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improvement of this art, and its application to the diffusion of knowledge, a new era was formed in the annals of the human race, and in the gress of science, religion, and morals. To it we are chiefly indebted for our deliverance from ignorance and error, and for most of those scientific discoveries and improvements in the arts: which distinguish the period in which we live. Without its aid, the Reformation from Popery could scarcely have been achieved; for, had the books of Luther, one of the first reformers, been multiplied by the slow process of handwriting and copying, they could never have been diffused to any extent; and the influence of bribery and of power might have been sufficient to have arrested their progress, or even to have erased their existence. But, being poured forth from the press in thousands at a time, they spread over the nations of Europe like an inundation, and with a rapidity which neither the authority of princes, nor the schemes of priests and cardinals, nor the bulls of popes, could counteract or suspend. To this noble invention it is owing that copies of the bible have been multiplied to the extent of many many millions-that ten thousands of them are to be found in every Protestant country-and that the the low price (as was then thought) of sixty crowns, the number and the uniformity of the copies he pos sessed created universal agitation and astonishment. Informations were given to the police against him as a magician, his lodgings were searched, and a great number of copies being found, they were seized; the red ink with which they were embellished was said to be his blood; it was seriously adjudged, that he was in league with the devil; and if he had not fled from the city, most probably he would have shared the fate of those whom ignorant and superstitious judges, at that time, condemned for witchcraft. From this circumstance, let us learn to beware how we view the inventions of genius, and how we treat those whose ingenious contrivances may afterwards be the means of enlightening and meliorating mankind. See Appendix, No. VII. Various improvements have been made, of ate years, in the art of printing. That which has lately been announced by Dr. Church of Boston, is the most remarkable; and, if found successful, will carry this art to a high degree of perfection. A prin cipal object of this improvement is, to print constantly from new types, which is effected by simplifying the process for casting and composing. The type is delivered perfect by machinery, and laid as it is cast, in separate compartments, with unerring order and exactness. The composition is then effected by other apparatus, directed by keys like those of a piano-forte, and the type may then be arranged in words and lines, as quickly as in the performance of notes in music. No error can arise except from touching the wrong key: and hence an expert hand will leave little labour for the reader. It is then found less expensive under Dr. Church's economical system of re-casting, to re-melt the types, and re-cast them, than to perform the tedious operation of distribution. The melting takes place without atmospheric exposure, by which oxydation and waste of metal are avoided. It s calculated that

two men can produce 75,000 new types per hour, and in re-composing, one man will perform as much as three or four compositors. In the production of types, the saving is ninety-nine parts in a hundred; and in the composition, distribution, and reading, is three parts in four. In regard to press-work, Dr. C. has invented a machine to work with plattens, instead of cylinders, from which he will be enabled to take 30 fine impressions per minute.

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poorest individual who expresses a desire for it, may be furnished with the "word of life" which will guide him to a blessed immortality. That divine light which is destined to illuminate every region of the globe, and to sanctify and reform men of all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, is accelerated in its movements, and directed in its course through the nations, by the invention of the art of printing; and ere long it will dist.1bute among the inhabitants of every land, the "law and the testimony of the Most High," to guide their steps to the regions of eternal bliss. In short, there is not a more powerful engine in the hands of Providence, for diffusing the knowledge of the nature and the will of the Deity, and for accomplishing the grand objects of revelation, than the art of multiplying books, and of conveying intelligence through the medium of the the press. Were no such art in existence, we cannot conceive how an extensive and universal propagation of the doctrines of revelation could be effected, unless after the lapse of an indefinite number of ages. But, with the assistance of this invention, in its present improved state, the island of Great Britain alone, within less than a hundred years, could furnish a copy of the Scriptures to every inhabitant of the world, and would defray the expense of such an undertaking, with much more ease, and with a smaller sum, than were necessary to furnish the political warfare in which we were lately engaged.

These considerations teach us, that the ingenious inventions of the human mind are under the direction and control of the Governor of the world-are intimately connected with the accomplishment of the plan of his providence, and have a tendency, either directly or indirectly, to promote, over every region of the earth, the progress and extension of the kingdom of the Redeemer. They also show us, from what small beginnings the most magnificent operations of the divine economy may derive their origin. Who could have imagined that the simple circumstance of a person amusing himself by cutting a few letters on the bark of a tree, and impressing them on paper, was intimately connected with the mental illumination of mankind; and that the art which sprung from this casual illuminating the nations, and of conveying to the cess was destined to be the principal means of ends of the earth, "the salvation of our God?" But, "He who rules in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth," and who sees minute movement of all his creatures, in subservi"the end from the beginning," overrules the most ency to his ultimate designs, and shows himself, excellent in working." in this respect, to be "wonderful in counsel, and

