the reward of the criticisms addressed to it. Scarcely had your institution become known to its conductors, when they hastened to present to you a valuable colleclection of versions of the Scripture in different languages of the East and 1 have no apprehension of going too far, if I should say that their object, in sending them to you, has not been merely to enrich your library with works which may assist your labours, and of which they alone are in possession; but still more to call your attention to these versions, and to solicit at your hands the means of improving them. Noble and rare example!-worthy of being offered to learned men. Admirable love of truth! elevated, by pious intentions,above the vain rivalries of national or literary ambition.”

For a mass of interesting Religious Intelligence, we refer our readers to the Appendix to our last Volume, published with the present Number.

FRANCE.

VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

FOREIGN.

The session of the chambers has opened with a speech from the throne, the chief topics of which are the death of the late king; the continuance of internal prosperity, and of pacific relations with foreign governments; the convention with

Spain for a prolonged occupation of that country by a part of the French troops; and last, not least, the intention of the king to propose measures for better securing the interests of religion, and also an indemnity to the emigrants at the Revolution, which the finances of the country are stated to be in a condition to allow

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