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The Mariner's Compass.-Another invention which has an intimate relation to religion, is, the art of Navigation, and the invention of the Mariner's Compass. Navigation is the art of

conducting a ship through the sea, from one port
to another. This art was partly known and
practised in the early ages of antiquity, by the
Phenicians, the Carthaginians, the Egyptians,
the Romans, and other nations of Europe and
Asia. But they had no guide to direct them in
their voyages, except the sun in the day-time,
and the stars by night. When the sky was over-
cast with clouds, they were thrown into alarms,
and durst not venture to any great distance from
the coast, lest they should be carried forward in
a course opposite to that which they intended,
or be driven against hidden rocks, or unknown
shores. The danger and difficulty of the navi-
gation of the ancients, on this account, may be
learned from the deliberations, the great prepa-
rations, and the alarms of Homer's heroes, when
they were about to cross the Egean sea, an ex-
tent of not more than 150 miles; and the expe-
dition of the Argonauts under Jason, across the
sea of Marmora and the Euxine, to the island
of Colchis, a distance of only four or five hun-
dred miles, was viewed as a most wonderful ex-
pioit, at which even the gods themselves were said
to be amazed. The same thing appears from the
narration we have in the Acts of the Apostles,
of Paul's voyage from Cesarea to Rome.
"When," says Luke, "neither sun nor stars in
many days appeared, and no small tempests lay
on us, all hope that we should be saved was then
taken away." Being deprived of these guides,
they were tossed about in the Mediterranean, not
knowing whether they were carried to the north,
south, east, or west. So that the voyages of an-
tiquity consisted chiefly in creeping along the
coast, and seldom venturing beyond sight of
land: they could not, therefore, extend their ex-
cursions by sea to distant continents and nations;
and hence, the greater portion of the terraqueous
globe and its inhabitaats were to them altogether
unknown. It was not before the invention of the
mariner's compass, that distant voyages could
be undertaken, that extensive oceans could be
traversed, and an intercourse carried on between
remote continents and the islands of the ocean.
It is somewhat uncertain at what precise pe-
riod this noble discovery was made; but it ap-
pears pretty evident, that the mariner's compass
was not commonly used in navigation before the
year 1420, or only a few years before the inven-
tion of printing.* The loadstone, in all ages,
was known to have the property of attracting
iron; but its tendency to point towards the north
and south seems to have been unnoticed till the
beginning of the twelfth century. About that

• The invention of the compass is usually ascribed to Falvio Gioia, of Amalfi, in Campania, about the year 1302; and the Italians are strenuous in supporting this claim. Others affirm, that Marcus Paulus, a Venetian, having made a journey to China, brought pack the invention with him in 1260. The French iso lay claim to the honour of this invention, from de ficumstance, that all nations distinguish the

time some curious persons seem to have amused
themselves by making to swim, in a basin of
water, a loadstone suspended on a piece of cork
and to have remarked, that, when lest at liberty,
one of its extremities pointed to the north.
They had also remarked, that, when a piece of
iron is rubbed against the loadstone, it acquires
also the property of turning towards the north
and of attracting needles and filings of iron.
From one experiment to another, they proceed-
ed to lay a needle, touched with the magnet, on
two small bits of straw floating on the water
and to observe that the needle invariably turned
its point towards the north. The first use they
seem to have made of these experiments, was,
impose upon simple people by the appear-
ance of magic. For example, a hollow swan,
or the figure of a mermaid, was made to swim
in a basin of water, and to follow a knife with a
bit of bread upon its point, which had been pre-
bit of bread
viously rubbed on the loadstone. The experi-
menter convinced them of his power, by com-
manding, in this way, a needle laid on the sur-
face of the water to turn its point from the north
to the east, or in any other direction. But some
geniuses, of more sublime and reflective powers
of mind, seizing upon these hints, at last applied
these experiments to the wants of navigation,
and constructed an instrument, by the help of
which the mariner can now direct his course to
distant lands, through the vast and pathless ocean.

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In consequence of the discovery of this instrument, the coasts of almost every land on the surface of the globe have been explored, and a regular intercourse opened up between the remotest regions of the earth. Without the help of this noble invention, America, in all probability, would never have been discovered by the eastern nations-the vast continent of New-Hollandthe numerous and interesting islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans-the isles of Japan, and other immense territories inhabited by human beings, would have remained as much unknown and unexplored as if they had never existed And as the nations of Europe and the western parts of Asia were the sole depositories of the records of revelation, they could never have conveyed the blessings of salvation to remote countries and to unknown tribes of mankind, of whose existence they were entirely ignorant. Even although the whole terraqueous globe had been sketched out before them, in all its aspects and bearings, and ramifications of islands, continents, seas, and oceans, and the moral and political state of every tribe of its inhabitants

north point of the card by a fleur-de-lis, and, with equal reason, the English have laid claim to the same honour, from the name compass, by which most nations have agreed to distinguish it. But whoever were the inventors, or at whatever period this in strument was first constructed, it does not appear that it was brought into general use before the pe riod mentioned in the text.

we had actually taken a fligh、 of ten hundred thousand millions of miles into those unexplored. and unexplorable regions, which could not be accomplished in several millions of years, though our motion were as rapid as a ball projected from a loaded cannon. We would justly consider it as a noble endowment for enabling us to take an extensive survey of the works of God, if we had the faculty of transporting ourselves to such im mense distances from the sphere we now occupy but, by means of the telescopic tube, we ma take nearly the same ample views of the domi nions of the Creator, without stirring a foot from the limits of our terrestrial abode. This instrument may, therefore, be considered as a providential gift, bestowed upon mankind, to serve, in the mean time, as a temporary substitute for those powers of rapid flight with which the seraphim are endowed, and for those superior faculties of motion with which man himself may be invested, when he arrives at the summit of moral perfection.*

inguished. In a word, by this admirable instruwent we behold the same Almighty Hand which rounded the spacious globe on which we live, and the huge masses of the planetary orbs, and directs them in their rapid motions through the sky,-employed, at the same moment, in rounding and polishing ten thousand minute transparent globes in the eye of a fly; and boring and arranging veins and arteries, and forming and clasping joints and claws, for the movements of a mite! We thus learn the admirable and astonishing effects of the wisdom of God, and that the divine care and benevolence are as much displayed in the construction of the smallest insect, as in the elephant or the whale, or in those ponderous globes which roll around us in the sky. These, and thousands of other views which the microscope exhibits, would never have been displayed to the human mind, had they not been opened up by this admirable invention.

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now been applied to the impelling of ships and large boats along rivers and seas, in opposition to both wind and tide, and ` with a velocity which, at an average, exceeds that of any other conveyance. We have no reason to believe that this invention has hitherto approximated to a state of perfection; it is yet in its infancy, and may be susceptible of such improvements, both in point of expedition and of safety, as may render it the most comfortable and speedy conveyance between distant lands, for transporting the volume of inspiration and the heralds of the gospel of peace to "the ends of the earth." By the help of his compass the mariner is enabled to steer his course in the midst of the ocean, in the most cloudy days, and in the darkest nights, and to transport his vessel from one end of the world to another. It now only remains, that navigation be rendered safe, uniform, and expeditious, and not dependent on adverse In fine, by means of the two instruments to winds, or the currents of the ocean; and, perwhich I have now adverted, we behold Jeho-haps the art of propelling vessels by the force of vah's empire extending to infinity on either hand. By the telescope we are presented with the most astonishing displays of his omnipotence, in the immense number, the rapid motions, and and the inconceivable magnitudes of the celestiai globes; and, by the microscope, we behold, what is still more inconceivable, a display of his unsearchable wisdom in the divine mechanism by which a drop of water is peopled with myriads of inhabitants-a fact which, were it not subject to ocular demonstration, would 'far exceed the limits of human conception or belief. We have thus the most striking and sensible eviaence, that, from the immeasurable luminaries f heaven, and from the loftiest seraph that stands before the throne of God, down to this lower world, and to the smallest microscopic animalcula that eludes the finest glass, He is every where present, and, by his power, intelligence, and agency, animates, supports, and directs the whole. Such views and contemplations naturally lead us to advert to the character of God as delineated by the sacred writers, that "He is of great power, and mighty in strength;" that "His understanding is infinite;' that "His works are wonderful;" that "His operations are unsearchable and past finding out;" and they must excite the devout mind to join with fervour in the language of adoration and praise.

'

When thy amazing works, O God!
My mental eye surveys,
"Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.'

Steam Navigation.-We might have been apt to suppose that the chymical experiments that were first made to demonstrate the force of steam as a mechanical agent, could have little relation to the objects of religion, or even to the comfort of human life and society. Yet it has

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steam, when arrived at perfection, may effectuate those desirable purposes. Even at present, as the invention now stands, were a vessel to be fitted to encounter the waves of the Atlantic, constructed of a proper figure and curvature, having a proper disposition of her wheels, and having such a description of fuel, as could be easily stowed, and in sufficient quantity for the voyage-at the rate of ten miles an hour, she could pass from the shores of Britain to the coast of America, in less than thirteen days ;and, even at eight miles an hour, the voyage could be completed in little more than fifteen days; so that intelligence might pass and repass between the eastern and western continents within the space of a single month-a space of time very little more than was requi- · site, sixty years ago, for conveying intelligence between Glasgow and London. The greatest distance at which any two places on the globe lie from each other, is about 12,500 miles; and, therefore, if a direct portion of water intervene between them, this space could be traversed in fifty-four or sixty days. And, if the isthmus of Panama, which connects North and South America, and the isthmus of Suez, which separates the Mediterranean from the Red sea, were cut into wide and deep canals, (which we have no doubt will be accomplished as soon as civilized nations have access to perform operations in those territories,) every country in the world could then be reached from Europe, in nearly a direct line, or at most by a gentle curve, instead of the long, and dangerous, and circuitous route which must now be taken, in sailing for the eastern parts of Asia, and the northwestern shores of America. By this means, eight or nine thousand miles of sailing would be saved in a voyage from England to Nootka sound, or the peninsula of California; and

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